Nym (Ranger9000)

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"I guess we're set, then." Eru nodded. "I could carry our stuff under this cloak, I suppose. Where do you want to go looking for them?" She asked, curious. "Are we going to search for some kind of bad neighbourhood, or do we try around the merchant district or something? Bet the place has pickpockets and whatnot looking for easy marks." She suggested. "On the other hand, more patrols in places like that, so they'll be harder to find. And the guards might think we're suspicious or something."

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Hmmm, maybe we should just try for the pickpockets. It seems like a safer start then just diving into a bad neighborhood, and less likely to get us ganged up on." Nym said as she came to a conclusion, "I'm hoping the town guards will be atleast a safer bet to let us off with a warning then a bunch of street thugs. Either way though, we should head out so that we can get started before the crowds start thinning out."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Eru nodded. She grabbed a bit of rope and fashioned something of a makeshift belt/harness for herself to hide the weapons of both girls under her cloak before they left. It was past dinnertime now and the streets were rather crowded, making movement a little slow. Still, the two girls were able to move around unopposed. They wouldn't have a hard time finding the marketplace either, as now that dinnertime and work was over many people were going there to see what the foreign merchants had to offer to them. In a place like this, thieves were bound to show up.

It quickly turned out, however, that finding them was suprisingly hard. Eru's improved senses were suited for hunting game in a forest, but in crowds like these picking out individual scents was incredibly difficult. Annoyingly enough, on the occasion they did manage to spot a pickpocket, or even a shifty-looking individual, their target disappeared in the crowd before they could close in on him. It'd appear that Eru was simply not used to hunting in crowds while Nym didn't have the kind of experience rogues had. They used up a few hours like this and it was going to get dark soon. The adventurer would have to rethink her approach if she wanted to nab someone. She could wait for the lights to go out and see if anyone tried to mug a straggler, or try one of the worse neighbourhoods.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Dammit, they hadn't even had a single success! The redhead was getting rather annoyed at how they kept coming so close only to lose out. Though as the night started to come on she sighed, well, they'd have to come up with something better tommorow after they were done with the tentacle monster.

"Lets head back Eru, I think we've wasted enough time at this for one day. We need our rest up for tomorrow anyways. I doubt it's going to be easy getting that tentacle no matter how we go about it."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Eru shrugged, agreeing with Nym's assessment. She didn't seem to like the crowds much anyway. Going back to the inn, the two of them would settle for a meal and some good sleep, the wolfgirl opting to have some proper rest this time rather than mess around. Come morning, they woke up refreshed and ready for more adventure, a good thing considering this was going to be the most risky assignment so far. Going down to get some breakfast once they were done with preparations, they once again met Alice and her bodyguard Cedric, getting ready to grab a meal of their own. "Ah, Nym! Good morning to you." The sorceress greeted. "Care to join us?"

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

They returned back to the inn, and decided to get a good sleep over having any sexy fun times at the night. The next day came quickly, and Nym felt quite refreshed as she went downstairs, ad saw Alice and Cedric having breakfast, "Good morning you two, how are you? And ya we'll join you."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"We're fine." Cedric replied briefly before falling silent again as he set off to procure breakfast, grabbing orders from everyone in the group before going. Meanwhile, Alice led the girls around the hall in search of a free table where the four of them would be able to eat. "Yes, as you can see we are doing fine. Today we plan on concluding all of our business ventures in Saina for the time being. We plan to leave rather early tomorrow, to cover as much distance as possible during the day." The mage managed to find a suitable place to sit down as she explained. "You're planning to take care of the tentacle beast today, right? Also, if you don't mind me asking." The woman looked Nym in the eyes. "Have you thought about the proposition I've made yesterday, about that delivery job for my friend? She runs a local brothel not far from here and needs something delivered for her relative... If you're willing, I could tell her about you and get you an invitation so you can talk about this job."

