Outside: Grass touch place

[Rebonack]

[For Whom the Bell Gnolls]

For what it's worth these gnolls definitely seem more like demons than mortals. They're nothing but a ball of want and hate, without any real dreams or desires of their own. They devour and they ruin and they seem interested in little else. They're a manifestation of self-destructive freedom. Definitely not great.

As for Khannie, she's keeping her distance from the melee, her ears twitching this way and that as she employs her shadow magic to keep the gnolls off balance. Those that are a bit further away from the angel and the paladin are targeted with more direct illusions, giving them visions of foes nearby to fight with. Typically it takes some intelligent thought to pick out the inconsistencies between the fantasies and reality and Khannie is pretty sure these gnolls aren't bright enough to tell the difference. Khannie allows the rock illusions she made earlier to lapse since she can't split her attention THAT much and all the gnolls are otherwise occupied.

One of her ears twitches toward Shepherd!Blank when he yells, briefly glancing over at him. What... What's he doing? Did he just trip into a gopher hole or something?

The gnolls Khannie hexed begin slashing their claws and thrusting their javelins at empty air as a dark mist settles over their heads. By now the remaining gnolls have been thinned out pretty effectively-
-oh hey another gnoll is approaching from over yonder and just spotted the recently revealed dead gnolls. Someone should probably stop it before it eats one of them and gnollks out.

[Morty]

[Damundra Canyon]

Thariza drops to the ground and briefly stays on all fours until she starts feeling confident in gravity again.

"Let's... start with the dragon bones, maybe."

[Ruins]

That's good news. Thariza can deal with whoever it is. She'd have been at a loss with sentient foliage.

"Yeah, I'm here. Are you the one making vines move? I didn't expect to meet someone living here."

[Thursday Violist]

[Riftline]

Zefir doesn't give those cats any more attention. So he won't see their low moral.

Powerfull beeings normaly do seek for more power. Same with money.

The drill tnak is made to drives through caves, mostly which he made himself so a mountainside should not slow it down much. A straight road would make it look slow as the tnak is made to drill through ground so it's quiet sturdy and able to pass uneven terain.

The tank arrives soon after the frist trucks leave and Zefir stands up to leave, heading for the cars exist to go outside not to the trains end. With his ability to controll the water he can walk through the storm without getting drenched. He does note her to follow. The tank itself is not as comfortable especially since there are already two people in there to get it here. Thought he keeps an eye open for that cultist and any other strange beeing that might try to sneak into his tank. If nothing happens they likly head to her town if she follows him to the tank.

[Riftline

With all the advantages the drill tank has, it easily gets over the mountain and to the train.

Violeta follows after Zefir.

Both of them get enviable stares as the head out to the tank, especially since everyone else is going to have to wait for more rescue vehicles to arrive.

They're rather fortunate: nobody tries to sneak into the tank. Sensors aboard the tank could be able to detect the cultist, now lost in the mountains and wandering around trying to find his way back to the train.

Once they get back to the town Caldas Da Rainha, Violeta directs the way to get to their destination. Caldas Da Rainha is a mountainside resort town so the downtown is really busy, but she lives farther out on the fringe of the town, so they can avoid all the busy streets.

Violeta finds it a little tight and uncomfortable in the tank, but does her best to not get in the way.

Once at their destination (a fairly regular house in the suburbs), she gets out to lead him inside. "We're here! We're here."

She steps inside the house and calld out that she's back; in a bedroom, there's her older parents with her little foxgirl daughter (the girl has an intense fever, looks like she's in pain, and looks way too skinny). "This guy said he can help," the young mother says. "I met him on the train."

It could be noted that, although all four of the family - Violeta, her mother, her father, and her daughter - are all foxpeople, the three girls/women have two tails instead of just one like the man.

[quillpleasant]

For Whom the Bell Gnolls

Pausing her attack, Octavia's whip swiftly transforms, becoming a bulky white camera. She snaps a quick picture of Ginger, grabbing the polaroid the moment it's printed and setting the camera to float in place of her head. -designation: ginger- she says, jotting down the name with her sharpie. -glad to have you on our side!-

She would not have liked fighting Ginger. The paladin seems really tough, and even if Octavia was able to beat her she'd still feel guilty about it.

Casually tucking the picture into her jacket, Octavia teleports across the battlefield to the newly approaching gnoll. -no gnollks- she says reproachfully, firing out a bolt of golden light from her camera lens. It's akin to a powerful laser gun, aimed with great precision between the gnoll's eyes.

