Menagerie of Adventures

Roadside Brawl

Torhilde smirked when she saw that her display had successfully cowed some of the nearby bandits, but the expression faded quickly when the sudden explosion from roughly Maya's direction caused her to flinch and flatten her ears.

"A bomb?" She shook it off and quickly took stock of the fact nobody in their group had been exploded, but growled at the sight of the bandits fleeing and attempting to take their unconscious fellows with them, she had hoped to be able to interrogate at least one.
"Lac, Maya might be hurt, go check on her! We'll sort these goons out and back you up in a minute!" she called, and with that dashed off to Verona's aid, attempting to introduce the last bandit's face to her boot.

Edited by BlitzTrain on Feb 14th 2023 at 3:09:43 AM

Battle Ending-Lac’ner

His successful bandit repelling and the following explosion has Lac slack-jawed. He stands there for a moment, stunned.

That was me? That wasn’t me was it. No, it couldn’t be. Wh-

Tohri’s words snap him back to reality.

“A-ah! R-R-Right!”

Lac sets off at a clumsy sprint, already trying to will Life and Wind energies into his hands.

“Master Maya!”

Sieglinde von Brandt

"What the heck was that?! Is she okay?!" Sieglinde cried out after having taken cover behind the trunk of her tree, poking her head out once the explosion had passed and promptly leaping down to the ground to meet up with the others again; tucking herself into a roll in order to break her fall. Springing back up onto her feet, she noticed Verona wrestling with a last bandit, and although Torhilde was already rushing to assist her, Sieglinde couldn't help but sprint towards said bandit also and plunge her knives through both of his forearms; aiming to use the shock and pain that this would cause in order to immobilise him and leave him helplessly in the path of Torhilde's boot.

She held him still until this was done—being locked in place would probably make the damage even worse—before letting go and spinning back around to face Verona, wiping the blood on her blades off using her bracers.

"You okay too, Verona...? Everyone...? Is anyone else hurt...?"

I didn't get touched back there, somehow. Whoa...

"Thanks for the save by the way, Pick...!" she called out in a grateful tone.

Edited by Enirboreh on Feb 17th 2023 at 3:24:12 PM

End of the (very brief) Struggle, Elliot.

With the sound of the explosion, Elliot seemed to react on instinct and take small leap back, buckler raised in front of his face and coughing as some of the smoke obscured his vision as the bandits beat a hasty retreat. At the very least, the shrapnel that would've gone for his face embedded itself in the buckler with the rest grazing his arm and side as far as he could tell.

And from what little he could see, one bandit was still somewhat within reach trying to drag away the one he'd whacked earlier.

He at least tried to stopping them by trying to trip one up a give one a good whack with his buckler to make sure one that at least one of them weren't going getting away.

"I don't think so, you're going nowhere."

Still, for them to fall back so easily... He'd read a few stories about a would-be hero meeting an untimely demise by pushing their luck too far in some manner. In this case, chasing, pursuing a routed enemy. ...A bit unnerving, now that he actually thought about it.

"Guess it was mere bluster than actual bravado. Think I'm okay over here! Still, careful if you're going to chase them, everyone...! Cornered rodents are still plenty dangerous...!"

...He wasn't going to say he was speaking from experience.

Verona Auer

Verona reared back as the spit connected with her face.

"What is the matter with you?!" She blurted out. The burning in her side as she was stabbed went almost unnoticed, Verona was so affronted.

An instant later, something else, equally warm and wet, splattered against her skin—it took Verona a second to realize that this time, it was the bandit's blood.

She wasn’t quite sure if that was better or worse than the spit.

Verona rolled off the bandit and laid on her back in the dirt, trusting that her classmates had the man handled.

I really hope they didn't just kill him...should I check?

Verona elected to stare up at the sky instead of looking at the bandit beside her. She wasn't too out of breath, but she needed a moment to let the adrenaline wear off.

She turned her head to look up at Sigi when she heard her name called, smiling at the expression of concern.

"Yeah, I'm—" Verona started to pull herself into a sitting position as she spoke, but cut herself off with a hiss of pain mid-sentence.

