Sutoratosu

Do, rather than hiss as a cat should, arched his back and unleashed a roar befitting of a lion, wings unfurling and eyes boring into the three beasts. The other dragons, nor the bird or the snake, were anywhere near as courageous though- all of them retreated behind their mistress, and soon enough back up the hill they'd descended. Even the Chameleon was gone, quite literally- there one moment, vanished into thin air the next... though the hurried pitter-patter of his feet gave him away as his invisible form retreated. "I told you guys so..." Lucille sighed deeply, producing her cane from her bag. Her hands trembled even as she did- her body wanted nothing more than listen to instinct, to flee... the beasts had been right, she'd been right. But nope, they'd wanted to press forward anyway. And lo and behold, quite literally not even a step in, and there was trouble. "I. FUCKING. TOLD. YOU. SO. Now let's hurry up, kill these things, and GET AWAY FROM THIS GODS FORSAKEN PLACE before they can call anything worse!"

"This... this is..." Lucille could only shake her head, moving closer to the flowers "I don't even know...Incredible, horrifying.... but someone's put a lot of work in here. Each of these flowers- its like their all working together, like a dam holding back a sea. They're probably the only reason this whole area is still remotely normal..." She reached up, but couldn't quite get to the flowers themselves, though the warm pulse of their magic thrummed through her fingers. Luckily a certain steel pigeon quite literally swooped in, landed gingerly, and began to peck at the plant's face. Lucille eagerly caught the seeds knocked loose, pocketing them for later. Lucille gains: A Handful of Terrarian Sunflower Seeds "Whoever did this probably knows more about the magic of this world than anyone we found in the village... I'm almost tempted to look for them, but no telling when the first of these flowers were planted or where they are now" with that said, she addressed Jun and Toshiro directly "Anyways... there, we're here. You got a good enough look at what's beyond this flower barrier? Hope so. I can't see it, but I definitely feel it every second we stand here, almost like a tidal wave frozen in time..."

"Well, there is an old castle just to the north of here," Lucille answered, seeming to practically jump at the opportunity to divert this madness "Probably wouldn't take that long to get to. And considering half the reason I even agreed to come with you guys is so I could search for the Artifacts the Guide mentioned... even if we don't find anything immediately useful, could still help us figure out what happened to this island, and why... and maybe how to use it to our advantage."

"Then let's get this done with," And with that, Lucille felt up and down the tree's trunk, and finally found the spot she wanted. Taking a step back and advising everyone else to do the same, she took a breath before launching into a quick incantation- the very words of which seemed to warp and distort as a dull, thrumming screech resounded through the area. Within the blink of an Eye, the air had distorted ever so slightly, as twin shockwaves lashed out and sent the mighty oak toppling like child's play. She had been right that the tree was more than tall enough to suit their needs, given once it landed with a thunderous boom- a fair bit of it's branches were hanging over the edge already. With another quick incantation, she trimmed the limbs away, letting them fall into the rushing waters below. By the end of it, what they had was a raw log, ready to be pushed across. Which is precisely what she gave Frost Brute the go ahead to do, turning back to the others as the massive golem slowly but surely spanned the ravine. Those paying attention may have noticed her beast acting... odd. Fidgeting, looking back and forth between the thinning forests and whatever lay beyond this river. Do seemed especially vigilant, eyes trained on the horizon and talons at the ready.... "Welp," she began "we're almost there, I think... something's beginning to set them all off. Hmmmm... perhaps it's an Omen? One we should follow? Animals can sense evil, you know... and whatever that ore is, it's probably not worth whatever we're about to run into. Just saying..." Yet despite her words, she knew most of them would probably still be set on doing this...just wasted breath at this point. She was thankful she'd opted to keep the armor from last night- helped to hide the fact she was shaking right along with her beasts. Whatever had happened to this landscape, it was like a sickening pulse that grew stronger with each mile of ground they covered...

