Open Disposers Of The Unwanted

[Xen]

Winter 31st, A.V. (517)

“ ”

It was hard to believe that scavengers refused to feed upon the dead. When Xen heard the news from Randol he grimaced as recalled his experiences with the undead with unwanted, crystal clear clarity; they were creatures that even flies deemed too unsavory for their precious maggots. And he wondered if the undead were affecting the corpses in some way and making the scavengers avoid them.

Naturally, if not, instinctively Xen did not want the undead tainting the virgin sands he and so few walked upon with their unearthly vileness and decay. So he placed on his night, leather armor and false finger gloves then gathered his shield, machete, flint, and steel. Lastly, he wore a holy silver pendant shaped like a jackal around his neck in hopes it would repel any malignant spirits he encountered during his endeavor.

Now Xen was ready to rid Syka of its dead he assumed were ill omens foretelling the undead's invasive presence, but one thing stayed on his mind. A question that presented itself to him after he closed his bungalows door: would he be able to find every corpse and combat their assailant alone? Suddenly, Xen's eyes widened as the realization of his fault struck him like a tossed cement block. He was one man and could not possibly stand against the jungles vastness ensued by the unknowns strangeness and its seemingly endless arsenal of unseen forces and great beasts. However, it did not mean he couldn't tackle the nigh impossible with companions.

“ Right, I don't have any evidence to back up my suspicions!”Xen thought as he walked down the stairs then inevitably placed his feet on the warm, welcoming sand.


At the same time, Xen started reconsidering his assumptions; he was smart enough to understand that his fellow Sykans and their three leaders were prudent individuals and would not follow anything he proposed if he did not at least have a solid plan.

Xen crossed his arms and closed his eyes to think: “ I will avoid wandering deep into the jungle since I'm unfamiliar with the surroundings. So it would probably be better to stay on the beach and teeter along its boundaries.”

Xen opened his eyes to look up the beach: it seemed safe, and he never took the time to explore the area until now. So he figured walking that way would be fine as he could stop by the Syka Commons to see all the cool things it offered.

Xen walked towards Syka's humble gathering place with his plans in mind, hoping there were people around with plenty of free time and patience.

[Merevaika]

She had found a dead body that day.

No, to say that would have been lie. She hadn't found a dead body. She had found several, ranging from small frogs and snakes to a monkey, then a bird. Without knowing why, the Drykas was certain that if she ventured a little further out, where the larger animals of the rainforest lived, she'd find other dead things: boar, deer, even the predators. This strange death had spread across the jungle, and she seemed to be the only living thing brave enough to approach the carcasses. Even the flies avoided them.

It had left her in a very difficult position. It was meat: free, easy, effortless meat. She could pick it up off the ground as if she was collecting berries. But just like berries, she knew nothing about these. There were no injuries on the creatures to betray an attack, which meant the cause of the death had to be internal.

The first thought that came to her mind was poison, because what else could affect such a wide variety of creatures and kill them without any physical signs? The water source was poisoned. A poisonous gas had spread through the jungle. Through a chain reaction of eating one poorly or poisoned animal, they had all died.

They were faults in her theory, but at the very least, the thought that they could be poisoned warned her of simply feasting.

The Drykas wasn't going to leave the bodies to rot away naturally, though. She collected up a few of the safer options - a small bird and a dead monkey - and began to return to the settlement to have a closer look. Perhaps if she looked inside, the reason for the death would be obvious. Perhaps someone there would already know, and she'd have the answer of whether or not it was safe to make use of the meat handed to her.

She emerged by the Syka Commons purely by chance. In the jungle, exact navigation was tricky, and most the time, Merevaika simply attempted to make her way towards the general location of beach, then navigate to more specific locations when she could actually see them. But luck was with her and the deck was in view as she left the rainforest.

First throwing the dead things over the railing, she then hoisted herself up and over, not bothering to move to an entrance. The carcasses were then placed one on of the wooden tables, while her eyes spotted the dark skinned man in black armour. In that get-up, how did he not boil in the heat, even in this "Winter"?

Merevaika gave a grunt and head-jerk in his direction, deciding it was the closest she could be bothered with a greeting, then turned back to her work. Finding her knife, she started with the monkey. Carefully, she began to carve into the stomach, hoping to figure something out at the very least.

