Palace Lands: Ruins of the Ancient

Bird chirp overhead. The sighting of ratgulls as they pass from mountain to mountain. The levels of their enemies have slowly begun to lower more solidly into the yellow. Most certainly, the distance they have traveled by now is enormous compared to traveling in Yamato. Coming around the bend of a mountain, they've finally found signs of humanity.

Crossing overgrown rice paddies, various areas of which had been cut apart of trampled by large monsters, they crew has begun to move into the southern region that lays between these mountains, with their sights on a township further off. They've been walking over the wooden planks that are stretched from patch of land to patch of land. It all has a very olden chinese farmland feel to it, with a forest further ahead as well as the abandoned town.

The smoke they'd spotted earlier seems to have disappeared, and they've found not a single sign of living Adventurers nor Landers. No smoke. No people. No footsteps. Only these planks from little sandy 'island' to sandy 'island'.

Prophylaxis has come to the new world with his heart, eyes, mind and VERY SOUL set on the task that he has brought along with him. That he would eventually cross paths, such as it is, with the New World Alliance's main expeditionary arm was something of an inevitability. After all, it's much easier to follow a path blazed by others than to do the forging yourself.

"You know," the doctor says as he chews absent-mindedly on a sprig of river reed grass, "I wonder if the relative dearth of players in this part of the world has to do with the fact that the Chinese Server was always a little... isolated." Ever since the Net Disasters of the past few decades, the Great Firewall had only grown more considerable. "Might have been that the Chinese detected some kind of weird network traffic the day of the Apocalypse and force-disconnected most of their users. I'm sure that they would have been monitoring that kind of thing."

Who is he talking to? Whoever is willing to listen. He's not particularly bothered, strolling along as he does like he has no care in the world, save for the goal burnt into the front of his brain.

Clutching a staff, a wise man wanders through ancient floodplains and valleys. If not for his various eccentricities, he'd be the very perfect model of a Zhenren...!

Deciding to travel and see what some of these lands are with the recon group, Giganpor had joined up. His usual poleaxe is on his back and he wears his armor. Otherwise, the large Were Fang is looking curiously at the planks and the islands. Something was nagging at him about those more so than the lack of any signs of life besides monsters.

"Hm... rice paddies should not be deep enough for some of the larger monsters to hide in, I hope. As long as it's not a snake based monster or alligator." He says out loud, continuing to look around and keep an eye out. He's not that big on hunting or even fishing, but he at least can make some guesses there. And in this case, what is worrying him is the trampling signs of a few of the rice paddies. He still sticks with the main group, never going out far to check on something that looks interesting.

Looking at the planks, however, has him very much questioning in his head who or what put those down. Especially with the first sign that he's aware of being giant apes.

Kauchemar watchs the ratgulls fly off. "I've heard people call seagulls the rats of the beach, but that is taking it way too literal."

She shrugs and keeps walking along, hooves clomp-clomping upon the plank walkways. "And you say all the animals around here are like that? Kind of cool... but we see any cobra-tail-scorpions even I might just go in the opposite direction. As much as I like the weird and creepy and terrifying, that's two VERY terrifying things smashed together." She glances off to the side towards one of the ruined patties. "I guess it's a good thing these show presence of something big..."

She wasn't part of the original exploration group. But the only way she's going to be able to accuratly describe this new land is to experience it for herself, so here she is. Being chatty and occasionally humming a bit of a marching toon to pass the time of the hike, as most people would probably expect of a bard.

Yeowang has joined the adventurers searching for local Landers or adventurers, or any sign of habitation in these Palace Lands. A bit more prepared than before, she's got her long hair coiled up in a tight bun, though it's necessarily thick as she has quite a bit of it. She keeps a wary eye on the ratgulls after last adventure, too, she's not getting another tangled in her hair if she can avoid it. Kauchemar's comment gets a nod, she doesn't like them either, it seems.

She's familiar with paddies, at least, and stays on the wooden planks, though she tests them first with her foot before trusting them entirely to carry her over the muck. She keeps a sharp lookout, left, right, and up, wary for any sign of danger, and she keeps her bow ready. Just in case.

Each day, Mikage has met the travels across the Palace Lands with ever-present excitement. Every new animal or monster is a source of wonder, even on a journey that seems to take significantly longer than travel across Yamato. Rama bounds behind her, ears perked and nose constantly twitching at the new smells.

Miki isn't particularly educated when it comes to farming, but the fact that there is rice planted here at all, suggests that someone must have gone through the effort of planting them at some point. "Seems like we have some confirmation that people did live here at one point or another, even if they are gone now." She looks around, "Don't suppose anyone knows enough about farming or woodcraft to make a guess how long this has been abandoned?"

With a glance over at Kauchemar, she nods her head, "All the animals that we've seen are like that, yeah. Monsters seem to still be your typical monster sorts."

Kotono was eager to help out in any way she could, no matter how difficult the situation seemed. Even in the face of danger, Kotono would never back down. She always was ready for a good challenge.

Of course, the biggest challenge before them was trying to figure out what happened to the smoke... or whoever sent it. All that was found were a bunch of planks.

"It couldn't have been an illusion," Kotono says shaking her head. "Someone or something wanted our attention. We need to look closer at this."

    Merek looks around while he takes the time to adjust the hood while he wears the beltcape about the waist. The man takes a look along the party, "Alright, well... We should be prepared for anything when it comes to these new lands. I would like to find supplies, more than anything."

Just when you might think you'd be free of imptervention, here comes Proteus. The Imp Archaeologist slips in at the back of the group, not making much noise. In fact, she is basically paying little attention to the group, instead examining the local architecture and farmland intently. She immediately checks the way the boards are set over the paddies, making sure they are secure as well as examining them for marks of wear and working, looking for patterns.

She does not, however, wade into the paddies. Not first, anyway. Nor is she going to explain her sudden appearance. In fact, she doesn't even say a single word as she sets to work.

    And so the journey has continued! Further west! Toward smoke, finding rice, signs of civilization, but no civilians! Humph. Arashi has been bringing up the rear, scrawling as she goes. Rice patties? That's a new thing for her to consider how to code on her map. "Hrm. No landers, no adventurers, just more cross-beasts and such.. but hey, maybe we can have rice?" Shrug. The warhorse ends up circling in on Kau, because familiar.