Oh yeah, that.

She glanced down at her torso; there was a new tear in her tunic, and the moss green fabric was newly stained a brownish-red. It hurt a bit, in a way most injuries didn’t for Verona, but she wasn't unconscious so it was probably nothing to worry about.

Wincing just a little, Verona rose to her feet and shot Sigi a thumbs up. She was a little dizzy, and shook her head to clear it. Then she grinned cheerfully.

"All good! Those were weird bandits, though."

The Road To Alkdam

While the last of the bandits scurried off into the underbrush, the last one struggling with Verona was promptly pinned in place by Sigi's knives, letting out a blood-curdling screech of pain before being silenced by thud as Torhild's boot connected with the side of her head, at which point the struggle dropped out of the bandit, out cold but still breathing for now. The one Elliot tripped up followed soon from a buckler to the face.

Maya, on the other hand, was still completely conscious, just barely standing with sword half-raised for a few seconds after the smoke cleared before dropping to ground. On inspection, she was riddled with pieces of metal, but they were just barely piercing into the instructor's underflesh. By some miracle or magical intervention on Maya's part, they'd managed to avoid the most vital areas. Maya writhed, trying to get up as Lac tended to her.

"Come on...help me up. We gotta...get into town. Can't stay here. Bring any prisoners with...that bastard'll pay...dammit!" She tried to get up onto her knees by herself at first, only for her arms to wobble and give way beneath her, leaving the half-Dragonfolk cursing.

Alkdam - Eastern Entrance

As the party hobbled into town with prisoners in tow, people stopped and stared, giving them a wide berth. Any guards that attempted to approach were shooed off by a shaky Maya, though she let them take the prisoners Sigi, Torhild and Elliot had knocked out into custody. She limped along with the support of whoever would give it, gritting her teeth.

"All the bureacratic bullshit can wait. Inn, inn, where's a gods-damned inn?"

To any onlookers, such as perhaps Dubhan Yohanan and Zale Xiphias, there was no mistaking this group as anything other than adventurers. And they were approaching from the direction that led to Aegeum in Terraforma and the Academy. At the very least, they could maybe get directions.

Zale Xiphias was hopelessly lost. The Piscean had arrived in the city of Alkdam a few hours ago, and he had gotten completely turned around, looking for an inn after his long journey from the northwest. He had been told that the city of Alkdam was a good stop on his trip to the academy.

Problem was, Alkdam was one of the largest cities he had ever visited, and it was a landwalker city on top of that. The fact that he was one of the only Pisceans in town didn't help.

"Hey, do you know where the inn is? Hey? Do you— where are you going? I'm kinda lost..." he tried to ask to passersby, but most of them, being busy, were ignoring him. He sighed, taking a breath. The air was dry here, uncomfortable. He was already starting to miss the sea.

He turned towards a group of people who seemed to be geared for battle. Adventurers!! Land-walker adventurers! His heart skipped a beat and he grinned, moving towards them quickly. He gasped when he saw that one of them seemed to be in a sorry state.

"Hi, do you know where— oh goodness, ma'am, are you all right??" he asked. "Anything I can do to help?"

Dubhan Yohansen, He Has Arrived In Alkdam

"Probably not." he mutters, near the group and nearer to Zale. He had been traveling around for a while, picking up odd jobs as he went, but he saw he was close when adventurers came in. With a wounded person to boot. That's... to be expected.

[[Understatement "Quite the state."]] Dubhan hums as they look around for an inn, and as Zale approaches them, he feels the need to do the same. Perhaps it was not a good time to talk to them, but might as well, now one talked to them. "You guys need any help?" Dubhan shrugs. He wouldn't expect them to agree, but if they did, he'd gladly help. Otherwise, he'll try to lead them to the inn.

Sieglinde von Brandt

"She's hurt, and she's stubborn," Sieglinde answered the two who had shown up and offered help, pointing at Maya with a tense look on her face and a generally contemplative demeanour. "She wants to go to an inn first. I don't mind so long as she can make it. We just got jumped by bandits on our way here."

