Festival: Trials of Honor

The Trials of Honor have never been open to the Adventurer public before. But with word of ant-like monsters being more active than they should be in the region of the Trials, Adventurers have been invited to observe and be present - so that the young of the Holy Empire Westelande are not struck down before they can complete their coming of age with _honor_.

And the trial here is a harsh one.

But in a rarity, the Adventurers get to meet with a rather important person, who is leading the caravan and gets off of his massive black Peko with gleaming fiery plate. The enormous Salamander tugs on the golden looking reins of the flightless bird and stares it deep in one of its eyes. "Stay." He declares with a demanding and booming voice.

He then brings this enormous greatsword off of his back and stabs it into the grounds once he's reached a high enough sand dune where everyone can witness him, as the rest of the caravan pulls up. Young Salamanders, about the age of sixteen each, step out. Each lightly armored, and wielding blades and tridents and lances, some even bows. The weapons don't look 'old' so much, as 'used'. No doubt inherited from their fathers and mothers.

The King of the Holy Empire ensures he is heard; "Today, we stand here to witness the glorious rise from BOY, to MAN. From GIRL, to WOMAN. It will be Together, that you will venture forward and stand against what this desert has to offer you. Fail here, and know that you have failed your Empire! Your Heritage! For every man and woman of the Holy Empire of Westelande must train, must know how to defend their future Family. Their Kingdom. Their Children and their Brothers in Arms." The man declares, boomingly.

    Merek wears dark attire along his features while he begins to adjust the scarf which he wears. The man nods to people while he places the sword upon the back, then finds where the people are gathering. The man was a member of the Holy Empire before. "Interesting that they would invite people, it probably will be because of the things."

    It certainly is interesting to learn that the People of the Land have coming of age ceremonies. Of the Adventurers present to witness the event, Amalthea is here. The old Odysseia Knight in black armor is wrapped up in the folds of her cloak, shield strapped to her back and blades casually worn at her hip.
    "Aye, hopefully the things don't happen today, though." She asides to Merek mildly, putting on a warm smile.
    One can hope, right?
    Nevertheless, the old Paladin's gaze sweeps to the young Salamanders readying themselves for their test of courage and strenght.
    "Well, best we can do right now is wish them luck, eh?"

Since no Adventurer has ever witnessed the Trials of Honor within the Holy Empire, the opportunity to observe is enough to draw Mikage to the far reaches of Yamato. The Were Fang has her hood pulled up, framing her face as she stands among the other Adventurers. Rama, on the other hand, seems to be anxious. The lynx's ears keep swiveling around, as if they were listening to subtle signs that others might not be able to hear.

"I kind of wish they would have let some of us participate." Miki comments, then shrugs her shoulders, "Then again, we might be too high a level for it." Almost certainly. The Were Fang does seem to want to join in on everything she can manage to get involved in when it comes to the game world, so this will have to be close enough.

Crouching near her pet, Miki lightly strokes the cat's head, "Never seen a black Peko before. Wonder where he got it from."

Prophylaxis is here because he has been invited.

Or rather. He is here because he has a legitimate excuse to be here, a place full of enthusiastic and aspirational young men and women charging headfirst into mortal danger, where they are all but certainly going to be picking up some pretty grievous injuries as a direct result.

In other words, it's a place for him to ~PRACTICE MEDICINE~ in his own unique way.

Prophylaxis' usual outfit is remarkably well-suited for this kind of environment. His wide-brimmed hat keeps the sun out of his eyes, and he has hung a veil around his face to keep away the swirling sands. His labcoat and under-layers are loose and flowing things, perfect for insulating from the sweltering heat.

And as a bonus, they're all relatively lightly colored, which further protects him from the sun's harsh rays...!

Prophylaxis adjusts his seat atop his peko, taking a mental account of the supplies he's going to bring into the chaos. "I'm sure we're not going to be able to interfere directly," he asks one of the Salamander escorts, "But if necessary, are we allowed to provide immediate aid, medical or otherwise, to the younglings?"

Not that it would stop him. Nothing can stop this doctor, in his present state especially, from making good on his oath to preserve the well-being of his patients.

Vertina remembers fighting some of those ant-like monsters. They were tough, and seemed a bit above the 'average' monster horde you'd find out in the deserts. That in itself is reason enough to answer the invite.

Also this was a really big cultural event for Salamanders of the Empire, so it was an honor to be allowed to attend, even if it was only to watch and make sure the Trials don't get any undo interruptions. These events that were typically held away from Adventurers' eyes were of important cultural signifigance. One that, having gone through the first several ranks of a martial arts discipline, Vertina can relate somewhat to.

She sits herself on a dune, takes out a flask, and takes a sip from it. Then squints one eye as she peers in the flask. "Berry blend still isn't quite right..." she muses, and caps the flask to tuck it away again.

    Giganpor, astride his Nightmare, was one of those who had been called to escort the caravan. He is in his armor, and while a foreigner, Giganpor at least appreciated what was being said and done out here.

    Seeing the actual king of the Holy Empire made him consider as he remembered he had copies of Pela's book to give out. But for now, he made sure to keep on guard. With the oddity of the ant-lions, he had Granit out and constantly scouring the ground. The little gorilla elemental was often a companion for his Nightmare, and the resulting small tremors throughout the sand were part of their means to detect things burrowing. Or so they hoped.

    Moving closer, Giganpor stops to listen to the King as he seems to be considering the words here. Those ancient weapons won't be much good, and he seems to consider if perhaps this might be an odd lesson in humility as well.

