Completed [The Aylasa Caves] Circle You, Circle You (Fallon, Kreig)

[Radiant]

A rumor has been spreading among the hunters in Syliras... those who passed the Aylasa Caves have heard strange sounds from the mouth of the cave, it was inaudible but definitely not animal in nature... not normal animals anyway. One of the rumors even said a curious explorer entered the caves and never return.

This has not go unnoticed by Ama the Radiant White Wolf and local forest guardian. Learning from her mistakes to not take possibly dangerous things like this on her own such as the Yukmen infestation, she asked for the help of the knights this time. It could be more Yukmen or... something else entirely.... Ama felt like she really needed help. This was something else, something she couldn't handle alone... was it the Bane of the Wolves? Unlikely but... the possibility was still there.

Outside of the Main Gates, 8th of Bell, 70th of Summer 513 A.V

Ama, in her naked human form, and Sera Natasha Druva were waiting for Natasha's two squires, Kreig Messer and Fallon Skylar. They talked about the incident and the various possibilities that may cause it.

Once both of the squire arrived, Natasha cleared her throat and introduced the squires to the wolf and vice versa "Kreig, Fallon, this is Ama, she lives in the Woods and watches over it. Ama, these are my fine squires, Kreig Messer and Fallon Skylar" Natasha gestured to each of them as she introduced them

"An honor to meet you both" Ama nodded and slightly bowed to them. "I'm sorry if I sound worried and hurrying but... the disappearances have been increasing, three more hunters went missing this week..."

"Tell us what you think about the cause, Ama" Natasha told the dire kelvic, her face worried and intrigued at the same time.

"Well... I have three guesses so far... one, Yukmen, they infested the Woods just about more than a week ago..."

"Good thing you asked for our help, now Ama? If not, you and your party would have been killed... well, except that one strange boy ghost" Natasha talked about Ama's previous quest to curb down the Yukmen infestation by hiring three volunteers.

"I... I apologize, Sera, I shouldn have told the knights... I underestimated them...." Ama visibly looked guilty, regret filled her face.

"Continue on, Ama"

"Ah right, the second possibility is... ghosts. Yes, but I'm suspecting one specifically..." Ama gulped and was in a dilemma on whether to tell them about "her" or not, the ghost could butcher her with those spinning flying blades of hers.

"Is it the ghost girl Peython put a bounty on?" Natasha cut her off, but with a curious polite tone. Her guess was spot-on, Ama had no choice but to admit it.

"Ah... yes, the Bane of the Wolves. I have my doubts, I know her personally, let's just say that... if it not for a certain Myrian warrior, I would not be standing here right now.."

"Razkar?"

"Ah... yes, Sera. Razkar... actually talked her down from her roaring insanity" Ama was starting to think Natasha might secretly be a Konti Seer, with all her spot-on guesses and all, but then again... Razkar attracted attention in both appearance and actions.

"Figured as much, you can't really miss him, with those tattoos and what he did by... well, utterly beating down Kisetukai, that failure of a squire, in the Pits. I must say, the Myrian is alright, but time is not a luxury, what's your third guess, Ama?"

"Well, I hope it's not this one... I'm guessing there is some kind of... unknown being..."

"Could be a Druvin, you never know."

"Druvin, Sera?"

"Yes, Druvin, Rhysol's elite cronies. Let us hope it's not the second or the third one. None of us are spiritists here and I'm not sure we can even beat a Druvin even with four of us" Natasha said those doomish sentences, but her tone was calm and collected.

Natasha then approached Fallon and whispered to her "If it's truly the ghost girl that Peython put a bounty on... we can only rely on your magic to fight her... can you do it?"

Ama then examined the party and cleared her throat "So, any questions and suggestions?"

OOCAlright, feel free to ask questions, I'll move on with the answers and the departure to the caves in my next reply.

[Fallon]

Fallon had to be dragged from the dormitories by her patron. Quite literally.

Too long had she sealed herself away from the world. Too long had she blocked off the thoughts of training and duty. All with, of course, the ever looming thoughts of bitterness and failure lingering in the back of her mind. She felt she deserved no part in this; too weak for it all. But Sera Natasha had insisted otherwise. Not because of her strength, but the more mental side of things. So as she stood there to listen, her eyes averted all and stuck themselves firmly to the floor, with the wolf Orvin rubbing his head against her leg. Begrudgingly, the squire accepted her task. Ears twitched, her nostrils flared at key words. Certain tones that she kept away and safe.

