Finding Castle Eas

    After numerous false starts and less than effective leads, Wake has called upon her friends for this, the last lap of finding the Castle Eas. What was a legendary location last seen in Elder Tale's offline game is to be a legend no more. Through a mix of stories of a border castle in the ancient past of the Corwen family and a trail of whispers about a picturesque waterfall, more detailed scouting was called for. With the results of that search being rebutted by wandering orcish forces and treacherous mountain climbs, the Baroness decided it was time to get serious.

    She has setup a temporary camp at the foot of the mountains. The plains here flow in the rolling winds like a green sea, dotted with knots of flowers. The weather, thankfully, is reasonably pleasant, though the clouds are gathering to the south and west.

    "We had best get started." The Baroness is looking at the foothills of the mountain. These foothills are a brief affair, and then the mountains rise swiftly. "The best path lies ahead. It is a difficult climb, since the roads have been damaged due to neglect. We have reason to believe we will encounter orc scouting parties and whatever other manner of creatures have decided to take up residence in these mountains."

    Before she starts out, Wake turns to face those who have gathered here today. "I want all of you to know how grateful I am for your help. This work has been a labor of love, chasing a dream. Though it is my own dream, it is my vow to make this the start of something good for all of you, and for the People of the Land, as well." There's a hint of emotion welling up, but Wake turns away before it might be revealed. A deep breath is drawn in, then let out. "It's time."

    Merek brought with him the Peko he often does, taking the time to settle in for the night. When it's time to begin, he stands up while mounting upon the creature, then adjusts the beltcape while he nods a bit to Wake, as well as anyone else. "Alright, we need to be prepared for anything when we do find it. I'm glad we are, Wake," he notes, smiling.

"What is a Muse if not pushing forward those that chase their hopes and desires?", is Kauchemar's brief but flowery response. ".. Besides, if and when this proves successful, it will make for one heck of a ballade." About what one would expect from a Bard. Inspire greatness in those that deserve it as much as she did terrorize those whom overstepped themselves. And for all her mischevious and sometimes borderline antagonizing attitude Kauchemar really did enjoying helping friends like this.

Pekos were another matter. She tended to travel by her own hoof, but this was one of those cases were even a Messengers swiftfooted gait would tire out much too soon on the abandoned paths and slopes. So she relented, shifting to her somewhat smaller human form as to not strain the bird, and hoist herself onto its back.

Goldenblade is here to help, though with the peko, help is something she needs rather than provides. She's barely able to stay on one, she's practicing, but hasn't gotten much better yet. The scenery -is- pretty, and she nods to Baroness Wake about getting started. "Glad to help," she replies to Wake, "Looking forward to finding this place, it sounds quite interesting, as you've described it."

Chasing old legends used to be a favorite passtime for the once-Sleeping Knight. It's always fun to dedicate days to uncovering some kind of obscure secret, chasing clues shared across messageboards and chatrooms to hidden treasures- or, more often, empty rooms in the middle of nowhere. This adventure is, however, more than just a pursuit of in-game secrets to the Doctor of Tolbana, it's also about nostalgia. He hasn't had a good old fashioned adventure with many of the Sleeping Knights since coming into the New World, and this is a nice change of pace by comparison.

"Tolbana's got its share of Spriggan refugees from out of Ezzo," Prophylaxis says with a shrug. "I'd feel like a real heel if I didn't put in a little more effort to settle some of the rest. Otherwise I'd feel like I was exploiting their situation for personal gain. Besides, it's not like they're particularly welcome in too many places."

He shrugs, mounting up on a borrowed Peko. "Let's get a move on. We don't want to drag our feet and then end up nighting in the mountains. That's a good way to get ourselves Orc'd."

    "How can someone possibly hide an entire /castle/?" Mizuki wonders. Cut to her walking with the others. "I guess they could just put it so far away noone sees it..."

    But now they're here. Where is here, anyway? The Fourlands Dukedom wilderness, apparently. Mizuki hasn't been anywhere near here since before the apocalypse.

    Speaking of before the apocalypse, every once in awhile, Sam can forget, just for a moment. He's awakened by voices and activity, sees the interior of a tent, and thinks, 'Why am I camping? I hate camping...'

    And then she remembers. At least packing up camp is as easy as putting your tent in your inventory. Barely any work involved!

    She looks up at the mountain, scratching her head as the Baroness says it will be a 'difficult climb'.

                                      ----                                      

    Sam and his father are hiking up a wooded mountain. Sam is overweight -- his father is past middle age. They're in no hurry, taking it slow. The terrain is mostly not that bad. The exhausting thing is that every step is slightly up. You have to lift your leg just a little higher than normal, and then push your body up just a little more than a normal step forward. Again, and again, and again, and again, and again. It gets tiring fast. "Can we *huff* sit down *huff*" Sam pants out, pointing to a rock on the side of the path at about chair height. His father nods, and as they approach the rock...

    Two LITTLE KIDS who can't be more than seven years old freaking RUN past with their endless kid energy. Sam can only groan in annoyance.

                                      ----                                      

    Mizuki looks up at the mountain. "I doubt it'll be THAT difficult in these bodies." She nods at the speech, and sets out with the others.

    Yuuki has a rented Peko. Because she doesn't have a mount of her own. She's usually hoofing it everywhere. An odd term now that one thinks about it. She used the Peko to get here and now that it's time to begin the search, Yuuki jumps up onto the mount.

    She then proceeds to put a fedora on her head.

    "I'm guessin' we should quit our lollygagging, get these bangtails goin' and pop some of 'em palooka orcs before they know what's comin'!" Yeah, the terrible gangster accent and slang spread out amongst the Japanese doesn't make Yuuki look any less silly. Probably moreso, infact.

    Making it to the foothills is simple. It's just a matter of putting one foot before the other. The ascent of the land is something more than it initially appears, though, as the plains slope downward before ascending. It's not exhausting for the mounts, but it more than it first appears to be.

