[Wermut/Closed] Path to the Dragon Tree

[Deleted]

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) - :: - Skill: ---

The Dragon Tree

In the lands of mud and grime
Where the air is all but fresh
There exists since ancient time
Lord of neither bone nor flesh

Wings of em’rald vivid green
Claws of roots its darkest dread
Standing tall yet never seen
Upon its eternal stead.

She was still in Londenium on that fine day with its clear sky and whatnot. It was the second time- the second time that anyone bothered Caerbannog to send her on a quest to find the godsdamned Dragon Tree. You’ll find treasures with it, they said. It will have a miraculous spring of water, they said. Still the samurai was not so easily convinced by their words. She always had a hard time navigating the Northern Marshlands of Thames, and all the time that she spent there could have been used for more practical things.

She would have rejected the quest if not for the suggestion of a lander who seemed rather bright for his age and classification. Johannson, the aptly named son of the lander Johan who was giving out the Dragon Tree quest, volunteered to find a Pathfinder for the samurai. Instead of fighting her way through the marshlands, Johannson suggested that she take a calmer approach so as not to rile up the whole forest. The boy even pointed out that since the quest was a pathfinding one, Caerbannog should synch down her level if her companion happened to be lower-leveled than her.

And so the waiting game began. Who would take up the challenge? Once someone joined her party, the samurai would look for a merchant cart headed towards the Marshlands to make their trip short and simple. Notably, she would use the Teacher System to put her level close to the other person’s. Since their quest objective was to find the Dragon Tree, she did not have to fight her way through a pointless amount of mobs. Once the other member arrived, Caerbannog would nod at him politely and then they could go on their way to the Marshlands if no other questions were asked.

OOC Notes: Dragon tree looks like link It is massive but difficult to find from the ground because it looks just like a large wall of plants.
Word Count: 345	Tags: @dindeen Fallash

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

[Fallash]

Lennart woke up in one of the alleys in London, but not of his own volition. A strange man was standing over him, prodding him with a stick. Lennart slapped away the stick, causing the man to start talking. “Hey. Hey! I was told you were a pathfinder, and I somewhat have a job proposition for you.” Lennart sat up as the man spoke to him, nodding as he yawned. Whoever this man was, he posed a threat to Lennarts day of fun and joy that he always looked forward too.

“Who the heck told you that? I mean I am but..." Before Lennart could even finish his phrase, the man cut him off. He must have been in a hurry for something.

“So you are? Great! My name is Johansson, and I have a friend you should meet.” After saying this he stands up and bows, and then says only a single phrase. “Check your party.” He grinned, standing like a proud olympian who just won the gold medal.

Party? What was this guy talking about? Lennart opened his menu and checked his party, causing his jaw to drop when he noticed he was suddenly in a group with someone named Sear-ban-og? Care-ba-nog? Whatever. He was sure whoever they were would introduce themselves when they finally met up. When he finally gained his bearings, a piece of paper was shoved into his hands by Johansson, and before he knew it the man was running off to somewhere else in London. “Great, I’ve been plucked out of thousands for reasons not even I know, and now I’m stuck in a quest with someone I don’t even know?” he sighed loudly, “This was supposed to be my break day.”

The level one Samurai shook his head. Why would he be needed for a quest like this anyways? He’d never heard of quests that required Pathfinders, and even chose the skill so that he wouldn’t be picked over others who had more useful abilities, like farmers. Oh well, not like he had a choice in the matter now. Sighing, Lennart closed the party menu and started his slow trek toward London’s entrance. It was the most likely place every quest would send him, and he expected his partner to already be there waiting, if only he had remembered that the man shoved a piece of parchment into his hand and read it; he might have had an idea as to his job.

Words: 410
Extra: Wermut is so confused @_@

[Deleted]

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) - :: - Skill: ---

It was a slow Elder Tale day compared to Caerbannog’s other days of adventure. For the first time in a long time, she felt bored. That was not an easy feat since almost every waking moment in Elder Tale was a challenge. That is, waking up itself was a challenge. Before, when the samurai was technically homeless and only lived in the streets of the city, she could wake up at any time that she wanted and no one would bother her. Ever since she joined the guild Aeryn though, her brother Kumori pestered her whenever she wanted to sleep in. Either that or the guild had so many visitors and applicants that the halls would end up as loud as St. Pancras Station. The samurai fled from the guild house in order to find some peace and quiet, but even that she could not have. Much like every other lander in the city, Johan probably thought that the wolf-hair was a pushover due to her height and stature. And indeed, she was quite a pushover in the sense that the girl would never speak up against people, whether adventurer or lander. Despite her accomplishments in the battlefield, she was still worried about her presence and her words.

Thus, despite her mind's and heart’s protests against venturing into the Marshlands again and what with the quest requiring her to go deep into Possessed Stump territory, Caerbannog accepted the quest and waited by the gates of Londenium for her companion. The samurai sat down on the roadside as carts and people passed by. She was slightly sleepy but her tiredness was not enough to make her nod off. Caerbannog was bored though... for a moment, she thought about summoning Hrairoo to keep her company but she decided against it. Even though the quest was a pathfinding one, the Marshlands was still a dangerous place for a frenmic rabbit. Not the type to rush through a quest, Caerbannog just sat there as time passed by. Johansson said he would find a pathfinder and the samurai trusted his words not due to personal feelings but due to logic. The lander Johan had given out the quest and it would not be completed unless she was teamed up with a pathfinder, so she knew that eventually, Johansson would hold up his end of the agreement. The agreement being that she would accept the quest and carry it out, and the burden of finding a partner for her would fall upon Johansson’s shoulders.

