[Syliras Quest] The Lost Necklace (Grandfathered)

[Hunter]

Timestamp: 67th Day of Winter, 509 AV Starting Location: Streets of Syliras For who: Everyone can take part The streets of Syliras are usually full of innocent chatter, bustling businessmen, and day-to-day trade. Yet, in the morning of the 67th day of Winter, all was silent. Mothers cupped their children's eyes, others held there breath anxiously. A sorceress was among them, and they didn't like that. No, the people of Syliras didn't like that. Magic meant mystery, and mysteries were sometimes best left not toyed with. She was only there for a single bell, yet after that time the people that saw her would return home with crazy tales. They would say that she cast her black magic in an attempt maiming city guards. They may tell the story of a witch in a purple gown who terrorized civilians until one warrior stood out, heroically driving back the fiend. But no, none of this happened. Instead the sorceress came peacefully and left without saying a word. All she did was hang posters. A few chimes after the 9th bell the tall, beautiful sorceress turned from a poster that hung on a wall and strode silently back to her place of dwelling. The content facial expression on her face said that she was satisfied with whatever she set out to accomplish. The woman’s right breast, along with her right hand, was decorated with strange red symbols. These tattoos cast an atmosphere of suspicion and nervousness onto the crowd, for they where the mark of a practitioner of magic. Confirming their suspicions were the posters themselves. The letter that lay on the scrolls was followed by what were obviously glyphs. What was the sorceress planning to accomplish by practically handing out magic scrolls? What idiot would risk activating a scroll from a stranger, no matter the riches offered? The scrolls read of a mission, a mission into the depths of The Aylasa Caves. These caves were ancient, it was said that they housed survivors from the Valterrian. They also held secrets, and as many will say, most secrets are best left a mystery. Yet, the poster offered a reward, and a sorceress could easily come by powerful prizes for those that she likes. That is, if she can be trusted in the first place. So, what courageous passer-by will be willing to put their lives in the hands of fate, and hope that this lady is not out to see bloodshed. One thing for sure, it may be better to not head out alone on this one... The Scroll :

[Conor]

67th of winter, 509 AV

Conor was on the prowl again, searching for interesting spots in Syliras, always open and welcoming to new and exciting experiences. The young adventurer was fit even though it was still early. As he walked through the streets, he noticed how mothers tried to protect their children by cupping their eyes from something. What horrible sight could’ve forced them to do that? No one dared to make a noise, some of them even tried to hold their breath until their faces turned purple. Purple like the robes of the woman that was causing all the commotion. She was almost floating through the crowd with an elegant thread, and – if that was even possible – she seemed to radiate dignity. All she did was hang posters on walls and yet the ignorant peasants of Syliras looked like she was eating their children.

Conor gazed into the woman’s eyes for a brief moment when she left the area, with a content facial expression. And then, Conor finally knew what was bugging these people. It was obvious even for untrained eyes to see that she was some sort of mage – or a witch like these unaware citizens tended to call them. Conor immediately pushed himself a way through the masses – the people were shouting and pushing again as usual – and he read the poster. It told about a lost necklace, and how to retrieve it, but what appealed the most to Conor – even more than the promised reward – was the chance of adventure. Conor smiled, he really wanted to give the questing a shot.

Conor ripped the scroll from the wall – because if the sorceress had written the truth, he would have to use it as a guide. He read the post again and again, and decided to go leave for the caves immediately. While he was slowly walking through the crowds of Syliras, he thought about the mage for a while. What if she was dangerous? What if it was some sort of well thought out trap? But then again, if he didn’t answer the ladies’ call, then he would never find out what riches she had promised to the retriever of her necklace. No, Conor shrugged, this was a great opportunity, and he would be damned if he would let it slip through his fingers.

