#Zorah Velaceras

[heartwoodventures]

Lightning Strikes Twice

This time, Red Argos had hit close to home. Earlier in the week Momori had brought word to Heartwood Ventures that the pirate crew had been spotted in the Black Shroud. There had been reports of kidnappings as well as rumors of one paranoid man who, being convinced he was next, had barricaded himself within his home near the Honey Yard. 

It was a rainy day in the Shroud but those who had been summoned to the Company House didn’t bother to go inside. They knew they’d be leaving just as quickly as they had arrived. Instead they gathered under the cover of umbrellas in Heartwood’s front yard. The weather seemed to keep the conversations muted, subdued. 

Suddenly a young midlander girl darted out from the company building, her long black braids bouncing as she giggled uncontrollably. She held a pair of red tinted glasses aloft in her hands, and she was soon followed by a very angry lalafell that came chasing after her.

“INGA. Give those back! I swear, if you don’t drop them right now...” Momori growled at the girl, who scampered up a tree laughing. 

It was at that moment that Momori noticed the company’s presence, and immediately shifted to her professional composure.

“Hello. Ahem. Thanks for coming today. Nice weather we’re having.”

Lumarto kept his eyes on Inga as she ran off, clearly used to it. "Dreary, but aye." he said, glancing back to Momori.

A ripple of agreement moved through the group. 

The lalafell wasted no time and began to explain the situation at hand. Red Argos had been seen in the Shroud. Two Honey Yard workers have disappeared and a local madman claimed he was the next to go. When there was noise among the group in favor of paying this supposed madman a visit, Momori made it clear she thought that lead was a waste of time. It was a strange situation, to be sure. But the authorities had said that Ser Stone, as that was his name, had a history of grand delusions. 

"Well, if he's not what you want to pursue, who then?" Muneshige gruffly asked. 

The Raen swordsman made a few of their company nervous. He was loud, brash and always seemed to be itching for a fight. There was little doubt that if there came even the slightest whiff of the possibility of violence during this endeavor, he’d charge at it like a bull at the sight of the color red. 

"Two other leads. Could ask workers at the Honey Yard, see if they know where Argos is hiding this time. Or even Little Solace. I am aware the pirates are....somewhere, in the Sylphlands, though exactly where is uncertain." Momori explained. 

"Sylphlands..." He repeated, seemingly mystified by the name. 

Zorah shook her umbrella a bit, closing it up as the rain finally stopped. "I like the Sylphs.  Cute little creatures."

"Creatures? Are they...native to this wood?" Muneshige was definitely curious now.

Aislinn weighed the options, considering which one would bring them in contact with the pirates the quickest. Because, ultimately, it was the pirates she was after. "Aye, and if we know the pirates are in their lands, I say we go there."

"Whatever you choose, I will be tagging along....virtually, of course.” Momori produced a handful of the modified linkpearls and passed them out among the group, explaining to those who had yet to see the devices how they worked. “For the unaware, aside from normal linkpearl functions, this device captures data about an image and aetheric levels at the time of taking it. Press the button on its side to snap a photo. It’ll save the last one you take.”

With that done, she dove into debriefing the crew on what she had learned from the information they had collected during their last endeavor. She paused in particular on the matter of the Allagan artifact, the Helm. 

“Now, the artifact. The Helm. It’s not so useless after all! The crystal at the center of the artifact has unlocked its capabilities. Unfortunately, the snapshot Lumarto took has too much noise in it. If you could get a photo of just the crystal at the center, before the ritual has happened, I would better be able to pinpoint what it’s composed of.” she said with a look to the miqo’te. 

"Something that strong and heavy with aether wouldn't be so easy to approach just like that... depending on who has it, at least..." Luma said, scratching his head as he tried to make heads or tails of even the realistic nature of such a request.

He wasn’t wrong. What Momori was asking simply wasn’t feasible. 

Aware of this fact, Aislinn shifted a wry glance to Lumarto as he stood next to her. "Ask if you can get a close-up shot next time. I'm sure they won't mind." she said, all but deadpan.

Lumarto glanced at her and scoffed. 

“I believe in you.” Momori returned. Also deadpan.

Aislinn shook her head at the lalafell. 

From there the talk devolved into more discussion as to the origins of the Helm, the artifact’s history and it’s possible purpose. 

"Do we think the elements surrounding that in the center correlate with the brands we found?" Lumarto asked, glancing back at Inga in the trees before rubbing at the burn on his hand. "If so, there may be more missing that answer the puzzle."

Momori nodded at Luma. “This one carries the brain cell, I see. Yes, the brands, the artifact, the core...they’re all linked, somehow.”

Thankfully, the rest of them refused to rise to the bait. Zorah bit her tongue while it took a considerable amount of self-control on Aislinn’s part not to roll her eyes. Hard. 

“We use our scant resources wisely.” Rolanda quipped. 

The lalafell flipped to a different page in her journal, where she had sketched two marks. One shows the sigil of fire, and the other, earth. Both are surrounded by six wings.

“The mark of fire was found burned into a skeleton’s wrist. The mark of earth, currently found on young Inga. Both recovered from Red Argos’s old campgrounds.” Momori glanced at Inga, the young midlander girl who was busy climbing in the treehouse.

Zorah looked toward Inga, "Is she going to be buried alive? Is that the hint?"

"Haha, who knows? Not us, not yet." Momori smiled.

Zorah blinked, ears flattening.  "Well, hopefully we'll prevent that."

"As for the rest, let me be brief. I showed the Yellow Jackets Aislinn’s photo. The one she took of Aiswyda’s evil twin. No dice. Perhaps if we found more evidence..."

Aislinn compressed her lips together at the mention of the intractable Yellow Jackets.

"Now, I leave you to your work..." Momori said, sending them off.

The group traveled through the Shroud, the journey blessedly uneventful, until they arrived at the small camp at the very edge of the Sylphlands. Little Solace. There were sylphs galore and none of them seemed particularly concerned or alarmed. At least here, all was well. 

Muneshige was taken aback, really, the forest of the Black Shroud was nothing like he'd ever seen out east, and the mystical aesthetic of Little Solace and its small population briefly captivated him. But only for a moment, for he was already looking around for signs of strong opponents, "Well, this is quite a location..."

Two slyphs by the red tent were deep in gossip. Others flutter about, warming their cabbage bodies by the campfire.

Zorah clapped her hands together as the band arrived. "Look how cute they are." She spoke quietly, reaching for her chocobo’s reins.

"First order of business was to gather information, yeah? These gossipy little creatures are sure to have heard a word or two in the forest." Lumarto said, getting down to business. 

Aislinn tucked her gemstone into her pouch as the carbuncle dissipated. Looking around, she noted the general air of calm around the camp. "Don't seem to be too agitated. But aye, we should probably ask around. See if they've heard anything." she said in agreement with Luma.

Zorah had dismounted and now nodded, stepping forward, "Oh most likely.  Let's go talk to those ones." She gestured to the sylphs near the red tent.

As the Company approached, they overheard snatches of conversation. Giants. Gunfire. Komuxio’s secret sauce. Nosey outlanders. They turn towards the group, now aware of their presence.

"Hm. I'll let you handle the talking." Muneshige huffed. 

Zorah smiled, bowing her head to the two talkative Sylphs.  "Hello! Might we inquire further about this gunfire?"

Aislinn raised a hand in greeting from just behind Zorah’s shoulder. 

The sylph on the right crossed her arms. “Walking ones ask with much rudeness! This one prefers more polite company.”

"Polite or humorous? If I recall, you and yours prefer outlanders with hilarity to offer?" Lumarto said to the sylph in question.

Zorah’s ears flattened, the smile disappearing.  "I do apologize," She spoke quickly, heat rising in her cheeks, letting Luma continue.

The slyph nodded eagerly at Lumarto. He seemed to have struck a chord.

Aislinn dropped her head. "Dancing. I bet it's dancing." she said under her breath.

Lumarto shuddered at the thought. "Dancing..." Luma said. He began doing his best impression of a dance he would do for his son Rohmio; ignoring the embarrassment.

Rolanda quickly joined in with a dance of her own. Aislinn watched the two for a moment before she inhaled a breath and steeled herself. It wasn’t that she couldn’t dance. She could. Very well. But it was rarely something she had done in the presence of others. But, dancing it would be. She joined in and like Lumarto, tried to ignore the embarrassment. 