"Stop where you are," Lucille ordered the rest as they crested the hill, before any of them could plummet to their demise. From how things felt on the echomap, getting over this thing sadly wouldn't be as simple as jumping across, or finding a lower point to wade over the river. She'd been keeping track of things though, as they walked... all the shapes that had popped up on sonar, all the tiny noises the rest of them ignored. She walked over to the nearest of those shapes- tall, towering, solid in it's reverberation. After a few clicks of her tongue, she'd ascertained the tree was tall enough to suit their purposes. "As I'm sure all of you can tell by now- that River's no small hurdle we can just jump over. This tree here is tall enough to span the gap though. I can get it down fairly quickly, but we'd need someone or something to drag it to the edge and form the bridge. Any superhuman volunteers?"

"Goddess fucking damn it..." The Rider cursed under his breath. It was really getting old, how often the Swordsman got his ass handed to him on a silver platter. Hell, all three of the engagements they'd had thus far- this one included, and he'd ended up a bloody pile on the floor each time. Even worse though, was that Mercadier had told him to fall back for this very reason "You had one job, boy. ONE..." "Doran," He called out, "....I doubt I need to explain what just went wrong here. I'm afraid I must leave this straggler in your hands; someone has to get this fool out of here before he bleeds out. Again." And with that said, Mercadier briefly leapt out of the saddle, picked Tekeshi up in a fireman's carry, and hoisted him over Lenneth's Back before taking off. No end of frustrated curses could be heard as he did... all Leneth did was snort, as unimrpressed by the bleeding warrior as ever. Rescue Tekeshi... Canto to H8

"Wait- wait...." Lucille piped up, practically jumping to her feet from the log she sat on (because like hell had she been about to stay on that bus and listen to their pointless chatter when they should be moving) "You mean to tell me NONE of you actually thought to ask directions where you were going, before you got going? What exactly did you plan then, before you convinced me to come along?" She didn't wait for a response before she sighed, gripping the bridge of her nose "Alright, look- I talked to the guide earlier, luckily. He told me about all the landmarks nearby- said that the 'Corruption' lies to the northwest of the village. Vera could easily lead us in the proper direction from above, so navigating shouldn't be much of an issue.... but please, someone remind me again: Why exactly does anyone think it's a good idea to go to a place that's quite literally called 'corruption' and probably has no end of things that would love to eat us?"

"Stellio Kontos, though most refer to me as the Ogre of Whitewall." was all stellio answered with "And it's called 'Armor', my good man. Keeps you alive on the killing field, you know? Just like it did against that rabble we put down outside; Did you by chance have any connection to the one who commissioned us to come here? Infact, better yet, care to explain where 'here' even is? I unfortunately can't tell one desolate wasteland apart from another these days."

Lucille had spent some time talking to the guide after returning from the river. Though most of her questions had at least been partially answered, she couldn't help the feeling there was far more going on here than any of the locals seemed to realize. Giant... eye things, smaller baby eye things, walking corpses, and probably a whole host of other nasty things, from what the man had told her. It almost reminded her of home- the talk of dead kingdoms and cities, once great and prosperous, now reduced to ruins and infested by all manner of horrors... most of which apparently conjured up by the hands of man. Oh the irony... the two really didn't seem that much different, in basic history. Relatively recent history, at least- past few centuries. "Well, not much we can do until she returns," she sighed as they walked from the office, "oh well- who knows... maybe I can find someone to help me search these hills he mentioned- probably not too smart to go much further beyond that though-" "Mreow." "what?" "Mreoooow" Do promptly directed his attention to the group waiting outside the tavern, seemingly gathering supplies as a few of them headed off in various directions. He let the summary of what he saw flow to the girl, as he cleaned one of his paws non chalantly. "Well... I suppose this will be easier than I thought. Come on, let's go see what this is all about." And like that, she walked over, and got roped into whatever madness the group was about to embark upon...

Remi, Vale 12,20 "Hom Homs get back! Remi take care of the rest!" The air around the little Nopon was hot as a bon fire, growing yet hotter still as another Grimm struck her and nigh immediately she'd returned the favor. Her plumage danced with the light of a pyre, body wreathed in flames and eyes shinning a deep amber- It was time, she could feel it. Stowing her weapon and almost fearlessly walking towards the grimm, she unfurled her earwings, slowly and surely. The majestic aura of flame only seemed to grow the closer and closer they came to reaching their full span... until finally, they did. And in that same moment, as Remi declared: "Remi is Fiya! Remi is Life! REMI CLEANSE FILTHY GRIMM FROM WORLD!" There was a deafening boom. A furious sea of purifying flame spewed forth in all directions, seeking out and consuming each and every last Beowolf regardless of it's position. The howls the beasts had once uttered was quickly replace by that of the hellish inferno casting it's judgement about them all... Remi Activates the Pheonix Heart, unleashing her semblance upon all enemies!