    Tagging along with the adventuring crew, Fuka is one of the less-martial members of the expedition. Still, she seems prepared. Good boots, a proper travelling outfit, and her hair done in a simple long braid. Also her axe, slung like Giganpor's, making her look perhaps somewhat less out of place in an adventuring crew.

    She nodnods along with Proph's words, taking an interest in the conversation even if it was intended as a monologue. "Actually I wonder, do we have any evidence any other land was involved? Maybe the only server that transfered over was ours?" she suggests. "But that makes me wonder why we haven't seen Landers either. This is an actual world, or so it seems. Can't imagine why Landers wouldn't be here even if no Adventurers came..."

    Rizadoman had only recently returned to these new lands, and truthfully he was not looking forward to any more boat rides. So here he is taking a stroll with his fellow adventurers and as they come around the mountain bends the rice fields are a great find. " Anyone mapping any of the discoveries should make note of this. We may be able to get it producing again and help offset rations and supplies at the camp." Looking around he takes a moment to take it all in over all but let's those with the necessary knowledge do what they do.

It's okay, at least one Pro is getting his feet wet in this scene. Prophylaxis has meandered into the rice paddies, whistling a song he might have heard from a Lander at some point. He parts the grass with the end of his staff, gently exploring the underlying flora for anything that might catch his eye.

Finally he seems satisfied with something, and looks to the other Pro with a thoughtful look, "How long would you say it would take for a community with maybe... let's say half as many players as you'd find in Alne. How long would you say it'd take for an adventurer community to be forced out of this land by the local monsters, given that they con yellow to us right now?"

He looks to Fuka, then shrugs. "I expect there are people all over, right now. The patch launch was global, after all. No reason to think it was /just/ Japan that got hit."

    "Well, assuming what brought us here was the patch, sure." Fukaziroh agrees casually. This isn't guaranteed, but it does seem likely. "Still doesn't answer why no Landers. But if there WERE no Adventurers here, the Landers would get run off a lot faster from any place lacking guardians right?"

Yeowang holds a hand up to keep people back from the piece of ground she's examining just at the moment. After some consideration, she announces, "People /were/ here, a few days ago. But they've deliberately tried to erase the tracks." Why, she can't even speculate. "Not enough tracks to speculate on where they went or what they were about," she adds, "though perhaps scouting the area will show us more." She nods as Jazz speculates about something driving them out, though she says, "If it did, whatever drove them out didn't come in behind them, and didn't pressure them to leave in a hurry." Not if they had time to obscure their tracks.

With others throwing out theories and investigating the area around them, Mikage strokes her hand down Rama's back, allowing some of her power to flow into her lynx companion. "Let's see what we can find, my friend."

The cat starts to move in one direction while she follows, the two working together with an ease in their reactions. "To state the obvious, something big has passsed through here recently." She motions at the marks in the nearby farmland, "Looks like maybe some kind of lizard, at least by the footprints."

Rama paws at something caught in some of the underbrush, and Miki crouches near it, pulling a tuft of white fur out and rubbing it between her fingers, "And bun-buns. Likely a lot of them." She squints then, as if trying to interpret something in the signs around them.

"Something else, too. Something that went towards the town recently. This looks like maybe... wolf or large canine?" She looks back at the others, some measure of uncertainty there.

The Dire Shire zones towards the Nightmare, who in turn has been lurking near Jazuhazu. Though not chasing her. This time. There was more important things going on. "If they were deleveled like we were, but the monsters have always been this high level? Yeah, very easily," she replies to the Undine.

She pauses, holding a hand to her eyes to peer out a ways. Then turns back to the two. "Hey, you guys do the geography charting thing, yes?" She points her arm out over the rice fields. "How far out do you think I could get using my ability to run across the water surface? I know, rice patties aren't that deep of water, but it would still be faster than slogging through them."

    Fukaziroh peers dramatically around, looking first at the horizon, then at various members of the adventuring party, her hand shading her eyes making it very obvious what she's staring at. A large lizard, large canine... if there were a bunny cait sith she'd be looking at that too. "I don't suppose... what came through here was a party of adventurers?"

Gwen will be searfhing about for a while her ears twitching a bit as Gwen is u sing the normal mental focus she takes on fashion to seek out clues. It take her a bit but she'll call out.

"Found some monster trcks over here, big ones too!"

    "Eh?" Mapping question! "Hmm." Notes are given a looking over. "As long as there's water in them? A pretty decent way, I think.. Lemme think.." Page flips. Glimpse notes. Considers the patties they've seen and water in the area... "Hmm,". Blink. "Wait, you have an ability like that?"

Giganpor shifts upwards to his lion form, and pauses as he sniffs at the air. Frowning, he moves down a ways and gets another sniff away from the group. "There is a strange scent. At first I thought it was one of us, but... the scent is odd. Some sort of... fur?"

He looks thoughtful, then looks to the others, "If it is another party of Adventurers, perhaps they have Were-Fangs? If not, I seriously hope it is not a distant..." Then Gwen announces the monster tracks.

He moves over that way to get some scents there, to see if perhaps he can get a better idea of what they might be facing.

Proteus doesn't say anything as the others mull about, continuing to examine the layout carefully and checking the area with an intent gaze, keeping an eye on the architecture. Her lips purse as she straightens, folding her arms as she considers the situation.

Finally, she speaks, answering Prophylaxis. "If they have about... Oh, 20, 25 Adventurers of our level, you could defend this area more or less indefinitely against yellows. Look at the bridges and the paddies. They're designed to funnel attackers and people naturally, the efficient way drawing people normally along. Trying to rush through the paddies themselves would ruin your footing, slow you down and make you a sitting duck for anyone on solid land. Short of actual fortifications, you basically couldn't ask for better."

She glances to the side. "Be on your guard. I can't tell if there's anyone somehow waiting in ambush in this of all places, but we could suffer the same tactical problems if we end up in a battle here. Hold the high ground, make them come to you."

    Merek looks about the place, then he nods to people. He will begin to collect any herbs which he can find, "Alright, a few new things, nothing crazy. Alright, you think there were people? I'm interested in knowing about if they were Adventurers like us. Might be Lander."

Looking to Gwen, Kotono rushes over to look at the tracks. "Huh, I don't think I recognize those. But it's still a clue, and every little bit helps." She looks around, as if expecting something else to happen. When nothing else seems to happen, she speaks up. "Don't know who or what created these, but it's definitely something."