    "The key is to find the path," Wake says, coming to a halt just as the land starts to swell much above the level of the plains. "We will not be aiming for a sheer ascent. Finding the best way now is a worthy thing in any case. It will be needed later." She doesn't need to refer to her notes, explaining, "According to records, a small settlement was here and a path 'easily followed by carts and beasts' will lead us upward."

    ...And then Wake says there's supposed to be a path easy for their mounts to climb -- they won't even have to leave their rented pekos! "See?" Mizuki adds.

    Of course, actually scouting for the path does involve dismounting, zipping about like a ninja, climbing trees, and feeling the terrain with earth magic. But in general if they can ride their pekos most of the time it's really not so bad, is it?

Goldenblade nods to Wake and will begin her search for this path we're looking for. A path usable by carts and wagons ought to be easy to find, but the fact that it's been overgrown for years makes it much more complicated. On the other hand, she's got a good feel for terrain. Using that feeling for terrain, and where she would lay a path for carts, she searches and scans the area.

Dismounting, she checks some of the overgrown areas and scuffs her boot in the dirt, considering, "This path here, it seems to lead somewhere."

Kauchemar reigns her Peko to a halt when the group reaches the foothills and have to stop and search for the path to continue. "An old settlement you say? All I needed was something like that..."

It's not nearly as much of an intense display in this humanesque form, but the glow can be seen from under the cloak of her hood as Kauchemar turns her focus to gaze into things that are no longer visible in the present. Divination was as useful for staring into the past as it was perviewing the future. Mayhaps even more so when it came to things that have already been, rather than things that have not and may not be.

After a bit of shifting through the ages Kauchemar finds a glimmer of the settlement in its hayday, observing the trek of several people to and from the community from the mountains that presumably hid away their castle objective.

The silent moments pass before the glow finally flickers away and she shakes her head a bit. "Come," she says overly dramatically, nudging her Peko towards where the trail into the mountains begins on the far side of what had once been hospitable. "The past has shone a way to our future glory!"

"...Yuuki," Prophylaxis just... sort of gives her a look. "I don't think Yuukiza is particularly thematically appropriate in a place like this," he says with a sigh, before turning his attention back to the trail as it winds up the mountainside and eventually... They get to something of an issue. An old mountain path, untouched for centuries, hidden in the brush. The magus thinks for a moment, and for just a brief instant, a little mote of flame ignites around a fingertip-- before he apparently decides that setting the place on fire would probably just alert the orcs early.

Instead, it's time... for EARTH MAGIC. Prophylaxis gestures, and the ground underneath his Peko slowly begins to rise, giving him a perfect vantage point to examine the contours of the foothills below. "I think I see some suspicious erosion winding up towards the southeast. Might be an artificially cut path?"

Well the hunt for the caele is well under way at this point. She follows along after Baroness Wake and she smirks for a moment.

"Well it should be around here somewhere. There should be some sort of trace behind right? Gwen seem to be in good spirit though as they find a way.

    Yuuki leads her mount onwards and upwards, as the terrain starts to rise. She's only got basic riding skills. Maybe she should change that at some point...

    As Wake explains what they're looking for, Yuuki nods along, "I hear ya, doll." She begins to look around, trying to spot the appropriate pass. Of course, with her fedora tilted in the correct, stylish manner, it makes it a little difficult to see.

    Until Prophylaxis finally calls her out on it. At which point Yuuki awwws, but takes the hat off and sticks it into her inventory.

    There is little left of the road that can be seen this low in the hills. Stones long smoothed not only by the hands of masons but also by the passing of seasons are first found by Goldenblade's boot, digging just enough in the dirt to reveal a stone. But this discovery does not reveal direction. For that, Kauchemar's eye into the past is required, drawing the group's attention to the long gone settlement. There's nothing left of the structures that must have been here. But there is just enough of the path left here to follow. Even with this start a careful ear is required as Mizuki follows the whispers of the Earth and draws the group along.

    Wake's hope that once found, the path would be easily followed is dashed several times. The road is certainly not so easily passed by beast and cart now, being somewhat swallowed up by the soil and broken by freezing and thawing. Each time the way seems to be lost, another of the party picks up the path. First Prophylaxis, then Goldenblade once again catches sight of it, and Mizuki as well. At one point, just when things look there bleakest, Kauchemar is able to peer back through time and find a turn that had been missed.

    From that point on, as the road continues its ascent, its condition improves. It winds along the shoulder of one tall hill and then in a feat of great craftsmanship spans to another, crossing a river-cut valley in a bridge of stone and timber.

    The span of that bridge appears to be in excellent condition. It is around seven paces wide and sixty paces long, completed in two great arches. At the far end, the forest nearly chokes the path entirely in a thicket. The shadows under those branches bring twilight to the way ahead. Other than the whistling of the wind, there is an eerie quiet on the land.

    Merek first follows along the path, though he doesn't find a lot, then when all of them would be coming upon what looks like the bridge, he nods a bit while he tries to assist with magic. He doesn't succeed a lot, all the same the man seems to be a little in his thoughts, while he nods to Wake.

Many of the group contribute, and that would be a warm fuzzy feeling of teamwork if one was interested in such emotions. Maybe somewhere deep inside, but like much of her Guild Kauchemar's first interest is results. Which are made along finely until they come to the spanse over the river valley. "Well, let us hope this is not the bridge to nowhere," she quips, then turns her head to look directly at Goldenblade, knowing this is more their field of skills when it comes to structural safety.

Goldenblade looks over the bridge we've found, and gives it a thoughtful eye. A very careful eye. Abandoned bridges can have quirks. But the longer she looks, the more confident she grows, even riding out onto the bridge a little ways, and finally she calls, "The bridge seems to be in quite remarkable shape, particularly given the age. There could be a new coat of laquer on some of the wood, but nothing that would compromise the structural integrity."