Ghost. Yukman. Druvin. Monster. Animal. All sorts of possibilities, dulled eyes drifted to the entrance of the cave, Noises. Strange Noises. What sort? How strange. Missing. Victims.

There was only a brief acknowledgement of the comment from her patron about magic. One of the few within the order that seemed to know what she was capable of. And if possible, she would like to keep it that way. The more who knew, the more chance that something would slip out. She snatched a glance at Kreig’s feet, and then pulled them away. She would only use her magic as necessary, just as she had to last time.

Unaccustomed to talking, the squire rubbed at her left shoulder and the thick bandaging that was out of sight underneath the shirt. Although the wound had healed externally, the tell tale signs of scaring begun to emerge. That and it was still stiff and difficult to use. She was still unsure if it would be able to take the weight of a shield or not again just yet. But as her fingers rubbed and touched, her face creasing slightly in careful thought, she managed to let out a question.

“Has the possibility that these hunters just fell down a hole to their death been crossed off the list yet?” Her hand withdrew as she squirmed both of them out of the gloves, pale skin showing itself before tapping a single finger against her gnosis, “Look for clues. And memories. And Impressions.” There was only a brief glance at all of them before, she took careful and cautious steps around the entrance of it.
x

oocMore for me so I can remember what she’s got with her. XD
Orvin, Lantern (with oil), Tulwar, Kukri, Small Shield (steel and borrowed), Leather studded armour, rope, waterskin.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig didn’t know how to feel about this, on the one hand he was performing a duty with patron and she seemed confident enough about his skills to take him along so he supposed he should feel complimented that she at least thought he could fend for himself. But she had also brought Fallon a long and quite frankly he didn’t know what to feel ‘Should she be here? Is this what she needs right now?’ He asked himself, part of him said ‘yes she did’ but the other part said that she needed more rest.

It hadn’t been long since they had brought punishments to her assailants but it did little to ease Fallon’s mind and Kreig was at a lost at what to do. During the previous days he tried talking to her but a good chunk of the time she preferred being alone with only Orvin for company.

He nodded curtly as Sera Natasha introduced them to the naked lady named Ama, apparently she was a Kelvic that acted as a caretaker and guardian of theses woods if what he heard was right.

He didn’t know much about yukman, Kreig’s combat experience leaning towards the more human foes rather than what dwells in forests and caves but he was certain he would be ready for such things. He wore his own personal breastplate, it and the leather skirt beneath resting comfortably against his black shirt, the grieves that came with it were strapped to his to his lower legs, protecting them from harm like the studded gauntlets protected his hands. His left hand rested comfortably on top of the pommel of his longsword as it rested comfortably within its scabbard, from the back of his waist hung a quiver holding 20 crossbow bolts with the intended weapon hanging just above. All these weapons and their accessories connected to a harness worn over his armor. Beneath his wide brimmed hat was a skullcap helmet that would help with most glancing blows that he could encounter. All in all he was quite prepared for a combat situation, unfortunately the only ones he could perhaps use reliably are his own fists as his skills with the other two weapons he could use lacked far behind.

But they’d certainly be useless against ghosts, and Kreig’s never faced an Ebonstryfe warrior and Natasha seemed to hold them with caution.

He looked at Fallon, wondering slightly what Sera Natasha had told her. However the question forming in his head wondered this ‘Will she be okay? Will I be able to protect her?’ Despite the fact that Fallon’s assault was in no way his fault, Kreig couldn’t help but feel guilt. He watched her as she neared the entrance, searching for anything that could explain the incident ‘She’s far better than me at such things’ he admitted, he was only a tool of battle as far as he was concerned and Sera Natasha believed her skills would be quite useful in this situation.

“I’d be surprised if all the hunters fell through a hole at such alarming regularity. I mean they can’t all be so careless to fall through such a thing…can they?”

x

[Radiant]

"Kreig's right, Fallon. It's very unlikely for hunters to be that stupid... something is definitely up" Natasha made a thinking expression, but she noticed Fallon's not-so-healthy state and concern came to her. "Fallon, alright I changed my mind, if you feel that you are not physically fit for this... feel free to resign and rest. Your health comes first, it's no use risking your life" Natasha was sure Fallon was not that sick and could still fight, but the tired look on her eyes worried her nonetheless. Fallon said she was fine and could still come with them though, that eased Natasha, maybe the squire was just tired mentally.

Ama noticed Fallon's white wolf companion and smiled at Orvin, acknowledging him as a fellow kin. She would talk to Orvin later personally after she shifted to her dire wolf form for the journey.

