[Bronze Woods] Phantom Moon (Quest)

by **Nivel** on May 27th, 2014, 6:57 am

Nivel was a little saddened that someone with such a perfect name for a knight was not in some way part of the order. Although a ray of hope came when Athaera asked her what the order was like, Nivel though this was her chance to recruit a new squire.
“Oh it's wonderful you really should consider joining” Nivel did her best to remain coy so as not to give her intentions away. The Pycon didn't have very much life experience to compare it too but she did truly enjoy being part of the order even if it could be rough from time to time.

“You're welcome!” Nivel replied cheerfully. She enjoyed talking to Athaera and was completely unaware of her reserved body language and didn't assume anything based on her manner of speaking. Like many Pycons she enjoyed creatures that were different than her, so for a pycon who spent her time with other talkative and hyper pycons a more quiet creature was in many ways refreshing.

Nivel made sure to mentally add bread into her memory banks for future reference, you never know when this kind of information might come in handy. Nivel wondered what bread tasted like, based on it's colour it seemed like it might taste good. Nivel speculations on bread were cut short when Atheara corrected the pycons assumption about meat. The Pycon was a bit taken back by the information that meat was really dead animals. She hadn't come across too much death but she had occasionally came across a smelly animal corpse and the thought of humans eating its rotten flesh revolted and fascinated her.
“I was told this by my patron..although I suppose its possible that she was talking about carrots..and I got them mixed up” The Squire said bashfully.
Nivel could picture herself now pointing at the meat and carrots that were on Grey's ceramic plate. Grey told her the names of the food items, explained what carrots were but suddenly offered Nivel a fresh piece of porcelain clay before she could explain what meat was. Nivel assumed Grey must have just forgotten, having no idea why Grey would keep this information from her.

“Clay tastes wonderful you should really try it!” Nivel proclaimed while waving her hands rapidly to show her Delight “-And clay tastes different in different locations, why do you think we clay eaters are known to travel so much?”
Nivel thought back for a moment on the taste of the clay in Pyconia, it gave her a sudden sense of nostalgia but it quickly subsided.
“The clay I grew up with tasted like what I imagine the clouds taste like during a sunset when they’re all purple and glowing.” The pycon said softly “ The clay around here tastes more like rainbows and happiness, if rainbows and happyness had a taste that is..”
Nivel became curious about the bread again, and wanted to see if Atheara's previous offer was still available.
“Actually maybe I will try this bread that you enjoy so much...if that's still okay?” Nivel held out her arms hesitantly for the Tall Folk to place the bread if she chose to do so.

Nivel was glad Atheara liked the name Grick it was a pretty good name, Although with the coming events the pycon was unable to tell the tall folk her opinion as were the other two Tall Folk that Nivel had attempted to greet.

With Nivel's Auristics at least somewhat in play, she could see the wolves for what they were. Their dull auras were possibly the least substantial auras in the area, Nivel was still unsure as to what caused them but she knew they possessed no real substance. However before she could relay this info to the others a chilling scream erupted out in the distance. While she was in her Auristics state she was sensitive to her surroundings and Nivel could swore she could feel the scream enter her contentiousness. It disoriented her so much she was frozen like a real statue. Although the world didn't stop along with her and a sudden arrow came whizzing past Atheara's face at a distance so close the pycon was sure her friend had been injured. Nivel's worry for her new companions well being brought her out of her mentally paralysed state and when Nivel turned to find the source of the arrow she could see what made the attack through the fog. It was the glowing aura of a Tall folk who had a bow and for reasons unknown to Nivel they were targeting her comrades. Nivel didn't want any unnecessary violence but didn't see any other options other than to help her allies fight back..
“there! I can see them, shoot there” Nivel said urgently to Athaera while stretching her arm into the direction of the attacker and using her Pypole as a pointer,
Nivel could see other Auras of Tall Folks readying their bows to return fire on the other two hunters.
The Pycon would find it difficult to give them the same kind of instruction as she did Athaera but she could at least try
“you two get down” she instructed in a tone loud enough for them to hear but not the attackers...at least that was her intention. She was sure the arrows would miss if they stayed low. “There's one! over there!” making more vigorous hand shakes “-and another there...oh and there” using her tail and leg this time since her other arm was busy trying to hold on to Athaera's shoulder. Nivel wasn't sure if her hand gestures and instructions were helping at all seeing how tiny her limbs were and how foggy it was but she didn't know how else to help.