The slyph clapped her hands together excitedly. “Walking ones have pretty dances! What about those two?” She looked at Zorah and Muneshige who still had not joined the dance. 

Muneshige was not going to dance. In fact, he began to distance himself. He didn’t want to be seen with these weirdos.

Lumarto tried staring over at Zhora amidst his dancing. "Hurry and dance so we can stop being in this ridiculous state..." Luma muttered, clearly at his edge.

Zorah shook her head and hurriedly joined the trio.  

The slyph seemed appeased by the dancing. “Hehe, such moves. What can this one do for you?”

Aislinn stopped almost immediately, her cheeks aflame. "Oh, thank the Twelve."

Lumarto stopped dancing, and cleared his throat. "We were hoping you had some more information about that gunfire you heard? We're looking for... bad... outlanders?... Metal machinery, pirates, etcetera..." Luma said, questioning the sylph.

The slyph nodded. “This one has seen the green giants and their small, gun-bearing mascots. This one mostly stays out of the Sylphlands, but has an idea of the direction that they went.”

Rolanda noticed everyone had stopped dancing and stopped as well. "That was surprisingly fun."

Lumarto nodded to them, opening up a small journal and jotting down the Sylph's words. "And where did they go? Further northeast?"

Aislinn touched the back of a gloved hand to one heated cheek and then the other, listening intently to the exchange.

The sylph nodded again. “This one heard a big wind fly overhead, northeast. And then saw many of them enter and exit the Sylphlands.” The other slyph interjected. “And /this one/ saw a big group of them split from the rest! Deeper into the woods!”

The miqo’te nodded to them both, smiling lightly. He added the notes to his journal. "So two groups? Do you know where those groups might be now?" Lumarto asked.

"The ones that split away...perhaps they did so to start another ritual. Much like last time." Aislinn hummed in thought. 

Lumarto nodded to the woman’s train of thought, agreeing with her.

Despite distancing himself, Muneshige still listened in on the information. If all else failed, he could just follow the group. The rumor about many somethings and a big creature...that sounded like it could be fun. Hopefully.

The two slyphs looked at each other, and then looked to the party. “This one...is uncertain. But this one can lead walking ones to where the split happened."

"Please if you wouldn't mind, you're being such a great help right now. I'll be sure to return by to repay the favour." Lumarto said, closing his journal and stashing it away.

One of the sylphs, the braver one by the looks of it, nodded. It fluttered ahead and beckoned for the party to follow. The other stayed behind.

As they ventured deeper into the Sylphlands, they all felt the air grow thicker. It was as if there were sparks in every breath. The slyph carefully helped the party avoid any monsters and patrols, and finally came to a halt at an intersection. “This one last saw the outlanders here. This one...is scared.” It looked left and right, and then fluttered back to the safety of Little Solace.

Aislinn turned and looked off to where the little slyph had left a trail of dust in their wake in their haste to return to Solace. "Well, then." she scanned the forest around them, keeping a careful eye out.

There were clearly two paths. One that headed further north, and another that headed east. Nothing but lush, deep forest surrounded the band, and all around them were the ominous sounds of aggressive wildlife and giggling sylphs, touched by Levin.

Lumarto made sure to thank the Sylph for its help before pressing against the pearl attached to his collar. "We followed a helpful sylph to where they last saw the potential pirates or garleans; basically, we have a lead. Two paths ahead of us with the differing states.” he reported to Momori. 

Muneshige glanced down each path, the giggling more or less an irritant, "Well, pick a path. I've half a mind to just start cutting things down."

Somehow that came as no surprise to Aislinn. 

A crackle. Momori’s voice came through. “I’m unfamiliar with the Sylphlands. Perhaps scout the area, or split the party?”

"Splitting sounds best, we can cover more ground and ease the search." Lumarto said, looking to the group for agreement; or for any issues.

"So who wants to interrupt a ritual and who wants to chase an airship?" Aislinn asked with a measure of black humor.

After some discussion it was decided. Khora, Muneshige, Zorah and Aislinn would track the airship while Lumarto and Rolanda would follow the pirates that had traveled north, further into the wood. 

"Sounds good. Lumarot, we must be cautious, we won't have much backup." Rolanda told the miqo’te. 

"Last time we encountered the airship it was chalk full of Pirates and Garleans, Muneshige. So you'll have your hands full." Lumarto informed the Raen. Most likely in a bid to advocate caution. 

Muneshige nodded, "Finally, something of actual interest."

Aislinn glanced between Lumarto and Muneshige "Or....we could maybe not? Maybe reconnaissance first."

"-You- can do your recon. I'm not here to sit around." Muneshige returned loftily. 

It had been worth a shot. 

"Considering what you found back then, talking first is better if she's there." Lumarto said to Aislinn, offering a rather concerned look.

Aislinn returned the look and with that, the parties split, each following their own leads. Rolanda and Lumarto disappeared into the dark of the deeper forest heading north while the rest made their way east. 

Lumarto held his hand to his collar, speaking with the group, his voice crackling over the linkpearl. "Remember, we need to take a picture with the device if we come across anything. Considering our numbers now, we should get a lot of evidence." He paused. "...Someone should probably take Muneshige's before he breaks it..."

Aislinn gave a derisive snort.

Zorah looked toward Mune, holding her hand out.  "Hand it over."

Muneshige made no effort to keep the device to himself, and tossed it towards Zorah. "Take it. I've no interest in these...devices."

The Ritual 

As Rolanda and Lumarto headed north, they could hear....footsteps through the undergrowth. Up ahead they could see a large patrol of pirate seawolves, transporting a large, covered cart. It was in that moment, the worst possible time, that Rolanda stepped on a stick. The pirates all looked towards the source of the sound.

Lumarto immediately held Rolanda back some, pulling her behind a nearby piece of lumber to hide their bodies from the nearby patrol. "Be careful next time... there are all sorts of natural traps like that lying around..." Luma said, catching a breath before letting out a soft sigh. "We're hidden, but we can't see much from here."

"I am normally quite agile, I do apologize. I will be quite careful. We need to get into a better position if we're to have any hope of discovering something useful." Rolanda whispered. 

Lumarto nodded, peeking around the lumber and trying to best decide about their next choice of action.

The pirates muttered among themselves, unnerved. But they continued to travel north, lugging their heavy cargo close behind. For a moment, both Rolanda and Lumarto seemed to catch sight of something strange. Did something under the carriage's cloth covering just move?

"Good gravy that looked like a person in there! Let's follow them and see if we can stop this." she hissed. 

"Follow them /carefully/" Luma added to Rolanda, choosing to stick to areas with cover as they tried to get a better look; or discern if their hunches were correct about the cart.

Rolanda glared at Luma's back as she creeps forward. "CAREFULLY!" she whispered to herself. She followed along a few paces behind the miqo’te. 

As the two trail the cart without being noticed, they could overhear bits of idle chit chat exchanged between the pirates. “Don’t know why we go through all this trouble, finding special folk...but if Kurr says it's worth it, then it must be so.”

"So this answers the question of the contents... they are probably the source of kidnappings too..." Lumarto whispered over to Rolanda, "I don't know if they are more patrols up ahead, but if we both take one we can probably save a few souls... or just wait it out and find out more... I'd rather save a life if I could." 

"Agreed. We have an opportunity to possibly save someone here, I think we need to take it. If we must flee afterwards, so be it. Perhaps we can be quiet and avoid alerting the others." Rolanda replied. 

After a moment’s consideration, Lumarto turned to the Au Ra. "We can't just sneak and get them out... and there are only those two pirates... we need to act now before they meet up with more." he said, readying his rapier before pulling out a small focus by his hip. "What do you say?"

"I can start by loosing an arrow at the guards from cover, and you can move in and take them by surprise while they are distracted. What do you think?" Rolanda suggested. 

"I think that sounds like a good enough idea, so let's go with that." Lumarto said, facing the group. "Shoot. I'll come from behind." he added, already breaking away from Rolanda as now was the time to act, not talk.

Rolanda drew a deadly looking arrow and nocked it silently. With a nod to Lumarto, she pulled back on the bowstring. She took a deep breath, and loosed an arrow at the first guard, quickly moving to draw a second to mop up whatever remains.

