Grounders10
Nine-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada, Mars
... Crystal spheres? *confused kitsune*
The Crown of Neverwinter [Ranma 1/2 x DnD Forgotten Realms]
- Thread starter Grounders10
- Start date
- Crossover
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
It was how the Spelljammer setting worked. Each solar system is contained in a giant unbreakable sphere which spelljammers can travel into and out of. Meanwhile outside of the spheres, you have the Phlogiston. Fun tidbit; apparently Phlogiston-space is incredibly flammable and if you use any sort of flame-based spell or even light the proverbial match, you'll just blow yourself up.
Why does this matter? Because spelljammers tend to be very much like the ship from the movie Treasure Planet; open-topped sailing-style vessels.
Grounders10
Nine-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada, Mars
I mean if you really stretch the definition doesn't Ranma already qualify?
Spelljammer had actual solar systems, inside the Crystal Spheres. the stars the inhabitants see at night are actually located on the interior surface of the sphere.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
They do have star systems, the spheres just sit about where the heliopause would be in the Solar system. And there's a reason for them to exist - they're basically a hazmat barrier.
They are bringing it back for 5e, going by the ads I've been seeing lately on Facebook.
The core question already being answered, I'll cover the why of it:
Basically, a VERY long time ago, even by the standards of gods, there was a single star system on that plane. A very, very large one. And then one day, due to gods having a dispute, the sun went supernova. The modern phlogiston is the nebula that supernova produced. It's more than a little inimical to life - to the point of detonating stars into novas if it comes into contact - so the gods (or more likely, Ao) created new star systems enclosed by crystal spheres to keep the nebula out of those new places for their worshipers to live.
Spelljammers operate more on Newtonian physics than Einsteinian, and every mass above a certain size produces one G worth of gravity. Anything that produces gravity also retains an Earth-normal atmospheric pressure, if there is enough gas around to do so. Note that this is not necessarily breathable, but it usually is. Generally, there's enough of it retained for about 6 man/months of breathing per ton of mass. The air can get rather stale, or even outright toxic, if there's no way of replenishing the oxygen.
Spacecraft propulsion is via magical devices that have the power of minor artifacts - the most common being the common spelljammjng helm. Helms come in all kinds of shapes, typically a chair though they don't have to be. They're powered by spellcasters activating them - doing so drains the caster of all of their available magic. For wizards and clerics, that's that day's prepared spells. It's a little more complicated for sorcerers and the like, but generally, only those who can cast spells can use a helm, and they can't use magic the same day they used a helm.
Speed in space is dependent on casting level and helm quality. A minor helm can move ships up to 500 tons of mass, and generally does 1 propulsion factor per 3 caster levels. A major helm can do up to 1000 tons at a speed of 1 factor per 2 levels. In combat, the ship moves 1 map grid square per round per propulsion factor. In travel mode, the ship is faster, and generally can reach the sphere from the life zone of the system in about 5-15 days, depending on the size of the system, even at factor 1 - faster with higher factors. The practical limit for casters powering a major helm is about factor 18, which would turn a 10 day trip to the edge of the system into a little over 13 hours.
Other helm types exist as well. There are helms for psionicists, helms for ki-users, etc. One of the nastier types is the lifejammer (minor) helm, which drains HP from someone (typically chained to it) instead of magic. The major helm version of a lifejammer - called a death helm - is actually addictive to use, and rescued victims often have to be tied up to keep them from running back to it.
Natural portals to the nebula outside open regularly in the spheres, and a common after-market addon to helms is a portal opener, which does what it says on the tin. Without one, you have to wait for a natural portal.
Spheres in turn are varying distances apart, but generally a month or two away from the nearest spheres. The nebula also has currents, which can greatly decrease travel times, forming natural trade routes. Oerth, Krynn and Toril have a triangular set of currents running between them, for example, making them natural trading ports with each other. Of course, going against those currents, while possible, will multiply your trip duration. Since most ships don't have a means of replenishing their air other than dipping into a planetary atmosphere, long distance voyages tend to island hop from system to system.
Presumably, one could sail to the edge of the nebula, but no one has ever done so and returned to tell the tale. As far as most spelljamming crews are concerned, the nebula has no end. No one knows what lies beyond except maybe the gods, and they aren't talking about it.
Those stars are arbitrary - allowing each pantheon to customize constellations - so you can't use them to figure out where other spheres are, in most spheres.
Last edited:
If TSR had come up with that at the beginning I wouldn't have been so aggravated at how almost perfect the setting was.
And checking the D&D website it looks like the updated Spelljammer won't be set in outer space, but on the Astral Plane.
And checking the D&D website it looks like the updated Spelljammer won't be set in outer space, but on the Astral Plane.
!!!!! Spelljammer is D&D in outer space. The Astral plane is not outer space!! What are those typewriter-bashing monkeys at TSR thinking!?
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
They kinda did, the game books just didn't go into enough detail. There was a series of novels that went into much more detail on it. The Spelljammer itself is basically an ark ship from that ancient disaster.
Last edited:
Probably 'crossover potential' and 'people think crystal spheres are stupid and besides that no one even remembers the 'music of the spheres' quote/concept/nonsense catholic mysticism we were ripping off for unearned pathos'.
Last edited:
Mgunh1
Not an AI, honest!
- Location
- Northern Luna Base, Module 5, Sublevel 15
The more I hear about 5e, the happier I am that I dropped out after 3.5e and joined the Pathfinder/Starfinder bandwagon.
Also, I'm pretty sure they're cribbing the Astral Plane thing from Starfinder, as that's sort of how Starfinder ships achieve FTL.
Last edited:
- Location
- Neptune
Kid, the Manual of the Planes came out for AD&D in 1987 and A Guide to the Astral Plane for Planescape came out in 1996. D&D doesn't need to crib anything.
Mgunh1
Not an AI, honest!
- Location
- Northern Luna Base, Module 5, Sublevel 15
Reading comprehension fail.
I was talking about the "using the astral plane for space travel" bit not the "it exists" bit.
Starfinder uses what is basically the Astral Plane with the serial numbers filed off and filled with the remains of some unknown cataclysm as their means of FTL.
In DnD the Astral Plane is often just treated as a place for wizards to dump things they don't want to deal with anymore. Mostly Tarrasques.
While it is good to see DnD actually use the Astral Plane for something, you can see why I likened the use of it in the new Spelljammer to Starfinder.
Last edited:
Grounders10
Nine-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada, Mars
Just a quick reference for everyone: Spelljammer - Wikipedia
Publication: November 1, 1989; 32 years ago
Publication: November 1, 1989; 32 years ago
- Location
- Neptune
On your part. Should have actually looked at those books before responding.
Which you will find in the abovementioned books.
So?
And what you do with it in your own games concerns us why?
To show off your ignorance and promote your system of choice.
Even The Plane Above for 4th Ed preceded Starfinder.
Last edited:
Grounders10
Nine-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada, Mars
Enough. This is getting off-topic. What starfinder or spelljammer has to do with this story I have no idea. Take the argument elsewhere.
Chapter Five: The Cloak Tower
Grounders10
Nine-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada, Mars
-0-0-0-0-0-
A Ranma ½ Forgotten Realms Crossover
The Crown of Neverwinter
By: Grounders10
-0-0-0-0-0-
The Cloak Tower
-0-0-0-0-0-
A Ranma ½ Forgotten Realms Crossover
The Crown of Neverwinter
By: Grounders10
-0-0-0-0-0-
The Cloak Tower
-0-0-0-0-0-
The night was warmer than Ranma expected. From what her mother had said, Neverwinter was a rather northern city, strung out way up what was known as the Sword Coast on the northwestern edge of Faerun. Not that it meant much to her as of yet. Unlike Earth, she had zero idea what any of it meant. She had, however, zipped up her coat. It might have been warmer, but it was still rather cool.
She had stuck to the streets this time as she wandered. The darkness without streetlights was almost oppressive if she wasn't used to nights without lights. Ranma paused to stare at the unfamiliar sky. Seeing stars inside a city was a weird experience, but then everything was weird now.
The crunch of something to her right drew her attention to a dark alleyway between a crumbling townhouse and an empty storefront. She favoured it with a lazy stare as her body tensed up. A few seconds later a cat darted out of the alleyway and hurried across the street to another alleyway where it darted up the stonework and disappeared into the shadows of the rooftop.
She watched the alleyway for another few moments before she shook her head, quietly ignoring the shiver down her spine, and continued her aimless wander. The smell suggested that she wasn't too far from the Blacklake. Music drifted from someplace just around the next corner down the street along with a flickering glow. The rumble of normal voices suggested a tavern or something similar. She paused to listen to the music. Voices, slurred with alcohol, sang in a halfhearted tune with a reedy flute and some string instrument she didn't recognize. They didn't seem to have an idea what the lyrics should be with at least four different versions overlapping into an incomprehensible mess.
She kept walking, only pausing to peer down the street. Light spilled out from between the boards of a rough gate inset into an even rougher barricade constructed of the local stones from several collapsed buildings. Something was written on a sign by the gate in the local dialect.
"Hehehehehehe."
Ranma spun on a heel only to pause as she spotted a white fox standing in the shadows of an alleyway, its coat glowed silver in the moonlight. It laughed a little more before darting down the alleyway into the shadows. A few moments later it reappeared, laughing once again then darted down the alleyway.
"Now what do you want?" She mumbled eyeing the, rather out-of-season, white fox. Her skin crawled with goosebumps as it giggled at her before it twirled on the spot and dashed down the alleyway again.
White fox. She had her doubts, it was an entirely different world, but…
She followed the fox when it came back a third time. Her slipper-clad feet drifted through the light rubble that characterised everywhere that wasn't constantly travelled in Neverwinter. Weeds mixed with moss and dirty broken stones that she could see only in half-reflected moonlight and feel through the soles of her slippers, and yet the silvery-white fox stood out amidst the ruins like a beacon.
