escordvi | first flight ⤈ open log

Entry tags:

first flight ⤈ open log

Who: Aranea and anyone
Status: Open
Where: Wherever the quests are—
What: Featuring the following MANTA board quests: Wy's Have It, Cat Kneads, The Graven Trinkets, Pocket Picked By A Penny, various bounties
Warnings: None really

⤈ i. cat kneads

[She really wasn't going to stop by the bakery, but after seeing and hearing some of the effects of the bread, she takes a look and picks up one.]

...Huh, bread that can repel annoying people?

[She grins at whoever may be nearby.]

Might have to take a few of these, and some of the others.

[Invisibility? Jump boost? Floating? Armor? Sounds too good to be true, but hey if it actually works—]

⤈ ii. wy's have it

[a) Dealing with the wyverns. When Aranea arrives onto the island, she clicks her tongue as she sees a few wyverns already harassing a farmer's herd of cattle.]

Hoping for a cheap meal, huh? Guess the clock starts now!

[With her spear appearing in her hand, Aranea rushes in and jumps up high, soaring into the sky as if flying before she shouts on purpose, alerting the wyvern of her incoming attack to make it scatter without actually making a connection. Instead the wyvern will quickly divert as her spear impales the ground, leaving a small blast crater.

There's a reason for her not directly attacking the wyvern despite proceeding to engage in them—instead she's trying to drive them off, inflicting as minimal damage to them as possible. She knows something is up, and if she has to kill one she will. But in the meantime, she's going to focus on just making them fly off for now.

If anyone needs help reaching them, she some of the Yeast Boosts Buns, Loaf Lift Pumpernickle, and the Crust Shield Ciabatta from the cat bakery to help.

b) Investigating. Once things are settled around the farms, Aranea will head towards the mountains. Anyone is free to tag along, or she could meet up with someone who happens to be doing the same. At some point, however, she'll stop when she sees large claw marks on the ground, frowning as she kneels down to run her fingers over it.]

...This is definitely not from a wyvern, at least not the ones we've seen so far. Did something bigger move in?

[Could the culprit be a larger monster that invaded? A shortage of food? Someone controlling them!? POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS and open to other ideas, but at least one angle to be looked could be potential larger creature that has come in.]

⤈ iii. pocket picked by a penny

[Seems simple enough. Take this Rupoor coin and try to sneak it into someone's pocket to reap the rewards later. Of course the other catch is retrieving the coin... But that's what clear wires are for, right? She might also use the Clumb Cloak Croissant to help for a bit.

A few scenarios for this:
a) Casual Bump. A common tactic—bump into someone, slip the coin into the person's pocket or bag, and then leave in the next step. Quick, simple—but will it be successful, difficult, or a failure?
b) Witness. Sly as she might be, she's not perfect. Perhaps someone catches her in the act and wants to confront her about it?
c) Caught. Maybe her target is a better thief or just happened to notice what she did and catches her before she can slip away!
d) Belated realization. The pocket was successfully picked, and her target notices a little too late. But there's still a chance to try and catch her, especially since she might actually stay and wait to return the items. Maybe.
e) Need some help? Someone else may be trying to use the coin, and either is having difficulty or on the run. She could lend a hand... Or trip them up so they get caught, who knows—

Aranea may actually return the items depending on what she finds. But she may also be tempted to keep coins, so we'll have to see how things go for that, ho ho. If the item is something that needs to be returned, just make note of it and we'll make it work.]

⤈ iv. the graven trinkets

[Careful while going through the wreckage, upon finding one of the questionable amulets said to be capable of dark magic, Aranea frowns.]

...Doubt there's enough money to make something like this worth existing.

[She brings her spear down, ready to break it unless someone stops her.

Otherwise, she'll be around the ship either to help, hinder, or even steal from others if she sees the opportunity. Using the Crumb Cloak Croissant, she'll use those precious thirty seconds to sneak up and just swipe some of that treasure or coins right from under their nose!]

⤈ v. bounty: miss praying mantis

[She might not have fire magic, but she does her her spear that can pierce through tough armor. Now she would probably try to do this by herself, but Aranea might try to find male partners for...totally not suspicious reasons.]

Not scared of a large bug, are you?

[The reason is bait, she wants to use them as bait—

⤈ vi. wildcard

[Up for other quests, including the other bounties! I have a plotting comment here and can hit me up on either discord or

laenavesse.]

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[She taps her gun against her leg with each step, her eyes searching around the dim cave, squinting for any sign of movement. That is, until she turns her gaze fully to Aranea.]

Yeah? What's that?

How could a whole village not know this thing is up here?