[Anibesa]

"Common" | "Fratava" | "Tukant"

Anibesa had woken before the sun had risen, and she’d noticed one a dead animal, a small bird just lain on the edge of the beach in the underbrush of the jungle, it’s eyes open and empty.
At that point she’d assumed that it was only the one poor creature that had passed and that though it was a shame, it was natural. Though as the the sun rose and the beach and jungle began to make itself visible under the harsh sunlight that forced Ani back into her mortal seeming, she realised that there were a few other creatures that were all dead and seeming to be dead in a similar way to the bird
Each of them didn’t seem to have any visible reason for death, or at least there was no staining of the ground with blood, or oddly bent limbs, and Anibesa didn’t know any other way to tell whether something had been injured.

Cautiously, she’d pulled a small twig from the underbrush and used it to poke one of the dead creatures, the bird on her claim, to see if there was anything inside it or around it, though the gentle prod revealed nothing. The nothingness made everything seem stranger.
Why were there so many dead animals? What had lead to there death? Where were the scavengers that would normally eat the leftover carcasses of various animals?
As she pondered the question, she realised that they’re weren’t even flies swarming around the bodies like would have been expected. Usually within a bell of anything dying it would be covering in flies laying their eggs in the body and devouring it, and with Anibesa having already been awake for at least an bell, it wasn’t as though these animals had only just died. Something was repelling other animals somehow and Anibesa found it to be quite the curious case.

Not wanting to touch any of the carcasses yet, in case they were poisonous at all, Anibesa left them where they were, though kept her stick in hand as she ran back to her tent, making sure everything was stored away and then starting to head along the beach, desperate to find other people so they could try to work out what was going on and whether there was anything that could be done.

On her way along the beach she barely saw anyone, though as she found herself at the commons she saw two people then, Merevaika who she’d seen a few times, and a man.
She sped up her pace to join them and then saw what Merevaika was doing, carving into carcasses and a slight feeling of nausea washed over her, though she managed to suppress it down in the pits of her stomach.

”I’m guessing they were dead too? No flies or scavengers near them?” she asked, hoping that the two were also here because of the odd, untouched carcasses that were dotted along the edges of the jungle and possibly even further into the jungle.

[Issie Asure]

Issie has been at the edge of the jungle as he awoke. His eyes flew open as Mulfir started to become uneasy, Issie tried to calm her down, to no avail. Issie was worried that what ever it is, it was in the jungle and it could possibly be a predator that is looking at Mulfir, so he decided to venture in to find what it was. It was strange, just a corpse of a boar, yet it was very strange, no flies, no maggots, not even signs of any scavengers. This didn't look like a fresh kill either, it was cold and had no real signs of a struggle. He took the animal back near to see if the boar was causing problems for Mulfir, and it seemed she wanted to be as far away from it as she could be, so Issie decided to burn it and see if anyone has an idea of what this is. Issie sets up a bonfire large enough for the boar to fit and lit it on fire, as he left with Mulfir to see if anything was strange. Mulfir would pick it up better than Issie could.

As Issie neared the commons he found some people around a table, a red haired beauty, a slim man with some heavy gear, and an Amazonian-esque woman who was dissecting a monkey. As Issie tried to get close Mulfir began to freak out, so Issie tied her down to the closest structure as he made it to the gathering of people, "So it seems you also found animals with the same circumstance. No real look of being fed on, or even touched?".

[Xen]

Winter 31st, A.V. (517)

“ ”

Before he interacted with Merevaika, Anibesa, and Issie, he memorized their features, voices, and mannerisms for a second. It was a habitual behavior he developed after he spent longs days lazying around the jungle looking for exotic models to morph into and nothing personal needing consideration. It's just that the first woman—Merevaika—caught his attention when she suddenly stepped out of the bushes carrying, what he believed were two animals, in her hand. “ If she ventured into the jungle to hunt those animals, like I imagine she did, it would be dumb to assume she hadn't seen the dead one's, ” Xen thought as he walked beside the tree line and out of the direct sunlight.


“ Hmm? ” Xen acknowledged Merevaika's greeting and took it as a chance to approach her while she dissected the monkey she seized from the nearby jungle. At the same time, another woman joined him seemingly with the same goal in mind. This woman—Anibesa—possessed fairer features and a soft feminine form with vibrant eyes and hair. Xen considered her the most ethereal out of the three individuals.

Eventually, Xen reached the table in front of Merevaika. He saw two unfortunate animals—victimized by some strange force, phenomenon, or ungodly being—strewed on the table. And next to him another taller man, Issie, commented, making him bring his attention from the table to all who were present.