A tell tale sound notified Caerbannog of the addition of a party member. She pulled up her interface immediately and checked her party list. Below her name, another one appeared; it read: Wermut Level 1 Samurai. She squinted to make sure that she indeed read that as “one” and that it was not an “eleven”, and after much scrutinizing, the samurai was sure that Johansson did pair her up with a Level 1 adventurer. Caerbannog used the Teacher System to synch her level with that of her party member. His marker on the map closed in quickly, so the samurai was relieved that the other adventurer was at least knowledgeable of the system’s interface. Because how else could he have found her if he knew diddly-squat about the system? Intuition? Sheer luck? Despite her occasional tantrums, Caerbannog was a fairly logical and practical person so she expected the same of her fellow samurai. The party member marker was soon just a few meters away from her and so the wolf-hair ran off to look for the person named Wermut. She measured her approximate distance from him based on the map’s information, and soon he came into view.

Most of the people around them were landers anyway so the other samurai stood out. He had hair and eyes of peculiar colors, though not too strange for an MMORPG character. Garbed as simply as the wolf-hair expected, Wermut was not particularly memorable if not for his hair color. As for his height, Caerbannog had slowly been getting used to very tall characters like him. She was in the British server after all and even in the real world, she was dwarfed by her relatives and classmates. But she was not short, nope; they were just all so tall! Caerbannog shook her head to make that thought go away. She had to focus on the quest at hand. Words... words. She had to search for words, maybe greet him and such and... where did he go? Preoccupied with her own thoughts, she lost sight of the Wermut guy. The samurai looked around for she could still see his party member marker nearby, but the people around her obscured her view. Finally, as she tiptoed over some passers-by, Caerbannog noticed the familiar white hair and she ran towards it.

“ OOF~! “ she hit her face right on Wermut’s back, “ -owie... “

Caerbannog rubbed her nose as she stepped away from the much taller samurai. She then looked up at him. Up, up... up. And when her gaze finally fell upon his face, the wolf-hair waved at him enthusiastically. Hopefully he did not notice her much higher level which scared away some people at times, or at least that he did not care about the gap. At that moment, their levels were already synched so her display info also listed “Level 1”. After the wave, the blue-eyed girl thought about greeting him but that time came and went, and she said nothing. Undaunted by her failure to properly introduce herself, the samurai instead took her fellow adventurer and led him by the hand to a lander’s cart. When the driver looked at them weirdly, Caerbannog took out a few coins and simply said “Marshlands” to the lander. She then let go of Wermut’s hand and hopped onto the open cart, and then she gestured for the pathfinder to find a seat for himself. The cart was slightly crowded due to the lander’s wares of fresh vegetables and textiles, but there was still some room to squeeze two adventurers in. Or rather, one adventurer and a half-pint.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 1020	Tags: @dindeen Fallash

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

[Fallash]

Lennart had been taking his time to reach the gate, he hadn’t really wanted to leave on a quest but since he was on one he might as well complete it. He sighed and started speeding up through the crowd of people upon seeing the gate. It didn’t bother him that most of the people in the crowd were People of the Land, in fact it actually made him smile a little. The landers were typically kind towards adventurers, and it showed as all of them tried to keep out of his away. As he was about to reach the gate however, he was shoved forward as someone ran into him from behind. “What in the-” he spoke as he rapidly spun to see who it was, and his voice died down to a mere whisper as he realized that it was a really short woman, “hell?” After he finished, the girl started waving frantically at him, prompting Lennart to take a peek at her name and level.

The girl was level 1, like him, and her name was Caerbannog. Wait, his party member was a woman? He didn’t sign up for this! Then again he didn’t sign up at all, he was just thrown in. He sighed, and in that moment he crouched down to get within eye-height with the woman. By this time, the small samurai had already stopped waving, and immediately dragged him towards one of the carts outside. “H-hey!” Lennart was ignored however; the girl seemed determined.

Once outside, Lennart overheard the girl ask for a cart to the Marshes. Marshes!? WHAT! I did NOT sign up for a suicide mission. But the woman seemed determined to continue the mission as she jumped onto the cart and motioned for him to join. Lennart hesitated before jumping on, but after he took his seat he made sure she had adequate room. He did this by practically denying himself any space at all, sitting on the bare edge of the cart. When he sat in this fashion, he took up nearly no seat-space at all. “So... however you say your name,” Wermut could barely make eye contact with her, “Did you get randomly selected for this quest too?” His tone of voice betrayed exactly how nervous he was. Wermut was never good with women in the real world, and he was probably worse in the game. Normally he would simply wander away, but he couldn’t wander away on Caerbannog; this was a quest he needed to see through to the end.

Words: 423
Wermut's Life: 100%

[Deleted]

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) - :: - Skill: ---

Despite her thoughts that a venture into the Marshlands with a Level 1 adventurer was a bad idea, Caerbannog accepted her fate and put up with the quest. The cart soon was on the road that would lead them out of Londenium and through the Greatwoods. During that time, her companion spoke up; notably he did not know how to pronounce her name, which led the samurai to wonder how anyone could not know about ‘The Beast’ of a certain cult classic. He proceeded to ask her if she was randomly selected for the quest, to which she was unsure of her reply. Perhaps it was a bit random but then again landers seemed to have taken a liking to throwing the unwanted quests at her.