Gwen is a tank, she cooks, she makes clothing, does she do construction? No that's more her Father's Uther's deal than her thing. So Gwen has a biut of a time of it as she attemps to help work over the bridge to just make sure it's actually intact s it looks given it's pretty old it seems all right to her but she's not someone who builds these things.

"So it was made to last? Good to know Goldenblade."

Well now Prophylaxis feels bad for ruining Yuuki's fun! What a terrible conundrum that he's built for himself. "You should save it for when we have to drive off nobles who want to take the place," he reassures her. "Make them an offer they can't refuse, see? With your sword."

Yeah, that'll definitely work!

Seeing the long shadows on the road to come, the doctor's brow furrows thoughtfully, "We might have already entered into orcish territory. Keep your eyes open, I wouldn't be surprised if they were hiding in the treeline up ahead."

    For her part, Wake is keeping notes and sketching out a map as they go. It would hardly do the group justice if they expend so much energy finding the path without a faithful recording of it. Not to mention how interested Wake is in figuring out just how much investment will be required to make this road usable by the Ezzo refugees. Her attempts to sketch the image of the bridge are pretty rough. She makes a note - 'Ask Goldenblade to more properly render this,' and then scratches out her childish attempt. If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence indicating you ever tried!

    "You know, I personally like the hat," she says to Yuuki. "Though personally I think it needs a big feather and should be dyed bright pink."

    Yuuki chuckles at Prophylaxis, "Sounds good to me!" Yuuki then laughs at Wake, "I don't know... Wouldn't that make me look more like a pimp?"

    Yuuki continues to ride along with the others as they follow the somewhat difficult path. Then they come to a bridge. Yuuki slows her Peko, before looking out at the bridge going across the river far below, "That looks like quite a fall..."

    Suddenly there's a ringing sound. And Yuuki's Peko starts squarking, flapping its wings strongly. Yuuki is thrown off her mount to the ground, the bird turning around and quickly starting to run back in the direction they came from.

    Yuuki groans quietly as she rises, "Guess I should have payed for some more time with that mount..." She stretches for a moment, "Guess it's on foot for me!"

    Yuuki then looks at the bridge. Golden claims it's solid. But Yuuki muses out loud, "If this were a video game... And it is... I bet part of the bridge will break as we try to cross." Yuuki begins to walk towards the bridge, "Well. Since I'm already down here. And this might be a trap too. I'm gonna check it out!" Yuuki starts running across the bridge.

    The road is in far worse shape than expected. "How long ago was this road in active use? Centuries? I wonder if we could make a longer-lasting road... even with old tech. The Romans built roads that lasted a long time, anyone remember how they did it?" Mizuki asks.

    Interestingly, the road /improves/ as they continue onward. "What would cause such a drastic difference in one part of the road versus the other? It's all about the same age, isn't it? We're only getting /further/ from the root town, it's not like this bit would have been maintained longer..."

    Mizuki wonders what could be so destructive without leaving more of a trace of itself. There would be craters everywhere if it was from android energy blasts... "...Could monsters have deliberately sabotaged it instead of using it themselves?" She shakes her head. "Ugh. What am I saying. The map was designed this way a few months ago. It doesn't always have to make sense, does it..."

And then there's a well-maintained bridge. 'To nowhere?' "We can see the other side..." Mizuki points out. She scratches her head. "I guess that could make sense. Orcs maintaining the path for their own use in their own territory, but sabotageing the road closer to human territory to make it hard for them to get back here..."

    She looks at the distant treeline at Prophy's comment. "You're right, that this makes a GREAT ambush spot. But how can we get across without being an easy target...? Magic smokescreen, maybe...?"

"I mean, we /could/ just set all the trees on fire," Prophylaxis suggests, only maybe 75% seriously. "Ninjas can't hide when they're on fire, you see."

And then Yuuki just straight up renders the point moot because she decides to SPRINT INTO DANGER like the crazy little hurricane of violence that she is. "Oh my God Yuuki--" Prophylaxis panics JUST A LITTLE BIT and kicks his own Peko off to follow after her. Barely. Because Yuukis are notoriously fast, you see.

This might be bad for everyone, or maybe not! Maybe they'll be fine. Maybe the orcs will try to murder the doctor and then get exploded for their trouble!?

Goldenblade will remount her peko, blinking as Yuuki is dismounted and suddenly scampering across. She holds her hand up, but it's too late for that. She'll ride out, and keep her eyes open, and she'll just have to hope that the awful terrain leading to the bridge from the direction we came is indicative of the general lack of use it sees. If the bridge is unused, there'd be no reason to emplace defenders. Of course, it's all based on assumptions, and who knows what motivations the game designers have programmed into Landers and monsters here? Sometimes she finds it impossible to guess.

The bridge proves to be safe, but that forest doesn't look the least bit friendly. "Too many places to hide," she muses to herself. With a wave of a hand she sends summons some Will-O-Wisps and sends the ghostly balls of light into the forest to do a quick sweep... But it being unfamiliar terrain doesn't do them much good at finding signs of everything.

And then Yuuki just takes off at a mad dash. "Whoever mentioned potentional enemies within the earshot of the Duelist, please stop."

Gwen pauses at Yuuki as sh runs on the bridge.

"Yuuki! Wait!"

Gwen chases off after the tiny blender of a woman. "Your name is not Jenkins!"

She calls out trying to catch up with her, however one Yuuki is too fast, and two? She's got a head start. That does not stop it from being comical however as the towering woman chases after the fall smaller one.

    Merek looks then to Yuuki while he takes a moment to begin unlifting from the Peko, then he tries to make a way to the woman along the bridge, "Wait!"

    The earlier silence may be viewed more positively to the full-throated howls that fill the air that moment the group passes the midpoint of the bridge. In short order huge canine bodies (about a pace tall at the shoulder and almost three paces tall) covered in midnight black fur charge from every the thicket. Behind the party, a group of four of these beasts flow like water over the bridge and bubble up into form. Their eyes glow with a bright blue light, and their breath comes out in glowing bursts of frost.

