Welcome to Zumfit

Zumfit. A massive walled city.

It's hard to see, through the massive trees. But one amongst their members has managed to climb up into the enormous trees, and has been able to spot it in the distance. It stands like an enormous walled fortress, protecting against the megafaune of this particular floor of the Aincrad Tower.

The path ahead isn't particularly well traveled, and no doubt the megafauna has been part of what has slowed the continuation of the climb so far. But with the Scale Emblem Alliance slowly working away a path forward, approaching Zumfit, things have gone well.

In the past, the City of Zumfit was yet another empty player city, where people would put up wares and generally take over the shops. But there have been rumors that things have changed since.

Ahead of them now, lies a series of what looks like thick gnarly roots slowing their way forward, as well as the sounds of something breathing. The last blockage to head on forward.

    It's been nothing but huge trees and lots of climbing hasn't it? Then again in Aincrad everything is about climbing.
    Nevertheless Amalthea is here. The old Paladin has taken to the fore of the expedition. It's almost purely out of habit. Tanks always stick to the front, but now there's somewhat more weight to her every footstep now that she's representing the Odysseia Knights in a more direct manner as she starts climbing the gnarled roots.
    "Right then... Last I heard, this was an empty city. Used to be that players would set up shop once they settled into this level of the tower, but..."
    That but hangs in the air kind of heavily.
    "Eh, well hopefully there won't even be any monsters for us to clear out when we get there."
    What is that breathing sound though?
    Well that's an issue for Amalthea to deal with when she finds that out.

Gwen is keeping tabs on things with the tower, even with her growing feelings of dread about pushing the tower she will be here. They should check out the city well the could be things of worth here to fiond. She also wanted to keep her alliance up todate on things here. She smiles over at Amalthea for a moment.

"Well it's another adventure, one way or another right?"

This isn't Rylens's first time on the third floor of Aincrad. It isn't even his first time since the Apocalypse. In fact, he had scouted Zumfit a mere week ago. Though he hadn't done more than scout and watch the Landers who call the settlement home, it seems that their history is enough to spark his curiousity.

The Pooka is dressed with some manner of taste today, with an undershirt and traveler's coat where he would usually be shirtless for performances. "Was an empty city, is the key point." Rylen explains as he follows behind, seemingly wearing a smile despite the rough terrain. The mentor for Crescent Moon is doubling as a guide, "Last time, I took a perch somewhere up there to watch. Stayed mostly out of sight and I'm not sure they even noticed me."

The roots don't seem to bother him, the agile male moving between them, even balancing atop them from time to time. "There's definitely people there now. A whole mess of them from what I saw. All sorts of races together. Saw them take down this massive monster, then attach it to a pole and carry it back with them."

Normally the 'Advanced Party' wasn't Kauchemar's typical place to be. But if something went horribly wrong, the Messenger had the best chance of getting word back to the rest of the world. Or something like that. There's some thin adventurer's logic to justify it.

Really she's just curious after hearing some of the scouting reports from Rylen and wants a look for herself, because curiousity does that to people. See how the world has changed after the Calamity (and finding ways for the Guild to take advantage of it) was part of the job, but one we tried to not vocalize too much when members of the other Alliances were around.

"Ezzo refugees did move into Tolbana.. but it's unlikely they got brave-slash-lucky enough to move higher up before we did.." The Nightmare werefang muses. She's mostly just walking, leaving the matter of clearing overgrowth and such from the path to her spirit-binder sword swishing and swashing near her.

As the team continues to approach towards the city, the source of the breathing quickly becomes rather clear to them. With Amalthea at the forefront of the team, she's the first to spot it! Luckily, she does so before it gets too much of a problem. The branches suddenly rearing up, revealing two enormous maws.

Tree Snakes!

A parasite species that grows from trees, and looks much like roots or snakes! Their heads are large enough to swallow up one or two Adventurers in one quick snag! What's worse...

The various plants and roots in the area suddenly rise, almost like a root prison!

Tree Snakes are high level Earth element users!

They come snapping down towards the team, but Amalthea and Gwen are able to block one head each thanks to Amalthea's spotting them in time!