Nivel wasn't focusing her Auristics very much but it was still tiring her somewhat to maintain the sight of the auras and the vibrant gestures she was making weren't helping. She didn't know how long she could keep a look out but she was willing to do it as long as she could.

by **Athaera** on May 31st, 2014, 1:54 pm

Athaera laughed when Nivel suggested she could join the order. "I couldn't," she said, "I don't live here, and I'm not staying long. I like the wilderness better, with all the nature and the trees, and the quiet." She disliked the din she heard in the city, and the fact that everywhere she went, people would bump into her.

Athaera was still a bit shocked by the fact that the small creature was a squire. She always thought that knights and such would be bigger, and stronger. "Yes, I think your patron got them mixed up," she replied, "or you misheard her."

The pycon claimed that clay tasted "wonderful," but that seemed a bit strange to Athaera. "Really?" she asked, "I always thought clay would taste like dirt." She recalled how she had discovered how dirt tasted. She'd been playing with... with her sister... thinking about her still nearly brought tears to her eyes. Her train of thought ended, and she struggled to choke back her tears.

But Athaera still laughed when the pycon described the flavor of clay. She pushed the sorrow out of her head and smiled.

Nivel then asked if she could try the bread, and Athaera smiled. "Of course." She tore off a piece and handed it to the pycon, but she wasn't sure if she would like it. She had a feeling that pycons weren't necessarily supposed to eat human food, but she let Nivel eat it anyway.

Athaera's arrow flew right through the wolf, leaving a bit of mist behind. She glanced for a moment at Nivel, who seemed to see someone... or something... through the trees. She knew a little about auristics, just enough to understand what it was, and assumed that Nivel could see auras. She pulled back another arrow, her bow once again taut. She waited for a chance to let go, but saw an arrow hurtling toward her. She screamed, but the arrow brushed through her hair before it could properly get out of her throat.

"Um... Nivel?" she whispered, as if to hide her presence from creatures who already knew she was there. "You might want to get off now." Athaera thought she'd be a harder target on the ground, since she was so small. Suddenly, a scream tore through the trees, and Athaera's heart pulsed in her ribs, threatening to break out. I'm dead, she thought as mist began to close around her and Nivel, turning the forest into a grey void.

"Nivel, stay close," she hissed, not wanting to lose the little creature. She'd made a friend for the first time since she'd lost her family, and it felt good. Alien, but good.

by **Radiant** on June 4th, 2014, 2:10 pm

With Athaera's leadership and directions, the two hunters managed to calm themselves enough to take cover behind the nearest trees, despite the overwhelming mist, large trees could still be seen, and began preparing counter-attacks, they notched their arrows then shot back. Arrows whizzed here and there, between Athaera and Nivel's group with the unknown assailants.

After about twenty ticks of exchanging arrows, "Agh!" A scream of pain could be heard as an arrow managed to hit one of the assailants, from her auristics, Nivel could see one of the figures falling down, clutching its leg, not dead, but effectively out of the fight. There were 3 assailants left, still hidden by the mist.

"Gah!" Another scream of pain, courtesy of an arrow launched to the shoulder of one assailant from the female hunter. It would become clear to both Nivel and Athaera that these two hunters were no push-over, after overcoming their initial panic, the duo were competent archers for sure. Only two assailants left, and they were still shooting arrows into the group.