Yeowang looks up as Gwen finds tracks, and will go over to investigate as well. It may shed more light on why people left. And on what sort of monsters are around this area. "Let's see what you've found over there?"

"Hmmn," Prophylaxis answers Proteus, "These fields are mostly overtaken by wild rice varieties, but there are some patches hidden in the undergrowth that look like they were seeded around six months ago, give or take." The doctor scratches thoughtfully at his cheek. "Can't tell if they've been kept up at all, though. Some of it looks like it's been seeded, then abandoned. If there was a population here that got driven out, it would have had to be a pretty rushed thing to leave crops out in the field... Or it could have just been that they were driven away before harvest time."

"I wonder though. These monsters con yellow to /us/, but six months ago, we were much weaker than we are today. Perhaps the adventurers have all been forced back to the Root Towns...?"

As the crew pass the rice paddies, and the swampy planked-over water, they further progress southwards to the split between the forest and the ruined town. Red eyes watch them from some of the bushes Mikage had pointed out. And thanks to her, they avoid any gangs of hungry BunBuns.

Investigations still leaving plenty of questions, they naturally will eventually move to the ruined remains of a town, filled with stone buildings, broken black roofs with obvious tiling. It is clear that a lack of maintenance over the years, many of these buildings have been partially broken by overgrowth. But compared to the wooden ruins they are used to in the Yamato region, these stone buildings have survived the years far better than other locations.

On the lookout for any more signs of the well hidden steps of People - announced by Yeowang - and those of whatever canine like creature left the ones that Mikage spotted, they carefully enter at the edges.

The houses are somewhat haphazardly placed. The kind of community that grew naturally over time. There's a fallen tower at the center that ended up causing some of the houses to the west to break. Something that happened years ago, based on the overgrowth.

Most of them are open to the elements, wooden doors having rotted, or pulled off the hinges by vines or the creatures that have roamed the area. But they do come across a singular creature that is just... sitting near the tower. A single hound like beast. Large curved horns run from its blue body to halfway down its back, ending in sharp half-arrows. Its sleek body seems in a posture of rest. Purple wings upon its back furled up, and its tail tucked to the side. A white mane and white markings coming off of its eyes make it look different from the usual creatures.

Enja It merely declares when people inspect it. Yet its Icons merely indicate an I.

"No," Kauchemar corrects Arashi, "I created a technique for doing so." Then hmms, cusping fingers along her chin in 'thinking face' style. "Or would discovered be more accurate?... Well, either way. Yes, I know a means of running a distance atop the water's surface. Also good for evasive hydroplanning on land." She reachs down to pat Jazu on the head. "I've been teaching it to several Water capable individuals, including her."

But as the group reachs the remains of a villaige and it's one lone occupant, her attention shifts. She tilts her head. "... That is a monster I have not seen before," she murmurs, a bit awestruck by it. "But look at those horns! It'd fit perfectly on a heavy metal album cover!"

Giganpor, on the lookout as well while in Were-Fang form, looks around carefully. Arriving at the town, Giganpor moves out to the front. He is the tank, after all, and just in case he has his shield ready.

Moving forward, the Were-Fang raises his hands to show that he is unarmed, "Hello! We do not wish to fight if possible. Can you talk? We are strangers from a distant land."

He keeps his hands where they can be seen, and he keeps his poleaxe to his back. The idea is to look non-threatening and hopefully talk with Enja rather than get into a fight. They have met intelligent monsters before, after all. And he's at least willing to try. His cloak relic shines a calming blue hopefully.

Shaking her head, Kotono sighs a little. "How unfortunate that there doesn't seem to be anyone left here." She would look at the ruins but feels it's no use since she wouldn't know what to look for at all. Shrugging, she looks up... and then sees the lone occupant, making her realize they're not alone after all.

Initially, Kotono goes for her blades, but then hesitates to see if it's hostile or not. "I don't like this, be ready."

    "Huh. ... I may need to talk to you about that," Arashi makes note of to Kau before glancing over. What. Is. That? It's in front the tower she made note of earlier.. but they didn't make note of any kind of guard. .. Dog? Is it a guard dog? "Hrm. We keep finding places we may not actually have access too. We're a bit far from home to engage something like that.."

As the group heads into the town, Mikage seems to let her fingers linger on some of the building walls, tracing them around as she steps over rubble or through the overgrowth. "This looks like more of nature reclaiming this place than you'd expect for a year, so it's possible this happened before the Apocalypse." She pauses, "Whatever it is that happened, anyways."

Rama scampers to her side, avoiding a small group of bun-buns that had begun following the cat, perhaps looking for an easy 'meal'. He tucks to her side, looking around and sniffing at their surroundings.

It's then that Mikage grabs some parchment from her inventory, trying to sketch out the general layout of the ruined town. It would be a good way of practicing her cartography. However, her pencil stops when she and the others spot the strange creature.

"It's... not a monster." She states with some surprise. Rama, being curious, starts to take a few steps towards it, "Stay with me Rama." The Ranger leaves the talking to others. Others who might have far better social graces than she does. Which is almost none.

Proteus flicks her gaze back towards Jazuhanzu, their eyes meeting for a moment. There is little more than an arch of the brow as it happens, the Imp's face neutral. Distracted, even, as if something else was calling her attention.

As they move into the town itself, Proteus gets more active, quickly and carefully beginning to pick through the ruins. Not just for Stuff like any Adventurer, but examining the architecture, looking for signs of inhabitation, the kinds of things people left behind, their cooking tools. The Imp wants contextual information to begin absorbing knowledge of who was here, especially looking for anything written. Maybe artwork. Tools...

The Imp pokes her head out to look at the creature lying there, her eyes flicking over it and narrowing slightly as she examines the beast... And she simple pops her head back out of sight, not directly interacting with it right now. For the moment, she's more concerned with the ruined town itself.

    Rizadoman walks through the fallen buildings examining things here and there. He spends extra time at the center of the tower trying to date the buildings themselves. However he gets no where with it as he ends up eventually moving on to find 'Enja' and can only stand back as he watches the others try to talk to it. This could have interesting results.

Well.

That... that certainly is a majestic, and quite unusual beast. Prophylaxis's brow quirks curiously as he approaches te central tower, and...