    "Oh yeah, Gwen, just another fun adventure." Amalthea says with a light chuckle.
    Before her attention turns to Rylen.
    "Is that so? That's... Odd. Landers? Players? I didn't think anyone had set up shop here just yet."
    It's actually kind of a slog, but then again what part of this tower hasn't been? Trudging through the sands of the second floor or the overgrowth of the third floor has been a pain and, and briefly Amalthea wonders what could be next on the floor above.
    Endless dredging through swamp?
    Sideways rain?
    Scorching plains of fire?
    Giant tree snakes that could swallow her whole?
    --... Hold on a tick.
    That last one is actually happening right now, and as one of the snakes snaps at her the old Paladin raises her shield and rams it right into the thing's mouth to try and hold those giant jaws prized open.
    "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?" She spits before calling out to the group. "Where's there one there are likely more, everyone form up!" Shouted as she flips her sword in her hand, gripping it by the blade to try and batter the giant serpentine beast over the skull with as much force as she can muster.

"Landers, from what I could tell. Though I didn't get close enough to run an INSPECT on them." Rylen replies, shrugging his shoulders as he climbs over the gnarled 'roots' that block their way. He settles himself on one, "They looked pretty set up from what I could tell. Like they'd been there way more than the... what is it, three months we've been here?"

Of course, at the moment that the snakes decide to reveal themselves, has to be the moment that Rylen is lackadaisically straddling one. It surges beneath him, "W..woah!" Luckily, his natural acrobatic grace has him rolling along the snake's back, landing in a crouch and looking up towards the creature. "Well, well, they certainly hid themselves."

The beastmaster looks towards the others. "Monsters like these usually are averse to fire. Though let's try not to burn the whole forest down. Just a thought." Rylen, on the other hand, just flat out goes to punch one. Because fire really isn't his strongest element, but punching is.

Tree Snakes? Oh, joy Gwen would make ready with her weapon as the snakes come after the as the creature attack. She'll trigger her own tanking taunts are ready, as she engages her blade comes out as she moves to intercept one. "It is always snakes Indy!"

She will move to intercept one of the snakes, hopefully, she can respond in time to deal with it.

"Let's deal with this!"

The talk as of Landers being here is interesating to say the least but right now? Snake to deal with.

Kauchemar clasps her hands together with a giddy little wicker as the party is set upon. "Ooo, parasitic manifestation algamating both flora and fauna attributes. You don't see that every day~" Is anyone surprised at her getting excited over something that could possibly maim, maul and eat them by this point? "I wonder if either of them are named Audrey..."

Oh, yes, they should probably defend themselves.

"Please, like I would just throw fire around -indiscrimnately-," Kauchemar scoffs. "That said... Gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme that which I desire~", the bard singsongs.

Sparks and smoke erupt beneath the deciduous serpents like stage pyrotechnics, sending large but controlled plumes of flame shooting upwards to hopefully scorch the monsters good.

The butt of the blade slams into the massive snakehead, causing it to screech out in pain and be knocked back. Notably, there's a lot of damage done in that single strike. As large as these monsters are, it seems the Adventurers' levels are well above par for this floor! Rylen steps in with Amalthea, managing to jump up enough to punch the large snake's head right back down to the floor of the forest - right as a pyrotechnics show starts! The flames burst up, while Rylen is safely above the Snake. It creates a most interesting of patterns, flames blasting out on all sides of the snake, while Rylen is trapped above it for a bit - right before its HP drops to 0, and the flames disappate.

Leaving only one more snake, which is still being handled by Gwen - as well as her remarkably American commentary on the matter. Gwen slams it in the face, forcing the snake to reconsider its life choices for a moment, before it decides that it is stuck on that tree, and these Adventurers are mightily tasty looking, and comes down with its massive maw, trying to draw Gwen around while various spikes rupture up from the ground, driven by some kind of strange Arte from the massive Tree Snake!

"See? You don't want to be some insane pyromaniac mage to bend fire to your nee--" Kauchemar is interrupted as she jerks to the side as one of the massive spikes burst out of the ground. "--It can use the roots too?! Ack!" She jumps and does a backward roll as another bursts right in front of her, ignorante of the small wake of flames she leaves behind her. "I guess it really did not like that I nuked it's friend with fir--AAH!"