"Oh look, bandits. How lovely, as if I wasn't already busy enough trying to treat that fever..." Hold position

Lucille sat by the river bank early that morning, surrounded by her beasts. The rushing sound of the currents had served as her only company besides them in this endeavor, while she'd worked out all the specifics and drafted the circuit. Do was as typical, ready to get it done- she barely even had to prompt him before the cat just strolled right to his. She had tossed the dragon bone in and fired it up... And what had walked out of the circle was not precisely what she'd been expecting or hoping for, but was still close enough to the original goal... at least to her. Simple curiosity had been the largest driving factor, plus Do was... well compared to the capabilities of the others, he was getting rather lackluster. She figured the cat could use a little boost... "Trhoem of Ogd, likl ti wthi iref!" Vera was quite quick to squawk, taking flight to get away from the monstrosity standing before her. Lucille only sighed- seemed the damn bird would never change. The dragon whelps meanwhile felt more curious to her than anything. The Chameleon seemed to have zero damns to give, taking one glance at Do's new form before going right back to searching for insects in the mud. She didn't even know if the Snake registered the event at all, given he was busy sunbathing atop a boulder. "Well, these results are serviceable, at least." She said as she stroked the cat dragon's fur, noting just how coarse it had gotten. Especially when her hand moved ever so slightly the wrong direction and she felt a sharp, sudden prick. Taking note for later, she moved her hand towards the ribs, feeling the smooth leather-like wings that had formed. "Only question now though: are they enough to keep you in the air? Making the bones hollow should've fixed the weight prob-" "Gilfth!? Ilhtfg!? Uyo dare vegi hsti lfthiy heahnte eht prwoe to lfy!? Guacsrflied, a ckoymre to viasan verehyreew!" The cat stared at the pigeon, sizing her up, weighing his options. Then the next second he had unfurled his wings and made a massive, pouncing leap using them to push off the earth, making several more flaps as he closed the distance between them. Vera squaked in horror as she wheeled about and over his head just as he neared, soaring away- but he followed just as quickly. Before she could even realize the fight was lost, The feline was upon her, and with one deft strike of the paw, took out one of her wings. She tumbled down to the earth by Lucille's feet, splattering her plumage with mud and grit- but alive. Still quite very alive. Too alive, all most. Even the wing he struck had taken no permanent injury, even if it did throb now. "Mreow-ow-ow-ow-ow-oooow!" The cat landed not too long after, giving a low, chuckling growl. A warning, one that become clear to Vera- He could truly catch her now. The only reason she lived through that brief aerial exchange was because he'd been toying with her. There was only one room for a favorite in their cabal, and he was the only one of them actively being given improvements as time went on. He had been the first of their numbers. He had been called on the most, when there was work to be done. Not her, nor any of the other rabble who'd joined up. Him. "MREEEEEOooooow..." The little tweety had lost this fight. She'd be wise not to start it again. Lucille resisted the urge to speak up at the growing sense of superiority the cat radiated, deflate his bubble by telling him the purpose was quite the opposite and this whole operation was out of pity. But, well In all fairness, Vera seemed to have been doing everything she could to antagonize him- and as far as she could tell there was no lasting injury. Perhaps this would be a humbling experience for the pigeon, having her chicks come home to roost. She let him have his moment, while it would last. But eventually, it was time to go. The scent of rain was getting stronger, she could feel the winds picking up. Might as well find out more about these artifacts, if nothing else today. "Alright, thats enough," she said, "Come on, all of you. We're heading back- try not to kill each other on the way." And Do was the first to follow, flaring his wings with pride as he gave one last, lingering look of victory at Vera...and grinned. Do has been altered to the following state!

