Whilst her son is distracted with the control panel, Maya's short attention span make her redirect her seemingly blind gaze towards the two lockers that have the same numbers as the stasis chambers. She stares at the contents as if she was gazing into some mirror or some sort, before curiously unwrapping a neatly folded kimono coming from Mihoko's stash. That seems like standard Japanese kimono to her as her fox ears twitch. Also, the contents of the mal appears to be more intriguing... She pulls out... A nodachi?! Isn't that... that's the greatsword of the katanas isn't it? That was the sword that her daughter couldn't use because it was too heavy for her. As of this, she's definitely curiously about where they got all of the Japanese trinkets, at least, until she hears something... Her attention then turns towards her screaming son as she looks back. Huh? What is he screaming about? Oh! The kitsunes! They're alive! New fox friends! She initially wears a massive smile on her face as she waves towards them... only to realises why her son is currently cowering in fear: They're both naked. And before she knows it, she too, is wearing a massive, embarrassed expression on her pretty face complete with a cherry on top blush.
"AAAAAHHH! Musuko no mae de hayamete kudasai! (あああ! 息子の前ではやめてください, Not in front of my son, please!)" She screams too as she carries their kimonos and dahes to them. Instinctively pulling out the clothes from the lockers that contained Rei and Mihoko's belongings, she rushes to the naked foxes before she force dresses the two of them in panic, never mind the fact that the boy himself is literally resisting to wear both layers of his clothes. Once she's done, she stands besides her embarrassed son as she awkwardly bows back whilst she strokes his back to remind him that they're not naked anymore. Almost forgot that her son cannot handle girls properly, especially if they become too seductive... Then again, the boy seems handsome enough for her to stare at his body whilst she tried to force dress him twice...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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)
(Not sure why DDB took my last post out of the spoiler...-_- Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter.)
"Yes." Shugo responds, "But like I said, I don't know for sure...I-I think I have a way to find out, but I don't want to do it now. Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here. Besides, so far I don't seem to have the symptoms." He smiles, "Your right, if they did finish this...experiment, there should be a cure somewhere. Just not here apparently."
"Thank you." He replies when she states she won't tell the others.
He pauses for a moment, hesitating at the door as he was about to open it for Venet. "Actually, could I have that note back? I...I think I should show it to my father the next time I see him." Assuming she gives him the note, the elf stows that in his pocket along with the card-like device.
Once outside the door, he smiles at Kas, "Did you check on the others too? Any of em look like they need help?"
"I'm not a fan of that flag either," Alex chuckles as Maya talks about wanting to burn it. "But honestly I don't see much of a point in burning it. It's a representation of all things evil, yes, but it's still a piece of history. Burning it doesn't change anything, especially not here outside of a festival where no one can see or celebrate its downfall." He hesitates, "Yeah, it is pretty... uh... Ominous I guess that this is still around. And to think, we've only seen one room... I mean seriously Chlorine gas? Whatever these long dead jerks were up to here it defiantly wasn't just bad, it was horrific." He shakes his head, watching as Mira punches in the date.
"What is it?"he asks, finding himself rather embarrassed that he hasn't really found much of use. Even his shot in the dark about the date being the password was... well, unsurprisingly incorrect. He quickly attempts to sound the letters (if I counted correctly it's 341, but I might have counted wrong...), and he shares the number with her before they head out.
"Activate the... what?" Alex says in shock, looking to Mira with wide eyes before an awkward smile creeps onto his face as he realizes that she's joking... well, he thinks she's joking anyways. "Renar? Oh... wait huh?" He seems... actually confused about people thinking Maya acts like she's Renar's mom. Well, she kind of does now that he thinks about it, but... well maybe she's just really missing her actual son... If Renar was her real son, then why would she lie about it and still try to look for her own son? But then again, Renar does know that weird language Maya uses. He shakes his head, "I... well, I talked to Renar about that a while back. He said he is a changeling, and... well I always thought it was weird that he keeps his face hidden as if he doesn't want to be recognized even though he could just change his appearance if he wants to. He seemed... kinda touchy about it so I didn't want to push him. As for Maya, she's looking for her son, so maybe she just dotes on him because he reminds her or her son? I... feel really bad for her, especially since... well she's--" He stops himself from saying that Maya is a kitsune, since... well, Mira doesn't know that and they are supposed to keep that a secret. He'd almost said that he feels bad since they don't even know if her real son is actually alive somewhere. They don't even know where Maya came from, or when the last time she saw her son was. ...Maybe he'll have to ask Renar if he knows anything later. Since he can understand her, maybe they can find out a bit more about how she survived when all of the other kitsunes died out. Quickly, he says instead, "Renar is just shy, and I think he has trouble trusting. I know I trust too easily, and... well I trust my whole party, but... well I trust him in spite of his odd excuses. He'll open up eventually, we just can't push him too much."
He looks towards the door, "Well, on that note... shall we head out? Maybe we should make sure that Renar and Maya are aware of the chlorine gas threat."
He'll lead the way out of the room, and into room 2 if Maya and Renar haven't come out yet, stopping briefly to check on Kaz and ask if anything has happened since they've gone in. Have any of the others completed their search yet?
Mira easily attunes herself to the young boy's worries as she pats him on the shoulder. The thought of trusting the entire group isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's something she herself adores too. "Oh please. You'll be fine my young one. Trusting the entire party sure is a bad thing on some occasion, but that's what I adore from you: A boy with a heart. That's all I would love to see from you. From anyone actually. And who cares if that Renar person's a changeling? He needs to know that whatever disguise he's hiding underneath his hood, he can't conceal himself for long, because the truth will eventually catch up to bite him and that... fox lady." She knows that Alex wanted to say kitsune as he cuts off. "I know. Kitsune. I'm still not convinced that Maya lady is a fake; Some instincts tell me she is a kitsune except morphed as a human rather than the actual fox-faced ones I once knew. But... if she dotes on him then..." She sniffs the place for no reason. "...Who knows. Maybe one day, after a lot of patience, we could perhap know more of their whereabouts and what not. But not for now... I don't even understand what the lady is saying half the time either."
As Alex also points out the potential answer to the passcode, Mira nods back in thanks but then frowns when Alex mentions. "The thing is, before my mother raised me to become her next heir, I was in the same state as Mr Oddball. Shy, isolated, distrustful, it's mainly because when I was young, I was never surrounded by nice people other than my adopted mother, Miranda and the siblings she had sired before me."She wipes a tear off her left eye. "I was all alone, weak and sickly since she took me into my care, only to be surrounded by other nobles who were of different races and are a lot stronger and more ruthless than me; My distrust stemmed from their constant harassment. If it wasn't for my adoptive mother, my siblings and my biological parents, who has now passed away, I probably would have turned insane... And missed my chance to meet an empathetic soul like you too. I owe them lot more than they owe me..."This must have hurt her so bad, judging by the fact that she's struggling to hold her tears. But she does suck it up before she bounces back (literally) and follows Alex. "But yeah, enough talk. And thank you, for your unending selflessness. I would love to see that metaphorical flower of yours blossom into something greater than you can imagine yourself. We should inform the rest of what we saw. No point in leaving stones unturned for any longer. I hope they haven't activated something that could trigger the chlorine trap too..." She then follows Alex into Room 2 as he approaches the entrance and knocks on the door. She doesn't really pay much attention to Kaz for the moment.
"Oi! You two oddballs finished? We're all just about waiting on you two, you know? Unless if you have anything to fess up right now, then spit it out!"
"Oh..." Both of them look at their body, Maya hands out their clothes and they quickly put them on. Rei takes his odachi and slings it behind his back, and Mihoko wears her pendant.
The duo narrow their eyes in suspicion when Renar tells them he doesn't know the time. "Huh... you seriously don't know what year it is?" Rei's ears twitch and he face-paws, "Shepherd above... you two are so immature."
"Don't be too hard on them, Rei. We know the world would change drastically, and so does their culture and traditions too." Mihoko pats his arm, "Speaking of which... Is that a new language? Doesn't sound like anything I've heard before, must be a language isolate, did the world develop new languages when we were sealed?"
After getting the answer, Mihoko nods and continues. "As you can already guess by the room you're standing in right now, we were Vujica's test subjects." She looks down, her tails stop swaying. "She kept us in this facility to train us and perform her experiments, mostly relating to her 'Domestication' programme."
"Basically eugenics," Rei adds.
"She goes around and kidnaps people, mostly those with 'unusual' magic or physical powers, then she forces us to fight each other and do some... enrichment activities. Anyone who doesn't comply gets an ice pick to their face, paralysing them for the rest of their lives. She also does this with animals, but on a much larger scale, the main door upstairs leads to a stasis chamber like this one but for animals, and there is also an exit to the surface." Mihoko explains.
Wait, ice pick to the face? That's how lobotomy is performed. Maybe Adelaide and Vujica have some connections with each other: both of them kidnap people and torture them for fun, both of them have a long history of animal abuse, and both of them use lobotomy to punish people.
The kitsune lady continues, "Before we got sealed, Vujica mentioned to us all that she would head to the North Pole to find the artefact, she kept saying 'it will make everyone's lives better.' Seems like she knew what it was, but she never told us or anyone about it."
"I know it's been a while, but I think she's still alive somewhere," Rei adds, shuffling his feet. "She's an elf, they can live up to 7,000 years old or older. Even if it's been thousands of years as you say, and—"
Your ears twitch, and you hear the sounds of knocking on the door. Mihoko steps behind Rei, who slowly pulls his odachi from his back.
"That's a friend of yours, right?"Rei looks back at Renar.
"H-hey!" Kazimieras nervously waves back at Shugo and Venet. "Uh... Simo and Renar are taking a bit too long." You see Alex and Mira from the corner of your eyes, both of them beeline toward Room 2 "But I don't hear any sound of fighting or anything like that, so, uh. I think they're fine, for now..."
"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."
I let off a massive sigh as Okaa-san quickly drapes their oriental clothing around those two. What a relief. I can't even stand the thought of having to be seduced all over again like the female kitsunes I saw in Japan... "Arigato... Okaa-san..."I then whip my head towards the confused kitsune before I make a quick recap of what I said earlier as my tail shudders.
"Ok so... in a nutshell, you guy have been imprisoned for over 8000 years tops, the war in Lanca has long been dead, we don't know who won the fight but, your entire race has been wiped out in the process and now, as I speak, we are surrounded by people, once they recognise you as the last kitsune survivors, that are out for your blood. Enough said!" I tried to explain in panic as I pant in exhaustion. Sheesh these two are almost no different to the goons me and Okaa-san are teaming up with. But then they mention the strange language that me and Okaa-san spoke. Oh yeah, even these guys don't know Japanese, despite appearing to be so themselves... "Look uh, no, everyone's speaking Lancean as usual. Except for her though. As for the language this lady here is speaking, it turns out that she's speaking some uh... forbidden language that only I can understand. Nowadays people who speak these types other than Lancean would have been killed on the spot. It's amazing how she managed to survive on her own, though when I found her." I'm honestly super nervous about dealing with our... um... 'cousins' from Lancea. But even more so, I was even more nervous yet astonished myself when I saw Suzuki-kun hold up... wait...
"Wait... your sword... is that a nodachi?!" I point to Suzuki-kun's massive curved sword in shock. How is he doing this...? He looks so frail and skinny just like I am yet he's effortlessly holding the unwieldy weapon up with just one arm? Yikes... I've yet to see him in combat for sure. They say he has super strength so if he can make powerful cuts with that massive, unwieldy blade of his, I wouldn't even stand a chance against him. And Mihoko-san... she's a healer, but would she even be able to compete, let alone cooperate with Okaa-san at this point? "Um... you guys are from uh... what was the name... Priyeh... right? I mean... we're from there too... and so is someone in our group. Thing is, he wouldn't take your appearance lightly like us..."
Noticing that I was feeling super uncomfortable at the moment, I hear them talking about Vuji-ka Simic herself, how she used them as test subjects, how she wants to extract their powers too. But the ice pick lobotomy? Is that how Adelaide lobotomizes them?! That's so messed up "Yeah... it does sounds awful, we agree. Besides, in a way, the two of us have ended up in similar state like you two, so we can kind of understand how you felt, but not fully." Also, she does that to animals too? "Yikes! How insane can society get?! This is just forced cruelty right here! We can't stand for this as much as you two do!" But then Watase-san... Mihoko, mentions that Vuji-ka is after the artefact too? What?! Oh crap... first Stupid Rixi, and now her? This has become a massive conundrum...