That's when multiple giant wood spikes erupt from the ground around her, crisscrossing at angles to actually trap the nightmare in between them. Thorny edges dig into her sides while she's got her arms and a leg at odd positions to keep from getting tore through, but pinned between the giant briars tight enough she can't move. "Don't just float there!"

But that's all the ghostly sword does, as she can't wiggle an arm loose enough to give a proper commanding gesture.

    Briefly. Very briefly, Amalthea's mind flashes to Prophylaxis just as Kauchemar brings up 'pyromaniac mages'.
    She pushes this from her mind, and fast when the were-fang ends up trapped.
    "Ah hell."
    At least the first snake is a moot point, so she turns her attention to the one remaining as she flips her sword again to grip it by the hilt.
    You know. The proper way.
    "Get her out of there." Called as she raises her blade and starts hacking away, sword coming to life with a scintillating glow as she swings to smite.

"Oh, I would never accuse a fine lady such as yourself of being indiscriminate." Rylen offers towards Kauchemar, giving the Were Fang a wink. Even in dire circumstances, it seems hard to displace the easy-going mannerisms and charming smile that the Pooka acrobat always wears. "Not someone of such beauty and talent."

The next instant, strange spikes seem to emerge from the ground. Being aligned to the Earth Element as his kind are known to be, he seems to sense the tremble of it even before they appear. So, Rylen rolls with it, darting backwards and dodging them as they come dangerously close to spearing him. The movements are graceful enough that it almost looks as if he knows exactly where each will come from, and just how to move his body to just barely avoid them.

It means that by the time he is able to look back towards the others, that their musical accompaniment is already trapped. "On my way!" He calls out, flattening his feet to the ground in a stance that is obviously some kind of trained martial art. he takes a couple of steps, then seems to motion his arms as if pulling something. It causes the ground beneath a couple of the spikes to shift, pulled by his own innate Earth  magic.

The last snake is still a mjor issue, is it going to make the smart choice? Nope it doesn't flee it's going to keep trying to fight. Gwen however sems to be ready for what the massive snake intends to do to her in. it fails she's bale ot itnercept and block the the attack oe dance out of the way.

"I had enough with you!"

She'll quickly chant as she does she'll try to send a pillar of earth into the snake. Gwen just seems done with this damn thing and it wanting to make dinner out of everyone here.

Amalthea's strike cuts at the snake - cleaving a swath of its health away and leaving a massive red scar all across its head. Rylen's follow-up through his own mastery of earth, shifts the spikes and causes some of them to inadvertently spear through the snake's giant head - and helping out Kauchemar from her rather awkward predicament!

With the spears wedged into its head, Gwen proceeds to give it a massive stone pillar uppercut that sends the head up straight into the nearby tree, before it too shatters... along with the growth-barrier that had formed to keep them 'trapped' in place.

With the road free however, they are suddenly greeted by an unfamiliar face.

A rather dark skinned woman with lilac hair, who looks like she is likely a Pooka of some sorts, is staring at them. The lightly armored woman is holding a bow and looks like she was in the midst of climbing one of the tree branches that was near where they were being held 'prisoner' by the tree snakes.

She rapels back down and lets out a sigh of relief. "Good, you made it out. I was worried that the travelers from a foreign land would be bested before they could make it to the safety of our walls."

Kauchemar drops back to the ground once she's free, stumbling a bit from the awkward stance before getting her other hoof back on a solid surface. Dusts herself off a bit, trying not to wince too much at the red 'injury' swipe across one side where one of the root spikes got her pretty good. "Thanks," she says to Rylen with a nod.

Then grabs the ghost sword and sighs. "Maybe I should of had the shield out instead." She shrugs, and lets it go to resume floating at her side. Not her fault the standard possessed weapon summons aren't really designed to think on their own too much.

A hand flicks through her mane to comb it back into place, and then she turns her attention to the new arrival that spoke up. "A bit of an am-bush, sure, but not so bad that we were out on a limb and forced to leaf."

She's making bad puns, she's fine.

