Come along catch a Heffalump [Open Quest Log]

[sos_pilot]

Who: Della Duck & You!
Status: Open
Where: Temple of the Pearl "God", various locations
What: Quest Log, with optional Mostro Lounge shenanigans
Warnings: Potential blood/injury mentions


The Pearlescent God

[ All the details about this quest gave Della the creeps. There was no way this was going to end well, if this madness wasn't stopped. She heads for the holy temple, intending to protect the creature as best she can, and maybe smack some sense into these villagers. But one of them spies her metal leg, and eagerly asks, "Ah, you're on your way to get your ailment fixed by our beloved god?"

Della whips her head around, looking insulted. ]

What?! NO! Absolutely not! I earned this! The only thing here that needs fixing is this village's greed!

Stone Simulator

[ Some people may have taken up being a stone as a calming, peaceful experience.

Della has not.

If you share a telepathic link with her, the first thing you here is her yelling at the top of her... uh, non-existent lungs? ]

AUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH! I'M SO BOOOOOOOOOOOOOORED! SOMEONE CURE ME ALREADYYYYYYYYYYYY! I HATE THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!

The Burble Unrest

[ As the Burbles attack attack people and toys alike, Della is on the scene! Is she going to pull off some epic fighting moves? Whip out a weapon to blast them into bits? She grabs onto one, holds it tight, and...

proceeds to make cooing, baby-talk noises. Look, she sees something baby-coded, she can't help herself. ]

Awwww, wook at the widdle guyyyy! Aren't you just the cutest thing! Not cuter than MY boys, but still! Several cute points!

Mostro Lounge

[ A prompt for Lounge shenanigans, whether you're here for food and drink, or want to play at the Game Club! Della's here to serve! ]

Wildcard
[ Make your own prompt! Feel free to plot with me at melcat33 at plurk/discord ]

Comments

stone simulator

[savagepoise]

[Saix has taken to being a stone quite the opposite way - he's enjoying himself. It's calm. No one's bothering him. He doesn't have to think about anything. He can take a little break from - well, all the stresses that are constantly reminding him he needs to do better, be better. That he has a lot to make up for.

So initially he ignores the 'yelling'. Not his circus, not his monkeys.

...but eventually, he does remember that he's supposed to be attempting to be a better person, and so he responds.]

I am afraid I do not know the cure. Is there one?

[sos_pilot]

[ The yelling does stop, momentarily, due to surprise. ]

Saix! Saix, is that you?! Oh, no! Did you get cursed or bewitched or whatever'd into this too?!

[savagepoise]

[It's a bit of a relief...]

Yes. It's not so awful, though. Somewhat relaxing.

[Forcefully made to take a break. Saix isn't used to that at all.]

Maybe it'll wear off on its own.

[sos_pilot]

... Are you being for real right now? You're actually enjoying this?

[ the fuck??? ]

[savagepoise]

I am. It's something of an enforced vacation. I don't see any reason to be upset.

[But then, he sort of lacks the ability to be genuinely upset.]

Why do you dislike it so much?

[sos_pilot]

IT'S SO BORING! I can't move! I can't do anything! I need to be active! I need to do things! Staying still is the worst!

[savagepoise]

Is it really that bad?

[If he were more capable of worrying about people, he might be worried about her.]

You could take it as an opportunity to think about all the things you normally don't have time for.

[sos_pilot]

Like what? I think about a lot of stuff all the time! And the stuff I don't try to think about is very sad and depressing, so no thank you.

[savagepoise]

You could make plans for the future. Or for how to mitigate those depressing things.

[That's what's on Saix's mind, mostly. But he's a natural planner.]

Then you'll have less to consider when we're returned to our usual state.

The Pearlescent God

[damntelepath]

[ Della's not the only one being harassed, one of the townsfolk is following Shin around, blathering on about how their god is the best and he scoffs. ]

Might need to pull back on the bloodlust a little bit, what'd this god even do to you?