If they noticed, something was truly weird about their behavior... the assailants, they didn't take cover, they weren't affected by their companion's well-being, they just simply shot arrows to the party, as if their mind was locked on a one-tracked goal. "You!" The female hunter shouted at Athaera then motioned to a general direction, "I think there's one there! Go shoot it!" She urged for the Vantha to join in the counter-offensive.

Suddenly, the figure of a brown-haired man, charged through the mist, straight at Nivel, his movement lumbering and his eyes... they were empty and blank, and he had an expressionless face. He was one of the hunters that participated in this phantom wolf hunt!

"HELP! HELP! Don't kill us! We are bewitched!" A scream tore through the mist, from one of the wounded 'assailant', "My friends, they don't know what they are doing! Please! Open their eyes, slap them, hit them, whatever, but don't kill them!" He begged.

Two hunters wounded, that meant only two bewitched hunters left, one was shooting arrows at Athaera, the other one was charging straight at Nivel.

by **Nivel** on June 9th, 2014, 9:28 pm

Nivel couldn't argue with a need to roam, it was a calling that pycons understood greatly. The only reason Nivel didn't give in to the call of travel and exotic locals was because being a Squire gave her the stimulation need to keep her interest. The Pycon would have been sad that the friend she just made wouldn't be around for long but Nivel was more about enjoying the present.
“I like nature as well, It's full of so many surprises and it is quite relaxing...unless somethings trying to eat you of course.” Nivel Giggled while her ears flapped playfully.
It was true that Nivel always had a fondness for wild animals and vegetation, She even had a few pyken moves that were inspired by animals and plants. They weren't very effective yet, She would need to remember to put some effort into refining them before she used them in actual combat.

“You're most likely right” Nivel agreed “ I get things about you Tall Folks mixed up all the time.”
She thought back on all the times in her short life that she just had the complete wrong idea about how things worked, there seemed to be to many to count. She was happy that she was beginning to grasp things more often as time progressed.

Although the pycon was a little happy she wasn't the only one with misconceptions. Nivel merely shook her armoured head at the notion that Clay tasted like dirt.

The Squire thanked Athaera as the bread was placed in her tiny Clay arms. She then started wrapping it in these limbs to absorb it into her body like she had done many times before with the clay she consumed. However to Nivel's surprise nothing happened, the bread had no taste and failed to combine with her body properly.
“hrm I can't eat this..” Nivel sadly reported. “I don't taste anything and it won't meld with me like clay does.”
She was a bit disappointed but figured it was for the best after feeling the texture of the bread it wasn't really something she wanted mixing with her clay body.

Nivel was happy to see the hunters overcome their fear and generate effective counter strikes. The pycon was even more satisfied to see that the wounds the assailants suffered were ones they would surely recover from. It may seem odd to others to show concern for ones enemies but Nivel saw no shame in it. She was a little confused that these mysterious attackers weren't showing the same concern, their heads remained focused on there target never so much as glancing in the direction of there comrades screams of distress. In fact they didn't even show concern for their own well being...Nivel was now sure that something was not right.

She moved a bit away from Athaera to get a better vantage point, as a tree was blocking the angle of one of the attackers. Just when she was got her sights back on their glowing aura, another charged out of the trees straight towards the Pycon squire. This interruption caused her to lose the focus she needed to keep her Auristics active. She was generally startled but became more so after realizing that she recognized the face of the tall folk charging towards her. She was sure It was one of the Mercenaries that had signed up for the Phantom wolf hunt. Nivel remembered him for his overly large nose, although something was different about his face but she wasn't sure what. This was answered when one of the Injured attackers suddenly cried out that they were bewitched.