Its name cons Red. But notably, it /only/ has the 'I' Icon. No Monster icon to be found.

"Might you be one of the Divine Beasts of the Palace Lands...?" Prophylaxis inclines his head and bows respectfully. "I am Doctor Prophylaxis, a resident of Aincrad in the distant lands of Yamato. We are looking for... Well, any signs of other Adventurers or Landers in the area. We thought there might be villagers here, but it seems that this town has seen better days." He frowns with visible concern, casting a glance toward the ruined structures. "...I can't help but wonder what happened here. Regardless, would you be so kind as to help us find our way? Perhaps to an inhabited city...?"

The creature slowly lifts its head, opening its eyes as it is being spoken to. One of its ears flicks, batting away a fly that had decided to land upon its body. Its head shifts to Giganpor first, while the others begin to mumble and talk about themselves about the creature.

It opens its maw...

And opens it wide, just yawning in his general direction, before tilting its head for a moment, and then laying its head back down. With its expressive marked brow, it raises one brow towards Giganpor, then towards Prophylaxis as they clearly are attempting to communicate with it.

But the being doesn't respond with anything but cat-like indifference. It seems it won't bug them while they investigate, but it isn't looking like it will go out of its way to help.

Kauchemar fingerguns at Arashi. "You do that."

Well it would seem that others are tending to try and keep the Enja from Enjaging them in battle. So the Nightmare strolls over to see what her guildmate is poking about. "Find anything interesting my friend?" she asks, folding her hands behind her back.

Don't mistake the casual demeanor for unwariness. She's got plenty of attention on that creature, just in case.

    "Well." Fukaziroh muses at that display of indifference. "Either she doesn't understand us or we're not nearly entertaining enough for her. Anyone think we should try to be more entertaining?" she asks, mostly not seriousy.

Yeowang peers at Enja, quietly and from a distance, as the more forward party members rush in with plans. She's still working on a plan, though, when the other party members approach, and so she will step forward and try to ensure things go smoothly. "Good day to you, Master Enja," she says, the formal tones and honorifics dropping into place perfectly. "I am Yeowang of Yamato. How do you do?" The formalities of greetings are quite familiar to a corporate CEO's daughter who was expected to take over the family business.

As it gazes at the party indifferently, she looks around through her inventory for something it may find interesting. But she did not pack any cat toys. "We offer greetings and salutations," she explains, "and are searching for the residents of this land, that we could speak with them, but have found no one but you."

Gwen is looking about she will keep o going wondering where people are but when Yeoang find some trace that gets her attention. She would keep with the group as they fin and behold Ena. Any other thing she was thinking about just goes out the window she's not sure what to do but if it ends up going on the attack she's going to have to be the one to intercept it. SO they can either fight or run the heck away. She's not sure on which she will have to do, so she tries to not be hostile.

It's not picking a fight so Gwen will not as she ducks into one of the homes to seek out cloth and the like which given her skills be used to date how long this place has been left to rot.

As Gwen goes about looking? The home is in ruin down and might not have been built to handle someone of her size in full plate.

She bumps into a plank with a cry she finds herself bring Trapped under rubble.

"...little help here...little help."

A tilt of the head is given by Giganpor as he approaches closer. Blinking a few times, he looks to Prophylaxis, then to Enja. "Um... can you at least tell us if you can understand us?"

He's still at least trying, but well. Cat-like indifference he can understand at least! He's a freaking Were-Lion. That's part of the culture of being such. Mostly.

Still, he does sigh. "Look... ah... 'Enja', from what we can tell, we're lost at least. We don't even come from this continent, and we're not trying to cause any trouble. We just want to know if there are Landers or Adventurers here, as we know them. Beings such as us or even you that can communicate with us and not attack us like the apes back to the east did near our camp?"

He's trying at least, but Negotiation isn't a bit thing for him so far. He really needs to work on that!

Ears flare at the sound of falling rubble, and in a flash Kauchemar has spun around, summoning her Binder Shield and Sword as she does. Ready to protect her guildmate from the monster rampaging!

... But it's just Gwen misjudging how much of her amazonian build the ruined remains of a domacile can support. "Tch, I feel you fellow big girl. But you're suppose to raise the roof, not drop it."

"Oh well, time for a little Dance Dance Demolition." She already has the posessed weapons out, so she sets about using them to hack and pry apart enough of the rubble for Gwen to crawl back out. And making a distinct rhymthic beat with every swing and strike as she does. "o/~ All in all, it was all just bricks in the wall... All in all, you were all just bricks in the wall o/~"

When the creature looks at them all with that cat-like indifference, Rama responds by tilting his own head in a mimic. His bob-tail wiggles behind him. Then, of course, seeing that yawn, the small feline echoes that, giving himself a shake.

"Well, at least it doesn't look to be a threat, which is probably good." Mikage takes that as a sign that she might be able to approach the tower to get a look at what it might have been used for, before it's ultimate end, taking out some of the surrounding houses.

"Stay close, Rama. Let's not bother the creature." The cat keeps looking towards Enja, but he obeys, staying close to Miki's feet as she starts to look for any sign of what the building might have been used for.

"Hey guys? This place looks like it might have been some kind of temple, or at least an important building." She grabs something and tucks it under one arm, while raising another, "There are some Jade statues here. They look like hybrid animals." She holds one up, which is about the size of a football. There's another tucked under her arm and Rama seems to be trying to dig out a third.

    Eh? THat was... a noise. And it was Gwen causing a cave-house-in.. House-in? Meh. She can respect Kau though for the song used. Yeeeeeeeup. It comes in the form of an appreciative nod. "Nice." Another look at Enja, another glance around town, some more note taking. A glance over her shoulder. ... Glow? "... Oh well, that changes things a bit.." the map gets a big mark of some sort on it, and then, "Kau, we'll come back to that topic. I need to, ah, look around a little..." THERE MAY BE A SWORD SHARD. That changes everything.

    Merek looks to the creature, then along to the buildings. The man will walk along with the party, taking the time to check each place, it looks like he's looking for anything that might be interesting, though nothing in particular.

Giganpor continues to press Enja, which keeps its eyes closed and seems to just irritably flick its ear at the noise around itself. It continues to respond like an animal that cannot speak, but is remarkably 'tame' compared to the ones they are familiar with; in that it doesn't respond by just running away, or attacking.