"Any more clues you can give us before we depart, Ama? Natasha questioned as she checked her equipments; wearing her light armor, longsword and shield ready, and a bow complete with the quiver. She also brought a saddlebag filled with various medicines, bandages, and finally... some jars of soulmist, she got them from the local spiritist shop, the Ethereal Notions. "I also brought some soulmist jar for us to smear on our weapons should we encounter a hostile ghost..."

"Yes... there is one more thing that I can tell you... the voices you see? Some of the hunters said that those voices sounded male and female at the same time, like two person speaking simultaneously, and... those voices are calm... cold emotionless calm.... It's clear that whatever that is was not some kind of wild monster like Yukmen" Ama said, her expression serious, the usual gentle motherly nature was not there, she couldn't afford to do right now.

"Yes, but we cannot afford to send more of the knights in a wild goose chase so... here we are, the investigator. Should we find something beyond our abilities, we should retreat immediately" Natasha then walked to the three horses she prepared for the journey and mount her own. "Shall we depart?"

"Yes, Sera, we can achieve nothing by just standing around..." Ama then went on all fours and light swirled from her body, when it dissipated, the woman was replaced by a very large white wolf, as large as a grizzly bear. Ama's deep reddish brown eyes looked at Orvin and she spoke to the wolf in their canine language "It's an honor to meet you, kin. My name is Ama, may I ask who is your name? And are you being well-cared by your master?" Of course by "master", she meant Fallon, Orvin's owner.

Once Fallon and Kreig mounted their horses, Natasha nodded to Ama, signalling for her to be the guide. Ama barked in acknowledgement and she walked in front of the party, the two squires, knight, white wolf, and dire kelvic wolf ventured deep into the Woods, heading to the Aylasa Caves, East of Syliras.

OOCMy next reply would be them arriving at the caves and exploring it. Feel free to socialize and control both Ama and Natasha during the journey.

[Fallon]

Fallon only gave a sigh, obviously are forgetting about some people when it comes to stupidity then.

Taking the reins of the horse, the squire pulled herself up into the saddle, ears twitching to the clatter of steel in their sheaths. She wanted to get this done as quickly as possible, sooner she could get it done the better. It meant she could retreat again into the safety of the rooms, away from eyes and potential threats. She slipped her feet into the stirrups of the saddle, the things that could not have been worn quickly being attached to it. The horse gave a snort, shaking his mane as Orvin looked up with his beady eyes.

A hand stroked his head, fingers reaching down to touch the fur before withdrawing. It was time to move out, she could not allow herself to be distracted with trivialities. For the moment he was quiet, simply taking in the surroundings and waiting for what was next. Throughout their journey, Fallon took most of the time to simply listen instead of talking. She did not feel like conversing much anyway, there seemed to be little information to work upon at the moment. She needed more, another lead another fact.

Her Lykata prickled slightly. It would indeed come in useful upon this occasion. If they had time that is. It would be better to be slow and through than fast and unaware. Who knew what sort of trap they were walking into? Fingers tightened around the reins, the dull beat of horse hooves in the air. She watched her patron lean towards her, the low voice meeting her ears, “You will tell me if this is too much, right?”
“Sera,” Fallon slid an eye to her, “I am not an idiot. You will know.” Enough was said obviously, for her patron straightened and quickly continued on her way.

When Ama transformed and turned her attention to Orvin however, he became slightly more animated in noise.
“What is this? What is this? This thingy. It looks like me. Looks like... It has a tail! I have a tail! Oh, it’s bigger than me. No fair! No fair! I am the biggest here! Oh, we are going? But I want to stay to look at the thin- Thingy is coming with us? I don’t want that thing…” there was a momentary pause in the whining of Orvin, “Master… Master?” His ears flattered back and he stared up at Fallon almost with a look of horror on his face, “It’s talking at me! I don’t like it! Why is it talking to me? Make it stop...” And so on. Even as the great dire wolf took the lead.
x

[Kreig Messer]

'Horse riding...won't this be a pleasure?' Kreig thought sarcasticly as gently climbed the horse, he'd devoloped a slight stigma, not a fear, of horses after having hit head by a lowhanging branch while he and Fallon used one to ride away from the bandit camp. He realized it was his own lack of experiance that lead to it as they had no control over the horse but it still made him somewhat wary. His feet settled in the stirrup, then sat himself straight up and took control of the reigns.