"What a coincidence." I huff as I crossed my arms and sway my tail. "My group is after the artefact too, but for a different reason. Right now, there's this oathbroken paladin who has the same goals as us. Except that, he claims that once he gets to it, he'll do something other than to make everyone's lives better, as your kidnapper proclaims. He'll use it to open some gate... I don't know, but basically, he want to let this world called Golarion into Lancea. From what we've gathered it seems that Golarion is incredibly hostile; If he reaches the artefact before we do, it could spell future disaster for the entirety of Lancea." I then squint with worry in my face; I deliberately didn't mention our actual motive with the artefact is because I know they won't understand that we're also facing another war on the Sword Coast. "Do any of you know what Golarion is? And whether or not you do, me and this lady here... um... we ask that, even though your kind is extinct, we ask that you help us prevent this disaster from ever happening, so that you two especially, can live normal lives again without being subjected to constant threat. That's all we're asking from you. We're asking to build an alliance together, now that you two appear to be alive and well-"
I then hear someone pounding on our door as I hear Okaa-san let off a light squeal. "Who's there?!" I yell. I hope it's not the USL bakas coming here to assault us! And if they ever barge into our sector, that's it. There goes those two for sure. I don't even trust my groupmates long enough to let them lay their eyes on these two, let alone defend them until they are able to cope with the new society again. I better do something fast...
"My friends? Well, that's what one of them proclaims at least... You two! Stay there with Maya!" I hiss as I put back my hood on my head and slip my white fox tail back into the rear of my jacket. "Okaa-san! Make sure they don't do any nasty behind my back! If they try to do so, don't hesitate to stop them. We need to keep them alive and under our protection!" I then point to the two of them with a hostile, serious look, though as I turn to Mihoko-san... I... I couldn't help but blush. "Ok. Listen up: If you two want to survive under our watch, here are two other things we need you to follow: Since your race is now under threat, you two need to maintain a low profile; find disguises of your own if you want to blend in with the crowd; If they even find out due to even one dead physical giveaway, they won't hesitate to slaughter you, just for who you are. Stay hidden for as much as you can from them until I give the signal to move. And two..."
I then change my voice to a super aggressive one, to convey how serious I am about this matter. "DON'T! Mention! Anything...! About my fox ears and tail EVEN ONCE! They already saw Maya's, but as for mine, I hope to remain undercover for as long as I can. If they ask about my appearance, just say that I'm just a boring, anti-social, yet-to-get-a-life changeling, working to guard this fox lady here until she reunites WITH HER SON. That's it. We don't take traitors lightly either. You turn against either me or this lady here even once, and we won't hesitate to lash out in retaliation. I hope you've understood how serious I am. Oh yeah... three: Don't mess the control panel. I don't want anyone dying under the influence of chlorine gas."I then race towards the front door, but then stop and turn my head back, after realising that they've introduced themselves and we haven't.
"Sigh... before you ask though... I'm Renar. And that kitsune lady, her name's Maya... um..." I wanted to say Kurosaki but given the current circumstances, It's best to leave it out. "Um... yeah. That's Maya. Don't bother talking to her as I said. She's not gonna understand. But she'll be there to ensure your safety for now... until I come back." I then bolt off for real as...
I peek my head out of the door that we came from, but not before making sure that they cannot see my fox ears and tail again under my disguise... Wait... Alex and Mira? What they doing on our doorstep? "Yes? What do you guys need from us?" I answer back with an unenthusiastic tone to not make it look like I'm trying to hide something. "We're just finishing up; Nothing much other than random notes of someone... I mean, we'll talk about her later. I hope you're not intending to set off the chlorine gas in the room we're in?"
Mira
The bunny girl jolts when Renar peeks his head out, but then relaxes. "Oh! Um... well... you two are taking a suspiciously long time to continue your search. Alex especially is worried sick for some reason I cannot explain." She scratches her head, wondering if she could ask them on what they saw in there. "Um... oh. So you know about the chlorine gas too, huh? Lucky we didn't trigger it in our room, otherwise you two would have died. And let me guess: You saw Vujica Simic as well too, right? Is that the lady you are mentioning? If so, then yeah. Same for us. Plus some interesting tech in our room that you might like. Unless if you saw something else too...?"
Renar
I squint my eyes in disgust as my response. Sheesh. Do these guys have to be so nosy at this point in time? "Look, we're just about to finish up on our duties that's all. We didn't fid anything personal so no point in going into our room... for now. I'll get Maya-san to come up here in a while if... uh... if you leave us be for another 10 minutes" I noticed neither of them didn't budge though after hearing my explanations, which is a literal concern, seeing that me and Okaa-san now have two special people to protect. Damn it... I need to keep up the facade for as long as I can... what have us actual kitsune have gotten ourselves into-?! I then twist my face into a snarl. It seems that Plan A, peaceful negotiations to leave didn't work. Time for Plan B: Intimidation. "What?! What else do you want from us?! There's nothing of value in our room besides the Vuji-ka notes Maya-san is currently holding! Why do you insist on invading our personal space! Let us finish our investigation for crying out loud! Or are we the last ones to finish is that why?!"
Deception: 18
*I'll let Alex do his part before Renar goes mental over hiding his new treasure; Also, love the Leon Trotsky ice pick reference*
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Alex gives a bit of a jolt when Mira still seems to believe (rightly) that Maya is a kitsune even though she doesn't look like one... How did she catch on so fast? Should he be worried? But then she dives into her own story which... well it catches Alex by surprise when she reveals so much about herself. No one else in the party has done anything like that so far, so it is kind of a shock to him. Regardless, he smiles and rubs the back of his neck as he says, "I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm glad things are looking up for you..." He gives an awkward chuckle, "I... uh... well, thanks..." He seems rather embarrassed for some reason, likely because of Mira's earlier words 'thats what I adore from you: a boy with a heart'. But he quickly brushes that embarrassment away as they make their way back out.
"Wait what?" Alex says, raising his hands when Mira says that he was worried sick for some reason. "I... I wasn't worried. Renar and Maya can handle themselves perfectly fine... I mean... I wasn't not worried... I just... well I wasn't worried sick..." He trails off, averting his eyes for a moment before shaking his head and changing the subject. "Well, apparently the Chlorine gas is connected to your room and this room... the lobby if that's what this is right? If we get the password in here wrong, then the gas will be released." He heads over to the door, attempting to peek in, "Find anything uh... well, I don't want to say 'cool' cause none of this is really cool, but... well, find anything interesting in there? Anything useful?" Then he pulls back when Renar gets defensive for... well, as far as he can tell absolutely no reason.
"Uh... personal space? Are... you alright Renar?" He says, actual concern lacing his voice. Wait... why does Renar need personal space with Maya? Now that Mira has brought it to his attention how close these two seem to be, it really doesn't make any sense... well, it makes sense for Maya, but why is Renar so attached to her? Why is he suddenly so defensive about... having personal time with her?
Insight: 1
He takes note of Shugo and Venet, who've also exited their room, then looks back at the incensed 'changeling' and says, "No... you aren't the last ones. Simo's group haven't come back either. But... are you sure you're alright? You seem... upset about something." He's not sure why Renar would be so angry about them checking in. What's the harm in helping each other out if they finished first?
Hmm... It seems like my tactic of pushing them away is sort of working but... As I squint again, why do I feel like Alex is acting way too soft? I could definitely hear some chatter from the other side but I can't make up most of it other than the chlorine gas thingy even as I open the door. "I'm aware. I found a note on my end saying if the wrong passcode is punched in thrice, then this room itself will kill us. I hope you didn't make any mistake on your side did you- wait. Is there another chlorine trap outside?! Linked to ours?!"And Thing is I never even got an answer to that, because the next thing I notice, other than a very furious rabbit girl is... Alex blushing?! What? I don't like s the looks of this for sure. Even as I sort of edge out more I'm more worried about our two kitsunes survivors being put under discrimination if these two are to find out. And... What the-?!
"Wait what?" Alex says, raising his hands when Mira says that he was worried sick for some reason. "I... I wasn't worried. Renar and Maya can handle themselves perfectly fine... I mean... I wasn't not worried... I just... well I wasn't worried sick..." He trails off, averting his eyes for a moment before shaking his head and changing the subject. "Well, apparently the Chlorine gas is connected to your room and this room... the lobby if that's what this is right? If we get the password in here wrong, then the gas will be released." He heads over to the door, attempting to peek in, "Find anything uh... well, I don't want to say 'cool' cause none of this is really cool, but... well, find anything interesting in there? Anything useful?" Then he pulls back when Renar gets defensive for... well, as far as he can tell absolutely no reason.
"Uh... personal space? Are... you alright Renar?" He says, actual concern lacing his voice. Wait... why does Renar need personal space with Maya? Now that Mira has brought it to his attention how close these two seem to be, it really doesn't make any sense... well, it makes sense for Maya, but why is Renar so attached to her? Why is he suddenly so defensive about... having personal time with her?
Insight: 10
He takes note of Shugo and Venet, who've also exited their room, then looks back at the incensed 'changeling' and says, "No... you aren't the last ones. Simo's group haven't come back either. But... are you sure you're alright? You seem... upset about something." He's not sure why Renar would be so angry about them checking in. What's the harm in helping each other out if they finished first?
"What? I didn't say anything wrong, did... I..." All of a sudden, I turn red and widen my eyes in horror over my choice of words. Damn it! Now he thinks Iist be getting intimate with my own mother isn't he?! That wasn't what I meant, crap! Better think of something fast...! "NO I- Uh... I mean... What I meant was um... The two of us... We're still investigating; The personal space I meant was... um... We never intend to invade your area, so it's only fair if you reciprocate that to us. Um... also... We have encountered stuff... That you're uh, best off not seeing. Basically uh, there are butchered races of all kinds... Uh... Bloodied limbs, skeletons, faeces, rotten flesh... You two aren't contempt with this sort of stuff are you? If so then it's best not to enter our domain for now. Even Maya's freaking out at the moment..." Yikes. I came here to try and stall those obnoxious two and I nearly ended up adding fuel to the fire instead with my ridiculous choice of language. I'm such an idiot. But these guys are right... We've been investigating for a while already. So maybe it's time we regroup and show ourselves and our info. I wonder what the other three groups have found out...?
"Um, if you guys want, I'll get Maya to retrieve the info we've gathered and show it to you whilst I finalize that everything inside has been searched. I hope you don't mind that. And please stay outside. You're safer out here than in there. I'll be back in 10 minutes tops." Regardless of their response, I quickly close the door as I turn to Mihoko, Rei and Maya, but then eye Okaa-san with a worried glance as I hand her the documents and she leaves...
"Okaa-san. They need you. Go. I'll catch up with these two later." I told her as she leaves and... What the-?! Kitsune masks? Seriously, Okaa-san? This may have helped in the Sword Coast but it definitely won't be of any use here. I then turn to the two who have put on these masks that I always wear and take of my hood for now. 'Yeah uh, that probably might not work, considering that your current clothing and tails are the biggest dead giveaway... Are you able to furl your tails into a single one? Did Maya show you how she did it? Regardless, you're pretty much gonna have to tag along with those two people that I chatted with, except we're also trying to ensure your safety too.When I say so, you move with me, but we stay behind this door away from the others until either myself or Maya gives the signal to go. Understood?"
Overall, I thought my teammates would have to deal with a huge weight on their shoulders. But after meeting these two survivors, it seems that me and Okaa-san are in fact carrying a heavier weight under our weakened, metaphorical ones instead...
Feeling utterly helpless even as her son tells her to keep watch on the new kitsune pals, Maya just... stands awkwardly in her spot in absolute silence. Already aware that attempting to talk to her new companions in her own language would be futile, the human-like kitsune instead tries to resort to another form of communication instead: Sign language. Or at least, to her, simple gestures about what she intends to relay to them... starting with disguises.
Staring at Mihoko's tail, or rather, Tails, she points to them as if she's trying to get her attention, before she unfurls her own single one out of her current disguise. Making some gestures with her clawed hands, sort of like a "Can you hide your..." gesture before she points to her own tail again; As she points, her tail briefly splits into 9 separate ones of her own, displaying her status as one of them, before she repeats the gesture, and furls her nine tails back into a single one. That way, people are more likely to assume that these two are regular shifters rather than the now extinct fox folk that the people possibly hate to this day.
The other problems are their faces and fox-like feet; Unlike Maya herself and her son, Mihoko and Rei have a full, fox-like face plus four digit fox toes each. Unless if they have face masks or closed shoes of their own, let alone a way to shapeshift into something more humanoid, this would spell trouble at an instant. Right now if her son was still in this section of the room she'd ask him on what should they wear to better conceal their fox-like appearances if it wasn't for whoever is distracting him from that. For now though, she'll attempt her own methods of innovation: She fondles with her purse, hidden deep inside her obscure cloak, and pulls out two kitsune masks, one of which she uses to demonstrate on how to wear them on their faces. Once done she passes one mask each to the two of them so that they can put them on to better conceal their faces if they choose to, before she gestures to them (With effort plus a bunch of fox yelps) in a way in which that the mask will help conceal their faces. As for their feet, well, that would have be left with Renar when he comes back...