White foxes were the messengers of the gods in Shinto myth. Much like the gods they weren't seen or heard from very often anymore, on Earth at least.
The fox led her through a warren of twists and turns to the point where the only way Ranma felt she could have found her way back to the Driftwood Tavern was over the rooftops. Eventually, it ducked through a curtain of vines that hung down from where two buildings had started to lean against each other. With a close eye on the leaning buildings, Ranma used the arm of her coat to push aside the curtain and ducked under the wreckage to creep through the murky darkness, that fox was still glowing despite the complete lack of light, for several feet before her guide disappeared through another curtain of vines.
She paused as her fingers touched the curtain of vines. She listened carefully for voices or rustling or anything that might hint at what was beyond. When nothing emerged from the darkness she brushed aside the vine curtain and stepped out into what might have once been a small park or someone's private garden. Large trees loomed over, their canopies casting the entire area into deep shadows broken only by the little moonlight that slipped through and a weakly flickering campfire in the corner beneath the shade of a leaning stone wall of what might have once been a store. There was no sign of its owner, or owners.
The largest patch of moonlight filled the center of the area illuminating a strange sight in Neverwinter, a small Shintoesque shrine. The small shrine was much like those often encountered in the country along remote roads or tucked into city side streets. It looked a bit lopsided with crude iconography of wood and bone tied on with leather straps. Straps that were also holding down a grinning skull with tusks and one eye covered by a crude patch that had been placed atop the shrine.
The silver fox made a plaintive whine from where it was by her feet before scampering over to the shrine. It pawed at the crude iconography futilely as it continued to whine.
Ranma walked over to the fox and knelt down beside it. "Is this yours?" she asked, eyeing the crude decorations. The fox nodded and whined, dropping back to sit by her feet as it gazed up at her with what might have been hope.
The tusked skull on the top of the shrine reminded her of the orcs who had attacked their camp. Had they turned this place into a shrine to their own deity? She ground her teeth at the thought as she easily made out the signs of Inari on the Shrine. A large part of her was curious as to how, exactly, this shrine had come to be but that was a question with no easy answer.
She grabbed the straps holding the skull in place-
An enormous hulking orc with a singular blazing eye, clad in furs and carrying a crude spear of iron that dripped with red blood, stared at her. Its lips curled back to reveal yellowed tusks and crooked teeth. Rage and anger poured from it, feeling so oppressive they had a physical weight to them -- a heat even -- and it hated her. It hated her so much the air felt like it was boiling and the ground like it was burbbling and crackling with flames that-
Ranma met its sole eye and snapped the leather straps with a smirk.
The cold air washed over the sudden sweat that dampened her brow. She let out a breath as she lifted the skull from the shrine. Something had noticed. Something big, powerful, and angry… It was probably whatever god this shrine had been desecrated for.
She set the skull on the ground beside her and paused. Her coat had what appeared to be a few singed spots along the hem and the ground around her looked blackened and charred. She ran a hand through the grass and produced a handful of ash as the brittle leaves fell apart at her touch.
That had actually happened then.
Ranma swallowed but continued to dismantle the crude shrine. She had just pissed off a god. That wasn't something to take lightly. The fox rubbed up against her leg as she worked. It made a few sounds of appreciation as she continued to stack bones and crude wooden carvings beside her.
A crunch of something breaking underfoot caused her to jump to her feet and spin to face a side of the garden that had been hidden in the shadows of several trees. Figures that spanned the races of Neverwinter stepped out of the shadows. A few wore reddish cloaks with hoods that hung low enough to conceal their faces in the darkness. Most wore armour. Some leather, but most were wearing chainmail. They cradled maces and crossbows as they entered the moonlight.
She counted twenty in total as they came to a halt. A robed one chuckled. "We come to desecrate the temple of Gruumsh, and here we find that someone has already beaten us to it," he said, "By a young girl no less. You're playing a dangerous game, child."
"This shrine was never Gruumsh's," Ranma said, stumbling only slightly over the orc god's name. For a moment she could feel a hateful gaze on her. It fled as she smirked at the robed man. "It belongs to Inari." Was it just her or did the moonlight seem to brighten as she declared that? The fox yipped at the group and growled. Ranma sniffed and wrinkled her nose as the strong scent of a firepit slapped at her.
"Inari?" The man seemed puzzled, "A third-rate deity I'm sure if I've never heard of it. Step aside child, there's no need for you to die here."
Fire. Smoke. Desecration. Her eyes narrowed. "Tell me," she said, taking a shot in the dark, "Why would the Ashmadai come all this way to desecrate one small shrine?" The murmuring amongst the group stopped and the hooded man tensed.
"You are quick to name things that should remain unmentioned," the man said with a sigh and an overdramatic shake of his head. "Bodkin, if you please-"
"RAAAGH! GRUUMUSH AND MANY-ARROWS!" A warcry rang out behind the cultists and another group charged in.
"ORCS! TURN AND FIGHT!" The hooded man shouted, spinning in place. Words in an eldritch tongue lashed the world as he raised a hand. Ranma winced at the foul feeling of the magic as the cultists desperately turned on the orcs charging from the entrance they had used only a minute before.
Hulking figures swarmed out of the darkness to crash into cultists. Screams of pain and the clatter of weapons filled the air. It was hard in the darkness to tell who was winning. Despite feeling awkward about death and killing, Ranma just stood and watched as both groups, of whom she had little care for either, went at it with enthusiastic bloodlust.
She started as a pair of cultists exploded into shadows and ash before horrific man-size creatures of flickering embers and ash ripped into the orcs.
Then, as though there was a competition for the most horrific act, the darkness was rent apart by a claw as a bone white horror of spikes, bladed insect wings, and a long bony tail that ended in a single red stinger tore its way into reality as the hooded cultist finished his chant. The feeling of wrongness doubled along with the scent of decay. The white bony thing was large, taller than a horse as it rose to its full height. It opened its mouth and Ranma slapped her hands over her ears as a it screamed its unnatural existence into the air for all to hear. A few orcs toppled to the ground clutching their heads only to be stabbed to death by the cultists.
"Enough of that," Ranma growled as she stared at the massive, and quite literal, Devil that opened its involvement in the battle by running through two orcs with one bony hand. She levelled a hand at the group of orcs and cultists and the devil. Ki roared from within her soul to her hands amassing in a heartbeat enough force to take the top off of a mountain. "MOKO TAKABISHA!" She roared as the ki attack ripped from her hand, carved a trench into the soil, and passed through the ranks of orcs and cultists, crashing headlong into the Devil from behind.
The Devil as large as a bear had no time to so much as shriek as night became day and it was carried through the orcs and in, and through, the nearest building. The trench terminated somewhere beyond, but no shriek of anger was forthcoming as both groups of combatants turned to Ranma as she stared them both down.
Her lips were pulled into a snarl as she addressed them, "Do I have your attention now? Are you done playing games?" She stared pointedly at the hooded man who, by sheer luck, hadn't been caught up in the attack. "I don't care who you serve, this is a place sacred to Inari. Whether you belong to Asmodeus or Gruumsh, this place is not yours. I'm giving you one chance. Leave, or die." For once, she was actually serious about that. Seeing them summon that… thing and seeing the presence of the orcs who had more than likely defiled this shrine sent her blood boiling. Sure, she had never been truly devout, but places like this were sacred. Even to her.
Especially to her.
"That is not yours to decide," the hooded man snarled, "Call the bearded ones. I will deal with this child." He ripped something from his chest and held it high. The word that followed was in no language Ranma's amulet could translate. It was foul, seemingly poisonous to the air itself as everything gained a faint orange tinge to it before with an explosion of fire and smoke another rent was torn into reality and something even larger stepped forth.
If the other creature had been a horror movie protagonist, then this thing was the classic devil itself. Ten feet tall, with digitigrade toes, massive wings, a pointed tail and two very large horns, the thing was what everyone old enough to have heard of them pictured as a devil. It even carried a twin-pronged spear. The tips glowed with heat as the creature stretched its wings and rolled its neck.
"That was a sudden call, Corbyn," it growled.
"Kill the girl and I'll add another five orcs to the sacrifices for you," the hooded man said.
The horned devil stared at Ranma, idly backhanding an orc through a wall with a wing as it did so. It laughed. "Scared of a child? She barely has a touch of magic."
"And she blew a Bone Devil through a building to who knows where," the cultist, Corbyn, shouted. That got the creature's attention.
"Really? Well then," it raised a long-nailed hand and flames gathered it went to hurl them-
Ranma was already moving as the creature prepared some form of magic. Before more than the first few sparks had gathered, she was already halfway there. As its arm bent back, she saw it tense with surprise at how close she was. Its forked weapon swung down to intercept her. It might as well have stood still as she jumped, twisting into a dive over the weapon that transitioned into a flying kick as she passed over it.
With a squawk of surprise, the Horned Devil was tossed into the stonework of a nearby building. She landed lightly amongst the brawling factions, both of whom turned desperately on her. Orcs and cultists abandoned their opponents to dive toward her. She deflected a mace into the arm of a cultist, sidestepped an axe, and shattered a sword with an open palm to the weapon's flat, before kicking an orc through a nearby wall and grabbing another to pull into the way of a spear.
She pointedly forced herself to ignore the blood and screaming as she held little back against them.
The Horned Devil pulled itself from the wall and lunged at her. She swayed out of the way of its fork, ducked its wing, and before grabbing its tail on the way by. "GO BACK TO HELL," She shouted, swinging the startled Devil like an improvised flail. Orc and cultists alike were sent flying before she slammed Horned Devil into the ground.
She grabbed a sword from the ground before stomping on the back of the Devil's neck, slamming it into the ground hard enough to leave a mark, before cleaving its head right off with a single strike. Unlike the rest, she really didn't have a problem with the idea of killing a Devil. Monsters were one of the things Martial Artists were frequently called upon to deal with and she had long grown used to the idea of permanently killing these sorts of things.
"What are you?!" one of the cultists screeched, scrambling back so quickly its hood fell away to reveal a middle-aged-looking human.