"Nervous Kreig?" Natasha gave him a small smirk, recalling her squires discomfort with riding horses. Kreig looked at her sheepishly as he shrugged, but then she leaned closer to him and whispered "Kreig, I know your worried about Fallon but don't let it get in the way of your duties. We need you focused for trouble as much as we need her" Kreig sighed and nodded to his mentor, and quietly responded with a yes.

Eventually they moved on and Kreig found himself impressed with the size of Ama, as she dwarved most wolves and Kreig shuddered at the thought at would have happened had they met of that size back in the wildlands 'Petch, I'd have my enter head ripped off, not just my neck he thought' He rode behind the group and found his gaze wandering to Fallon.

It was then he wondered once more about the dangers of the cave they were going to, petch its danger so it has him excited... but if its ghosts he didn't know how to react, petch he'd rather not harm souls of the dead but if they're restless and causing trouble then he had to his duty 'Just hope Dira doesn't hold it against me' He sighed internally. He'd make sure to get some of the soul mist on his bolts, heck even his gaunt;ets since punching things is what he specializes at.
x

[Radiant]

The journey was rather uneventful to say the least, with Natasha socializing with her squires and Ama trying to get Orvin be more comfortable with her. Orvin was not like any other wolf she knew, he was rather... stupid but she couldn't bring herself to say that. Other wolves could immediately recognize that she was one of them in animal form, albeit much much bigger than any normal wolves, Orvin himself didn't seem to even recognize that she's a living being. Ama just shook her head lightly, she could only hope the wolf pup would mature, maybe it's effect of being kept in captivity.

It was not until they arrive at the Aylasa Cave's entrance that the first sign of something was up... a bow and some arrows could be found lying on the ground... with blotches of blood splattered on it and... a blood trail leading from it to... inside the caverns.

Natasha put her hand to her longsword, ready for battle if anything suspicious arise. Ama also growled and sniffed the blood and the air around it. She then shifted to her human form and asked the group to gather near the mysterious bow. "This... is human blood, I smelled it and... it's rather fresh..."

"Must be belonging to a hunter and judging by the arrows and blood, he or she was fighting whatever being that was attacking him or her..." Natasha drew the most logical conclusion that came to her mind.

"The hunter may still be alive. Any plans, Sera?"

"Yes, Fallon, if you please..." Natasha gestured for Fallon to use her gnosis in reading the bow.

If Fallon read either of the items, she could see that the bow belonged to a male human hunter... and that one mood or feeling dominated the vision entirely, it was fear, pure undulated fear of something alien, something entirely wrong.

OOCI can edit the post should Natasha have no knowledge that Fallon has the Lykata Gnosis

[Fallon]

Fallon dismounted the horse when they got to the caves, and tethered it to a tree. Fingers gently stroked the muzzle as she worked in keeping it calm. Her eyes turned to the cave entrance, the discarded and blooded bow having been left there. Ensuring her gear was all in place, Fallon went over to the bow and picked it up turning the curved edge over in her hands and pulling the string taunt. She rolled her shoulder round, feeling the muscles tense and strain as she focused upon it. There was a slow nod to her patron, “This will take a few chimes.”

Sitting herself down cross legged, the squire slowed her breathing. Her head hung forward as she held the bow in her hands, bare fingers tracing along the subtle edge. She gave only a final glance to the others, before she closed her eyes and sealed off the outside world. Reading impressions from an object was no easy task, it required focus and the ability to tune out those around her. She inhaled as she felt her consciousness be flooded with noise, blurs racing past in her mind, indistinctive noises here and there. Jaw tightening she tried to pluck at the thickening mist of information, slowly pulling out those important snippets here and there.

Nostril flared as she felt the ring of fear command her. Muscles tensed, her tendons contracting in reaction, as a shrill, male, cry of panic screeched through her mind. It latched onto her sinking in and suffocating the senses, dragging her in deeper into this dominated state.
No! Enough! No more! She forcefully pulled herself away from it, eyes widening slightly. It landed with a clatter, her chest heaving slightly as her eyes turned towards the cave. A flicker of doubt rested there, and her fingers curled around the bow once more, “He was scared. No, worse than scared. I don’t know if he’s dead or alive though.”

The squire staggered up to her feet, taking the discarded bow and arrows in her hands and then turning her eyes to the cave entrance. There had to be a sign of movement. Tracks, prints, tell-tale marks of something else, something more. She gave a point to the mouth of the cave, with Orvin turning his head to face it, “If you want your answer on his well being, in is where the answer is.”
x

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig observed Fallon as she appraoched the entrance and her fingers picked up the abandoned bow. Her hands seemed to trail the edge of the limbs, then closed her eyes.