Also, she could sense their unending nervousness building up, especially when Rei himself withdraws, or rather, Mihoko does so too, but even further back. Steeling herself, she approaches the two of them as she lays a claw on their shoulders each before smiling gently; Her non-verbal way of saying "Don't worry. You two will be ok, under our watch. We never mean any harm." Almost as if she was their adoptive mother in a way. But then... As she jolts in surprise upon Renar's return... she turns back in shock and prepares to hear the results...
"Okaa-san. They need you. Go. I'll catch up with these two later." I told her as she leaves and... What the-?! Kitsune masks? Seriously, Okaa-san? This may have helped in the Sword Coast but it definitely won't be of any use here. I then turn to the two who have put on these masks that I always wear and take of my hood for now. 'Yeah uh, that probably might not work, considering that your current clothing and tails are the biggest dead giveaway... Are you able to furl your tails into a single one? Did Maya show you how she did it? Regardless, you're pretty much gonna have to tag along with those two people that I chatted with, except we're also trying to ensure your safety too.When I say so, you move with me, but we stay behind this door away from the others until either myself or Maya gives the signal to go. Understood?"
Huh? They want her? That's it? Seriously? After all of this chatter to stall them?! She pouts. Can't believe her son stalled them for time only for her to be summoned for what? She spanks him lightly especially when he removes his hood for now and insults her disguise attempts. "Grr. Sorera o kakusu tame ni hoka ni nani ga dekirudeshou ka?! (それらを隠すために他に何ができるでしょうか, What else can I do to disguise them, huh?!)" She growls as she forcefully snatches the files off her son, stomps back to the front... and comes face to face with Alex and Mira who... seem to be concerned for her in particular. Or maybe they want to see the notes she and her son have acquired. She really can't tell. At least, other than...
"Mira? (ミラ)"Maya coos, as she stares innocently into her cute eyes despite looking blind and cluelessly clutches the filed papers that have been passed to her, unsure of what else to say or do to distract them...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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)
Shugo watches the weird confrontation between Alex, Mira, Renar, and Venet unfold from a short distance. He hadn't intended to check on Renar and Maya since Alex and Mira had gone over there, but he can't deny the 'changeling' is acting rather weird. Why does he need personal space? As far as he's seen Maya makes that kid really uncomfortable, and yet she seems to be the only person he'll hang out with alone... They act like they know each other, and yet they deny that they do. All of it's weird, but also none of his business. However, it is odd that Renar doesn't seem to want the others to look in the room. They are going to see what's in there eventually, so why bother trying to hide it? Eh, Whatever. If something weird in going on in there, Alex and Mira will probably figure it out.
The elf smiles at Kas again, then looks back at his companions. "Well I don't know about you all but I'm going to check on Mr Grumpy Fox and his friends!" With that, he spins on his heal and walks over to room 4, opens the door, and heads inside.
Alex just nods along as Renar tries to cover up... well whatever he's trying to cover up. Alex might not particularly want to look at any of the things Renar just described, but if it meant getting them through this faster he didn't think he was above that. But seems how Renar is being really, really adamant about no one going in there he'll just back off. No point in fueling the fire and making things take longer.
"Oh... um..." He takes a step back, still looking slightly concerned but more confused than anything. "Okay."He wasn't sure what Renar meant when he said they'd never intended to invade their area... since well, they all went through random doors just to look for clues. Why does it matter... oh whatever. If he doesn't want them to go in there then he has his own reasons. Sometimes Renar says weird things that don't make sense, that's just how he is.
"I'll go check on Simo and his team then," He says, waving as he turns to the door they had chosen. "Mira, would you mind filling them in on what we found?" He gives Maya a small smile and a wave before heading off entirely. Puzzle solving really, really isn't his forte, so he's better off going to find Simo and the others. Simo at least would be more capeable of solving the puzzle than he is... plus they all should be made aware of the chlorine gas threat.
Alex gives a bit of a jolt when Mira still seems to believe (rightly) that Maya is a kitsune even though she doesn't look like one... How did she catch on so fast? Should he be worried? But then she dives into her own story which... well it catches Alex by surprise when she reveals so much about herself. No one else in the party has done anything like that so far, so it is kind of a shock to him. Regardless, he smiles and rubs the back of his neck as he says, "I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm glad things are looking up for you..." He gives an awkward chuckle, "I... uh... well, thanks..." He seems rather embarrassed for some reason, likely because of Mira's earlier words 'thats what I adore from you: a boy with a heart'. But he quickly brushes that embarrassment away as they make their way back out.
"Wait what?" Alex says, raising his hands when Mira says that he was worried sick for some reason. "I... I wasn't worried. Renar and Maya can handle themselves perfectly fine... I mean... I wasn't not worried... I just... well I wasn't worried sick..." He trails off, averting his eyes for a moment before shaking his head and changing the subject.
As soon as Mira hears Alex's response to her backstory, she bows back as a sign of gratitude before she chuckles lightly over Alex's blush. This boy and Venet seem to be her favourites already. Upon noticing the young boy's embarrassed reaction, she lightly nudges his shoulder (or stomach, if she's too short) with a smirk. "Oh cheer up, lad. Nothing to be embarrassed about over a light joke!" She giggles again before she drops the act upon witnessing Renar aggressively bite at the poor boy; Even Mira herself recoils. That was not the reaction she was expecting for some incognito guy. Feeling absolutely suspicious by his attempts to cover up whatever he's hiding, she walks up to him and boops his nose before she crosses her arms. "Is that so? If that's the case you must be hiding something of value that none of us want to know ain't it? And well, what you just described in your room, I'm not really fazed by it as much as I'm fazed about your behaviour, mate." She presses him. This doesn't look like the stoic and emotionless... um... changeling, that Alex once described. And... is he already bolting off?! What the heck! "HEY! WE'RE NOT FINISHED WITH THE MATTER-!" Mira yells, but he had already shut the door and left the two of them hanging in fury.
"You better keep your word, Mr Oddball! If you're not back in 10 minutes I'll order Alex to storm the place with me!" She yells out to Renar as he bolts off, after which she moves her hands to conjure a green, rune-like digital clock appears above her head, counting down from ten minutes. She's actually serious about raiding their room at this point; If there is something that this boy plus that so-called kitsune woman hiding that he's panicking over, then it has to be a super important matter one that Mira and Alex can't even pry into at this point in time...
The elf smiles at Kas again, then looks back at his companions. "Well I don't know about you all but I'm going to check on Mr Grumpy Fox and his friends!" With that, he spins on his heal and walks over to room 4, opens the door, and heads inside.
Shugo and Venet's sudden appearance was enough to alert Mira just for this moment, though she keeps whipping back to the door of room 2, rapping her knuckles as if she was about to punch the door open and storm into the place. But then her nozzle furrows with absolute concern, especially for Shugo "Oh hey. Uh... um... You two okay or something?" She asks with hesitancy. "Did you two at least find anything of value? You both kinda look like you've seen a ghost."
The elf smiles at Kas again, then looks back at his companions. "Well I don't know about you all but I'm going to check on Mr Grumpy Fox and his friends!" With that, he spins on his heal and walks over to room 4, opens the door, and heads inside.
"I'll go check on Simo and his team then," He says, waving as he turns to the door they had chosen. "Mira, would you mind filling them in on what we found?" He gives Maya a small smile and a wave before heading off entirely. Puzzle solving really, really isn't his forte, so he's better off going to find Simo and the others. Simo at least would be more capable of solving the puzzle than he is... plus they all should be made aware of the chlorine gas threat.
Mira glances at Alex as he does so; She kind doesn't want him to leave just yet, it's already been 8 minutes, and she definitely about to bust down the door when her timer is up. "Um... Ok. You two better be quick though. I'm already starting to stage my raid." She replies as he and the elf walk into Room 4. Glancing towards her back again, it's just her and Venet in this room. "Seems like these two don't want to come out, Venet. Come on. Let's give them a piece of minds!" She growls as she force opens the door with her tiny paws and-
Maya spanks him lightly especially when he removes his hood for now and insults her disguise attempts. "Grr. Sorera o kakusu tame ni hoka ni nani ga dekirudeshou ka?! (それらを隠すために他に何ができるでしょうか, What else can I do to disguise them, huh?!)" She growls as she forcefully snatches the files off her son, stomps back to the front... and comes face to face with Alex and Mira who... seem to be concerned for her in particular. Or maybe they want to see the notes she and her son have acquired. She really can't tell. At least, other than...
"Mira? (ミラ)"Maya coos, as she stares innocently into her cute eyes despite looking blind and cluelessly clutches the filed papers that have been passed to her, unsure of what else to say or do to distract them...
The bunny girl stands in shock. She had almost punched down the sacred kitsune. How stupid of her! "OH! LADY MAYA! I-I'M SORRY!" She panics as she withdraws and bows down in respect, before she quickly whips her head back up and ushers Venet to come closer. "Um... Sorry about that but... we're all concerned about you and Mr Oddball for taking so long in there, eheheh... hmm? What is that? Can I have a look at that?"She points to the papers that Maya is holding for no reason before she receives them. So Renar was right in a way...
"Hey Venet. Check this out. It seems that Mr Oddball and Maya have found something more about... Oh my..." Her jaw drops in horror as soon as she runs her eyes over the notes. Well, she was warned after all about hearing something sinister in room 2, and this may be it...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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)
"Prihyeh is a region, we came from Sekuris, a country in Prihyeh," Mihoko says.
When Renar tells them that Maya speaks a 'forbidden' language, Mihoko tenses up and Rei growls. "Is this a joke? Because this isn't funny, alright?"He says.
The two quietly listen to both of them speaking, but with every sentence, their patience seems to be running thin. Mihoko fiddles with her spell focus, and Rei has his paws on his sword throughout the conversation. The fur on their tail puffs up like an angry cat... or in this case, foxes.
After Renar and Maya finished their interactions, the two didn't say anything for a long while, until...
"Mihoko, lock the door."You see a Mage Hand appear behind you, it grabs a metal pipe from the ground, floats to the door, and jams it between the doorway. Your eyes focus back to Mihoko, who snaps her finger, and the Mage Hand disappears.
Rei draws his sword and circles around the two other kitsunes."In my 45 years of living on this planet, I have never heard such a ridiculous statement such as this before. We kitsunes are not cowards, alright!? If someone wants to hunt us down, we fight them like warriors, and if we die, we die as warriors. We were taught this since we were kits, and somehow, you don't know this? Are you even from this planet?"
Before you can even open your mouth to protest, he points his sword."Don't even mention it, because I already know the answer. The United States of Lancea government destroyed all traces of other languages except Lancean and a few others, it is, by all means, impossible to know anything beyond that scope. Mihoko used to know Elvish and Sylvan, but the government caught wind of her and forced her to destroy all documents written in non-Lancean languages."
Rei shifts the subject, "I know what Golarion is... and Toril too! They were the reason why the USL government was formed in the first place. They used to plunder our lands, kill our goblinoids, and slay our dragons, they are nothing but savages who only know how to destroy cultures, peoples, and histories, and I think you might be one of them. Since the first thing you did after we woke up was to demand that we conform to our way of thinking, how about you listen to my demand instead."
Mihoko positions herself behind Rei, and the latter grips his sword with both of his paws—"The only people who are people... are the people who look and think like us. If you want to live here and not get killed, you have to assimilate into our culture and adopt our way of thinking, not trying to hide from people."
He points at Maya, "For starters, speak Lancean. I know we've lost thousands of years of our cultures and histories to both the USL government and the savages, but still, you have to play by the rules. Everyone speaks this language, so you should do the same, don't let anyone hear that language ever again!"
He points at Renar, "Second, get rid of that hood and show your ears and tail. Hiding our heritage is our greatest shame, not just to us kitsunes, but to everyone else too. If you comply, I will come with you, but the moment you show your savagery, I will reveal to everyone where you actually came from, understood?" He barks.
"Sorry... but it has to be this way,"Mihoko whispers from behind the fox boy.
These two have connections to the Rebels, but coming to think of it, both they and the former government aren't that different from each other at all—one wants to unify the world under one culture in the name of order and security, and they won. The other wanted to unify the world under one culture in the name of peace and freedom, and not only did they win, but they also completely destroyed the former government with it.
Lancea is a paradise, but only to those who adapt to their ways.
From the outside, you hear a crrk sound coming from Room 2's door, and when you try to push it open, it won't budge. Someone locked the door, and it's definitely not Renar.
When Shugo walks into Room 4, he almost bumps into Elsa, who's carrying a crate full of stuff. "Eek!"
"Watch it!" Simo, who is behind her, calls out to the elf, the rest of his teammates are also behind him. "How the heck did all of you finish already? Did you go into those rooms just to get the taste of what the air is like in there?" He grumbles something under his breath.