She showed Dubhan and Zale the blood on her knives, before grimly wiping them clean using the leather on the inside of her gauntlets and then stowing them away. The exposed skin in her outfit was also spattered with blood, and to her annoyance she felt a particular sticky wetness under the soles of her feet. Annoyance mixed with general disgust, to be more specific. She'd need to have a bath after this, so she was inclined towards going to an inn herself as well.

"I don't think I got hit back there. Huh..." she idly remarked, briefly inspecting herself for injury. "Lucky. Did I... do okay helping out, guys...? Oh, um, sorry you two~! It's a... weird time to meet us, but it's... nice to meet you...?" she offered sheepishly to Dubhan and Zale, feeling a little guilty over her uncharacteristically severe demeanour. She allowed a little bit of her usual cheer to creep back into her voice as she spoke to them.

Edited by Enirboreh on Aug 2nd 2023 at 2:11:23 PM

Freana — A Cleric's Tale

Freana wasn't sure what happened. One minute they were duking it out in the woods, the next they were in town. It all happened so fast. When the dust settled, their teacher was injured and Zyan was gone. Again. Again again. She wanted to go after them, but Maya needed her more than he did. She followed along, waiting until they were near town before settling on a course of action.

She'd spent the rest of the trip in contemplation. She'd spent so long desperate for attention. Whether it was from Sigi or Zyan or someone else. Anyone who passed her fancy. But Zyan was gone and Sigi was taken. She needed to get priorities straight. She stayed close to their teacher, giving her an arm to lean on.

"You okay, teach? Got you pretty good, huh? Never thought I'd see the day..."

They needed to get to an inn. Freana was getting better at healing every day, but Maya was too damn stubborn. They needed to sit down, give themselves a chance to rest. Maybe then Freana could work her magic.

She looked at the two newcomers. She wasn't impressed. Even if she was, her duties came first. "Yeah, uh-huh, good to meet you too. Now does someone know the way to an inn or are we gonna be hauling this stubborn jackass around all day?"

Verona Auer

Don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact...why are they all staring at me? Is there something wrong with me and I haven't noticed? I should have brought my cards, at least then I'd have a distraction from all this gods-damned staring, or maybe I could throw them and run away while everyone is distracted—

Wait, no, they're looking at Maya. Because Maya just got blown up. Right. False alarm.

Verona felt a little overwhelmed to be walking back into Alkdam after such a short time away. It was louder than she remembered it being, weirdly enough - the ever-present chimes were harder to ignore having been away from them for a while. Her shirt was sticking annoyingly to her stomach wound, and she couldn't help but try halfheartedly to peel it away from the skin.

Mother and Father will be impressed by the battle wound! Maybe...

As they got deeper into the town, Verona became increasingly twitchy. She began to scowl at people who looked their way for too long. She reached up to fix her hair, then abruptly mussed it up seconds later.

In what was admittedly a low point for her, she hunched over to hide behind Sigi for the duration of Maya's brusque conversation with the guards.

Freana's complaint shook her out of her stupor, and she sheepishly raised her hand.

"Oh, me! I know where the inn is."

Verona's eyes cut to the newcomers. They weren't locals, that much Verona could say for sure. Oh, but one of them was lost - she could help with that, at least!

"I know where it is," she reiterated unnecessarily. After a noticeable pause, she added, "My mother owns it, so...I might be able to get you a discount! Or something!"

Though I might have to go in the back way...

Alkdam, being the healer is suffering

Lac’ner, being one of the people supporting the recently blasted teacher, groans. “An inn? M-Master Maya, you need a doctor and a cot not a so-“

A beat passes.

“R-Right…I’m the doctor aren’t I. O-Oh…but still! There’s all the shrapnel, a-a-and what if you got burns from the blast and-“

The two new arrivals interrupt his rambling, leading him to sigh defeatedly.

“O-O-Oh yes…h-h-hello there. Uhm…M-Ms. Brandt has the right of it, yes…”

He uses his free hand to adjust his hood, which had slowly been becoming lopsided.