"Human," she replied with the tone of one tired of explaining the obvious.
The hooded leader had survived and was backing toward the entrance. "Who are you then?" he asked.
She stared at him and smiled viciously. "Are you lot really this stupid? I mean, you're dumb enough to make deals with these things," she pointed down at the Devil, "But do you really think I'm just going to give my name to a bunch of demon cultists?" She kicked off the dead Devil and the lead cultist gasped as she landed right in front of him a heartbeat later. A few of the others squealed as she slammed him into the wall hard enough to knock him out a moment later.
By rights she should probably kill him, he was Ashmadai after all, but at this point that felt too much like murder for her.
She turned to the remaining Orcs and Cultists, barely a half dozen all totalled. "Take your companions and leave. If you come back here, I'll kill you," she said simply. She eyed the bodies of the ash and fire demons that had been possessing people. They hadn't taken being hit with the Horned Devil too well and were slowly burning out.
Cultists grabbed their superiors while the two remaining orcs sprinted out without a single look back.
Ranma set about dragging the actual bodies out, frequently using stolen stripes of clothing to drag them out to the street by their boots. That took her a few minutes before she was able to sit down beside the damaged shrine. The fox purred and rubbed against her hand for a moment before turning into a ball of light and disappearing into the shrine. She raised an eyebrow at it before chuckling.
"You're welcome," she said. A warm presence fell over her, comforting as it lay over her shoulders. It felt… familiar? Like she'd felt it in passing at some point.
She sighed and stared at the place where the Horned Devil had fallen. The body had turned to ash a few minutes after it died, leaving behind its head which she'd tossed out with the rest of the bodies. She could still feel a slight taint to its presence. She nibbled her lip. Perhaps some of the rituals of cleansing the priests taught her could help with it.
She sat there enjoying the cool evening and soft moonlight and yawned. It was rather late and while this had been far from the worst fight, just being around the Devil had left her feeling in need of a bath.
Ranma stood up and turned to the shrine. She ran a hand across it and grimaced at the damage from neglect. She would have to come back later.
The young Princess hesitated as she went to leave. Her feet felt like they didn't want to move like there was still a reason to be there.
"Have you tried praying since we arrived in Neverwinter?" the words of her mother flashed briefly through her mind, "Try it. Gods can communicate between worlds," she had said, "You might be surprised."
"I never wanted to be a Miko," she said, lowering herself to sit seiza before the shrine. She had complained quite hard when her mother had sent her to the Inari Shrine back home. It wasn't the first time she had helped out at a shrine and she really hadn't wanted to deal with it yet again. Well, more like she didn't want to deal with the priests again.
That warm feeling returned, draping itself comfortingly over her shoulders. Her eyes narrowed at the Shrine. That couldn't be a coincidence. She clasped her hands and bent her head, but as she went to pray any prayers she had been taught seemed to slip through her mind. She hesitated and let her hands fall to her lap. What did she even have to say to a god?
The curse? No, this far from home Inari probably couldn't do anything about it, and back home they definitely didn't have the power either…
"I don't really mind being a girl, anyway," she said impulsively, "It was strange at first and everyone's reactions to me were strange. I was used to being the big martial artist. You walk into a room in a Gi as a guy and half the thugs just get out of your way… The other half viewed it as a challenge, but that was decent practice before the trip to China. You do that as a cute girl?"
She shook her head. The warm feeling seemed to bubble. It was amused it seemed. "I suppose you'd know all about that," she sighed, pushing through the awkwardness of talking like this to a God after so many sessions of formalised ritual. "... I'm guessing that you can't really do anything about my curse anyway, can you?" The warmth grew but it felt flat. "Yeah, didn't think so."
"Kinda wish I could go back to switching back and forth," she said, "But I'm not too worried about it. We'll work something out about it eventually, and even if we don't… Don't tell anyone I said so, but being a girl isn't all that bad. It's a lot of fun at times." She smirked as she thought of the times she had scammed free treats from different vendors or wound up one of her rivals with the cute girl act. The presence burbled again, clearly amused. She shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. This was Inari and they did have Kitsune around them all the time.
"I suppose what I want… Well," she wavered and closed her eyes, "What I need is advice, I guess. I'm… I'm a Princess. Me, macho man amongst men am… a Princess. I'll have the dress and everything in a few days I guess…" She fiddled with her pant legs. "What should I do? There Are devil worshippers infiltrating the city. Some sort of Necromancers and orcs and who knows what else."
She was rambling now, her uncertainty finally finding an outlet. "I don't know magic. I've never had a good experience with it and now it's everywhere. Sure I pasted that big Devil guy, but I don't think he threw around any magic. Probably was magical, but I just don't know enough. And I know even less about ruling. Sure, my Mother is going to be the Queen, but what can I even do to help her? I don't want to lose her and as much as I'd love to just run off and not be a Princess I'm not going to leave her… Even if it means I'll be…" She trailed off. She would essentially be breaking all of her engagements back in Nerima. No him, no marriage.
No Akane.
A bright glow started breaking through her eyelids and she winced as a warmth passed over her skin. Against her better judgement, she opened her eyes and promptly stared. She was seated before the same battered shrine as before, but now it was on a small island of land in the middle of a terrace filled with rice paddies.
She stood up and looked around. She was on a hill that had been terraced from top to bottom with rice paddies and down below was Neverwinter. Neverwinter as she had never seen it. Its walls were whole, its towers gleaming, the castle no longer looming but instead standing watch over a thriving active city.
"Prosperity comes to all who work for it," a gentle yet commanding voice said from behind her. She turned to find a beautiful woman in a kimono decorated with dancing foxes smiling at her.
"You do not worry about yourself," another voice, male, said to her right and she found a tall broad-shouldered man with a kasa on his head and dressed like a farm worker.
"But about your mother," yet another voice said from behind her. A gentle-looking young woman in a sundress smiled at her. She held a reed flute in her hands.
"We find this heartening for our first true Miko in over a century," a worn factory worker said from the last cardinal direction. He ran a hand through his matted hair and gave her a tired smile.
"First Miko?" Ranma asked reflexively as she grasped what was happening. This was Inari. All of them were. She swallowed nervously as her mouth suddenly felt dry.
"Yes," another new voice, this of a graceful Miko, said. In her hands, she held a bow, the arrows for it planted in the earth around her. A length of rice was tucked into her hair. "There is more to a true Miko than tending shrines and muttering rote prayers. A true Miko is a holy woman, her very presence a beacon of hope in the darkness. A shield against the greatest evils for those who trust her."
"Long has it been since we could name one," the gravelly voice of an aged warrior, his armour laid at his feet, spoke from the direction of Neverwinter. "Longer since one was needed."
"I'm… You know who I am. I'm not a real girl. I can't possibly be a Miko. A real one," Ranma said, turning from one representation to another. Every time she turned her head they changed. Farmer, village girl, priest, priestess, office worker, warrior.
"And yet," a young child, his hair woven in braids, not even ten years old began.
"Who else could it be?" the first woman she had seen said as she stepped up to Ranma. She was the first repeated face the young Princess had seen and she couldn't help but stare as the Kami placed a single finger against the bottom of her chin and tipped her head back so she was meeting Inari's eyes. "We do not practise the Toril habit of granting divine favour for prayer. Our agents are never hamstrung by daily ritual. We prefer to grant the noble at heart a gift, a mark of our favour and let them do with it as they will. Here and now, there is no other worthy of our favour or our time."
Ranma found herself rooted in place, her words gone as she fell away into the infinite depths of Inari's eyes. She scarcely noticed the quirk of the Kami's lips before she dipped to plant a soft kiss on Ranma's forehead. Something inside her very being brightened and Ranma gasped as a weight of some sort lifted off of her and the world seemed to grow brighter. Her hair twitched and she swayed where she stood. She felt… fuzzy?
"Do not faint quite yet, my Miko," Inari chided from all sides as Ranma blinked. Somehow she managed to focus on the aspect before her. The graceful woman's lips twitched into a smile before falling into a more serious countenance.
"The agents of the Nine Hells will not return soon," Ranma's patron said, "Gruumsh's minions will not be so easily dismayed, however. Unless dealt with the orcs will return while you are away from the Shrine and they will destroy it rather than desecrate it again. Their predations on the city run deeper than many realise as well. If you wish prosperity for your people, start with them." A finger came to rest on her forehead before with a gentle push… Ranma tipped backwards to the ground, her eyes filling with the dozens of faces around her-
Ranma shivered and blinked in the sudden gloom as she found herself back before the shrine in the ruined park. Moonlight spilled down around her and she drew in a shuddering breath. The presence of Inari was gone… well, not quite. She could feel a presence in the air. Inari's presence. They were here.
Her hair twitched with irritation as did… She tilted her head in confusion. Her spine was twitching, but not moving, but moving at the same time? She twisted to look behind her and paused. After a moment she turned the other way and confirmed what she saw.
She had a single, quite bushy, red tail tipped with white. The red was the same shade as her hair.
Her hair twitched.
One hand reached up to the top of her head. She twitched at the ticklish sensation of her hands finding something fuzzy. Something fuzzy that made an awfully loud noise as she brushed it. Her fingers traced down the sides of her head to feel her normal ears still in place.
Her eyebrow twitched. The presence burbled softly with amusement.
"Please tell me you didn't just turn me into a Kitsune," Ranma said between gritted teeth. Her patron's presence gave a feeling of… shaking? Ranma let out a sigh. That was probably a no.
So, she… now had a tail and fluffy ears? She ran a hand through her hair again to confirm it. Yes, she did.
Ranma let out a deep breath and laid a hand on her chest. She felt… brighter. Despite her irritation at Inari for doing… That. Honestly, it was more than just irritation. She sent a glare at the Shrine and got an awkward wiggle from the Kami's presence in return. Still though, her ki was lighter as she breathed in and out it flowed more easily and she could feel the taint of the devil's from earlier was burning away with every breath.