Elsa walks into the lobby and places the crate on the floor. She dusts her shoulder, "Look at what we found, guys! It's the trinket from the long-forgotten past!" She smiles, her tail wagging. "Man, what a shame you weren't here with us, we found a weird box-like thing that can print out paintings just by the press of its button too! What about you guys?" She asks, completely obvious to what's going on in the other room.
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."
Almost instantly as Maya steps out from Room 2, she suddenly felt the doors permanently close shut on her coupled with a metallic noise coming from the back. What the-?! Did those two trap her son in there so they could finish him off?! She starts pounding on the door in anger. "AH! OPEN THE DOOR!" She screams furiously as she slams her fists repeatedly on the door to no avil, fearing that they might kill her son despite his best efforts to ensure not only their own safety, but for theirs too.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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)
Upon hearing the male kitsune's harsh response, I flinched slightly, even though I was already expecting them to criticize my own safety measures. But in actual seriousness, if me and Okaa-san stayed here in Lancea for at least two months, we would have both been able to grasp the basics of Lancean life. Then again, it sounds like I was talking to myself there, but even so, that doesn't mean I need to step up my game and be a few steps ahead of them.
"Prihyeh is a region, we came from Sekuris, a country in Prihyeh," Mihoko says.
When Renar tells them that Maya speaks a 'forbidden' language, Mihoko tenses up and Rei growls. "Is this a joke? Because this isn't funny, alright?"He says.
I twist my face into another snarl, as if I appeared to be unperturbed by his hostile tone, even though I slightly am. "Well excuse for trying to at least clarify about Sekurisu... or Priyeh... or whatever. Look, if I was clowning around, I wouldn't have warned you about her inability to speak the language, let alone the dire situation we're attempting to prevent right now, would I? Maya was in the same state as you for around the same time. She never found the knowledge needed to learn the language when was captured. And now, I'm doing my best to help her learn everything. In fact, even as of now, I haven't cracked a smile in like... almost 400 years of my life drowned in seriousness and sorrow. I don't believe that there's anything in this world to be happy about; I never wanted to release you two from stasis. She did. Despite everything I could protest to her, she insists that through peaceful means, you two would be able to at least come to a reasonable stance and work together to defeat a threat even the two of us hate. And, despite having reasonable points that we're willing to listen to, with those sour attitudes of yours, you're already creating a rift between the four of us, plus those you haven't met." I then shift my tone as I change topics, or at least try to deflect their own words towards the current scenario. "One of you said "the world would change drastically, and so does their culture and traditions too", didn't you? Guess what? You're right in a negative sense; Your culture and traditions? Gone. Almost Forgotten.Your kind? Stamped out. The new government that formed after the dissolution of this USL crap? They don't care about this matter anymore. They don't care about you, or your race. They just want you gone. You guys know the backstory don't you?! Right now... All they care about.... All they care about right is this useless tussle for power between this stupid People's Army and..." I take a moment to breathe heavily. "...And whatever Duke Elmar's side is. I don't care much about it. But what I care about is that Golarion or Toril threat that I'm aiming to stop from wreaking havoc. As much as you hate seeing them persist like invasive species setting up their cults of influences however they like. Besides, have you heard of this... Adelaide... person before? She's apparently trying to find the artefact and sow chaos, but I'm not sure if she's with the USL or not."
Rei shifts the subject, "I know what Golarion is... and Toril too! They were the reason why the USL government was formed in the first place. They used to plunder our lands, kill our goblinoids, and slay our dragons, they are nothing but savages who only know how to destroy cultures, peoples, and histories, and I think you might be one of them. Since the first thing you did after we woke up was to demand that we conform to our way of thinking, how about you listen to my demand instead."
These two seems like they'd enjoy a huge, verbal war with me at the moment. I'm well aware it's like two against one; Their beliefs are theirs to protect. I won't complain about that, nor I will argue against it. I've got my own beliefs too in the Sword Coast that I want to protect too. What I can't stand though is how distrustful they're becoming "My point exactly. I'm aware you two are not cowards. And neither me or Maya are either. We swore to fight till our dying breaths, as much as your kin believes too. But that doesn't we become mindless barbaric beasts that prey on other's lives. Yes I know you're scared of us; We're scared of you too. But we didn't come here to scorn you of your heritage or whatnot. Now I'm saying that this is not the best time to bring this up, especially when you've only just came out of stasis, oblivious of what else the world has to offer. If you guys are only just gonna brute force your way out of things, you're only gonna hinder yourselves more. Sometimes it's better to stay in the shadows, gathering intel from our enemies, before we strike our targets. That's partially the aim of disguising."
He points at Maya, "For starters, speak Lancean. I know we've lost thousands of years of our cultures and histories to both the USL government and the savages, but still, you have to play by the rules. Everyone speaks this language, so you should do the same, don't let anyone hear that language ever again!"
He points at Renar, "Second, get rid of that hood and show your ears and tail. Hiding our heritage is our greatest shame, not just to us kitsunes, but to everyone else too. If you comply, I will come with you, but the moment you show your savagery, I will reveal to everyone where you actually came from, understood?" He barks.
"Sorry... but it has to be this way,"Mihoko whispers from behind the fox boy.
I dismissively wave my hand at Suzuki-kun when he tried to speak to Okaa-san. "Don't bother. She's not gonna understand you, let alone respond. I told her to keep her mouth shut since she cannot fully speak the language yet. You guys kill me and leave her with the group, and she will never develop that knowledge. I'm the only one so far who's able to assist with her Lancean development. We haven't made any progress yet, since we were caught in a scuffle. But I'm doing my best for her. It at least shows that I'm not as selfish as those USL jerks that mistreated all of us in the past." I then grit my teeth in anger. No way I'm letting myself and Okaa-san blow our covers especially considering that there's no chance in hell that us Torilians will be liked anymore despite our peaceful methods. The rage inside me boils; Like a volcano, the rage that bubbles inside me like magma spews from my mouth as I unconsciously state another case of my own... "Hiding your heritage from other to you is a shame, sure. I won't argue with that. But if there's anything that I deem more shameful than what you said... it's being bullied and discriminated for embracing it... for over 4 centuries. You don't think me and Maya-san had a luscious life of our own? We didn't! Whatever world you experienced with your lively culture, it wasn't the same for us. Things have rapidly changed in the blink of an eye. Both me and that poor lady, when people saw us in the past, we were both unwanted by others; Shunned from all directions. Even as we said nothing and minded our own business. Often when we try to explain that we're not kitsune but just regular fox shifters, we both suffered physical abuse before the USL struck unlike you two. She told me as well, before I found her. In the leadup years when I finally was able to be left uninterrupted by many, I was forced to accept that, 'to punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself'. You know... if it wasn't for this lady here, I would not have learnt and honoured about the Lancean pacifist law you know that?! I had no mother or father to grow up under, to teach me these things; I was all alone. Maya was too apparently, before I met her. Now, she is the closest to being a mother-figure to me!"I stopped myself there upon speaking the last sentence. Crap. I realised if I kept ranting on about our own percept that they cannot understand, I might just add fuel to the fire and push them further away from us. I'm not good with words, so to see them get infuriated over something I'm trying to clarify without accidentally unveiling our lethal origins is a red flag that needs to be prevented. As much as wanting to stop whatever crisis from destroying this entire world too...
"My friends, do you fly away now? To a world that abhors you and I? All that awaits us is a somber morrow. No matter where the winds may blow."I wasn't sure if they'd get the reference but... Whatever trace of hope inside left has long left; Not even the thought of Okaa-san, Rixi or Yurime looking on me is enough to elude the darkness clouding up in me as of now as I arch my head down in disgust. "Useless rantings aside, I... I was hoping that... other than you guys just aiming to preserve your long lost culture and rid the worlds of Golarion, Toril and the USL altogether, well... I was hoping that... you'd become mine and Maya's first friends, in almost 400 years. You two even look like you're fit to be in a relationship since you two are close to each other. But... with that first impression of yours turning our current situation ever more volatile, I'm already starting to bubble second thoughts." I then gaze at them with my most unfriendly stare to convey I'm being serious, or at least, persuade them I'm trying to what's right for this world, but then, seeing that I'm still gripped onto my katana, I let go of its sheath and hold my hands up. Even as I notices Suzuki-kun gripping onto his Nodachi, I remain calm and stoic as I take another deep breath and speak calmly again. "I had no intentions of starting a fight with you two, and I'm sure Maya never had any either to begin with either. If you don't want us to change sides and fuel a potential multiversal war between Lancea and Golarion, start by not revealing our disguises until I say it's safe to do so, and also respect our decisions as much as you want us to respect yours. It's the least you could do to ensure everyone else's safety, let alone their trust, as much as ours. Reality is a lot complicated than you two think. One person's happiness like yours means another person's unhappiness like ours. Certain kinds of happiness can only be gained from competing or taking someone else's lives, culture or freedom. There can never be a world where everyone will stay happy, let alone satisfied with they way things are." I then walk off, unfazed about Mihoko-san putting a pipe between the doors to lock out whoever is screaming from the outside. I can hear Okaa-san, but the other one with the weird accent? Who is that?
"And by the way..."I speak in a quieter tone. "...It's not that me and Maya are refusing to adapt. Right now, we may not look like it but... we're taking your words into consideration. Yes we will reveal our true forms in the future. Yes we are doing our best to conform again slowly, but we can't do so instantly right now since we only just met. We are doing our best to adapt; You just can't see it. It's just that... we can't adapt or trust as fast as you two can. Whilst we are both from Sekuris too..." Except not really, I think. "...For us, it would take at least a month or so before we can open up to others without suffering from discrimination again. Hence why I said we're disguised." I continue to walk away to reunite with the rest, but not before glaring at them one last time, as I am reminded of what those creepy mushroom guys said to me before they left us alone. "We're doing everything we can to make sure your people don't suffer anymore and you kitsunes can live the rest of your lives in harmony, even vowing to sacrifice our wellbeing if the decision comes for it. We had a choice to attack you, to injure you, to try and figure out this whole ice pick lobotomy and help this Vuji-ka transfer you to another place. Yet... we chose not to, hence why we're still here and not at Paulis' place. We're not here to make your enemies, rather wee hoped for he opposite, even if I appear to be misunderstood as I speak. If you guys still insist on being stubborn foxes and refuse to cooperate with us two and the group we're currently in to save your own world, just say the three words: "I don't care." We'll leave you two be to find your own way to the surface. To leave you guys be so you can live however you want in a world you're unfamiliar with, filled with threats that you guys alone cannot handle. Just don't expect us to come saving your butts when your powers get extracted to help build the USL army. Because by then, our decision to free you would have turned into a regret that we ourselves never wanted to hold." I then slash down the pipe in half with a lightning infused Inazuma and burst open the door with a kick before I stormed out of the second room with a super sullen expression.
*Persuasion: 17; Dice roller is bugged just so you know*
If anyone asks: "Sorry for earlier... But... I still advise you not go in there. Trust me: You don't want to know. Tell me when you're ready to move. I'm just gonna sit in a corner and plan our next move whilst the other boys figure out the password. Don't approach me."
First those slimes, and now those Kitsunes... seriously all I'm trying to do is make myself and Okaa-san comfortable in a world where we're not wanted and without violence. I wasn't trying to disagree on their opinions. Do people really just hate us because we're trying to get used to this stupid, so called 'paradise'?! Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut again and let those two plus everyone that we've met suffer for all they care... Those guys plus USL unifying over such things that I can identify... Order, security, peace, freedom... They're not going to matter if they cannot work together to bring stability; They're not going to matter if this entire Sword Coast and Golarion matter can't be prevented. It seems like whatever disaster with Toril or Golarion they had that stems from almost ten thousand years back, it has scarred pretty much the majority of the population...
Mira
"Hey Venet? Are you even-" Maya wanted to ask her, only to hear a sudden creak in the door plus Maya screaming to open the door up to let Renar out. She presses on the door and finds that someone locked it. "That little rat...! It must be Renar who locked the door ain't it! He's hiding something! HEY! OPEN UP OR WE'LL COAT YOUR ENTIRE DISGUISE IN ICE OR FIRE OR WHATEVER! JUST OPEN UP YOU DIM WITTED ODDBALL!"
"Sooo.... What's going on in there, Maya? You look worried?"
"It must be Renar who locked the door! Do you have anything you can use to bust it down?! We're staging the raid this instant!" Mira snarls furiously, oblivious as to what was going on. But then she freezes.
"Wait... v-v-viruses? For war?"Mira asks stunned. "What are you getting onto...?"