Remi, Vale 12-20 Remi bounced away a bit too late from the Beowolf, sporting a new set of gashes on her ear-wings as they instinctively rose to block the strike. But such light injuries did nothing to deter her focus; Before she even landed from the failed evasive maneuver, she had leveled Helios 1 on the bigger Grimm and opened fire, searing two decently sized holes into it's flesh with a bright flash. The smell of something burning began to permeate the air as her earlier art began it's nasty work, and the Nopon breathed it in deeply as she surveyed the fight. Not even a full five minutes in, and it was already getting crowded... too crowded. Plenty of kindling... "Remi have idea!" the fiery fluff ball called to everyone else "Friends ignore little grim, hit big grim from cliffs for now, focus on whittling down! Remi take care of little ones- Explode with hot fiya! Fiya hit big ones hard too, maybe kill if hom-homs bring enough pain!" Remi uses a Basic Attack on Cliff Beowolf 9

Remi, Vale 12-20 Basic Attack on Cliff Beowolf 8

"Time to spit hot FIRE!" Remi already had Helios One off her back and expanded into it's full form. She took a breath, and as her feathers began to burn with dancing light she felt her internal stores surge forward. She took aim at the grim, and exhaled a searing torrent of fire into the blasting rod- to which the only response was Helios One's gems illuminating in turn, quite literally sucking the conflagration into its body with an ominous thrum. Remi pulled the trigger, but jerked the weapon skyward at the last possible moment, firing a sphere of heat and light that ascended into the heavens... before it detonated over the Grim, raining down wave after wave of searing, biting flame that seemed to seek each and every last one of them out exclusively, clinging to flesh and fur like some hellish glue. Corona Mass Ejection on all enemies

Arya "A Nurse won't be necessary. Thank you," Arya had said as she accepted the kit. She sat down and began to dress her injuries as the conversation progressed- taking the time to clean the dirt, soot, and other grime from her sliced calf and burned palm. It almost reminded of old times, when she was fucking about as kid and ended up getting hurt, and either mom or dad ended up patching her up. Didn't matter which one of them was around to do it, they'd both always try to turn it into a learning experience, teach her how to do it herself. Didn't matter whether it required a band aid or full blown stitches... The memories almost brought a smile to her face. Almost. "Yes... I think I might have," She answered. Her leg and palm were cleaned and wrapped with gauze- probably would've been better and cleaner to stitch the gash instead of just covering it... but with the condition her hand was in? "She set herself alight and then tried to immolate me too. Fire seemed to radiate from every pore on her body as easily as sweat. Only thing that stopped her was... the girl who showed up. If she was even human at all. She said a lot of weird things, spoke to me in riddles... something to do with time, memories, fire... Love," She briefly glanced at Natalie. With all the details she already had, as she stared into those lavender eyes, the logical conclusion here became even more painfully obvious than it already was "She mentioned Purple too. And Penguins. Purple Penguins. And the Inquisitor kept referring to you as Nayru, even before she got into the kitchen. There's... something else too-" She held out a hand, took a breath, and tried to focus. The memory of the first transformation, and one she had tried and failed to manifest in the kitchen, came to the front of her mind, and she used them as a launch point to try and replicate what she'd done not even an hour earlier. She brought up the memory of the gun- the memory she'd instinctively clung too in that desperate moment, and tried to... will it forth. She still wasn't entirely sure what she was even doing, for the most part her gut was guiding her. Quite literally in some regards, given as she tried harder she felt a strange... tug. Strange yet simultaneously familiar. There was a flash of grey in her hand. A single bullet now sat in her empty palm. The same bullet that had shattered so uselessly against Kindle. She stared at it, and only sighed- had been trying to manifest the whole gun to show them, but fuck it. She was exhausted, even felt the beginnings of a migraine coming on from all this madness. And the fact she'd been able to pull something at all was enough proof on its own. "I'm not sure how I even did it," she continued, "It just... came to me, once she started attacking. Somehow I... pulled things out of thin air, exactly how I remembered them. This replication, that flame aura the inquisitor had, what Natalie did in the kitchen with those knives... all of those are the type of power you mean by 'Inheritance', aren't they?"