    Otherwise, Giganpor is oddly silent, and also occasionally looking at a small tome he has on hand whenever Granit gives an all clear 'thumbs up' gesture towards him every once in a while. Apparently Giganpor has turned researcher a bit.

    The comments of the others do stir Giganpor from his researching, however, to comment, "We should still perhaps be wary when this starts. These... ant-monsters may target here or elsewhere. Further, we are ensuring the safety outside of these trials for a Kingdom. It is an honor for us to even witness this as well."

    Putting a small ribbon on the page he is on in his book, he closes it and sticks it back into his inventory. Looking at the King, Giganpor gives a respectful nod to the man before looking around. "I do wish they would have told us what these will entail, so we can watch for anything out of the ordinary."

Goldenblade is here, like the others waiting stoically, not entirely sure what's going on, other that she was told it was an important ritual. She's actually -from- this place, according to her background information, but she's read so little of it, she hardly knows anything. And she recalls little enough of what she -has- read. The games are confusing, and they don't have highlited portions that tell you what is important and what isn't, so she has to guess.

She /is/ pretty impressed by the Salamander King, and she adjusts her white overrobe and cloth head-covering she's gotten special for this desert event. She looks like an extra from Lawrence of Arabia, but the killer sun is not killing her. For the moment, at least. She winces at the suggestion that /things/ might happen. It'd be unfortunate, but if they do, she's ready, sword on each hip and a canteen of water at her side.

So the Triuals of honour have never been open to Adventures before she knows that much. She also seems quite curious about this and she will look at this. She's curious to se hjow brutal this is going to be and she hopes the kids do make it.

She will be cheering for them though as the event is begingin also she's got some food from somewhere likely packed it in her inventory. She will head over to Amalthea for a moment and nods.

"Aye and you want something Lady Paladin?"

    Setsuna finds a spot among the crowd to get a good view of the event, however he is slightly bummed. When he heard adventurers were being invited, he had assumed they would be participating, some magical way of becoming honorary Salamanders , however that didn't seem to be the case. Instead the human settles in to watch these young lizardlings to go through their initiation into adulthood. In someway he hoped they failed, as adulthood was a horrible thing to give someone and he highly regrets every picking up that real life trait. As he waits for the ceremony to be over and the event to start he browses the crowd for those who may also have attended.

When Prophylaxis asks, the aid shakes their head. "No medical threatment until they finish the trial, or if they run away. But if they do... well, nobody ever runs away." The woman answers Prophylaxis. "None of them would wish to bring that kind of dishonor upon their family. You must not interfere, even if they die." She explains to him.

"You will find plenty of wounds to heal afterwards." She then adds, patting his shoulder as she moves past to check on the straps of some of the young ones.

The King himself looks over the Adventurers for a moment as the Landers proceed onwards down into a small Ravine, sliding down the hill with quite a bit of easy for the heaviness of armor he appears to be wearing. He strides towards them with utter confidence. "The younglings will soon engage in battle with the Sher Kar. However, there have been rumors of a powerful monster in this area. We have held the trials in this region for generations after generations." He explains in a softer tone to those present - while some guards are leading the younglings further down into the ravine.

"I request you stand on either side of the ravine, and deal with whatever might try to interfere." While loud and boisterous earlier, he sounds incredibly reasonable right now as he gathers up the Adventurers closer. "Can I count on you Adventurers?" He inquires.

Kite releases a low whistle, adjusting his red cap. "Wow ... "

What a pretty black Peko that was. With the invitation to bring Westelande's adventurers out to the event, Kite took some time off to come see what the hubub was about. While it was unfortunate they only got to watch, it was still a lively affair.

Still, he had to be vigilant. They had an important job here to protect the Landers and those undertaking the trial. Kite raises his hand and makes the peace sign.

    "Yep! You can count on us, we won't let anything bad happen."

    Merek would nod a little bit along to the King, "Of course, Your Majesty. We will do all that we can without being in the way," he notes, with an incline. The man draws the sword while he takes a moment to find place to prepare with the party.

A pang of discomfort flashes briefly across the doctor's face. His hands tighten slightly around his peko's reins as he inclines his head in apparent deference, before heading toward the king. What exactly is a Sher Kar, anyway? It's probably not the thing these Salamanders are so worried about, but...

"What are we looking out for, exactly?" Prophylaxis asks with a cant of his head. "I heard there were giant ants in the area, but could you describe what the Sher Kar is so that we don't end up jumping the gun on accident?"

    Lady Paladin?
    "'Amalthea' is fine, dear." The old Odysseia Knight replies gently to Miho, before shaking her head, "I'm good. I get the feeling we're here for more than just to watch the young ones' test." Amalthea replies before-
    Ah there's the kicker.
    Just as the king raises the topic of those rumors, Amalthea raises her brow by a degree.
    "I see. Well that's a reasonable enough request." She decides after a beat. "We'll see to it that nothing gets in the way of things."

When the aid says that no one runs away, Miki's lip quirks slightly, "Harsh." Harsh, but understandable. The people of the Holy Empire were hardcore when it comes to combat and military training. Her tone of voice is more respect than criticism.

As the King speaks, her eyes turn towards him, lightly shadowed by her bangs and the edge of her hood. "This Sher Kar, it's something that showed up in the last few months or was it here before then?" She asks. Rama is already gone before she moves, moving to watch the younglings, his bob-tail wiggling with excitement.

She has no bravado here, the Ranger just nods her head, unslinging her bow. "We'll do our best to stop any outside interference."