Lumarto approached from behind, dashing forward as Rolanda fired. His rapier impaled the distracted pirate from behind. 

The element of surprise was on the pair’s side. Rolanda’s arrow pinned the pirate to the ground, while Luma’s thrust hit true. They weren’t dead, but they were pinned to the ground by the blows. “Aye! Leviathan’s scaly arse!”

Before they were given a chance to call for aid or make more noise; Lumarto held his focus to the butt of his rapier and hurled a rough rock to both heads of the pirates to knock them out cold. The effort saw to it that both of the pirates were knocked out cold. 

"That's that." Luma said, sighing some as he sheathed his rapier before quickly hopping atop the cart. "Lets see here.." he carefully took hold of the ends of the tarp before lifting it slowly to the side. 

Underneath the tarp were two hyur, their arms and legs bound. Both had a sack over their heads, and feebly struggled against their bindings. As clear as daylight, a brand on each of their wrists. Purple, and the symbol of lightning etched in the center.

He stared at the two in the cart, carefully taking the sacks off their heads to let them get adjusted to the light before offering a sigh of relief. "We're here to help, hold on." he explained, taking a knife from his belt and cutting one hyur's bindings off; moving onto the next after the first had been freed.

"I can take these hyur to safety if you can help me carry them to the edge of the camp. My whale should easily be able to hold us all" Rolanda said as she shouldered her bow. 

Lumarto nodded to Rolanda, then glanced back at the hyurs. "That would help, but we gotta be careful still." he said as he checked the two over.

The two hyur flopped around, as if struggling on instinct. But they seemed to be in a trance of some sort, violet eyes aglow. One of them muttered vacantly... “She calls for us...Our lady.”

"This doesn't look good. I doubt we will be able to keep them quiet" Rolanda murmured. 

Lumarto nodded. "I'm not about to cover their heads again with the sack, but we have to try our best to get them away from here at least... This kind of trance is not going to go away immediately; especially in this highly aetheric area." he said, carefully taking one of them and carrying them on his back. "Try your best to carry them, if we struggle you go and fetch your whale and I'll wait for you."

Rolanda did as he said and carefully lifted the other hyur over her shoulders. "Let's get out of here."

As they made their escape they could hear the faint sounds of fighting and gunfire in the distance. It sounded as if the other party had run up against Red Argos in a bad way. 

And indeed they had. While Lumarto and Rolanda were freeing the victims they had found from the clutches of the pirates, the party of four had tracked the airship headed east, and had managed to hide just as they came upon a small patrol of garleans and pirates making their rounds. 

From their hiding spot, Aislinn peered further into the forest. Patrols appeared to be staggered all along the route ahead. She could see bodies moving between the ancient trees. 

"Suppose the airship lies that-a-way." she said quietly before looking back towards the others. "If we stay to the shadows we should be able to get closer. If we're quiet." she added, eyeing Muneshige like he was a loose cannon.

For his part, Khora made every effort to remain quiet upon Aislinn's recommendation.  "If there is anything one should know about me, it's that I'm am not very discrete."  He admitted before quickly following Aislinn’s glance toward Muneshige. "Yeah we're screwed..."

She inhaled a breath. Was the quiet and subtle way even worth it? "Or...some of us could cause a distraction while the others slip through?" she suggested.

The Raen of course, cared not for stealth. He stood from the grass and began walking towards the thick of it, utterly unafraid of the sheer number of soldiers. He drew his blade and stuck it into the ground, "Hey hey HEY! What's goin' on here?!" He -bellowed-, throwing away all subtlety, "Looks like there's a party here, and I wasn't invited?!" 

"Gods." Aislinn hung her head and wiped a hand over her face in utter exasperation. “Right. Guess we're going with option #2.”

From her hiding place next to Aislinn, Zorah's ears flattened.  "It's always an Au ra...." She muttered, shaking her head.

The ink upon Khora’s arms began to burn a bright orange, and with a flick of his wrist, so did the steel of his blade.  "And here we go!" The Miqo'te yelled at the top of his lungs while lunging forward.

The patrol turned to look at Muneshige and Khora, before exchanging bewildered looks. Who were these random guys, challenging them to battle? It was suspicious, either way. The two dressed in Garlean blacks drew their guns, while a seawolf pirate drew a rapier. The last pirate hung in the back, making a call on a peculiar black linkpearl.

Aislinn resolutely stayed where she was, low to the ground, hiding. If the Raen wanted to call down every garlean and pirate in the area, she wasn't going to stop him. She was, however, going to wait for her window of opportunity. Idiot. 

"Alright, let's get to business! Akaitaiyo thirsts for blood!" Muneshige yanked the sword from the ground and charged in with Khora, finally something interesting was happening!

The garleans fired off their guns at Muneshige, while the pirate dashed towards Khora, rapier drawn.

Muneshige charged -directly- towards the closest gunner he could find, apparently caring not if he got shot, winding back his blade and swinging wide and hard, with enough force to cleave through bone. The bullets simply glance off what little armor he wore, causing minor bleeding in his side.

Deft was perhaps the wrong word in which to define Khora’s movements.  He still needed work on his up-front-and-personal skills.  The pirate's ability with the rapier caused Khora to stumble back and nice little poke upon his left arm.

As the scuffle began in earnest, Aislinn took advantage of the chaos to nod at Zorah and moved low through the undergrowth, maneuvering further into the wood. The Seeker nodded and followed behind her, keeping low to the ground.

With the help of the boys’ distraction, Aislinn and Zorah made it past the occupied patrols and soon found themselves deeper into the woods. They found a place to hide, which overlooked a /large/ gathering of garleans and pirates. Below, next to the grounded airship were also two elezen with their heads covered, surrounded by several open crates of ...flower petals?

Zorah looked down at the gathering, slowly taking in the scene before her.  Seeing the crates of flower petals, at least she hoped that was what they were, she immediately had the urge to jump in them. She kept her composure, however, ears flickering as she listened around her.  It was then that she finally noticed the two that looked like possible prisoners and glanced questioningly at Aislinn.

The highlander leaned forward, peering down at the gathering with a flummoxed expression. Flower petals? "The brands we've seen have petals but...I assumed it was symbolic." she murmured to Zorah. Aiming her aetheric linkpearl at the gathering, she snapped a picture and continued observing the activity below.

One of the Garleans put his hand to his ear, and afterward, directed a large patrol of pirates and men away from the camp. The ones that stayed behind quickly begin to usher one of the prisoners onto the ship. They seemed to be making preparations for a quick liftoff.

Zorah leaned forward, ready to push herself off the ground as the group left.  "Now, we can get in and out quickly between the two of us."

Aislinn eyed the activity below. "Nymeia's Blood." she cursed, under her breath. Pressing the linkpearl she attempted to alert Khora. "There are a lot more headed your way." she said before nodding to Zorah. "Let's go."

Disturbingly, there was no reply forthcoming to her warning. She tried not to think of why that might be as she and Zorah slid down the overlook and snuck towards the airship. But Zorah clearly thought the same, as she kept glancing back towards where they had left Khora and Muneshige, trying not to feel sick to her stomach. 

It was then that they heard the explosions. They came from the direction of the fight. Aislinn turned toward the sound in alarm. Glancing towards Zorah, she hesitated. Torn. The dogged part of her wanted to press on. It hadn’t been her decision to charge the bloody patrols, after all. Damn it all. She gritted her teeth and continued on, sneaking into the camp, and headed straight for the crate of flower petals. Zorah’s ears flicked as if they were on swivels, listening to every little sound as the two crept close to the crates. 

From their vantage point they could see that Red Argos had moved one of the prisoners onto the ramp of the airship, but the prisoner was putting up quite the fight, and distracting the remaining gunners. The other remained by the flowers, sobbing silently.

Zorah had grabbed one of the crates, pausing as she heard the sobbing close by.  She felt and overwhelming need to return to the fight immediately, but she couldn't just leave this one here.  She glanced toward Aislinn as she set the crate down, reaching for the hood over the prisoner's head, ready to shush him before he'd give away their presence.