“ Ker - ban - nog, “ the samurai answered as plainly as possible, thought that ‘ker’ actually sounded like ‘care’ in Care Bears, “ Random, yes. “

Dammit, she did not intend to reply like that. Despite the samurai’s resolve to speak coherently, old habits die hard and her mind just really was unable to form completely sentences. She looked at Wermut as she spoke, but afterwards she glanced at the road up ahead. A group of pittered boars crossed their path out of nowhere; fortunately, the cart was not at full speed yet. The driver was able to stop his horses completely before they were run over by the stampeding four-legged bacon creatures. She thought back to her earlier days where there was nothing to fight but boars, boars everywhere. During those times, she wished for a different mob to take on; frenmic rabbits were out of the question for the samurai would never harm them. Unless they had a three-storeys high field boss that spewed brimstone and hellfire, then she might consider harming rabbits. Otherwise she could only deal with pittered bacon.

Her wish was granted in some form, back then, when she came across some slimes. Her first encounter with them did not go over well, though a later expedition with Kumori went fine. As her adventures became more frequent though, it was apparent that slimes in any form were not the idea targets for someone whose main weapon was meant to slice and dice things. Slime was not easy to slice and dice, and although the darn creatures were not passively attracted to her, the samurai would rather not have anything to do with them. Over time, that preference to stay away from the icky creatures turned to repulsion and so every time she had to go to Savill Flower Grove, Caerbannog tried very hard to steer clear of slimes.

The samurai’s most recent explorations included the Northern Marshlands of Thames. There was healing water there, the landers said. Much adventure, they said. Her first journey into that place involved a Possessed Stump with a bad attitude. Fortunately, Oxford was with her at that time and saved her from an evil slime creature which somehow grabbed her leg and poisoned her too. After that, everything was just all mean and evil towards the samurai and so she punched stuff to death. A little later, the guardian also had his mean streak and their adventure ended up with a high body count. Okay, not THAT high but still it was a lot for adventurers who had just stepped into the swamps. She then went on that first quest to find the dragon tree but the conclusion was a haze; all that the girl could remember was that she would rather not go so deep into the Marshlands again. But there she was, on a cart that was heading that way, towards the Northern Marshlands of Thames.

The road up ahead was soon cleared as the group of pittered boars went off and did their thing somewhere in the Greatwoods. Caerbannog could still hear their squeals as the beasts ran off. With the boars gone, the lander continued the journey. Eventually, the cart moved faster since the way seemed to be clear from then on. The samurai turned to her companion and asked a most important question, something that she should have asked earlier before they left Londenium.

“ You a pathfinder? “ Caerbannog inquired as to the other samurai’s subclass; her expression rather neutral so as not to freak him out or anything.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 723	Tags: @dindeen Fallash

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

[Fallash]

“You too huh?” Lennart sighed and seemed to relax. “How are you so calm about all this? I don’t even know why I am here or what I am supposed to be looking for.” He shook his head and bit his lip slightly, not enough to cause it to bleed, but enough to make him jolt in slight pain. “I mean going to the marshes level 1 is a death sentence, and I don’t want to see a woman die.” Lennart still couldn’t look over at his companion, it was odd to be paired with a woman for once and he was still obviously nervous. It wasn’t long before the cart was forced to stop due to boars crossing the road. He chuckled to himself as he thought that there should be a boar crossing sign on the road, but then he quieted down as Caerbannog asked him if he was a Pathfinder or not. Lennart could only think that she must have had as little information as he did if she expected him to be something other than a pathfinder; after all, it was the reason he was grabbed from London to adventure on this suicidal quest.

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t one. That Johannson guy just randomly threw me into the group before I had a chance to complain.” He bit his lip once more, this time a single droplet formed and fell into his lap, causing him to wince slightly. He was still worried about dying a fourth time. Death in game had always bothered him, and unlike other games he felt everything, and last he checked nobody liked pain, not even him. Thankfully, self inflicted injury through biting of the lip didn’t lower his health points, so he just wiped his lip and continued. “I’m here though, so I might as well try." he said as he started playing with the piece of paper that Johannson gave him earlier. As far as Lennart was concerned, Caerbannog was his level, and they were probably both going to head back to town through the cathedral. He had no idea what his companions true level was, however. He watched the boars pass the cart, and before he knew it, the cart had already been moving. "But why the marshes?" Lennart muttered under his breath, possibly loud enough that Caerbannog would have heard it, had she been listening.

Health: 100%
Words: 400
Extra: That fear of death.

[Deleted]

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) - :: - Skill: ---

The samurai looked up at her companion as he spoke. At least he seemed fairly relaxed unlike earlier. The reason for his worries was soon revealed though. Being a Level 1 adventurer, he at least knew his weaknesses. A fairly realistic person, she thought. He proceeded to ask her about her calmness to which Caerbannog refrained from replying that she was actually half-way to the maximum level. At that moment, the best approach from her point of view was to empathize with the other person, to look at things from his point of view. The wolf-hair herself had been through that situation when she worried about her hit points and her existence. She initially had mixed feelings when the other samurai mentioned that he did not want to see a woman die. But then she remembered that from his point of view, they were both Level 1 and that he must have been genuinely worried.

Wermut soon answered her question regarding his subclass, and Caerbannog let him revel in his high opinion of landers. Soon enough he would figure out that they were similar to adventurers through and through, and were capable of deceit or stupidity. The wolf-hair would not have been surprised if Johansson threw a tracker into the party with her instead of a pathfinder, or even worse, a farmer who would know nothing about tracking or pathfinding. But Johansson did just as he promised and for that, Caerbannog would remember him for a long time. Or just until the quest came to its conclusion.

