Open: May things

[allfornothing]

WHO: Crowe Altius and others
WHERE: Chroma, the woods, tbd.
WHEN: Throughout the month
WHAT: Quests + things for May
WARNINGS: Maybe mild language and likely violence against wildlife. Will add if necessary.

ooc: Prompts below, but if you want Crowe just tag in, or poke me via dm or at kikibug13 for a specific prompt. Will match format.

Comments

Reluctantly indulging (tamed?) wildlife

[allfornothing]

[ Here is Crowe.

Here is Crowe who is staring at an overlarge bird whose wings are, at best, enough to glide, but never fly. It has a very characteristic smell, and the feathers are really, really soft for anyone who touches them.

Crowe is not touching them. She's not the greatest fan of chocobos, either. ]

Why are you even looking at me like this? You're the one who wanted to come here. So we're here. Go, run. You need the exercise, or whatever.

[ Better Chocobob than the coeurl, in all honesty, but they're both hella dangerous in her eyes. ]

Not reluctantly maybe exterminating wildlife. (For Shen QingQiu.)

[allfornothing]

[ Crowe has her eyes narrowed, but she turns to the ... cultivator, that's what he called himself, beside her. ]

So... how much do we know about ... a manticore?

[ It's a valid question. She's never encountered one, and the hearsay she's, well, heard about one? Not very conclusive. Maybe it goes out alone, maybe in groups. Probably has darts with poison of some sort. Maybe a formidable foe, maybe easy to dispose of.

Gah!

Still, better to pool together what is known before they run into it. ]

[shizun]

[ She's definitely asking the right person. ]

It has the head of a human, body of a lion and a tail of venomous spines similar to porcupine quills, while other depictions have it with the tail of a scorpion. [ So, there's no way to know how Chroma has decided to make their manticore until the two go see it. ]

It generally eats its victims whole. Not even bones remain. [ Shen Qingqiu does his best to not sound too excited about being able to see such a creature, but it's a little difficult. I just really love these sort of mythical creatures, okay!? The best part of the original novel was all the creatures that showed up! ]

To think that we're tasked to kill one... I can only assume it's causing some issue within the forest's ecosystem that requires its extermination.

[allfornothing]

[ Information is great, and Crowe's large eyes light up with that as she listens carefully. ]

So, shielding. That should help against the venomous tail, whichever is the case. Any weakness? I can attack with fire, ice, or thunder, but I know not everything will be vulnerable to attacks of magic.

[ And if he doesn't know a weakness, they can try some things and combinations. ]

[shizun]

The venom of a manticore is fast-acting and deadly. Its poison is high quality and so even with shielding, it is dangerous to let it touch you. [ Though, it makes him wonder how it would stand up against the Black Moon Rhinoceros Python's bite.

He keeps the dreamy smile off his face as he feels more than a few hearts spin around his head at the thought of two amazing creatures fighting one another! Who doesn't like that idea!! ]

And, there are no known weaknesses. Usually, it is said to destroy their poisonous tail when they are young. Once that is gone, they are no different than a deadly beast... but at least, the most dangerous part of it is gone. [ A beat. ] I realize the wording is a bit off, but what I mean by that it has no weaknesses is that its affinity is normal toward all attacks.

Nothing does more or less damage. But this one would assume that it's immune to poison. So if that's in your arsenal, I'd leave it. [ It isn't anything that she mentioned, but he decides to throw that out just in case. ]

[allfornothing]

... with a good shield, nothing gets through that you don't want. Not magic, nor anything physical. If I put one up, the poison won't touch you - though it'll mean either ranged attack to get to it, or leaving the protection of the shield to strike directly.

[ Truthfully, she'd rather let two creatures go at each other and then dispatch the exhausted survivor... but that's not what they have here.

Then he talks about leaving parts of the arsenal and she blinks. Then holds up a hand - and a flame dances on her palm before she closes her fingers and it disappears. ]

All the arsenal's right here. But no, no poison.

[shizun]

That's amazing.

[ He hums thoughtfully about a ranged attack. It seems like he could handle something of that sort and he takes out his fan to show it to her. ]

Leave the ranged attacks to me. [ Though, he suddenly has the thought of the creature coming to slam its body against the barrier. He thinks that would be actually quite helpful. It means that they could have a good shot at it! A plan's coming together!

As he's thinking of these things, he stares at her hand to see the flame suddenly appear. Huh. ]

Ah, I see. It seems like we have everything we need and only need to set out.

[allfornothing]

Yup.

Let's get this done with. The sooner we take care of it, the fewer people who ignore the quests but still try to wander around the woods would be in danger.

[ She's starting to walk, but also considers for a moment. ]

... do you think anyone outside the forest might be trying to get in?

[shizun]

[ He offers a small nod of agreement. Though, honestly, he hates coming into the forest at all. The atmosphere always feels off and it causes goosebumps to run down his neck and arms. It's difficult to put into words, but in any case, he's pleased that he is not suffering from a splitting headache as he usually does when he enters the forest. ]

Anyone from the outside? [ His eyebrows lift. ] It is a possibility.

Why do you ask?

[allfornothing]

In a siege, it matters if you know that somebody is trying to break through from the other side, too. [ She's talking, but she's also paying careful attention to where they're going, too, her voice measured and quiet so they can hear anything approaching. ] Besides, if there're monsters here that kill at least some who venture out, we might end up finding the remains of some who've tried to come in.

We could learn a lot, if that happens an we're paying attention, that's all.

[shizun]

[ He hums in a thoughtful manner, tapping his fan against his chin. ]

I see, I see. [ It would be interesting to find some bones or bodies of people that happened in. Though, he wonders if they would remain. ] I'll say this much... the energy of the forest does not feel right.

[ A small sigh. ] I'm not sure that it adheres to any sort of sense that we're used to. We may be lucky that the beasts that live here are willing to die reasonably.