Vertina gets back to her feet at the Salamander King's request. "Gladly! It will be our honor to ensure the tradition goes undeterred and uninterrupted." A drink and a brief rest to sit down is all she needed to get herself rolling once more. Besides, the edge of the ravine is the perfect vantage point to watch the Trials until something does try to disrupt the process.

Miho lsitens about this sort of trial that's pretty damn hardcore and she wonders how many of the kids will make it? Her tail gives away her concern even if she says nothing about that.

"Yes if anything tries to bumrush the kids I will be there to interfere and keep it out of their hair."

She looks to Amalthea for a moment.

"Very well, and yeah given if something outside the plan tried to jump the younglings..."

She finishes her food and gets her bow ready.

Goldenblade listens to the King as he explains the situation, and she nods gravely about the younglings and she takes her position where directed. "Very well," she replies to his request. "You can count on me." She looks around, scanning the horizon away from the event, to see what might be coming, or at least where it might be coming from. She checks the blades in her scabbards, to make sure they're not binding and can be drawn easily if she needs, then settles in to watch.

She listens as the king explains that they're not to aid the younglings, except against outside threats, and she nods approvingly. That's how you see if someone is strong. Let them shoulder the burden, and they'll be stronger and more confident for having done so. That's how it was in her day.

    Giganpor has one obvious question, "Just what is the Sher Kar, if you do not mind my asking, Your Highness?" He seems to consider the ravine, then looks to the Adventurers.

    "If you have earth magics that can detect movement, set them up. We need to make sure they take the trials at least, even if death is a possibility." Giganpor seems to pause at that, then eyes the King, "I do wish you would at least let us ensure their safety, but hope you do not lose many in this trial as well."

    Giganpor looks towards the ravine, then moves towards it. "Peace be with you, Your Highness. I hope to at least see a glorious trial out of this." Giganpor's not happy about the structure of the trials at least.

"The Sher Kar is a fierce beast, but has obvious weaknesses that these younglings have trained to abuse. It has been the Trial of Combat for generations." The King patiently answers Mikage. To Giganpor, he adds; "You will be able to see it from above, when the battle begins."

As he gets the remaining acknowledgements, the King motions to the Ravine, inviting them to venture on. He can not stay, as he has duties as a king to perform. But he clearly wished to be here and be there for the younglings' arrival. There's a subtly painful look in his eyes, perhaps the knowledge that some of them he arrived here with, will not come back to the walls of Breg Epona. But those who fall are given an honorable Graverite. It is only cowards who end up dishonored.

"I entrust you with my people." Are the last words he imparts, as he gets back on his Peko, and bows to the Adventurers, before he turns and heads off. There's still some regular Holy Empire guards, but they are clearly here to receive the younglings. Not to deal with unexpected threats.

----

As the team moves up the hills towards the top of the valley, they can see as the various Salamanders nervously move forward. There's a few confident ones among them that naturally seem to lead the group. One particularly burly one motioning towards a cave... as a six-legged monster comes out. It has no eyes, only an enormous ugly maw at the front, and an even longer tail - twice the length of its 'main body', yet no thinner. The top of which appears to be another maw with viscious teeth around its edges.

There's a few sounds of alarm, but two of the Salamanders move to the front bearing shields and slam into them with their swords. It's no Anchor Howl, but they are certainly taunting the apparently blind thing. It focuses in on them, as a few bow wielding Salamanders prepare for the first volley.

----

That's when they notice it. The approach of... a single woman. She's on the small side, and wearing clothing that look a bit too big for her. At a distance, she looks human. But the closer she gets, the more it feels like there's just... something off about her.

Her hair, purple in color, looks more like... it's made out of chitin? And there's these two orange feelers sticking out from behind what is clearly a maid's hairband. In fact, her entire uniform is that of a Japanese maid. No doubt she has the Maid Class. But her face is like a doll, and her eyes... they're composite across six pieces, red and black intermixed.

She seems surprised to see the Adventurers there as she comes up. "What... what is this? No, this is not right." She spreads her arms... or rather, her clothing. Her arms are not visible beneath the frilly cloth. "You are not supposed to be here." Her voice sounds strange, like there's a buzz to it.

"I suppose maybe /you/ will do for testing out my new pets though..." She then remarks.

    Setsuna nods his head, " Ok adventurer defensive wall at your service." His comment is made as he follows behind the others and some of the assurances he hears does lead to a head tilt but he doesn't stop for now. Setting himself p closer to the edge of the ravine he looks down, trying to get a measure how bad it would hurt to fall before turning away from the drop off and to look towards the likely avenue . Taking Giganpor's suggestion, he takes a knee and puts his hand under the sand and waits for now, glancing over his shoulder every now and then towards the young lizardlings. " So then we just sit here and..."
     The necromancer trails off as he makes out the woman, but hesitates to do anything for now. When she gets close enough he inspects the woman, though judging by the look and all she isn't friendly. Especially with a name all red like that, and then she uses the word pets like he would. Standing he looks the woman in the eyes and asks, " Pets? Where are your pets?"

Vertina crouches down at the edge of the ravine, watching the first few activities of the trial. "That... is one nasty looking monstrousity," she murmurs at the appearance of Sher Kar from the cave. But while they may be young and inexperienced the youths seem to have the right general idea, get shieldmen up front while others prepare bows and spears.