[She keeps the torch aloft as she voices her thoughts aloud.]

We know whatever who made those markings is huge. That's not something that can stay hidden forever, especially if there's already a group to inhabit this place.

Makes me think my earlier thought of something being brought over deliberately might hold more water than I thought.

Wouldn't doubt it. Doesn't look like whatever made those marks likes this place very much, either.

[She gestures to the scratches along the wall, only for her eyes to fall down to a small pile of bones on the ground, and she makes a face. Should have expected that, so she shouldn't be surprised to see them.]

Worth asking around down—

[Her voice is cut off by a bellowing roar from somewhere within—one loud enough to make the ground and walls tremble. She sighs.]

Looks like someone is home, and isn't too happy to have visitors, either.

Just like you wanted.

[A wry if wary grin as she stares out into the darkness.]

I can't hold onto this while fighting, so unless you want to drag this out somewhere, hope you're good at fighting in the dark.

There's an opening at the other end of the cave.

[She nods ahead, to the light that shines in from somewhere else, around some rocks, most likely.]

We can lure it out there and take care of it somehow. At least chase it off and buy some time for someone to come in to investigate.

[He looks over at the opening and nods.]

Best plan we can have right now.

[Another roar...as well as ominous rumbling.]

And won't take much to lure it out, move!

[Lightning doesn't need telling twice. She has no idea where this thing even is, but she's going to be a little bit daring and give a sharp whistle before she takes off at a run, moving across the cave towards the opening. It's only just as they are rushing into the light again on the other side onto a clear ridge that she sees it—its eyes bright and yellow in the dark as it watches them from the shadows. Apparently this cave goes deeper than it looks on first glance.

But she keeps running, only skidding to a halt when she's reached the edge where shadow meets sunlight.

And out of the dark ambles a behemoth. Its large paws knock into the pile of bones, making them scatter and rattle across the rocks, and it blinks whatever sleepiness it had in its eyes and turns to them.]

Ever fight a behemoth before?

[Aranea is not far behind, the light from the torch fluttering over the walls as they make their way through. Catching a glimpse of the behemoth, it's oddly reassuring to finally see something that's familiar...if a bit strange to think other worlds might have these kind of beasts around.

Standing next to Lightning, she doesn't discard the torch just yet, a plan in mind to use it as her spear appears in her other hand.]

Plenty. They make for great steaks and burgers.

[As if not thinking of them more than just easy snacks, the behemoth stares them down, the size increasing as it steps out of the darkness and into the light.]

And looks like this guy could feed that village for a month.

[Lightning unfolds her gunblade from behind her and brings it up, moving into stance.]

You planning to light that thing up?

[It greets them with a mighty roar, and charges. For a thing as big as it is, it's lumbering towards them with a surprising amount of speed.]

If so, you're gonna have to move fast.

Going to try and burn one thing on it, at least.

[But she just laughs at the move fast comment, because in the next moment she's vaulting up high in the air towards it, her hand flinging the torch right into its left eye before it can snap at her. With the flames searing its eye, it roars and thrashes its head, swiping blindly.]

[Well. That's something, she guesses. And not someone to waste an opportunity, Lightning aims her gun and fires as the behemoth opens its mouth and thrashes its head.

She manages to chip a tooth with the first shot and the second bullet lodges itself in its tongue. It roars in pain and whips its head around to her, one paw swiping at its injured eye, the other bearing right down on her.]

See if you can get the other one.

[She'll keep it busy.]

Piece of cake.

[Having landed on the other side after taking out one eye, she swipes at its haunches, using her spear to give her that extra reach to inflict some decent slashes as well as give Lightning some opportunities.

Once she gets back around to its blind spot, she'll jump up near its head, her spear poised to slash it from the other side—

But she has to swear under her breath and twist her body when it suddenly rears up, the head almost knocking into her. Because of it, she ends up dragging her spear down its neck instead before it whips around to her.]

Shit.

[Piece of cake, she said!! But Lightning is on it the moment that the behemoth turns its attention back to Aranea and nearly takes her out in the process, one of its massive, curved horns coming down in an effort to knock her away or out.

She fires off a few more shots, rushing around to its other side so that it is now caught between the two, its attention split. It roars, opening its mouth wide just like Lightning hoped that it would, and fires off another shot, this one aimed a little more carefully. It nails it right in the roof of its mouth, but it swipes its paw at her again, managing to hit her this time and send her careening back into the wall before it tries to claw at its jaw as if trying to find the source of its pain.

Well, at least she's keeping it busy, but she braces herself against the wall of the cave, coughing the air back into her.]

[Well it did something it wasn't supposed to!!