“ Then we can all agree on the legitimacy and validity of our predicament. ” Xen said in a solemn tone; his arms crossed. “ I'm Jori, Randol told me about the animals earlier, but probably unlike you all, this is my first time seeing the dead.” Xen stated in advance, revealing the urgency and haste he kept hidden behind a facade of calm and self-possession.

[Merevaika]

A female voice behind her made Merevaika jump, slipping with the knife and almost slashing her finger open. Carefully placing it down before she could do any harm, she turned towards Anibesa. She extended a half-smile towards the Ethaefal, mostly in agreement to her statement.

"Something is not right," she added, nodding her head to the strange state she had found them in, "You see them too? The dead?" Picking the knife up, she cut gently in the stomach area, watching flesh and guts begin to spill. She knew nothing on monkey innards, nothing at all. They looked pink and fresh and good, but perhaps that was the wrong colour. Perhaps there was a glaring error here, a fault she had failed to recognise.

Or perhaps, simply, there was nothing to see.

"Dead do not scare animals. They come, eat. Enjoy. They should... flies. Where are the flies?" Merevaika paused, thinking over it. "Or are flies dead too?"

Maybe the lack of animals feasting was simply due to the lack of animals. That didn't mean something strange wasn't going on - it was obvious that there was something - but it explained something. She hadn't seen any of the dead animals disturbed - but maybe it was just because she had seen nothing to disturb them in the first place?

She poked at the meat, sniffing it and trying to discern something from it. There was no smell that distinguished it from anything else. Nothing that revealed the truth.

The dark skinned man spoke. His words were long and complicated, their meaning easily lost. The sounds were ones she couldn't even remember, so she let them drift past her without it bothering her. What she did understand was his name and that he hadn't yet encountered these strange corpses. Yet the other two seemed to have.

"Well, now what?" she stated in reply, pushing the knife back into the table as she decided the dead monkey was useless. Perhaps good meat, but she didn't want to trust it, not yet. And she wasn't testing it on herself or her dog. Unless one of the others was willing to taste it, although she doubted it.

They had an issue, and she didn't just want to find out because she was curious. Whatever it was causing animals to drop dead, it could hurt them too. In ways that weren't direct, either. Would they all die? And if the animals died, what would they eat?

"What animals dead, you see?" she asked, hoping the question got across, "Big, small? Predator, prey?" She only knew the important words, not the ones in between. But they were more than enough to get them started, surely.

[Anibesa]

"Common" | "Fratava" | "Tukant"

Anibesa saw Merevaika place the knife down before turning to face her and offering a half smile, and Anibesa smiled back, unsure that she’d seen the woman smile before. Then she heard the woman speak and nodded in response when she asked if Anibesa had also seen the dead animals. Carefully she watched the woman’s knife cut the monkeys stomach and let the inside flow out. ”What are monkeys supposed to look like inside?” she asked, tilting her head as she hoped someone might know. To Anibesa, everything looked pink and how she’d have imagined healthy things to look, though she’d never seen anything’s insides before, other than fish.
She heard Merevaika speaking again and nodded once more in agreement.
”Aye, normally these would be crawling with bugs, or they’d have been eaten by something else!” Anibesa said, unsure as to what had happened, though Merevaika’s suggestion that the flies were dead too was unnerving to say the least. Had everything died?

The sight of the monkeys innards was confusing to Anibesa as she tried to see if there was anything she could see, though there was nothing and she found herself glancing around the commons.
She spotted the other man as he approached and she smiled lightly, recognising him from earlier in the season, though she couldn’t really remember his name properly.
Then the darker skinned man spoke and Anibesa turned her attention to him, listening to his speech and noting the use of his words before he introduced himself, and Anibesa smiled welcomingly at the man before she heard Merevaika speak and she turned back to the woman, seeing her pushing the knife back into the table.

Anibesa hadn’t a clue as to what they should do, when Merevaika had asked that question, Anibesa had realised even more that she was hopeless in this situation, though the bodies of the animals would likely start piling up sooner or later, especially with nothing wanting to touch them.
Then she heard another question.

