Open Search for the Valley of the White Lotus

[Coloursfall]

Sayuri was a bit bored now, despite all these strange and new creatures entering the bar and causing quite a stir among the humans already present. She started to look around, her long tail swishing lazily behind her as she drank her milk and examined the room. There were a lot of men, all gathered around tables and in clusters around the room...she had never seen so many humans in one place before, her homeland was full of magical beasts.

Her wandering gaze settled on one table, with four men who looked like farmers sitting around it. They were talking quietly, but the Bakeneko's sharp hearing managed to pick out some snippets of what they were saying. One man was hurt, a bloody bandage wrapped around his forearm. The smell of blood was strong in the girl's nose, and she made a face, but strained to listen.

"Aye, a fuzzy wee beastie gave me this...went after it after it dragged off somea my chickens...I would go ta the lord about it you our know how them scalebacks is, only lookin out fer themselves," the wounded said to his friends, taking a swig from his beer.

Sayuri tilted her head, wondering what a scaleback was, and what this 'beastie' thing could be. It sounded interesting, but the humans were big and she didn't wanna talk to them alone...

 

[Sylph]

"Treasure we may find, the glory and rush of battle, and a fair amount of fame after we are done. That is what lies ahead for you if you wish to join me. But if these things are not enough for you, the door is that way."

She downed her mug, slipping off the bar stool and standing at her full height of 6'6" and looks down at the beings before her. She studies them and whatever weapons may be visible before noting that the kitten was listening in on a conversation of a group of farmers. She started to brush it off when the scent of blood hit her.

"...fools."

She motions for the group to stay and chat as she slipped toward the group, walking up behind them and staring down at them. One was wounded, their forearm slashed open by what looked to be claws. Looking down at the farmers, she judged that none of them were healers. With a short groan, she holds out a scaled hand to the wounded man.

"Arm. Now."

The Farmers fall silent, their backs snapping straight. The one that was wounded stared in horror at the Dragonborn woman in fear that she may have heard their slur toward her kind. At first he clutches his arm to his chest with a soft whimper, only to receive a annoyed grunt from her. With fear in his eyes and weary glances from his friends, he holds out his arm and shuts his eyes. She sighs and grips the under of the arm, her other hand hovering over the wound as a white light glowed below her palm. After a few muttered words, she presses her palm to the wound.

"Lay on Hands"

The wound sealed up under her palm, the pain easing and the infection disappearing with the help of the holy power. She examines the wound afterward, seeing that it was now a red line that would fade into nothing in a night or two time. She drops the man's arm and looked at him, watching as him and his friends stares at what was once a wound before turning to her in surprise and shock. She just rolled her eyes under her hood.

"I'm a Paladin. Stop being surprised squishy. Now tell me what gave you that wound so I'll know if it's on my way out of here."

 

[Bluberry Bat]

Ammy simply held a look of smug dissatisfaction as her comments drew rebuttals, lifting her glass to her mouth and slowly sipping at her drink, eyes half-closed in a wry gaze down towards the particularly touchy 'adult Wildkinder'. She only barely held her tongue against more child or midget comments, half from hearing his actual age, the other from having a nose buried in vodka.

"Oh, me?" she asked with a short, breathy laugh as the tiny baby man finished with a sudden attitude swing, "My name is Amaturasu, Alchemist Extroudináre~.. in training." she exclaimed in a tone even she could not decipher between sarcasm or not.
As she spoke, her hand raised to her chest as if to offer a confident chest-pound. Unfortunately, she was instead met with her still half-full glass, which from the force of swinging upwards as such immediately splashed much of what was left of its contents right onto Ammy's chest.

With a grumble, she wiped herself down with her free hand - if not for her furred coat of black and blue covering her face one would see her blushing a colour which could represent Ifrit themself. No recovering from that one.

 

[Anomaly 54]

Hilao watched as the Dragonborn spoke to a few farmers at a nearby table. If farmers are getting hurt this close to town, this region's beast problems must be getting much worse then they were last time I was here... he though. He shook his head and took a swig of beer. "Ahh, the brewers still do a good job here, I must say.." He chuckled, if the village brewer had heard that, Hilao would have gotten a good hiding. "Ah, good times"

 

[Coloursfall]

The once-wounded man stuttered a bit, staring up at the Dragonborn woman before him. Had she heard? He and his friends were shaking in their chairs, staring up at the Dragonborn. Finally, the man spoke.

"A...a monster in the forest to the west of here. A furry little demon, that steals our animals in the night. I saw it, it had big yellow eyes and sharp claws and teeth," he whimpered, shrinking back as far as his chair would allow him to.