With the large nosed tall folk still fast approaching, Nivel did her best to jump out of its way. Her top heavy helmet made this manoeuvre considerably less graceful than she was used too, Causing it to appear more like a stumble than anything resembling a jump. She just barely got out of the rampaging man's way and got hit with a bit of debit that was left in his wake, She quickly regained her footing amongst the twigs she just landed in and formed her free arm into a whip and aimed it at the back of the mans calf. She hoped that the sting of pain from her attack would be enough to bring him back to his senses. Lacking proper skill in fighting made slapping peoples legs the only move she could really do effectively, especially in her silly armour.

by **Athaera** on June 12th, 2014, 3:58 pm

Athaera laughed at Nivel's joke, then added another point into the conversation. "Well, it's better to get eaten in the wilderness than in the city," she said, "In the wilderness, your last feelings and memories are of wonderful scents, and colors, and silence. While in the city, it's all noise and crowds and dust." During the conversation, her eyes had begun to shine a bright green, signifying happiness. This was a rare sight on Athaera's face, and since she'd entered the city, with all it's obnoxiousness, she didn't think her eyes ever went past red, which meant anger, blue, which meant sorrow, or grey, which was neutral. Red was the most common, since the city drove her nuts with annoyance. And blue came often, pretty much whenever her family squirmed their way into her head.

"Yeah, I don't know much about pycons either." Athaera hoped this wouldn't offend Nivel in any way, but she didn't know anything about the way a pycon's mind worked.She realized that she really didn't know anything about them, other than what she'd learned today, and the fact that they existed.

When Athaera saw Nivel shake her head at the thought that clay tasted like dirt, an idea popped into her head. "Maybe different races perceive the tastes differently, based on their race, and what would be nutritional for them. So, for you, clay tastes like, I don't know, magic and rainbows and happiness, but for me, it tastes like dirt, because it's not nutritional for me, and I'm not supposed to eat it. I think I heard somewhere that the reason food tastes good is so we eat it. Because if it didn't taste good, we wouldn't eat it, then we would starve to death, and that wouldn't be very fun."

Athaera watched as Nivel took the crumb in her arms. It was pretty big compared to her tiny body, and Athaera thought it was probably a substantial meal for her. Athaera watched as the pycon tried to absorb the bread, unsuccessfully. Nivel handed it back to Athaera, and she popped in her mouth.

Athera was concentrating more on actually hitting the attackers than their behavior, but even to her, something seemed a bit off. She was too busy concentrating to pay attention to the arrows of the other pair. She hoped Nivel was okay, but was too busy to look. Suddenly, she heard a cry of pain from one of the enemies. An arrow had struck him, but she was pretty sure it wasn't hers. Another cry. "How many left, Nivel?"

She couldn't see the assailants through the mist, so she didn't know how many there were. Another cry of pain echoed through the mist, and the woman from the other hunting pair was saying something to Athaera. She gestured in a general direction and Athaera started going that way, even though she didn't know that was actually what the woman wanted. Athaera saw a man hurtling toward Nivel, and she launched herself into his path to intervene. At the same time, a man yelled that the rest of them were bewitched. She watched as Nivel's arm formed into a whip, and hit him in the back of the knees, while she stood there.

by **Radiant** on June 17th, 2014, 2:04 pm

OOCGuys, please try to tone down the unimportant social part in your posts, those scenes had passed since a couple of posts back... yet you still continued them, it made the flow confusing, please focus in what is happening now.

"Gah!" Another cry of pain echoed in the clearing, the last one who had been shooting arrows were struck in the foot, causing him to wake up and groaning in both confusion and pain, the one that had charged was struck in the foot by Nivel's whip and combined with Athaera's tackle, caused him to tumble into the ground, hitting his head on the ground, the man became limp as he groaned in pain.

"A-are they alright?" The wounded assailant, who warned them not to kill his friends, asked, the male hunter shouted back, confirming they all had been pacified, the worse was over... for now. Now the party got a mystery in their hands, it seemed these phantom wolves were the cause or was it?

"Ugh..." The wounded man limped to the party, surely they would want an explanation, "W-we were just looking for the wolves... like you did, but then... s-something happened to us, we lost control of our bodies.." The man said with him groaning in pain, "I- I saw... a... a man, yes, I think it was a man, in the distance, h-he seemed to be commanding these... wolves," The man groaned then pointed to a direction deeper into the Woods, "T-there, h-he was there."