[Gintoki]

As Gintoki was walking through the city on the cold morning of the 67th Day Of Winter he noticed alot of commotion going on. He walked on towards the group of people making the most noise, as he walked he passed a man that was walking at a steady pace while reading a scroll with a look on his face like he's reading the world's greatest letter. Not sure if it had anything to do with the commotion his interest in whatever was going on was peaked nonetheless. He made his way through the large number of people, occasionally stepping on some toes and nearly decapitating by-standers with his loosely-tied scythe on his back.

" Watch out where you're going will ya? "
" Oi, be careful, you nearly slashed my throat with that thing! "
" Damn it man, you crushed my toe! "

As he read one of the scrolls up on the wall his interest was at its heighest. Returning a woman's necklace and getting heavily rewarded for it seemed like a sweet deal to Gintoki. He was relatively confident in his scythe-fighting ability and didn't think it would be a great deal of trouble to fetch it from some animal-infested cave. As he ripped one of the scrolls from the wall he remembered the man reading the scroll passing him earlier and it all made sense to him now. He had to hurry to beat him to the punch.

As he turned around an old man stood in front of him though and said:

" I wouldn't be too hasty if I were you, the person ... if you can call her that ... that hung up these scrolls is suspicious at best. You can end up being betrayed and even if not, the necklace in question will probably be heavily protected and won't be easy to retrieve. Especially not on your own. Think twice if you want to proceed my friend. "

Finished talking the man turned around and slowly walked away, weaving through the horde of people amassed by the wall. Gintoki thought about it and took the old man's warning as a sign of Yahal, his god. He decided he would try and team up with more adventurers as to maximize the chance of success.

He forced his way through the crowd and hurried off in the direction of the man that he passed earlier. As Gintoki caught up with the man he tapped him on the shoulder and said:

" Hi, my name is Gintoki, I'm a Benshiran warrior and I would like to accompany you on the lost necklace - quest. I have received a sign from Yahal, my god, and he said that the quest will be very dangerous and that it would be wise to not go after it on my own. So what say you? "

[Conor]

67th of winter, 509 AV

As Conor was making good progress towards the city gates – he had nearly pushed himself through the crowds near the posters – a man tapped on his shoulder. Conor turned around and saw a dark, muscled man with black hair standing behind him. A scythe was hanging loosely from his back and was nearly decapitating several commoners. Although the man looked very proficient with his weapon, it was almost comically to see how clumsy he was carrying it. “Hi, my name is Gintoki, I'm a Benshiran warrior and I would like to accompany you on the lost necklace - quest. I have received a sign from Yahal, my god, and he said that the quest will be very dangerous and that it would be wise to not go after it on my own. So what say you? " Wow, Conor thought, he sure was a talkative one. In a matter of seconds he had introduced himself, told him about his deity and he had asked him if he could join his quest.

But at the same time, he seemed an interesting fellow, and meeting new cultures was one of Conor’s goals. Besides, he could always use some company in those caves, someone to watch his back. “Sure,” Conor replied. He hadn’t quite figured out if he trusted that man, but he looked like the honest type. After all, he seemed to be quite pious – hopefully he wasn’t zealous – to his god, whomever that Yahal was. “I have but one request,” he said. “Tell me about your people.” Conor was going to meet Benshiran people on his travels, of that he was sure, so why not take this opportunity to learn more about their habits?

“I’m Conor,” the young adventurer said. He wondered if it was customary to add his religious favour and the name of his people? Maybe he should, but was that even wise? He wasn’t exactly devout and the benshiran had probably never even heard of Taldera. He decided to tell him anyway; “I’m from Taldera,” he said. The religion part he left out, because there wasn’t much to say about it anyway.

[Gintoki]

" Pleasure to meet you Conor, I'm sorry to say that I do not know of Taldera but I'm sure it's a wonderful place. "

Gintoki said in a friendly tone, he was relieved that this man wasn't against him joining in on the quest and above all that he seemed to be a friendly person. He was a bit confused about the seemingly random request of the man to share information about Gintoki's race but he didn't see any harm in it.

" Let's find a place to sit down first since telling you all about my people will take some time and it'll be more comfortable when told in a good tavern. "

Gintoki pointed to a tavern close-by in plain view with a crooked board hanging over the doorway.