Then there's a buzzing voice, and she exhales. "Figures, just as it's getting good..." Pushes off the ground to stand and turn back to the rest of the group, regarding the doll-like woman. There's something just off enough about her to make her hackles crawl, if she had any. "Okay missy. Here's a better idea -- you take your 'pets' and crawl back into whatever hole you spawned from. Before you," she pauses to thump a fist into the opposite palm, "wind up with nothing at all."

It's an ugly, hideous monster. Like a massive, blind scorpion. Prophylaxis rankles his nose as the sight of the thing, but the Salamanders seem to be capable of handling it for now. So Prophylaxis puts his mind toward protecting them, and the best way to do so is with foreknowledge.

As it turns out, that foreknowledge is critically important.

The appearance of the strange maid-shaped creature has Prophylaxis glance away from his work, his hand gently touched upon the sands. Reflexively, he Inspects her, and sees... A monster. A monster wearing the face and the shape of a person. His lips draw into a thin line, but at the mention of 'pets...'

His eyes widen. "Setsuna!" Prophylaxis yells, his hand opening to slam his palm into the ground. Immediately, a burst of sand blasts Setsuna several feet to the side. "Everyone. Six large targets underground, scorpion-shaped, surrounding us from all sides and approaching. Like big Sher Kars. Intercept them before they emerge if you can! If not... Tanks, prepare to engage! Supports, set up buffs! We've got maybe ten seconds!"

    Merek takes a moment to look to the competition between the salamander looking to prove the trials beginning, then he takes a look to the woman that arrives. The man takes a moment lifting up his sword while he takes a stance.

With the information gained from the King, Mikage nods, moving to take a position along the ravine. Her curiosity naturally has her drawn to watching the warriors as they face off against the creature, perhaps trying to learn something from the way they work together. It ends up being Rama who first notices that someone else is approaching.

The little cat turns towards the strange woman and begins to growl in his throat. At that, Miki turns, blinking while shading her gaze from the sun. The cat continues to growl, which is warning enough that this isn't some normal passing traveler. When she can get a better look, Miki raises her bow slightly, one hand reaching for the quiver at her side. "What... are you?"

The fact that the bug-like woman starts talking about using them to test her pets identifies them almost immediately as an enemy. She opens her mouth, as if to say something else, when Prophylaxis reports that they have incoming. "Rama, get behind me!" She summons the cat back, standing before him, drawing her bow out and readying an arrow.

    Off goes the king, and Amalthea watches after him for a time, before she finally turns and makes her way along to the top of the ravine, watching the young Salamanders.
    "That must be the Sher Kar." She muses at the sight of the six legged creature the young Krogans-- er Salamanders square off against.
    It's when the woman approaches that Amalthea does a quick inspect.
    That threat rating is awfully high.
    "Mmmm..." She muses, hand subtly shifting to the hilt of one of the blades at her waist.
    Not liking this.
    Then she says something about testing out her pets.
    Definitely not liking this at all.
    Amalthea's weight subtly shifts.
    "Now, now. This is a big day for the young ones, we wouldn't want to show them up." She says gently, putting on her warmest, most threatening, smile.
    And it is a threatening smile.
    Then Prophylaxis drops the bomb.
    Amalthea's blade is drawn, her shield is unstrapped from her back.
    "Then again, I guess we're doing this."

Goldenblade starts in alarm as the huge beast comes out after the younglings, but then her attention is drawn by the maid. It occurs to her that it's strange that the king would have an event like this catered, or if he did, that they would arrive at exactly this time. When she speaks, Goldenblade realizes it's not catering at all, but someone else seems to have brought some extra mayhem just for them. "New pets?" she wonders, looking around. She'll edge a bit closer, still looking around warily, hands resing on her swordhilts now.

This is probably going south, she's guessing, so she'll take a position where she can watch over the younglings in case things come out of ... what Prophylaxis said. She takes a ready position, draws her blades with a silken hiss of steel, and she extends her senses into the earth, to find the closest enemy. As soon as it clears the ground, she'll be there to smack it in the face.

    Standing atop his horse near the edge of the ravine, Giganpor eyes the Sher Kar. "Huh. I can see how they would be trained on that. Blind, I think. Two mouths... makes me think of biology and worms or something." He shakes his head, then turns at the approach. He stays fairly silent at the approach and the speech. Perhaps he can tell something is amiss already as he dismounts from the Nightmare and pulls his hammer-axe spear.

    Giganpor looks at Granit as the gorilla elemental seems to communicate with it's master. Then he nods at the elemental. "Stand ready." He calls towards the Landers, "Enemies underground! Defend the trials!" He turns his head back towards the group, "We are surrounded already. Sorry, everyone, but sand is about to go everywhere."

    Bringing his weapon into the air, Giganpor's shield glows a bright green and at the same time Granit brings his hands up into the air as does the Nightmare rear back. All three almost in synch bring their hands down as Giganpor calls out, "EARTH PILLAR!" He's obviously attempting to literally unearth the enemies around them. As many as he can.

Kite marches off with the rest of the adventurer's to take up post, keeping a keen eye out as the trial continued. With the fierce Salamanders doing battle at the cave's mouth, things seemed to go smoothly ... at least, until a new arrival showed herself. Something was offputting about her that Kite couldn't quite glean from this distance.

    Though wasn't her face . . . ?

"Eh, is she supposed to be here? Pets?" He frowns, moving closer from his perch, hands on the hilts of his weapons, a curved sickle and a piercing shortsword, an unsteady look at the sudden aggression everyone was throwing up; it became more understandable as one of them was able to feel out the prescence of what he could only assume were her 'pets'. "Hey, hey, there's no need for all that .. maybe. Whoever you are, we'd appreciate it if you didn't cause trouble. Maybe you could take your pets somewhere else..?"