“I’ll…defer to your k-know how of the city, Ms. Aeur…l-lead on…”

Alkdam east entrance

"You're the best one we've got" Torhild said at Lac'ner in what was supposed to be an encouraging tone, her red furred ears flicking in the direction of the two sudden and apparently very curious onlookers. It wasn't too hard to recognize the sight of someone who had never seen an adventurer before, even if it was the first time the she had experienced it from this perspective
"There'll be time for questions after we get her on a bed, and maybe a little drunk. But if you really want to help you can carry our medic's bag to the inn" The half-Fenrir said, pushing the second backpack containing Lac'ner's somewhat heavy alchemical gear towards the piscean. "You looking for adventurers for some reason?"

Edited by BlitzTrain on Aug 19th 2023 at 8:38:40 AM

Dubhan Yohanan

"A beer? Now that I can do." he chuckles. Once they're near the inn, he makes sure the doorway is clear and helps lead them inside, flipping the necessary payment to the bartender. "Beer, please. A round for these people." he gestures to the adventurers.

Elliot Etirina, Arrival and New Faces.

Giving a small sigh of relief that reason have prevailed and the fight had ended, Elliot made sure to drag the unconscious bandit back to town with the arm that wasn't still stinging from smacking a buckler into the unfortunate thief, silently glad there hadn't been any magic involved.

And while the wondrous sights of a town yet unseen to him were threatening to distract the young noble, he did his best to focus on the task at hand, giving a swift explanation of what had happened to the guards before glancing back at his fellow students and the unfamiliar faces

It didn't take more than a few seconds of glancing at their attire and comment of searching for the inn that Elliot gave a friendly smile and nod at the pair of travelers while giving a giving a silent sigh at at Freana's blunt-to-the-point comment.

"Forgive the, er, curt remarks, everyone's understandably concerned about our fellow traveller being considerably injured, but I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to talk and formally introduce ourselves, when we arrive at the inn. We're all heading in that direction it seems, after all! It's certainly nice to see fellow travelers!" Elliot politely, if somewhat cheerfully said given the circumstance, nodding at Xale and Dubhan.

Before they set eyes on the inn, the class was guided in the right direction by the sound of singing. The wind carried a raucous drinking song to the group's ears a few streets away, and the din only grew louder as they approached.

Soon, the reason for this became clear - a pair of stable doors built into the side of the inn were flung open, leaving the dining room exposed to the open air. The building itself was constructed of solid local stone, and was one of the tallest structures in the immediate vicinity. Travellers of all stripes sat at trestle tables within - wealthy Saorantian merchants, clusters of Dragonfolk wanderers, and of course plenty of Alvar, many of whom were presumably Alkdam locals.

"Welcome!" A barmaid called as they entered. A few drunken patrons echoed the greeting. Then a patron apparently caught on to Maya's condition, because somebody from the crowd loudly exclaimed "Oh, shit!"

This caught the attention of an Alvar woman who had previously been making her way around the room, speaking briefly with the clusters of guests. The woman lazily waved a hand fan as she glanced toward the party. She continued to do so even while her eyebrows shot toward her hairline as she laid eyes on Maya.

"Ah. You'll...be needing a room then, I expect. Rates are on the board, and I can call you a medic if you'd like."

From the back of the group, partially obscured by the others, Verona cleared her throat. "Um, Mother..."

Madam Auer cycled rapidly through several emotions in the span of a few seconds - recognition, confusion, concern, displeasure. She settled on something like resignation.

"Oh, Verona, what have you done now?"

"Nothing!" Exclaimed Verona. Though the party knew this to be pretty much accurate, it still somehow came out sounding like a lie.

Madam Auer sighed, clearly doubtful. "Right. Well." She drew closer to the party, and once she was near enough to speak without the other patrons overhearing she added, "Never mind about the rates for now, I suppose. You can have the right-hand rooms on the third floor. Follow me."

With a particularly sharp snap of the fan (eliciting a flinch from Verona), Madam Auer turned neatly and began to walk toward an out-of-the-way staircase.