"A true Miko," Ranma murmured as she rested her hand on her chest, breathing in and out slowly. The very new tail, which felt so much like her spine twitching, waved slowly side to side behind her. Inari had marked her. More than the ears and tail, she had reached down within and planted a seed of something indisputably Holy within her.
She raised a hand and called her ki up. A soft pink glow gathered in a marble-like orb above her hand. She stared at it for a moment before tossing it upwards and letting it disperse. The feeling of peace in the shrine swelled as the weak pink light washed over the park. She closed her eyes and breathed in, and then out, and then in again slowly, rhythmically even.
When Ranma finally opened her eyes several minutes later she stared at the shrine with uncertain eyes. "I'm not happy about the ears, or the tail," she said honestly. There was that awkwardly embarrassed wiggle to the presence, followed by the nearest thing to a helpless shrug.
She frowned. "How am I going to explain this to my Mother?" she asked. The presence seemed to freeze then diminish as it was struck by a sudden feeling of dread. "Uhuh," Ranma said before she sighed. Well, it was Inari. She should have expected impulsive action from her Kami.
There was a crunch followed by a yowl and her animal ears swivelled to point at the source, the rooftop of the nearby house. She turned to look and found a cat that was struggling to pull its foot out of the roof it had punched a hole through. After a moment it succeeded, then dashed away into the shadows.
She let out a sigh and stood up. "We're going to have to talk about this later," she told her Kami. There was a feeling of understanding. She brushed some loose hair behind her human ears before turning away from the shrine. Her tail swished distractingly about her legs as she walked out of the park into the street.
She paused in the archway and glanced over at the pile of bodies she had tossed into the street a short while before. The empty face of an orc stared back.
"Gruumsh's minions will not be so easily dismayed, however. Unless dealt with the orcs will return while you are away from the Shrine and they will destroy it rather than desecrate it again. Their predations on the city run deeper than many realise as well. If you wish prosperity for your people, start with them." The words of Inari ran through her head again. She looked up at the moon. She wasn't sure how much longer the night would last, but she probably had time to do a run about. See what the orcs were up to and maybe… Deal, with some of it.
Besides, she really didn't want to explain this to her mother quite yet.
The newly ordained Miko smiled viciously before she leaped to the nearest rooftop, taking care to avoid the weak bits. She was quite a ways from where she had started following the kitsune earlier, much closer to the Cloak Tower than the Castle…
She'd start with the Cloak Tower then. A quick peek around, to see who was where or doing what. She'd get a good count of the orcs and-
With a whump-thud a building several blocks southeast exploded. Debris rained down across the area. Ranma raised a hand as stones and bits of wood pattered off the rooftop where she was.
"Or," she said, "I guess I could start there."
-0-0-0-0-0
To call the streets of Neverwinter busy would have been a vast overstatement. Explosions in the city weren't so common as to be completely ignored, even now, but it was late and few people wanted to leave the safety of their homes to investigate why something would be exploding. That was a job for the guards.
As Nodoka and her guards ran through the streets in the direction of the explosion, the site of which was still sending smoke and light into the air, she found that not even the mercenaries felt any particular need to respond to an explosion so far out from their barricades. They got a few odd looks from the guards at the barricade they passed through on the edge of the Blacklake District.
"They will tell their superiors about this," Kazale said as they hurried along following Formond's lead. Despite the damage and the darkness, the dwarf still knew the city better than any of them.
"We can worry about that later," Nodoka replied, pulling the cloak she had borrowed from Madam Rosene tighter. Her fingers were gripped tight enough around the straps of her spell ingredient pouches that the leather had begun to leave a mark. "I didn't see anymore Mintarn gathering."
"Everything out here is out of their jurisdiction, now isn't it?" Malleth said, "So why would they give a flip if something out here exploded? Just one less thing for them to worry about."
Nodoka grimaced at the callous logic, but she couldn't refute the likeliness of it. If the mercenaries were as thinly stretched as they claimed, then they wouldn't lift a finger to intervene. The same could be said if they either worked for or were paid off by one of the factions that had infiltrated the city. The idea of not being able to trust the defenders of her family's city was so very foreign to Nodoka. It ate at her sense of right and wrong in a way that only her great mistake had done so.
"How far, Formond?" she asked as she hopped over a pile of stones that were laying in the street. The further they got from Protector's Enclave the less had been done to clear the streets.
"Not far now, milady," Formond replied as he waved them to a halt so he could peer down a street. After a moment he nodded and waved for them to follow him. They clattered after him, their group making no allowances for stealth as they hurried to the site as fast as possible.
They weren't quite at the next corner when, with a squelch and a squeal, over a dozen humanoid creatures accompanied by several hunched-over things that ran along on four legs, dashed out from an alleyway.
"Plaguechanged from the chasm, defend yourselves!" Lady Mason shouted as she drew her sword and brought it down on the first creature, a humanoid thing with a webbed hand growing out of its shoulder and fish-scaled skin. Bright light flared with the impact and a pulse of power tossed the nearest creatures back.
Formond drew his broadsword with a cry that resonated off the walls as he threw himself between Nodoka and the beasts. The shining Mithril carved an arm from one of the things before two of the creatures grabbed him. Their claws scrabbled against his armour until Nodoka raised her hand and called up a ray of frost. The beam of cold magic was sufficient to turn one to ice, granting Formond enough reprieve for him to run the other through.
At the same moment, Kazale held out a hand and spoke a single word that resounded incomprehensibly through the air. Half of the creatures were engulfed in a wave of fire that narrowly avoided roasting Formond as well. Two tried to slip by Lady Mason only for the Paladin to snarl and grab the first by its shoulder. She slammed the unlucky abomination in the second and with a cry of "TORM!" brought her bastard sword down. Holy power exploded turning both to ash.
A pair of arrows from Malleth ended the quadrupedal monstrosities before they managed to close with anyone.
Nodoka scanned the area as everyone caught their breath, one hand tightly wrapped about her crystal rod. "Is that it?" she asked.
"I think so," Malleth said after another moment, "I can't hear anything scrabbling in the dark at least."
Kazale held up a hand and uttered a single word. Light flashed into being above him casting the area into sharp relief. Nodoka curled her lips in disgust at the malformed monstrosities bleeding out onto the cobblestone. "It seems clear," the wizard agreed, "We need to keep moving."
"Yes. Formond, if you can," Nodoka said, looking at the dwarf. He seemed unharmed at least.
"That I can. They never had a proper chance to rough me up," Formond said as he cleaned his blade off and hung the bloody rag from his belt. "This way, c'mon. Let's not dawdle." The dwarf led the way with his sword out. They were travelling more slowly as they all kept a careful eye upon the alleyways, but no more plaguechanged creatures leaped out to attack them.
The sounds of crying and the crackle of flames eventually met their ears as they approached the site of the explosion. Their first sign of what had happened was a pair of orc bodies in the road, both riddled with arrows. Soon more bodies were spotted approaching a gate in a makeshift barricade, beyond which they could see the smouldering remains of a structure that several humans and an elf were tossing water on.
"Hold there!" the broken gate's lone guard, a dwarf whose left arm was wrapped tightly in bloody bandages said. "Who are you?" he demanded, raising a short spear with his good hand.
"Baradin Cudirr? Is that you?" Formond blurted out, "Muradin's beard, you look terrible."
The dwarf jumped as Formond spoke then broke into laughter. "Says the dead man," he chuckled, lowering the short spear. He peered at the rest of them. "Could have used you a little while ago. If it weren't for the lass and those adventurers we'd be dead."
"By lass, she wouldn't of happened to have red hair, would she?" Formond asked.
"That she did," Baradin replied, "You're looking for her."
"She's my daughter. She insisted on going for a walk tonight and I'm worried," Nodoka said, stepping forward.
The dwarf nodded as he took her in. "You do look rather similar, but you needn't worry Miss. Your daughter is more than capable of handling the dangers 'round here. She routed the orcs that blew up poor Odgin's 'brewery'," he said, waving a hand back to the smouldering remains, "If you listen to his whining they burned down his entire life's work tonight."
"And your thoughts?" Formond asked.
"The man can't even make decent moonshine, let alone mead. As far as I'm concerned, the orcs might have saved my sense of taste," the dwarf said with a chuckle.
"Is my daughter still here?" Nodoka asked.
"Hmm, oh, not anymore. She and a group of adventurers ran off. Erm, well more like she ran off and they ran after her. Something about finding out why the orcs decided to attack us tonight," Baradin said, running a bandaged hand through his slightly charred beard.
"Which way did they go?" she asked, glancing around for any sign. There was, of course, nothing that stood out in the chaos left behind by a battle.
"Erm… let's see. I think-" Baradin grumbled, only to be cut off by a roar of the wind as a tornado blossomed up towards the sky somewhere further east. Flames flashed and flared throughout the mammoth unnatural disaster. Against the flames small bodies could be seen flying in many directions… including toward them.
A few moments later the very-definitely-not-small body of an orc bounced off the barricade and rolled to a stop in a bloody heap by Malleth's feet. The half-elf gave it a prod with his foot. "He seems to be dead," the archer said sarcastically, "What a shock."
"That way, as it happens," Baradin said, pointing at the tornado as it flickered out of existence after a few moments.
"Thank you," Nodoka said, giving the dwarf a forced smile, "Come on. Formond, you can catch up later." That had to be the Hiryu Shoten Ha.
"Right you are. Baradin, I'll be back later," Formond said, raising his sword in a rough salute before sheathing the blade and running toward the site of the tornado. They soon slowed to a more steady jog as the distance involved became quite apparent.
"Your daughter has gotten into quite the adventure," Malleth said with a laugh.
Nodoka frowned. "I should have known she was being too quiet," she replied, "Her life in Nerima was never quiet."
Kazale shot her a look as he adjusted his hold on his staff. "As rambunctious as yourself?" he asked sardonically.
She sighed. She… had earned that one. "More. Karma you could say," she said, "I had weeks without adventure. Ranma barely goes a day without something happening." She had attributed it to Nerima and the number of strange people Ranma knew. That had been… premature in hindsight.