[Murkus]

[Chaos]

[Chaos]

The fugitive and her captor speeding deeper into the forest does indeed give Solahart more space to act. Weaving between the trees and around the underbrush, Mensei will find that the very forest itself seems to be impeding her progress while doing little to hamper Sineran. Branches catch at the hair, brambles stick in the clothing, roots threaten to tangle the feet. At first the tangle-foot could be dismissed as mere happenstance, but the further they get from the battle raging behind them the more over the attempts become.

It culminates in a seemingly innocuous looking tree fern with wide fronds suddenly moving of its own accord and trying to seize Mensi in an iron-hard grip. The escape from the plant's embrace is possible, certainly, but its thorny fronds would make any rigorous resistance to its unwelcome hug quite painful.

Above, in the tree branches hanging overhead, the encrusting fungus of burnt char and glowing embers begins to glow all the brighter. Luminous spores, like ghostly wisps, light a path for Sineran to follow.

Do not fear. I will lead you to safety.

They aren't words, not really. More impressions caressing the edge of Sineran's mind.

Meanwhile!

The bear is not having a great time.

Lashed in iron and its legs bound, the beast bellows in burning rage. It's strong, unnaturally so, but not strong enough to break the metal cables holding it fast. All the creature can do is burn all the brighter, turning the metal a bright cherry red with steadily growing heat. Given enough time it could probably melt its way free, but it seems unlikely that the hands of the Queen are going to give it that time.

Sineran is forced further and further from the battle itself. She begins to sniffle and sob a bit, protesting, while Mensei forces her ahead. The latter woman grows increasingly frustrated with the forest, to the point where she's slashing off limbs and roots with waves of her hand as she passes - the water demon lashing into being to rip them apart.

Mensei realizes what's happening just moments too late. She starts to move, possessing a warrior's reflexes, but the thorny tree fern has her - and she's hauled into the air, spitting curses. Exhausted from her efforts so far, she tries to manifest her creature again--

But Sineran isn't sitting idle. She looks quickly around, then up into the embers, her mouth agape, her eyes glittering and reverential. Nodding quickly, the pudu-girl takes off, whipping in a circle as she - for an eyeblink - becomes a blurry brown bundle, then unfurls as a little pudu again, skittering along the forest path as fast she can go. She's a bit beat up and exhausted, so she stumbles, but she moves.

In a few moments Mensei's demon might tear apart the fern, but it might be too slow for her to catch up.

The Queen's hands, meanwhile, behave predictably. "Kill it, man!" Riacan bellows, his mountainous shoulders shuddering with effort, heat crawling quickly up the lengths of his iron lashes. "Kill it!"

Savath lunges as swiftly as a hawk's shadow. His blade rises into a vertical slash, scoring the living rock where it travels.

[Chaos]

TASBot is silent for a while. There's something he doesn't like about this, and his conscience won't let him leave the pudu-girl to her fate. That said, he's quickly running out of things to say to stall for time. And Lidoro's asking so nicely...

After a few more moments of silence, TASBot relents. "Alright, pal - I'll get out of your hair for now." With that, the blue robot turns on his heel and slinks off through the forest, never to bother any of Lidoro's colleagues again... or, at least, that's what he wants it to look like.

In truth, TASBot is now moving as stealthily as he can among the trees of the deeper forest, trying to follow the movement of Sineran and her pursuers without being detected himself. He can tell he isn't the only one who wants to see her get out of this safely, despite the action being fairly difficult to make out without compromising his position.

Lidoro sighs with relief, watching TASBot warily until he retreats fully. He doesn't seem like he trusts the robot fully, but he figures they can finish with the bear and be after Mensei in time for it to be alright.

Of course, if TASBot uses some of his speed, he might catch up to the exhausted, frightened pudu as she lopes through the woods, following Solahart's trail. Assuming Solahart allows for some mutual cooperation.

[Rebonack]

[Fleeing Chaos]

The trail Sineran takes carries her ever deeper into the forest, the undergrowth waxing thick and wild with every passing step. Far from hindering her, the plants seem to bow aside, giving plenty of space for the little pudu before weaving shut behind her. Given the overwhelming thickness of the thickets, brambles, shrubs, and vines it will be terribly difficult for the Hands of the Queen to follow on foot. They could, perhaps, but they would be battling against the forest for every step.