Perhaps it's simply that it doesn't feel threatened. Yeowang and any other attempts at bugging the creature so far get little in the way of other responses.

Of course, for Prophylaxis, the similarity to the beasts that attacked Tolbana when that mysterious Spriggan was around is undeniable.

As for Arashi, while she spots no swords, she does spot something else. Something seems to glisten from the edge of Enja's fur. Like something that is stick in one of its front paws.

    Rizadoman hears a few choice words from one of his alliance mate which is absolutely the distraction he needs from watching his fellow adventurers tempt enough fate to get eaten. So With the sight of a potential temple and Jade statues and a Mikage who is smart enough to remember what the sign at the zoo use to say, the lizardman cautiously walks over to Mikage. " Any idea who's temple it is ? A goddess's ?"

Gwen is tyring to get out thankfully? Kauchemar is there to get her free.

"I know I feel like a Kaiju."

Gwen is now going to sit tight as the nightmare bard is able to get her free and she just would facepalm at the song choice. Well if she was able to. Finally, as the musical magic shakes enough free for Gwen to crawl out. She's on her hands and knee for a moment before she rises up to he feet again.

"Well that was a thing that happened."

Once Gwen has been excavated and back on her feet, Kauchemar gives her a light dusting off. "There we go. Nothing hurt but your pride? Good. Next time don't come in like a wrecking ball."

With that tended to, and Proteus poking around like someone trying to find that one last piece of the puzzle that fell off the table, Arashi has little difficulty catching the Nightmare's attention once more. "Hmmm? What did you find that got you even more excited than my marvelous technique did?"

    Well, a quick skimming search reveals no shards for Starshadow, but that just means she'll have to come back later and do a proper, thorough, search of the entire place. Fun times, that. Takes hours! Though, as Arashi's eyes slip by Enja again, there's ... something there. Seems everyone's attention was on the beast, and now hers are too, but for different reasons. There's a SHINY, but not a shard shiny. This is... different. ".. Huh." She'll close distance, idly wondering if this thing is stuck for good reasons or bad.. like a thorn or a decoration. It doesn't looook like a shard but... "Do you mind if I take a look at that..?" the creature seemed indifferent before. Maybe it'll stay that way? One can hope.

Oh.

Oh gosh. That was a big old yawn. And it has a pair of eyebrow-like things that twitch and twiddle this way and that. Is it sapient? Does it understand what they're saying?! None of this matters.

Prophylaxis sees this creature's behavior, and immediately categorizes it as 'Big Cat.' Nothing further matters at that. "Ah, don't worry about it, Giganscuddles," Prophylaxis says to the beastman. "It seems our friend here is primarily interested in a nap, and perhaps in keeping an eye on us. But whether or not they provide us with any aid is their prerogative. Best to take a gander around with our own eyes than try to wring water from a stone lion, eh?"

Still, something about the creature's... /everything/ strikes him as familiar. Could it be... one of /those?/ But its behavior is anything but. "I don't suppose you have any cousins with much less readable names, would you, my blue friend? Look much like you, but with more angles and a much more awful personality?"

But if it seems as though it won't be replying... Well, Prophylaxis will simply have to move on to more productive avenues of investigation. Perhaps like appraising those jade lions...?

Meanwhile, Kotono is keeping an eye on things from afar. She wants to be ready in case something goes wrong. If she's too close she risks getting hurt...

When she notices the gleaming thing, she moves in a little closer, attempting to get a good look at it from a distance.

Enja seems to look to Prophylaxis for a moment as he mentions other creatures like it. But its attention is quickly caught by Arashi's approach. It shifts its paw a bit, showing that something is stuck in its fur, and potentially even stuck in its body. It looks like a heavy almost lead-like object. Arashi will be able to pull it out - revealing a rather unusual item.

    Enja is fascinating - or is that a type, not a name? - but Fukaziroh decides to leave it to others at this point. They're more experienced, and better able to survive should something go horribly wrong. She decides instead to do something she's more uniquely suited to do. Others may be as small and light as her, but none of them probably have her level of air magic to allow them to get as high into the partially-collapsed tower. Soooo... up she goes! Using flashstep to leap past gaps and otherwise unsafe flooring and stairs, she scouts as best she can.

    After a minute or so she pokes her head out of an upper window. "This tower got smashed by something large. Definitely not falling apart by natural decay or anything." she calls out. She pauses, looking down at the Enja. At its size, and its wings. Then she shakes her head. "Dragon maybe?" she offers, sounding somewhat dubious.

    Oh. A response! "Oh, huh, sure, I can.." YOINK. What in the world is -this-? "This .. is not what I thought it was. ... Huh. " Much inspecting will follow! And probably the thought of showing it to Kau and anyone else that may be curious about it. "Well, I thought this was a shard but well, it's not a normal one if it is!"

"I'm not as knowledgable about the goddesses as some other people." Mikage admits, showing one of the jade statues to Rizadoman. She doesn't let it go, though... Hey, the Ranger has the thief subclass for a reason. Yoink. "Maybe the Beautiful One?"

"We should probably be as respectful as we can, just incase our strange friend ver there might be associated with the temple or the goddess in question." Motioning to Rama, "We can probably dig out the statues, though. I imagine that finding them a new home would be appreciated by the goddesses?" She shrugs.

Then, she hears the word, 'Dragon'. "Well, we are in the Land of Dragons, but... they are supposed to be really high level creatures. But it would match up with the sort of footprints I found earlier. Even if those ones are more recent."

The Were-Fang has to scratch his head at that. Looking at the others, Giganpor shrugs, then glares at Prophylaxis, "If you don't want my poleaxe shoved down your throat, I would drop the idea of nicknaming me greatly." A distinctive, angry growl comes from Giganpor and the light from his cloak flares an angry red.

Looking back at the animal, he seems to consider before looking at the others, "I could try the whole Monster Handler thing, but I still think it's something like a Lander. It's not a boss monster despite the red name at least."

Then he looks at Enja carefully, and seems to consider, "Enja, thank you for allowing us to at least look around. And I am sorry for disturbing you." He gives a respectful bow towards it, not taking his eyes off of it before moving away to start looking at the buildings with the others. At least until Arashi pulls something otu of Enja. That has him curious at least.

Giganpor moves over to Arashi, "Was something stuck in it?"