Sieglinde von Brandt

Sieglinde stared slack-jawed at Madam Auer as she strode away towards the staircase, following her up with her eyes for a few seconds before flicking them over to Verona incredulously.

“I-Is that it...?!” she exclaimed, her face shifting through expressions of disbelief and eventually landing on offense. “She- not even a- she didn't even- ugh...!”

She would've kicked a table if it wouldn't have severely hurt her foot to do so. She considered for a moment the idea of getting a pair of boots exclusively for the occasions when she wanted to kick something in anger.

She decided against it, ultimately, but the fact she did consider it was significant enough on its own.

“Fine. If your own mom doesn't wanna even hug you, I will,” Sieglinde declared, and she was too frustrated to even consider this idea deeper before she went ahead and actually did it. Thankfully for Verona's (little) dignity, the hug was brief at least, if not stiff due to Sieglinde's irritation. “Anyway. Let's go...”

She turned on her heel and strode off after Madam Auer, not even noticing that she was in a sense mirroring her demeanour; albeit with less primness and more fury.

Dubhan Yohanan, Well That Was Awkward.

Dubhan awkwardly watches the interaction between mother and daughter. He didn't know much about them, but judging by the flinch, he guessed their relationship... wasn't good. Best not to pry, however. "This kind of thing always happen?" he asks towards no one in the group in particular. "Adventurers really have it rough." he hums...

Zale was somewhat taken aback by the treatment he had received, but he winced a little more upon seeing the state Maya was in. He sighed, walking in place for a moment to try and hype himself up. He hadn't had a good opportunity to ask about it yet, and this was a good a time as any.

"I'm headed to Ainsworth International Adventuring Academy!!" he proclaimed. "I'm gonna be an adventurer! I'm gonna protect people in need, and I'm gonna make Ligea proud!"

When one of them suggested a place to stay, Zale eagerly followed.

Zale's eyes widened upon looking at the inn in front of him. He had never been to a landwalker inn before. Most of the inns in the Charybdis Sea were tucked into cozy stone caves in trenches and ridges.

Zale, in an excited daze, barely even noticed the party starting to head off without him, but when he saw them halfway up the stairs, he gasped.

"H-hey, wait for me!" he exclaimed, rushing up the stairs.

Madam Auer's Inn

"Look, I'll be fine so long as I get off my feet. I've been in tougher places than this, by myself." Still, the flinched grimace on her face told that while she may have been dealing with the situation well mentally, the physical toll was all too apparent. As Madam Auer barely gave her daughter a second glance, however, the half-Dragonfolk instructor's eyebrow arched, just for the briefest of moments. To those with sensitive ears, there was the sound of a tongue clicking, before she made her way to the indicated rooms with the help of her students.

Upon setting her sights on the bed, she stumble-lunged towards it, messily sitting on the edge as, with teeth gritted, she started to pull at the biggest pieces of shrapnel she could get her claws on.

"Right, Lac'ner, you can help deal with just getting these out and cleaned up, and I'll handle the rest. Then, I want all of you to go out and do adventurer things. Get to know the local atmosphere, listen for rumours. While you all are here, I want you all to actually take up jobs. Being an adventurer isn't having some cozy bounty board at an academy that's been picked apart to be suited for you, YOU have to learn what jobs to take and how to find them."

A wince as she tore out a bloody piece of metal, tossing it aside. Gone was her usual air of cheery, devil-may-care attitude, replaced with stern conciseness.

"Don't worry about me. Besides, I can't teach you what experience can, so hey, consider this your first real taste of the adventuring life. What you all do from here is up to you. If you need help, all I can do is answer questions. Gotta learn your own way when it comes to having your boots on the ground."

She tried her best at a smug smirk, though all she managed was a few twitches of the face as she continued to pluck out sharp shards. Before their eyes, her wounds were already starting to stitch closed very slowly, a faint, heated aura emanating from her. She took a look at the two others who had tagged along with the class, sizing them up.