    "Surrounded," Wake mutters. "I bet everyone saw this coming!" The enemies from behind charge at full speed.

    The earlier silence may be viewed more positively to the full-throated howls that fill the air that moment the group passes the midpoint of the bridge. In short order huge canine bodies (about a pace tall at the shoulder and almost three paces tall) covered in midnight black fur charge from the thicket. Behind the party, a group of four of these beasts flow like water over the bridge and bubble up into form. Their eyes glow with a bright blue light, and their breath comes out in glowing bursts of frost.

    "Surrounded," Wake mutters. "I bet everyone saw this coming!" The enemies from behind charge at full speed.

    Mizuki rubs her chin when Prophy suggests fire. He's not /wrong/, but--

    Yuuki's already running. "Hey, wait!" Mizuki's trying to think of how to make a magic smokescreen, but it's too late -- wolflike beasts are charging from BOTH sides of the bridge to catch Yuuki.

    At least that means the beasts behind Yuuki can in turn be flanked by everyone who was waiting to see what would attack her. Mizuki chases after them and spits a fireball, trying to catch all four in a group!

"Being surrounded just means that they've come to us for disposal!" Prophylaxis declares as his terrified peko charges away from a quartet of wolves and towards a full decade of them. The Doctor of Tolbana... stands astride his frightened mount, his hands aglow with an awesome power. The light of the rising sun blazes between his fingertips as he clasps his palms together and fuses the gathering energies into a globe of infernal might...!

He chucks it right into the gathering of ten wolves, aiming to get as many of them as he can within a 30 foot radius sphere.

Because this is fireball, that's how fireball *works.*

"Yuuki, you got whatever's left! I'll spin up the next spell!"

    Merek looks to one of the groups, while he begins to fire the blast of firebolt along into each wolf creature, "Alright, firebolt!" He then swings a few of that spell along at the creatures.

Gwen says "I expected us to fall when the brdige broke actually."

GWen is already making reacy with a spell at the wins she pulls her blade and start rapidly slicing at the air. She's doing some sort of sword tech to cut up the wolves. "GALE OF BLADES!"

Goldenblade eyes the frost wolves skeptically. Well, she's got a solution for that. Blades out, she advances, and eyes the black-furred frost wolves with a frown of concentration. When they're nearly on top of her, her blades burst into flames, and she bursts into action, twirling and spinning, the flaming blades cutting into each of the wolves as she skips ahead of their claws and teeth. There's a reason she's called Blade Dancer, and it's not about a waltz or even the Hustle. She's practically dancing with the wolves, but each time she smacks one with a flaming sword, it's HP bar drops a bit more.

    That's a lot of fire. No, really. A lot of fire. It's like someone took all the prat explosions of a Transformers movie and crammed them into one round of this battle. Baroness Wake isn't a mathematician, but she can do fire + wood bridge = bad for people on it.

    Good intentions are simply no match for the fire power of her team, though. She mentally notes that if she should not plummet to her death or be incinerated, she will be mindful to balance the party amongst fire-flinging crazies and water-flinging crazies. Cause the water she calls out is simply boiled in mid air. On the bright side, the steam does make for more drama. On the down side..

    "THE BRIDGE IS ON FIRE!" Wake points out in a loud, clear, and oddly-not-alarmed tone. She's not only keenly observant, but cool as a cucumber, that one.

    "That's the spirit!" Yuuki replies to Prophylaxis. She draws her sword, very much not surprised by the trap. She's well aware that there's a group behind them too. But turning back now would not only leave them exposed to the ones ahead, it's also not the direction of the supposed castle.

    They'll just have to fight their way through!

    Prophylaxis's fireball goes whizzing past Yuuki, rushing ahead of her and exploding amongst the group of wolves. Yuuki doesn't wait for the resulting flames to die down though, leaping into the hot mess to take advantage of it.

    Yuuki rushes the first wolf, shoulder charging it with surprising strength to knock it to the ground. She then leaps, driving her sword into it. Yuuki then moves onto another, lashing out with her sword in a flurry of hard strikes. All the while twisting and jumping around claw swipes and snapping jaws of teeth.

"What, no trolls?" Kauchemar quips as they are jumped at the middle of the bridge. "You people have no taste in thematics."

And of course everyone starts chucking fire. On a bridge that is partially wood. The nightmare-in-disguise sighs softly. "Don't even give me time to prepare a proper show." She's only got time to summon an Aqua Slime, which spits its watery ooze on one of the flareups and snuffs it out.

But when it turns to try and put out another, the first one flares back up. So it turns back to that one and spits on it again... and the second one flares up once more because of all the heat.

This goes on for several long moments before the Doctor undoes some of his own inspired pyrotechninc damage. "I swear, you people make -me- look sane."

There's enough fire being flung around to make the sun blush in shame. "I should have gotten you a leash!!" Prophylaxis shouts over the din of the explosions, "At least then you'd take my arm off /before/ I get dragged into an ambush!" At least the ambush is pretty much all on fire now. Everything is burning! Everything.

Including, apparently, the bridge.

"!(@*@&," Prophylaxis descends into what may or may not be best described as <<JAPANESE PROFANITY>> when he hears the news. He turns on a dime immediately, his fingers drawn tight against one another. With a snap of his fingertips, a twinkling rainbow of frozen light arcs towards the burning bridge... And abruptly freezes the whole thing solid. "Got it!" The doctor yells, then turns and hurls another firebolt into another wolf.

    Well, that's not so bad now. Sure, they almost burnt down the bridge, but any battle you can walk away from is good. "Well, that was.. certainly something." At least the /smell/ is. Whatever a frost wolf is made of, when it's charred to a crisp it reeks. "If the orcs are scouting the area, they will think twice about drawing our attention. If they are downwind, they may well cut their noses of." Of course, the party may find it hard to concentrate on what Wake is saying, since a lock of her hair has managed to catch fire.