"They need help." The female hunter checked the condition of the bewitched assailants, they would live, but leaving them here could prove fatal, many predators roamed the Woods after all, "I think we should them," Her male companion agreed then she glanced at Nivel and Athaera, "If you both want to check it, you must do so without us, we want to help them first... if you do, please be careful."

by **Nivel** on June 19th, 2014, 5:04 pm

OocSorry I knew the conversation made little sense time wise (we were essentially having 5 conversations each from a different time line) but it was fun and easy to write. I'm cutting them off now.

during the conversation Nivel only briefly took notice of Athaera's eyes which shifted to a beautiful green. This was Nivels Absolute favourite colour, It was since she was only the shape of a clay ball. It may have had something to do with the calmness of nature that the two had talked about earlier, but Green also reminded the pycon of her father. He was always calm, wise and the one that Nivel got all of her feminine beauty tips from. The pouch of crushed emeralds was the gift he gave her when she left Pyconia, probably not the most useful of parting gifts but Nivel cherished it all the same.

Nivel Listened to Atheara's theory on food, it made quite a bit of sense to her. She nodded in agreement and continued the conversation.

It seemed that all the bewitched attackers were taken care off. The one that shouted before called out threw the fog again to see if his friends were okay, the male hunter confirmed they were still alive. Nivel did feel a bit sorry for big nose...she and Anthaera sure did a number on him. He was obviously going to be okay but he'd definitely be sore the when he awoke.

The limping man came to give an explanation as to how they had found themselves enchanted. It was as Nivel had expected, they were hunting the wolves when some kind of user of Djed used their skills to control them. Nivel still didn't know what school of enchantment was being used but she felt as if it wouldn't be long before she did. It seemed a “Man” was the culprit, and that he was somewhere in the direction this crippled Tall Folk was pointing. Nivel knew that “man” was a term often used to describe a male tall folk but it wasn't much to go on. Although with the fog ever present it was a miracle this wounded Tall Folk could see anything. The Pycon looked in the direction that that was pointed to, and without her Auristics she couldn't see much of anything.

Straining herself to see the ever present Auras that were invisible to most, Nivel could see something strange in the distance. From this vantage point and with the inability to gaze past the many glowing halo's surrounding all the trees, Nivel had no idea what this anomaly was.
“oh! I think I see some-” Nivel spoke up but was interrupted by the concerned proclamation of the female mercenary. Nivel agreed with her that the injured need to be taken care of and proceeded to nod in agreement like the Male mercenary had already done.

The Male Mercenary informed Nivel and Athaera that they would be going at it alone while they took care of the people in need. “I'm okay to check things out and I don't worry about me just get these ..Men...To safety” Nivel replied and then turned to Athaera “Are you coming to Athaera...If your scared you can always stay back to tend to the injured..I'm sure they could use as much help as they could get.”

Nivel Ran into the misty forest, in the direction of the strange thing she had previously seen. Stopping only for a moment to let Athaera catch up, who unsurprisingly decided to accompany the pycon.
“I saw something not to far from here...with my..pycon abilities..” Nivel whispered unconvincingly to her much taller companion. She didn't know how she would react to magic so she decided it was best to keep it a secret.

“do you see anything suspicious?” Nivel though this might be a silly question considering the fog but since Athaera seemed to be more at home in nature she may have some other insight that Nivel didn't have.

by **Athaera** on June 27th, 2014, 10:25 pm

The last two men were down. They recovered, no longer bewitched, but rather dazed and confused. Athaera and Nivel had injured him more than was probably necessary, but at least he was no longer under whatever that was. He was limping, but other than that, he seemed fine. According to one of the men, they were all fine, but to Athaera it didn't really seem like it. They were all either injured or bruised, but she didn't need to worry about that. She didn't know them, and it didn't make a difference to her whether they were alive or not.