    That certainly was an encounter. With the second snake reduced to a mass of red pixels, Amalthea remains vigilant, lest a third one appear. But instead of a snake, she finds herself staring down a new face who was most certainly not a part of the expiditionary force.
    "... Ah?"
    Lowering her blade as the Pooka(?) descends, she rests the point of her sword to the ground, hand settling on the pommel as she cants her head to a slight angle.
    "You alri-" First and foremost she checks on Kauchemar who... Starts making puns.
    Clearly Kauchemar is fine, so the old Odysseia Knight's attention turns to the new woman.
    "It was a bit of a surprise I'll admit, but we're hardy folk. What about you?" She asks, before doing a quick EX of the new figure.

Once the final snake is elimated she apuses at the dark skinned owman and smiles a bit at het.

"Hello, We were not expecting anyone here but thank you for the welcome. I'm Gwen Pendragon."

She seemt o be in a good mood now the snake is gone. She'll look to Kauchemar for a moment and then to Amalthea with a grin on her face, she does also exam their new arrival as well she's curious after all.

"So you all right there? Amalthea?"

She doesn't say much to Kauchemar, she's punning. She's clearly fine at this point.

As the second of the snakes is shattered, Rylen does a quick look around, as if he were checking for drops. "You know, game, if your drops were just a little higher, I could be commissioning myself a pair of snake-leather boots right about now." With his usual humor, the Beastmaster just shakes his head, glancing towards Gwen. "Alas, I shall have to continue the search for more fine materials for you."

Then, the lilac-haired Pooka seizes his attention. He tosses back long strands of silver hair, then bows in the unknown female's direction, "Ahh, do not underestimate the strength of my companions here, m'lady. Each and every one posesses a warrior's strength of heart. More than enough to handle a few snakes." He throws all the praise towards the three ladies, then rises to his full height. He is quite tall for a Pooka.

"You say, your walls. You wouldn't happen to be from the city over yonder, would you, m'lady?" He grins, "If so, may I be so kind as to introduce myself. Rylen Corvus. Beastmaster. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The dark skinned Pooka gives Kauchemar this strange look. Like she's never heard a pun before. There's something a bit standoff-ish about her as well, which doesn't help the whole look she's got going on. Her bow still pointing down, arrow nocked, remaining at the ready - though it is hard to tell if this is because of the Adventurers, or because of the Monsters around this region.

Instead, her attention falls to Amalthea. "I am well, thank you for asking." She remarks. Based on a quick INSPECT, it looks like she's got the I icon, and nothing else. She then glances back to Rylen. Upon inquiry, she nods her head. It is notably interesting, that she has not yet introduced herself. Landers never skip out on introducing themselves to Adventurers normally.

"I was not born in Zumfit, but it welcomes me. You may follow me if you wish. Warriors of your calibre are always home to Zumfit." She explains to him.

Only upon Rylen and Gwen introducing themselves, does she note; "I am Kizmel, of the Dark Pooka." She then turns. "Please follow." And begins to make off with... startling speed. Jumping over low roots and thick bushes with remarkable ease. Though notably, her 'level' seems to be about equivalent to the people in the Party - based on the 'threat rating' function of INSPECT.

That gets a brow to quirk a bit from the were fang. "I was not aware 'Dark' Pooka were a thing," she murmurs, mostly towards Rylen. As if asking the Pooka of their group if he knew of such variations. Or what it meant.

Then the Lander takes off before she gets a chance to chime in on the introductions. "Either way, seems we've found ourselves a brushguard to guide the way." She sprints after Kizmel, being fairly swift of stride herself. Running something horses are naturally good at.

As long as no more giant roots try to shiskabob her, at least.

"Aye, Gwen I'm fine." The old Odysseia Knight replies to the younger tank before she focuses on something else.
    "Huh..." Amalthea muses at the results of her inspection.
    Just an I?
    Briefly the old Paladin goes through a few mental hoops.
    Adventurers have Wings and an I.
    Landers have Castle and an I.
    So what is I alone?
    A brief look of consternation bubbles onto her face, but she forces it back down as she sheathes her blade and starts following. Then there's the lack of introduction UNTIL Gwen and Rylen give their names.
    It's puzzling. But Amalthea at least remembers her manners after a moment.
    "Amelia. Amelia Theodore." She says, giving her own name while going through MENTAL GYMNASTICS. ... And some physical gymnastics as well when she has to hustle to keep up.