Sayuri watched the Dragonborn's display of healing and intimidation with a strange look of wonder, wiggling in her seat. The mortals here all feared the Dragonkin, he parents had said, and it seemed they were right, judging by these reactions. She flicked her tail behind her and put down the now-empty glass on the table, where it was quickly swept away. She jumped down from her seat and quickly made her way to the Dragonborn's side.

"Are we going to go find the monster?"

 

[Sylph]

"A small furred monster...and what did you do to anger it when you walked toward it. Bah, nevermind, it was mostly likely that you tried to scare it or kill it yourself. You are not a hunter nor a monster slayer. You should have contacted someone to deal with your problem before you needlessly harmed yourself...not that the Dragonborns in this area would have helped."

She turned to her side at the small kitten at her leg. She looked down at her silently before picking her up and placing her on her shoulder. She pats the girl's head head, sweeping her gaze on the humans before her.

"...Aye. We will deal with this creature ourselves. Gives you all a chance to warm up your skills and practice. We will need to take as much training we can find along the way to hone these skills. Come kitten, we will be leaving these farmers to their discussions of livestock and grain."

She turns on her heel and walked to the group before her. With a hushed whisper, she bids them to follow her to the forest pathways. With a another pat on the kitten's head, she makes way for the door and disappears into the fading light of outside. With a quick glance to the alleyway, the groans of two drunkards escaping it, she smirks under her hood and walked to the forest pathway.

"We will wait at the opening to the forest. They shouldn't take long now."

 

[Exo-Raikou]

Cusillu had been listening to the entire conversation, and once he caught the words "warm up your skills and practice," a small hiss of joy escaped from the shadowy form, not realizing that the dragon humanoid had meant practicing the skills against the creature they were going to fight.

Flicking around the staff he carried, green smoke emerged from the staff and took the form of a large green bat with red eyes. Said bat proceeded to perch itself onto Cusillu's staff and look at him, as if to say: "now what?"

A single word was spoken by Cusillu:

"Fly."

The green bat shot out of the inn and into the night. Cusillu had half a second to realize his mistake before floating after it, yelling, "Not that far!" Again in obedience, the bat turned around, and rocketed back at Cusillu, again coming to rest on the Wraith's staff.

"No more," Cusillu whispered, and the bat turned back to green smoke which got absorbed back into the red gem on Cusillu's staff.

That shouldn't happen anymore, the Wraith thought. Immediately after thinking that, his attention skated back to the humanoid dragon, who was exiting the inn. Hoping that he didn't draw too much attention to himself, the Wraith floated near the dragon humanoid.

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

"Heh," Istvan remarked, "Going on this adventure to leave he woods, and where are we headed first? The forest. But there is nothing wrong with a spot of practice."

With that, he walked out the door after the Dragonborn. First, he untied Bogdana from the post.

"We... going somewhere," Istvan told her, "An awful lot like home, sadly."

She didn't seem to care and followed the satyr towards the forest.

 

[Anomaly 54]

Hilao, seeing that everyone else was leaving, drained the rest of the drink and slipped out afterwards. He saw a large group of assorted races walking towards the forest, so he went to followed them. If the dragonborn was right, though, then I might be the best bowman ever yet!

 

[Barubu]

Banavio, noticing that everyone was walking out, took his hand back and left the inn. Setting in his roots for a moment and 'feeding', Banavio recharged. Okay, I should be ready for a fight now he thought, following the small group. "Hey, wait up!" He shouted picking up his pace. He caught up with the group. It was a very odd group. Banavio started to question his judgment.

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

Keibei giggled quietly when the doglady (Amaterarsu? It was hard remembering peoples' names, they didn't even rhyme around here) spilled her stupid-drink all over herself. Served her right, calling him a child. A light caught his eye; he turned to see the dragonlady doing something glowy to a humans arm. His eyes as alight with curiosity as the man's arm was with holy power, Keibeitreilei flounced closer to the table and stared quietly at the magic. For all its wonders, his native forest was rather mundane when it came to mysticism, besides a weathered old hag who lived in a shanty near the forest's border. also Keibei swore that he once saw a flying monkey, but his parents had said he was lying and so did his young colleagues.

From what he could gather the group was leaving. A goat-man (another common sight in the forests, actually) sauntered out, and a floaty thing with a sparkly crystal left as well. The Wildkinder ran out with them, and saw the satyr (Faun? Always hard to tell.) untied a–-

Wolf?

Keibeitreilei ran at the tavern once more, leaping at the last second and landing on the roof smoothly. This action was mostly instinct; wolves were a rather present danger in his home and every Wildkinder was conditioned to stay far away from them. That one was alone, of course, and seemed to be under control, but wolves were intelligent and Keibei wasn't taking any chances. He spotted the dragonlady in the distance and leaped like a cat to the next roof.