The pudu girl's trek will be a long one, but the Hart of the Forest has a destination in mind, the incandescent trail of spores providing both a guide and gentle encouragement.

Mensei, however, isn't being encouraged at all.

The tree fern doesn't attempt to crush her, merely hold her in place. But when the water demon manifests again it will quickly find itself under attack by a hail of cottony thorns launched at it by a suddenly sprouted garden of ghostly white thistles. One might think that a thorn is of little threat to such a creature, but when they begin draining away water at an alarming pace the intent of the thirst thistles should be clear enough.

[Chaos]

Unable to escape.

Unable to avoid its fate.

The bear is beheaded. The beast slumps, molten blood fountaining from the wound and setting the earth on fire where it splashes.

The threat is dead.

And with its death a terrible curse descends upon Savath.

Savath is now Despised by bears. Even docile bears will attack him on sight.

[Zefir]

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

"Yeah, I agree. I'll get them to come over, and see if anyone else nearby has seen anything. I'll do it in the morning, though. Most will be asleep at this time. How about you, what're you guys gonna do? I'll be safe here tonight, I reckon." She's not planning on going back to sleep, as it happens. Can't sleepwalk if you're not asleep. She'll stay awake until dawn, and probably nap tomorrow.

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

"Well, we came here for the ruins close to where we met you" he says. "Some old man told us about a lair and strange occurence. Seeing that this here is quiet above our knowledge we might ask someone with a better understanding to look after this."
They might be able to fight a foe and win where others failed, especially with illusions, but that seems more like telecinesis and mind manipuklating stuff.

[Riftline

With all the advantages the drill tank has, it easily gets over the mountain and to the train.

Violeta follows after Zefir.

Both of them get enviable stares as the head out to the tank, especially since everyone else is going to have to wait for more rescue vehicles to arrive.

They're rather fortunate: nobody tries to sneak into the tank. Sensors aboard the tank could be able to detect the cultist, now lost in the mountains and wandering around trying to find his way back to the train.

Once they get back to the town Caldas Da Rainha, Violeta directs the way to get to their destination. Caldas Da Rainha is a mountainside resort town so the downtown is really busy, but she lives farther out on the fringe of the town, so they can avoid all the busy streets.

Violeta finds it a little tight and uncomfortable in the tank, but does her best to not get in the way.

Once at their destination (a fairly regular house in the suburbs), she gets out to lead him inside. "We're here! We're here."

She steps inside the house and calld out that she's back; in a bedroom, there's her older parents with her little foxgirl daughter (the girl has an intense fever, looks like she's in pain, and looks way too skinny). "This guy said he can help," the young mother says. "I met him on the train."

It could be noted that, although all four of the family - Violeta, her mother, her father, and her daughter - are all foxpeople, the three girls/women have two tails instead of just one like the man.

[Riftline

Zefir remains in the tank for a bit, preparing the tools for a blood transfusion. The henchman assists him. So he steps out a bit after Violeta got her chance to talk to her family.

He nods to them in a greeting . The thing with the tal might just be a gender thing. After all his current evidence is One Tail male, two Female. Thought it is strange that foxpeople got more then one, at last thats what he thought. Still he is no expert on the antropomorthic people area.

Assuming they are inside "Hello, she told me about a curse." he does look at the kid and should properbly feel the curse if its like she said. "Befor I do anything you might wanna ask me some questions? I understand that a stranger offering help might raise some suspicions."

[Meowmai]

[For Whom the Bell Gnolls]

Ginger blinks, as her brain tries to keep up with the rather new experience of watching Octavia at work. So her halo can be more than just a weaon, huh? What else could it be? Also, who has the time to take, print off, and write on a photo in the middle of battle? Also, she just realized that Octavia had mentioned being in highschool, so was she just a teenager? It's hard to judge the age of someone when they're headless, to be honest. And oh yeah, the headless thing. It's a little disconcerting. Not that she holds it against her, it's just a little bit difficult to get used to.

And she's off, teleporting away and shooting a laser beam from her lens. Ginger can't let herself get too distracted though, as there's still gnolls to be dealt with. It's lucky Khannie was watching her back, as otherwise she may have let her focus slip long enough to get hit. Right, back to work.

The paladin leaps forwards, shoulder-charging the nearest gnoll, blade following up in an arcing sweep that sought to sever her hopefully off-balance foe in two. Her style was becoming more quick, dirty and offensive now as the hostile gnolls thinned out. Combat just wasn't fun if you didn't allow yourself to be just a little bit reckless sometimes.

