Duty Session 460: For Whom the Bell Gnolls

This far out from the forests is rather peaceful, the usual population of monsters has gone quiet and for anyone who wasn't too used to the game it might even seem like the grasslands outside were a safezone from wandering mobs. They would however be quite wrong, spotted about are the gravestones of adventurers, signs of fighting litter the area. Indeed, here is where the Gnolls patrol, turning what was a low level area into a hunting and feeding ground for the Gnolls that lurk in the forests. Every ruffle of grass potential movement, as the dark falls this place will become somewhere terrifying indeed.

Yet, there sits Lunaris in a state of absolute calm as she waits for the rest of the party to arrive after having been contacted by the Hunter's Guild. Early as per usual the Cait Sithe was simply relaxing and playing with Pecan, a dark coloured fox that was darting about in the grass, chasing sticks that she tosses into the wind. Really, it was hard to tell if she understood the dangers of being this close to the forest they were about to invade, either way every now and again she glances back to see who is arriving, "Doesn't look too bad from here.. Hoping that we can get some hides, my alliance-mate said they were good for that," she calls back with a satisfied hum.

Yeowang has heard that the gnolls have been a problem again lately, and so she has joined up to see if she can help put them down again and curb their enthisiasm. She has arrived in a black surcoat and heavy trousers, with leather ankleboots with a low heel. Her hair is bound up into a large bun on her head, and a hooded cloak is worn, though the hood is currently pulled back.

She is a hunter, of course, so she is a bit woodland savvy, though not as savvy as some, and she's not that good with actually doing some of the skills, being menu-dependent in places. Not in the fighting, of course. But in some of the yuckier tasks.

As an Uncrowned, Tian's experiences with Hunter's Guild quests are certainly nowhere near those of the average Yamato Adventurer. The crafter is a bit lower level, as well, meaning that tasks like these are often more of a challenge for them than they would be for those who have had the freedom to level and explore during their time in Elder Tale Online.

That isn't stopping the canine Cait Sith, however. The wolf-mask wearing individual approaches, offering a quiet nod of the head and a lift of one hand in greeting. They offer no words at first, looking around to take in the area. Their ears tip back slightly, a worried expression passing on their features as they take in a nearby Adventurer grave marker.

There is a twitch of Tian's fingers before turning to the others. They close one hand into a fist, thumb towards themselves, circling it slightly while leaving the other hand flat. "<This seems dangerous.>" Though no words are spoken, the game translates the meaning of the Adventurer's signs. It's likely an odd thing if one has never experienced it before.

Extending one hand, they open their fingers and lightly flex them against the opposite palm. "<My level is weaker than most. Please be patient.>" The hand closes and they touch their thumb from their nose to chin.

One moment she's not there, the next one -- there she is. Uta, in her usual getup that's half martial artist's gi and hald nurse's uniform, is now sitting next to Lunaris, her staff leaning against her shoulder while the tip touches the ground. "We still need to collect those samples," she remarks looking at Pecan. She's not even -trying- to startle anyone or anything. It's just how she is.

Spriggans. They sneak. It's a racial thing.

"Oh, hey, Tian!", Uta waves at the approaching wolf/fox Cait Sith. "That one is Tian," Uta explain to the convened party. After which she seems to realize something. "Oh, hey, Yeowang!" She turns to the other two and says, "That's Yeowang, in case you-" A pause. She looks back at Lunaris. "Hi Lunaris!", she exclaims, and turns to Yeowang and Tian. "Have you met Lunaris? If not, I think we need a round of introductions."

Now with everyone gathered, Lunaris' energy seems to redouble and she bolts back up to her feet, running a circle around the gathered group to make sure everyone is accounted for. At least on the little party list. How else do you check everything? Before skidding back to a halt in front of the group with a wide grin, waving and then bowing, "Hello Yeowang, Uta!" Then a more formal incline of her head towards the wolf cait sithe, "And Tian! Not to worry at all! I'm pretty new to these things too, people helped me out and I'll do the same!" She pauses for a good moment and then motions to the fox at her feet, "And this is Pecan! He's my familiar, channel most of my magic through him. I'm a summoner." Only then does she seem to realise that she just had sign language translated for her and cocks her head in surprise. Then blinks straight back to Uta, "Yes! We need to meet in town at some point. And.. Get icecream?"