He was glad they were going to the forest; trees were much easier for travel than these house things.

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

Bogdana started barking. Her head pointed off towards the rooftops.

"What's wrong?", Istvan said.
He looked in the general direction the wolf was indicating, but only saw a woman walking along.

"Why yes, she does look quite attractive.", Istvan remarked, "Ah, but we've no time. For now."
Bogdana then shook her head upward and continued barking and growling.

"Up there?", Istvan asked, "No, I don't see any ladies up there. Come to think of it, I don't see anybody else from that group."
He noticed an apparition with a brilliant crystal floating in the same direction.

"And I didn't notice that before.", Istvan continued, "But where's the short man?"
Shrugging, he continued along.

 

[Bluberry Bat]

Ammy was more than grateful for the small kinder's less-than-substantial attention span (The child quips could just flow endlessly) as she ducked back towards her seat, hat pulled down slightly over her eyes and grabbing a handful of napkins to pat herself down. Flipping rude gestures at giggly onlookers who found her predicament rather amusing, she began to scan for the dragonborn... Who as it happened, was already partway out the door.

'Oh wha- already? don't bother letting me know or anything, brilliant, great, off to a smashing start' Ammy mumbled to herself, crass annoyance crossing her face. She quickly scooped up her cart and darted out the door after the group, trying her best to not roadkill the beyond-frustratingly obstructive crowd that always lined the streets. (No matter how much she wanted to)
They had already put a good amount of distance on her, but at least they were in view, and after nearly bowling over a smug-looking elf (But weren't they all) she skidded to a halt just behind the dragonborn. (and nearly faceplanting her backside, to boot.) Straightening herself out again, she attempted to take a far more nonchalant pace. She didn't even know where they were headed, but as long as it paid she didn't much care.

 

[Sylph]

"Seems we are all together...I think. Oh well, we have more pressing matters to tend too." She muttered as the small puppy joined them, over-looking the others that followed her in her quest. She let out a soft sigh and turns to the forest, reaching a hand up to pat the kitten's head on her shoulder. She strolls through the forest path, surveying the ground around. She could see small bones and feathers along the path, the faint scent of blood from a day or so on the dirt. She stops in a open clearing, ringed with trees, and turns to the group once more.

"I should introduce myself..." She finally muttered, raising her hands to the hood and lowering it. Her scales were a light blue, her eyes yellow as a cats and a large horn on her nose. The hair-like tendrils on her head each sported a single silver or gold ring around them. Across her snout is a lightning shaped scar, her ears resembling that of a Blue Dragon.

"I am Kethend Miirik, Dragonborn Paladin. I will not tell you where I am from, but I will tell you that I am here on a important mission...one that will change the state of this realm if we succeed. At any time you wish to leave, do so. I do not need people that have lost the will to fight...nor people that feel they can not trust me. If you have a problem with my race, then say so and leave. But if you feel you can survive travelling with the likes of me, you will be rewarded in the end."

She then looks at the clearing, scanning the area silently.

"We will see how things go...be on your toes squishies"

 

[Nimler]

"Shit!" Logoth shouted when he arrived at the inn. The hustle and bustle of the inn suddently halted all eyes on him.
"Uh, A round for everyone on me!" An appropriate response arouse. He reached for his belt and emptied one of the small pouches onto the bar.
"Have you seen a group of peoplecome through here? One with a dragon born?"
"Yes you just missed them, I believe they headed off towards the forest."
"Thank you."He left 2 more coins on the bar as a tip. Then he sprinted off towards the forest.

 

[Skylark]

Llyud was perched on top of one of the small houses near the inn, and he watched as one by one, strange creatures entered the inn. He knew that the Dragonborn was waiting inside, but he'd rather meet her somewhere else - somewhere with fewer people around. He sat there, looking over the town, as he waited for the Dragonborn and whoever would accompany her to come out.

"Interesting bunch we've got here. A shrouded figure - no doubt the Dragonborn, a cat-like creature, what looked to be a very nimble child, some other creatures, and a human with goat legs."

When the group of creatures finally left the inn, Llyud decided he wouldn't introduce himself just yet. Silently, he flew high above. He loved the feel of the wind in his wings. Flying high enough to prevent anyone from the group from seeing him, he followed them silently as they neared the edge of a forest. Llyud didn't show any signs of wanting to be detected, and landed on the boughs of a tall pine tree. The Dragonborn suddenly stopped, and Llyud waited to see if anything would happen. He listened as the Dragonborn spoke.