Now that he was a bit closer and could see her face a bit better, it'd be a lie to say it didn't unsettle him a little bit. If he could make a friend instead of an enemy, that'd be his preference, but he didn't have the luxury of time, it seemed. Everyone else was already getting into position.

    Setsuna gets sent up into the air by what, he can only hope it was the crazy doctor yelling about monsters underground and falls into the sand with a thud. Shouting back to the others as they ready for combat, " If we glass the top that will make it harder for them to move in and out of the earth." The summoner watches the others before a pillar rises up and showers him in sand as he looks to Giganpor and gets what the guy is trying to do, but tries a different approach, "Slither and hither and seek my target." Placing his hand on the ground a sand viper is summoned before digging in to go hunt prey.

Vertina didn't really have much hope this mysterious arrival would listen, and that's confirmed when there's a warning of underground enemies. That seems to be a theme in the desert, too. But underground usually means some manner of tunneling or swimming in the sand. Which means there's still a lot of sand and rock above the creature. So Vertina takes a different approach from some of the others.

"Stalag SPIKE!"

Instead of trying to unearth the monsters, she slams a fist into the ground to cave in whatever means of burrowing a subterrainian monster would be using on top of and hopefully crushing, or at least pinning, them.

Miho seems ready to rumble if something goes wrong. She looks back to Amalthea for a moment and girns.

"I pray for the success of all the younglings."

She pauses for a moment and looks at the odd /maid/ oh this isn't going to be good. She will inspect the strange maid and now looks very concerned.

"Things are about to go down."

She will be making ready for a fight that's going to come as she falls into formation.

"So Entoma Vasilissa Zeta. Huh? I won't forget that."

While this monster is in range of Miho's attack, the things going She'll leap into the air and then aim her bow downwards.

"BURST SHOT!"

She's trying to disrupt the things underground and at least force them to the surface.

"Ten seconds? You miscalculate easily." The maid before them chitters, motioning her arm wide. "Come on my pets! Let's see what you can do against some seasoned Adventurers! If you don't all die... come back to my home." She remarks, as she begins to sink back into the sands.

"Please see to my little experiment." She requests as she continues to drown away within the mullen sands.

At which point, it seems Prophylaxis is just in time. A massive maw jumps up, looking like it was just about to swallow Setsuna from feet to head in one motion. Like a spire of flesh, it is thrown into the air, with the Sher Kar bounding out backwards! It lands on the ground not seconds later, clattering its feet and turning around, quickly coming for Amalthea!

The others start coming up, as the maid sinks fully into the sands. Those with tremmor sense can no doubt sense of moving away at... inordinate speeds. Certainly well outside of the Adventurers' movement speeds.

Giganpor's sand pillars miss only a single one of them, as four more are slammed up from within the ground and end up sailing throught the air for just a moment, before they land and hiss... and all of them spray a sudden caustic green goop from their tails!

The last one that Giganpor missed comes up right near Mikage. She's already ready for it, but the enormous thing is still towering over her by at least half her height in just how tall it is. It then quickly rushes forward, trying to bite down on poor Rama!

One of Miho's shots blasts into one of Giganpor's stone pillars still rising up - not timing it well with the creatures coming uncovered. Vertina creates a protective barrier with her spike - preventing some of the acid from splashing onto the Adventurers - and Setsuna's snakebite tries to attach to the fleeing Maid, but fails to catch up!

    Merek sheaths up the blade while he nods a little bit along to the woman, "You know, I am tired of not really getting to relax," he notes, then he begins to draw a flame to both fists, while he swings along into the monsters, a rain of that red glimmering amidst the flames upon the skies dancing while the man begins to swing into the crowd of monsters.
    "RAGNAROK'S WISDOM!" The man picks up one of the monsters, then he takes that monster while he punches another monster with that as well.

    Giganpor raises his shield as it glows red, a round shield of flames coming out exactly. It's a blast of flame that incinerates the goop coming at him. Then he seems to sense something and suddenly turns towards one of the spitting ants. "No..."

    And then his voice raises as a literal blast of sound comes out, "YOU DO NOT!" The wave of sound is aimed straight for one of them specifically as Giganpor raises to his full height.

    A glance is given to the Nightmare. "Stay." Then he starts forward as he holds his custom weapon ready. "I saw you, creature. I do not know what you want with the young ones down below, but you WILL NOT HARM THEM. I may find this test stupid, violent even. But I will honor it at least. Now, face me you pieces of filth. Face me and know the wrath of someone who is honoring those below us."

    A summoning circle beneath him has Giganpor rising up to his full were-lion form. Someone's made him mad it looks like. And woe to those that make a lion angry.

    This is it.
    The things are happening.
    Warned as she is, when the Sher Kar erupts from the ground and nearly swallows Setsuna, Amalthea is ready for it as it turns upon her.
    She braces behind her shield, letting the beast slam into her with its full weight, sending her skidding backwards, boots leaving furrowed trails in the sands as she flips her sword in her grasp, clasping it by the blade as she intends to beat the beast over its skull with the blunt end of her sword's pommel and crossguard.

Prophylaxis feels for Kite. Really he does. But there's a time and a place for making friends with the monster that wants to kill all the kiddos they're supposed to be protecting.

...With these so-called 'pets' apparently.

"Sorry, Setsuna," Prophylaxis says, genuinely apologetic. "I didn't think there'd be enough time to react if I didn't give you a push. The thing was basically right under you." And a gentle sand-blast is presumably a lot less painful than being bitten in half by an angry monster-bug.