"At least she's picked a good outlet for her sense of adventure," Lady Mason mused.
"A dangerous one," Nodoka exclaimed with more than a little outrage. Orcs were not for casual adventuring. One didn't casually adventure in the first place, but if someone were to do so Orcs were not what Nodoka would have advised.
"Dangerous for her, or for the orcs?" Malleth asked sarcastically, drawing a deep guffaw from Formond.
"Relax, Your Highness," Kazale said soothingly as Nodoka fumed softly, "The Princess is proving herself an adept warrior. We will catch up before anything untoward happens."
'The Princess'. Nodoka nodded even as those words went through her head. "Anything untoward could be literally anything, Master Blackburn," she said, a touch of heat in her voice, "After all, you aren't saying, 'The Prince' right now."
The older wizard winced. "Point made, Your Highness," he said. The group increased their pace, racing through the streets just short of a sprint until the first signs of violence appeared. That first sign being two orcs stumbling through the streets leaning against each other for support. They came to a stop as the more steady of the two fumbled for a weapon on his notably empty hip.
"Easy there," Kazale said, the older man held up a hand. "We aren't here to fight."
"Ish.. Ish dat…" The orc on the left spat on the ground and wiped his mouth with his free hand, "Dat sho?" In the arcane light of Kazale's light spell they both looked rather battered. The one that had spoken was missing several teeth, a few of which looked rather fresh.
"It is," Kazale said. Nodoka clenched her Crystal Rod.
"Hu-huh…" The two orcs stumbled on, leaning against each other and very occasionally shooting them suspicious looks.
"Well someone beat the shit out of them," Malleth said after they stumbled unsteadily off.
"Aye," Formond said, "There a reason you just let them go, Kazale?"
"Conflict avoidance. We have no need to waste time," Kazale said, marching forward, "We can't be far from where that tornado came from. There's a glow of fire just over the build… ings…" He trailed off as he turned the next corner. "We seem to be there."
Nodoka and the rest joined him a moment later. Before them was a modest town square with the broken remains of a wizard's tower to their left. Known as the Fallen Tower, it had been a popular tavern even before Nodoka had left. Each night spectral echoes of the tower's former inhabitants reenacted the events of the spellplague that had claimed the wizards and destroyed the tower. The tower seemed a bit worse for wear, but still fairly similar to how she recalled it. What was different was the hole ripped into the cobblestones of the square.
A scan of the area showed the signs of cobblestone brick impacts across the fronts of the many run-down structures across the square. Bodies were also scattered across the ground and the buildings. Orcs mostly, but also numerous other races.
"Torm, what happened here?" Lady Mason asked.
"My daughter happened," Nodoka said, noting a handful of orcs gathering the dead off to the side while a few others, including a few shady-looking humans and dwarfs, pulled the injured toward the Fallen Tower. "They seem to be collecting the injured over there. Master Blackburn, let's see if any of them know where my daughter is." She suspected that her daughter had moved on, but perhaps one of them had enough wits about them to point the way.
"Lady Mason, Formond, look intimidating if you please," Kazale said, striding forward. The two warriors placed hands on the hilts of their weapons and took up spots just off either shoulder of the old wizard. Nodoka trailed behind with Malleth, keeping an eye out for either her daughter or someone trying to attack them from behind.
"Ahoy there!" Kazale called as they approached the tired-looking orcs and humans.
One of the humans, a man in a tattered and stained apron over a bloody tunic, groaned loudly and turned to them. "Tavern's closed," he said loudly, "'n case the bodies everywhere weren't a clue, we're a little busy."
"I could see that. We're tracking someone for a client of ours," Kazale said, "Might we trouble you for a moment?"
"... iff'n you can make it worth my while," the man said after a moment.
Kazale withdrew a pair of golden coins from his sleeve. "Assuming you have information…?" He trailed off. The man stared at them greedily before nodding.
"I may 'ave. Who are you looking for?" he asked, setting his hands on his hips.
"Redheaded young woman. About this tall," Kazale held a hand up at about Ranma's head level, "Martial type. Likes to fight with her fists."
The man went white. "Ah 'ells, you're looking fer the lunatic that did this," he said, running a hand through his hair.
Kazale glanced about and affected a look of bland disinterest. "It seems likely, yes," he said after a moment.
The man cursed. "Look, I don't know where she went, but she passed through not too long ago. Not sure how long. The Tavern's water clock 'asn't worked since before the Many-Arrows orcs found it," he said, nervously folding his hands before him. "She walked in an picked a fight in the middle o' the Tavern with… Well as I hear it, it was every orc in the room she wanted a fight with. That made it 'bout half our clientele. Crazy girl, no one picks a fight in the Fallen Tower."
"I'd have thought fights would be more common in a Tavern this far out," Kazale said.
"Not the Fallen Tower. We're a Truce Site as agreed on by both the Lord Protector and Commander Vansi," the man said, "Anyone who breaks that truce gets the attention of the entire Tavern. Mad girl walks in with her posse of adventurers and flat-out ignores it."
"Any idea why?" Kazale asked.
The man shook his head. "Not a clue. I was down pulling out another barrel o' mead fer the orcs when it kicked off. First thing I 'ear is her arguing with this orc shaman who comes by all the time. He started shouting about Neverwinter being theirs an' something 'bout desecration then next thing I hear there's swords being drawn. No idea what was said before that. Came back up to see the closest thing to a massacre I've ever witnessed…" He looked up at an orc's body on a nearby roof and sighed. "Nah. That was a Massacre. Nothing close about it."
"And no idea which way she went?" Kazale asked.
"Well… From what I 'ear, keepin' in mind that I missed the argument," the man said, getting a nod from Kazale, "She was pretty insistent on the Orcs leavin'."
"Leaving the tavern?" Kazale asked.
The man shook his head again. "Neigh. Not the Tavern, the city. Said someone was done with their kidnappin' an' something 'bout desecration as well or somethin' like that. I don't know," he shrugged, "Look, iff'n she ain't done, then mayhaps you should start looking towards the Cloak Tower where the rest of the orcs stay."
Kazale nodded. "That's more than enough to go on I think," he said, handing over the coins to the man.
"Pleasure doing business," the man said, pocketing the coinage, "Stay safe milord Wizard." He promptly walked back to help with the injured.
Kazale turned to Nodoka. "Clearly we're missing a few steps of tonight's adventure," she said before he could say anything.
"My thoughts exactly, but the man's logic isn't wrong. If she is trying to rid the city of orcs in a more permanent way, then she'll be headed for their base and that's the Cloak Tower," the older wizard said.
"Bit odd though, ain't it?" Formond said, running a hand through his beard, "She looked rather uncomfortable with the killing back at the tower."
"Uncomfortable, but not unwilling," Lady Mason said, "But she is rather… iffy about religion. What sort of desecration could she have been talking about?"
Nodoka tugged at her hair nervously as she turned it over in her head. None of the temples for the local gods should have provoked this sort of response, but a kidnapping… "I don't know," she said, "But if there's been a kidnapping, I can't imagine my daughter just letting it go. Whatever desecration she mentioned is likely the proverbial cherry atop the cake."
"She does seem to have a big heart," Lady Mason agreed, "A kidnapping does seem likely as a cause."
"If there are others in danger as well, then we need to catch up sooner rather than later. Master Blackburn, please lead us to the Cloak Tower," Nodoka said, turning to the older Wizard.
The older wizard glanced back from examining the area. "As you wish," he said, shooting one last look at the crater that had been carved out of the square. Nodoka had to admit, it was rather impressive. The idea that something as primal and powerful as a tornado could be summoned up by a teenager, even her own child, was rather humbling.
"Preferably before the orcs finish getting their bearings and start wondering if we had a hand in all of this," Malleth said, his own eyes examining the few orcs that were upright and eyeing them in turn. Nodoka considered it likely that the truce status of the tavern, even after this flagrant violation, was all that kept the groups from getting rough with them out of suspicion.
"I doubt they'll come to that conclusion, but they're liable to toss caution to the winds given the degree of this mess," Kazale noted, "We'll take Wendsley street-"
A loud bang echoed over the buildings from the east alongside a flash of pink and gold. All five of them turned toward the Cloak Tower.
"I think she's already there," Kazale noted with a sigh.
"Aye. We'll need to move quickly," Formond said as angry voices started shouting around them. A few uninjured orcs ran toward the Cloak Tower, disappearing into the streets and alleyways.
"I had been hoping to save this spell," Kazale grumbled, "Gather around all of you. I'm going to teleport us to the Cloak Tower." He raised his staff and started chanting. Nodoka stepped closer to him as a light flashed from his staff and the world wobbled, then they were standing under the eave of the alley side of a run-down store.
"This is not the tower," Malleth said as they all pointed or drew their weapons and scanned the area. The street was abandoned, though Nodoka could see what appeared to be orcish graffiti scrawled onto a number of the ruined buildings. Crude totems and the skulls of a variety of misshapen creatures were mounted on clusters of spikes and hung from leather straps.
"No, but it is close," Kazale said, giving the empty building a sad look, "This used to be a popular bakery. I came here rather frequently."
"To the backdoor? Any particular reason for that choice, Kazale?" Formond asked with a laugh.
"We can reminisce later," Lady Mason said, the Paladin quickly gaining her bearings, "If I recall we just need to-" Several explosions happened in a short sequence from the other side of the former bakery.
"Cut through the bakery?" Kazale suggested, getting a nod from the Paladin. Nodoka hid a small smirk at the slight darkening of the older wizard's cheeks.
"Yes, I'll lead," Mason said, advancing into the darkness. As she did, Nodoka heard a whisper of something and the Paladin's bastard sword started giving off a bright glow.
Nodoka smiled as she followed behind Malleth and Master Blackburn, the latter of whom had also taken a moment to conjure a bright light that orbited his staff. It was much easier to see with a bit of magic.