The hooded elezen turned towards the sound of shushing, but he couldn’t see anything due to the bag over his head. Meanwhile, they could hear the angry yells, echoing throughout the airship, and heard a few words. “Hurry...Just go...We’ll find more...It’s about to begin!”

Those words sounded like they were out of time. The smart thing to do would be to take some of the petals and go. But Aislinn found she just...couldn’t. She gave a sharp shake of her head and reached out, grabbing the hooded victim by the wrist. "Please. Listen. Stay quiet and come with us. We can get you out of here." she whispered hurriedly.

Zorah took only a handful of petals, and then helped the prisoner up to his feet.

The victim allowed himself to be dragged to somewhere hidden, and not one second later, four gunners dashed out of the ship. Upon seeing that the other prisoner is no longer by the crates, they let out a string of curses, and instead busy themselves by moving the crates of flowers onto the ship. The ship flickered, rose into the air and then disappeared, the cloaking enabled. A strong gust of wind, and they were gone…

From their hiding spot, Aislinn watches the ship flicker and disappear. She lets go a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. That was close.

Zorah glanced back as the airship disappeared, pressing her lips together before turning back to Aislinn and their one rescued prisoner.  "We need to check on the guys." She spoke quietly.

Aislinn looked to Zorah and nodded. "Go. I'll help this one and follow as soon as I can." she said, reaching up to undo the hood that still blinded the elezen.

Zorah nodded and without wasting a moment she raced back toward where the fighting had been, "Khora?!" She yelled out as she ran, looking through the disheveled earth they had been fighting on. Her ears flickered slightly, hearing familiar voices and following them until she eventually came upon Muneshige and Khora.  "What the hells..." Zorah growled. 

Both of the men looked worse for wear but Khora clearly took the brunt of the fighting. He lay in the grass, clutching his side and bleeding from a number of rapier cuts. 

"Don't worry too much, he's alive. Might not have made it if I hadn't ran back here with him, had a whole firing squad on our tails." Muneshige smirked up at the woman from his spot next to Khora, "Can't say I've been shot this many times."

Zorah’s ears flattened at Muneshige’s words, as she knelt between them.  One hand came to lay on Khora gently while she looked over the Au ra's own body.  "Well, you can say that now, I suppose." she shook her head with a sigh, "We need to get you both to the medics.  Those bullets need to come out of you." Zorah turned to Khora, pressing her lips together.  "Are you -trying- to die?" 

Khora struggled to raise his arm, trembling as it extended upward to give a thumbs up.  "I'm okay!"  There was an obvious strain in his voice.

This elicited a grin from Zorah and she rolled her eyes at his comment.  "Yeah, you look like shit, actually."

Khora trembled amidst a weak bout of laughter.  "Yeah, well I feel like shit."  Blood ran down his arm and soaked at the cloth of his outfit from the stab wounds.

It was then that Momori’s voice crackled over the linkpearls. "Lumarto. What's your status?"

"We stopped a cart from hauling two Hyur prisoners further into the Sylphlands and are currently carrying them back to the entrance." Luma said, the effort in his voice lending credence to his words. "They seem to be in a trance; violet eyes, lightning brand on their wrist, probably because of the lightning aspect in these woods." He continued, glancing at his side where Rolanda was holding her own as they just made it to Little Solace.

“A brand and violet eyes....?” There was a long pause from Momori’s side. “Like Inga.”

"Inga has amber eyes, do you think their eye color is related to their aspect?" He added. He was muddled with thoughts and kept trying to figure out the links; he had his own side mission in all of this after all.

Momori. Aislinn. Lumarto. It seemed each of them had their own goals in all of this. 

“She has the mark of earth. Perhaps...” Momori was cut off as everyone in the area around the Sylphlands found themselves caught in a sudden and violent earthquake! 

The tremors tore at the earth, pulling ancient trees upward in the shifting topography. As if that wasn’t enough, a foul wind picked up, whipping through the dark forest. One dripping with lightning.

Rolanda and Lumarto stumbled in their race to safety. 

Muneshige jolted as the earth beneath him suddenly heaved, his pain now twofold with all the shaking, "GRAGGH! Kami forfend what is this?!" The wind picked up, and the sound of thunder followed, "Is this some kind of calamity...?" He couldn't tell what was going on now, what was happening?

Zorah quickly knelt to the ground as the earth shook. "I ... I don't think so.."

Further east, Aislinn and the elezen man were taken by surprise. "Seven hells!" 

Aislinn’s first instinct was to hit the ground but the groaning and cracking of the ancient trees around her quickly divested her of that idea. Instead she reached into her pack and tossed her battered gemstone in the air. When her carbuncle popped into existence, she wasted no time explaining and simply pulled the elezen onto it after her and took to the air.

The two victims Lumarto and Rolanda had saved began to twitch violently, bodies contracting in an unnatural manner. They screamed to be returned! For an end of suffering! Something...was released from them. A torrent of lightning aether flew out from each of them and shot to the north. And afterwards - they went limp. They breathed, but they may as well have been dolls. 

Lumarto had held tightly onto the Hyur. The spastic shuddering and screams caused his ears to sharply curl, paining him to hear the shrieks. The high concentration of aether sent a tingling sensation up his back before he felt the body grow limp. He worried immediately for their well being before hearing their breath. "We have to hurry, I don't like the sound of this!" Luma exclaimed, trying to set a faster pace for Hawthorn Hut. 

After what seemed to be forever, the earthquake finally stilled. A tense calm returned to the forest, and all the parties had time to catch their breath. But, to the aetherically sensitive, they could feel that the land had changed. Scars that were felt but unseen.

Aislinn tried not to focus on it at the moment, instead steering her carbuncle towards the safety of Hawthorn Hut to deposit her passenger and ask if it would be alright if she returned later to ask him some questions.

Understandably, the elezen seemed extremely shaken. As she landed just outside the main building of the outpost, he dismounted and fell to his knees almost immediately.  But he nodded in reply to her request. “Of course, my lady...my savior.” He looked incredibly grateful, but sad as Aislinn helped him to his feet and guided him into the safety of the hut and one of the waiting beds. “...they took my sister. Since you saved me, perhaps on your travels you might...?”

Aislinn looked up, her eyes meeting Lumarto’s as she sat the elezen down. The miqo’te stood his own vigil over two unresponsive bodies lying in their own beds.  "Another one?..." Lumarto said, clearly looking troubled as he glanced at the two Hyur. "The two I saved are speechless after that quake..."

The elezen's words left Aislinn with a stricken expression. His sister. She could only imagine what she would do if something like that had happened to Ren. Her recent bouts of flaring temper would be nothing in comparison. A quaint tempest in a teapot. 

She shook her head. "I...yes. Yes, of course. We're..." she tried to order her thoughts and reminded herself she needn’t put herself so far in the man’s shoes. "The Company I work for. We're tracking these pirates. I will try my best to find your sister." she said, softening the edges from her voice. "For now...try to rest. I'll visit you and we can talk more later."

“Sorry, I was interrupted by another quake...The others dropped off their pearls at the company. What is your location?” Momori came through on the pearl.

"Hawthorne Hut, we managed to rescue three of the four prisoners; an elezen and two hyurs. We're just leaving them with the menders here for safekeeping at the moment." Luma replied before looking over to the Elezen in the bed who could speak. "We'll come back later like Aislinn said... for now rest, we'll try and get everything sorted out."

In the middle of everything, Lumarto stepped back a bit to get both the Elezen and the two Hyurs in frame for a pearl capture; the Elezen sitting up and shaken while the two Hyurs remained motionless; their brands visible in the picture. "We have some pearls for you too, should deem helpful."

The elezen weakly nodded at Aislinn and Luma, but he showed the two of them his wrist. “They put my sister and I in some sort of...dream. I can’t describe it, but after I woke, I found this on my body.” A light teal marking, easy to make out on his dark skin. A symbol of ice, but markedly simpler than the others they had seen. No wings surround this one…

The highlander woman glanced down at the mark before passing Lumarto a meaningful look. It appeared they had some inkling as to where the pirates were headed next.

Lumarto nodded over to her in response, "Try and keep that hidden... we aren't sure its importance yet, but for now it may be a bad target on you." he said, reaching into his pocket and handing the man a small woven bracelet; blue fabric twisted into itself. "Wear this around your marked wrist, and just rest; when those other two wake just let them know to also rest and relax, either of us will return to check on you and make sure you're safe."