Yeowang seems to have found something she guesses might be suitable, but by this time, Arashi has done her thing, and she decises that this encounter may not be one she can affect meaningfully after all. She will turn her attentions to the village, then, to help the others search while her allies continue to investigate Enja.

Gwen says "I just bumped something! This world is made out of cardboard!"

She makes a bit of a face at that. It does not last long as she turns her attention back to Proteus with intrest. she also catches sfight of Arashi's efforts and has some idea where that could go. She'll leave her to it but has to wonder about other things as well. "I don't think host there was the one who did this...just from how it's behaiving towards us."

Kauchemar holds a hand up as if she's ready to grab Arashi and pull her back. "Careful there. If even the professional monster handlers are being wary--"

But the thing is pulled from the creature's paw with little resistance. Almost like that's what it wanted. "--Huh." She quints at Enja. "Are you sure you're part wolf? Because you're acting more like 200% cat."

Then back to Arashi, glancing over the other equine's shoulder. "That's... interesting." By this point the sword and shield are just left drifting near her. Though the jewel in the crossguard of the sword keeps glinting, almost like it's glaring warily at Enja. But not wanting to provoke, seeming to realize this is the other monster's turf.

    Rizadoman looks at the jade statue a moment before looking at Mikage and nods his head, " YesI think you are right. That in itself is fascinating, it means that the goddesses reach extends pass Yamato. I was curious about that, whether as we traveled if we would find new divine beings. Beast or otherwise. " He moves along into the temple and does his best to search about, finding some remnants of a scroll that would have covered something, juding by where it was stairs up maybe? " Hmm seems like the elements destroyed anything more. A shame. "

Yeowang comes out of the house she's been searching and addresses the other searchers. "I think I have found the fire we saw the other day, when we were attacked by the griffon." Anzu, she means. "They tried to hide it, but it matches the age of when we saw the smoke from before." She will point to what she's found, in case anyone wants to have a look and confirm. And she's not sure what that means other than that /someone/ was here.

Gwen looks to Kauchemar again.

"They might take insult to that Kauchemar..."

She looks back to the big creature She thinks fgor a moment letting those who may be moving to help it, to do thei thing while she looks through her invenytoy she should have some meat in here maybe the big one would like a treat?

"Nahahaha, fine, fine. Just having a bit of fun." Still, there was a... /response/ there. Even if it was just a flicker of recognition, there was /something./ "Hm. I suppose it might be merely coincidence. But then, few things in this world ever seem to be 'just' coincidences."

He eyes the creature for a moment longer, then asks, in a hushed and almost conspiratorial tone, a question of the beast called Enja.

    "I don't know what to make of it, really. Going to hang onto it though, that I can promise. I'll see what I can figure out later," Arashi explains, letting whoever wants to, have a look at the not-sword-shard she found.

Giganpor huhs. He reaches out to touch the strange shard with a single finger to analyze it. Then suddenly backs away and a hand goes to his head. "The hell?"

He waits a good few seconds before saying, "I got some sort of flash headache from trying to appraise that thing." His hands move to his head and he moves to somewhere he can sit down. "Kami, that stings worse than being stabbed here. What I wouldn't give for some tylenol..."

He even shifts down to his human form in hopes that it will help the headache go away quicker. Or at least the lingering pain of it.

    Fuka scrambles down from the tower's upper floors with a carefree sort of haste borne out of not fearing a fall. Dropping down near Giganpor she grins. "This place gives me a headache too." she confesses.

    Without further consideration for any headaches, even those she might cause, she strolls around looking for others. "Say, any of the trackers? We've seen some large lizard thing sign, right? Would you say, large enough to have done the damage to that tower?" she asks, pointing up at the damaged tower. "Like, some large snake maybe? Or are we really talking a flying dragon thing? Because what wrecked that tower was definitely a large smashy or squeezy thing of some kind. I'm no expert, but it wasn't flung rocks or fire or time that broke that tower I'm pretty sure."

Kauchemar tilts her head a little at Giganpor's reaction to trying to examine the gem. Slowly withdraws her own hand she was considering checking it with. "Well, that's ... a good reason to be mindful of that item. I'm suppose to cause headaches, not get them."

Fortunately there is another interesting diversion as more monster talk comes up. She looks over to Fukaziroh, and then up at the tower she's talking about. Squints. Takes a few steps closer. "I think you're right. That's probably not projectile damage. Throwning rocks or such would of likely knocked it over."

Proteus has been searching around the ruins, popping into houses and examining things here and there. But she doesn't seem satisfied with what she's finding, almost prowling around like something just on the edge of her awareness is telling her something is close...

It's when Arashi acquires that shard that Proteus seems to practically appear behind the Were Fang. "... Interesting." She mentions, her eyes flicking over the shard and arching a brow. "You seem to have found something of note. Would you care to allow me to examine it? There's something that makes me think..." She hums. "It reminds me of something..."

Prophylaxis leans closer to the beast, whispering close to Enja. There is a pause from it, its head slowly raising...

And before Prophylaxis can respond, his hand suddenly disappears in a shattering of light as the beast lunges its head forward and bites it off. There is no ripping. No chewing. Just a single chomp of its teeth around his hand, causing the doctor to fall back.

Enja rising and growling at him, bristling its fur and its mane flaring up a bit.

Now Kotono is starting to get a little nervous. "Oh oh..." She steps back a little, getting into a defensive stance. She doesn't grab her blades yet, though, since she doesn't want to act in a hasty manner. "Easy there now... we didn't mean... any harm..." Her voice is cracking, clearly she's not liking this.

"What I saw earlier was definitely footprints, so likely not a snake." Mikage answers to Fukaziroh's question, "At least some kind of wyvern, or other large reptilian." She looks towards the tower, seeming uncertain, "We don't have a strong idea of all the fauna that exist here, so it's hard to say."

She looks over towards the gathering around Arashi, the creature, and the unusual shard. Something that ends up taking a back seat as Prophylaxis ends up obviously angering the creature. Miki flinches, grabbing for Rama and any of the remaining jade idols that she can, backing further away from the creature's domain.

"Uh... What in the heck did you say to that thing?" She stares, eyes wide, a little shocked.