    She looks up and blinks, "What?" And then the little slime, now focused on the last bit of flame left, spits and strikes Wake in the side of the face. Noticing the smoke from her recently extinguished hair, the now drenched Wake says, "... thanks... shall we continue?"

When the wolves are dealt with, Goldenblade becomes aware that they may have gone a bit overboard with the fire. Well, the bridge is only partly wood, and they were going to refurbish that, anyhow, but it'd be bad to burn it away. It'd make restoration much harder. Luckily, she's got a few bottles of a special liquid stashed away, a curious concoction that does different things depending on the situation. In combat, it's quite toxic. But against fire, it's ... well, it's not a /thirst/ quencher, but it does break up the fire triangle, and it cools the wooden surface such that combustion is inhibited. Which is how you put out a wood fire anyhow. It's how you put out any fire, really, but if they'd ignited the stone, that would have been much harder to cool.

Kauchemar leans down from the side of the Peko to pick the aqua slime up afterwards. "A little slime is better than being burned bald, is it not." She gives the small blob a pat on the top before dismissing it once more.

She then leans over the other way to give Goldenblade a nudge with her elbow. "At least you have some assured work in the future, hmm?"

Anyways, lets get on with this little venture before Yuuki springs any more ambushes for them.

    Everyone decides to use fire! Mizuki calls up some water to help put it out. The wolves smell TERRIBLE, leading Mizuki to groan and transform to human because of it. "What? They were in fireball formation..."

Okay that might have been over kill, wait no that whole response from the party totally was overkill. She looks at Mizuki for a moment with a /look/.

"Doesn't mean it's the best idea..."

She's looking a bit frazzled her self from the explosive party response.

    Yuuki phews and stretches as the last of the wolves explodes into pixels of light. She sheathes her sword to look back at the others with a grin, "That was exciting! Best way to handle an ambush is to rush right in. Throws them into chaos!" That's certainly A tactic. Maybe not necessarily the right one.

    Yuuki blinks at Wake for a moment, "Why are you soaked?"

    Moving on!

"Yuuki we do not ask people why they're wet," Prophylaxis says with a huff, "It's rude."

He's, of course, totally untouched. Except for the lingering scent of scorched wolf, but that'll probably wash out.

Right?

Right.

"Let's keep moving. Maybe we'll catch the next ambush before it drops in on us."

    Merek looks to the place while he seems to think to himself, then he nods while he will follow along, watching the place.

    Wake just looks at Yuuki for a moment. Finally, she responds, "I am?" In any case, there's a road to follow, and the day is not getting younger! In fact, they are just leaving the hill to reach the mountain itself. For experienced gamers, there's a sense that passing this bridge is going from low level territory to something more difficult.

    After the bridge is traversed, the path wends its way through the forest. The thicket proves to extend only a couple miles, at which point the road swings about the face of the mountain and begins to form vast loops. The tree cover on each side grows less as the ascent continues. It is clear that though this path is easy, it also is nearly criss-crossing, greatly increasing the total distance travelled in order to avoid a sheer climb. This also leaves the party quite well covered from any who might be looking from above. And vice versa.

    This goes on for some time, with little of note occuring. Until, abruptly, the rise is crested and the road ceases its bending. Instead, it cuts through a high mountain pass, with sides like a wall on either side. There's nothing to do but to proceed, for the path is both remarkably even in grade and straight as an arrow. About the only thing that can be seen here is the occasional hawk in the sky or a mountain goat here and there, much farther up.

Goldenblade chuckles to Kauchemar, and nods. "Work for tomorrow is always good," she agrees. Getting everyone back on track takes a bit of effort, but soon, she's riding up the bridge and over, heading up what she hopes is the road as we proceed to where the castle is expected to be. As Wake directs the party onward, she adnires the way the road was cut through the pass, straight and even, which will make it much easier for wagons. That'll make it much easier to get supplies in. Atop the rise, she looks out across the straight road, and remarks, "This is quite well-built."

    Mizuki scoffs and rolls her eyes at Prophy. "There will be plenty of work until we're not stuck in here anymore..." she mutters to Goldenblade.

    Then the path gets long and winding. "Easy for mounts and carts, as promised. But who's been meaintaining it? Are they at the top?"

    Merek would look about to find a few herbs while he's following along, and nods a bit to Wake, taking the time to place a few of the herbs which he finds within the pack which he keeps with him.

"Orcs, probably," Prophylaxis answers from... next to his Peko. He seems to have decided to take this next stretch on-foot to do some flower-picking of his own. Medicinal herbs are something of a premium at the moment, after all. "I almost regret blowing so much MP so early. I've still got stuff in the tank, but we've got to hope that they're not /too/ heavily fortified."

Orcs there are always Orcs it seems, and she knows what you need to do with them. Well she thinks they could be out there. She's gets quiet as she moves as she heads along she thinking about the road and other ghings. There's something strange to her about this region not that she can put her finger on it.

The current leg of the journey is a bit more unevenetful, but after the near bridge catastrophe that's probably for the best. But uneventful does not mean it has to be boring, especially when you have a Bard along. Kauchemar has gotten out of her lute, and proven to be quite capable at playing it to provide some ambient travel music to keep the pace of the group and the passing of time moving along, because everything seems to go much more quickly when you've got some background music to keep your attention ahead instead of mulling in your own thoughts.

    Yuuki looks confused at Prophylaxis. Why would that be a rude question to ask? Though at Wake's response, Yuuki can't help but giggle a little bit.

    The group continues on. And on. And on.

    Yuuki lets out a yawn, before admitting, "This place looks great and all... But there's not a lot going for it mob wise. Where are the further ambushes? Patrols? Guard posts? Who's in charge of security around here!?"

