Duty Session 463: For Whom the Bell Gnolls

There is a tentative energy to the air, like the whole plains have their breath held, waiting for -something-. Something cresting upon the horizon. It's an eerie feeling, not at all helped by the slowly setting sun. Anyone who had been here before would know something was odd, instead of low level slimes and small mobs, there was simply silence. And a couple of grave markers from felled adventurers that litter the area, speaking of danger that shouldn't be in a place like this. It's no surprise then that the hinters guild have organised a duty here, to root at whatever evil was lurking here. Reports of gnolls lurking, only to engage in bloody rituals as night falls. Now here that sense of dread could practically be tasted.

Lunaris arrived here somewhat early, her usually liveliness lacking somewhat as her eyes stare fixed towards the forest, narrowed. Finally detaching herself to greet the group as they gather within the plains just outside the forest, offering a slow wave and small smile, "Looks like we've got work cut out for us again! Gnolls causing mischief. Also hi! Good to have you all along!" Still her ears flicked back to every rustle of wind through the trees, something had definitely set her on edge.

The tension in the air was nearly a palpable thing, and it very clearly was having an effect on Rhi. They were a rather small person, standing just barely at five feet tall with surprisingly long red hair and big green eyes that made them look perhaps too young to be wandering into a job like this. Their clothes dragged across the grass behind them, cloak and trousers looking to hardly fit their small body and they dragged with them a three headed flail and a metal shield that both looked incredibly over sized for them.

A nervous smile flashed across their face as they approached the group, "H-hey Lunaris, good to see you again..." Their eyes scanned out across the open field, looking at the gravestones with a grimace, "Soo... these are more of those gnolls you were talking about, right?... I-I'll try to tank for us, if you think that'll help?" They definitely didn't seem very sure of themselves, and they were already visibly shaking at the prospect of violence.

    Hifumi arrives as he so often does with Snapdragon his flower drake summon on his shoulder. He also has a stack of bento he pulls from his inventory handing one out to everyone. The man in his chef's clothing smiles. "There we go, lunch for everyone, they have a nice strength buff so eat up." inspecting the bento brings up the ID 'Tasty Rat Bento' and it does indeed have a strength buff for eating it all. It has thin slices of seared meat, a large cup of rice, and a pickled sour plumb in the box. It is of excelent quality and is Tasty it says so right in the inspect window.

"So we do."

If you had to imagine the single most ridiuclously cutesy anime voice that you could, you'd still have to tune it up a notch to match the sheer tweeness of Jazuhanzu's voice. That's in addition to her ridiculously anime-cutesy look to begin with, what, with the large, almost lambent amber eyes and flowing hair and maid's outfit beneath her long coat and all thatr pink and gold and ...

... She's twee. Stupidly twee. With her hands tucked into the pockets of her long coat at the moment, however, and having arrived with the others for a chance at a bit of loot and to help out, she gives Rhi and Lunaris a once over. She's met neither of them and there's a polite offer of her name. "Jazz," she offers by way of introduction.

Figuring proper introductions can be done on the walk, Lunaris motions for the group to follow her with a smile and starts to trek into the forest. Today her energy is erratic, focussed more on the task at hand than her usual bubbliness, and so no overzealous greetings, though her fox, Pecan isn't quite put off tryinv to bounce up at Hifumi and the rather tasty treat he can smell. "Good to see you again Rhi. Don't worry, you'll do fine! A tank would be excellent for this, though.." She twists around, starting to look backwards and examine the two unfamiliar faces, "I don't know what you guys do. Good to meet ya! I'm Luna, summoner and this lil guy," she motions to her fox who hasn't given up on snagging food, "Is Pecan." Her eyes glance back to the forest once again and grimace, "Yep. Those gnolls. They're bad news." The somber attitude suited her oddly, despite the energy she tried to infuse in her words, a polite wave of declination going to the bento. Probably because of the rat part.

A few minutes into their walk the forest breaks into a clearing, one that's stench of magic and decay is almost palpable. In the center stands a bloody stone altar, speaking of recent sacrifice. Here even the wind sounded like chilling whispers brushing across the spines of the party. Almost haphazardly splayed out are odd trinkets, once valuable, maybe even loved, now part of some foul ritual. Something truly unnatural was here, and whatever it was was hardly normal Gnoll behaviour. As soon as she spots the altar, Lunaris hangs back, looking on the verge of just trying to tear the thing up, but instead she motions to it, "Any idea on how to.. Disrupt that..? I don't even know what it's for. But can't be good.."