The elezen nodded, accepting the bracelet and winding it tightly around his wrist. “Yes, I...” He looked at the two sleeping hyur. ”I don’t know who they are, but I’ll take good care of them.”

With that, Aislinn and Lumarto gave the man parting words of comfort but once outside the hut, their troubled expressions returned. They didn’t need to put it into words. They each knew there was more trouble ahead. This whole thing would get worse before it, hopefully, got better. If they succeeded. If. 

#ffxiv rp #balmung rp #ffxiv crystal rp #Heartwood plots #Into the Tempest #momori mori #Lumarto Wetyios #Rolanda Deschain #Muneshige Hakuuchi #Aislinn North #Zorah Velaceras #khora velaceras

[khoravelaceras]

Where They Stand - Khora Velaceras

Bold for the main responses, italics for conditional/complicated

Not tagged by anyone but I saw it floating around and figured it’d be something to do.  Tagging @zorahshapa​ though because she is a giant nerd.  I’ll also send a tag to @pocketninja-ffxiv because she is a slightly smaller nerd.

PLACE IN SOCIETY

✖ FINANCIAL – wealthy  / moderate / poor / in poverty ✖ MEDICAL – fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / deceased ✖ CLASS OR CASTE – upper / lower / middle / working / unsure ✖ EDUCATION – qualified / unqualified / studying

FAMILY

✖ MARITAL STATUS – married, happily / married, unhappily / engaged  / partnered / divorced / widow or widower / separated / single / it’s complicated ✖ CHILDREN – has children / no children / wants children / adopted children ✖ FAMILY – close with siblings / not close with siblings / has no siblings / siblings are deceased / it’s complicated ✖ AFFILIATION – orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by both one parent / other

TRAITS & TENDENCIES

✖ disorganized / organized / in between ✖ close-minded / open-minded / in between ✖ cautious / reckless / in between ✖ patient / impatient / in between ✖ outspoken / reserved / in between ✖ leader / follower / in between ✖ sympathetic / unsympathetic / in between ✖ optimistic / pessimistic / in between ✖ hardworking / lazy / in between ✖ cultured / uncultured / in between ✖ loyal / disloyal / in between ✖ faithful / unfaithful / in between

SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION

✖ SEXUALITY – heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual / omnisexual / demisexual ✖ SEX – sex repulsed / sex neutral  / sex favorable ✖ ROMANCE – romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable ✖ SEXUALLY – sexually adventurous / sex experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious / uninterested

ABILITIES

✖ COMBAT SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ✖ LITERACY SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ✖ ARTISTIC SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ✖ TECHNICAL SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

#ffxiv #khora velaceras #balmung #zorah is a nerd

[zorahooc]

Khora and Zorah Velaceras

@khoravelaceras

#zorah shapa #miqo'te #ffxiv #Final Fantasy XIV #Final Fantasy 14 #ff14

[darthsuki]

Miqo Atsume

Top: Zorah Shapa

Bottom: Khora Velaceras

Commissioned by @zorahooc

Commission Info | See more Cattes™

#miqo atsume #miqo atsume art #ffxiv #every time i draw another cat #i love them all more

[drunkdungeoneers-ffxiv]

Hanging on one of the dojo walls, a ranking board detailing the win-loss ratio of every company employee that has sparred in the room, ordered alphabetically by first name. The board is updated after each spar. The employee with the best win rating holds the title of Company Champion; the title means nothing except bragging rights.

Dojo Rankings (Season I)

Closed

Everschade Bracket (41 matches or more)

• Champion: Kyojin Borlaaq

Kyojin Borlaaq: 48-40 (0.54)

_________________________________

Sapling Bracket (40 to 6 matches)

• Champion: Robin Belmont

Anhe Dulain: 8-2 (0.80) Aurina Hayle: 4-2 (0.66) Charging Thunder: 10-5 (0.66) Dalanoth Ithiel: 6-11 (0.35) Fiona Delaine: 6-4 (0.60) Fumio Aogane: 6-2 (0.75) Kairi Autumnlight: 1-5 (0.16) Kersch Schwarzer: 2-4 (0.33) Kundek Qerel: 13-19 (0.40) L’alor Nunh: 15-16 (0.48) L’eyline Talyn: 19-12 (0.61) Maho Datura: 3-3 (0.50) Nuellea Solainteau: 7-6 (0.53) Robin Belmont: 9-2 (0.82) Syn’thiel Lyrin: 11-8 (0.57) Zihji’li Nhikna: 4-7 (0.36)

____________________________________

Sprout Bracket (5 matches or less)

• No champions among Saplings

A’rihnn Worldstrider: 1-0 (1.00) Accendie Redsteele: 3-2 (0.60) Adlai Mishra: 1-4 (0.20) Anri Molkoh: 0-3 (0.00) Bragi Odinson: 0-1 (0.00) Cicielle Cielle: 1-1 (0.50) Cirina Malaguld: 0-1 (0.00) Constantine Rhade: 3-2 (0.60) Connor Kinnison: 0-1 (0.00) Defiant Bride: 0-1 (0.00) Deitrala de Verglace: 1-0 (1.00) Drith Buduga: 1-0 (1.00) Erah’sae Zhwan: 0-3 (0.00) Ethalrin Dawnblade: 2-1 (0.66) Ibakha Qalli: 1-1 (0.50) Ingkko Nalgi: 0-1 (0.00) Junvyr: 1-3 (0.25) Kattyne Aeris: 1-3 (0.25) Khora Velaceras: 0-1 (0.00) Khulgana Borlaaq: 0-1 (0.00) Krie Arda: 1-1 (0.50) L’kahlee Rahm: 2-3 (0.40) Laplace Daemon: 1-0 (1.00) Lyuri Felnica: 2-2 (0.50) Meziene Zujier: 1-0 (1.00) Nelani Nunne: 0-1 (0.00) Orin Kai: 0-2 (0.00) Orion Llewelyn: 0-1 (0.00) Paradyme Capellago: 2-3 (0.4) Qarabolor Kagon: 2-1 (0.66) Qaranai Dotharl: 1-0 (1.00) Quiet Gale: 0-3 (0.00) Ryuka Yumitori: 1-1 (0.50) Teixilea Kagon: 0-1 (0.00) Theodora Zural: 3-0 (1.00) Theon: 1-1 (0.50) Tristan Wyke: 1-1 (0.50) Tsukiko Tanshi: 1-0 (1.00) Wyra Sibimet: 0-2 (0.00) Zhuzhuli Zhuli: 3-2 (0.60) Zihji’a Nhikna: 1-4 (0.20) Zihji’to Nhikna: 0-1 (0.00) Zorah Shapa: 0-1 (0.00)

#dojo rankings

[heartwoodventures]

A tour of the newly remodeled Heartwood House! Including our statement making front entrance, cozy bar area, rejuvenating garden, medical clinic, library and training room! After a hard day’s work this is where the Company members come to wind down and/or get stitched up.

#ffxiv rp #heartwood ventures #FFXIV Screenshots #ffxiv housing #balmung rp #we work hard and play harder #our designers are amazing! #Crific Storm #Zorah Velaceras #N'yami Synch #G'lewra Ajra #Aislinn North

[heartwoodventures]

If You Go Down to the Woods Today Pt. 2

Part 1 here!

In the utter silence of the forest glen Zorah's whisper seemed unnaturally loud. Several of their number craned their necks up to peer high above them. Nazyl slowly released his blade from its holster. Bird, demon, or whatever it was, he was ready for it. Aislinn slid a hand up to the grip of her gun and tensely waited, all the while stepping back to the relative shelter of the trees.

The group didn’t have to wait long. The sound of beating wings grew loud, and louder -- the closer it got, the easier it was to pick out a sort of ungainly, awkward gait to the flapping as though the creature was struggling -- the silence around them was abruptly shattered as something massive crashed through the canopy, and came in straight for the forest floor!

The three on the front-lines managed to scramble out of the way *just* in time; though no one could escape the smell. The overpowering, sweetly rancid scent of rot rolled through the clearing as the creature righted itself. Nazyl kicked away from the creature, putting distance between him and it to get a good look at it while Zorah managed to have the grace to step back when the creature fell into their view, her hands at her sides forming the aetheric discs she relied on in combat. Though both were able to miss being hit, that putrid smell was unbearable, causing the miqo’te to silently gag and cover her nose and mouth with the back of her hand.