There was a moment of peace, but even then, Athaera wondered, What caused it? She had a feeling they were diving from the frying pan, straight into the fire. It seemed that Nivel saw something in the distance, probably using Auristics, because there was no other way she could see... Whatever she saw. "Do you see any--" Athaera began to ask the instant the pycon said she could see something, but they were both interrupted.

The man that had fought with them suggested they try to go and see what was going on. Athaera nodded her head, "I'll go." The instant she said this, she began to regret it, but she didn't want to back down. She was comforted a bit more when Nivel said she was going too. At least she wouldn't be alone. The tiny creature was much more helpful than Athaera initially expected. She made a mental note to stop assuming people were something based on how they looked. When Nivel said that if Athaera was scared she could stay there, she knew she had to go. For one, she didn't want to seem like a coward, and she had no skills in healing and tending to the others. she reclled how many infections she'd gotten in the wilderness. She could barely care for herself.

She hesitated for a moment before running to catch up with Nivel. Athaera admired Nivel's bravery and excitement... Or was it just stupidity? She seemed to be a bit naive about the world. The pycon said that she'd seen something with some sort of "pycon abilities." Athaera hadnt realized that pycons had abilities like that. "Really? I assumed it was Auristics." She made a mental note to start learning about other races. She hadnt realized that they could be so fascinating. She knew barely anything about Vanthas either, in her mother's attempt to seperate herself from her past as much as possible.

Athaera shook her head at Nivel's question. "I can't see anything. Looks like were relying on you. No pressure." Athaera smiled at her joke, but then realised probably wasn't the best time for comments like that.

by **Nightmare** on July 15th, 2014, 11:58 pm

Something in the air shivered and convulsed, a scream rushed past the group expanding and disrupting the deep fog. In a clearing up on the hill a group of hunters ringed the corpse of man. As Nivel and Athaera came closer they could hear the group of their fellows mutter and talking among themselves. The leader of the group, who appeared to have come out of the ordeal relatively unscathed, was asking, "Well, who got him? I can't believe that a stray arrow just magically came out of nowhere and hit him through the heart. Only Ovek could tell you the chances of that happening, but I can tell you now that the chances are near impossible. Now who got him?" No one around the group gathered there spoke up.

One of the mercaneries muttered to his neighbor, "Petching mage, good riddens. Don't need a mage like that preying on innocents like that. Look, what's that?" He pointed to a mark on the robed figure's arm. The mark itself appeared to be an inverted triangle. Another hushed voice, "That's the mark of Ionu... You know, God of Illusions. That's what must have made the wolves."

The leader of the group hushed the group, "Alright men and women. We need to get the wounded to the city and have them tended to. You three, he pointed to another group. We need to get this body taken to Valini's scribe. The rest of you scout the woods incase he had any friends. Moira will have your pay as soon as you get back, just make sure you are back before dark."

With that, the mercaneries went about their work. The wounded were tended to, healed at the expense of Leo Valini. The body of the illusionist mage, said to also be a powerful hypnotist, was taken in by Moira. When the scouts came in that evening they reported nothing. And those who assisted that day were paid their fee.

Nivel :

Athaera :

Additional Comments: I wish I knew exactly what Radiant wanted to do with this thread. It was entertaining to read and it felt as if it was just getting to the good stuff. Even though we technically did not finish the thread as it was meant to be done, I am still going to give you the full rewards as compensation for Radiant's departure. Enjoy your grades!

Please PM me if you have any questions or concerns.

Skills	Amount
Observation	+5
Socialization	+5
Auristics	+5
Land Navigation	+1
Persuasion	+1
Leadership	+1
Tactics	+1
Acrobatics	+1
Unarmed Combat	+1

Shield Points	Amount
Helping in a modded quest	+10

Skills	Amount
Observation	+5
Socialization	+5
Land Navigation	+2
Endurance	+2
Philosophy	+1
Weapon: Shortbow	+3
Leadership	+1

Quest [Bronze Woods] Phantom Moon (Quest)