The inside of the former bakery had been wrecked horribly and was mostly overgrown with plants that covered piles of debris where the ceiling had given way. Fortunately, nothing untoward happened as they hurried through the kitchen and out of the storefront. Another explosion of some sort reached them as they ran out into the street, and straight into a battle.
Dozens of orcs, both living and dead, choked the street in front of the broken gate through the Cloak Tower's perimeter wall. The living orcs charged screaming through the gate, only for the distinctive explosion of a fireball spell to wash back out scattering burning orcs across the entrance. Though, it didn't claim all of the orcs as attested by the sounds of steel and screaming.
"Charge! For Torm!" Lady Mason bellowed before matching action to words and charging the thirty or so feet down the street to the gatehouse. The rest of them hurried to follow her, moving as one toward the sound of battle.
Rushing through the gate Nodoka found a small group of humans and a dwarf surrounded by orcs in all directions. A reddish blur, visible momentarily as it zagged around a burst of blue fire that an orc had vomited forth, crashed into the dozen charging from the entrance of the tower before smashing feet first into the gate that was hastily being closed. The aged wood of the door cracked as the doors, large enough to permit even a giant entrance into the entry hall of the Cloak Tower, were blasted open.
"VANSI! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!" The very familiar voice of her daughter shouted as the girl crashed forward into the darkness beyond.
"Keep the rest from following her!" A young woman clad in chainmail with the scroll of Oghma on her surcoat shouted. In her hand, she brandished a mace. To her right was a dwarven woman wielding a large two-handed warhammer caving in the head of an orc. An older man in red robes with a staff of pearlescent wood stood to their back, a Ray of Frost leapt from his palm freezing another orc solid. A brown-haired woman in leather armour with a sword in one hand and a knife in the other caught the blade of another orc that tried to attack the wizard. The final member of their group was a pale woman in similar, if much darker, leathers that ducked and weaved between her assailants, a thin dagger darting and striking with nearly invisible grace.
Nodoka popped open a bottle of water she had on her waist and flicked a small amount towards the charging orcs on the left. A few arcane words she hadn't spoken in years left her lips. With a roar, a tidal wave of water appeared just before the charging orcs and surged forward carrying away the entire flank toward the outer wall of the city.
The red-robed wizard turned to them. Kazale raised a hand. "Friendly! Friendly!" He shouted.
"Well met then!" The wizard shouted back before flicking a drop of water toward a large orc. The blade of ice that materialised ripped out the orc's throat before detonating, showering the victim's companions with razor-sharp ice shards. "We could use a hand."
Master Blackburn burned a line of orcs from life with a gesture of a crystal rod. "So I can see," he replied as they joined the group, "By any chance you wouldn't happen to be the adventurers Ranma told us about? The ones based out of the Temple of Knowledge?"
"That would be us," the Cleric of Oghma replied before whispering something. A bolt of light zipped across the battlefield to collide with an Orc Shaman that had been lurking in the shadows of a tent. Two arrows from Malleth whipped in to finish its life a moment later. "Good shot," she cried before glancing at Nodoka. The girl swallowed. "By chance would that happen to make your group the ones she came to the city with?"
"She's my daughter," Nodoka replied, getting a hasty nod from the girl, who couldn't have been older than her child.
Further conversation was put aside as the combined groups turned their attention outward to the orcs. While many had been dealt with by Nodoka's conjuration, more surged from the tents as warriors pulled on their weapons and more still came pouring through the gates. It was easily the largest battle Nodoka had participated in in her life.
The spellcasters and Malleth stayed within the circle of steel formed by their more heavily armoured companions, but they weren't able to intercept everyone. A large orc forced his way through the fight, taking a cut across his side from Formond. The orc's blade was worn, but it was more than enough to gut someone as unarmoured as the red-robed man. By luck more than planning the man managed to interpose his staff which was knocked into his chest as the orc tossed him to the ground.
Before the orc could follow up Nodoka slapped her hand on his shoulder and released a burst of electricity into his body. The orc screamed as the voltage ran through him before being tossed back as three bolts of magic slammed unerringly into his chest. He didn't get up again.
"Push to the Cloak Tower!" Kazale shouted as Nodoka helped the red-robed wizard to his feet, "We can't stay out here! There's too many." To punctuate his point several arrows pattered into the ground around them.
"We'll be fine! We've had worse!" Formond shouted, knocking an arrow from the air before bisecting a pair of orcs with a single strike.
"We'll be fine, our new friend won't be!" Kazale replied as he blasted a Ray of Frost into an orc that was grappling with the Dwarven woman.
"I wish I could say he was wrong, but this is getting a bit hairy," the Cleric gasped as she forced away another orc.
"Fine. Path to the door is mostly clear, we'll do rearguard while the young'uns make a brea-" Formond was interrupted by a section of wall on the third floor of the tower exploding outward. Everyone, orcs included, looked up as a single body flew out of the tower to crash amidst the chaos.
Orcish shouts of denial sprang up from those around the body. Clear dismay in the guttural tones of their language. Dismay turned to horror as blue flames burst skyward from the corpse. Thin tendrils lashed out at the orcs around it. Those who failed to scramble away screamed, their voice so full of agony Nodoka winced.
Those touched, however, did not die. The blue flames, which felt wrong to Nodoka's senses, burrowed into the orcs. Muscles bulged, spines like lionfish grew and other strange effects as the orcs swelled, growing to twice their size in moments. Their eyes were gone, blue burning flames glowed in their place while their skin seemed to become scaled like a fish, the pattern clearly visible on their skin. A skin that seemed to glimmer with a thick mucus-like slime. As one the affected orcs said something in their tongue, their voices echoing like a choir of thousands.
Nodoka took two steps back and bumped into Malleth. "What are they saying?" She demanded, utterly horrified by what she was witnessing.
"Something about a chorus being everywhere," Kazale replied, "What on earth is this?" He sounded as disturbed as she felt.
"Spellscarred magic of some sort, but it feels strange," the Red-robed man said, "Maddened."
"Spellscarred magic is already maddened," the brunette wielding a sword and dagger said, "This is… Horrifying."
The orcs that were unaffected broke, running for the gate as the dozen or so victims of this moment continued to scream and cry. Their voices echoed oddly, and were growing more painful to listen to by the moment. They had formed a circle around the glowing blue bonfire of power that crackled where the dead orc had fallen.
Kazale growled. "They're casting some sort of spell. Kill them!" he shouted before chanting a spell hastily. A crown of nine glowing lights appeared around his head. One bolted away to slam into the first orc. Its cry was interrupted for a heartbeat as a burst of light ripped its arm off to let blue-mucous spray from the injury.
Nodoka pulled the materials she needed from a pouch and alongside the red wizard launched a fireball at the abominations. She looked away from them as the spells flew. Her eyes were already aching.
Arrows tipped with some sort of explosive joined the barrage from Malleth as the melee fighters charged towards the bonfire. Then a pair of pink beams crashed into the circle of afflicted orcs with a cry of "Moko Takabisha!" The screams that followed as half their number burned away instantly were horrifying, but less disturbing than their crying.
Nodoka's daughter dropped from the sky and slammed another blast of ki through several orcs. Something seemed different about her in the wildly writhing firelight, but it was impossible to say what.
At the same time, the wizards continued to toss as many spells as they could manage at the orcs. Fireball was Nodoka's choice and another two reached out for the cursed orcs. The last one fell well before the fighters could reach the circle as two of Kazale's orbs of light ripped it in half.
Nodoka looked properly at the scene again and fought the weird stomach-turning feeling she was getting. There was something just wrong about the orcs and the blue bonfire.
With a strange slurp the bonfire contracted, flowing inwards like water down a spout as it poured into the deceased body of the orc Commander. It twitched and lurched forward rising to a seated position-
-before Ranma rammed a spear that was wrapped in a pink light through its chest. With a gurgle the monstrosity collapsed backward like a doll with its strings cut.
Then her daughter turned to them and started as she seemed to realise who was there. Her hair did something strange, twitching to either side. What had Ranma gotten herself into?
With a sigh Nodoka broke into a run across the yard. "RANMA!" She shouted, putting the tone of 'you're in trouble' into her voice. The younger redhead winced and sedately walked over to meet her.
Nodoka dashed past the rather amused gathering of warriors, and found her pace slowing after a moment as Ranma entered the much more reliable light of an orcish campfire. She came to a stop as she stared at her daughter. The younger redhead fidgeted.
"Hi, mom…" Ranma said with an awkward giggle of nerves, "I… um… I had a conversation with Inari."
Oh.
Nodoka stared at the red Fox-ears and equally red fox tail her daughter was sporting. "Please tell me you aren't a Kitsune now," she said.
Ranma shook her head. "Still human I think just… With extras," she said looking rather annoyed. Her ears went flat and Nodoka found herself staring at how adorably annoyed her daughter looked. This was going to take some getting used to if it didn't go away.
"MASTER BLACKBURN, GET OVER HERE!" she shouted to the older wizard, "Now, you're going to tell me everything that happened tonight. If your reasons are sufficient, I might not ground you."
Ranma nodded rapidly. "But first, there're a few people on the third floor. The orcs were planning on sacrificing them to Gruumsh as part of some ritual to win his favour or something," she said hastily.
Of course, things were more complicated. Of course.
She sighed. "THERE'RE PRISONERS ON THE THIRD FLOOR! GET THEM OUT OF THERE!" she shouted to the group before turning her attention to Ranma. "Start from the beginning, dear," she ordered. This was going to be a long night.
-0-0-0-0-0-
The remains of a building burned as Ranma alighted on the edge of a rooftop overlooking what appeared to be a small walled community of houses and shops. Ranma's attention wasn't, however, on the burning building but instead on the people fighting around it.
Nearly three dozen orcs were swarming the settlement. They were fighting with the scattered defenders, often outnumbering them by two or three to one. The only exception was a group around the entrance to the biggest building in the settlement. A familiar-looking Cleric of Oghma was at the forefront bashing in the head of an orc.