[Earl of Purple]

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

"Well, if you do pass on it, do let others know. Someone should fix it, and I don't think anyone around here's gonna be up for it. Mostly farmers and labourers, with a few people like me who can make a living by providing services to the farmers and labourers. No retired adventurers or suchlike around here, generally it's quite peaceful." She nods and sits down. "Might be an idea to check on the old guy, too. If what's in that ruin is messing with people's heads, he might be trying to lure people in."

[Ironsmith]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

...They didn't take the bait.

Of course they didn't take the bait. Why would they? The gnolls are still in the middle of a fight. Going far enough out of their way to snack on a shepherd that was far enough from combat to feasibly escape would be a good way to single themselves out and get killed.

Which, of course, was the plan. Blank was just hoping they were stupid enough to not realize it.

...Still. He's sitting out here with no adversaries in immediate reach and with three people far more capable than him tearing up what's left of the horde. By the time he gets down there, they'll probably already be done.

...Not that he feels great about just sitting here and watching, but clearly he's unnecessary past this point.

[Rebonack]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

Poor Blank is really too hard on himself.

He already did one of the most important things in this skirmish; getting the helpless person to safety.

Khannie, meanwhile, turns her attention back to the fight. The paladin and the angel are finishing off the last of the gnolls and the disorientation she dropped on the nearby monsters is keeping em pretty well distracted. Her shadow goes snapping back to her since she isn't having to deflect attacks at this point and instead she joins the offensive. Pointing her horn at one of the gnolls furthest from Ginger, a lance of darkness springs away from her horn aiming to transfix the creature with the force of a well aimed arbalist bolt.

Octavia blasts a gnoll in the face, burning away the creature's eyes and causing it to begin howling in pain as it flails around wildly. Ginger cleaves through her distracted foe who can't seem to muster enough coordination to avoid the swing, let alone mount a counter attack. The monster burns to ashes in mere moments. Khannie darkness bolt plows through a distant gnoll and drops it like a puppet with its strings cut.

And Blank...

Sulks because he feels useless. That seems pretty par for course with his typical self-doubt.

It doesn't take long to finish off the rest of the raiding party. As soon as Khannie is sure there aren't any more active threats she calls out, "Hey is anyone hurt? That jerk with the claws looked like he hit you pretty hard, Octavia. And, umm... paladin lady? Can you do that burning thing on the rest of the dead gnolls? We don't wanna have some more come by and snack on these 'cuz that's how you get the big gnolls."

And then?

She'll go trotting off toward Blank. "Hey you did good getting the shepherd clear."

[Ironsmith]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

...

"Thanks."

Blank manages a small smile, standing up with his borrowed crook and dusting himself off. Yeah, he really should remember that. He still did good here.

"...Wish I could help with the injuries. I don't have any healers in my deck." He adds. Granted, said deck is two- no, sorry, three cards, and there's not a lot of room for specialization in there. But that's something worth looking out for, going forward.

[quillpleasant]

For Whom the Bell Gnolls

As the last enemy is vanquished, Octavia's halo turns into a pair of binoculars, and she scans the nearby environment to make sure there aren't any last enemies waiting to ambush them. Satisfied, she walks over to join the others.

-hmm? oh yes, i am injured- she says to Khannie's question, glancing down at herself. There's some pretty nasty gouges in her torso, and white wires stick out here and there. Luckily she's incapable of feeling pain, so it's not a huge deal in the short term. -i'll need to get repaired after the mission, but my body should be able to function until then-

She gives Blank a thumbs up. -don't worry! traditional healing would be useless for me anyway, since i'm non-organic- You'd think divine magic would be helpful for an angel, but not this one.

-oh, and "paladin lady" is designated ginger. we are friends now- she says cheerfully, beckoning the gnoll over.

[Meowmai]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

With the final gnoll she was fighting turning into ashes, blowing away in the wind, Ginger looks over at her allies to find that they too had finished cleaning up the stragglers.

She salutes wordlessly at Khannie on hearing her request, moving to do just as asked. It's not the most exciting task, and a little bit grim, but after some time the last of the gnoll corpses is burning away to nothing. She hadn't seen these "big gnolls" referred to, but she thought she'd probably like to keep it that way. At this point, seeing Octavia beckon her over, she waves back and makes her way over to the group.