She watched the other samurai as his expressions changed, and finally when his lip-biting caused a drop of blood to trickle out of the self-inflicted wound. The wolf-hair herself did not like death even with an infinite amount of resurrection and lives. First of all, she was in a party and her death would most likely spell doom for her party member. And more importantly, she made a promise to Kumori that she would not die a meaningless death. It was a promise that was somewhat broken when she was unable to fight off Stryke and got player-killed by her fellow wolf-hair. However that issue was soon settled and instead of creating an enemy, the samurai looked up to Stryke as a well-meaning friend who just needed someone to help him out in some ways. Her second death though... Caerbannog’s expression turned gloomy the moment that she remembered it. She had stupidly eaten some poisonous mushrooms, stumbled half-alive around the Marshlands, had a brawl with the river Thames, served as a mobile meal for leeches, and subsequently died due to bleeding out from the leech-inflicted wounds and a deep stab to her side.

“ You can’t protect anyone if you start a fight while worrying about dying, “ her face was fairly serious as she looked up at the other samurai, and then her expression brightened up when Wermut muttered something about the marshes, “ Because quest! “

The blue-eyed girl then pointed at the piece of paper in the other samurai’s hand. She was unable to see what it contained, but it probably had the quest or some instruction regarding pathfinding. She recited the poem to him and shared what she knew about the elusive Dragon Tree.

“ The landers say there is healing water, “ she began, “ Or treasures. Or other things. “

The more that she said it, the more ridiculous it sounded. Up ahead, the Marshlands soon came into view and once the cart stopped, Caerbannog hopped out of it. She waited for her companion to steel himself and start up his pathfinding thing; the samurai did not know much about that subclass, only that it was fairly useful when navigating through dangerous areas where their opponents should be avoided.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 631	Tags: @dindeen Fallash

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

[Fallash]

“Treasure? I like treasure.” The phrase sounded stupid coming out of Lennart’s mouth, and he knew it. Everybody loved treasure, it was obvious, people loved shiny things and gold was shiny. Why else would it be used as a currency? Because everybody wanted it. Gold is money, and gold is treasure, thus everybody always wants treasure. His mind trailed on for quite a bit before the cart stopped and he jumped off the opposite side of Caerbannog. Lennart crossed the road, but didn’t stand directly next to Caer. Instead he stood about three to four meters away, the perfect talking distance. He looked forward and started to examine the marshlands.

First thing he noticed was the smell, it practically made him curl his nose before being able to return to his normal face. He had his fair share of terrible smells, and this wasn’t all that bad. If he could name the scent however, he would name it month old soggy socks. Lennart took a single step into the marsh, and then stepped back onto the road taking note of the mud and grime. “Just like the poem.” He looked at the air and could practically see the fumes flowing away from the Marsh. “Yup, just like the poem.” He opened his menu and activated his pathfinder skill: Battle Perception. Didn’t take him long to spot enemies.

Slimes, there were four of them, directly in front of them and not too far. Each slimes level was in the double digits, and they were wandering around in such a way that was obvious they hadn’t been alerted to their presence yet. He turned toward Caer and then pointed out towards the marsh at each of the slimes. “14, 11, 12, and 19.” Each slime was far enough away that if another player had looked, they wouldn’t have seen their names or levels, just the water shifting. He looked back at Caerbannog and waited to match eyes with her. His eye color had lightened from when they first met and seemed glow a tiny bit as if he had just put in light purple contacts rather than having light purple be his natural eye color. “Follow me, I know how to get around them without a fight.” He turned and walked down the road for several meters before trudging down into the muck.

“Augh! This stuff is so sticky!” It was obvious that the mud was sticking to Lennart’s boots as he was having difficulty lifting his legs, and before he knew it he was falling face first into the mud. “Augh!” was the only sound he made as he was falling, followed by a splotch sound. He struggled to stand back up but couldn’t succeed without help. If Caerbannog had followed him, they would have ended up several meters away from the slimes, attracting no aggro whatsoever.

Health: 100%
Words: 476
Extra: I have fallen and can't get up! @_@

[Deleted]

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) - :: - Skill: ---

Caerbannog planted her foot on the entrance to the Marshlands and stood there like a tank. The nasty smell, the suffocating air, she took it all in without a care in the world. She’d never been the girly type of girl back in the real world and indeed preferred messy, rowdy things; though she had her sweet moments that only a few people saw. In Elder Tale though, her role as a tank only served to intensify what could be called her boyish nature. The only thing that could get under her skin was an ungodly amount of slimes, probably, from which she would run away screaming without a moment’s notice. That, or she would cry her heart out and drown them in a sea of tears.

Fortunately for the wolf-hair, her companion Wermut seemed to know what he needed to do. Or at the very least he had an inkling as to what pathfinders were supposed to do for a party. Caerbannog looked at whatever the other samurai was staring at but she could only see some movement in the muck, grime and water. She looked up at the much taller adventurer and noted that his eyes seemed different. Was that a skill? But no matter, the young man said that he spotted something up ahead so they would have to take a detour. The wolf-hair followed him without a word, respectful of his subclass, his skills and his decisions.

Although she was a tank, Caerbannog was synched down to Level 1 and so she did not worry about their party formation. It was better if Wermut went ahead, she thought, for his skills as a pathfinder could surely steer them out of trouble. Well, out of mob trouble at least. Soon the other samurai was unable to lift his legs and when he tried to move, he fell face first into the mud. Caerbannog’s mind momentarily flickered out. Did he just faceplant on the Northern Marshlands of Thames? Did... he... just... faceplant...

Wermut’s struggles brought the samurai back to that reality. She sure as hell did not want to take a bath in the mud, but there was the obligation that she had to get her party mate out of trouble. If she gave him a hand, odds are that she would be pulled down with the stronger man. If she gave him her nagamaki to use as a cane or stick, he could lose it in the swamp. And so Caerbannog did the next logical thing. Since he was busy struggling for his well-being, she momentarily deactivated the Teacher System which shot her level up beyond 50. Then, the blue-eyed girl reached out and grabbed Wermut by the back of the collar, promptly pulled him out of the mud and dragged him over to more solid ground. Once that was done, she quickly synched down to Level 1 once again.