Yeowang says to Tian, "/We're/ the most dangerous thing in these woods." Her tone is matter-of-fact, though that tone may not get translated to him. As far as being patient with a lower level adventurer, she says, "No one will get left behind. Just do your best, and we will get through this without a problem." What she considers a problem is left unsaid, but those who know her know that she faces problems head-on and they often regret becoming problems for a short perioud before exploding into pixels.

She nods to Uta, she's met Lunaris before, if briefly. And Tian. "You all remember me, I think?" she says.

Ice cream is met with a shrug. Apparently she can take or leave ice cream.

Tian touches both hands just below the shoulders and then closes one into a fist, running a thumb off the edge of their chin. The negative shake of the head that accompanies it seems to say much about Tian's knowledge of everyone in the party. The system translates: "<I have not.>"

The smile that the former Palace Lander offers is genuine, if a bit hesitant as they incline their head forward. As seems to have become customary, Tian removes the wolf mask, as a show that they are not among the Crowned. Beneath it, their features are relatively androgynous, gold eyes against a backdrop of black face paint that stripes across their eyes and meets wolfish coloring painted beneath. Putting the mask back on, the Cait Sith draws the fingers and thumb of their hand together in front of their face as if forming a canine muzzle. "<I am Tian. It is good to meet you.>"

Those gold eyes flick over to Yeowang, nodding once. Then, they add, "<Once danger starts, I will not be able to speak.>" The Cait Sith places hands on their daggers as if to emphasize the point. With their hands occupied, speech isn't possible for them. "<Touch me if there is something I cannot hear.>" Tian taps at their ears with a shake of the head. It is warning enough that they aren't your average Adventurer going into a dungeon. Things work a little different.

There is a slight glance between Lunaris and Uta, but it seems that Tian doesn't assume the invitation includes them, so there is no further comment.

"We have ice cream?!", exclaims Uta. Give the cogs in her head a few moments to churn, and she continues, "Fukaziroh was looking into making it very much a thing. Has she already gotten to the part where she has a distribution chain going?"

"So everyone knows each other. Good, good," Uta comments after Yeowang's speech. Quietly.

"Understood, Tian," Uta acknowledges. "We'll make sure to keep you informed of any immediate threat. Or anything else you might need."

"Wait.. There isn't ice cream? Why did I come back to the cities then? Should've stayed in the forests," Lunaris grumbles, sounding absolutely devastated at the news as her ears lower by a significant fraction. Truly, it was the worst news to face a life without ice-cream and milkshakes. Awful. Still the greeting from Tian perks her ears up, and she gives another happy wave before twisting around and pointing off towards the forest, "Okay! Of we go! It'll be perfectly fine. And I'm not sure about most dangerous except for yourself and Uta, I'm not the best at fighting! But I can support pretty good!" And with that she starts to head off with a stylish swish to her step.

As the group breaks through the trees there is no sign of the gnolls actually being present, at least not so far. Instead what they find is a bloodied altar of power, items discarded almost ritualistically around. Whatever this place it feels distinctly of -bad-. Death was very at home here, and why it was unguarded? That was hard to discern, maybe lack of foresight, maybe it was a chance to sabotage the strength of the creatures. Either way Lunaris pulls a face as they approach, reeling at the scent. Heightened senses could be a double edged sword at times, "This is.. Gross.. Uh, anyone know what it even is?"

Yeowang nods to Tian about being unable to speak in a fight. "That's a complication, of course, but not an insurmountable one," she tells him at the request to touch him if his attention is needed. "I will do so." As to ice cream, she says dryly, "I think that's still in the wanting so hard it hurts phase." She eyes Lunaris and smirks.