"Thanks for the help back there!" She says, stretching, before swinging her blade up to rest it over one shoulder. "Let's get introductions out of the way, shall we? I'm Ginger, Champion of Sarenrae. Yes, I'm a gnoll. No, obviously not like these ones. I'm not of the Abyss like they are, and I only used to eat corpses." She grins, a smile that's full of just enough teeth to make one wonder if that's really just a joke or not.

"Octavia's introduced herself, but as for you and you," she gestures at Khannie, before frowning at Blank. "... Wait, glad to see you're safe, but where did the big talking wolf go?" In the heat of combat she had never really been able to catch Blank's shapeshifting.

[Rebonack]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

With the abyssal gnoll threat quelled for the time being, our heroes can finally get the very important round of introductions out of the way. Khannie for her part is giving the damage to Octavia a concerned look. She knows that the angel's 'actual' self is the halo and the body is almost like... an accessory or something. But it's still concerning to see her torn up like that.

Where would you even go to get robot angel repairs?

"Cool to meet you, Ginger. I'm Khannie Vallarm. I'm not, like, a champion or anything. I haven't got any fancy titles," she says, doing a great job of totally underselling herself. But Khannie has always been that way, hasn't she? At the question regarding the wolf she goes- "Oh! Right. Hang on a sec let me get illusioned up here-"

She she shoves herself up onto her hind hooves and wraps herself in a shroud of shadows. When they peel away there's a human teen standing there! Suspicious. "So this is Blank-"

She gestures at the shepherd duplicate standing next to herself.

Then she touches him on the cheek with a finger.

"He's got the power to mimic people; it's pretty sweet."

[Shadowcaller]

[Damundra Canyon]

They have arrived at what appears to be a worksite which is in contrast to the mess in the fort quite orderly. All tools, shovels, pickaxes and other mining equipment neatly sitting in their spot on the nearby tool rack.
There might even be explosives inside one of the nearby sheds judging by the warning signs but they are all locked up tightly. Even protected by magic if those glowing runes aren't just for show.

Where could Ambrosia have gone then? Well, this is a worksite and while its eerily empty right now it looks like it's normally buzzing with people so there's tracks all over the place.
But as they're looking around they can feel a sudden vibration as the earth shifts underneath their feet.
An earthquake? It certainly felt so, but it wasn't a big one as it's over within seconds.

Could it be linked to the many holes surrounding the worksite perhaps? Perhaps the dwarves had weakened the foundation of this place, causing the shift they felt. Or maybe that's not how it works at all. Either way, it is soon followed by another shift which is gone as soon as it started.

Concerning.

[Ironsmith]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

"...It's par." The second Khannie deflects, kicking her feet at the dirt bashfully. "I can't really use most of the stuff from the people I copy, because I don't know how, and I can't hit anybody or anything because that just ends with me hitting myself. It's not great for a big fight like this."

[Wolfbane]

[Destroyed Wizard's Tower Basement]

You shouldn't have any issues with it! The shape of the fingers is a little different, admittedly, but they should be just as if not more dexterous and flexible than before while also being better protected from any mishaps. No more papercuts, eh?

Standing up is... easy. Like she'd never lost her legs in the first place. The space where Onisa's intent for movements end and the creature's begin is something she won't even be able to tell - perhaps because it's linked directly into her body and nervous system. They even feel right - different, but right.

Destroyed Wizard's Tower Basement

Standing up may be easy, but Onisa expected it not to be and nearly falls over when she nearly overcompensates. "What in the Grand Machine..." She mutters, blinking down at herself and giving a swallow. "How...I was never this fit before it feels like. Is that all you?" Of course it was. It wasn't like the Hobgoblin was particularly agile before. Now she felt like she could actually walk on a balancing beam. "And I feel..." She stops, blushing deep red before straightening up and looking at the remains of the adventurers she'd been with. "...Unlicensed or not, we should get the remainder of anything useful off them and their ideas. They had friends and family, and MERC should probably know about this place." She adds with a sigh. "Um...and what should I call you?"

[quillpleasant]

For Whom the Bell Gnolls

The various shapeshifting shenanigans don't phase Octavia in the slightest. Probably because she's changing her form constantly, at least in regards to her halo; which as Khannie observes is the actual her.

-sounds like you need more general combat training- says Octavia, her halo turning into a boxing glove as she looks Blank up and down, -and some trusted allies to teach you how to use their skills. speaking of which, if you want to learn my invocations, i can give you some tips-

Of course, the invocations are mainly just for changing the form of her halo. It's up to her own well honed weapon mastery to use it. Hence why combat training would be useful.