Gwen says "Good to meet you Kizmel."

She will end up following after Kizmel as they head for the town. It's nice to have an escort and she'll enage in some small chat for a moment she pauses for a moment as she looks at Amalthea for a moment. The I? That's an odd result too to her as she keeps moving, as she pauses about the name for a moment she looks to Amalthea for a moment but doesn't comment on it. It would be rude to do so.

There is a sideways glance towards the female Were Fang as she murmurs that question in regards to 'Dark Pooka'. Being a Pooka, himself, you would expect that Rylen would have some idea if there are factions within his race, but he simply raises his shoulders in a shrug, as if he were just as ignorant to what that might mean as anyone else.

"Please excuse my curiousity, but if you were not born in Zumfit, where do you hail from?" He touches a hand to his own chest, "I was originally from the Ninetails Dominion, with ties to the Peko Army." If he's asking questions, it seems that he believes it is a good idea to offer the information, himself, first.

That is when she begins to race off into the wilderness. "A merry chase it is, then." He doesn't have time to ponder the implications of the woman's unusual INSPECT values. It isn't the first time someone has reported unusual combinations of symbols since the Apocalypse. He breaks into a run behind her, taking it as an opportunity to practice his own athletics in a real world setting. The forest almost becomes a parkour gym, except likely a bit more dangerous.

It takes some time to get to Zumfit. And while questions come, they go ignored at first. Or rather, they end up out of earshot. It's only when they are asked once more, as they approach the clearing leading to the massive white walls of Zumfit, that Kizmel answers the team.

"Dark Pooka are Pooka such as I." Pooka with dark skin? It's a bit of a vague statement. "Dark Pooka look similar to myself." She adds to that, and carries on with a more relaxed pace as they begin to approach the massive doors to the city. As they open, they can see the absolutely enormous trees amidst the city, out of which various housing is carved. There's people of all races milling all about the area.

"I was born in the great Trees." She answers. "In one of the Dark Pooka camps." She does not go into more detail than that. But it sounds like there's people who live outside of these enormous walls.

Stepping in closer, they are welcomed by a few armed women and men - who appear to just be heading on their way into the forests. They are carrying what looks like a massive log with rope attached to it as well, hoisted on the shoulders of the burly Salamanders and transformed Were Fangs.

"Welcome to Zumfit." The Pooka remarks, motioning her hand out. There's a few shops, though it is by no means a market. The things lower to the ground are definitely built to be 'temporary', and are kept close to the various trees. There's milling about everywhere.

Kauchemar slows her gait as they come to a clearing in the woods before the great fortress walls. Great enough that even with her height she has to tip her head back a bit to look towards the top of them.

But never one to not be listening to the conversations around her, an equine ear tilts towards the woman as she explains her origins.

Landers living in the wilderness is one thing. Landers living in, -born- in by her words, the wilderness of a Tower floor is another thing entirely.

Is this part of the 'expansion' that was suppose to 'fix' the Tower's bugs? Something added to give it more feeling of being a living part of a world? Or something else entirely.
Too many questions, along with the unusual lack of icons in Inspect, and not ones that she would get any proper answers from their guide. She probably wouldn't even 'hear' anything involving game operations, after all.

So instead, for now it's simply idly listen, and observing. "So not everyone lives in the town. We'll have to be careful to not disrupt any other settlements while exploring, then."

Gwen listen to the Dark Pooka for a moment she seems to be getting it as they are lead along she wonders about the I along on her display. She has to wonder about that also she seems to be pretty fluid with their conversations. She takes a moment as they reach Zumfit and grins.

"This is nothing like I expected..."

    Needless to say, Amalthea is SUPER MEGA SERIOUSLY confused.
    Kizmel isn't a player. She can't be.
    But she's not following the normal conventions of all the other NPC Landers. Not in the least.
    By the time the INTENSE JUNGLE PARKOUR has come to an end and the group finally reaches their destination, the old woman is a little winded, hands resting on her knees as she works to catch her breath for a beat or two while the great doors open up.
    "... Nice city you've got here." She says before realizing she's going to have to do more mental gymnastics soon in figuring out how and where to base the Scales from this place if it's already so occupied.