"Seven Hells." Aislinn coughed as both she and Vanriri scrambled backward, but there was no reprieve from the choking smell. It was almost a certainty that scent was going to find its way into the hyur’s nightmares.

A sharply beaked head lowered to screech indignantly at the party that had dodged it -- or perhaps it was lamenting its own clumsiness. Empty sockets stare balefully at the gathered adventurers as it reared back, unfurling a massive pair of leathery wings.

Aiswyda answered the creature’s eyeless gaze with a mixed look of disgust, shock, and confusion. “Is this the guy? Ugh, this chicken is far too large.” she took a moment to shake out her fists and then, “Care-to-enlighten-us-on-what-this-oversized-bird-is?” she managed to get those words out with lightning speed -- to the point where it could be misinterpreted as a very strange and drawn out battle cry. Without a moment to lose, she dashed ahead and aimed a punch right at the creature’s beak.

With its head extended from its screech, Aiswyda’s fist connected easily with the creature, crunching bone and softened cartilage. It squawked in protest and reared its eyeless head back, shaking it as though to recover from the impact.

"I've not fought maneh o' these....livin' or dead." Nazyl wrinkled his nose at the scent. Undead beast. Great. Necromancy at work. While it wasn't the worst thing he'd ever smelled, it wasn't exactly pleasant either. 

N'yami turned her head to the side and a small crack was heard from her neck, her carbuncle made a noise that sounded as if to argue with the Seeker, clearly she was about to do something stupid. "Someone has to make sure it doesn't fly away." 

Bolting towards the weird bird-like creature, N'yami jumped up to grab it around the neck then held on for dear life. She was attempting to grapple the massive pteranodon's neck, but as she leapt up to grab it, its partially rotted flesh sloughed away under her grasp, sending her tumbling back to the ground nearby. With a very nasty prize. She slopped down to the ground with some very unpleasant.....flesh on her. 

"Well....I've had worse on me I suppose." She shook her hands to try and rid herself of the gore.

Nazyl wretched at N’yami’s failed attempt to keep the ptero held down, "Try its wings first, it's a scalekin. Or was." He took his holy blade in both hands and leapt up at the unfurled wings, cutting down at the arm in an attempt to sever, or at least break it. What was this creature even doing way out here?

His blade sliced straight through the undead pteranodon's joint like butter, the severed edges turning to ash where the sword had struck. The limb itself collapsed to the forest floor nearly on top of N'yami as the undead abomination reeled backwards, dragging its bloated carcass with rather surprising agility. Nevertheless, one faulty flap of its remaining wing reveals it was almost certainly grounded.

N'yami watched as the wing almost fell on top of her. "That would've been unpleasant." She said while rolling and pushing herself up into a standing position again. She was met with a whack to the back of her head from her carbuncle, trying to get her friend’s head back in the game. "I know I know."

Aiswyda gagged as flesh and wing rained down right in front of her. She was just, so upset. The smell. The everything about this.

While the others got in their attacks, Aislinn spared a moment to pull a bandana from her hip pouch and hastily wrapped it over the lower half of her face. The smell of death and decay was making her stomach churn and she had no desire to spill her dinner all over the forest floor. Too embarrassing. That done, now it was down to business. She yanked the handgonne from the holster at her back and leveled it at the creature. With a head full of calculations, she aimed for one of the empty eye sockets and fired off a round, her back heel digging into the dirt from the kickback.

The pteranodon swung its long neck about to screech with seeming indignation at its missing limb just as Aislinn fired off her shot; though it doesn't catch the eye socket directly as she'd intended, it does glance across its already charred and softened beak where Aiswyda had struck it earlier, taking out a chunk of what charred flesh remained and shattering bone.

Meanwhile, Vanriri remained almost plastered back against the tree; she had the sense to pull the quarterstaff from her back, but her hands were shaking where she held it. Swallowing, she tightened her grip on the staff and charged recklessly into the melee, swinging her staff at the other wing's vulnerable joint. It was a good hit. Her staff cracked against the elbow with considerable force, but the impact was mitigated somewhat by the layers of leathery, undead flesh that squelched uncomfortably beneath the blow.

With sudden and surprising agility, missing limb or no, the pteranodon swung its bulbous bulk around, jabbing its sharply beaked head down at the two lalafell while its lengthy tail snaked out to trip up the miqo’tes.

With a dancer’s agility, Zorah flexed her fingers, the aetheric discs sparking as the aether rose in the air around her.  It trailed along her feet and hands as she stepped back, out of the pteranodon’s reach, turning and moving with graceful, deliberate steps that lead into her hurling both discs toward the creature. The brief glow of aether lights up the area as they criss-crossed into the creature both into him from front and back, returning to her hands.

For her own part, N’yami wasn't quite as quick enough to dodge the tail that came slamming down, with an 'oof' she was sent back to the ground where she was before. "This bastard." With a groan she pushed herself back up to dust her coat off of any fleshy slime.

The pteranodon's maw closed on Vanriri like a bird plucking up a particularly juicy morsel, its teeth slicing easily through her leather armour as it proceeded to fling her back and into a nearby tree. She hit the trunk and slid down, unconscious or stunned, her staff falling from her hands halfway between her and the hulking undead creature. Losing no time, it swung its head around to Nazyl to do much the same -- though thankfully his armour largely prevented it from getting a good grip on him, and instead it settled for the satisfying crunch.

No one had bargained on the thing being so fast with so much of its flesh missing, but they should have, considering how fast some skeletons can move. Aiswyda watched in alarm as Vanriri soared through the air on impact while Aislinn could only curse under her breath as the lalafell hit the tree with an unnerving ‘thunk’. Nazyl moved quickly to stand between Vanriri and the beast, settling into a protective stance. He didn't need to watch someone die today. There was little more they could do in the moment. It did, however, give them a sense of urgency. The faster they could down the beast, the better.

Aiswyda continued to focus her punches at the creature’s head. One, because she thought it would do more damage, and two, because she didn’t really want to have her fist sink into the bird’s mushy torso. Her flaming fists succeeded in collapsing part of the pteranodon's skull, its motion began to seem a little more sluggish as the fire charred its flesh and blackened bone.

Back on her feet now, N’yami turned to her summon. "Whackara, ya wanna go for a little ride?" 

The carbuncle flicked her tails and already knew what was coming, with an excited squeak the summon prepared herself as N'yami held Whack like a ball in her hand. "And....go!" And with that the carbuncle went flying right through the pteranodon's body. The carbuncle made a whistling noise as she flew and like a boomerang came back to the Seeker to smack into her face....while covered in rotting flesh. 

"I hate you." the miqo’te muttered. 

As the carbuncle returned to N'yami there didn't really seem to be any effect at first, save that the pteranodon shifted slightly and began winding up for another tail swipe at the group. Then its midsection began to expand slightly, a flicker of aetherial light glowing from the slices Zorah had carved in the bulk of its middle earlier. It screeched once more -- a sound that is abruptly cut off as an impact ripples through the clearing from inside the beast -- and promptly splattered everything and everyone within a 10 fulm radius with gore as the aetherial bomb Whackara had left behind exploded.

Nazyl prepared himself for the inevitable attack, digging his boots into the dirt and raising his shield....only to me showered in a mess of rotting flesh and viscera. Gross. He exhaled slowly, staring at the ground some in quiet contemplation, before beginning to wipe the gore from his person, "Twelve, could ye a have killed it without...explodin' it?"

As the creature wavered, Aislinn saw her chance and rushed to the fallen lalafell to make a hurried assessment of her condition. Just as she had knelt at Vanriri’s side, however, the undead exploded and Aislinn simply hung her head in resignation as she was splattered in gore and rotten flesh. Yet another coat, ruined.

"To be fair that wasn't my plan." The carbuncle moved to the top of N’yami's head, each little foot squished through the flesh stuck to her. "I blame, Whackara, that was all her."

Aiswyda had been knocked over by the meaty impact, hidden under piles of miscellaneous viscera. From where she lay silent prayers leaked from her lips.

"Uh huh, blame the construct." Nazyl dryly replied. 