"So you're new students headed for the academy, huh? Guess this isn't the best introduction, but I'm the combat instructor, Maya Rothschilde, but don't even THINK about calling me by Instructor Rothschilde. Seeing as we're headed away from the academy, and we just got jumped by bandits, I suggest you don't travel alone. It might be a bit tight on supplies, but you could join this group on their little 'field trip'. Good way to catch up on what learning you've missed."

Edited by UndyingPhoenix on Sep 27th 2023 at 6:55:36 PM

Zale followed Maya and the students up to the room, looking worriedly over as Maya tried to dislodge the shrapnel causing her injuries.

Finally, she addressed the new potential students. Zale stood up straight and tried to look soldierly.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Zale exclaimed. "My name is Zale Xiphias, of Ligea!" he introduced. "That's, that's in the Charybdis Sea! North of here, in the Bay of Dexamene! Anyway, that's not important. Anyway, I accept! Tell me what to do, ma'am, I'll do it!" All the while he stood stock straight, his tail swishing to betray his excited nervousness while he tried to look strong.

Sieglinde von Brandt

"Hey, ease up~! We're not soldiers, I think," Sieglinde remarked to Zale, giving him a chipper smile despite her clear concern over Maya. Upon hearing her instructions, however, she eased up a little with the understanding that there wasn't much else to be done for her anyway. "Oh, my name's Sigi~! Sieglinde von Brandt~! It's nice to meet you!"

She said this primarily to Zale, as she'd been speaking to him first, but it was also aimed towards the other newcomers. She wasn't exactly sure what impression she gave off after all of this—a barefoot loon, most likely—but she'd be damned if she didn't at least try to come across as nice. Those bandits weren't worth getting them all down in the dumps.

"I don't think Früchtenheim is too far from here. I think I remember some of the land around here..." she hummed to herself thoughtfully, shifting her weight to her other foot as she cupped her chin in a pensive fashion. "Then again, I was daydreaming almost the whole way, so..."

Aeur Inn, Lac’ner Kineas

“O-Of course, ma’am.”

Lac takes a quick detour to Tohri to dig around in his bag for a few supplies, namely a few herbs, a pair of forceps, a roll of gauze and a pair of scissors.

She might note the fact there’s a lot of stuff in there, way more than was needed for this trip.

After returning to Maya, Lac takes the time to place the herbs in a vial from his cloak’s pockets alongside a mix of water and medicine.

He swirls the mixture about, muttering a prayer to the god of medicine, channeling life energy into the mix.

“This should help numb any remaining pain.”

He quickly falls into a pattern.

Pick a spot, pick the smaller pieces out, apply the numbing solution around the larger pieces, remove the piece, wrap the area tightly in gauze because quote, “healing magic or no, you can never be too careful.”

Torhild Hedinfal - Auer Inn

"Heh, looks like you've got your whole lab in there" Torhild teased Lac'ner as he dug around in the bag she borrowed after the bandit attack. Despite her lighthearted comment she was watching their teacher, trying to get a gauge on just how much Life and/or Body energy she was using to get her wounds to heal like that.
But Maya was a tough one and Lac seemed to have the nursing taken care of, so there wasn't much point to sitting around now that they'd been given their first assignment. ...To find their own assignments, but it's not like their original plans had been much more than an itinerary anyway.

"Right! Sorry, I didn't know we were expecting any new students, let alone to run into you all the way out here, I'm Torhild Hedinfal" The half-fenrir girl introduced herself to Zale with a chuckle "You can relax a bit, we're not big on protocol or anything. Maybe start by telling us what you can do? Or you can help us ask around for any dirty work around town, an extra pair of ears never hurts there!"

Dubhan Yohanan

Yohanan chuckles as he stands back and listens. He puffs out his chest and flashes his shiny teeth. "I'm Dubhan. Dubhan Yohanan! If you can smell what I'm cooking... well I'll leave a demonstration until it's needed." he laughs as he flexes his biceps. He extends his hand towards Sieglinde and Torhild with a smile. "Good to meet you all! As for what I can do... hmm... I'm really fucking strong." He shrugs and flexes again, causing outcroppings of rocks to grow on his arms. "I could probably help out, sure."