Moves I. Lucille will Exit the Sanctuary! Brachus will stay inside of the sanctuary, and use Restorative Breath on the Ally with the lowest health! (Exiting the protection of the sanctuary makes the unit susceptible to hostile actions again, but also allows them to make hostile actions again. Restorative Breath restores {1d6+Syn(5)} HP to the target; when used on dragons it restores {2d10+Syn(5)} HP instead.) II. Lucille casts Edge of Silence against the Eye of Cthulhu! Brachus will use Restorative Breath on the Ally with the lowest health, again! (Edge of Silence launches 2 Res-Ignoring, Undodgeable attacks which deal {(1d3+Int[13+6])*1.3} Damage each) Loadout

The young nopon till then had been busy stuffing her face from a bag of candies. Finally though she saw fit to take the ten seconds or so to stop and actually speak, once the others had gone "Remi eat sweets, take sugar and turn it into fire. Then spit hot fire all over Grim," She stated simply. To accentuate her point she exhaled a small puff of flame that quickly dissipated to embers "When too much grim to spit hot fire at, Remi explode with hot fire! Strains Remi, but burns things, ALL the things, and drains their life force to heal Remi."

Submitted originally via the discord, putting it here now that I have the time to tidy things up

Lucille practically jumped out of her own skin as something randomly exploded in the skies overhead. She could feel her ears ringing, aching from the sudden burst. But along with the pain came the drop in temperature and pressure in the area, causing her a slight shiver despite the crackling of flames she heard all around them. "What even....?" The dragon landed on her shoulder and huddled close, feeling the chill even worse than she did. With a disdainful flick of his tongue and low hiss, he glared at the fool with the golem who'd spawned this mess. Soon enough she began to understand as the beast filtered it through; whatever this fire was, there was nothing natural about it. Regardless, there wasn't anyone else who was going to do this job. Getting Brachus focused again, the young beast spewed a small, weak stream of Vitalis Vis, initially focusing it onto her. As the ringing and pain in her ears faded, he then pumped his full might into the breath, turning it on whichever poor fool looked the closest to death. Moves I. Lucille will use Restorative Breath on whichever Ally has the lowest health! Brachus will also use Restorative Breath, on the Ally with the second lowest health! (Restorative Breath restores {1d6+Syn(5)} HP to the target; when used on dragons it restores {2d10+Syn(5)} HP instead.) II. Lucille will use Restorative Breath on whichever Ally has the lowest health, Again! Brachus will also use Restorative Breath again, on the Ally with the second lowest health! Loadout

The rider kept his eyes on the situation to the north, weary as he sighed. Yet again, it seemed like the swordsman had bitten off more than he could chew- the fool looked ready to fall over at any moment. And once he did... there'd be nothing to stop those lapdogs from tearing into Oliver and Kiran. Gripping his lance tightly, all he had to do was shift forward, and Lenneth was already taking flight. He flew over the other's heads, calling out to the boy with the axe as he passed... "You there, Doran, yes? I do beleive our friend has bitten off more than he can chew... and once he chokes, it won't be pretty for those two-" he gestured to the two non-combatants still standing near the door "help me shore up that northern front, would you?" And without waiting for an answer, he'd turned to the former prisoners "As for you two, start heading south towards the others. Try and keep yourselves close to the center of our group if you can, makes it much easier to keep these dogs off you." Give orders to Oliver and Kiran, then head to D7, Autokill the Initiate With that said, he flew off again. The sound of furiously beating wings, and the yet more furious neighing of a steed was the only preamble to their arrival Tekeshi and his sparring buddy got. No sooner, a shadow descended upon both of them, and the head of a lance lashed out at the enemy swordsman with all the force of a diving Pegasus behind it, reducing the man to little more than a skewered corpse. Nigh immediately his sights were on Tekeshi as he pushed the body off. "You certainly have a knack for getting into trouble like this, don't you? I admit, it's almost impressive that you're not on the ground right now, given your track record... but this stunt was reckless regardless. Last thing we need is someone rushing off alone trying to be some sort of hero. Regroup with the others before you fall over from those wounds. "