Arriving at the gruesome altar, she looks pretty disturbed, but attempts to put it behind. "This is not normal behavior," she says. Meaning her normal hunter skills have no place here. She will still attempt to puzzle out what's gone on. Unfortunately, it's just a gruesome mess to her, and before too long, she has to go to edge of the clearing and look away, breathing slowly.

Tian seems to recognise the area that they are walking through, not bothering to draw out their weapons despite the fact that it seems obvious they are in enemy territory. "<This is familiar.>" The black bushy tail behind them gives a flick, even as their gold eyes take in the array of items left behind.

"<Did not figure it out last time.>" Unable to offer much in the way of help in that regard, Tian simply crouches to investigate some of the trinkets left behind. "<Some of these are very old.>" They note, drawing up what looks to be a tarnished bit of jewelry and looking at it more closely before shaking their head and rising again.

"I'm not saying it's not there," Uta hurries to reassure Lunaris. "I know that Fukaziroh was working on refrigeration. That was a few months back. For all I know, it might be a thing now? I suggest you go speak with Fuka and ask her. It might be available by now."

"Sign language has that complication, yes, but... you know? I've realized it has interesting upsides. Communication is possible in noisy places. Or when one is sneaking about, trying not to be heard. Not to mention that one can talk with their mouth full. Hm." She looks away and taps her lips. "Maybe I should learn sign language some time or other..."

At the appearance of the items, Uta frowns in concentration. Her eyes dart from item to item, one can see those wheels spinning in her head, processing the information, until a lighbulb goes off! "I know!", she exclaims, as she punches her palm. She turns towards the rest of the party, and continues, "This is-"

Finger raised, she stands there. One second passes. Two. "...what were we talking about, again?" She turns back to the altar. "...Who put all those things there?"

Lunaris giggles at Uta's reassurance, but lets the conversation pass as she makes a mental note to ask later. Preferably with some extra bribes on the side. For free ice-cream. "Sign language is a pretty useful one otherwise, sure it's hard when fighting, but half the battle is finding somewhere to fight. Then all people use their mouthes for is shouting out witty puns. And while fun, it's not overly necessary! Or the name of attacks. Of course. That's a given. Big given," she informs Tian with a grin despite the area they stand in, then with a nod to Yeowang she sighs, it didn't sound good, so they should probably just leave it as is rather than risk making it worse. Her eyes darting to Uta as she almost has an idea, and then just shrugs, "Well we got a path to follow!" Then kicks the doll out of it's place anyway just to make herself feel better. Self restraint. Who needed it..?

As they head off things get at least a little less bloody than they did previously, the trees however start to give way to sharpened barriers, triggered traps made of ropes, hunting grounds well and proper. Sure, there was no at least obvious strewn blood. There was no creepy dolls, but laughter echoed through the trees, a haunting kind that keeps people on edge. Gnolls for certainty, bloodthirsty and ravenous, and by the sounds of clashing steel perhaps even preparing their next trip. And feast. Creepy perhaps, though Lunaris showed little visible signs of being cowed, or trying to be particularly stealthy, the problem was more obvious. To avoid the traps they had to follow the path.. Or spot the traps as they went.

The game's systems seem to allow Tian to realize who is speaking, so their head turns to Uta, offering an expression that seems like a laugh, but without the usual audible accompaniments of it. There is just a slight puff of air and an amusement in their eyes before they raise both hands near their eyes and close fingers to thumb, moving both forward, then one hand is lowered to finger-spell a few letters. "<I can teach you A-S-L.>" Tian offers.

Unusual that a Chinese individual might choose to use the American variant of sign language rather than the one commonly used in their own country, but Tian is not exactly normal in a lot of ways, this only seems to be one of them.

The problem being that as they continue, Tian cannot hear the manic laughter of the gnolls. It means they are somewhat in the dark to just how much danger might be surrounding them. Enough so that it is easy to miss subtle signs of traps in the area.

That is, until one of the snaps and Tian ends up hanging upside down by one leg, looking distinctly wide-eyed, surprised, and embarassed by the fact. Their jewelry makes almost a wind-chime sound. Thankfully, Tian is quite capable and does manage to pull themselves up, cutting themselves free from the trap only to...