“ You okay? “ she innocently asked as if she did not just one-handedly pull a grown man out of the muck without much effort.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 508	Tags: @dindeen Fallash

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

[Fallash]

Lennart struggled and struggled to get up, but the most he could do was free his face. Thankfully, not all of the mud had stuck and only the right side of his face was painted brown with mud. The stench was even stronger now that he was covered with it, and it took all he could to not hurl on the spot. Thankfully, his companion came to his rescue, and she managed to pull him out of the mud, then across the mud and onto solid land. Wait, she was so small. How in blazes did she pull him out of the mud!? He turned and looked at Caerbannog with a shocked expression before the women asked if he was fine.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” He muttered as he wiped some of the grime off of his face. This was certainly embarrassing, it should be him doing the saving, not her. Lennarts face tinted red with this embarrassment and he muttered. “Yesterday the bunnies, and today the mud. Why me.” Moaning with frustration he quickly started getting rid of most of the mud that was stuck to his armor, making it easier for himself to move before finally standing up and pointing out towards the Marshlands. No enemies there, not a single one he could see. “Since nobody has found whatever it is we are looking for, I bet it is deep in the marshlands.” He started walking back into the marsh, being careful and taking steps where his feet wouldn’t sink so deep into the ground.

It wasn’t long before Lennart stopped and motioned to Caerbannog to follow, but as he looked back he realized just how tall his companion was, and that it might cause issues as they got deeper into the marsh. The thought caused him to fight with himself, but finally both sides won. “Hey... ummm... Caer. Marshes like this might only get deeper and deeper as we walk and...” his voice trailed off before he finally announced his idea. “If the mud gets too deep for you, I might be able to carry you on my shoulders.” He looked away and swatted away some more mud that was still covering the front of his armor. If he had seen his face directly, it was practically glowing red.

Health: 100%
Mana: 100%
Words: 382

[Deleted]

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) - :: - Skill: ---

For a second, the shocked expression on her companion’s face worried the wolf-hair. She kept a deadpan look though and did not let her worry appear on her face. Having met different people with various reactions to her real level, she would rather just keep it to herself unless the situation was urgent and required for a higher-leveled adventurer. Aside from helping the other samurai out of the mud and asking him if he was okay, Caerbannog did not offer any additional assistance. Men had that thing about their pride and whatnot, and Wermut seemed plenty embarrassed already so she did not rub the situation in. He was a grown man who simply took a misstep and could have handled himself otherwise, or so she thought up to that point.

Wermut then mentioned bunnies. There was only one kind of bunny that could cause trouble in Elder Tale, and that was the frenmic rabbit. She looked at the samurai with a surprised expression, much different from her usual calm or expressionless face. Curious, though worried that it would be a tale of much death and demise for the cute little brown creatures, she opted to ask about -the- bunnies.

“ Frenmic rabbits, you mean? “ she inquired as she waited for the other samurai to finish what he was doing.

The pathfinder then moved on to his next statement which was about their objective, the Dragon Tree. He had a good head between those shoulders of his, but there are times when he derped, apparently. Soon they resumed their journey deeper into the Marshlands. Once again, she let the pathfinder lead the way for that was his role after all. He then called her attention by referring to her with a shortened name and proceeded to recount the obvious. Yes, the marsh might get deeper as they walked on. So? The samurai had a feeling as to what will be said next. She squinted and stared at the taller samurai as if daring him to say something to her face. His voice trailed off before the pathfinder said the inevitable.

The white haired guy offered to carry Caerbannog on his shoulders. How sweet. He seemed to be embarrassed by that too. How cute. So, basically, he just called her ‘short’. Not the exact word, but the samurai translated it to that anyway. The marshlands had deep areas, and surely she would die unless Wermut carried her on his shoulders. Best offer she had in days. Caerbannog continued to stare at her fellow samurai with an icy glare. If he insisted on it, she might have to slice his head off. Or she could just slash his limbs off one by one; first his legs so that he’d be... ‘short’. Once they see eye to eye, she could chop off his arms. Instead of going for a clean kill, she could mess him up but that would not be nice now, would it?

“ I can manage, “ the samurai calmly said, still not wanting to be rude towards her fellow adventurer.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 510	Tags: @dindeen Fallash

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

[Fallash]

The woman was brave, Lennart liked that in a woman. Still, he could practically feel something was wrong as a shiver went up his spine. He glanced back at Caerbannog, and she was shooting daggers at him with her glare. Had I said something wrong? Was the only thing he could think of when we turned fully around and waved to her to follow. “I don’t see any enemies around here, it’s safe to come.” He turned back and started trudging his way through the muck. The mud got deeper faster than he expected, and before long his was waist-deep in mud. He looked around for any spots that looked like they were a tad more solid, and started wading towards them. It was rough, but he eventually reached more solid ground. It was an odd mound of practically solid dirt surrounded by slight bits of water and lots of mud. The wading was a tad tiring, especially when the mud was that deep. He sat down and looked around and all he could see was marsh, marsh, and some swamp. He didn’t see any change in the scenery or colors, except for in one direction where he saw some green goo on the surface. A closer inspection showed that it was another slime, but it was out of range for his Battle Perception to pick up.