    This is a lot of sudden attention for a solo-player. Sure, Arashi didn't mind sharing with a few folks, but with everyone circling in, she's starting to feel uncomfortable. ... That's when Enju decides to nom off Prophylaxis' hand. "AND ITS TIME TO GO!" Arashi declares before quickly putting distance between herself and Enju. You won't convince her to do otherwise.

Yeowang returns to the tent when there is no response to her announcement, and will search for any clues or signs of who made the fire or what they might have been doing. Fires are built differently when they're for light or warmth or food, or whether they're made by experienced campers or novice outdoorsmen. She's in the latter class, herself, in real life, but she's had tutors, and of course the game provices a great deal.

"Freaking Scale Emblem..." Giganpor looks up from where he decided to sit down. "Hey, Enja! One question. Will eating him calm you down?"

Well, it is the obvious question, and it's someone from Scale Emblem. Might as well let that one die horribly. Right?

    Rizadoman hears the growl and moves out of the temple and finds that Prophylaxis is in desperate need of a hand. Stepping forward Rizadoman looks between the doctor and the Enju, before settling on the doctor, " So there is an old saying of my ancestors. Let sleeping nagas lie. I feel you of all people should have known this saying already. " Turning to look at Enjuu he considers what best to do, and takes a breath. " Merek or anyone else who can use healing magic, make sure to take care of the doctor. I think we may need to move on now, I think our welcome just got worn out."

Gwen looks at Prophylaxis has said somethingto anger it. She take a step bck at this point she looks to Giganpor for a moment part of her want to say something yet she's sputting though. AS she's taring to back off.

"I think we should back off at this point, we need to leave now."

She's taring to back off and making ready with taunts and what protections she can give others.

Whoop, that is exactly the universal language for This Is An Angry Catte. Looks like he might have struck a nerve, there. And he's lost a hand for it! This is a problem. A terrible, awful, no-good problem. Prophylaxis regards both the angry beast and his missing stump of a hand with a distinct frown and, with his spare arm, jabs a quick healing potion into his shoulder before...

Promptly going into Full On Dogeza (minus one hand). "My sincerest apologies for my impertenence. I did not intend to offend, merely to satisfy my frequently runaway sense of curiosity. I appreciate your mercy in sparing my life today, as I am certain that you likely could have ended it in an instant if you so desired."

At the audible snap of jaws the Binders react... by hovering closer to their Summoner protectively. Hostile threat, hostile threat!... Mostly towards the Doctor, which is why Kauchemar idly grabs the sword's hilt before it can go zooming in to make matters worse. "No. Down. You wouldn't even be a toothpick to that thing."

Oh, there's Proteus, behind them. Probably the safest place to be at the moment, behind two taller and tankier equine. Glances over her shoulder. "You and your curiousity, even in middle of a potential danger zone."

Enja watches as Prophylaxis backs off, its fur on end, growling at him. Staring, and watching as Prophylaxis immediately goes...


orz

The creature slowly approaches, still growling at him. Barings its teeth while the doctor apologizes. Yet, it stills after a few seconds, with everyone showing their worry and alarm around it.

Then, in a deep baritone voice, it declares; "I recommend you never mention those beings your people have released from The Cage, within these lands." Before it suddenly fades from view in the midst of a jump away, flickering amidst azure light.

    Merek looks then to Prophylaxis while he takes the time to speak to Enju, and gets that hand of his clean off. The man sighs, while he lifts up a hand to draw an energy field of healing to bring the man back up to full health, and nods a bit his way, "Alright, let's... You know," he then adds to Giganpor, "I would like to take a look at that thing."

Giganpor, recovering from his headache, finally stands and looks to Prophylaxis, "Smart. Our only source of information and you pissed it off enough to leave."

He looks over at Merek, "Arashi has it. Good luck on it. I've never had something cause a headache like that before."

He looks to the others, "So we have some weird statues, another collapsed building, and some sort of lizard prints? At least that explains the odd scent... speaking of..."

He shifts back to his Were-Lion form and takes a sniff of the air, obviously trying to see if Enja is really gone or not.

Gwen halts for a moment calling back to the mysteirous void she's confuse.

"Wait what did we let slip rr I'll find out elsewhere."

She looks aorund concfuse and looks at Prophylaxis with an unkind look.

"What the hell did you do, you owe me answers later!"

"AHA!" Kauchemar blurts out. "It can speak!"

And then a moment realization sets in, and her expression shifts to something more of concern. "Oh, shit, it can speak...." Typically it's only extremely intelligent monsters that manage to handle a language. "... Whatever the Doctor said, don't repeat it. Less more people end up becoming ... finger food."

    Fukaziroh reaches back, almost making a grab for toothpick... no, Chopstick! It may be small to this powerful beast, but it's definitely not a toothpick! She reconsiders though, especially since it seems no one else is taking this as an aggressive act. Defensive perhaps. Or... once Enja speaks, perhaps the bite was merely chastizing?

    Shaking her head, Fukaziroh relaxes slightly. Only slightly. "Yeah, I dunno, have we seen enough for today?" she asks. Genuine question. Do they withdraw and consider what they've learned, or do they push on now that they've reached a habitable region?

tRizadoman hears the declaration of the Enja and is very confused before turning an eye back to the doctor. Finally he turns back to where the Enja stood. This was now a complication to the expedition. He wants to yell and rawr and insteads take a deep breath to settle, " Doctor, between Merek's healing and your own ability are you able to continue? " Moving a little closer to the doctor and seems like he is about to ask the obvious question before shaking his head, " Perhaps later you will share the full details." Looking towards the others, " Outside of the big thing that destroyed the tower, anyone find which direction the people went?"

Prophylaxis is distinctly /un/eaten, which is admittedly the best result he could possibly have asked for under the circumstances. His head remains low for as long as it takes for the creature-- Enja-- to speak and vanish away in a bolt of light. With a sigh, the doctor finally rises with a roll of his shoulders. At least Merek is doing his best to fix up the poor doctor's missing limb. "Well, he was being quite recalcitrent, so I thought, you know, might as well see what might get him to speak. So I decided to ask him a question."

What /was/ it though? The doctor thinks for a moment, then says: "I'd strongly recommend not bringing up the Scrapped ones in this neck of the woods. It seems they aren't particularly well-liked. I'm just glad that he was feeling merciful today." He looks to the Lizardman, then shrugs. "I'll be fine. This isn't the first time I've lost a hand."