Rhi follows along as they start to travel, watching the little fox with a look of amusement as they drag their armaments behind them. "Mmm, well ill try to keep them from getting to us too much." They say nervously as they follow along. They accept thr bento with a small smile ans say, "Th-thanks, it smells good..." Clearly not used to receiving such gifts from strangers, though their hunger is apparent as they start to consume it almost immediately. They turn to Jazz and offer them a polite smile hidden behind their scarf, "I-I'm Rhi, it's n-nice to meet you."

Once they're at the alter, an odd humming starts to come from their body, and Rhi immediately goes to inspect the items strewn about, seeming to not even notice the blood. A moment later they grimace and shake their head, "I don't recognize what any of these are... I'm more likely to blow us up if I mess with it..."

Hifumi follows the trail with everyone else, he's a Chloromancer so tracking isn't really his strong point, nor are puzzles or divination magic. He's been playing since ETOffline but he's an immersive player and not a power gamer. He does stuff like cooking and running his inn but... you gotta get out in the world to get XP and crafting supplies sometimes. He sighs looking at the shrine "Really I wish they didn't have this kind of thing here, it was bad enough to have terrible things in the old world." he chuckles wryly and rubs at Snapdragon's snout with a finger waiting to see if anyone in this little pick up group can manage to locate information on moving forward or weakening the Gnolls.

Jazz stares for a long moment.

"Huh," she offers, blinking slowly in its direction. The tentacles on either side of her head lift their tips, almost to the point of creating a question mark that's upside down.

"...yeah, no idea," she says after a second.

It takes Lunaris a couple of moments to tear her eyes away from the doll, and then she gives a small smile, "It happens. We should be alright either way!" She reassures the group, her tail swaying lightly behind her. Then to Rhi she gives a small chuckle and a nod, "That's all we need! Distract them and we'll deal with making sure you're okay. And that they're not!" A wry smile is given to Hifumi and a slow nod, "Yeah. You're telling me. Not the nicest place here I know, lets get away! Somewhere a bit nicer!" With that she turns back on her heels, heading further into the path of trampled undergrowth, starting to lighten up a bit with each step they get away. Soon enough her bubbly nature seems to snap back, slowing down to next to Hifumi and eying the little Snapdragon, "They're so cuuute! What are they..? How dod you get them? I thought all monsters were like.. Rawr! But.." Giving them a larger, cheery grin as they travelled.

Soon the forest changed, felled trees narking their exit from the usual woodlands at first, after that the carved spikes were easier to spot. It was undoubtable, they had hit the Gnoll warcamp. A few ropes hung from trees, some shorn short and others simply dangling, it didn't take an experienced adventurer to guess what they were -Snares meant to catch the unwary. This area was trapped! And the laughing, cackling of the hyena's that carried on the wind was not exactly an aid to concentration. No, really quite the opposite. A keen eye would be needed to pick a safe route through the area without being caught.

Rhi glances over at Hifumi and nods with a slight grimace, "Y-yeah... this place is... n-not exactly what I'd call... ideal." Still they seem uncomfortable, and now that the humming has stopped they seem very much uncomfortable with all of that blood. Their eyes move to the snapdragon as well with a faint twinge of interest, and they ask, "Soooo... Is that some kind of summon? I'd love to know what kind of magic sustains it if so, or how you're able to communicate with it!" They glance over at Jazz and let out a small giggle, "Don't worry, even with my relic I could hardly understand those things!"

Once they reach the area filled with ropes, traps and the laughing of Gnolls, Rhi freezes in their tracks and starts to shake with fear, "N-nope... I-I'm done..." They whisper, wisps of shadow, fire and faint light suddenly consuming them for a brief time, making the entire area seem just a bit too cold despite the dark flames. When that passes, standing where Rhi once stood is a massive Gnoll looking creature with rust colored fur and two pairs of glowing blood red eyes that quite literally oozed smoke. It's hands were tipped with obsidian claws and all down its pelt were dark markings that faintly glowed with brimstone. The creature grinned with razor sharp teeth and sniffed at the air, before taking off at magically enhanced breakneck speeds, weaving a path through the traps without another word. The clothes it wore fit it far better now, clearly designed for this form rather than their other form, and plates of steel could be seen interwoven into their clothes.