Abigail and her group of adventurers, which seemed to include a couple of women she hadn't been introduced to, were holding the doorway quite well against twice their number of orcs. No, the real issue was the swarming orcs ransacking the rest.
A scowl appeared as she spotted two of them dragging a middle-aged human woman towards the gate where an older orc with a staff tipped by a ghastly depiction of a one-eyed orc skull was directing several younger orcs to keep a group of prisoners in check. That guy was the one in charge then.
She took two steps back, then charged forward and jumped. The old orc never even noticed as she landed on the tip of his staff, that is until she spoke. "Are you the boss guy here?" she asked sharply.
The orc stared. "Get down from there!" it shouted angrily as it yanked the staff to the side. She remained quite implausibly balanced on it as the orc waved the staff around like she wasn't on the end.
"So that's a yes?" she asked.
The old orc took a swipe at her, which she lightly jumped over before catching him with a kick as she rode his head down to the ground. The orc groaned as she rolled him over with a foot. "C'mon old guy. You in charge or not?" she asked again
"HEY!" One of the younger orcs took notice of what was happening. She stepped through his guard and drove a fist into his stomach hard enough to toss him into the makeshift barricade that formed the entrance.
A negligent flick of the wrist sent a weak ki blast to sweep two orcs off their feet as they abandoned their prison-guarding duties. "Stay where you are," she told the prisoners, her tail flicking towards the corner they were in, "You're safer out of the fight." A woman holding a young child nodded as two of the men, a dwarf and a human, grabbed the orcs' fallen weapons and took protective positions over the rest.
Ranma turned her attention back to the older orc to find him stumbling away while leaning on his staff. Blood was running heavily down one side of his face. "Hey!" She barked and he stopped, shooting her a venomous look. "Tell your lot to stop. Now."
"Can't," he bit out, "Gruumsh demands… sacrifices for failure. Will not fail… Again."
A chill went down Ranma's spine. It wasn't enough to distract her from the singular syllable of power that slipped from the orc next as four bolts of magical energy appeared from the orc's hand. Ranma jumped backwards, only for them to follow her. She ducked and weaved but despite all her skill they slammed straight into her with the force of several heavy punches. She winced and rubbed her breast where they had all connected.
The orc pulled a burnt-looking stick from one of its pouches. Ranma didn't give it the chance to cast as she leaped forward and grabbed its wrist. A twist and the orc let out a scream as all the bones in its wrist snapped.
"Is this the only group?" She demanded, her mind whirling for why they'd do this now. Was this because of the incident at the shrine? It hadn't been that long ago! But then… she didn't know how long she'd been communing with Inari. Had there been enough time for an orc to carry the message of the incident to someone important?
The orc sneered and brought her foot down on its knee hard enough for the bones to snap before grabbing it by the neck, choking off a scream as she held it up above her with one hand. Its good hand scrabbled at her arm.
"I'll ask one more time," she repeated, "Are you the only group?"
"..." He tried to gasp something and she lowered it a little, taking pressure off its neck just enough. The orc gasped a weak breath. ".. Only tonight… More groups… prior…"
So it wasn't just her actions then. She would have asked more but nearly half of the orcs left in the fight had abandoned their fights and were charging her way. "Shaman!" One of them shouted, "Leave him be human!"
She dropped the old orc and, as he was gasping for breath, gently tapped him on the head. He slumped to the ground. He might die, but it wasn't like she knew the pressure points for an orc and she couldn't let a shaman just continue to throw magic at her. Who knew what he'd have tried next?
The first orc found his path reversed as she blurred into his guard and kicked him hard enough to fly backwards into his fellow orcs, scattering three more of them to the ground. The rest didn't fare much better. Broken arms, wrists, snapped legs, and worse were spread about as she scattered the incoherent charge in seconds.
She pinned the last of them to the ground with a foot on his neck that he tried to claw at with his remaining unbroken hand. "So your shaman said that this isn't the first raid," she told the scrabbling orc, "I'm betting you took prisoners. Who ordered it and where are they keeping them?" She ground her foot against his neck, prompting the orc to whimper.
"... I… I don't know where," he gasped after a long moment, "But we were sent by Shaman Gnorset."
"And where would he be?" she asked patiently, keeping one eye on the rest of the fight. The last few orcs that hadn't broken when she had catapulted through their line were being cut down by Abigail's group.
"Don't… Don't know… Could be…anywhere?" the orc said, his tone questioning.
"Guess," she prodded, "I'm sure you've got some idea." She increased the pressure just a little, trying to avoid actually suffocating him.
The orc gurgled. "Erm… The Fallen… Tower…" he gasped out. She took the pressure off. He gasped. "He… frequents the… Fallen Tower tavern."
"And where is that?" she asked.
"Northeast of here, about four blocks," a familiar voice interjected. Ranma looked up to find Abigail standing there looking rather exhausted and with a mace cradled in her hands. "Didn't expect to see you out here… or with… Are those fox ears?" The cleric of Oghma sounded rather perplexed.
"I had a moment with my Kami," Ranma replied, "They decided to give me a 'gift' on a whim. I'm a little irritated." She ran a hand over one of her new ears and shivered at the strange sensation. Her new tail, which she had been so determinedly ignoring, flickered side to side.
"Oh. You've been chosen for something greater then," Abigail said with a smile before shooting a look down at the orc. "Are you planning on keeping him there all night?"
Ranma glanced down. Her ears went flat irritably. "No. Now get out of here," she told the orc, taking her foot off his neck before giving him a kick in the side to get him moving. She turned away from him, though she kept a fox ear pointed at him just in case. "Wasn't expecting to see you tonight. Is this going to be a regular thing?" she asked.
"Who can say?" It was clear the Cleric wished to add more, but she fell silent instead.
"True. So, you know where this Fallen Tower is?" Ranma asked.
"Not far. Just over that way," Abigail said, gesturing in the direction, "It's a tavern built into the remains of an old Wizard's Tower. These days it's run by the orcs and both they and the Lord Protector have agreed to make it a truce site."
Ranma frowned. "So going and punching out an orc shaman until he talks while he's there would be…?" Her tail swished as she watched the last few orcs get rounded up by the townsfolk. People were crying for help with injuries.
"A bad idea? Likely," the Cleric finished, "Why would you want to go there?"
"The old guy," she waved a hand at the downed shaman, "Said something about needing sacrifices to appease Gruumsh."
"Gruumsh is the chief deity of the orcs," Abigail said, "He's a brutal deity that makes harsh demands of his followers and is very possessive of orcs." She sounded concerned.
"Well, they pissed him off apparently. I probably made it worse a couple of hours ago," Ranma said, "A white kitsune led me to a shrine to Inari. I have no idea why they have a shrine in Neverwinter, but the orcs had desecrated it and driven the fox from its home in the shrine. I… Undesecrated it."
"By doing what?"Abigail asked, concern in her voice.
"By getting rid of the ritual stuff they'd draped it in. I think they had turned it to Gruumsh' use," she replied, crossing her arms.
"Bold thing to do, and something that would stir them up," the brunette swordswoman who had been with the group said as she approached, "Delfine, pleased to meet you." She held out a hand that Ranma shook.
"Ranma Saotome," she replied in the local manner, "I wasn't the only one though. Moments after I finished up, a group of Ashmadai cultists showed up in full regalia looking to do worse to it. I had to kill a few demons."
"Devils," Abigail corrected, "The Ashmadai worship Devils."
"... Right, Devils. Point is, it was a mess," Ranma grimaced, "A couple of orcs escaped the mess and, well, then this happened, but the Orc over there says they've been doing this for a few nights. They already have people they intend to sacrifice."
Delfine and Abigail shared a grim look. "Do you know when?" Delfine asked.
"Not a clue, but they have them which means anytime from when this group reports in, to forever. I'm not waiting to find out. You said the tavern was that way?" Ranma pointed the same way as Abigail did, getting a nod, "Then I'm going there and they're going to tell me where they're taking these people. I don't care about some truce between them and Neverember. If they're planning on human sacrifice then I'm not just going to stand here and let them keep trying. I'm kicking them out of the city tonight."
Both of them stared at her. "There are hundreds of them in the city by now," Delfine said, "A single person-"
"If this is their average? I'll be fine," Ranma said with a shrug, gesturing at the fallen orcs. They were worse than Furinkan High's average sports kid. The horde that had assaulted Akane every day had been better fighters. Probably not as lethal, but that was more a willingness to kill than a capability.
She turned and started walking towards the gate. "I'm off," she said, waving over her shoulder.
"Wait!" Abigail shouted, getting Ranma's attention before she turned and whispered something to the other woman. Ranma's ears turned, which was really weird again, and she picked up the rest of the whispered conversation.
"Are you nuts?" Delfine asked.
"No. We need to go," Abigail said, "Are you seriously suggesting we let her go off on a crusade without help? There's hundreds of them and she is the Princess! The rightful one!"
"Assuming she's telling the truth," Delfine replied, earning an amused eye roll from Ranma as she waited for them to finish.
"Well yes, but if she is?" the Cleric prodded.
Delfine wavered. "You want to send us into hundreds of orcs?" she asked with a hint of hysteria.
"If she's half as good as she thinks she is, we might be able to do some real damage before we pull out," Abigail said.
"And if she isn't then what?"
"Then we get to save the Princess and don't have to explain to the Queen why we let her heiress run off on a crusade by herself," Abigail hissed.
"You know I can hear both of you," Ranma commented, sending hot blushes across both of their faces. Maybe there was an advantage to having these ears.
"Is something the matter?" Abigail's dwarf friend said as she walked over, warhammer leaning against one shoulder, Ranma tried to recall her name and failed.
"Ranma is declaring war on the orcs," Abigail replied immediately.
"And Abigail wants to help her. Talk some sense into her, Bruldora," Delfine said.
"Sense into which one?" the dwarf asked, giving them both looks before staring at Ranma. "When the hells did you get animal ears, and is that a tail?"
"About… thirty minutes ago, I think?" Ranma replied, eyeing the Dwarf woman carefully. She hadn't believed her claims before, so what could she possibly be thinking now?