He smiled as he waved to Caer, something he hadn’t done for the entire trip, and practically yelled out to her. “I suppose I should tell you about the devils.” The pathfinder moved himself further up the mound and started wiping off the mud that was on his armor before beginning the story. “Yesterday was an eventful day I must say so myself. I was heading out into the woods for a typical day of relaxing when I accidentally sat on one of those Frenmic Rabbits.” His voice became harsh as he said Frenmic Rabbits, one could guess that he has had more than one bad run-ins with them in the past. “Before I knew it I was running for my life from several higher leveled bunnies, and then this Assassin...” His voice quieted down as he realized the secret he promised, and a single bead of sweat dropped from his brow as he thought of a way to stretch the story as to not give up Kumori. “This assassin dropped from the trees in between me and the bunnies, then they all just gave up chase and left. The man showed me some tricks for fighting, and then we relaxed and rested while my health restored and that’s the last I saw of him. I don’t remember his name, just that when he left while I was resting he carved a fancy F into the tree.” He smiled at the thought that he made a friend with a high leveled player like Kumori, but his mind began to wander as to who his sister might be. Why was he so afraid of her finding out he killed a few bunnies? “He was a brave man, not many people would jump into a battle just to end it. And to think, he didn’t harm those devilish little rodents.” He shudders as he said that but his smile stayed all the same.

“I wish this place had nice scenery other than this disgusting stench.” As if to show his disgust he swatting more mud off of his armor, and off the mound.

Health: 100%
Mana: 100%
Words: 578
Extra: The story he is referring to happened here: A Samurai in Need

[Deleted]

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) - :: - Skill: ---

As the pair walked on it became more apparent to Caerbannog that the other samurai was close to clueless in navigating the marshlands. If not for his subclass skill which was able to detect things up ahead as she’d seen earlier, he would have been murdered by anything and everything in the swamp already. Even snails, most probably. The wolf-hair shook her head as they continued their journey. She watched their backs since Wermut was focused on what was up front. Every now and then, she wanted to caution him against stepping onto a certain part of the ground but she was always too late. The taller samurai was not one to think much about his next steps, and the wolf-hair was not one to speak up so much. One could say that it was a miracle that they were not dead yet, what with that pairing.

Soon Wermut found himself in deep trouble again- quite literally. Caerbannog, who knew to stay a safe distance away from the bad luck magnet, stepped on less squishy ground. The pathfinder’s mistakes made it easier for her to find proper footing though her armor was not spared from the horrors of marshland mud. The white-haired man was not entirely unfortunate though for soon he chanced upon a very solid mound. That was strange, the samurai thought... and so she just waited at the foot of said mound. It was solid enough for her to stand there and she could still Wermut anyway. She maintained a short distance from the other samurai for two reasons: first, that mound could be a large mob hidden in the swamp; and second, she had to watch their backs still.

The other samurai soon recounted his past day. Just as Caerbannog deduced, the young man had a run-in with Hrairoo’s more enthusiastic cousins. She would have thought that Wermut probably started the fight with the rabbits himself, but from what she’d seen so far, the samurai instead sighed and figured that it might have been an accident. Though usually calm, frenmic rabbits were known to attack people if someone from their family was harmed in some way. As Wermut continued his story, the word ‘assassin’ made the samurai look up at him with a wide-eyed expression. She knew quite a lot of assassins, but only two male ones stood out: Kumori and Saber. The former was very chatty and friendly especially towards new players, but the latter was not all that bad with people either. Or at least, he would not look away if someone was in trouble- is what Caerbannog thought. But as the story was recounted further, certain flags were raised in the samurai’s mind and the ‘fancy F’ sealed it.

“ Assassin with long hair and talks a lot? “ Caerbannog asked as she squinted at Wermut.

‘Long haired’ and ‘chatty’; Saber was none of those things. If her fellow samurai confirmed the description, then the bunny-harassing assassin was none other than her ‘brother’ Ryuunosuke who was known as Kumori in Elder Tale.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 500	Tags: @dindeen Fallash

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

[Fallash]

“Long haired and chatty?” Lennart looked confused as to how she nailed the man directly on the coffin. “Yeah I would call him that too. How did you know?” A single bead of sweat fell from Lennart’s brow, and it became more and more apparent that the subject on the Assassins real identity was causing Lennart some stress. However, Lennarts mind kept wandering. Just who was this girl? Does she know something I don’t? Oh no, I gave up Kumori’s secret didn’t I! Oh no oh no! What if this girl knows his sister! Kumori will hunt me down and make my life a living hell! The more Wermut thought, the more in distress he looked. He couldn’t keep these feelings on the inside, and they seemed to just explode out of him through his eyes and facial expressions. The poor man was on the verge of begging her not to tell Kumori’s sister what he had done, and then he realized that if he did that she would have known he was lying. He couldn’t be known as a liar, not by her at least.

He gulped loudly before attempting to change the subject. “Hey, is it just me or is the air around here particularly worse than the air everywhere else?” Originally he had aimed to just distract her, but then he realized what he said was actually really true. He smelled the air, and even though he was getting used to the natural stench, he smelled something else, worse than before. Instead of smelling like soggy month old socks, it instead smelled like an odd blend of spoiled milk and rotten eggs ground down with the soggy month old socks inside a blender and then boiled. Definitely not pleasant. Instinctively he grabbed his nose to hold back the scent, closed his eyes, and bolted back to the mud where Caerbannog was. He couldn’t see, but he felt where the mud was and much to his surprise, didn’t fall. He didn’t have any issues traversing the mud at this height after experiencing the deeper mud and if Caerbannog hadn’t moved out of the way, he would have ran right into her.

Health: 100%
Mana: 100%
Words: 363
Extra: Take the mound in whatever direction you wish. You started the thread, and I'll let you find the ending. (Yes that means if you want it to be a big enemy of a sort, go ahead. Or if you want to make it a marker to find the Dragon Tree that is also a thing you could do. I'll let you decide how long this thread will go on.)