However, unless if Venet responds, her question remains unanswered when she hears the sound of a metal pipe splitting into two, plus Renar storming out of the room with a sour look. "Alright, fess up, oddball. What did you- Hey?!" Mira yells as she gets outright ignored. She then gives Maya a rather bewildered stare. What did they actually see that neither hersefl nor the rest want to know about? "Aren't you gonna do something about him? Seriously what's up with your 'guardian's' behaviour?!"Mira asks Maya as she points to him. She look at Venet, wondering if they should really bust down the door for real to see what those two have hidden, though she thinks that might leave her open to Maya if she does. Unless of course... if Maya cannot understand her or anyone besides him... She won't know what she would be up to next... right?
Shugo simply smiles at Mira, "What makes you say that? We are perfectly fine. But yes, like Venet said, it looks like whoever set all this up was bio-engineering viruses to use as weapons."
He walks away without farther explanation, and almost runs over Elsa. "Oh Geeze I'm sorry." He says as he stumbles backward, letting the fox girl pass by. He smiles and cocks his head at Simo, completely ignoring the boy's rudeness. "Well I guess the air in your room tasted better than ours." Turning around, he moves to see what Elsa has, "Wow, it looks like you all hit the jackpot. There wasn't much in our room, just a bunch of notes about viruses and some cages with dead animals."
He glances up towards Renar when he storms out of the room. Man, what ruffled his feathers? He's tempted to check on whatever is going on in room 2, but again there's already a lot of folks over there. He may as well let them handle it...for now.
Alex smiles at Elsa and Simo, "A box that makes paintings! That's so cool! ...was it too big to take with us?"
"We found a giant... uh... magnet thing. It is way too big to try and carry though. I think we also found our password." He explains the notes they found and everything.
Looking back to Renar, he still seems a bit confused about the 'changeling's actions. He seems a little disappointed when Renar further pushes everyone away by telling them not to approach him. What happened in that room that set him off like this? Well, going and looking in there after he asked them not to won't help anything, so Alex will focus on helping the others solve the password.
Unsure of what to do next especially when caught of guard at Renar storming out of the place, Maya immediately moves in front of the door to safeguard the place. "Uh... Renar-kun? Daijoubu desu-ka? (大丈夫ですか, Are you okay?)"She tries to call out, only to be flat out ignored... Wait... wasn't her son supposed to guard those two from...these guys? What made him change his mind? And why? Also... her now disguised face twists into one with concern upon noticing the other two ladies with jaw-dropped expression on their faces... And then her fox ears twitch upon realising something...
Wait... one of those document that Renar read to her in Japanese... didn't it explain what those kitsunes are and why they are supposed to be captured? And is Mira holding onto that one note right now? Didn't her sons specifically told her not to unveil... what's... in... Oh no...
Sharpening her claws upon realising her son's blunder, Maya suddenly gets into a defensive stance and snarls at the ladies who are not distracted with the password in case they dare to barge into the room hiding their special secret... If she could speak Lancean she would have warned them not to go in herself, but she can't.
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)
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Whilst her son is distracted with the control panel, Maya's short attention span make her redirect her seemingly blind gaze towards the two lockers that have the same numbers as the stasis chambers. She stares at the contents as if she was gazing into some mirror or some sort, before curiously unwrapping a neatly folded kimono coming from Mihoko's stash. That seems like standard Japanese kimono to her as her fox ears twitch. Also, the contents of the mal appears to be more intriguing... She pulls out... A nodachi?! Isn't that... that's the greatsword of the katanas isn't it? That was the sword that her daughter couldn't use because it was too heavy for her. As of this, she's definitely curiously about where they got all of the Japanese trinkets, at least, until she hears something... Her attention then turns towards her screaming son as she looks back. Huh? What is he screaming about? Oh! The kitsunes! They're alive! New fox friends! She initially wears a massive smile on her face as she waves towards them... only to realises why her son is currently cowering in fear: They're both naked. And before she knows it, she too, is wearing a massive, embarrassed expression on her pretty face complete with a cherry on top blush.
"AAAAAHHH! Musuko no mae de hayamete kudasai! (あああ! 息子の前ではやめてください, Not in front of my son, please!)" She screams too as she carries their kimonos and dahes to them. Instinctively pulling out the clothes from the lockers that contained Rei and Mihoko's belongings, she rushes to the naked foxes before she force dresses the two of them in panic, never mind the fact that the boy himself is literally resisting to wear both layers of his clothes. Once she's done, she stands besides her embarrassed son as she awkwardly bows back whilst she strokes his back to remind him that they're not naked anymore. Almost forgot that her son cannot handle girls properly, especially if they become too seductive... Then again, the boy seems handsome enough for her to stare at his body whilst she tried to force dress him twice...
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)
(Not sure why DDB took my last post out of the spoiler...-_- Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter.)
"Yes." Shugo responds, "But like I said, I don't know for sure...I-I think I have a way to find out, but I don't want to do it now. Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here. Besides, so far I don't seem to have the symptoms." He smiles, "Your right, if they did finish this...experiment, there should be a cure somewhere. Just not here apparently."
"Thank you." He replies when she states she won't tell the others.
He pauses for a moment, hesitating at the door as he was about to open it for Venet. "Actually, could I have that note back? I...I think I should show it to my father the next time I see him." Assuming she gives him the note, the elf stows that in his pocket along with the card-like device.
Once outside the door, he smiles at Kas, "Did you check on the others too? Any of em look like they need help?"
"I'm not a fan of that flag either," Alex chuckles as Maya talks about wanting to burn it. "But honestly I don't see much of a point in burning it. It's a representation of all things evil, yes, but it's still a piece of history. Burning it doesn't change anything, especially not here outside of a festival where no one can see or celebrate its downfall." He hesitates, "Yeah, it is pretty... uh... Ominous I guess that this is still around. And to think, we've only seen one room... I mean seriously Chlorine gas? Whatever these long dead jerks were up to here it defiantly wasn't just bad, it was horrific." He shakes his head, watching as Mira punches in the date.
"What is it?" he asks, finding himself rather embarrassed that he hasn't really found much of use. Even his shot in the dark about the date being the password was... well, unsurprisingly incorrect. He quickly attempts to sound the letters (if I counted correctly it's 341, but I might have counted wrong...), and he shares the number with her before they head out.
"Activate the... what?" Alex says in shock, looking to Mira with wide eyes before an awkward smile creeps onto his face as he realizes that she's joking... well, he thinks she's joking anyways. "Renar? Oh... wait huh?" He seems... actually confused about people thinking Maya acts like she's Renar's mom. Well, she kind of does now that he thinks about it, but... well maybe she's just really missing her actual son... If Renar was her real son, then why would she lie about it and still try to look for her own son? But then again, Renar does know that weird language Maya uses. He shakes his head, "I... well, I talked to Renar about that a while back. He said he is a changeling, and... well I always thought it was weird that he keeps his face hidden as if he doesn't want to be recognized even though he could just change his appearance if he wants to. He seemed... kinda touchy about it so I didn't want to push him. As for Maya, she's looking for her son, so maybe she just dotes on him because he reminds her or her son? I... feel really bad for her, especially since... well she's--" He stops himself from saying that Maya is a kitsune, since... well, Mira doesn't know that and they are supposed to keep that a secret. He'd almost said that he feels bad since they don't even know if her real son is actually alive somewhere. They don't even know where Maya came from, or when the last time she saw her son was. ...Maybe he'll have to ask Renar if he knows anything later. Since he can understand her, maybe they can find out a bit more about how she survived when all of the other kitsunes died out. Quickly, he says instead, "Renar is just shy, and I think he has trouble trusting. I know I trust too easily, and... well I trust my whole party, but... well I trust him in spite of his odd excuses. He'll open up eventually, we just can't push him too much."
He looks towards the door, "Well, on that note... shall we head out? Maybe we should make sure that Renar and Maya are aware of the chlorine gas threat."
He'll lead the way out of the room, and into room 2 if Maya and Renar haven't come out yet, stopping briefly to check on Kaz and ask if anything has happened since they've gone in. Have any of the others completed their search yet?
Mira
Mira easily attunes herself to the young boy's worries as she pats him on the shoulder. The thought of trusting the entire group isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's something she herself adores too. "Oh please. You'll be fine my young one. Trusting the entire party sure is a bad thing on some occasion, but that's what I adore from you: A boy with a heart. That's all I would love to see from you. From anyone actually. And who cares if that Renar person's a changeling? He needs to know that whatever disguise he's hiding underneath his hood, he can't conceal himself for long, because the truth will eventually catch up to bite him and that... fox lady." She knows that Alex wanted to say kitsune as he cuts off. "I know. Kitsune. I'm still not convinced that Maya lady is a fake; Some instincts tell me she is a kitsune except morphed as a human rather than the actual fox-faced ones I once knew. But... if she dotes on him then..." She sniffs the place for no reason. "...Who knows. Maybe one day, after a lot of patience, we could perhap know more of their whereabouts and what not. But not for now... I don't even understand what the lady is saying half the time either."
As Alex also points out the potential answer to the passcode, Mira nods back in thanks but then frowns when Alex mentions. "The thing is, before my mother raised me to become her next heir, I was in the same state as Mr Oddball. Shy, isolated, distrustful, it's mainly because when I was young, I was never surrounded by nice people other than my adopted mother, Miranda and the siblings she had sired before me." She wipes a tear off her left eye. "I was all alone, weak and sickly since she took me into my care, only to be surrounded by other nobles who were of different races and are a lot stronger and more ruthless than me; My distrust stemmed from their constant harassment. If it wasn't for my adoptive mother, my siblings and my biological parents, who has now passed away, I probably would have turned insane... And missed my chance to meet an empathetic soul like you too. I owe them lot more than they owe me..." This must have hurt her so bad, judging by the fact that she's struggling to hold her tears. But she does suck it up before she bounces back (literally) and follows Alex. "But yeah, enough talk. And thank you, for your unending selflessness. I would love to see that metaphorical flower of yours blossom into something greater than you can imagine yourself. We should inform the rest of what we saw. No point in leaving stones unturned for any longer. I hope they haven't activated something that could trigger the chlorine trap too..." She then follows Alex into Room 2 as he approaches the entrance and knocks on the door. She doesn't really pay much attention to Kaz for the moment.
"Oi! You two oddballs finished? We're all just about waiting on you two, you know? Unless if you have anything to fess up right now, then spit it out!"
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)
Room 2
"Oh..." Both of them look at their body, Maya hands out their clothes and they quickly put them on. Rei takes his odachi and slings it behind his back, and Mihoko wears her pendant.
The duo narrow their eyes in suspicion when Renar tells them he doesn't know the time. "Huh... you seriously don't know what year it is?" Rei's ears twitch and he face-paws, "Shepherd above... you two are so immature."
"Don't be too hard on them, Rei. We know the world would change drastically, and so does their culture and traditions too." Mihoko pats his arm, "Speaking of which... Is that a new language? Doesn't sound like anything I've heard before, must be a language isolate, did the world develop new languages when we were sealed?"
After getting the answer, Mihoko nods and continues. "As you can already guess by the room you're standing in right now, we were Vujica's test subjects." She looks down, her tails stop swaying. "She kept us in this facility to train us and perform her experiments, mostly relating to her 'Domestication' programme."
"Basically eugenics," Rei adds.
"She goes around and kidnaps people, mostly those with 'unusual' magic or physical powers, then she forces us to fight each other and do some... enrichment activities. Anyone who doesn't comply gets an ice pick to their face, paralysing them for the rest of their lives. She also does this with animals, but on a much larger scale, the main door upstairs leads to a stasis chamber like this one but for animals, and there is also an exit to the surface." Mihoko explains.
Wait, ice pick to the face? That's how lobotomy is performed. Maybe Adelaide and Vujica have some connections with each other: both of them kidnap people and torture them for fun, both of them have a long history of animal abuse, and both of them use lobotomy to punish people.
The kitsune lady continues, "Before we got sealed, Vujica mentioned to us all that she would head to the North Pole to find the artefact, she kept saying 'it will make everyone's lives better.' Seems like she knew what it was, but she never told us or anyone about it."
"I know it's been a while, but I think she's still alive somewhere," Rei adds, shuffling his feet. "She's an elf, they can live up to 7,000 years old or older. Even if it's been thousands of years as you say, and—"
Your ears twitch, and you hear the sounds of knocking on the door. Mihoko steps behind Rei, who slowly pulls his odachi from his back.
"That's a friend of yours, right?" Rei looks back at Renar.
"H-hey!" Kazimieras nervously waves back at Shugo and Venet. "Uh... Simo and Renar are taking a bit too long." You see Alex and Mira from the corner of your eyes, both of them beeline toward Room 2 "But I don't hear any sound of fighting or anything like that, so, uh. I think they're fine, for now..."
"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
Renar
I let off a massive sigh as Okaa-san quickly drapes their oriental clothing around those two. What a relief. I can't even stand the thought of having to be seduced all over again like the female kitsunes I saw in Japan... "Arigato... Okaa-san..." I then whip my head towards the confused kitsune before I make a quick recap of what I said earlier as my tail shudders.