Bruldora stared for a moment before turning back to Delfine. "... What's this about a war?" she asked.
"Ranma wants to kick the orcs out of the city, tonight, by herself," Delfine said with the tone of 'I can't believe I'm saying this'.
"They're preparing to sacrifice a bunch of people to their god. Something about being out of favour I think," Ranma said, shrugging.
Bruldora clicked her tongue. "Well that's not good. You have any idea where they are?" she asked.
"Not really. The shaman in charge said that he's reporting to someone who should be at a 'Fallen Tower Tavern'," she replied, "I figure I'll start there and just beat up any orcs I find until someone spills the details."
Bruldora tapped her warhammer against her shoulder thoughtfully. "Sounds like a plan to me," she said, eyeing Ranma carefully before nodding once. "You know what, I've wanted to kick these beasts out of the city myself for ages. I'm in."
"Bruldora!" Delfine protested.
"Oh stuff it," the dwarf woman scoffed at the swordswoman, "It's a risk, 'specially with someone we don't know, but you try telling me that these orcs are good for the city. Go on." She met Delfine's stare and the swordswoman was the first to look away. "Yeah. Go get Gerald and Cirli. I think our night's just begun."
"I'll get them," Abigail said, smiling at Ranma before hurrying over to the other two members of their group who were helping with the first. A wave of frost burst from the wizard's hand to suppress the fire that was ravaging one of the buildings.
Delfine rubbed her forehead. "This is reckless, but fine. Better we all go. At least then we might be able to fight our way out," she said as Abigail gathered the other two. Within a minute Abigail returned leading Gerald and an exceptionally pale woman in tight leather with two long knives hanging from her belt.
"Good evening, Lady Saotome," Gerald greeted her, avoiding the title of Princess.
"So this is the girl you spoke of before?" the shadow girl, for on closer inspection she appeared scarcely older than Ranma herself. Her voice had a hint of an accent that sounded almost russian.
"Ranma Saotome, be known to Cirli," Abigail said with a hint of formality.
"We're going to go kill orcs. You in?" Bruldora asked with a chuckle.
"Abigail said that they have been gathering sacrifices," Cirli said, ignoring Bruldora as she looked to Ranma.
"That's what their shaman claimed when I forced him to start talking," Ranma replied. She crossed her arms. "I'd like to get going, so if you want to come, just follow. You're going to be slowing me down a bunch as is." She turned and started a lazy jog through the gate. Lazy by her standards. Feet pounded after her as the group hurried to follow.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Abigail shouted.
"That way," she shouted back, gesturing in the direction Abigail had given her previously. She turned and jogged backwards. "Can't be that hard to find. Just look for the activity, right?"
"She isn't wrong," Bruldora said with a laugh. Beside her Delfine shouted her goodbyes at one of the locals.
Ranma hopped over a rock, skipped off a tipped over cart and bounced off a rickety wall as she turned the corner without turning her back on the group. "Come on, you it's this way, right?" she asked Abigail, grinning at their incredulous looks as they hurried to keep up. She paused to let them catch up.
"Yes, just let me lead the way. It'll go faster," Abigail said, sounding exasperated.
Ranma laughed as she paced the group, still running backwards. "If you want to believe that, sure," she said.
"You move with grace," Cirli said, "You've had extensive training."
"Since I was… Five I think? Pops dragged me off on a training journey that lasted a decade," Ranma said with a shrug, "I'm the best martial artist around." The pale girl nodded and fell silent as they ran. What became quickly clear to Ranma was that they were too slow for her tastes.
She jumped to a nearby roof. "I'm going ahead," she called down as they came to a sudden stop, "I'm going to scout it out until you catch up."
"RANMA!" She waved and bounced to the next roof, laughing at Abigail's shout.
She'd let them be involved if they wanted, but they were hardly on her level. Far from it, actually. She would handle the worst and leave them enough to salve their egos. Worst case scenario, they'd be able to escort any prisoners away from the orcs while she dealt with them. And she'd admit it was rather fun to mess with them.
Abigail had said the Fallen Tower Tavern was… There. Ranma's eyes fixed on the bright glow of lights several blocks away, conveniently lighting up the shattered remains of a tower that just barely jutted above the dilapidated skyline. Twisting on a heel she jumped the road again. Mid air she waved to Abigail's group one last time before disappearing from sight in the direction of the tower.
A minute later she was standing above a dilapidated town square pockmarked with lean-tos around the edges with a mix of bedding and makeshift stalls. Most of those there looked to be either Orcs, those providing services to them, or a variety of disreputable looking mercenary types. In the middle was a modest bonfire some of the mercenaries were dancing around with what were likely prostitutes, or perhaps orc slaves. The bulk of the activity, however, seemed to be centred around the fallen tower at one end of the square. The Fallen Tower Tavern most likely.
She settled down on the rooftop, her tail swishing back and forth as she watched the movement in the firelight below. An ear twitched as she waited.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"... and I waited until Abigail and the rest showed up before entering the square," Ranma said to her mother. The Fox-eared Princess shuffled from foot to foot nervously as Nodoka listened with crossed arms.
"And things went downhill when you stormed in and started arguing with the Orcs?" Nodoka asked as she turned her daughter's story over in her head. First an encounter with cultists and orcs, then a Kami, finally this.
"... Was I supposed to leave them alone?" Ranma asked with a huff that made it clear it was rhetorical.
"You weren't even supposed to be out tonight," Nodoka replied, getting a wince from her. The older woman sighed. "And I take it you got the information and came straight here, correct?"
"Basically."
Nodoka sighed and looked out through the front door of the tower. They had moved inside after Malleth had come back and announced the building seemed clear. Either way, she had little to fear with Ranma at her side. Even if a stray orc was still around it would be unlikely to be able to hurt her.
What was she supposed to do now? Punish her daughter for breaking the back of an orcish occupation? Her actions had potentially saved the lives of over two dozen Neverwinter denizens. They were being tended to by the Cleric of Oghma, Abigail, in the foyer of the tower.
The oldest remaining Princess of Neverwinter sighed and frowned at her daughter. "This was reckless," she said.
"Not really. All the orcs sucked," her daughter replied with a huff, "Mind you Abigail and her friends weren't much better."
Nodoka pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel a headache coming on. How had Genma handled Ranma's blase attitude toward- oh. Right. It was his fault her daughter was like this.
"Ranma," she paused. How to put this? "Just because-"
"ARMED MEN ON THE ROAD!" Formond shouted from the front gate of the compound.
Nodoka hissed with irritation. "We'll finish this discussion after," she told Ranma, "For now, you're grounded." Ranma blinked.
"And that means…?" Ranma asked, one ear flattened as a look of confusion passed over her.
Had her husband never grounded Ranma? "It means…" she said, turning to Kazale as the old Wizard hurried down the steps.
"I'll handle this," he said, "Try to stay out of sight. Neverember could be with them."
"We," she shot a firm look at her confused daughter, "will stay out of sight. Ranma, what grounded means is that until I say otherwise no running off in the middle of the night no matter how bored you get;" that earned her a shrug as they walked deeper into the building to help Abigail, "You're going to be cleaning the bottom floor of this tower by yourself, though Kazale will keep and eye on you to make sure you don't trigger some trap or other;" Ranma nodded slowly, "and no sweets for a week." The last bit caused both ears and her tail to shoot straight up rigid.
"But Moooom!" The whine that followed instantly was reflexive and brought a smile to Nodoka's lips as her daughter sulked.
-0-0-0-0-0-
A/N: Been a bit since we had one of these~ It's actually been sitting here gathering dust for a bit. I just couldn't find the motivation to finish it for a while.
A thanks to my Patrons and a reminder that I have a Discord server available in my signature~ Come join us, we're a friendly group.
Now… *rummages in closet* Gekkou! Where are my cliffhangers? I left them here and now I can't find them!
Gekkou_Yoko: Check the bottom dresser drawer!
Grounders10: Hrm…. *rummaging noises intensify* Are you sure?
Gekkou_Yoko: LOOK UNDER YOUR WINTER SOCKS!
Grounders10: *Is now only visible by the tails sticking out of the drawer* Erm… Ah! Found them! *tails wiggle* Um… Can I get some help getting out of here?
Gekkou_Yoko: *grabs by tail und pulls chu out, ending up being sat upon* "owie."
Grounders10: Sorry! *Inserts Cliffhanger into story, then goes to fetch an ice bottle and snacks for Gekkou, maybe a cat as well*
- Location
- The Old Dominion
Hah, well dark forces are on the move, Inari has made their move, Ranma has found trouble leading to a shrine to look after and Ranma is a bit foxy... Heavens above I missed this fic.
The calm has gone, darkness beckons, the storm rises, and heroes of light defy the darkness.
The calm has gone, darkness beckons, the storm rises, and heroes of light defy the darkness.
- Location
- Elsewhere
Most people hear a noise in an allyway, and hope it's a cat, not a mugger.
Ranma hopes it's a mugger, and not a furry hell-beast.
- Location
- france
Huh? She didn't react because of the Nekoken?
Ah, she did, sorry.
Sacred Wrath, I think. Because, yes, Ranma would have simply neutralized them... Which would require more skills than killing them.
And little back...? No so. Ranma is a powerhouse.
That and Inari is also a gender-changing deity.
Isn't that... One of the four fox statues that guard the main Inari shrine at Kyoto? The one with a rice plant in its mouth?
She could be... a Tenko...? That's a nine-tails Kitsune who serves a deity. It then has only 4 tails but gains immense divine powers.
Or perhaps a fox Hengeyokai?
As I said, powerful. Very powerful. Ranma is more powerful than a standard Monk class.
Last edited:
Grounders10
Nine-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada, Mars
People have been calling this outcome for a while
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Nah, just a kemonomimi. I'm sure if Ranma managed to take a look at which anime and manga Inari has been watching/reading lately there would be certain.....trends.
The question is how the fluffy tails will appear in the Girls Und Panzer cross.