[Deleted]

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) - :: - Skill: ---

When she asked her last question, Caerbannog could sense some discomfort coming from the white-haired samurai. Perhaps it was the tone of his voice or his overall expression, but it was becoming fairly obvious that he was hiding something. Not that it mattered. She would just ask Ryuu about it later on. Perhaps once she had him all to herself, maybe in a dark room where he could not escape, and then she’d use one of her ace moves on him so that he would not be able to see and anything much less flee. But that was an idea and a story reserved for a later time. At that moment, the samurai only had the pathfinder in front of her and she had to focus on the task at hand.

“ He is, shall I say... “ her eyes narrowed down to slits when she answered Wermut’s query, “ - my brother. I guess. “

No brother of hers was a bunny-harassing adventurer though, and she would make sure to set that right once she returned to Londenium. The samurai’s thoughts were soon ruined by a gut-wrenching odor; the mound beneath Wermut began to move, albeit slowly, and soon it revealed an oversized swamp snail. It was about twice the size of Caerbannog herself and the creature seemed to have buried itself in the marsh for the longest time. That, or it fell into a hole much like the pathfinder. Now one question remained: was it a grimy swamp snail or an enraged swamp snail? That was soon answered by a stream of acidic goo which the creature spat at Wermut. Caerbannog pulled him aside while making sure that they would not lose their footing, and then she took him by the hand and dashed off farther into the marsh.

“ Can’t fight that! Just run! “ she yelled at the samurai while the enraged swamp snail chased after them; it was out for blooooooooooooood!

OOC Notes: Run into the Dragon Tree or something xD
Word Count: 320	Tags: @dindeen Fallash

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

[Fallash]

“Your brother...? Wait, then that means you are that bun-” His words were cut off as the snail he was standing on rose up. It was angry, REALLY angry. It wasn’t long before Caerbannog was pulling on him to flee. Lennart’s legs instinctively ran along with Caerbannog when she pulled him away. Couldn’t fight that? No way. We can totally fight that. The sarcasm was thick in his head, but he refused to say anything, and eventually he was keeping up with her on his own. Apparently fleeing was one of his strong suits; who would have guessed? Before long, Lennart was practically gliding across the mud, almost passing up Caerbannog.

After a long time, Lennart was breathing heavily. It started to look as though the snail had lost interest, and then he collapsed onto a mound of grass. Wait, grass? Lennart gained a brief second wind as he flipped over and started feeling the ground. It wasn’t exactly grass, but it was plants, lots of plants. Lennart couldn’t help but think that it was another monster, and he turned to Caerbannog who he expected had been following. He could almost barely believe that Kumori and Caerbannog were brother and sister. The family resemblance was uncanny but... couldn't be. Then he remembered that she didn’t freeze up when the snail showed up. There was no level 1 in this game that would have been that calm upon seeing a new creature that big, she had to have something up her sleeve. He finished turning around and sat on the grass looking her dead in the eye looking more serious than she could have ever have seen him. “Just what level are you really?” His mind trailed on about the facts he knew about her.

She was quick to think, knew more about the game than he did already. Was wearing fancy armor that was obviously too high level for a level 1, same with the weapon. Her brother was a strong assassin; they surely had to have gone fighting enemies together before. She wasn’t phased when larger enemies showed up when a normal person would have been frozen in fear from seeing an enemy multiple times their level. Just who was she?

Health: 100%
Mana: 100%
Words: 372
Extra: Hope this post is alright. Just lemme know if everything here is alright, especially the grassy area (I wonder what that is.) Also, google wants to change Caerbannog to Carcinogen. 

[Deleted]

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) - :: - Skill: ---

The scenery changed quickly as the adventurers ran at full speed. At first, there were the familiar and repetitive rows of half-dead trees. Their twisted branches reached to the sky and formed a ghastly arch over the marshlands. Possessed stumps probably lurked somewhere between their dying cousins, and the waters close to the samurai’s feet could have been the hunting grounds of swamp crocodiles. But soon enough the view around them began to change. As if something up ahead breathed life into the flora and bade the terrible fauna to stay away. As the pair emerged from the darkest parts of the Marshlands and left the, fortunately, slow enraged snail behind them, Caerbannog looked up at a towering figure. Was that what she thought it was?

The black-haired samurai was about to call out to Wermut but he’d gone farther ahead and rested upon a grassy patch. That area was different from the rest of the Marshlands and truly, if someone were to look at it, one would think that something magical was in that place. It was similar to an oasis in the desert, or a paradise lost- in that place deep within the Northern Marshlands of Thames, a towering tree stood guard. Around it, trees and plants flourished. There was no hint of death or decay, and the vile beasts which resided in the swamp stayed away. The air was fresh and it smelled a bit sweet, similar to fresh grass or blooming flowers. Caerbannog set her sights up higher and stared at the Dragon Tree. However, a question from the pathfinder soon distracted her from the awe and wonder that she felt. How did he find out? Was he just pretending to be a ditz? Did he notice that moment when she unsynched?

“ I... I... “ the samurai checked their surroundings.

At that point, Caerbannog seemed not quite herself, as if she was a deer that was suddenly flooded by headlights. That, or some brat who had been caught stealing or cheating. In the girl’s mind, she was searching for a distraction, a change of topic... but then again, her compulsion to not be rude to her companion was much greater than her need to party up with Level 1s who won’t run away from her. All she wanted was to meet more people, perhaps to be more sociable in some ways, but those of lower levels began to stay away from her for reasons unclear. Perhaps they were afraid that she would turn upon them and kill them off, but more importantly when grinding for experience though, a level gap would leave the lower leveled player with much less rewards. Still, the samurai would rather not lie even if it meant driving people away. And so she decided right then and there to admit the truth to her companion. Defeated, Caerbannog flicked off the Teacher System and unsynched her level from Wermut’s. She smiled weakly at him, more like an awkward grin really... and once he was done with his reactions, she would point up at the thing behind the other samurai and say: “ Dragon Tree “.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 520	Tags: @dindeen Fallash

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

[Fallash]

His companion finally revealed her true level. Fifty-five, well over half-way to the max level. Was this all an elaborate ruse to find a player to easily kill? Couldn’t be. There was no way that she went through all that trouble just to kill a level one... or would she? Adventurers were despicable sometimes, as Lennart had noted in his head, and he sighed. “Let me guess, now I have to die.” He shrugged and closed his eyes, awaiting the inevitable, but only a single phrase came out of Caerbannogs mouth.

