<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> Khun looks at the map, considering
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "I've only seen bits and pieces of it, but well," he takes out some markers and lays them out on the table marking off chunks of territory. "These areas are dead zones, didn't see anything living there but, let's call 'em hobs."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "And that includes spirits, from the basics that you find everywhere to lesser dieties."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> He then takes some other pieces, these ones in a different colour, and places them in a few areas. These seem to be far more scattered, but deal with confluences in the rivers, and other places of interest, including the capitol city of the Nine Rivers.
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Now, these places are confluences of power. I've only been to this one, but they should be places where the Sisters are the strongest, with the source of the rivers," he gestures at the capitol, "where they'll be the strongest. In good times, the Sisters could scoot through the rivers with ease, but those lines of communication may be sketchy now."
<+Magey> Rishi nods to Akeha as she greets him at the docks, making sure that the remaining bodies are hidden enough not to cause a commotion as they arrive. As he rushes along with her to her usual meeting room, he only stops to briefly send a messenger to Subaki to get the entire group together for a briefing later that night.
<+Magey> "It seems that even the zaniest of the rumours should be given consideration. There are man-beasts roaming the Nine Rivers and attacking even your samurai. They went down to fulfill your mission, and were only met with two savage assaults. The first assault was the one Zhao and I had found, and I believe he brought back the remains of that fight. The second was after they had arrived at the village of Bajun. There they found survivors and were recuperating, only to be set upon by a large-scale assault. That much can be confirmed by quite a few."
<+Magey> Rishi takes a moment to close his eyes and center his breathing, hoping to remain composed long enough to get through the full report. "The part that we might want to get ahead of, however, is the mists. Apparently they rolled in after the creatures appeared, and then began slicing them apart. After that, they commanded that the survivors follow, and your warriors quite wisely declined. They believe they saw a beast inside of the mists, and given what I've seen down in the Nine Rivers...
<+Magey> Well, I asked a few of the ones who entered the mists about it. They said the mists were taking them deeper into the forests and not towards any kind of civilization they knew of. What's worse, the mists were wrong, according to them. Apparently the Goddess San wears the mists instead of hiding in them..."
<+Magey> He makes sudden and very direct eye contact with Akeha, his face grimmer than she has ever seen. "I didn't think anything of it at the time, but I think that my fight eight months ago might have been the start of something very bad. The creature I killed died... differently... than the rest. It ceased existing entirely when I defeated it, while these creatures leave corpses. I think... I know I might only be a simple mercenary, but I think there's something very bad and very coordinated happening down there. I think that these... things... are coordinating their efforts, such that they attack a town, drive it into desperation, then trick the survivors into following them so they can do something with them."
<+Magey> He drops himself fully prostrate in front of Akeha. "Please, I humbly request assistance in dealing with this. I would like to go and investigate the matter, beginning with the town I helped eight months ago. However, it is fairly deep into the forests, and I am not confident I would be able to handle this fully by myself. I would also like to save anybody I can." Rishi lifts himself up, sitting respectfully in front of the other four and looking at each of them in turn, tears slowly trickling down his face.
<+Magey> "I do not know enough about these creatures to accurately assess the best way to save these people or to stop this invasion, nor do I possess the martial might to singlehandedly repel them. If need be, I will go on my own, but I cannot abide the suffering of innocents, and any aid that can be offered would be very much appreciated."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> Khun frowns at this. "You know something about the start of this? One of the Sisters seemed utterly convinced it was mortal work, and refused to say anything more."
<May> Akeha raises an eyebrow, insistently pushing Rishi upwards. "Forbetter or naught, we are in some regards equals here, so please do away with this sort of address. It's only going to get in our way."
<+Magey> "I may have an idea of the start. Like I said, I had fought a man-beast before." Rishi wipes away his tears as he speaks. "I went to fight some slavers, and rescue the citizens captured by them. The slavers were led by a man with a twisted blade who would kill his own men and women for laughs, and he had horns. In every way he seemed... wrong... and when I fought him is when I got my Mark. I burnt him to a crisp with my inner fire, except when I landed the fatal blow he merely looked bored."
<+Magey> "This alone seemed strange, but like nothing compared to the feeling of gaining my Mark. The fact that there seems to be more than one intelligent beast, combined with the way the rescued citizens were acting when I freed them is what is giving me pause."
<Euphemia_> "Can you tell us more about this beast-man? There are many kinds of being- deities, fair ones, demons- that seem to be people with the traits of animals, and alas, there is a vast gulf between them in terms of temperament and ability," Lee says, from her position standing behind Zhao. "If we can identify the man's nature, we may be a step closer to knowing
<Euphemia_> what we are dealing with. Master Khun has already spoken to me of pockets of Wyld within that region, so I have my suspicions as is."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Truth. I was looking out for more signs of Creation being thin when I returned, but I didn't see any. But if you saw a ringleader of some kind, and if they've had months to do this. Then... that'd actually make too much damned sense."
<+Magey> "Well, like I said, he was tall and had antlers. His blade was like a twisted piece of metal, and he desired to hunt me. I started our interaction by pinning him with an arrow that would have felled a normal human, and he treated it like I was some tiny stinging insect. I think he called me a wasp? I don't remember clearly, I just remember that he moved unnaturally fast, and it took everything I had to evade him as he was even more skilled in melee combat than I was. He only desired to hunt me, however. He kept rambling on and on about the fun of hunting me down."
<+Magey> "Oh! And he was able to make me see something that didn't exist. He tried to make me see a scene of me mass-murdering a village and enjoying it, and that just sort of... happened... as his blade got too close and he spoke. Reality felt like it was twisted around his blade. That's the best explanation I can offer."
<Euphemia_> "What about the people you mentioned? A number of captured individuals, who acted strangely after you rescued them?"