The description of what sets appart a 'Dark Pooka' is met with lifted eyebrows. To him, she didn't look all that different than many others he had met, but perhaps Adventurers simply had a wider range of appearances. "Hmm." He only gives a thoughtful sound, looking out towards the trees. "So there are camps of others out within the trees? I didn't cross paths with any in my search."

The hunting party looks very much like what Rylen had seen during his first explorations to this floor. He raises a hand to them in passing, despite being a stranger, "Good hunting."

Then, his attention turns back to their host. "Thank you for the kind welcome, m'lady. Pray, could you tell us a bit more about your settlement? I don't think we were quite expecting to find anything like this here in the tower." And by this... he likely means the people. As Rylen is well aware that the city existed before, though abandoned.

"Thank you. It has taken multiple generations to build the walls and trees to this height, to protect us from the monsters. But in the last few decades, we have flourished." Kizmel answers Amalthea as she mentions it is a 'nice city'. She turns to the group as they enter, drawing the eye of many a Lander.

They are strangers after all. A weasel-like Were Fang female suddenly gets all up to Kauchemar and stares at her with these big eyes, before she asks; "What's that on your neck?"

In the meantime, Kizmel sets to answering Rylen's questions for now; "Yes, out in the forest. Most of them are well hidden from prying eyes. Enough so that we are not easily seen by monsters. But they are not many - most have moved into Zumfit. And they are always on the move." Which explains why he didn't find them.

She then looks back to Zumfit, and then to Rylen. "What about the Settlement do you want to know? We've been here for a few hundred years, so there's a lot of history to it."

Multiple generations? A 'few' hundred years? The hole just gets deeper and deeper, with all the lore that goes farther back than the game itself does.

But the query gets Kauchemar's attention, though it takes her a moment to realize what she's asking about. "This?" she responds, using a hand to hold back her mane so the stylized snorting equine tattoo is a bit more visible. While using it to also tilt her head at an angle to look down and note that there is no such markings on the were fang that asked. "Is so other people of the outside lands can tell us apart from actual monsters and don't panic in our presense." It's not an inaccurate explaination, if kept brief.

"Ahh." Though there is some measure of surprise, Rylen had also expected something like this. There had been a shift in the Landers, and from those he had spoken to, many claimed history back much further than the start of the game. "It is amazing to see a place built up over so many generations." Luckily, he is very good at adapting, offering the woman a smile.

"Actually, I was curious about what you know of the rest of the tower." He motions to the others, "We were only recently able to visit your forests from the desert below, after brave warriors bested a powerful monster. Have you or your hunters ever visited the other floors?" It would be interesting to find out if they once had more freedom of movement, and when that might have changed. "Have your people encountered a monster who seems to guard the way further?"

Though he isn't part of Scale Emblem, Rylen has a distinct connection to one of their members, so he has a vested interest in gathering intel.

    Generations and hundreds of years...
    That's... That's some lore.
    Amalthea's brow knots as she ponders this for a good moment before rubbing the back of her neck.
    "Well that's all well and good then, that you're people are hidden from the monsters. Or at least protected by these walls." She says before a dawning question hits her.
    "You say you've been here that long... In all that time have you or any of your people come across any ruins, or dungeons in the region?"
    Maybe one of the Landers here, if not Kizmel herself might know the way to the next floor.

The Were Fang who'd spoken to Kauchemar gives her the weirdest look at the claim that people need to tell who is a monster, and who is not. "I don't get it. Were Fangs don't look like monsters." She proposes to Kauchemar. "We look like humans, or we look like beasty humans! Though most of us just stay in this form, as it's easier." She explains to Kauchemar. "What's the Outside Lands?" She then asks her.

Kizmel tilts her head. "The rest of the tower? What tower?" She seems rather confused about the existance of such a thing outside of her land. But then she touches a fist to her hand. "Ah, you must speak of the Old Lore! Ehmmm... I do not remember the rhyme. But if you are talking about the Towering Tree to the North West, we can not go there. The Beast that cut off our ancestors remains there to this day." She explains to Rylen.

Then, she adds, "What's a desert?" It appears the answer to Rylen's question is pretty obvious.