*THUD* There goes Tian, sprawled on the ground, rubbing their rear end and looking more than a little put out by the whole experience.

Yeowang can only shrug to Lunaris. "Shouting attack names is a cinematic trope. No one does that in a real fight. It's a waste of breath." She says that with the complete assurance of a 10-year MMA veteran. As the path gets sketchy, she peers closely at it, then points out a direction to go. "There is an ambiance," she tells Tian, recalling his request to have verbal cues relayed. Unfortunately, her stony resolve doesn't communicate what's going on very well, she muses as Tian shoots by going upwards. She'll wait til he's down, since he seems eager to take care of it himself, and she checks, "Are you all right?" When we're all squared away agiin, she will proceed.

"I wouldn't mess with creepy dolls," Uta remarks with a shudder. "A friend of mine did, in the past. Ended up with Insomnia. Also, the doll was cursed and never left his inventory." As she proceeds in her narration, her back hunches further and further, and the only reason why she doesn't end up biting her nails out of nervousness is probably because she's wearing gloves.

"I would love to learn this A-S-L. I am sure it will have countless tactical applications," Uta comments as-

FWHOOMP!

In a fluttering of leaves and shrieking of Spriggan, Uta is yanked to hang upside down. There is some panic, some yelling and screaming, and some arm flailing. After which, she seems to calm down a bit, and just enjoy the dangling.

"Hm. Maybe I could use this vintage position to be a lookout...", she mutters to herself.

As she places one hand on her forehead to shield her eyes (which... is kind of pointless, considering she's upside-down), she turns left and right, squinting to try and look further.

"Oh, yeah! By the way- someone warn Tian that there's traps! We promised!"

It might be a bit late for that...

Lunaris squeaks at the sound of traps going off, hoisting two members up and into the trees with a loving jolt, and a further thud as Tian manages to dislodge themselves. All-in-all the Cait Sithe goes darting back to help the others, hopping along the path she'd manage to carve through the foliage. She's really a bit late to help having been focusing too much, but does fuss over Tian, trying to get any dirt off their clothes then peers up at Yoeowang, "I had a Colosseum fight and everyone was doing it! At least cheesy one-liners. Uta can tell you!" She informs the actually experienced fighter before darting off to give a hand to Uta, who Pecan was starting to try and bat at like a cat toy, "I uh.. Think lookouts usually.. Have their heads higher than my thighs!" She replies starting to try and help the Spriggan down before laying a safer track alongside Yeowang.

Finally do they then meet their main adversaries, weaker Gnoll's of their clans ilk, still empowered by the earlier ritual, even if the strength wasn't quite portioned fairly. But those who know Gnoll's well can likely sense their increased, odd strength borne of death. Their chant was not much different, primordial and loud, it has it's own kind of power. Whatever it is they are doing here likely doesn't bear well for the coming night time. Worse yet, to get anywhere they had to get past this group, and sneaking was right out, too many eyes, too little hidden space. As they draw close Lunaris points over two fingers at the gathered circle, looking back to see what the others want to do. Doing her best interpretation of action movie SWAT sign language. It's bad. It really is.

There is a grimace that passes on Tian's painted features as they give an audible grunt before rising to their feet again. A fist is raised, touching thumb to their chest with a shake of the head. "<Only thing hurt is my pride.>"

In fact, the Cait Sith seems to almost freeze in place when Lunaris goes to help dust dirt off of their clothing. Their fingers move as if about to say something, but instead there is just an almost shy nod of thanks.

Thankfully the contact doesn't linger and Tian falls back into place with the others, though their daggers are drawn this time. That seems to be signal enough that the Cait Sith might have encountered foes from this point onward in the dungeon, during their past visit here.

So, when the inevitable enemy appears, Tian is well prepared for it, able to dodge out of the way of the enemy attacks and slice with those quick blades of theirs. Despite the earlier comments about being weak, Tian seems to be quite capable, at least when it comes to some things, it seems.