-so, ginger champion of sarenrae! our quest is to enter the beast's nest and destroy their source so that they plague these lands no longer. if this is also your goal, i think i speak for all of us when i say you would be more than welcome- They're up against an army, so any additional help is greatly appreciate.

[Zefir]

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

"Well, if you do pass on it, do let others know. Someone should fix it, and I don't think anyone around here's gonna be up for it. Mostly farmers and labourers, with a few people like me who can make a living by providing services to the farmers and labourers. No retired adventurers or suchlike around here, generally it's quite peaceful." She nods and sits down. "Might be an idea to check on the old guy, too. If what's in that ruin is messing with people's heads, he might be trying to lure people in."

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

"Yeah, we assumed that, too." he says. "It did sound true especilly after we observed things at first, but Your apperance made it a bit different. The man who tried to get you in there might have fallen for the illusions. Maybe we can find out who he was and where he lived."Which one of the others will do while he speaks it out. Otherwise there isn't much to do here and they might head back to Trogs unless they can find something else.

[Halae]

Destroyed Wizard's Tower Basement

Standing up may be easy, but Onisa expected it not to be and nearly falls over when she nearly overcompensates. "What in the Grand Machine..." She mutters, blinking down at herself and giving a swallow. "How...I was never this fit before it feels like. Is that all you?" Of course it was. It wasn't like the Hobgoblin was particularly agile before. Now she felt like she could actually walk on a balancing beam. "And I feel..." She stops, blushing deep red before straightening up and looking at the remains of the adventurers she'd been with. "...Unlicensed or not, we should get the remainder of anything useful off them and their ideas. They had friends and family, and MERC should probably know about this place." She adds with a sigh. "Um...and what should I call you?"

Destroyed Wizard's Tower Basement

It might be nice to have a name, but it's not truly necessary. I am a living suit of armor, an extension of my wearer - an extension of you. It seems somewhat confused by the idea of needing a name, the soft feminine voice echoing in Onisa's head with clarity, Refer to me as you will. From now on, I am here to support you.

[Damundra Canyon]

"Hold on a moment, Thariza," Emily says. And then she gets down on all-fours and...

Starts sniffing the dirt, attempting to pick up Ambrosia's scent trail like some kind of blood hound. She's got a powerful nose, she's an experienced tracker used to complex locations like cities, and Ambrosia has a pretty unique smell. If the woman had come through here in the last few days, Emily should be able to locate her scent, unless it was being masked for some reason.

She doesn't like the shaking, but there's nothing for it, unfortunately.

Assuming she gets the scent, she'll point out the direction to her charr companion.

[Shadowcaller]

[Damundra Canyon]

Emily has no doubt learnt the scent of dwarves by now, since all around this place along with sulfur, decay and something she can't quite place.
Then she catches whiff of it, that had to be the scholars scent and it was going in the direction of the fields which were filled with dug holes. She must have gone that direction.

[Meowmai]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

"Well, pleasure to meet you all." She says, cheerily, before continuing to examine Blank. Useful ability for sure, though she could see the problem with it too. It did seem like Blank had a little bit of a self-confidence issue. Tricky thing, that. She hadn't had to deal with such things in a while. Being seen as worthy of divine power in Her name by a divine Goddess is a wonderful boost to the ego. The gnoll goes to give an encouraging slap to Blank's back, before thinking better of it.

She nods along with what Octavia says, before adding herself, "Well, don't be so harsh on yourself. You may not think yourself able to fight so well, but with an ability like that is great to have on hand. You never know what kinds of things might happen." Strange things happen while adventuring. As for joining the group, "Glad to hear it. Nothing like marching right into the heart of danger. Then let's not waste time. Shall we get going?"

The more she thinks though, the more something about Khannie rings a bell. Unicorn, shadow magic, illusions... hadn't the unicorn she talked to in Thanksmas mentioned having a daughter like that? "You don't happen to know a Jace, do you?" She asks Khannie, as they (presumably) start moving.

[Earl of Purple]

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

"Do you have any clues as to who he might be?" They do, as it happens. The Keldon adventurer in Trog's mentioned a knight in his group, Ser Daeron the Grey of Whiteharbour- and if their medic is familiar with the fantasy diseases of Westeros (Game of Thrones) they might recognise the stiff, grey patch on his face as proof he survived greyscale as a child. The Keldon reported him dead, but given that he said something was playing with his head, he may have been mistaken.