But there are more than just the one. The beasts erupt out of the ground all around them, thanks to Giganpor's timely magic. But already, they're beginning to spit awful, acid goo all over the gathered adventurers. Prophylaxis' teeth click shut. He ducks forward, dodging deftly underneath the acid spray and deflecting whatever does get too close with a spray of sand. These things are attacking to kill.

And not necessarily /them./

"The way it's acting, that one is..." Turning away. Getting ready to leap forward, to burrow back into the earth. Prophylaxis snarls and slams his staff into the ground. Deep below, Prophylaxis seizes hold of the underlying bedrock and yanks it /upward./ A spike of solid sandstone erupts from the sand just in under the bug-monster's face as it goes to dive back underground. "I may not be permitted to heal them during their trial-- I'm not even allowed to even mend their wounds until their job is done-- but I'll be damned if I let you hurt them. It's not 'interfering' if I'm just killing you all here and now!"

Goldenblade dodges aside easily from the rising monsters. None were coming straight for her, it seems, so she's just got to stay clear of where they're coming up. Then the party commences a good, old-fashioned beatdown, and Goldenblade joins in, swords igniting, flames licking up and down the steel as she fights off the summonned monsters. She looks around for the villain, but she's hoofed it, it seems, so she'll concentrate on pounding these things into pixels.

Both blades whirl independently, slashing and burning with ease, shaving off health from the monsters with each strike. She's well into the fray, having waded into the thick of it. She can do more damage that way, and now she's moving from one to the next as the party fights them off.

    Setsuna watches the giant monster come up in his face as he raises his staff and catches the beast attack as he then rolls out of the way. "No worries doc, better to avoid the damage then to become your patient these day." His head turns to go after the lady but she is already retreating, "Pity , she seemed like a lot more fun." Turning back to the creatures he shakes his head, "You should have stayed underground, your summoner failed you." His staff raised as lightning begins to leap from the staff striking one of the creatures.

The outward thrust of stone spikes provides another use besides disrupting the spray of acid. It gives the quick-footed Salamander just enough elevation to sprint up and leap over the monsters thrashing about as others engage them.

The agile jump lets Vertina actually land on the back of one of the monstrousities. "You are not getting anywhere near that trial!" she proclaims. Following it up by brandishing her fist weapons, and slamming the battle gloves' blades hard and deep into the creature's back. The sharp curved edges, shaped like the claws of a large predatory beast, ought to have little difficulty carving into whatever carapice and flesh compose these desert diving horrors. "You're going to wish you were never spawned!"

As the monster comes towards Rama, Mikage aborts her attempt at an attack and just grabs the lynx before rolling out of the way. Setting the little creature back on his feet, she scrambles for her bow again. "We're not your playthings you know that, right?"

Scooping up the discarded arrow, she turns and fires one at the closest monster, being the one that happened to attack Rama. Magical energy surges through the arrow as it fires. Yet, it isn't the magic that seems to do the most damage, but the arrow just so happens to find a weak point.

"Hah!" She calls out, taking a few more steps back in a defensive posture. "Rama, you're up next if another one gets too close." The cat snarls in response and swipes at the air.

Kite frowns, a disappointed feeling settling in his chest as she sinks into the earth. There's no time to think about it, as the creature spring forth from the ground and attack with thrashes and acid splashes. "Geh..!"

Kite hunkers down, activating his agility boosting skill and seems to vanish with a thunderclap, his body momentarily supercharged with lightning as he leaps straight up, rearing the curved of his two weapons back, darkness gathering around the edge as he slices down and sends a pitch dark crescent at one of the unleashed 'pets'.

    "Dark Flash Attack!"

Bending his knees, he lands in a better position than he started in, re-arranging his hold on his weapons to shift into a defensive stance.

Miho watches as the maid leaves and an idea forms in her head however it may need to wait till a future encounter. For now, she's got ants to deal with. Miho says "You are not getting through to the younglings."

She tells the monster as she of use herself on it while Giganpor moves in she'll level her bow again watch for the movements of her allies. She then will line up her shot and fire.

"DOUBLE STRAFE!"

There's a cry coming from down below, behind them. No doubt, if that woman had unleashed six of these larger creatures upon those below, the results would have been disasterous. But right now, they are getting to feel what it is like to be dealing with monsters beneath their stature.

One of the Salamanders just got impaled by one of the regular Sher Kars. Only for its tail to get chopped off by one of the larger female Salamanders. It's basically a small Monster Hunter kind of battle down there. A trap going off that paralyzes the monster a bit too late. Luckily nobody thought the Insect Glaive was viable.

Merek straight out punches one of the Sher Kars right as it moves forward, and detonates it with the power of Ragnarok's Wisdom! The detonating attack creates a fulminating flame for just a moment, before the monster ends up straight out /erased from existance/ from the sheer blow of it.

Giganpor and Prophylaxis are quick on their feet! The fierce growl from the summoned lion being causes all of the Sher Kars above to temporarily be paralyzed! Amalthea's blade's pommel slams into the head of one of the creatures after jumping a bit to make it to that height. And thanks to the paralysis effect on them, slams that pommel right through its skull!

A spike comes up, Prophylaxis's spire RAMS through the body of Amalthea's target, eradicating the rest of its health and sending it into oblivion.