Yeowang hrmphs as Lunaris talks about things going on in-game, and says, "The game's a bit more like a movie than like real life, I'm afraid." She will help Uta down, if needed, and when we continue on, she will help guide the way. Coming on the chanting war cries, she does not hesitate.

Leaping into the fray, she will kick the first gnoll she counters hard in the knee, making it stumble and buckle, bending low enough for a straight right to smash it's jaw. The close-in fighting continues, and is joined, but Yeowang seems to be holding her own in the fray, and getting the better of the gnolls. Though mid-fight, something causes her to laugh with genuine amusement.

"We do love our cheesy one liners," an upside-down Uta confirms. "And yes, like Yeowang says, this world seems to follow the conventions of narrative pop culture. Not surprising, I suppose, considering its origins as a videogame..."

After the Spriggan has beenhelped down by both Yeowang and Lunaris (who are thanked as appropriate), Uta frowns at the mention of lookout needing to have their head higher than Lunaris's thighs. "You never know! Fukaziroh could be coming to our help!"

"Oh, hey, drums!", Uta exclaims with a smile, holding a hand behind one pointed ear. "This is music to my ears, both metaphorically and literally!"

Possibly having too much fun with it, she cheerfully interferes with the rhythm by beating her staff against hollow logs, and messing with it in ways which include, but are not limited to, syncopating, beating slightly off-tempo, too fast, too slow, shifting the rhythm it to 7/8, and inserting duck calls.

Don't ask where she got the duck call whistle thingy.

"It's plenty real life enough! More fresh air here to breathe after all. And you may as well enjoy the moments you can with cheesy one-liners when your ability to breathe is a stat!" Lunaris reasons with a giggle, blustering past Tian's response to her brush down in her overeagerness to help everyone and get moving once again. She really was a whirligig of energy, and her fox companion wasn't much better. "Your pride is fine Tian! Punch things until you feel better. If the Tian falls over in the forest and no-one sees, did they really fall over in the first place?" That makes her laughter all the more apparent until she remembers to be quiet. Thankfully no-one else is as they descend upon the Gnolls and soon she does join in too, weaving enchantments onto Pecan as he darts around, slamming into the gnolls he can and keeping them unbalanced to be easily dispatched. Soon enough all the Gnolls are down without a broken sweat.

Of course as with all these things, taking out the small group is never the end, the sound of a scuff alerts the higher ups, the actual fighters. Or perhaps something even more terrifying. A gnoll standing higher than his brethren emerges from one of the tents, carved with infernal tattoos and casting an aura of something quite other. No doubt one of the beneficiaries of the altar, and he does not look pleased. A savage snarl as he stays the scythe, ready for the upcoming combat, his presence far outweighing their actual size.

Yeowang smirks about real life. "Fresh air? Where do you get /that/ in real life?" she asks. But this is put aside as the red-runed gnoll general shows up. She eyes him critically, then thinks back to something in her class tutorial, so long ago. A way to break that sort of enchantment....

Yeowang dredges that up, and does the counter-ritual that was prescribed, then jumps into the fray with the now much more manageable boss.

With their hands occupied, Tian only responds with a small huff of air which could mean anything, really. One of the mysteries of the otherwise non-vocal Adventurer, it seems.

The creature that emerges next, is an easy draw for the Cait Sith's attention. The last time they were here, it was an easy enough task to utilize anti-darkness runes against such a creature, so that is exactly what Tian does this time!

However, it doesn't seem to go so well. When they are drawn out onto the ground the runes glow briefly before flickering out, stomped on by the gnoll's foot. If Tian could curse at the moment, they very well might have. Instead, they end up slammed with a meaty gnoll mitt and sent tumbling backwards into a nearby tree.

Despite not being able to hear, Tian can certainly make a pained sound as they get to their feet, a grimace showing as their fangs are bared.

Melodious vocalizations ensue from Uta, and, as it is usual for her staff, colorful tendrils of light and magic dance in spinning helixes and raise to focus into the gem at the item's summit, where they glow, and depart towards their target.