    Hifumi isn't really a hunter or tracker he's a chef. "Snapdragon." he says and points the flower drake to lead the way for him. "I'm a Choloromancer, a plan summoner." he says "So I have a number of plant summons I can use. Snapdragon there is just the one I use the most. If we run into something better suited to one of th eothers you're sure to see them pop out to deal with things." He chuckles and follows after the flower drake. However it does seem to lead him off a small ledge leaving him to fall into a bunch of bramble bushes, the chef flailing and cursing until he manages to use his cholromancy to disentangle himself after a while.

Jazz seems restrained for the moment, holding her cards close to her chest, as it were, and ensuring she has enough left over to help when psuh comes to shove. She's definitely letting the others take point, here, it seems, bringing up the rear as it were.

That, or her tiny legs make keeping up a bit harder.

Lunaris watches the little snapdragon with glee, so much so it's almost a wonder she doesn't get snared herself. In fact it's only by virtue of Pecan pushing her out of the way of some rope traps that she escapes that particular fate. "Oh! That's awesome, I mostly channel through Pecan at the moment than summon creature but.. Working on changing that myself! Look forwards to seeing the rest," indeed she was practically buzzing with pent up excitement. Something that goes out the window when Rhi starts to panic and she darts over to he self-inflagrating Were Fang with an eep of panic, muttering a quick spell, and.. Soon enough a fair amount of water tips over the gnoll-like creature as the transformation finishes. Water magic was good for putting out fires after all, though maybe not the whole transformation thing. Though as it dawns on her what happened she rolls back on her feet, just watching before scanning the party and moving to glance down at Hifumi tangled as they are. "..Do you.. Need help..?" The same look going to Jazz with a small smile, she certainly was trying to keep an eye on everyone at least, shouting over, "Doing good over there..?"

As the group pick past the traps they are soon near the camp proper, and apparently have been spotted. The laughter of gnolls still echoes through the air, undisturbed for mow, but out the darkness some hyena's glare at the gathering group, hackles raised and ready to attack, fangs bared. Behind them a gnoll hunter who seems for now intent on taking them down alone - Though the sound of combat may well attract others if nothing else is done.

The beastly Rhi doesn't seem to even register the water being dumped on them, though their fur does hiss like coals at the splash. They dart out ahead of the group rather quickly, the thunderous boom of their movement no doubt the cause of their detection. They stop however when they notice Hifumi get tangled up, and notice the slower pace of Jaz... perhaps they had been a tad too enthusiastic? They comes to a stop and start to mark the path they had taken with a claw, grinning at Lunaris with manic energy in its eyes. "Now you finally get to see my /better/ half." It snorts jokingly.

The sound of thr hyenas make the brimstone monstrosity turn and blink, a devilish grin spreading across its fanged muzzle before the black markings all along its body begin to glow with golden light, it's body growing just a bit large before it let's out a roar of challenge at the beasts, golden flames licking from it's mouth dangerously.

    Hifumi nods as he shrugs. He's been around enough werefangs (heck he's dating a were) that really the shift doesn't phase him at all. When the attack comes he's ready for it even or he's ready for Snapdragon to handle it. "Strafing runs Snapdragon, keep the pups occupied." he says and the flower drake launches from his shoulder to start laying down blasts of fire whenever a beast tries to get in too close.

Truth be told, if there's one thing water can do for animals, it's drive them away, especially when it's in the form of a highly pressurized hose being sprayed by Jazuhanzu. Unsurprisingly, the Undine has water-magic. WHO IS SHOCKED.

(The animals, of course, as she adds a bit of lightning next for show.)

Were Fangs weren't new to Lunaris particularly, more so the bursting into flames, so when Rhi appears unharmed by the whole transformation, her worry quickly wains and she gets back to being a hyper cait sithe. A grin going to Rhi before they all get ready for the coming fight. It's a pretty good one too, the hyena's cowed by the monstrous transformation of the Were Fang, only then to be crippled by the paired bombardment of Hifumi and Jazz, soon the small pack bursting into pixels. For her own part Lunaris starts to draw sigils in the air, Pecan in turn starting to spark with lightning as he dashes forwards and doing their best impression of pikachu unleashes a blast of lightning bolts against the whole nearby area.. And somehow managing to entirely miss the Hunter in the process, it'd be skillful if not an accident. Without the Hyena's the gnoll is easily cowed by the group and soon follows their pack before them.

With the hunter dealt with the group was able to enter the camp proper, Gnolls glared at them but the majority simply backed away, hackles raising. They no doubt understood the disparity between levels, and knew they would be little but fodder. At the rukus another emerges, the figure far more imposing than the last with very much a similar aura to that they had felt at the altar, their body very much covered in the same runes. This definitely was no ordinary gnoll and clearly had decided that a scythe suited their new, infernal form. With a roar they left the rest unsaid, charging at the group without a second thought.