”I didn’t see many, only what was in the lighter parts of the underbrush, but I saw a bird, and a few other small creatures. Don’t think I went deep enough to see any big carcasses, if there were any. How about you?” she started before looking around the small group. ”If more animals die, they’ll start piling up won’t they? Could they scare away live animals and stop people hunting properly?” she asked. Animals were something she knew little to nothing of, but she wanted to learn.
~

[Issie Asure]

Issie sighed as they began to cut open the monkey, he didn't know what to think, he never opened up a monkey to inspect it, but one thing was for sure, no other tampering was done. No maggots, no blackening, not even a sign of disturbance, he stood there and began to try and piece together the thing he has. And came with some form of a conclusion, "It seems some form of sickness is spreading. That is the best assumption we have to go off of. It seems the size is not keen, as I saw a boar dead from the same symptoms. I'm however not sure if they get larger". He began to look back towards the jungle as then began. "I would like to set up a quick expedition to see what else could be found deeper. We could find more information on what it could be, yet we need to find someone who does have more knowledge on either the possible toxins that could have done this and someone who knows a thing or two about magic. Never discount magic in these strange days". Issie looks back to the group as he then asked them all, "Would any of you be interested in the exploration".

[Xen]

Winter 31st, A.V. (517)

“ ”
Xen realized his group was a bunch of odd characters, except, only one was slightly less so than the rest, Merevaika. She reminded him of Tinnok—a half myrian, half dhani he met in the jungle wilds during dire circumstances—and Ssafiracitlali, a female constrictor he happened to meet on several unique occasions. Both were not avid speakers of the common-tongue, and it seemed as though Merevaika would join Xen's growing list.

“ True, ” Xen carefully listened to Merevaika's statements; memorizing and considering them as they formed and then finished. Her wisdom was invaluable to his uninformed mind lacking experience with the seemingly otherworldly nature of Syka's predicament. “ Scavengers aren't picky eaters. ” Xen stated as his gaze shifted to the jungle and back to the table, hinting at some idea he was not quite ready to share with his companions around the brown table. “ Then, if flies avoid the dead, should the living touch them like you? Sssomething so undesirable probably shouldn't be touched. ” Xen's eyes settled on Merevaika—for a moment—but eventually trailed onto the two corpses and revealed a hint of disapproval toward their presence. “ We should destroy them and act as disposers of the unwanted sssince the servants of Caiyha refuse to do their job. ” Xen proposal reflected the confusion and ignorance that gripped his companions and his reluctance to accept that which strived to disrupt his new home, Syka.

“ If we cannot find all the corpses then the forces of our world should. Decay will eventually grip the corpses we overlook, even those that I theorize are being affected by the undead. Those needing to hunt will have to do their part in disposing of any dead they see. ” Xen stated to Anibesa. He purposely mentioned the part about the undead to pull out reactions and any potentially forgotten memories his fellow Sykans. “ I refuse to travel into the deep jungle because more than just beasts, insects, and plants inhabit it. However, I will traverse the beach and investigate jungle's edge while disposing of the dead with you all, ” Xen continued, answering both Anibesa and Issie.

[Merevaika]

Anibesa's question was a good one. And, unfortunately, one Merevaika had no answer to. "This not bad," she finally suggested, hoping someone would be able to confirm her statement with actual knowledge of anatomy. But for now, her knowledge of butchering her hunts would have to do for them. A little in frustration, she sliced the stomach some more, letting the contents spill out in a smelly acidic mess. If she was truly dedicated, she could see what it had eaten. But Merevaika was not in the mood.

It was pointless, picking the knife up and putting it down after not finding anything, and repeating several times. But she didn't know what else to do.

Especially with the other woman's statement. They'd stop them hunting. For Merevaika, who hunted often and used it as the way she kept herself alive... It was bad. So bad. She hadn't even thought about the dead scaring away live animals, which was much more likely to happen before all the animals died.

They had to sort this out. Desperately.

A boar had also been found, as well as several smaller animals. The one who had spotted the boar pulled out sickness as an explanation, but followed it up with magic. Magic.. It was an interesting thought. She scratched the back of her arm without thinking about it. She had previously put this all down to magic, but with everything that she had seen and that had happened, she was starting to sense some sort of deeper reason behind this. Were those figures behind this too?

She pulled her hands away from the monkey. The dark skinned man was right - she shouldn't be touching it. But he also wanted to dispose it, and Merevaika wasn't certain about that. She was greedy and it was easy meat. Not that she trusted it, but disposing it still irked her.

The mention of the undead threw her. If those disgusting things were involved with this - and who knew, maybe they were? - perhaps it was better to burn them. The scowl on her face was more than enough reaction for Xen.

"Okay," she caved, wiping her knife clean and tucking it away for good, "We take animals from beach and put in fire?" Clearing the hunting grounds - it was a good start. Perhaps they'd uncover something through simply doing something. "Where start?" She hadn't seen much on the beach. Perhaps someone knew a particularly populated scene - populated with corpses, that was.