Arya Letting the... moment pass as the two embraced, Arya nodded with a deep bow once she was finally addressed, a gesture reserved for so few people in her life, she could count all of them on a single hand. Well, she tried to bow, at least. In her current state she didn't manage more than a slight inclination before she winced and stopped, the spot on her back where the fire bitch drop kicked her beginning to throb anew, along with her sternum- wouldn't surprise arya if both had bruises. "Hello to you as well, Mother Opium," She responded in an almost formal tone, utterly devoid of the snark she so often showed her instructors and peers "I suppose we do. Inquisitor...? I presume that's whatever title the bit- girl who killed Miss Bates held?" It reeked of something vile, the word did. Simply hearing it uttered was enough to give her a bad feeling, given the context of what she'd just experienced. The little fire bitch had mentioned being assigned a task and all... and she'd been quite fanatical about it at that. For fuck's sake, she'd started tearing apart her own chest, and had still come after them despite the injuries. She should've killed the bitch when she had the chance. Taken that Scythe and gutted her like she did Bates- but no... the stupid monkey part of her brain only concerned with survival had wanted to run, and she'd been impulsive enough to listen to it. "Well, that choice is definitely gonna come back to bite me in the ass now." She couldn't help but think "I'm probably on someone's shit list now just for doing.... nothing. Fucking hurray, just my luck I guess... still don't understand why nothing I tried before that managed to even scratch her though..."

"Oh, so that's what you were running off to that isolated corner for, was it?" Cadence crossed her arms as the thief boi interrupted "I figured you'd purloined something and were gonna keep it yourself. Either that or you were relieving yourself..." "Anyway, just so you know, she might not be able to appraise this thing... given she trades in textiles. You may just have to wait until we land on kabumu to find someone... if there's even anyone friendly who's still alive by then. Goddess knows whats going on in that place."

"Alright then, sure thing," she said "Yeah, I'll definitely come visit, once this whole mess is done with." "In the meantime though karik, try not to let anymore archers or angry riders get the drop on you, alright?" she chuckled at the friendly jab. It was strange really, that had only been what? less than a week or two ago, last time it happened? Yet already it seemed much longer. And yet the wounds that had been inflicted even before then were still fresh as yesterday in her mind. Hell, sometimes she still woke up in a cold sweat, right before the final blow could be struck... "..." Her banter quickly faded, as it the memories again danced across her vision. She pushed them away best she could, shaking her head. It was almost ironic, Karik had spent the whole time he'd been with them hoping to find his parents, and yet she'd actively ran from the one who was still alive. It must've been nice, having a mother like his... Goddess knows how long she'd spent, searching for him. Worrying and fretting day and night about him. she almost envied him- actually no. There was no almost, she did envy him. But even as she did, she searched for something else to pivot to, stop the awkward silence that was beginning to form "Uh, anyway... I'm curious, since we're kinda talking about it already... what exactly do you guys trade in? Anything special or just a bit of everything?"

The blow to the helm only seemed to piss off an already rampaging bear. Stellio turned on the remaining foes as gore slicked his blade, eyes burning behind his visor like twin cauldrons of jet black flame. And his fury seemed especially focused as he charged towards the man with the minigun... Lightning crackled along his fist. a miniature storm was wrapping around his blade. His voice tore across the field in a mighty war screech that in truth, sounded more appropriate coming from a dragon than it did a mere man. The air itself seemed to distort. The stench of burnt ozone permeated the area... If the fucker was not dead by the time he got close enough, Stellio had every intention of ending this himself. Moves I. Stellio switches out the Passive "Rampart Aura" with the trump "Grand Cross"! [Conditional: If the Badass Bruiser is already dead, he will attack any remaining Enemies with the Headsman instead!] (Self explanatory) [The headsman deals {5d8+Str(12)} Slashing/Dark damage, with a 30% chance to inflict "Dark Adverse", making the target take 1.3x more damage from dark element for the next 3 turns. Stellio recovers 25% of the damage dealt whenever he attacks, minimum of 1hp restored.] II. Stellio uses Grand Cross to punish the Badass Bruiser if he's still alive! [Conditional: if the above conditional went off, he will instead attack any remaining enemies with the headsman... again!] (Grand Cross consumes all the user's TP to deal a base of {Str(12)+Ess(10)}*2 Lightning/Crushing damage on the target, with an additional {Str+Ess} added on for every 25 TP over 100 the user is upon use. Assuming Stellio still has only 137 TP by the time this action occurs, he will deal a minimum of {Str(12)+Ess(10)}*3=66 damage on the Badass Bruiser. Stellio recovers 25% of the damage dealt whenever he attacks, minimum of 1hp restored.) Loadout