Vanriri was roused by the sound of the explosion; and as Aislinn approached it was clear she had some wounds that would need tending, but she seemed to be shaking off the worst of her trip. At least until she was suddenly and unceremoniously splattered with viscera which left her gaping in speechlessness. 

Surprisingly unfazed by the shower of gore, the highlander’s hands began to move as though writing in the air just above the lalafell's torso. As the arcane equation takes shape, Aislinn can feel the gemstone bracelets under her gloves heat as they release their aether, dulling the pain and redirecting blood from the injury site. It was a patch, at best. All she could do. 

She took in Vanriri's speechless face. "Surprisingly not the first time we've left a job like this." she says by way of explanation. 

“WHACKARAAAaa!” Aiswyda called out. A fist rose from the meat pile, followed by the rest of the Sea Wolf. She was covered head to toe in things that thankfully remain undescribed.

Vanriri relaxed just slightly as Aislinn's healing aether stemmed the worst of the bleeding, though she couldn’t immediately tell what was her blood, and what was the pteranodon's.

"Hey lass, ye alright? Ye took quite a hit there." Nazyl asked as he turned to Vanriri with a grimace, still wiping himself down.

"Mhm!" she squeaked immediately. She did not look alright.

"Right. Yer gettin' medical attention eithah way, in case that thing had some nasteh disease. I'll likeleh need a look too..."

Her expression said everything she didn’t as she looked at Nazyl, horrified at the idea he had just put in her head.

"It doesn't feel great either." N’yami pulled on the front of her coat as if to try and keep the flesh off her skin that had slid down with Whackara. "Someone throw me in the river."

“Nymeia's Blood, that's a good idea.” Aislinn murmured. 

Aiswyda lifted a hand and observed it. The limb is covered completely, stained red. The Roegadyn let out a sigh so long that it seemed to physically deflate her. “A river, right. We’re all going to need a good hosing off. Again!” She shook her head. “Again!”

Vanriri scrambled unsteadily to her feet, doing her best to ...not look traumatized. She looked traumatized. This was her first rodeo, guys.

Nazyl smirked in amusement, "Ye new ta this? Careful, wait too long n' ye might become a zombeh yerself!" He laughed, shaking his head, "I jest. Though, ye could get some nasteh infections if we don't get those wounds cleaned."

Vanriri did not look mollified by Nazyl humour. ".....Oh dear."

Aislinn nodded in agreement with Nazyl. She gave Vanriri a gentle look. "Could be worse. Let's get you back to the Company house."

"I'm gonna go home and shower, someone let Ma know injured are headin' to the clinic." N’yami said, still shaking out her coat. 

"Y-you have a qualified chirurgeon?" the petite lalafell asked plaintively.

Aislinn did her best not to show her amusement at the question. "With a group like ours? Indeed we do."

"Welcome ta me world." Nazyl snorted. "I deal with this daileh."

“And you never get used to it, unless your name starts with Naz and ends with ‘yl.’” Aiswyda gave Vanriri a tired, but amused look.

"I was...perhaps unprepared for this eventuality." Vanriri said, trying not to sound as anxious as she felt.

Nazyl smiled, more warmly than before, "I don't think anehone expected a bloodeh scalekin zombeh out here in the woods. I'm curious as ta why it was here in the first place..." He glanced back at the fleshless corpse, "Mayhaps we can research that latah. Fer now though, we've succeeded, n' the Shroud can sleep easiah."

Aislinn nodded and gestured to Nazyl. "As he said." she looked around at the others. "I'm going to head back and let G'lewra know you're coming."

Vanriri cleared her throat, nodding. "I--indeed. I will report the, ...success of the hunt to the Wailers on our way through Buscarrons that they might clean ...this... up before someone stumbles..." She trailed off, spying bits and pieces of what was perhaps the pteranodon's last meal in amongst a nearby pile of gore. "..."

She quickly averted her gaze up to Aislinn. "Thank you."

Aislinn gave a single nod in reply.

“Shh. Don’t think about it too much.” Aiswyda groaned, and began to make her way out of the clearing. Presumably back to Heartwood. Their job was done. The beast slain. More gil for the Company coffers. The Shroud a measure safer for those who lived within its boundaries. And, most important of all, every one of them had managed to walk away at the end of the fight. There wasn’t any better proof of success than that.

#ffxiv #ffxiv rp #balmung rp #Heartwood plots #heartwood ventures #N'yami Synch #Zorah Velaceras #Aiswyda Nuthalwyn #Nazyl Tharazyl #Vanriri Vanri #Aislinn North #Explosions #carbuncle's fault

[heartwoodventures]

If You Go Down to the Woods Today Pt. 1

The latest posting pinned to Heartwood’s job board had seemed like any other. Something had been terrorizing the people around Buscarron’s Druthers. Some unfortunate soul would go missing only for their body to be found days later in the woods, bloody and broken. As the Company was inclined to do, they took on the job, assuring the Wood Wailers they could solve the problem. Honestly, to most of them it sounded like nothing more than a hunt for a wild beast that had gotten a little too comfortable around the forest settlement. Easy gil. 

So, with the collective ease of people who had been down this road before, Heartwood’s mercenaries started drifting into the yard of the Company house at the appointed time by ones and twos, ready to meet the client and get on with it. Aislinn, sitting on a nearby bench had her head bent over the handgonne laying across her lap, forever making little adjustments to the finicky firearm as she chatted amiably with Aiswyda, the towering Roegadyn’s sunny disposition belying the grim reason for this gathering. The two of them had joined up at nearly the same time and yet Aislinn couldn’t pinpoint when this mercenary business had become like old hat to them. 

Khora and Zorah stood nearby and now and then snippets of the miqo’te couple’s flirtatious banter drifted across the yard. Nazyl arrived looking perennially serious and ready for business, but then again, he rarely passed up the chance to rid the Shroud of any evils, perceived or not. Finally, N’yami came out from the house hurrying to meet them, her topaz carbuncle trotting happily in her shadow. 

This is how one Vanriri Vanri found them as she determinedly made her way towards the estate, relieved to find a group already assembled. She schooled her expression into one she thought serious enough to befit the situation, but not grim -- and climbed to the top of the stairs, clearing her throat. 

"You are the adventurers assembled to aid in the--" She paused. Too much alliteration, better quit that. "The hunt, in the Shroud, ...for the Wood Wailers, yes?" Was that too specific? No, no, better she confirmed.

Zorah smiled warmly by way of greeting, “We are, yes. Ready to go when you are."

Content that her weapon was indeed good to go, Aislinn rose to her feet and slid it into its holster over her back. She studied the lalafell that had just arrived before nodding in wordless agreement with Zorah.

Nazyl glanced over their client. Another Lalafell, hopefully it wouldn't go like the last two times... "Alright..."

“Yup! Ready to kick names and take ass.” Aiswyda cracked her knuckles in a playful gesture, unaware of her mix-up.

That caused a wave of reactions ranging from amusement to confusion to ripple across the faces of the rest of the group but no one corrected the Seawolf. 

"Wonderful!" Vanriri beamed at those before her, then seemed to realize that might be a little too chipper a response considering the circumstances, and quickly cleared her throat again. "Er, that is, the Wood Wailers extend their gratitude." She held up one finger, faltered slightly at Aiswyda's words and very severely pressed her lips into a line to keep herself from laughing. "A-ah, ahem, I've been instructed to bring you to an area near Buscarron's Druthers. If you are all prepared, of course!"

This set off a chorus of answers in the affirmative. 

"I'm set to go."

"Ready as I'm going to get, I think."

"South huh? Mm." Nazyl mused. Of course, he thought of his most frequent haunt, and its countless horrors, "Alright, I'm equipped then."

Zorah glanced to Khora silently, looking him over and deciding he was good to go.  "We're ready." She nodded toward Vanriri.

Khora’s ears flattened somewhat over his head.  "Yes I am ready mooom..."

"Don't you start with me."

"I never stopped."

"Then let us depart!" Vanriri glanced skyward briefly. "The attacks have largely occurred from dusk 'til dawn, which should fortunately line up with our arrival." She turned on her heel as each one confirmed their readiness, and led their trek.