Uta seems to be proceeding in a methodical way though -- short, continuous blasts, each of them reaching a speicific tattooed symbol on the opponent; a symbol which seems to be dealing more damage than average. In gamer terms, one might say she's hitting all the spots that give a bonus at the right time.

Also, most importantly, she's quick to jump and scuttle back and/or away as opponents approach -- she's marginally squishy, so she tries to stay the heck out of the way of danger.

Apparently Lunaris has been relegated to a position she doesn't really fill much - The main damage dealer of the group, which is quite often a challenge when it comes to your main weapon being a fox. As adorable and exceptional as they might be. With a twist of her fingers and incantation shards of rock start to fly around Pecan, somehow directed by the rather adorable fox, lancing out and slamming into the gnoll as he goes for the legs! Biting, snapping, yowling, and between the four the gnoll starts to falter, getting in a couple of horrifying swings with his scythe first, barely missing most of the group and slamming Tian into a tree. Only a couple of other blows manage to get through before the creature bursts into a mist of sparkles. Finally felled, the Cait Sithe starts to let her guard down, panting heavily from exertion and rubbing at her brows.

Further onwards the group go as everyone is picked up and given a moment to breathe, yet what they find is perhaps not what they expect.. Or at least Lunaris doesn't. A gigantic beast at first glance, that in the shadows barely seems Gnoll and more like dragon or demon, eyes glowing red, fangs elongated.. Runes have been carved into the ground, the focus of whatever great ritual has been invoked with their ceaseless slaughter. And yet the beast moves fast, far faster than it has any right to, being so large, magic or something at play here. And it's cackle as it attacked? That was something truly haunting.

Yeowang looks up as the demon gnoll shows up, claws and lightning and all that. But there seems to be something more to it than that. She looks at it sidelong, and mouths a phrase. She's carefully facing away from Tian, in case he can lipread, but turns on the gnoll at the end, and ... information is revealed. It doesn't stop the fight, of course, but as GI Joe always said, knowing is half the battle. Apparently the other half of the battle is kung fu fighting, because that's Yeowang's follow-up, but knowing what she knows makes the fight quite easy.

"That Demon Gnoll's attacks seem strong enough to rend armor!", Uta exclaims as, over an ear-splitting roar, she dodges out of the way of a lunge that leaves claw marks etched into the ground. "Good thing I wear no armor, I'd hate to have it ruined."

She reaches into her belt, and pulls out what looks like a fountain pen; some menu navigation, and she also shimmers a small notebook into existence. "You folks keep it busy, I'll try to run a background check of what led to the current Gnoll situation, in particular regarding our gracious host here."

That said, following a train of thought not unlike Yeowang, she launches into what looks like an exhausting session of trial-and-error writing. While spinning in the air, kicking, elbowing, backflipping, and cartwheeling in the air, her attempts uninterrupted. Kung-fu scripture.

The feeling of heat that rolls off the demon that emerges before them is enough to cause some of Tian's hair to blow back out of their face, the ombre color seeming accentuated by the glow. Letting out a breath, Tian is quick to go into all-out-defense mode at first, trying to make sure those claws don't completely decimate their armor.

Despite their lower levels, Tian isn't a coward. As soon as they get the timing of the battle, the Cait Sith shifts to the offensive, darting forward with quick speed and utilizing air magic to augment those wicked looking twin blades. They slash between sweeps of the monster's arms, using the air to blast them out of the way of attacks.

There is an intensity in Tian's expression, one that shows just how seriously they take every single battle. Perhaps more-so than some others, as a death here could mean returning to a life forced behind a crown in the Palace Lands.

The fight is not a long drawn out one like most boss battles, no, this creature seemed all but frenzied and more interested in dealing damage than guarding itself. Blows shattering trees and stone as the group dodges or try, only to be smashed into the ground by an errant tail. What's rather clear is that this thing is not in it's right mind by a long way. And that most of the group feel glad not to be wearing armour. Lunaris doesn't fight with the skill befitting Yeowang or Uta, nor the determination to stand against death like Tian, but pure enjoyment. Working in tandem with Pecan's soon enhanced movements, incredibly fast really, to try and take down the beast. And there is odd joy there, just the fun of a challenge without any restraint, or knowing of consequences.