"I am Kethend Miirik, Dragonborn Paladin. I will not tell you where I am from... be one your toes squishies."

Llyud whispered to himself as he scanned the clearing, "This will be... interesting."

 

[Sylph]

The clearing was littered with the remains of the animals dragged off and eaten, proof that the farmers weren't lying about their troubles. There are chicken bones as the bulk of the litter, as well as what appeared to once be a cow head resting against a rock. The scene was completed with the blood of these poor creatures on the grass and dirt. Kethend walks to the centre of the clearing, pulling her battle axe from the holder of her back, shedding her cloak and slipping it into a small magical bag on her hip.

Her body is covered in a full body armour made of scale, a symbol drawn on her front and back representing the god she draws her power from. She scans the grounds, leaning down and touching a pool of blood on the ground. "This is still warm...they are close".

Unfortunately, she was right. No sooner had she said that, a pack of medium sized drakes burst from the bushes and circle the group. Several leap onto Kehtend's back, scratching and biting at her exposed head. She let out a roar and tries to throw them off, a couple clinging to her arms as she swings her axe down on one of the fallen creatures severing it in two.

The others of the large pack attack the others in the party from all sides.

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

It smells like blood here, thought Keibei, his feet absentmindedly from a branch. And chickens. It did, of course, smell like both of those things, as blood and chicken remains were scattered everywhere. The dragonlady said something about 'them' being close, he wondered what they were...

And then, of course, a pack of large, lizardy things burst onto the scene and attacked the dragonlady. and the others. One was even baying at the foot of his tree. Unconcerned, the Wildkinder snapped a branch above him and brandished it like a bat before leaping foot-first at the creature. He rolled into a crouch and immediately sprang forward again, grabbing the drake in a bear-hug and wrestling it like a dog. They tumbled about on the ground for a few moments before Keibei, a small gash on his cheek, lifted the thing over his head for a second and then dropped it to the ground. He scooped his dropped treebranch and proceeded to bash the drake on the skull with it.

Keibeitreilei the Wildkinder was nothing if not honorable, obviously.

 

[Exo-Raikou]

As Cusillu was floating on, he caught a glimpse of several animal's remains, most of which were bones. He heard the dragon creature say that "they" were near; the wraith wondered briefly if he should send some of his creatures ahead to find out how near they were.

He never got the chance, as several reptilian things charged at the group Cusillu was traveling with. The wraith stared idly at the onrushing pack as they drew closer; several of the other group members had begun to attack the things.

I wonder why they're getting into such a rage, he thought, these things don't look too dangerous.

It was then that one of the things charged at Cusillu. The wraith still floated in place, up until it had gotten within a few inches of him. Thinking that it would stop when he moved, the wraith pulled back several feet, only for the thing's rush to continue, including a beginning slash. As Cusillu pulled back, the very tip of the reptile's claw brushed lightly against the wraith's crystal.

Cusillu's action was immediate. Swinging his staff at the thing, green smoke and black smoke emerged from the staff and began to form itself into creatures; the green smoke took form of a red-eyed scorpion the approximate size of the lizard, and the black smoke shaped itself like a bird with a long thin beak, again the rough size of the lizard.

Pointing his staff at the offending lizard, Cusillu said one word:

"Hurt."

The two apparitions launched themselves at the lizard, claws, stinger and beak at the ready.

 

[Coloursfall]

Luckily, Sayuri had hopped off of the Dragonborn's back before they entered the clearing, and was poking around curiously at the bones. She let out a sharp, mewling cry when the drakes attacked, and stuffed her hand into the tiny purse on her belt, and pulled out a massive mace, holding it aloft for a brief second before the great weapon's weight fully centered itself from the magical hold of the bag, and came crashing to the ground with a mighty whump.

The catgirl managed to heft the massive iron thing up enough to charge a drake, who bared its many sharp teeth and charged right back. She was muttering under her breath as she swung the weapon, and seconds before the impact, an array of glowing blue runes burst into existence around her; anyone skilled in magic would identify them as a minor defensive prayer.

The impact of Bakeneko on drake was a loud one, the shrill battle cry of the girl matched by the drake's high screeching, then a sickening crunch, followed by two cries of pain, one cut short. Sayuri was left standing over the body of the drake, her enormous mace having crushed the beast's skull on impact. She was bleeding from her face, the drake having managed to catch her on its sharp claws, and she was breathing heavily.

Another drake studied the girl from behind, unbeknown to her, and prepared a stroke, opening its jaws wide and claws ready. It lunged with a cry, and Sayuri spun around, but couldn't lift the heavy mace quite fast enough for another swing.

Off to the back of the clearing, a pain of shining yellow eyes watched the battle.