The Very much Gnoll-like Rhi watches with a massive grin as the snap dragon and the high pressure water takes care of thr hyenas it had intimidated, looking back at the pair with thinly-veiled battle hunger. The small fox that bounds past it makes it jerk away in a sudden motion, barely avoiding getting zapped itself. It shoots an amused look at Lunaris before hefting its flail, leading the group forward as their tank.

The charging Gnoll gets a loud roar in return, Rhi charging in and raising its shield to try and parry any attack that may come, it's claws and the heads of its flail suddenly glowing white with divine fire. The notedly hellish Rhi swings its weapon with all of its strength, a golden arc of light following its path.

"Ah, hell," is Jazz's response.

Still, she's swift to call upon her own abilities. Groups of kelpty vines spring from the earth, the kind that look far more at home in the seas than they do here. They grab aand snatch at the gnoll's ankles and limbs, trying to hold him back and dissuade him from his charging.

"Oi, oi, oi," is Jazz's response. "No can do."

... and then there are more blasts of water. Jet sprays, really, before she draws a ... a ...

purple.. feather ... duster from her long coat. The tip glows with a purply-pinkish energy.

It's a wand too.

    Hifumi sees the giant demonic Gnoll and shakes his head "No... doubt this one is gona be solved with fire." he says and Snapdragon fades into sparkling lights. "Snakeroot!" he calls and a snake made of twisted roots covered in little arrowhead shaped leaves with two white flowers for eyes and thorns dripping poison for fangs emerges from the earth. "Constrict!" he orders and sends the snake into battle. The plant creature seems to expand as Hifumi starts casting and channeling magic into it. Thorns dripping thick sap start to slip from between the leaves as the snake coils and then pounces wrapping it's thorny self around the boss. Each move and attempt to tear the snake free just damages it further and the sap appears to be doing something to counteract the demonic taint with it's purity of earth.

Lunaris is slowly getting used to this whole teamwork thing and it is starting to show. Each movement of hers mirrors Rhi, trying to keep herself out of harms way while she weaves her spells, each changes Pecan, first the little fox is surrounded by a second skin of stone, before sharp, pincer-like stones raise from the ground, swarming around him. With a yip they charge, working to impale the odd Gnoll from his shins upwards. (To be fair Pecan wasn't huge, he was trying his best!) Soon enough with Rhi's warding of blows and the vines that constrict the creatures movement, he soon falls with a cursing roar. One to warn something. One to call forwards something much more scary indeed.

Moments later does It arrive, a gnoll that puts the size of all those others to shame. Rroarn is no simple gnoll, a creature that has become something more than they should be. Burning energy cascades from the creature, a feral grin dancing on it's lips, and oddly not a gnoll-like tail, but one of something far more draconic. This, it seems obvious, is whatever the ritual was fueling. The creature bellows a challenge. But give no time for the group to prepare past their last fight, suddenly lashing forwards with fang, talon and tail. A frenzied attack of something that has gone too far. Something not at all in it's right mind.

Rhi is practically in a haze of blood themselves, after working with their team to defeat the Demonic gnoll They had completely discarded their arms, content to take on thr next challenge with their bare hands and claws. Despite their clear need for violence, the hellhound (for that's what this being was) shoots an appreciative look at its party, respect clear in its in inhuman eyes.

When they enter the lair of the boss, Rhi comes to a halt with wide eyes, clearly noting the similarities between themself and the monster before them. Black and white energy, both dark and light begin to seep from its markings and claws, and like before it is the first to rush the beast, blurring out of thr way of a monstrous slash only to appear in the air behind the boss, raking enchanted claws down its back and vanishing again, zipping around the battlefield at absurd speeds and drawing the beasts ire with every blow!

"Oh, a demon. I imagine it thinks it's got a lock on the darkness, right? But there are other kinds of darkness out there, like the darkness at the heart of the blackest seas. Denizens of of a place blacker than night, I call upon thee! Grant us the strength by which you bear the lowest abyssal sea." The ground beneath her seems to crack and ethereal tendrils of black sea water rise from below. They stretch out to touch each of the adventurers, brushing over or around them without any real contact. Each of them, however, finds themselves suffused with a considerable boost as a 'Blessed by the Abyss' buff appears on their buff bar.