"Ok so... in a nutshell, you guy have been imprisoned for over 8000 years tops, the war in Lanca has long been dead, we don't know who won the fight but, your entire race has been wiped out in the process and now, as I speak, we are surrounded by people, once they recognise you as the last kitsune survivors, that are out for your blood. Enough said!" I tried to explain in panic as I pant in exhaustion. Sheesh these two are almost no different to the goons me and Okaa-san are teaming up with. But then they mention the strange language that me and Okaa-san spoke. Oh yeah, even these guys don't know Japanese, despite appearing to be so themselves... "Look uh, no, everyone's speaking Lancean as usual. Except for her though. As for the language this lady here is speaking, it turns out that she's speaking some uh... forbidden language that only I can understand. Nowadays people who speak these types other than Lancean would have been killed on the spot. It's amazing how she managed to survive on her own, though when I found her." I'm honestly super nervous about dealing with our... um... 'cousins' from Lancea. But even more so, I was even more nervous yet astonished myself when I saw Suzuki-kun hold up... wait...
"Wait... your sword... is that a nodachi?!" I point to Suzuki-kun's massive curved sword in shock. How is he doing this...? He looks so frail and skinny just like I am yet he's effortlessly holding the unwieldy weapon up with just one arm? Yikes... I've yet to see him in combat for sure. They say he has super strength so if he can make powerful cuts with that massive, unwieldy blade of his, I wouldn't even stand a chance against him. And Mihoko-san... she's a healer, but would she even be able to compete, let alone cooperate with Okaa-san at this point? "Um... you guys are from uh... what was the name... Priyeh... right? I mean... we're from there too... and so is someone in our group. Thing is, he wouldn't take your appearance lightly like us..."
Noticing that I was feeling super uncomfortable at the moment, I hear them talking about Vuji-ka Simic herself, how she used them as test subjects, how she wants to extract their powers too. But the ice pick lobotomy? Is that how Adelaide lobotomizes them?! That's so messed up "Yeah... it does sounds awful, we agree. Besides, in a way, the two of us have ended up in similar state like you two, so we can kind of understand how you felt, but not fully." Also, she does that to animals too? "Yikes! How insane can society get?! This is just forced cruelty right here! We can't stand for this as much as you two do!" But then Watase-san... Mihoko, mentions that Vuji-ka is after the artefact too? What?! Oh crap... first Stupid Rixi, and now her? This has become a massive conundrum...
"What a coincidence." I huff as I crossed my arms and sway my tail. "My group is after the artefact too, but for a different reason. Right now, there's this oathbroken paladin who has the same goals as us. Except that, he claims that once he gets to it, he'll do something other than to make everyone's lives better, as your kidnapper proclaims. He'll use it to open some gate... I don't know, but basically, he want to let this world called Golarion into Lancea. From what we've gathered it seems that Golarion is incredibly hostile; If he reaches the artefact before we do, it could spell future disaster for the entirety of Lancea." I then squint with worry in my face; I deliberately didn't mention our actual motive with the artefact is because I know they won't understand that we're also facing another war on the Sword Coast. "Do any of you know what Golarion is? And whether or not you do, me and this lady here... um... we ask that, even though your kind is extinct, we ask that you help us prevent this disaster from ever happening, so that you two especially, can live normal lives again without being subjected to constant threat. That's all we're asking from you. We're asking to build an alliance together, now that you two appear to be alive and well-"
I then hear someone pounding on our door as I hear Okaa-san let off a light squeal. "Who's there?!" I yell. I hope it's not the USL bakas coming here to assault us! And if they ever barge into our sector, that's it. There goes those two for sure. I don't even trust my groupmates long enough to let them lay their eyes on these two, let alone defend them until they are able to cope with the new society again. I better do something fast...
"My friends? Well, that's what one of them proclaims at least... You two! Stay there with Maya!" I hiss as I put back my hood on my head and slip my white fox tail back into the rear of my jacket. "Okaa-san! Make sure they don't do any nasty behind my back! If they try to do so, don't hesitate to stop them. We need to keep them alive and under our protection!" I then point to the two of them with a hostile, serious look, though as I turn to Mihoko-san... I... I couldn't help but blush. "Ok. Listen up: If you two want to survive under our watch, here are two other things we need you to follow: Since your race is now under threat, you two need to maintain a low profile; find disguises of your own if you want to blend in with the crowd; If they even find out due to even one dead physical giveaway, they won't hesitate to slaughter you, just for who you are. Stay hidden for as much as you can from them until I give the signal to move. And two..."
I then change my voice to a super aggressive one, to convey how serious I am about this matter. "DON'T! Mention! Anything...! About my fox ears and tail EVEN ONCE! They already saw Maya's, but as for mine, I hope to remain undercover for as long as I can. If they ask about my appearance, just say that I'm just a boring, anti-social, yet-to-get-a-life changeling, working to guard this fox lady here until she reunites WITH HER SON. That's it. We don't take traitors lightly either. You turn against either me or this lady here even once, and we won't hesitate to lash out in retaliation. I hope you've understood how serious I am. Oh yeah... three: Don't mess the control panel. I don't want anyone dying under the influence of chlorine gas." I then race towards the front door, but then stop and turn my head back, after realising that they've introduced themselves and we haven't.
"Sigh... before you ask though... I'm Renar. And that kitsune lady, her name's Maya... um..." I wanted to say Kurosaki but given the current circumstances, It's best to leave it out. "Um... yeah. That's Maya. Don't bother talking to her as I said. She's not gonna understand. But she'll be there to ensure your safety for now... until I come back." I then bolt off for real as...
I peek my head out of the door that we came from, but not before making sure that they cannot see my fox ears and tail again under my disguise... Wait... Alex and Mira? What they doing on our doorstep? "Yes? What do you guys need from us?" I answer back with an unenthusiastic tone to not make it look like I'm trying to hide something. "We're just finishing up; Nothing much other than random notes of someone... I mean, we'll talk about her later. I hope you're not intending to set off the chlorine gas in the room we're in?"
Mira
The bunny girl jolts when Renar peeks his head out, but then relaxes. "Oh! Um... well... you two are taking a suspiciously long time to continue your search. Alex especially is worried sick for some reason I cannot explain." She scratches her head, wondering if she could ask them on what they saw in there. "Um... oh. So you know about the chlorine gas too, huh? Lucky we didn't trigger it in our room, otherwise you two would have died. And let me guess: You saw Vujica Simic as well too, right? Is that the lady you are mentioning? If so, then yeah. Same for us. Plus some interesting tech in our room that you might like. Unless if you saw something else too...?"
Renar
I squint my eyes in disgust as my response. Sheesh. Do these guys have to be so nosy at this point in time? "Look, we're just about to finish up on our duties that's all. We didn't fid anything personal so no point in going into our room... for now. I'll get Maya-san to come up here in a while if... uh... if you leave us be for another 10 minutes" I noticed neither of them didn't budge though after hearing my explanations, which is a literal concern, seeing that me and Okaa-san now have two special people to protect. Damn it... I need to keep up the facade for as long as I can... what have us actual kitsune have gotten ourselves into-?! I then twist my face into a snarl. It seems that Plan A, peaceful negotiations to leave didn't work. Time for Plan B: Intimidation. "What?! What else do you want from us?! There's nothing of value in our room besides the Vuji-ka notes Maya-san is currently holding! Why do you insist on invading our personal space! Let us finish our investigation for crying out loud! Or are we the last ones to finish is that why?!"
Deception: 18
*I'll let Alex do his part before Renar goes mental over hiding his new treasure; Also, love the Leon Trotsky ice pick reference*
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)
Alex gives a bit of a jolt when Mira still seems to believe (rightly) that Maya is a kitsune even though she doesn't look like one... How did she catch on so fast? Should he be worried? But then she dives into her own story which... well it catches Alex by surprise when she reveals so much about herself. No one else in the party has done anything like that so far, so it is kind of a shock to him. Regardless, he smiles and rubs the back of his neck as he says, "I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm glad things are looking up for you..." He gives an awkward chuckle, "I... uh... well, thanks..." He seems rather embarrassed for some reason, likely because of Mira's earlier words 'thats what I adore from you: a boy with a heart'. But he quickly brushes that embarrassment away as they make their way back out.
"Wait what?" Alex says, raising his hands when Mira says that he was worried sick for some reason. "I... I wasn't worried. Renar and Maya can handle themselves perfectly fine... I mean... I wasn't not worried... I just... well I wasn't worried sick..." He trails off, averting his eyes for a moment before shaking his head and changing the subject. "Well, apparently the Chlorine gas is connected to your room and this room... the lobby if that's what this is right? If we get the password in here wrong, then the gas will be released." He heads over to the door, attempting to peek in, "Find anything uh... well, I don't want to say 'cool' cause none of this is really cool, but... well, find anything interesting in there? Anything useful?" Then he pulls back when Renar gets defensive for... well, as far as he can tell absolutely no reason.
"Uh... personal space? Are... you alright Renar?" He says, actual concern lacing his voice. Wait... why does Renar need personal space with Maya? Now that Mira has brought it to his attention how close these two seem to be, it really doesn't make any sense... well, it makes sense for Maya, but why is Renar so attached to her? Why is he suddenly so defensive about... having personal time with her?
Insight: 1
He takes note of Shugo and Venet, who've also exited their room, then looks back at the incensed 'changeling' and says, "No... you aren't the last ones. Simo's group haven't come back either. But... are you sure you're alright? You seem... upset about something." He's not sure why Renar would be so angry about them checking in. What's the harm in helping each other out if they finished first?
"Yeah, you can have it back." She hands it back to Shugo.
She frowns. "Renar stop being weird! We get attacked every couple hours, we have every right to be worried!"
Renar
Hmm... It seems like my tactic of pushing them away is sort of working but... As I squint again, why do I feel like Alex is acting way too soft? I could definitely hear some chatter from the other side but I can't make up most of it other than the chlorine gas thingy even as I open the door. "I'm aware. I found a note on my end saying if the wrong passcode is punched in thrice, then this room itself will kill us. I hope you didn't make any mistake on your side did you- wait. Is there another chlorine trap outside?! Linked to ours?!" And Thing is I never even got an answer to that, because the next thing I notice, other than a very furious rabbit girl is... Alex blushing?! What? I don't like s the looks of this for sure. Even as I sort of edge out more I'm more worried about our two kitsunes survivors being put under discrimination if these two are to find out. And... What the-?!
"What? I didn't say anything wrong, did... I..." All of a sudden, I turn red and widen my eyes in horror over my choice of words. Damn it! Now he thinks Iist be getting intimate with my own mother isn't he?! That wasn't what I meant, crap! Better think of something fast...! "NO I- Uh... I mean... What I meant was um... The two of us... We're still investigating; The personal space I meant was... um... We never intend to invade your area, so it's only fair if you reciprocate that to us. Um... also... We have encountered stuff... That you're uh, best off not seeing. Basically uh, there are butchered races of all kinds... Uh... Bloodied limbs, skeletons, faeces, rotten flesh... You two aren't contempt with this sort of stuff are you? If so then it's best not to enter our domain for now. Even Maya's freaking out at the moment..." Yikes. I came here to try and stall those obnoxious two and I nearly ended up adding fuel to the fire instead with my ridiculous choice of language. I'm such an idiot. But these guys are right... We've been investigating for a while already. So maybe it's time we regroup and show ourselves and our info. I wonder what the other three groups have found out...?
"Um, if you guys want, I'll get Maya to retrieve the info we've gathered and show it to you whilst I finalize that everything inside has been searched. I hope you don't mind that. And please stay outside. You're safer out here than in there. I'll be back in 10 minutes tops." Regardless of their response, I quickly close the door as I turn to Mihoko, Rei and Maya, but then eye Okaa-san with a worried glance as I hand her the documents and she leaves...
"Okaa-san. They need you. Go. I'll catch up with these two later." I told her as she leaves and... What the-?! Kitsune masks? Seriously, Okaa-san? This may have helped in the Sword Coast but it definitely won't be of any use here. I then turn to the two who have put on these masks that I always wear and take of my hood for now. 'Yeah uh, that probably might not work, considering that your current clothing and tails are the biggest dead giveaway... Are you able to furl your tails into a single one? Did Maya show you how she did it? Regardless, you're pretty much gonna have to tag along with those two people that I chatted with, except we're also trying to ensure your safety too.When I say so, you move with me, but we stay behind this door away from the others until either myself or Maya gives the signal to go. Understood?"
Overall, I thought my teammates would have to deal with a huge weight on their shoulders. But after meeting these two survivors, it seems that me and Okaa-san are in fact carrying a heavier weight under our weakened, metaphorical ones instead...