Goldenblade's area melee attacks start chopping down the health of the remaining four - with Setsuna using Goldenblade's blade momentarily as a conductor! Goldenblade's now lightningingy blade rams and carves through one of their tails and down a Sher Kar spine and rips it to shreds!

Vertina gets on the --Hydra-- Sher Kar's back, and tears her clawed weapon down into its spine. Even ripping it out partially on the clawing motion back, causing it to shatter beneath her!

Three remaining, and Mikage has one of their numbers! Her arrow rips into its gullet as it tries to get to Rama, quickly halting its approach! Miho then joins in on the arrows - shattering it with more arrows hitting it in the eyes, together cutting its health down within moments.

Kite rushes down one of the two remaining ones. The enormous speed the Twin Blade moves at is quite impressive for someone who tried to practically befriend, or at least negotiate down the enemy! Calling forth his attack, he ends up sliding right down underneath the Sher Kar and cuts it apart from along its underbelly, shattering it too!

There's only one remaining... and it looks rather nervous at still being stuck here. Chittering in confusion, and quickly tries to burrow!

    Giganpor leaps at the remaining one, bringing his weapon down as he tries to impale it and raise it upwards. The were-lion growls at the remaining monster. "Go after them again, and we will end you."

    The were lion then turns and pushes the thing away from the ravine, "I'll be watching. Go back to your masters. Tell them the young are off limits."

    The were lion growls at the creature, intimidation in full effect.

    With the Sher Kar she was battering suddenly getting impaled and erupting into red pixels, Amalthea surveys the surroundings.
    It looks like there's only one left by the time all is said and done.
    "Finish that one off." She says gruffly, motioning at the beast with her sword, and opting to let someone else do the deed as she peers over the edge of the ravine to see how the young Salamanders are faring.

    Setsuna tilts his head at the scared creature and , it's eyeless gaze touches his soul for a moment as he smiles and cast a glance to the doctor and Amalthea, " I mean I think at best we could find a giant glass and playing card and catch it and release it somewhere safe. Maybe floor 2." The monster handler seems to be waivering on something for the moment as he wonders if the skeleton knight would like a friend. " Maybe we take this guy home with us?" If it was going to roam the scale castle, he should ask his roomies their opinions.

There is no 'mercy' to be had here. Moments ago, these monsters were looking to murder each and every one of them. They were even cunning enough to try and run off and attack a bunch of (relatively) defenseless young Salamanders. To allow a creature like this time to retreat and grow in strength--

"Unnacceptable," Prophylaxis growls. His staff erupts in a catastrophe of flame. With a gesture, he flings a lance of fire directly at the last Sher Kar's drooling maw. "We will not be here to guarantee their safety all the time, Giganpor. Setsuna, I will not permit any Scale Emblem member to knowingly introduce a known 'pet' of an enemy agent into Aincrad without a means of controlling it or otherwise ensuring its absolute compliance."

"This may be a game for us," he says, gravely, "But not for the Landers-- /or/ these beasts."

Goldenblade looks at her blades skeptically when Stusuna electrifies them. It's a buff, she realizes after a moment, and fights all that much more effectively, until the last one is forced to retreat. She's not clear on what she's seeing, it's hesitating, then seems to be heading back. Looks like monsters are smarter here than she'd given them credit for!

She checks back to make sure the younglings haven't been attacked, apart from by the monsters they're supposed to be fighting, then looks back to Amalthea about finishing the last one off that's escaping. But Proph takes action before she can decide, so she'll just stand ready in case there's another ambush.

The creature is split in two, defeated in a flash. "Hoo .. "

With the remaining creature fleeing, Kite sees no reason to engage in -- from his perspective -- needless cruelty. It was already beaten, so why go further?
"I wish that hadn't had to happen ... " he says, looking down, but picks himself up. "But, I wonder where their master got to? She told them to return if they survived, so I guess she packed up and went home." he supposes.

Looking between Amalthea and the others, Kite shakes his head. "It doesn't want to fight anymore. There's no point -- "

Before he can finish, Prophylaxis makes his own thoughts known, with a burning hot flame. " -- ?!?!"

Kite's shock makes him too slow to intervene meaningfully, reaching out as the flame bursts out.

    Merek looks to the Sher Kar when Prophylaxis begins to lance fire into it. The man lifts up his weapon then he draws a wave of ice forming upon the place in addition to that enemy while it shocks along with that lance of flame which the man used. "We are here to do the will of the King and protect the kids. I am sealing the place so they can't burrow up. We need to make a way to the next position." He then shifts that weapon while he makes a way along.

Oh look the thing actually had a spine. Emphasis on had, as Vertina holds it over her head like a trophy, the chunk of viscera still caught in the claws of her fist weapon. Maybe it's some aspect of Salamanders naturally having the Hunting trait that she was able to eviscerate something out of the beast.

Of course her triumphant posturing is somewhat ruined when the rest of the monster pixilates into nothingness... and she was still standing on top of it. Which results in an "Oof!" as she falls on the sand on her butt when the fiendish beast had just been. With a wince she leans over a little to rub her bum. No one saw that right? At least the kids didn't see it.

It's also kept her distracted from whatever the other people are doing about the remaining beast.

These monsters would have torn all the younglings apart, Miho knows that much she hears as one of the kids has been impaled and part of her wonders what the point of throwing them into a blender at such an age really serves. For now though maybe she wonders or is it because Earth has just got soft in Japan and other developed nations? It doesn't matter Earth's just a memory in the end to her nothing more. She'll shift tactics now the bow goes away and she'll draw her Katana as she breaks into a run after the fleeing monster.

"No you don't you die today creature."

