I helped save your House, and if what you said about this map is true you just helped me save my love life. And from the size of the tussle I got into trying to grab it, you've already got boyfriends to spare, ya hog.
And all Takara wants is a love life. That's kind of sweet, if it wasn't our map. Here's hoping Takara makes another appearance in the future.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
You shake your head with a soft sigh. "No, no. I'm sure you wouldn't."
"Beg your pardon?" Amina replies, and damn is she ever good at sounding like she doesn't know exactly what you mean.
"You already know exactly what's best and anything I say will only modify it slightly if at all and I'm just..." you grind the heel of your palm against your eyes, as if you could grind the vibrant electric blue right out of them and make this disguise you used to be so quietly proud of actually do its fucking job. "Sick of it. The runaround. Thinking I understand when I don't because nobody will tell me."
Reeeealistically speaking this is probably going to make a good impression on her all by itself. Eldingar really is pretty good at acknowledging competence in others. Somebody should probably point out to him that it's a useful skillset. He'd make a good talent scout or something of that nature.
It's a system so simple it's almost prehistoric, but when it works it works - the Beyond only re-seeds itself once it's no longer observed, and the easiest way to keep it observed is to just leave a person or three there. Certainly more cost-effective than Abzu's setup. Trained survivalists like a guild adventurer can keep a particularly juicy claim locked down for months or more, the proverbial guardian at the gates. Sometimes literally, when the claim includes a first-civilisation ruin. Those in the 'biz' usually call claims 'dungeons' for whatever reason.
Huh. Interesting setup, that. Kind of makes me think of the Wyld from Exalted, but only a little. I suspect it derives more from randomised maps from Diablo-style games.
Your spire's looking... good, surprised as you are to say that. Your mother was right (loathe as you are to say that), the Plutocracy know what a dragon wants, and they gave you what you didn't know you wanted. Where once there was naught but rough unworked stone there's now a castle-style gatehouse sunk into the side of the spire, empty for now but you're sure they'll be back with a nice proper gate another day. It's big enough that even in your true form you can clomp your way inside with only a little bit of squeezing. Inside you can tell that the contractors wisely left you as much space in your old lair as possible, doing the majority of the expansion work underground. As you scan the space with your keen eye you can pick out plenty of subtle work, almost on the level of detailing, like a half-finished painting that points to one finished piece - the spire as your castle, with this space as your grand treasure vault and throne room. No one that enters can get anywhere else in the spire without having to gaze upon its magnificence. You'd be a lot more pleased if there was more magnificence to gaze upon but you begrudgingly give them points for effort.
"Oh, this? Nothing, it's not as bad as it looks," Belial replies. "Or sounded at the time. I was uh... scratching my chest while walking and I tripped. Claws slipped. I've got hypersensitive skin for obvious reasons so... yeah."
You make to move on, but catch yourself at the last second when something clicks. "So that means when...?"
He waves his hand. "No no, no it's really alright sometimes, especially when I'm ready for it. It's just that if I get caught off-guard I can, hah I can be a real baby about pain."
Y'know, I didn't really think much of Belial to begin with, they seemed like a good potential friend but not really boyfriend material, but stuff like this is making the big squishy lug grow on me, I admit.
You stop at the end of your revolution. You slowly drop to your knees and leeeeeean in close, one eye shut and the other peering intently at a single seemingly-unimportant emerald, identical to all the others if you're just a mortal. You think you can actually hear the others sweating behind you, still hoping against hope that you can't tell something was touched.
"This gem is in the wrong place," you say softly. "It's been swapped with the one six inches up and to the right." You slowly straighten up and turn to face them, still standing in that unnatural straight line as if awaiting a firing squad. "Who touched my hoard?"
"Afoxpersoncameindisguisedasyouandsaidtheymetyouandbeatusallupthenblewupyourtreasurepiletofindthemagicmapandleftandissacharcameintohelpusputitallbacktogetheragainhopingyouwouldn'tnoticewhilewefiguredoutwhattodo," Jun-ho blurts out at blinding speed.
'Heya! It's yours truly, the terrible Takara! I'm sure you're horribly upset right now, but I'd just like to remind you that I even kept to the spirit of that oath I swore to you rather than just the letter. I didn't take so much as a tin penny from your hoard with me, just the map - and hey, fair's fair, right? I helped save your House, and if what you said about this map is true you just helped me save my love life. And from the size of the tussle I got into trying to grab it, you've already got boyfriends to spare, ya hog.
Don't try and find me, or you'll find out this cute foxie's got claws and fangs just as sharp as yours when it's cornered. Lots of love~
A portal opens in mid-air and Abzu leaps through, landing crouched with a wand in each fist, the magical weapons raised over their be-hatted head like clubs. They can't scream a warcry but they've done the best they can, affixing an [AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA] sign to the front of their hat in preparation for their heroic rescue. They freeze mid-motion as they catch sight of the situation they just barged into. Slowly, slowly, they straighten up and lower the wands, glancing at the lineup of men to one side and you just about to make a dramatic point to the other.
[I may have been a little late] they sign, eyes turning to white '>>'s of awkwardness. A moment later they snatch the warcry sign off their hat and throw it away.