    As Arashi continues to move well -away- from where Enja was, and where they went, the war-horse freezes and sloooowly turns toward the south. "... We're being watched. We. Need. To. LEAVE."

The fact that the creature talks is not something new to Mikage, as she's encountered strange unearthly beings in the lands of Yamato, already. But her blue eyes do flick towards Prophylaxis, perhaps wondering what it is he had said.

"I'll... collect the rest of the statues that I can find. I'm sure we can study them more back at the camp." For now, the ones she's found get stowed into inventory, knowing that it is a safer place for them than trying to carry them back.

She watches the creature depart, her brows furrowed, giving one more look at Arashi as well before motioning Rama closer to her. "Let's stay on the look out. If there is a large enough creature to damage this tower out there, we don't want to run ... " The hair on the back of her neck stands up slightly, as if sensing something, but she can't quite place it, so she just looks around, instinctually moving closer to one of the buildings.

"... into trouble. I agree with Arashi, we should go. Now."

Yeowang was searching inside the tent when all that went down with Enja, but she soon exits in a hurry. She nods agreement with Arashi and Mikage's statements about departing post-haste, an apprehensive look on her features. "Whatever you did to drive off the creature," she says, noting Enja is no longer here, "you have made /something/ *entirely* unhappy," she explains. She, herself, will begin an exit, stage left, without delay.

She remains on high alert at this point, having gotten surprised the other day to her dismay, and will absolutely hustle, helping anyone that seems to be dawdling.

Proteus shrugs to Kauchemar with a smile. "All the most interesting things seem to be in places that will get us killed, Kauchemar. I can hardly complain when it's just holding true to form." There is the matter of the creature biting off Prophylaxis' hand, though. That's a problem. "Eeeeeeugh." She grimaces, and then arches a brow. "The beings we released from the Cage..." She repeats, and glances to the others. "I feel like I missed something here."

Prophylaxis provides the needed context, then. "... /Them/." She says, her expression frowning. "... Aaaaaah. I see." She hums to herself. "Well, I suppose we have worn out our welcome." She glances at Arashi, and smiles. "Good luck." She says, simply, before waiting to see where everyone else runs off to. She's not going off on her own, not with that thing prowling.

As the Hunters alert the team that they need to go, with Arashi pointedly looking south, there's a gout of flame that bursts up into the air, sizable enough that even at this distance - a good hour or six away from the mountain by foot - they can see it clearly illuminate the mountainside. Followed by the shadow of something large rising from the mountainside.

Gwen pause for a moment at what Prophylaxis for a moment she nod and then pauses "Wait I never heard we let them lose..." What was going on with that did something else happen or could it be the fate of Ezzo. Eithe way it's time to book it and Gwne's going to do so. She calls to Proteus to follow her as she bugs out.

Bursts of fire. Giant moving shadows she has nothing to do with. "Yeah. I do believe it is time to make our own haste."

Kauchemar turns, and takes off in the same direction as Arashi. Using her affore discussed Tidal Gallop to run across the wet patties to catch up instead of following the plank pathway everyone else is going to be trying to use. See, it's a useful ability!

It's impossible to ignore the massive blast of fire. It's not hard to deduce what's probably making it considering the name of the lands they're in. "Mmm. I see. Definitely that time again." She agrees. "Let's go." She turns, flaring her cloak dramatically before she rushes down the path with the others, keeping her head down as she follows after Kauchemar and Gwen.

Prophylaxis meets Proteus' gaze and simply nods meaningfully. "Well, I do think if everyone is scurrying off, I shall join you! After all, this wilderness is /terribly/ unconducive for the survival of a single, isolated mage. Ahahahaha~"

The shadow rising over the distant mountains catches the doctor's eye. "...The Land of Dragons, huh... I don't suppose they were being literal with the title, were they?"

If so, then they'll probably need to do more than just 'run.'

    "Initiate tactical withdrawal maneuver!" calls out Fukaziroh in martial, clipped cadence. "Aye Aye, Captain!" she answers herself with a salute, facing the opposite direction. Then, her moment of silliness out of the way, Fuka runs off to join the others making a hasty retr... tactical withdrawal.

    Rizadoman was going to leave with the others, he really was, then he sees the pillar of fire and he stops. On the one hand, he had people to help protect and escort back home. On the other hand, this was potentially a creature of all his peoples legends and beliefs. He begins to climb the nearest thing he can find and work to get a better view. The dragon emperor came to mind at the last dragon he saw, but such a rare occurence to see something that he placed on the same level of divine beasts.

Giganpor frowns a little, then nods. "Let's get going. There's too many hiding spots here. And we need to move on. We still need to continue scouting."

He starts off continuing the way out of the village. There's no point in running, after all. Not when they are already being watched. He pauses, then calls out to the air it seems, "Whoever is watching us, we mean you no harm. Despite the idiot who got his hand bitten off, the rest of us come in peace. We seek ones like us if they are here, or if not allies to fight back against the dangers to this world."

Then he continues on his way.

Not willing to repeat herself, Mikage motions to Rama, starts gathering everything, and is quick to make her way out of the ruined town. "Not sticking around to meet that thing." Nope.

The Were Fang checks over her shoulder once, and then books it, not about to stop until it seems like the danger has well and truly passed. Sure, whatever it is might not be worried about them, but it's not worth risking that chance, especially this far out from Seeker's Landing.

Kauchemar does glance over her shoulder a moment. "Trust me. Creatures vye for control over space just as humans do. Something is going to show up to claim this now open territory. Animal or monster doesn't really matter. Considering what was -here-, and what we just -saw-, we do -not want- to be here any longer. I don't need divining sight to see that much!"

She has not stopped making a withdrawl though. Nope. It's times like this is it s very good to be very fast.

    Rizadoman looks out into the area around him as he manages to climb on a shaking footing. Taking a sturdy step forward and bracing himself he rears his head back and breathes fire up into the sky , trying to put out as much fire as he can manage. He even tries to maintain it for as long as he can till finally he collapses and falls to the ground from his vantage point. There is a loud thud and he just lays there before he hears the roll and grins. Standing slowly he stomps his foot print into the ground before he slowly walks off. He wasn't going to run, mainly because he was horrible at it, but it was his way of saying he chose to leave and wasn't being scared off. The footprint, was his way of saying he'd back to see who's fire was better another day.