And she'll look at Lightning with some concern before she has to worry more about herself as there's a wild swipe that she has to avoid. Spinning her spear, she lunges back in when she sees an opportunity, slamming the tip against the underside as she moves beneath it to make it stagger away from Lightning. That should buy her some time, at least before she's back up in the air.]

You better be back on your feet for this!

[A shout down at her before she's diving right back down, this time aiming right at its neck. She wishes she could crush its skull, but after the first round, she knows its too hard for her to try and crack. Instead she drives her spear with full force into the neck, making it roar as its sent down to the ground, legs flailing. Despite the impact, she knows it's going to take more than that, but at least for the moment it's pinned down.]

[Lightning scoffs with half a laugh, half a groan in pain, and swipes a bit of sweat from her brow.]

Tch. As if I wasn't already.

[She waits, watching as Aranea plunges its her spear into its neck and forces it to heel on the ground. Lightning is on her feet and aiming her gun, waiting for the right moment. Waiting for it to turn its head just so, so that she can fire off a few rounds. One in the eye, the first shot only nicking its skin before she nails the one that can still see, and then one right into its mouth, a bullet lodging in its throat.

She pushes herself off the wall and rushes forward, blade unfolding, preparing for a double strike.]

Finish it...!

[Aranea had kept on it for as long as possible for Lightning to get her shots in, and once she does...

Back up in the air she goes, the engine on her spear revving as she prepares for the strongest attack she can muster. She's already wounded it on the neck, and she's going to aim for that exact same spot. After spinning once, twice, she slams her heel down to make the spear shoot down like a rocket to slam it right on her target, the behemoth once more slammed into the ground with a loud impact, earth actually cracking as her spear pierces through. And if they're lucky, Lightning will have been able to make her strikes at roughly the same time for that killing blow.]

[Lightning's attack is perfectly timed, and while she doesn't have the benefit of the same downward momentum that Aranea has, she has her gun, and she tries a trick with it that she hasn't in a while. She's quick, moving in from the side to get its throat from the bottom, and she fires several shots, and then as her blade unfolds and the barrel goes back, she fires once more, sending another bullet somewhere off to the other side of the clearing where it lodges into the cave wall with a crack. It sends her spurring forward faster, and she thrusts the sword right into the bullet wounds that she'd left behind using that momentum.

The beast thrashes and roars, trying to shake them both off, but Lightning holds fast, gritting her teeth as she keeps a hold on her sword, twisting it as it moves.

It's only when it finally falls to the ground that she's able to yank it out, blood streaming from the wound left behind.

She shakes her wrist.]

Damn.

[Once Lightning begins her assault, Aranea clears to give her the space she needs, and soon it's over.

Swinging her spear to rid the the metal blades of the blood and behemoth bits, she dispels it as she whistles.]

Damn is right. No wonder the wyverns fled the area. But how did this thing end up here?

[Her arms are a bit sore after having to cut through that, but she slides her weapon away at last.]

Like you said, could be someone brought it here... Couldn't tell you why other than to drive them out quick. And if that's the case, then I wouldn't say this place is safe just yet.

[A low hum as she eyes the mountain.]

We'll need to ask the locals, but let's check around the area first. See if there aren't any signs of mining or something else going on around here.

Or some other big, scary monster lurking around.

[She narrows her eyes around the clearing, checking around for any other signs of caves and the like.]

Let's keep going that way.

[The ledge that they stand on leads to a bend around, and maybe they'll find something further in the mountains.]

Then we can start heading down.

Let's hope there isn't... Or maybe there is to get a bigger payout.

[A wry grin, but she honestly would hope for the former. But then she nods to Lightning, stepping up to her.]

Lead the way.

[She does, leading around the bend and through the rest of the caves. It winds back around to where they'd climbed up, only lower, like she thought, so getting down isn't as much trouble as getting up was. At first, she is a bit disheartened that they don't find much of import... until they do. Signs of some kind of mining excursion, a cave that seems to go deeper than either one of them are willing to go right now, and more signs of a creature far too large to live here. Whether that is the same behemoth they took care of or a different one altogether, she doesn't know...

And it seems that the villagers don't know much either. The ones who have stayed can only tell them that it had happened suddenly—one day the wyverns were living peacefully in the mountains, the humans and creatures not bothering one another and the next, they were swooping down to eat all of their livestock and were now migrating from the mountains. It would cause problems, of course, and so it was imperative that they found a way to get them back up there.

Though even with the behemoth gone, it will take some time to tell whether or not that actually did the job, so until then... Lightning and Aranea part ways, and honestly? She really wouldn't mind working with the other woman again in the future, and they exchange shellphone IDs so that they might.]

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