As the adventuring party made their way through the Shroud, dusk settled in early as the sun dipped beneath the thick canopy. Buscarron's Druthers rose up to meet them at the end of the path -- though it was much quieter than normal; commonly a buzzing hub of activity even at this time, there was barely a skeleton crew of guards stationed at every entrance. One posted at the main road nodded to them as they passed and approached the settlement proper.

Aislinn took a moment to sweep a glance around the area. "Know what kind of attacks, exactly? Any idea what we're up against?" she asked with a note of curiosity. 

"No one has strictly seen the creature," Vanriri answered, glancing over her shoulder at Aislinn, "but the ...leavings from its victims have been-- ah, gruesome, if revealing in their nature. They appear to have been kills of opportunity, and have seemingly been dropped from a considerable height. ...According to reports from Stillglade Fane on the condition of the remains."

Looking off into the thicket, Aiswyda tilted her head, thinking aloud. “Dropped? Perhaps some manner of bird?”

Aislinn made a face that signaled her distaste before surreptitiously eyeing the skies above them.

The lalafell pointed further south. "By and large, victims have been found along the stretch of woods between here and Camp Tranquil, though none in the swamp itself."

"Egh, I don't like that. Issom-Har is in that area, n' all kinds o' nasteh things come from it. Closin' the door ta that hellhole has been an effort n' a half." Nazyl commented. 

Vanriri nodded. "Indeed, the Wood Wailers have posited it may well be some manner of creature from the depths."

Zorah frowned as she listened, "One of those one-eyed demons, I imagine? Or imps. Grotesque things."

Nazyl narrowed his eyes, gazing south. Considering how it killed, it was either a demented tree climber or, as he assumed, a devil of some kind. They were known for their cruelty, "Imps hardleh have that kinda clevahness.” 

"I am happy to defer to each of you on how best to approach; I can take you to the location of the last victim, if that is where you would prefer to begin?" Vanriri suggested. 

Aiswyda turned to the lalafell with a nod. “We could find some clues there. Seems like a fine idea to me.”

Dropping her gaze from the skies, Aislinn nodded in agreement. "Aye, seems like a good place to start."

With a nod Vanriri began to lead them away from the settlement. Her back turned to them, she let a little of the dread currently turning her gut to lead to creep into her expression. Here she'd thought some kind of Shroud animal gone wild was bad enough, but fiends...

Nazyl continued to speak as they moved into the dark forest. “Imps are smart, but not enough ta keep hidden this long without bein' found out. B'sides, they're too small ta carreh someone that ain't a Lalafell.” he paused. “...A bogeyman might have that capabiliteh though..."

From behind him Aiswyda stared in uncharacteristic speechlessness at the lalafell’s back. She would defer to Nazyl’s expertise but in her mind, she wondered. But what if there were a whole troupe of imps?! The horror. She shivered.

Vanriri brought them to a halt in a forest glen that could have been any other glen for all that it failed to scream of the violence done here among the peacefully nodding branches and soft, moss covered floor. The petite lalafell pointed slightly ahead at a patch of earth that had been a little more obviously trampled. In the gloom, it was difficult to see -- but the earth bore some small sign of a heavy impact. Keen eyes might have been able to pick out bloodspill though it had, unfortunately, largely sunk into the loamy undergrowth.

Immediately, Heartwood got to work. Almost as one they fanned through the glen.

Aiswyda’s heels sunk in the soft earth, but that didn’t stop her from making her way quickly to the scene of the crime. One janky step at a time. “Hm, well. If something really was dropped from up high to here, I’m shocked it managed to make it past the canopy.”

Aislinn's eyes narrowed slightly as she sought to take in whatever Vanriri had pointed out to them but it was difficult in the waning dusk. She moved forward a bit and eventually made out the impact site. Logic had her glancing up to the canopy of trees overhead. "Maybe not just something that takes to the air, but anything that might drag a victim up into the trees?" She looked to Nazyl, wondering if he knew of anything supernatural that might fit the bill off the top of his head.

The void hunter stared at the shifted ground, looking up from where the victim would have dropped. Nothing less than lethal distance, that's for sure. But why? If for amusement, then they would have just left the body. He grimaced, by breaking someone this way it would technically make them...easier to consume. An intelligent man eater...? He couldn't determine the purpose of this bizarre ritual from sight alone, and his eyes kept to the treetops. He glanced at Aislinn, "I'm still unsure. I don't know maneh things that do this off the top of me head, but so far it's pointin' ta bogeyman. They're not fun ta deal with."

Investigating the scene was indeed proving difficult in the gloom, though Zorah was less hampered than most; she was able to make out a wide spread of blood from the point of impact, and the remnants of strange tracks besides; whatever it was, it was ...probably quadrupedal. The miqo’te’s ears twitched as she looked about, remaining silent for the time being. She had picked up on the scent of blood, that iron smell of which she was never fond. She stepped a bit closer, looking over the area, listening to them speak all the while. 

"These are unfamiliar." Zorah finally spoke, gesturing to the tracks on the ground.  She looked to the others, "Any of you recognize them?"

At Zorah's question, Aislinn turned her attention from the impacted earth and moved closer to where the miqo’te stood in order to get a better look but soon shook her head. The tracks were unlike anything she had ever seen. "But then again, I'm not a tracker. Either way, I say we see how far we can follow them."

Zorah smirked, "Sadly, I was one of the ones who never really got hunting and tracking down with my tribe. I spent my days in Radz-at-Han instead."

The canopy above this point was perhaps thinner than most -- broken branches and foliage were thin, and too weak to support whatever was dropped through them. Curiously, several of the branches are bent upwards however. A detail Aiswyda quickly pointed out.

“Huh. The branches here lean up. Perhaps the ‘thing’ flew up afterwards, or can emit strong gusts of wind?” She narrowed her eyes, thoughtful. But her mind drew a blank. “Sounds like a doozy.”

"Miss Vanriri Vanri, was there aneh othah reports regardin' these attacks? Sounds, tracks, anehthin'?" Nazyl asked. 

Vanriri shook her head in reply. "Nothing conclusive. 'High pitched shrieking' was reported, but whether that was the creature or," she glanced pointedly at the impact site, "...otherwise..."

N'yami hung back and quietly studied the area, branches were pointed upward in an odd fashion, maybe the thing could come out of the ground? The Seeker looked over to her summon and gave a small shrug as if silently communicating with the carbuncle. Whackara chirped back at her and N'yami tilted her head curiously. Clearly she was lost in her own thoughts about this.

When the chatter and brainstorming from the group died down it soon became clear to all of them that the forest in this area was silent in a way no forest should ever be. The sounds of regular fauna were completely absent; even the buzz of vilekin seemed to be missing.

“Was the forest always this...er.  Silent?” Aiswyda wandered to the edge of the foliage, searching for any sign of wildlife. She didn’t like the quiet. She was the type of person who got antsy in silence around others.

In reply, Aislinn made a thoughtful noise in the back of her throat. An unsettled feeling had begun to creep over her though she couldn’t articulate why. She wasn't the forest type and couldn't pick out the significance in the lack of noise but even she knew the sudden silence in a calm before a storm.

Nazyl felt a chill down his spine. "....Somethin' ain't right. There's nothin' alive here." A hand curled around Perdition, hearing his own heartbeat drumming against the silence of the forest.

“Cheeky bugger. We’re alive, aren’t we?” Aiswyda muttered. But she understood where the lalafell was coming from. Something felt different. Off.

Their observations made Vanriri stand a little straighter, apparently realizing for the first time the only sound that she could hear -- other than the group of adventurers -- was the uneasy thumping of her own heart. "Oh." She cleared her throat uneasily.

And then, beyond the gradual lull of the sound of leaves in the evening breeze far overhead came a distant sound of wings that began to echo from above...

Zorah’s ears flickered, picking up the subtle sound all too well. "Something's coming..." She spoke quickly, just loud enough for all of them to hear.

(What gruesome fate befell the forest denizens? Will Heartwood survive what comes next? Will names indeed be kicked and asses taken? Find out next time! To be continued!)

#ffxiv rp #heartwood ventures #Heartwood plots #balmung rp #N'yami Synch #Nazyl Tharazyl #Zorah Velaceras #Khora Velaceras #Aiswyda Nuthalwyn #Aislinn North #Vanriri Vanri