She then leaps at is lashing out with her Katana but will she be in time? It seems Miho is in agreement with the Good doctor that letting it live would be folly.

Between Prophylaxis and Merek, the magic power at play is more than enough to eradicate the last Sher Kar before it even manages to burrow underground, eradicating it from existance and ensuring that no monster would be reporting to that strange maid looking... girl? Was it a girl. It'd looked like a girl. But then, it'd also had the typical insignias for MONSTER on their Inspect.

Miho's blade cuts through the tail before that gets incinerated... and the team gets to take a breather. Behind them, down below, the battle is just finishing up too. One of the Salamanders is kneeling down next to the remnants of a Blade, touching it to their chest and crying. No doubt, that would be the item that would be burried into the Graveyard for that Lander.

As it was all that was left of them.

But the Sher Kar down below had been defeated, and a few guards are coming down into the valley to help guide the Salamanders out. Those close enough might hear something along the lines of 'Better than the last'. Or 'Only one, this time. Good.'

There is this strange air of celebration, and respecful deference to the fallen warrior. The celebration is quiet, but it's definitely there. And there's this intense comradery between the Salamanders - many of which had only just met today. Touching shoulders with their hands... and firm pleased nods. But no outroar. For their Adulthood had come at a cost.

    Giganpor shakes his head, looking at the others, "We could have followed it back. It had some intelligence." He says towards them. "It's why I didn't try to say it out loud."

    He turns to look down at the trial, frowning as he looks at it. Then he turns to mount his Nightmare and head back to the caravan. He'll look for the nearest guard and inform them of what happened. They do need to know to be on guard for future trials among other things, after all.

    Otherwise, Giganpor looks perhaps a little annoyed at the actions of the others, but he'll probably get over it. Right?

As the monsters are dispatched, Mikage slowly lowers her weapon, though it doesn't look like she has lowered her guard. Rama still seems to be standing with his fur standing on end. "I think it's over." She crouches down, stroking her hand over his back.

There is some measure of confusion on her features, perhaps too many things happening in too short a time. Somewhere, she'd missed the loss among the Landers in their right of passage. So, she just quiets, slinging her bow onto her back.

    "Kids?" Setsuna says as he looks down at the young ones and their fight. He had forgotten about them and only with Merek mentioning them did he suddenly realize what he had been doing. Turning back to the destroyed creature there is a more serious look on his face as he looks at the monster. " You were right, best to not put anyone else at risk." He turns back to the younglings and his eyes look down on the fallen one, " Seems like one didn't make it through."

"It did," Prophylaxis says with a nod as the creature dissolves into so many motes of red light. "That's why it had to die. Leaving something like that alive, something smart enough to run away, just means the next ones will be even smarter. It was something smart enough to run away-- and smart enough to come back when our guard was down. We will need to inform His Majesty about the threat to his people."

He looks to Kite, then, his gaze lingering for a moment. It's impossible to tell what he's thinking, though, through the veil covering his face. Instead he moves toward the younglings and begins a headcount.

One is missing. He can guess what has happened. Prophylaxis exhales a tense breath, but reminds himself that more would have died if they had not done what they did.

"Congratulations on your triumph," he says, moving toward the crowd. "I hope that you will all remember the price that victory too often asks of us. Those of you with injuries, to me please. I would see you go home with proud battlescars, not infected wounds."

Goldenblade looks around, but it seems to be over? She'll sheathe her blades, look around for any more villains, then return to whence we came. She peers at Giganpor, saying, "It bored out a trail, can't you just follow that, if you wanted to? I wouldn't be keen on that boss, though. She was red, wasn't she?" She's starting to get to know the color codes. Red is stop, isn't it? Or DANGER?

She will continue to follow after the group returning, it does look like things are done here. "That seems to be it," she observes, since the kids, the former kids, are heading back.

    "I don't think that would be possible underground with any easy way," Merek admits, "Not to mention that woman is way too powerful for wanting to meet again, until we learn information. We don't want to bring about another army," the man notes. Then he takes a look about to that trial.

By the time the trail-goers, now Adults in their cultural right, return from the crevasse Vertina has gotten to her feet and dusted herself off. No celebratory faux pau to see here!

She.. doesn't look too surprised that not all the youths made it back, or the mutterings about it being a better turnout than some years. She has paid some attention to the cultural aspects of her race even if she isn't a hardcore RPer, so them regarding only one death as a good turn-out seems... normal? It's probably preferable to die fighting for your adulthood than ending up crippled and weighing the rest of your family do--

No, no, no going down that rabbit hole. They would of prefered it this way. That's good enough.

She does fish out her flask for another swig of whatever concoction she has in it, likely hand brewed, as she wanders off again.

Miho sees the creature is down and looks to Kite.

"It had to be done we couldn't risk it that thing was made by whatever that woman was for war. It was no normal creature."

She notes she seems to look over at the guards now she say snothing but seems paled, how many Salamanders die to that ritual? She looks to the now adult Salamanders for a moment but say nothing to them.

"I do not think there is any more need of us here."

Kite looks down, frustrated. "I understand where you and Prophylaxis are coming from, but ... "

He just couldn't accept it. Since coming to reside in the world of Elder Tale, he was quick to realize that things weren't as simple as defending a group of people from monsters. The fact that it tried to run proves that it wasn't just a mob. And that left him feeling guilty.

    "Uhm, thank you for the concern, though."

    "None of us enjoy that, you know Kite," Merek offers then, while he nods a little bit to the man, "You take care, and be well."