[ He tilts his head at Della. ]

This guy can't stop thinking about cutting it open, I just want to know why.

[sos_pilot]

[ Della heads over and makes shoo-ing gestures at the townfolk bothering the kid. ]

All right, all right, scram! Go get a hobby! Sheesh!

[ When she manages to get some distance between them, she lowers her voice. ]

... According to the grapevine, if you cut the god open, you get pearls. Which is both disgusting and super suspicious.

[damntelepath]

[ They are a nuisance, aren't they? ]

Not in my experience, usually there's just blood inside people, but I guess I've never cut a god open.

[sos_pilot]

Ditto. And even if it's true, that's just going to drive people nuts. I'm here to put a stop to it before things get worse.

[ She's still not entirely sure HOW she's gunna do it, but it's not like her to merely stand aside. ]

[damntelepath]

I'm pretty sure the guy who gets cut open is probably going to care. [ Shin can agree, this has to stop. ]

I don't know if there's a way we can convince them...if they need money, maybe we could do a fundraiser.

[sos_pilot]

I dunno if we can raise enough money that would be higher than a handful of pearls - those seem to be pricey no matter what the world.

[ She then rolls her shoulders, and begins heading to the temple. ]

So I think I'll just do what I do best - bust some heads and yell very loudly.

[damntelepath]

We could always steal it, but heists were never really my thing. [ Shin isn't kidding, but most people might make that joke. ]

I can bust heads. [ He cracks his knuckles. ] That's an easy enough way to deal with it.

[sos_pilot]

[ She smiles, and holds up a fist for a fist-bump. ]

Then from here on, we'll be the bodyguards for the god! No one's getting through us!

The Pearlescent God

[withermarked]

[ Faulkner's feelings on the quest are a bit more mixed, but he certainly feels some kind of a way about it. He's trying to sift through all the details he hears, to ask the villagers questions and settle on what side he really feels like taking if he takes one.

But whatever his thoughts are in general, he's distracted the moment he hears a familiar voice shouting, and he'll make his way towards Della. She always seems to look out for him, after all. ]

Everythin' alright here?

[sos_pilot]

[ When she sees Faulkner, her tension does seem to melt just a little. ]

... Just dealing with the local ignorance. You here for the same creepy quest?

[withermarked]

If by creepy quest you mean lookin' into this 'god' of theirs, yes. That's why I came here.

[ He glances around at the villagers, before back to her. He's keeping his voice relatively soft. ]

[sos_pilot]

Good. This has got to stop before it gets any worse. It has "bad feeling" written all over it.

[ She nods once, then walks, expecting him to follow. ]

[withermarked]

I can... certainly agree with havin' a bad feeling.

[ He sounds like he's choosing his words a touch more carefully than usual, as well as perhaps taking things a touch more seriously in general. He follows her, all the same. ]

What have you been able to learn?

[sos_pilot]

[ An annoyed sigh. ]

Not much, unfortunately. They keep rambling about the same stuff over and over, even when I try asking different questions. It's like they don't want their status quo changed - and refuse to accept that, hey, cutting open a living thing for treasure is all kinds of messed up.

[withermarked]

You're right that it sounds terribly cruel.

[ He hesitates a bit before going on. ]

But from what I've been able to find this hasn't always been the status quo. Hurting this creature is... new. So I have to wonder if there's more to the story. How much they may have let it take from them until now. Someone said they've gone hungry often.

[ By choice, because they cared for this thing? Or did they feel they had to, because it was the only way for them to get the help that they needed? Or because they feared divine punishment? ]

[sos_pilot]

Yeesh. They created their own problem by just assuming this thing was a god... but at the same time, maybe they were desperate any kind of hope, no matter how weird it looked.

[ She sighs, but then shakes her head, not letting her determination waver. ]

But we can't let it slide. God, animal, whatever it is, it doesn't deserve to be tortured.