Soon enough, the gnoll falls, gashes to it's torso and arms, knicked and beaten. First to it's knees, letting out a guttural cry before disintegrating into pixels. Particularly drab ones, and a chest appears upon a nearby altar. The Cait Sithe darts over with incredible excitement, her tail swaying happily as she flips it open. Then falls along with her ears as she picks through it, "No hiiiiides!" She complains, slumping there, "Can I even use horns like thiiiiis?" Then finally remembering her manners, she spins around and bows to the group, not realising the revelations some of the party had at all, "Come on! Cheer! We won!"

"<Yes.>" Tian raises one fist and bobs if forward in a gesture that resembles a nod, "<These are a source of dark magic. Useful for crafting any number of things.>" Leave it to the crafter to be the one who knows the uses for strange reagants that are found in the field.

Tucking one of the horns into a belt pouch, the Cait Sith nods to each of them, signing a follow up: "<I appreciate all the help. I am still getting used to the difficulty of these dungeon runs. We did not really have them in the Palace Lands. Not like these.>"

Plucking up their daggers, Tian scans over the damage to them, then shrugs once and sheaths both. Any fight you can walk away from...

"Someone's having fun, it seems?", Uta cannot help but remark at Lunaris's obvious mirth. It takes a few twirls and kicks for the Spriggan to finally realize something, and ask- "Uh... Lunaris? you've heard of what happens if we die too many times, right?"

The battle is won, the boss defeated, and cheering ensues; in particular, Uta agrees with Lunaris that the victorious circumstances are worthy of celebration -- and offers to head off to a tavern to replenish HP.

At Tian makes some remarks of their own, to which Uta replies with a "No?", ears perking up with curiosity. "I would have assumed that the Palace Lands were pretty similar to Yamato in this regard? I think..." Her brow knits. "I think I have heard rumors of quests available in the Palace Lands as well? Did I misunderstand?"

Yeowang eyes Lunaris skeptically. She does agree, "We do seem to have won." And they got a bit of extra information besides. As far as Palace Lands quests go, she says, "I know there are dungeons in the Palace Lands, I've done one." And avoided a boss fight, frantically. "I think it was a bit harder than this, but not /that/ different?" That was the one were she kicked some monster's head clean off with a massive hit, she's still proud of that moment. But she nods to Tian, his concern about getting killed and respawning in the Palace Lands is a legitimate concern. "Do you know?" she asks Tian, "Anyone here in Yamato you could convince to give you residency? That will reset your church, I think?"

There is another of those soft exhalations of breath that might be a laugh as Tian offers only this in response to Uta. "<If you were Crowned, sure. They existed. Not for us. Not unless you wanted a quick and painful death.>" Their lip quirks slightly.

Then, gold eyes shift over to Yeowang, "<I know.>" Tian doesn't explain their reasoning for remaining tied to their old kingdom, at least not for now. "<I have encouraged the others to seek out that sort of change.>"

"But what can I do with daaa--... Oh, wait!" Lunaris suddenly brightens up at Tian's information as she has an obvious lightbulb moment and then starts to greedily pack the horn into her inventory with a gleam of her eyes that rivals the best mad scientists, befor all but purring, "Perrrfect.." Though her eyes travel back to Tian soon enough and her head tilts at the familiar name, "Oh! That was the place with hybrid animals right? I really wanna go there! It would be so cute. Do they have Manti-nines? Alli-kitties? Pand-ants?" Her giddiness redoubling with each variation of names she manages to smush together. Though she left the rest of the quests information to the better versed of the party.

At Uta's question she cocks her head curiously and grins with a nod, "We respawn! I try not to die though, more fun that way. Though some things just don't want to be petted." Sighing and shaking her head at that, honestly, what kind of.. Anything, doesn't want to be petted? Either way she starts to get ready to depart, cleaning off her clothes with happy little hums.