He wondered what was going as she seemed to fall into some trance, or perhaps it was more accurate to say she was closing off the world and leaving herself and the bow to discover what secrets lay beneath. He wondered what it was like to be blessed by a god and what it was going through her right now as she uncovered a tidbit if what happened to the hunters.


But then fear seemed to creep up on his friends future, and Kreig concluded she uncovered something horrible or she was reliving the horrible memeroy of many days past. Kreig almost lept off the horse but then Fallon spoke, stood up slowly with the bow and theb spoke sime more.

Kreig sighed in relief as Fallon seemed to be alright, but there was no denying the sense of worry he felt. He gently removed himself from on top of the horse and tied it's reigns to a branch, then approached his Patron with a worried look " Sera, if...if there are ghosts within the cave, should we cover our weapons in soulmist now just to be cautious" He asked.
x

[Radiant]

The fear of the unknown and the fear of death, they are two of the numerous primal fears. Fear that came naturally to most sentient living beings, there was a saying "A baby rabbit, even one that has never encountered a bird before, will still cower at the sight of a hawk's shadow". These fears are universal, human ancestors have experienced those to a great degree during the Valterrian and their shadows still haunt most of the human populace even until this day. They struck Fallon when she activated her Gnosis to examine the bow... and now, they were creeping in on the party, even Ama, who was so used being in the Woods found her fur standing up a bit. Something was definitely inside these caves...

"Fallon, are you alright?" Natasha put her hands on Fallon's shoulders to steady her squire. She waited for Fallon to steady herself and explained on what she saw. "I see... fear huh... alright, we cannot let this be..." Natasha nodded to all of them "We will investigate and save the poor hunter, Gods be damned if we abandon an innocent soul to his death..."

"Very well, Kreig, good idea. If we encounter hostile ghosts, we won't have time to apply it..." Natasha opened her saddlebag and took out three jars filled with an odd transparent gel, she then gave a jar to Fallon and Kreig each "Smear your blade and gauntlets with it, that should make you be able to hit the ethereal..." Natasha herself took out her longsword, shield, and quiver, she then proceeded to open her jar, dipped her hand into the gel, and smeared her equipment with it.

"Ama, do you require some as well?" Natasha asked if the Kelvic wanted to... she didn't carry any objects with her so perhaps Ama would like to smear her hands in it. Ama nodded and asked for some soulmist gel and rubbed her hands with it. It would still be there when she turned from skin and hair to fur and fangs.

After the preparation was complete, Ama tracked the ground near the blood trail to look for more clues such as tracks, but... to her dread, she found none other than the blood trail. "Alright... I... can see nothing but the blood trail, this means our poor hunter was not dragged on the ground nor do his assailants touched it... that means... yes, it's most likely ghosts, they float after all..."

"Let's put those spirits to rest once and for all, we'll subdue them and Ama, you can then go back to Syliras and bring a Spiritist here to finish them" Natasha gritted her teeth, some spirits trying to actually harm the good people of Syliras? Unacceptable.

"Understood, Sera"

"Good, we'll leave the horses here" Natasha then tied her horse to a nearby tree, with Fallon and Kreig doing the same, then the party gathered before the cave's gaping mouth "Alright... no turning back now..."

With that, they entered the cavern, Orvin obediently following his master. Ama didn't shift to her wolf form as it could hinder her in moving in these closed space, it was a proof that being bigger was not always better.

Sera Natasha lit up a torch as they entered and Ama emitted a comforting light from her palms to help lit up the way. Feeling of foreboding and dread struck the party as they ventured deeper into the caverns, these caves was once inhabited but now it was merely a testament that humans could survive even in the bleakest of places if driven by desperation.

"!?" Natasha got the eerie feeling that someone or something was watching her at the corner of her eye so she looked around and found... nothing, just stone walls and ceilings, How typical... she groaned in her mind.

After about twenty chimes of walking, they came upon an intersection, with the path forward splitting up to two directions, left and right. A very curious thing immediately present itself to the party... the blood trail also split up, following both of the paths. "I think... this 'trail' is made on purpose... Something or someone is playing with us..." Ama made a thinking expression full of worry.

"Well, only one way to find out so... how should we do this? Left or right first? Or we can just split up to two groups. I can go with Fallon and Kreig can go with Ama?" She leaned her body to the cavern wall, awaiting the answer of her two squires.

OOCDecision time! Left, right, or split up?