    As they reach the mountain pass, Yuuki glances from one walled side to the other. Soon enough, the boredom appears to drive her up the wall. Literally, as she starts running up the natural walls to see how high she can get, before catching up with the group again and repeating the process to beat her record.

    The path goes ever on and on.. well, okay, it doesn't really do that. It's just odd to have so much time without an encounter, isn't it? Finally, though, something does change. There's a sound in the distance. It's hard to make out at first, but it is unceasing, and with each step grows slightly in volume. The roaring of water. Fast flowing water.

    "That's the sound of a waterfall," murmurs Wake. She slips off the peko at this point. She wants to be on her own two feet for this last leg of the journey.

    The pass ends in its only curve, a smooth turn to the right, and the road splits in several ways. Whatever they have reached, it's no longer certain which is the right way to go. At least, not to those who haven't been here before.

    The Baroness smiles at Yuuki, "I... I know the way now. I've been here before. Castle Eas wasn't here, but they must have reused the assets." She looks at her friends, letting herself enjoy this moment, and share a look of joy with each of them. "Thank you all.. the moment is here at last." She leads on.

    "I bet.." She bets that she knows exactly what path to take. The trees they pass here are a mix of dedicuous and pines, with small white flowers bringing beauty to this place. Many of the trees show considerable age, with roots that have buckled the path Wake follows.

    With so much of her focus on what lies ahead, though, the Baroness cannot pay as much attention to what is happening around her. Just being here is like walking through a dream for her. Dividing her attention as she does in sketching the map and leading the way leaves little time for one to notice that these woods are far from empty, and as peaceful as the blossoms here may be, they do nothing to dissuade the wrath of orcs. On the bright side, Yuuki is unlikely to be bored for long!

Goldenblade hears the sound of the waterfall, and will dismount when Wake does, looking around carefully, thoughtfully, keen for her first view of this castle she's been hearing about for so long. It's got to be pretty spectacular. But even as her anticipation rises, she's also watching the terrain, watching the aged trees, and small flowers. This place -is- pretty nice, it seems.

    No monsters for so long... seriously, who maintains this road? "Even if they reused the assets, they might have moved things..." Absent any other clues, though, it's as good a reason to choose a path as any, though. Mizuki can't do much more than see where this goes and keep an ear out for trouble.

    "The local monsters are using their resources sparingly... keeping us stressed when they're no around, and waiting for us to let our guard down... we can't stay alert forever..."

Kauchemar likewise hops off her bird, opting to stay close to Baroness Wake because she knows how much this means to her, and that she may be a little off in her own space because of it. She is still playing her song.... until she abruptly stops. A good musician never stops dead in their track (ha ha) without very good reason. It shows as her eyes glow with than unearthly sheen once more beneath the hood. There's marks on the trees, kicked up spots in the dirt from scuffling and scraping, the foreboading ominousity to it all. Waiting, lurking, giving the quiet reprise between the bridge and the canyon pass to lull awarenesses...

"It's time." She finally speaks with a gritted punctuality. A foot stamps the ground, her entire form surging upward slightly as the Were Fang shifts back into what she certainly considers her true form. "There is a very unwecloming wagon coming to greet us, post haste." The glow in her eyes flickers and crackles, then fades. "... And enough of the brutes that I can't pin down a fair number staring at their past passings."

    Merek takes a look along the treeline, then he notices that something might be in them. "Orc scout!" he calls to the party, "It's noticed us! The thing's communicating with others!" There's a look to Wake while he begins to take off from the Peko with a shift of feet, then he swings up onto the creature that is carrying Wake, "WAKE!" before he takes the woman by the waist, pulling her away with him into a roll while it looks like an arrow strikes along right where she was before.

    Right after the arrow is fired, the blasting of a horn fills the air, calling the orcs to attack. To the north and west is where it-and the arrow-are coming from. In moments the sounds of harsh, croaking voices fill the wood, and the ugly, twisted forms of orcs race at the party. Dotted in the trees are several scouts, and soon their shots are peppering rocks and embedding themselves in the ground and trees near the party.

    Mizuki was expecting to hear something... but while she's staring up at the sky, focusing on sounds, she instead sees something, pointing up at the clouds. "That can't be normal, right?" The clouds are growing larger and darker with visual speed while the sky darkens, like watching a timelaps video of a storm starting. Thunder rolls ominously. "The monsters themselves couldn't have magic with such a large effect, could they? It must be something about approaching this castle... Oh shit!" Suddenly arrows are raining down...!

    Yuuki runs out of wall, so returns to walking along. At least the view is better again. And word that they're probably getting close helps keep her going for a little long.

    Following Wake after she dismounts, Yuuki glances around, "You'd think a giant castle would be easier to find..."

    Yuuki stops in her tracks as Kauchemar and Merek point out that they have company. Yuuki looks around... She's not seeing anything!

    But then there's a quiet whistling in the trees. Yuuki quickly twists to the side, an arrow just passing by waist, where her gut had been moments before. She calls out in annoyance, "Hey!"

    Another whistling sound and Yuuki ducks, a second arrow flying over her head. Tracing the arrows back to their source, she turns in the direction of a group of orc archers. Yuuki calls out to them, "Stop it!"

    However, another has already fired. Yuuki goes to draw her sword, but the arrow is fast, quickly striking the Imp in the shoulder. Yuuki grunts at the impact, red light shining out from the hole the arrow has sunk into. Yuuki reaches up, yanking the arrow out and letting it drop to the ground.

    Yuuki eyes the group of archers, "Now you've done it..." She finishes drawing her sword, lowering her stance before pushing off.

    There's a sudden blast of wind and leaves blown backwards from Yuuki's position. Or rather former position. As accompanied by a thunderous sound, Yuuki has suddenly covered the distance to the archer group. Her sword plunged into the first. As the orc archer explodes into pixels of light, Yuuki turns her head to the others with a smirk.

    Let's leave what follows to people's imagination.