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)
Feeling utterly helpless even as her son tells her to keep watch on the new kitsune pals, Maya just... stands awkwardly in her spot in absolute silence. Already aware that attempting to talk to her new companions in her own language would be futile, the human-like kitsune instead tries to resort to another form of communication instead: Sign language. Or at least, to her, simple gestures about what she intends to relay to them... starting with disguises.
Staring at Mihoko's tail, or rather, Tails, she points to them as if she's trying to get her attention, before she unfurls her own single one out of her current disguise. Making some gestures with her clawed hands, sort of like a "Can you hide your..." gesture before she points to her own tail again; As she points, her tail briefly splits into 9 separate ones of her own, displaying her status as one of them, before she repeats the gesture, and furls her nine tails back into a single one. That way, people are more likely to assume that these two are regular shifters rather than the now extinct fox folk that the people possibly hate to this day.
The other problems are their faces and fox-like feet; Unlike Maya herself and her son, Mihoko and Rei have a full, fox-like face plus four digit fox toes each. Unless if they have face masks or closed shoes of their own, let alone a way to shapeshift into something more humanoid, this would spell trouble at an instant. Right now if her son was still in this section of the room she'd ask him on what should they wear to better conceal their fox-like appearances if it wasn't for whoever is distracting him from that. For now though, she'll attempt her own methods of innovation: She fondles with her purse, hidden deep inside her obscure cloak, and pulls out two kitsune masks, one of which she uses to demonstrate on how to wear them on their faces. Once done she passes one mask each to the two of them so that they can put them on to better conceal their faces if they choose to, before she gestures to them (With effort plus a bunch of fox yelps) in a way in which that the mask will help conceal their faces. As for their feet, well, that would have be left with Renar when he comes back...
Also, she could sense their unending nervousness building up, especially when Rei himself withdraws, or rather, Mihoko does so too, but even further back. Steeling herself, she approaches the two of them as she lays a claw on their shoulders each before smiling gently; Her non-verbal way of saying "Don't worry. You two will be ok, under our watch. We never mean any harm." Almost as if she was their adoptive mother in a way. But then... As she jolts in surprise upon Renar's return... she turns back in shock and prepares to hear the results...
Huh? They want her? That's it? Seriously? After all of this chatter to stall them?! She pouts. Can't believe her son stalled them for time only for her to be summoned for what? She spanks him lightly especially when he removes his hood for now and insults her disguise attempts. "Grr. Sorera o kakusu tame ni hoka ni nani ga dekirudeshou ka?! (それらを隠すために他に何ができるでしょうか, What else can I do to disguise them, huh?!)" She growls as she forcefully snatches the files off her son, stomps back to the front... and comes face to face with Alex and Mira who... seem to be concerned for her in particular. Or maybe they want to see the notes she and her son have acquired. She really can't tell. At least, other than...
"Mira? (ミラ)" Maya coos, as she stares innocently into her cute eyes despite looking blind and cluelessly clutches the filed papers that have been passed to her, unsure of what else to say or do to distract them...
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)
Shugo watches the weird confrontation between Alex, Mira, Renar, and Venet unfold from a short distance. He hadn't intended to check on Renar and Maya since Alex and Mira had gone over there, but he can't deny the 'changeling' is acting rather weird. Why does he need personal space? As far as he's seen Maya makes that kid really uncomfortable, and yet she seems to be the only person he'll hang out with alone... They act like they know each other, and yet they deny that they do. All of it's weird, but also none of his business. However, it is odd that Renar doesn't seem to want the others to look in the room. They are going to see what's in there eventually, so why bother trying to hide it? Eh, Whatever. If something weird in going on in there, Alex and Mira will probably figure it out.
The elf smiles at Kas again, then looks back at his companions. "Well I don't know about you all but I'm going to check on Mr Grumpy Fox and his friends!" With that, he spins on his heal and walks over to room 4, opens the door, and heads inside.
Alex just nods along as Renar tries to cover up... well whatever he's trying to cover up. Alex might not particularly want to look at any of the things Renar just described, but if it meant getting them through this faster he didn't think he was above that. But seems how Renar is being really, really adamant about no one going in there he'll just back off. No point in fueling the fire and making things take longer.
"Oh... um..." He takes a step back, still looking slightly concerned but more confused than anything. "Okay." He wasn't sure what Renar meant when he said they'd never intended to invade their area... since well, they all went through random doors just to look for clues. Why does it matter... oh whatever. If he doesn't want them to go in there then he has his own reasons. Sometimes Renar says weird things that don't make sense, that's just how he is.
"I'll go check on Simo and his team then," He says, waving as he turns to the door they had chosen. "Mira, would you mind filling them in on what we found?" He gives Maya a small smile and a wave before heading off entirely. Puzzle solving really, really isn't his forte, so he's better off going to find Simo and the others. Simo at least would be more capeable of solving the puzzle than he is... plus they all should be made aware of the chlorine gas threat.
Mira
As soon as Mira hears Alex's response to her backstory, she bows back as a sign of gratitude before she chuckles lightly over Alex's blush. This boy and Venet seem to be her favourites already. Upon noticing the young boy's embarrassed reaction, she lightly nudges his shoulder (or stomach, if she's too short) with a smirk. "Oh cheer up, lad. Nothing to be embarrassed about over a light joke!" She giggles again before she drops the act upon witnessing Renar aggressively bite at the poor boy; Even Mira herself recoils. That was not the reaction she was expecting for some incognito guy. Feeling absolutely suspicious by his attempts to cover up whatever he's hiding, she walks up to him and boops his nose before she crosses her arms. "Is that so? If that's the case you must be hiding something of value that none of us want to know ain't it? And well, what you just described in your room, I'm not really fazed by it as much as I'm fazed about your behaviour, mate." She presses him. This doesn't look like the stoic and emotionless... um... changeling, that Alex once described. And... is he already bolting off?! What the heck! "HEY! WE'RE NOT FINISHED WITH THE MATTER-!" Mira yells, but he had already shut the door and left the two of them hanging in fury.
"You better keep your word, Mr Oddball! If you're not back in 10 minutes I'll order Alex to storm the place with me!" She yells out to Renar as he bolts off, after which she moves her hands to conjure a green, rune-like digital clock appears above her head, counting down from ten minutes. She's actually serious about raiding their room at this point; If there is something that this boy plus that so-called kitsune woman hiding that he's panicking over, then it has to be a super important matter one that Mira and Alex can't even pry into at this point in time...
Shugo and Venet's sudden appearance was enough to alert Mira just for this moment, though she keeps whipping back to the door of room 2, rapping her knuckles as if she was about to punch the door open and storm into the place. But then her nozzle furrows with absolute concern, especially for Shugo "Oh hey. Uh... um... You two okay or something?" She asks with hesitancy. "Did you two at least find anything of value? You both kinda look like you've seen a ghost."
Mira glances at Alex as he does so; She kind doesn't want him to leave just yet, it's already been 8 minutes, and she definitely about to bust down the door when her timer is up. "Um... Ok. You two better be quick though. I'm already starting to stage my raid." She replies as he and the elf walk into Room 4. Glancing towards her back again, it's just her and Venet in this room. "Seems like these two don't want to come out, Venet. Come on. Let's give them a piece of minds!" She growls as she force opens the door with her tiny paws and-
The bunny girl stands in shock. She had almost punched down the sacred kitsune. How stupid of her! "OH! LADY MAYA! I-I'M SORRY!" She panics as she withdraws and bows down in respect, before she quickly whips her head back up and ushers Venet to come closer. "Um... Sorry about that but... we're all concerned about you and Mr Oddball for taking so long in there, eheheh... hmm? What is that? Can I have a look at that?" She points to the papers that Maya is holding for no reason before she receives them. So Renar was right in a way...
"Hey Venet. Check this out. It seems that Mr Oddball and Maya have found something more about... Oh my..." Her jaw drops in horror as soon as she runs her eyes over the notes. Well, she was warned after all about hearing something sinister in room 2, and this may be 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)
Room 2
"Prihyeh is a region, we came from Sekuris, a country in Prihyeh," Mihoko says.
When Renar tells them that Maya speaks a 'forbidden' language, Mihoko tenses up and Rei growls. "Is this a joke? Because this isn't funny, alright?" He says.
The two quietly listen to both of them speaking, but with every sentence, their patience seems to be running thin. Mihoko fiddles with her spell focus, and Rei has his paws on his sword throughout the conversation. The fur on their tail puffs up like an angry cat... or in this case, foxes.
After Renar and Maya finished their interactions, the two didn't say anything for a long while, until...
"Mihoko, lock the door." You see a Mage Hand appear behind you, it grabs a metal pipe from the ground, floats to the door, and jams it between the doorway. Your eyes focus back to Mihoko, who snaps her finger, and the Mage Hand disappears.
Rei draws his sword and circles around the two other kitsunes. "In my 45 years of living on this planet, I have never heard such a ridiculous statement such as this before. We kitsunes are not cowards, alright!? If someone wants to hunt us down, we fight them like warriors, and if we die, we die as warriors. We were taught this since we were kits, and somehow, you don't know this? Are you even from this planet?"
Before you can even open your mouth to protest, he points his sword. "Don't even mention it, because I already know the answer. The United States of Lancea government destroyed all traces of other languages except Lancean and a few others, it is, by all means, impossible to know anything beyond that scope. Mihoko used to know Elvish and Sylvan, but the government caught wind of her and forced her to destroy all documents written in non-Lancean languages."
Rei shifts the subject, "I know what Golarion is... and Toril too! They were the reason why the USL government was formed in the first place. They used to plunder our lands, kill our goblinoids, and slay our dragons, they are nothing but savages who only know how to destroy cultures, peoples, and histories, and I think you might be one of them. Since the first thing you did after we woke up was to demand that we conform to our way of thinking, how about you listen to my demand instead."
Mihoko positions herself behind Rei, and the latter grips his sword with both of his paws—"The only people who are people... are the people who look and think like us. If you want to live here and not get killed, you have to assimilate into our culture and adopt our way of thinking, not trying to hide from people."
He points at Maya, "For starters, speak Lancean. I know we've lost thousands of years of our cultures and histories to both the USL government and the savages, but still, you have to play by the rules. Everyone speaks this language, so you should do the same, don't let anyone hear that language ever again!"
He points at Renar, "Second, get rid of that hood and show your ears and tail. Hiding our heritage is our greatest shame, not just to us kitsunes, but to everyone else too. If you comply, I will come with you, but the moment you show your savagery, I will reveal to everyone where you actually came from, understood?" He barks.
"Sorry... but it has to be this way," Mihoko whispers from behind the fox boy.
These two have connections to the Rebels, but coming to think of it, both they and the former government aren't that different from each other at all—one wants to unify the world under one culture in the name of order and security, and they won. The other wanted to unify the world under one culture in the name of peace and freedom, and not only did they win, but they also completely destroyed the former government with it.
Lancea is a paradise, but only to those who adapt to their ways.
From the outside, you hear a crrk sound coming from Room 2's door, and when you try to push it open, it won't budge. Someone locked the door, and it's definitely not Renar.
When Shugo walks into Room 4, he almost bumps into Elsa, who's carrying a crate full of stuff. "Eek!"
"Watch it!" Simo, who is behind her, calls out to the elf, the rest of his teammates are also behind him. "How the heck did all of you finish already? Did you go into those rooms just to get the taste of what the air is like in there?" He grumbles something under his breath.
Elsa walks into the lobby and places the crate on the floor. She dusts her shoulder, "Look at what we found, guys! It's the trinket from the long-forgotten past!" She smiles, her tail wagging. "Man, what a shame you weren't here with us, we found a weird box-like thing that can print out paintings just by the press of its button too! What about you guys?" She asks, completely obvious to what's going on in the other room.
"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
Almost instantly as Maya steps out from Room 2, she suddenly felt the doors permanently close shut on her coupled with a metallic noise coming from the back. What the-?! Did those two trap her son in there so they could finish him off?! She starts pounding on the door in anger. "AH! OPEN THE DOOR!" She screams furiously as she slams her fists repeatedly on the door to no avil, fearing that they might kill her son despite his best efforts to ensure not only their own safety, but for theirs 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)
To Elsa, "Shugo and I.. found some evidence they were working on viruses. Planning to use them during the war."
"Sooo.... What's going on in there, Maya? You look worried?"
Renar
Upon hearing the male kitsune's harsh response, I flinched slightly, even though I was already expecting them to criticize my own safety measures. But in actual seriousness, if me and Okaa-san stayed here in Lancea for at least two months, we would have both been able to grasp the basics of Lancean life. Then again, it sounds like I was talking to myself there, but even so, that doesn't mean I need to step up my game and be a few steps ahead of them.