" Let's go to ' The Rearing Stallion ' ? "

[Mella]

Mella had sensed the distant, uneasy disturbance as she walked the crowded streets of Syliras. Following the subdued murmuring, she came upon a crowd of people. They crowded around one wall and many glanced around as if expecting someone to come up behind them. Carefully picking her way through the crowd, Mella made sure that her hood was securely lowered. She was almost certain that the people were used to Kelvics, but any abnormality among them would surely bring this crowd towards mass hysteria. Therefore, her approach towards the wall was slow and painstaking as she followed an uneven path that shifted constantly.

After some minutes and after some of the crowd had dispersed, Mella finally came upon the wall that had garnered such anxious interest in the civilians. A poster was tacked on the wall and a strange glyph was drawn in the bottom-left corner. She had heard the whispers on her way to the front. Was it really magic? She thought as her hand was inexplicably drawn to the scribed glyph. She had little to no understanding of the art and where she should have been afraid, she was curious. She touched the drawing lightly wondering about the author of such a poster. Without any conscience decision to, Mella took down the poster and looked it over.

She had enough skill in written language to understand the gist of the poster, and a thrill of excitement ran through her at the prospect of what could possibly be the most interesting thing to happen to her since her entering Syliras. She would most likely have gone even if there was no reward, so it was doubly tempting to the young panther. For though she was not poor, her cash reserves were going to run low by the end of the season. She had living expenses that needed to be paid, and though her hunting helped lessened the cost somewhat, she did not want to go down the bare bones of her reserves. It made her feel more secure to know she had a bit of extra pocket change for the occasional emergency when hunting was not possible, or an extra pair of clothing was needed.

Looking around her, she noticed two men talking and both of them held scrolls identical to her own. Rolling hers up and sticking it under her cloak, she moved to walk past them. They could dally all they wanted, but she was going to find that necklace. Others in her situation would probably have stopped to talk or create allies for the adventure, but Mella was a tad of a risk taker. Her recklessness seemed to only be enhanced by her short lifespan as if since her time was so short death was not much of a deterrent. Walking past the two men, she whispered a few words of warning barely a breath on the wind and she was almost certain they had not been heard at all as she continued on, “I would get a move on gentlemen.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving at the cave sometime later, Mella finally extracted the poster and viewed the caves before her. They appeared mysterious and slightly foreboding as if they housed secrets left alone, but Mella ignored her instincts which should have been a sign right there. Every Kelvic knew to trust their instincts to an almost impracticable extent, and to go against them would mean trouble. What kind of trouble was yet to be seen. Rereading the scroll, Mella practiced saying the words in her mind a couple times to make sure she would get them right before saying in a strong, clear voice, “Guide me on my quest dear scroll.”

[Conor]

67th of winter, 509 AV

Gintoki fellow sure wasn’t hasted. But Conor was and when Gintoki proposed to first go to a tavern and have a conversation, Conor denied it. “We have to move on,” he said. “Before others try to outrun is.” And like those words bore some sort of magical meaning, while they were talking a rather peculiar woman walked by and said: “I would get a move on gentlemen.” Conor didn’t know whether she had meant it that scornfully, but it sure sounded that way. He hated arrogant people, certainly those that interfered with his dealings. She was right though, soon , lots of sham adventurers and a number of drunks would try their luck. “She’s right,” Conor said. “I don’t know if you want to, but I’m leaving right now...”

Conor travelled all the way up to the caverns in an almost astonishing little time. As he arrived at the caverns, he saw that the woman had beaten him to it, and that she was already reading her scroll. Conor jumped down from behind some trees, and as he stood behind her, he repeated her words. It looked like she had already expected him – or was that just his imagination? The young adventurer walked up to the girl and said: “If those caves are just half as dangerous as I’ve heard of them, you could use a companion down there. Someone who can handle a sword, perhaps?” Conor didn’t know anything about her, but she didn’t really seem to be quite capable to handle threats. And yet there was this mystical aura around her, much like the one that had marked Rai.