Gwen has just been listen for thre most part. "So there's a best that has been isolating you? We might be able to do something about that beast. Though I can't make any promises on that." She notes as she leaves Rylen to answer the question however.

    Amalthea ponders for a moment, resting a hand on her hip. "A desert is a dry land where there's no water to be seen for miles and miles in every direction. The ground is so parched and dry that it cracks and crumbles to sand and dust as far as the eye can see." She explains, before pursing her lips thoughtfully.
    "... Do you know someone who might remember the rhyme?" Amalthea asks. "I'd be curious to know it. It could be helpful to my companions and I."

"That sounds awful." Kizmel's elfin looking ears tilts down a bit at the description Amalthea gives. "How would you hide from the monsters? Or find food..." She lifts her hand and toys with one of the longer strands of her hair. "Ehm, maybe one of the Elders. You'll have to request an audience with them." She explains to Amalthea. The young woman then looks to Gwen as she mentions the isolating beast. "We're not that interested in leaving. Well, not most of us."

A glance is cast towards Amalthea, nodding his head in confirmation to her line of questioning, "Aye, lass. Whatever it is you can remember of this Old Lore, might give us some better understanding of everything we've been experiencing. I would be most greatful to hear from the Elders."

He motions a hand towards Gwen, "Would your people be able to tell some of our warriors what you know about the Beast? We believe that if we were properly prepared, our fighters might be able to slay the creature. Anything would help."

Then, he adds, "If any of your people wish to see a desert, or any other aspects of the world beyond the forest, we would be glad to offer escort. Travel is relatively easy when you have powerful friends."

Honestly, with everything else they've learned tonight, that these Landers haven't been outside the Tower, or even their own floor of it, is the least shocking thing.

"Yes, well... See, we come from a place far beyond your great forest," after hearing the confusion from Kizmel she opts to just explain outside the Tower in that way. "A place where the races have not always had to work together for survival, so can become supicious of others simply for being able of things they are not. We are not the only race capable of posing of humans, and because of those having had ill intentions in the past, this mark prevents confusion."

Kauchemar gets down on one knee and rests a hand on the weasel's shoulder, getting closer to her own level. "Remember, it only takes a few bad apples to ruin a barrel. Always do your best for your clan here, so you never have to worry about something like this." She taps the tattoo with a finger before standing again.

Kizmel gives Kauchemar a bit of a look. "It's not like we don't infight sometimes. But we never let it get bad enough that we endanger the lives of our community." She expresses. Of course, looking around, they are also dealing with far smaller numbers than most of the Kingdoms out in the world out there. "That sounds like a bad place to live." She then adds to that.

The Mink Were Fang looks at the hand on her shoulder, and then looks up to Kauchemar. "O... okay?" In that tone of 'you are talking down to me, but I'm going to let it fly'.

Kizmel finally remarks. "We haven't gone to that place in a long time. But the Elders may still have some writing from previous scouting parties. I'm sure they'd be glad to help. Though... I'm not sure how much they'd want to leave here, or welcome that kind of departure. Everyone here has a place."

"It is simply an offer, m'lady, incase any among you have a wanderlust like I know some are prone to." Rylen touches his own chest at that, his usual calm smile there. "There is no need to leave, nor to change the ways of your people. But..."

He glances around those gathered, "There will be more visitors like us. Some will wish to set up outposts here, in order to aid those wishing to explore what lies beyond your Beast. It may be prudent to make your Elders aware."

He chuckles, "We are outsiders here. Our ways are different. I just pray we can all work together for mutual benefit."

Kauchemar gets back onto her hooves, and simply smiles that slightly offputting snake-fang smile of hers. Though it's probably less offputting to another Were Fang. She's a bit of an odd one in general at times, so it's hard to tell if that sounding like a bit of a put down was intentional, or just from her rephrasing things to not go over the heads of non-Adventurers and their tendancy to not click with more meta explainations.

She wanders back to the rest of her group. "Oh, no no, no need to change anything. Just to explore, and knowing those that know the environment would certainly help." Idly she rubs her side that still stings some from earlier. "Less unexpected monster encounters we have, the better. Just because we -can- beat them back doesn't mean we need to fight every possible instance of them."