I twist my face into another snarl, as if I appeared to be unperturbed by his hostile tone, even though I slightly am. "Well excuse for trying to at least clarify about Sekurisu... or Priyeh... or whatever. Look, if I was clowning around, I wouldn't have warned you about her inability to speak the language, let alone the dire situation we're attempting to prevent right now, would I? Maya was in the same state as you for around the same time. She never found the knowledge needed to learn the language when was captured. And now, I'm doing my best to help her learn everything. In fact, even as of now, I haven't cracked a smile in like... almost 400 years of my life drowned in seriousness and sorrow. I don't believe that there's anything in this world to be happy about; I never wanted to release you two from stasis. She did. Despite everything I could protest to her, she insists that through peaceful means, you two would be able to at least come to a reasonable stance and work together to defeat a threat even the two of us hate. And, despite having reasonable points that we're willing to listen to, with those sour attitudes of yours, you're already creating a rift between the four of us, plus those you haven't met." I then shift my tone as I change topics, or at least try to deflect their own words towards the current scenario. "One of you said "the world would change drastically, and so does their culture and traditions too", didn't you? Guess what? You're right in a negative sense; Your culture and traditions? Gone. Almost Forgotten. Your kind? Stamped out. The new government that formed after the dissolution of this USL crap? They don't care about this matter anymore. They don't care about you, or your race. They just want you gone. You guys know the backstory don't you?! Right now... All they care about.... All they care about right is this useless tussle for power between this stupid People's Army and..." I take a moment to breathe heavily. "...And whatever Duke Elmar's side is. I don't care much about it. But what I care about is that Golarion or Toril threat that I'm aiming to stop from wreaking havoc. As much as you hate seeing them persist like invasive species setting up their cults of influences however they like. Besides, have you heard of this... Adelaide... person before? She's apparently trying to find the artefact and sow chaos, but I'm not sure if she's with the USL or not."
These two seems like they'd enjoy a huge, verbal war with me at the moment. I'm well aware it's like two against one; Their beliefs are theirs to protect. I won't complain about that, nor I will argue against it. I've got my own beliefs too in the Sword Coast that I want to protect too. What I can't stand though is how distrustful they're becoming "My point exactly. I'm aware you two are not cowards. And neither me or Maya are either. We swore to fight till our dying breaths, as much as your kin believes too. But that doesn't we become mindless barbaric beasts that prey on other's lives. Yes I know you're scared of us; We're scared of you too. But we didn't come here to scorn you of your heritage or whatnot. Now I'm saying that this is not the best time to bring this up, especially when you've only just came out of stasis, oblivious of what else the world has to offer. If you guys are only just gonna brute force your way out of things, you're only gonna hinder yourselves more. Sometimes it's better to stay in the shadows, gathering intel from our enemies, before we strike our targets. That's partially the aim of disguising."
I dismissively wave my hand at Suzuki-kun when he tried to speak to Okaa-san. "Don't bother. She's not gonna understand you, let alone respond. I told her to keep her mouth shut since she cannot fully speak the language yet. You guys kill me and leave her with the group, and she will never develop that knowledge. I'm the only one so far who's able to assist with her Lancean development. We haven't made any progress yet, since we were caught in a scuffle. But I'm doing my best for her. It at least shows that I'm not as selfish as those USL jerks that mistreated all of us in the past." I then grit my teeth in anger. No way I'm letting myself and Okaa-san blow our covers especially considering that there's no chance in hell that us Torilians will be liked anymore despite our peaceful methods. The rage inside me boils; Like a volcano, the rage that bubbles inside me like magma spews from my mouth as I unconsciously state another case of my own... "Hiding your heritage from other to you is a shame, sure. I won't argue with that. But if there's anything that I deem more shameful than what you said... it's being bullied and discriminated for embracing it... for over 4 centuries. You don't think me and Maya-san had a luscious life of our own? We didn't! Whatever world you experienced with your lively culture, it wasn't the same for us. Things have rapidly changed in the blink of an eye. Both me and that poor lady, when people saw us in the past, we were both unwanted by others; Shunned from all directions. Even as we said nothing and minded our own business. Often when we try to explain that we're not kitsune but just regular fox shifters, we both suffered physical abuse before the USL struck unlike you two. She told me as well, before I found her. In the leadup years when I finally was able to be left uninterrupted by many, I was forced to accept that, 'to punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself'. You know... if it wasn't for this lady here, I would not have learnt and honoured about the Lancean pacifist law you know that?! I had no mother or father to grow up under, to teach me these things; I was all alone. Maya was too apparently, before I met her. Now, she is the closest to being a mother-figure to me!" I stopped myself there upon speaking the last sentence. Crap. I realised if I kept ranting on about our own percept that they cannot understand, I might just add fuel to the fire and push them further away from us. I'm not good with words, so to see them get infuriated over something I'm trying to clarify without accidentally unveiling our lethal origins is a red flag that needs to be prevented. As much as wanting to stop whatever crisis from destroying this entire world too...
"My friends, do you fly away now? To a world that abhors you and I? All that awaits us is a somber morrow. No matter where the winds may blow." I wasn't sure if they'd get the reference but... Whatever trace of hope inside left has long left; Not even the thought of Okaa-san, Rixi or Yurime looking on me is enough to elude the darkness clouding up in me as of now as I arch my head down in disgust. "Useless rantings aside, I... I was hoping that... other than you guys just aiming to preserve your long lost culture and rid the worlds of Golarion, Toril and the USL altogether, well... I was hoping that... you'd become mine and Maya's first friends, in almost 400 years. You two even look like you're fit to be in a relationship since you two are close to each other. But... with that first impression of yours turning our current situation ever more volatile, I'm already starting to bubble second thoughts." I then gaze at them with my most unfriendly stare to convey I'm being serious, or at least, persuade them I'm trying to what's right for this world, but then, seeing that I'm still gripped onto my katana, I let go of its sheath and hold my hands up. Even as I notices Suzuki-kun gripping onto his Nodachi, I remain calm and stoic as I take another deep breath and speak calmly again. "I had no intentions of starting a fight with you two, and I'm sure Maya never had any either to begin with either. If you don't want us to change sides and fuel a potential multiversal war between Lancea and Golarion, start by not revealing our disguises until I say it's safe to do so, and also respect our decisions as much as you want us to respect yours. It's the least you could do to ensure everyone else's safety, let alone their trust, as much as ours. Reality is a lot complicated than you two think. One person's happiness like yours means another person's unhappiness like ours. Certain kinds of happiness can only be gained from competing or taking someone else's lives, culture or freedom. There can never be a world where everyone will stay happy, let alone satisfied with they way things are." I then walk off, unfazed about Mihoko-san putting a pipe between the doors to lock out whoever is screaming from the outside. I can hear Okaa-san, but the other one with the weird accent? Who is that?
"And by the way..." I speak in a quieter tone. "...It's not that me and Maya are refusing to adapt. Right now, we may not look like it but... we're taking your words into consideration. Yes we will reveal our true forms in the future. Yes we are doing our best to conform again slowly, but we can't do so instantly right now since we only just met. We are doing our best to adapt; You just can't see it. It's just that... we can't adapt or trust as fast as you two can. Whilst we are both from Sekuris too..." Except not really, I think. "...For us, it would take at least a month or so before we can open up to others without suffering from discrimination again. Hence why I said we're disguised." I continue to walk away to reunite with the rest, but not before glaring at them one last time, as I am reminded of what those creepy mushroom guys said to me before they left us alone. "We're doing everything we can to make sure your people don't suffer anymore and you kitsunes can live the rest of your lives in harmony, even vowing to sacrifice our wellbeing if the decision comes for it. We had a choice to attack you, to injure you, to try and figure out this whole ice pick lobotomy and help this Vuji-ka transfer you to another place. Yet... we chose not to, hence why we're still here and not at Paulis' place. We're not here to make your enemies, rather wee hoped for he opposite, even if I appear to be misunderstood as I speak. If you guys still insist on being stubborn foxes and refuse to cooperate with us two and the group we're currently in to save your own world, just say the three words: "I don't care." We'll leave you two be to find your own way to the surface. To leave you guys be so you can live however you want in a world you're unfamiliar with, filled with threats that you guys alone cannot handle. Just don't expect us to come saving your butts when your powers get extracted to help build the USL army. Because by then, our decision to free you would have turned into a regret that we ourselves never wanted to hold." I then slash down the pipe in half with a lightning infused Inazuma and burst open the door with a kick before I stormed out of the second room with a super sullen expression.
*Persuasion: 17; Dice roller is bugged just so you know*
If anyone asks: "Sorry for earlier... But... I still advise you not go in there. Trust me: You don't want to know. Tell me when you're ready to move. I'm just gonna sit in a corner and plan our next move whilst the other boys figure out the password. Don't approach me."
First those slimes, and now those Kitsunes... seriously all I'm trying to do is make myself and Okaa-san comfortable in a world where we're not wanted and without violence. I wasn't trying to disagree on their opinions. Do people really just hate us because we're trying to get used to this stupid, so called 'paradise'?! Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut again and let those two plus everyone that we've met suffer for all they care... Those guys plus USL unifying over such things that I can identify... Order, security, peace, freedom... They're not going to matter if they cannot work together to bring stability; They're not going to matter if this entire Sword Coast and Golarion matter can't be prevented. It seems like whatever disaster with Toril or Golarion they had that stems from almost ten thousand years back, it has scarred pretty much the majority of the population...
Mira
"Hey Venet? Are you even-" Maya wanted to ask her, only to hear a sudden creak in the door plus Maya screaming to open the door up to let Renar out. She presses on the door and finds that someone locked it. "That little rat...! It must be Renar who locked the door ain't it! He's hiding something! HEY! OPEN UP OR WE'LL COAT YOUR ENTIRE DISGUISE IN ICE OR FIRE OR WHATEVER! JUST OPEN UP YOU DIM WITTED ODDBALL!"
"It must be Renar who locked the door! Do you have anything you can use to bust it down?! We're staging the raid this instant!" Mira snarls furiously, oblivious as to what was going on. But then she freezes.
"Wait... v-v-viruses? For war?" Mira asks stunned. "What are you getting onto...?"
However, unless if Venet responds, her question remains unanswered when she hears the sound of a metal pipe splitting into two, plus Renar storming out of the room with a sour look. "Alright, fess up, oddball. What did you- Hey?!" Mira yells as she gets outright ignored. She then gives Maya a rather bewildered stare. What did they actually see that neither hersefl nor the rest want to know about? "Aren't you gonna do something about him? Seriously what's up with your 'guardian's' behaviour?!" Mira asks Maya as she points to him. She look at Venet, wondering if they should really bust down the door for real to see what those two have hidden, though she thinks that might leave her open to Maya if she does. Unless of course... if Maya cannot understand her or anyone besides him... She won't know what she would be up to next... right?
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 simply smiles at Mira, "What makes you say that? We are perfectly fine. But yes, like Venet said, it looks like whoever set all this up was bio-engineering viruses to use as weapons."
He walks away without farther explanation, and almost runs over Elsa. "Oh Geeze I'm sorry." He says as he stumbles backward, letting the fox girl pass by. He smiles and cocks his head at Simo, completely ignoring the boy's rudeness. "Well I guess the air in your room tasted better than ours." Turning around, he moves to see what Elsa has, "Wow, it looks like you all hit the jackpot. There wasn't much in our room, just a bunch of notes about viruses and some cages with dead animals."
He glances up towards Renar when he storms out of the room. Man, what ruffled his feathers? He's tempted to check on whatever is going on in room 2, but again there's already a lot of folks over there. He may as well let them handle it...for now.
Alex smiles at Elsa and Simo, "A box that makes paintings! That's so cool! ...was it too big to take with us?"
"We found a giant... uh... magnet thing. It is way too big to try and carry though. I think we also found our password." He explains the notes they found and everything.
Looking back to Renar, he still seems a bit confused about the 'changeling's actions. He seems a little disappointed when Renar further pushes everyone away by telling them not to approach him. What happened in that room that set him off like this? Well, going and looking in there after he asked them not to won't help anything, so Alex will focus on helping the others solve the password.
Unsure of what to do next especially when caught of guard at Renar storming out of the place, Maya immediately moves in front of the door to safeguard the place. "Uh... Renar-kun? Daijoubu desu-ka? (大丈夫ですか, Are you okay?)" She tries to call out, only to be flat out ignored... Wait... wasn't her son supposed to guard those two from...these guys? What made him change his mind? And why? Also... her now disguised face twists into one with concern upon noticing the other two ladies with jaw-dropped expression on their faces... And then her fox ears twitch upon realising something...
Wait... one of those document that Renar read to her in Japanese... didn't it explain what those kitsunes are and why they are supposed to be captured? And is Mira holding onto that one note right now? Didn't her sons specifically told her not to unveil... what's... in... Oh no...
Sharpening her claws upon realising her son's blunder, Maya suddenly gets into a defensive stance and snarls at the ladies who are not distracted with the password in case they dare to barge into the room hiding their special secret... If she could speak Lancean she would have warned them not to go in herself, but she can't.
Deception: 19
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)