[Rebonack]

[For Whom the Bell Gnolls]

Khannie once again dismisses her illusion since she was just using that for the purpose of showing off Blank's cool trick. "You've just gotta spend some time practicing. I don't mind teaching you how to use my magic," Khannie says to blank, nodding to Octavia who likewise seems totally okay with doing the same. "I think maybe part of the problem's that you don't think you can get any of the stuff to work and so you don't. The shadows aren't gunna listen to you if you aren't confident."

That's a bit of a death blow thanks to Blank's confidence issues. Maybe he can work on that?

The unicorn sets off in the direction of the Pit once again. Honestly she can FEEL the place through her horn. It's gross, even from this distance.

When Ginger asks her question Khannie nods, "Oh, yeah! Course I do. Jace is my dad. I guess you must have met him somewhere?"

[Ironsmith]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

Blank falls in step alongside Khannie, somewhat absently keeping a hand on her shoulder even as she shifts back to a distinctly more equine appearance. Ginger and Octavia might note, if they're trying to work out the specifics, that Blank doesn't shift with her and keeps the appearance of a most definitely ordinary human girl, ignore the horn.

He doesn't actually say anything in response to Khannie or Octavia's respective offers, though. It's not like either of them meant practicing right now, and besides, Khannie's attention, at least, has clearly shifted. He wouldn't want to be rude and pull her back to his problems like some kind of whiner-baby.

[General Shrimp]

[Ruins]

That's good news. Thariza can deal with whoever it is. She'd have been at a loss with sentient foliage.

"Yeah, I'm here. Are you the one making vines move? I didn't expect to meet someone living here."

Overly Adventurous

Kestrel rather sheepishly takes Atreyu's hand, letting herself be helped up to her feet with a grunt. She winces just a little bit, wobbling a bit at first but soon back and moving just fine.

"So, uh, long time no see, huh. What have you been up to since we last, uh, met?"

Overly Adventurous

"Time sure flies, ain't that the truth?" Atreyu mutters, giving Kestrel a somewhat heavy-handed pat on the back and starting to stroll in a seemingly arbitrary direction. "Ain't done a lot, ta be honest. Helped a few werefolks. Grew a few trees. Did a lot of explorin'. Simple stuff. And you, Missy? What's got a little lady like you out wanderin' the wilderness?" The werewolf pauses, considering his surroundings. "Well, ain't that wild just here, I guess. Reckon yer goin' somewhere worse though, bein' the adventurous sort."


Ruins

"Ah, yeah, that's me. Sorry. Hope I didn't spook ya. Don't take too kindly ta plantlife bein' chopped down willy-nilly, s'all. Are ya needin' somethin' in here, Missy?" The voice in the vines calls out, seemingly reluctant to have the vines part and clear the way just yet.

[Zefir]

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

"Do you have any clues as to who he might be?" They do, as it happens. The Keldon adventurer in Trog's mentioned a knight in his group, Ser Daeron the Grey of Whiteharbour- and if their medic is familiar with the fantasy diseases of Westeros (Game of Thrones) they might recognise the stiff, grey patch on his face as proof he survived greyscale as a child. The Keldon reported him dead, but given that he said something was playing with his head, he may have been mistaken.

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

Oh i couldn't remember that. I didn't knew the old man had told them about his party. It should be easy to research in the net if they got the info about that. Well now the man is indeed dead.

"He might have been one of the adventurers mentioned by the old man. Whatever is inside that cave could have him under controll. After all they just killed him after we disabeled him."

Another good reason to go and seek someone with an ability to match the monster in there. They might be able to see through illusions with their cybernetic implants, but mind manipulation is another thing.

[Earl of Purple]

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

The Keldon wasn't old; they're naturally grey-skinned and muscular with red eyes. But that might also make it hard to assess his age, given I don't know about people in whatever world the cybergroup is from. "You should maybe check on the guy you spoke to, if he was in the same group as that guy. He might not be as... innocent as you thought. They could be directing him, as much as whatever it was had directed the knight."

[Morty]

[Damundra Canyon]

"Are you picking anything up?" Thariza is looking around them skeptically. She doesn't like these quakes.

[Ruins]

"Believe it or not, I'm here on an archeological expedition." Thariza's tone is half-joking. She is here to research, but she wouldn't call it an expedition. "I'm studying the culture that built this place."