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> Khun frowns, but watches as Lee questions Rishi.
<+Magey> "When I rescued them, not a single one spoke a word, but they all listened and obeyed every single word spoken to them. I thought it was merely shock from witnessing the twisted mind of that creature at work and thought that, with time at home, they would eventually recover and be happy again. However, I'm starting to have second thoughts on the matter..."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "People too heavily effected by the Wyld are permanently changed," Khun's voice is heavy with sorrow. "You said that you saw the mist lulling people to follow the Horned Hunter back then?"
<Euphemia_> Lee sighs. "The Wyld, yes, but- well, it is more or less as we thought. You describe the work of the Fair Ones. They are beautiful, poetic creatures that feed on the souls and passions of mankind; teasing them out through seduction, threats, stories- anything to elicit an emotional reaction from their victims. After they completely drain their victims, they
<Euphemia_> become little more than docile slaves, fit for simple manual labour and nothing more." Her face falls, and she shakes her head. "Slavers, indeed. It is a process through which perfectly obedient slaves can be created. There are... people, out there, who will sell their follows to the fair folk, then buy them back and resell them later to unscrupulous
<Euphemia_> organizations. A perfect cycle of villainy."
<+Magey> "No, the mist demanding it be followed was only a few days ago, when the samurai were under attack. The Horned Hunter took a band of people and kidnapped his captives."
<+Magey> "However, the man with the injured arm confided in me that he saw a beast smaller than a man hidden in the mists that the survivors followed, and that cut the man-beasts--the Hobs. That sounded, to me, similar enough to what I had dealt with eight months ago to warrant investigation."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Fair, I'll admit, I didn't see anything too Wyld like about the mist, but I didn't look too hard at it."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Either way, the next scouting team should probably follow it, it'll either lead to these beasties, or to the Lady San. Either would be good to find."
<May> "I'm not sure a scouting party of soldiers is the best idea, given all that's been said," Akeha suggests.
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Who said anything about soldiers? Given the nature of the threat, it's almost certain to be some or all of us."
<Euphemia_> "I agree. We should attempt to contact the river goddesses a second time," suggests Lee. "If we demonstrate to them that we are the chosen prophets of the Unconquered Sun, they should clearly recognise our authority and our desire to push back the forces of chaos to the formless masses from whence they came. Who would know the region better than they? From<Euphemia_> what you have said, our other options would see us stumbling around in the mists for clues, waiting to be seized upon by who-knows-what."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Lee? Diplomatic trip to the capitol."
<May> "And by trip we mean armed incursion," Akeha laughs.
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "I like to think aggressive honour guard."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Some of the Nine are touchy, if you call it an incursion, they'll probably choose death over help," Khun deadpans this while shaking his head softly.
<May> "Well then... a... cautious visitation."
<Euphemia_> "There would be serious difficulty in keeping a body of troops stocked and fed in the region without the support of the locals," muses Lee. "Can you afford to leave Inaba for a length of time?"
<May> "For a a couple of weeks, yes. Any longer and it might be troublesome," Akeha admits.
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Well, if we beeline for the capitol and back, that should do the trick. If we get bogged down, I can get you back here in a couple of days from almost anywhere in the Nine Rivers, but that does mean it will just be you and me. I can only carry two."
<May> Akeha nods. "I think that will be precaution enough."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Right then, I took the liberty of preparing a list of ingredients," he pulls out a piece of parchment and hands it to Vol. "That's the scale I need to make a dose a day of anti-Wyld potion for one person for a week. Get me what I need for however many people you want to bring, and a large scale room I can work in, and I'll make some for everyone you intend to bring."
<~AndrewRogue> (I have to doublecheck this, but the capital will probably take a week for the roundtrip on the cirrus. Maybe a bit less.)
<Euphemia_> "I shall certainly accompany you on this trek. Consider me level to task of persuading precarious positioned deities. Tora shall see the affairs of my folk here in my absence," Lee declares. "Ah, Master Khun, I am not familiar with the local divinities, but if you have time I feel we could together compose an appropriate prelude for our discussions; we must
<Euphemia_> avoid a unseemly display of rudeness at all costs, do you not agree?"
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> Oh, then ground folks will never make it in time
<~AndrewRogue> (Let me double check my terrible map)
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Heh. I certainly agree. Let's get you prepared to put forward your best face to the Nine."
<+Magey> "Thank you! Thank you all so much!"
<Euphemia_> Lee smiles, and then turns her eyes to Rishi. "We will, together, put right what is wrong or perish in the attempt. It is what we are chosen to do. Your courageous work shall be rewarded by the most high, if not through mortal adulation," she insists.
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "No need to thank us, 3Operative1. This is some heavy wrongness, and precious few could've known how bad it was just from your first brush."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "Hellfire, I'm impressed Lee knew as much as she did. I may have to spend some of my time later brushing up on my Wyldlore with her."
<Euphemia_> Lee winces, and turns her face slightly aside. "That is more or less the extent of my knowledge on the topic, Master Khun... acquired through bitter experience rather than focused study. Please, do not embarrass me before our honourable peers."
<May> Akeha smiles, "Regardless, I hope to learn more from the both of you in the coming week about the... Wyld, which from the description I think we would call Monsters that Can Not Be?" she hums. "A witch hunter would know better, and we are better off without them."
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> "No doubt. Well, let me know when you're planning to leave, and how many people will be going, and then I can get a schedule of where I hope to be when to you. Barring time at the clinic, I'll be happy to tutor you on anything you want to know about Wyldlore."
<Euphemia_> "We will need about a dozen sailors to crew the ship at a minimum, and I really think about twice that would be suitable in case of mishap," warns Lee.
<May> "We can find some off work rivermen locally to supplement," Akeha nods.