"Yes, thank you Abzu. As I was saying," you pick up the thread, wagging the rolled-up note like your own wand to emphasise the point. "I am not upset. What I am is completely unsurprised, because honestly? This is just about typical for how the past week's been. It's like everywhere I look I find out that all this time, people have been thinking I'm just some easily-fooled idiot they can dance around to their heart's content because they know me and they know how I work."
You pause. Everyone seems to be listening to you with bated breath. Waiting for you to shout. To scream. To cry and blubber and complain and get so worked up that you become utterly useless. To run off to your gold and hunker down and wait for the bad feelings to pass, maybe take off and go eat them away instead. Everything that you always do and have been doing for a hundred years.
"So I'm not going to get angry," you say. "Fuck it. Fuck it, right? You saw that note, Takara's expecting me to come chasing after them because I'm a dragon and I'm me and I should already be tearing off out that door roaring my head off. But I won't. They have the map now?" You shrug, hands slapping against your scaly thighs as they fall. "Fuck it. They're welcome to whatever it shows them, I've got the five of you already and five places left to check, three of which haven't been moving around the past few days. I don't need it."
Mmm. On the one hand this is... remarkably mature, and the title makes me think it might have some good implications moving forwards, but on the whole I do not like how, hn, despondent? it feels. I want our big blue dumbass to be happy :<
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
Yeah Tenfold convinced me. Let's take the totally-not-an-angel on a date to a gothic mansion. They're a nice uplifting person anyway, they can probably cheer Eldingar up a bit, and everybody else can get cheered up by Abzu's incredible cuteness. We can pencil in the cthulhu-island for when Jun-ho's feeling better, and the housewarming party for when the contractors are finished.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
I have nothing clever the say
*Squek*
Eldingar is not not-angry. All the things that were running through his head while he was in Sofnun, stewing about the rituals and shows that made up his life and thinking to himself that he wanted to rest and shut the world away for a little bit. Coming back to his lair and finding his new (boy?)friends beat up and beat down and trying to tiptoe around this major rage trigger...he didn't do a 180 between them. He didn't even do a 180 after them.
El Dongo is faking the hell out of reasonableness here. Wherever the next update might take us, whatever we might end up doing, he sure as hell is not going to start it out in a good mood.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
I don't get it. Why couldn't the kitsune has asked to borrow the map. And I still don't like the Ifrit.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
Since I want to see more of one or both of those two, I guess... well, consensus is narrowing down on something that includes what I want.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
Ah yes, the most useful skill you have to employ as an adult: Pretending to not be angry when you're fucking livid, and bottling it up until it hopefully goes away.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
[x] Forget the whole thing and just have a housewarming party right here, all six of you. You won't be able to pay attention to one of them in particular.
[x] Check the island off the Republic coast you remember being on the map.
[x] Abzu. Friendly and quite the powerful wizard, even if the muteness is a bit of an impediment there. You're unsure how they'll do in public. Available to pursue a map-spot.
I'd rather let vampire/lich boy sit for a moment and check on the island - maybe it's a siren, which would be nice. It's probably some eldritch being according to others, and I'd be down for that too.
Also, why are we not taking this chance to spend time with our adorable mage before he runs back to his tower?
My first instinct was to take Jun-Ho on that date in Sofnun we've been meaning to arrange, because he's been such a cutie for these last two or three updates.
But @TenfoldShields has the right of it, I feel. While he is handling this chain of unfortunate events remarkably well, Eldingar is not in a good mood. A treasure hunt is a pretty good way to get him feeling better...and if there's any one being in this setting who is capable of handling an quietly angry/upset/bitter dragon, it would be Issachar.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
I am going along with this as we need to have time with all of our options, then we can cycle around or go to the favorites more often.
This blue dragon needs a happy moment, and I am not going to let him develop depression.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere.
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
hoo boy
Takara I hope your wish come true, Monkey Paw style. >:C
[X] Forget the whole thing and just have a housewarming party right here, all six of you. You won't be able to pay attention to one of them in particular.
Assuming Takara was one of the people on the map, the best revenge would be to strike them off the "romantic interest" list. That, and leak word to the adventurer's guild about the existance of a evil shapeshifting monster. Nothing brutal or gory, just make the local area a generally unfriendly/unpleasant place for them.
[X] Forget the whole thing and just have a housewarming party right here, all six of you. You won't be able to pay attention to one of them in particular.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
Assuming Takara was one of the people on the map, the best revenge would be to strike them off the "romantic interest" list. That, and leak word to the adventurer's guild about the existance of a evil shapeshifting monster. Nothing brutal or gory, just make the local area a generally unfriendly/unpleasant place for them.
[X]
Assuming Takara was one of the people on the map, the best revenge would be to strike them off the "romantic interest" list. That, and leak word to the adventurer's guild about the existance of a evil shapeshifting monster. Nothing brutal or gory, just make the local area a generally unfriendly/unpleasant place for them.
If Takara is lonely like a few people here are hypothesizing, then imagine them watching the map while it is still attuned to Eldingar, figuring out which moving shape they are, and then get to see it disappear.
And who are you, the cute fox said, that I must bow so low...
[X] Check the abandoned mansion in the forest you remember being on the map.
[X] Issachar. Still pretending he's just some friendly neighbour but you know damn well there's some secret shit in there that'll invariably come out if you make him tag along somewhere. Available to pursue a map-spot.
Issachar made us banana bread! That makes him ok in my book