And then, Conor suddenly found out why. Perhaps she was a Kelvic too! No, that seemed impossible, and yet, that would explain so much. But what animal could she morph into? Probably some fierce creature – and that would explain her self-confidence. A wolf or a tiger could protect itself after all... but were they capable of withstanding the fierce creatures inside these caves? A sword was so much handier than claws, not just because it created a distance between two opponents, but because it was such a versatile weapon. The number of different feints and ruses and combinations of different strikes and stabs were infinitive. Much unlike claws and teeth. “I’m Gray,” he said. “So what do people tend to call you?”

[Gintoki]

As Connor responded to his question the obvious became apparent to him. He had been completely oblivious of the other opportunists that would surely come for the necklace in question aswell.

" You're right Conor, let's get going. "

Gintoki looked at the woman's back as she walked on after clearly letting him and Conor know of her interest in beating the men to the punch for the necklace. Gintoki and Conor hurried towards the caves and as they arrived they saw the woman at the entrance of the cave.

{ Lucky, she doesn't have a headstart on us anymore. }

As he saw Conor stealthily sneaking up on the woman only to jump down behind her without taking any action Gintoki couldn't help but shake his head in amusement. Gintoki quickly walked up towards them and overheard Conor proposing an alliance between the three of us. Gintoki was certainly in favor of that but just in case she would decline he already started the content-revealing phrase in order to not lose any time.

" Guide me on my quest, dear scroll! "

Since the disintegration of the words was a relatively slow process Gintoki said to the woman: " My name is Gintoki, I'd also prefer it if you joined us rather than oppose us. Don't forget that if it comes down to it...it's two versus one."

[Hunter]

"Guide me on my quest dear scroll..." The words stung the air, in a suspiciously higher pitch then they should have. Honestly, only one person had to recite them, for in a flash of blinding light the scrolls shred themselves to pieces. Once on the ground, the pile of scraps just sat there. For a terrifying moment it seemed as though they'd been tricked. Then, it happened. The air was still, yet the paper began to move as though pushed by a gust of wind. A few seconds later, they knew where they were going. A long line of shredded scroll lined the ground, leading to a cave a number of yards down the wall. Thankfully, there was no wind to blow away the trail. That could change in an instant, though, so setting off right away would be the best idea. Chit-chat, not so much. The pieces of scroll were in a surprisingly tight line, with no breaks as a single trail made its way down the way. It even curved around rocks. Between zig-zagging and going for such a long distance, it was surprising that the path didn't run out of paper mid-way through. Then again, as was obvious now, the scroll was magic. The cave at the end of the trail was embedded over 2 meters up in the wall. Low enough that they wouldn't risk their lives from a fall, but just high enough that they would have to climb to get there. The cave itself was barely wide enough for them to fit through, and it may even be a tight squeeze for the naturally bulkier men. The inside of the cave was dusty and uninviting. It was dark, and a sense of danger hung over the passageway. Even worse, at the end of the corridor, the cave split off onto three separate trails. If the adventurers end up working together, would it be smart to split up? From back in Syliras a sorceress smiled. It had begun...

[Gintoki]

With a flash of blinding white light the scrolls suddenly shredded themselves to pieces, with eery movements the shreds of the scrolls moved by what looked like a gentle wind but Gintoki couldn't feel any draft or wind coming from anywhere.
The fragments of the scrolls lined up perfectly on a selfmade path into the main cave.

Gintoki couldn't resist the urge to follow that path, it felt like he was mezmerized into stepping forward along the path. It led to an obscure, narrow corridor about 2 meters above the cold and gray surface. The walls weren't particularly easy to climb but it wasn't slippery and if you were careful not to place your weight on any loose parts you could make it up to the corridor. Which was exactly what Gintoki was planning to do.

" It's climbable but it'd be faster and safer if we worked together. I don't know if the woman joined us or not, but give me a hand Conor and I'll pull you up when I get to the top, you'll have to get midway for me to reach you though. "