    Hifumi looks at the great gnoll and sighs. "Well... sometimes, you just have to clean the oven I guess." he says and he dismisses Snakeroot. The root serpent disappears in sparkles and light as Hifumi calls out "Snapdragon, gonna need you again." he says as the little drake fades in on his shoulder. He reaches up to rub it's head just behind the pettles where it likes it. "Alright, time for the big guns okay?" he says "Build up your fire and let it rip." he says as the flower drake flaps it's way into the air the summoner starting to chant and work through several gestures, and then the small drake made of flowers and leaves opens its maw and out spews fire, great gouts of rolling flame that really don't look like they should fit in a drake that small much less in one made of plants.

The final battle was upon them, no doubt this thing was the root of the issues here, the ringleader whipping the gnolls up into such a frenzy. Even in it's own beserk state, paying no heed to its own defense, each attack only seemed to nip of small bits of it's health bar, even when it could be hit. The thing was shockingly fast for being so large. But with each member's skills and expertise (not to mention the very helpful buffs), the creature was slowly cut back down to size. An odd shimmer had engulfed Pecan, each strike of his tore chunks out of the creature that then showed the same distortion, disabling it's healing, and between that, the sudden strikes and the whole being barbecued and the incredible boost to strength thanks to Jazz, the gnoll soon burst into pixels, vanishing on the next wind.

As Lunaris collapsed back onto her butt and the lower level gnolls scattered, a chest suddenly alighted on the altar - Their reward for a job well done. A giggle soon bubbles up from her as she flops back in the grass, "That was cool! I need to learn to summon more, I love those plant creatures!" Leaning up to peer over at Rhi she shoots a grin, "Told y' you could do it too! And Jazz, that was a really nice spell!" And with that she flopped back, not caring they were still technically in enemy territory.

is an absolute whirlwind of motion thanks to its magic, and soon enough the beast falls to their joint efforts, the buff having made its Incredible speed pair with incredible strength. at one point it had been singed just a bit by thr fire, but it hardly seemed to notice even as the fight ended.

They land on thr ground near lunaris as she speaks and snorts, "I had no doubts, I am not weak like the other!" it claims, before suddenly shadows wreathe it again, leaving the normal human Rhi in its place. The small person seemed horribly embarrassed for some reason and just curled up in their over large clothes, hiding.

    Hifumi smiles "Well my summons are Choloromantic summons so it's easier for me to find and aquire them." he shrugs a little "However I'm sure you can find some plant monsters to pick up for summoning." he offers. The man rubbing his right hand on his thigh, and you might notice that he often touches things, especially things with interesting texture with this right hand.

"Yeah, it's a new one," replies Jazz after a moment. "Sea-Witch stuff." She tips her hat, giving the others a curious once over. "Well, that went better than usual, in any event, minus some minor mishaps and what not."

Lunaris doesn't dump water on Rhi's transformation again, at least this time. In the future, who knows? Either way she lazily re-iterates to the Were Fang, "You did great! Might want to get your winnings from the chest," she informs, giving them a pat to the head as she lounges. Even Pecan joins her, flumping on her stomach. To Hifumi she gives a small wave and a grin, "Don't worry, working on one! Though not a plant.. More a slime. Just taking a while to ink." Finally she shoots a grin over to Jazz, "We lived. We beat the boss. Just still.. Need to work that altar out, thanks all for your help anyway. I'll clean up here then.. Find some baths. That'll be nice. See you all around?"

Rhi pokes their head up as the conversation doesn't land in them as a topic, so they shimmy their way over to thr chest and open it, pulling out a Demonic horn and blinking at it. They turn to Jazz with a small smile, "Th-that buff was r-really cool... It looked a lot like darkness and water?" They guess, a soft smile on their fave before turning to Hifumi, doing their best to beam a smile, "Your summons are super cool! I can't remember a lot buuut I saw a snake? The one with the super cool thorns, that was awesome!" Suddenly their shyness is gone as they get hyped up about Magic, before finally beaming a smile at Lunaris, "You were awesome too! Pecan was taking out more chunks than anyone! And are you the one who stopped it healing? I didn't know you could do that!" Suddenly they're all hyper energy, blabbering about magic and mechanics.

"Yeah, sure," replies Jazz to Lunaris, casually. "Nice to meet you and all that." She waves her hands, wiggling hre fingers a little, and then she's going to wander off. She has things to do, and frankly, she seemed a bit distracted and unfocused the whole way through anyhow. Still, she did her job.