Gwen gets the diea there are monsters out this way and if no one's rescovered the castle? It means one it's been hard to find. Two? It also means the local monster population is pretty serious too. So she's not taking an chances but she's not a ranger. Nor a theif so she's not the best at finding things to be honest. She'll be ready if someone spots trouble and sounds an alert to respond to it. It comes from Kauchemar shortly after the arrows start. She will start running interception. The green wind comes as she triggers a tanking ability.

"ANCHOR HOWL!"

She keeps a lot of fire off her and thoise near her, and she'll coiunter attack chanting a spell.

"Come divine wind strike down upon the impure! HOLY!"

And the Orcs would find they have a burst of holy magic explosing in their ranks.

Goldenblade acks at incoming fire with no warning, or almost no warning. And then there are orcs. Orc archers in the trees, but there's no easy cover where she is. That's okay, she's not an easy target, zigzagging as she approaches the orcish attackers, never hesitating, rushing them so fast that flames leap from the trail she leaves on the stone.

And then she's in the face of the attackers, and both blades bite keenly, slamming heavy blows from both sides. She dances around them, avoiding their attacks and raining down swordstrikes they can't easily counter, driving hard strikes down as fast as she can, laying out a beatdown.

Goldenblade fights fiercely, blades flashing under the canopy of trees, joining the party in this furious melee, moving like a whirlwind of doom.

    Wake is stunned. Well, for a moment. "Merek.." She registers the noise and can piece together what's happened. "Thank you!" Sadly, there's no time for anything further. The enemy is right on them.

    Slipping away from her protector for the moment, Wake addreses yet more arrow work. But it's a lot easier to hit her when she's drawing a map than it is when she's pissed. And she's pissed.

    "You filth!" she shout. "You dare defile thsi place with your hideous presence!" If she's ever struck this hard before, she can't recall it. The first punch crumples the crude armor of an orc as if were cheap tin, leaving him to burst into pixels. She sweeps a kick into the next, and in the flurry that follows she's turned a brutal attacking force into a pile of maimed or dead orcs. And yet there are many more encirling her, now.

    Nonplussed, she hisses at them, "Come dance with me!"

    Mizuki dodges between arrows because she's a freakin' ninja. Still, some graze her, chipping off HP. Others turn to attack the archers... she still has some fireballs in her, and those charging orcs sure are a big crowd. She spits little orange globes of energy at them which explode into FIREBALLS, hoping that spending MP now can save lots of people getting attacked...

With her own insightful awareness Kauchemar has little difficulty in decisively dancing her way around the devious deluge of arrows being slung from the delinquint deviants descending upon them. It is in its own regard rather impressive to see, that someone that tall and sturdy in build can still move with such graceful poise as an evasive maneuver.

The sleek movements also serve as the arcane gestures of composing a spell, and with a flourish the Nightmare wrangles the darkness and flings a wash of it towards the incoming charge.... who just charge right through it, either unbothered or blissfully ignorant of it's hindering effect. But at least it was really cool to watch.

Good thing the rest of the team got a jump on the ball with the various warnings.

At least this time they have some warning before the orcs pour out of the trees. The arrows begin to fall, and it's only because Merek and the others give a call to arms that Prophylaxis is able to get a protective spell up in time. A wall of sizzling flame surges up to absorb the veritable deluge of arrows that seek to turn him into a walking pincushion. "Damn," the doctor murmurs as... A frankly unsettling number of orcs begin pouring out of the woods. "That's a lot of angry locals. This could get bad--"

And then Yuuki is off running into the thick of it again, because that's just how she do sometimes.

"Yep, should have seen that coming," he murmurs, casting a thorn bind spell-- too late, the orcs are upon them. The doctor mutters another profanity under his lips as the greenskins flood out of the woods. There are too many, too close to bother immobilizing them... So Prophylaxis doesn't. He gestures instead, calling a wall of stone out of the depths of the earth to serve as his shield. Spear and club hammer against the mountain granite for a few moments before the doctor finishes his second spell.

...The ground rumbles. Prophylaxis' stone bulwark rises, growing taller and taller until it's a veritable castle wall in and of itself. And then he gives it a shove and sends the entire thing toppling down overtop of the orcish horde.

That aughta do 'em.

    Merek would offer a nod along to Wake, while he stands up with a little shift to draw his blade. With that in mind, he lifts up a hand to draw a rock cradle forward which would protect him, then he begins a streak of lightning bolts that would rain along the enemies within the trees.

The melee is joined, their initial charge was not enough to break the orcs. Goldenblade evades their counterattacks adriotly, slipping left and right with a good turn of speed. This is definitely better than seventy five. Also, she'd like not to get stabbed by orcs. It seems like a bad plan.

Her heavy blows have tapered off a bit, she's burned all of her cooldowns, and she's back to more standard attacks, but the blades still move with speed and power, cutting into the orcs, their HP bars sinking down steadily until one or another of the party drops them to zero and the orcs vanish one by one in a cloud of pixels.

Kauchemar can swiftly sidestep her way through projectile barrages, but brutes getting up close and blunt with her personal space is a different matter. Cold energy swirls around her in a coating of bitter frost, but a heafty orc swings his club into the Nightmare and there's an almost glass-like shattering sound as he slams right through the defensive ice and Kauchemar is sent staggering backwards. She opens her mouth to say something.... And then sees the shadow looming from the earth rising under Prophylaxis' command. "Time for me to NOPE!" And she's bouncing off in the opposite direction, likely leaving the orc confused for his last few moments of existance before getting crushed.

    The problem with charging into an army is that you end up surrounded. As good as Wake is at avoiding enemy blows, there's only so much matrix-fu her spine can support. So while the first four attacks do miss, the fifth slashes into her left arm. It's a mere daggar wound, which on the surface isn't serious. However, when Wake's condition flashes to indicate bleeding and poison, it raises the stakes.