“Dragon Tree”

Wait, Dragon Tree? Wasn’t that their quest? He opened his eyes and looked at Caerbannog. Her eyes were focused on something behind him, and she was pointing in that direction too. He could almost see the large green objects reflection in her eyes, but he needed to turn and see it for himself. He turned, and there it was in all of it’s glory. The Dragon Tree had been found. It was quite a marvel to see, a large dragon-shaped tree covered in what looked like several different species of plants, and all around it the world seemed to glow with an odd vibrancy, or was that just his imagination? It must have been the fact that here, in the near center of the marshlands there was this place of beauty, of life. He smiled, and his eyes lit up. They achieved their quest! Wermut jumped up in joy, cheering, before stopping suddenly. “I wouldn’t have picked a better place to kill another, such a peaceful landscape.” The words spilled from his mouth carried an odd air to them, any emotion from the words seemed to have vanished as he spoke. Turning around to face Caerbannog, he smiled, “If your goal of bringing me here was to kill me, then do it. It would save me the trip back to London.” The look in his eyes was that of true sorrow, as if they had just been given a bright light, only to have it sucked right out of him, before he finally closed them awaiting the strike.

Health: 100%
Mana: 100%
Words: 357
Extra: Your next post determines how he will probably view you permanently. Be wary '^'

[Deleted]

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) - :: - Skill: ---

While a panicked voice rang within Caerbannog’s head, asking her who what how why she just revealed her level to the obviously bothered samurai, Wermut went through a series of expressions. First he closed his eyes and mumbled something about dying, and then he was ecstatic when he noticed the Dragon Tree. But even though the scene was a cause for celebration, the white-haired man’s happiness was soon replaced by sadness once again and then he went on and on about getting killed. For real? Was. He. For. Real? She could have ganked his punkass somewhere out there in the marshlands, and that would’ve been more satisfying than killing him in such a pretty place. She could have cut his limbs off and strung him high on a tree, left for dead while swamp crocodiles snapped below him. She could have kicked his balls so hard that they went right up to his intestines, through his liver and finally embedded in his lungs-

“ Are you... bipolar? “ Caerbannog stared at Wermut, never letting any of the rude things that she thought of out of her mouth; asking a person about his disorder was pretty rude in itself, but at that point she just wanted to understand his train of thoughts.

He was happy then sad, then happy again, then scared, then who knows what the neep else. Yeah, Caerbannog was just about ready to explode with one of her tantrums. Damn right! But instead, she closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, exhaled the cool fresh air and walked up to Wermut. She opened her eyes and tiptoed up to the white-haired samurai, cupped his cheeks with her dainty little hands, brought her face closer to his and-

- gave him a headbutt. Not enough to kill him or to swipe off much of his hit points, but just enough to leave him a bit pained for a while. The girl then let go of the ditz and she sat down on the soft grass at the foot of the Dragon Tree. She let the wind blow through the strands of her black hair, its soft kiss landed on her face. The wolf-hair was initially angry at Wermut for thinking such horrible things about her, but she soon realized that such fears were justifiable anyway. All she could do from then on was to offer some advice based on what she had experienced so far.

“ If you are always willing to die, you can’t protect anyone... not even yourself, “ Caerbannog said to her companion without leaving his party and without looking at him either, “ And if you want to get back to Londenium quickly, get the Call of Home skill. “

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 450	Tags: @dindeen Fallash

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

[Fallash]

His eyes were closed still, awaiting the strike, when it finally came. A sharp pain quickly hit his skull as he felt... another head collide into his. He fell backward holding his head. “Ahhh, what the hell!” Previously she asked if he was bipolar, no he wasn’t bipolar. He was just extremely bad at hiding his normal emotions and being around women always caused him to act... different. Lennart stopped holding his head in pain when Caerbannog said the most surprising and unexpected line. It was true, being dead means you can’t protect anybody. He looked up at Caerbannog and only saw her back. He was glad she wasn’t looking at him, after all her words had drawn blood from him in the form of a single tear. However his tear was quickly removed by the mentioning of a skill.

Well, that totally killed the mood. Lennart stood up and asked what seemed to him as a good question, but was probably entirely idiotic one. “What is a ‘Call of Home?’” If this was an anime, he would have had a fuzzy pink and orange background behind him as several question marks appeared floating around him in a chibi appearance. However, this wasn’t an anime, so his face was more of a ‘What!?’ expression.

Well there went any hopes of a serious conversation between himself and his party member. Finding the tree was full of quite a bit of drama, and it was quite surprising to Lennart himself as to how fast he could kill the mood on his own. He had never even seen or heard of this skill before, and Kumori certainly didn’t tell him about it when he was teaching him how to fight, or did he? Lennart couldn’t remember. However hard he tried to remember, he just couldn’t recall. This must have really been the first time he had heard the skill before. The more Lennart thought, the more confused he seemed to become.

Health: 78% (ow... thanks for holding back.)
Mana: 100%
Words: 330
Extra: Pfffft Bipolar xD