    She hardly notices the paralysis condition as she falls to her knees. "Could use.. a little help here.." Still, once she's falling on her back she gets a pretty unique view of Prophylaxis' wall attack. She also is appreciative of how it prevents the last orc from skewering her helpless form.

    Orc hordes are a serious threat, but those ground pounders are clearly not behind the Clouds of Doom above. The first thing that comes from them is the wind. Right behind it is the rain. It's not just a cold rain, but sleet and hail that is flung at the party. Behind them, in the direction of the pass that they followed, the blinding flash of lightning bolts can be seen, followed by a crash of falling rock and the explosive clap of thunder. This close, it's almost painful to hear. What is obvious at this point is that the way in has likely been blocked.

    Mizuki stabs orcs, then kicks off them to leap towards and stab other orcs, all while a freaking tower collapses around her which she also narrowly dodges while parrying incoming strikes. It looks epic, it feels epic, and moments like this are what make ETO such a fun game to play! After the last of the horde are down, Mizuki sheathes her knives and her scarf blows dramatically in the wind as she looks off into the distance...

    Wait, shit. "Wake!" Mizuki runs over to and kneels by her. "Prophy, can you heal her?" And then sleet and hail fall. Wait, shit again! "The magic!" she shouts over the weather. "How do we stop weather magic?!"

    Yuuki comes walking out of the forest again, twirling an arrow around her finger. Seeing Wake on the ground, Yuuki wanders over in her direction and asks, "Getting tired already, old lady?" Yuuki smirks.

    The orc party appears to have been defeated. But they're not out of the woods yet. Literally. Which is bad when there's what looks like a serious thunderstorm bearing down on them.

    Yuuki looks up to the skies with a little bit of concern... After all, it's hard to fight the weather. Especially as it proceeds to block their way back.

    Yuuki pauses. Then shrugs, "Well, forward it is!"

In rain and sleet and snow, Prophylaxis will still stab a half-dead party member with a syringe full of healing potion and antiparalytic medicine to get them back up on their feet.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he says, adjusting his hat to better shield himself from the rain... Before walking over to do just that. Wake feels a little pinch on her arm as the doctor applies his healing cocktail...

"Come on," he says, helping her up, "We need to get out of here. We're going to have to keep going before this damn storm wears us all down."

Kauchemar summons her Binder Shield, holding it in front of herself at an angle to help break the wind and block some of the rain and trying to position so she's providing some shelter to Proph tending to Wake as well. Even in that roaring meteorlogical madness though the Were Fang musician's hearing can pick up the particular percussion of terra firma being toppled. "The weather is just a deterrent," she replies with a certain calm ominousity in her voice. "They're blocking off the canyon beyond here...." She glances back at the Doc tending to Wake. "We should withdraw before they attempt to close off the entrance to trap us here. While I don't doubt any of our capabilities to smash through a roadbloack, this stormy situation makes it a precarious proposition."

WIth the fight being over for the moment she get the idea they shouldn't linger much longer. "Everyone is alive? Good and yes they seem to be blocking us Yeah I agree we need to come back later with the conditions are more in our favour. I agree Kauchemar."

Goldenblade looks around, perhaps surprised that the immediate threat is over. And another, greater threat, will soon be upon us. She nods to Gwen about being alive, and peers as Kauchemar counsels retreat. But there -are- a lot of orcs, it seems like this was just a patrol, so she will join the others in getting the hell out of Dodge. Or watever this place is called.

    Merek keeps sweeping along into the enemies while he assists the party.

    Wake shakes off the effect of the blade with a groan. "That.. hurt. And thanks." She has no time to convalesce, though. She heard the likely avalanche. She gratefully accepts Prophylaxis' help getting up and just looks at Yuuki, "Pink hat. Definitely pink hat. With a huge golden feather." It's an odd response, but as it's a hint at something embarassing from the past, if Yuuki will recall it. The girl has an irritating way of ignoring these hints when convenient, though.

    "Follow me!" Wake exclaims. She's pretty fast, now that she can actually move. The path is ahead! Well, aren't all the paths ahead? Whatever she is guided by, its leading them away from the wood along a winding path. The roaring grows ever louder, until at last, the party clears a crest and Wake halts.

    Even pursued by lightning and deadly magic, the first impression of Castle Eas is one that tends to leave one's jaw on the floor and demand a longer look. The current point of observation is such that the entire waterfall can be seen, and the castle, overgrown and worn with age that it is, stands largely intact. The bright domes still stand, and the great tower is unbroken. But even from here, the presence of orc fires and guards can be seen.

    Wake has only a moment to shield a page and render as good a sketch as she can before leading onward. "We're damned lucky I always look for all the sneaky ways to get around in games," she explains. What she means is only clear after the path reaches what seems to be a dead end against the wall of the cliff. Wake draws a symbol along the smooth wall and then knocks at its surface, causing a door to swing open.

    "Let's pray they didn't go all Moria on this path. It was safe when I followed it."

    More rushing along in the passage makes it clear that it is safe. There are side passages, but the main way is obvious and with a final push of concealed doors, the party emerges in the mountain pass they used to get here.

    Merek rides along with the party, and nods a bit as well to Wake, "Thank you," he states, then he watches the castle when they come upon it, eventually. "It's nice to explore," he would note with a little bit of smiling. "You know, if you would like someone that will come with you to meet the Duke, I will."

    Some start talking about retreat. Mizuki rezzes a hooded cloak to block some of the sleet and looks in a downhill direction, trying to figure out how they can QUICKLY get out of the area, considering the winding roads... But instead, Wake rushes ahead! "Wait, are you sure?!" She transforms and runs after... and to her surprise, they actually come in sight of the castle.

    But it's held by monsters. They'll find no shelter there.

    And then Wake /draws a door and opens it/. Mizuki stares, mouth agape, at this bit of cartoon nonsense, and then realizes that whatever divination power she has must have told her about a secret door already here.

    She looks out at the mountain pass. "Oh."