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Ya, the tentacle beast is on our list of to dos for the day. Hopefully it shouldn't take us too long to get the tentacle piece." Nym said as she joined Alice at the table. Though the way the alchemist stared at her made her worry a bit about the next question. Still, they rather desperately needed money and any work would be useful. "Ya, I think we're up to take that work. We rather need some money after you leave anyways."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Excellent." Alice smiled warmly just as Cedric joined them, bringing food with him. "I'll let her know today, she'll probably be able to see you two by tomorrow. Her place is called the Red Flame." The mage explained as she began to eat. "My friend is named Lorelai. She'll explain all the details of the assignment to you when you see her. Also, she can be a little... Eccentric at times, so please forgive her if she acts a little odd, alright?" She looked sheepishly at the two girls. "She's not a bad person, but could probably do with a bit more common sense than what she has."

Breakfast would pass on in a friendly atmosphere, giving Nym a chance to maybe ask a couple questions and make some small talk before they were done. Eventually, however, it'd come to a close. "Well, I wish you luck in today's hunt." Alice announced as she got up, leaving her empty plate on the table. "Cedric and I have to go now, but we'll see you later today." The mage and her bodyguard left after that, leaving the girl and her wolf friend. Eru seemed to be in relatively high spirits after the meal, despite the danger they were about to face.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Nym would take advantage of breakfast to ask a few questions about Alice and Cedric, mostly about how long they had been working together, and other kinds of small talk like what was the most interesting thing they had seen on there travels.

Once breakfast was done the mage and ridiculously strong bodyguard would leave. "Ya cya later today."

Once they were gone Nym would look over at Eru. "Well, let's get this started and show that tentacle monster who's boss." With all there equipment ready, she'd grab the map and head out, hoping they'd find the tentacle monster sooner then later just incase they needed more time to get the tentacle piece.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

According to the answers they gave to Nym's question, Alice and Cedric had been working together for about five years by now, having met by chance when both of them volunteered to guard the same merchant caravan. They befriended each other over the course of the mission and ended up banding together, the warrior protecting the mage and allowing her to focus on other applications of magic besides combat more often. They've been traveling like this ever since, going between towns and selling various services to the citizens as well as other clients. They haven't gone into much detail about those jobs, though.

Once both Nym and Eru were done eating, they'd leave the town and began to direct their footsteps towards the nearby swamp. Fed by a small river, the marshland wasn't a particularly safe region both due to the presence of strange flora and fauna as well as the treacherous terrain which made travel difficult and sometimes dangerous. It didn't look so bad at first glance - it was hardly a sun-deprived bog, even with all the trees around, but appearances could be decieving. Nym would have to make a decision: was she going to try looking for the monster's lair, or focus on finding the monster itself? How was she going to conduct the search? And how was she going to handle collecting the tentacle piece?

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Well, this doesn't look to bad." Nym said, looking at the bog, it could be worse atleast. "I know its going to be more effort, but I can't help but think we should go look for the lair. If we are lucky we might even find a bunch of loot or someone in need of rescuing there too."

Nym looked over at Eru to make sure the wolf girl was onboard with the idea. If she was she'd continue. "Though we need to find it first. Any chance you could pick up a trail in this bog? Maybe lead us back to where it sleeps? Otherwise we are just going to have to start searching by eyes alone."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"It'd be much easier if I knew what sort of scent I'm supposed to look for." Eru frowned, sniffing the air. "I can smell quite a few things around here, but I'm not sure what's what." The wolfgirl stated, looking around. "Still, I think I've got something that might be promising." She set out, following a trail that only she could pick up on. Nym would have little choice but to trust her friend. After a while, it seemed that their little search would pay off - they've found some strange tracks left by some kind of large creature. Examining them, Eru stated that they were most likely left by the beast and would likely lead them towards it's lair.

Following the tracks deeper into the swamp, the two girls would quite soon begin to encounter problems on their way that made advancing difficult. The vegetation was annoying, but the biggest issue was the ground. The beast seemed capable of moving even through terrain that the two of them would sink in, forcing Eru and Nym to make periodic detours and making it difficult to keep their eyes on the trail. The scent was getting harder to pick out, too, mixing with the strong smells emitted by the plants and the bog itself. They've managed to get quite far, roughly the area where it's nest should be, according to the wolfgirl, but unfortunately their mission hit a snag.

After yet another trip around a patch of quicksand, Eru announced she could not find the trail anymore. Looking around, all they'd see was dirt, mud, some trees and bushes, spiderwebs and a couple reeds here and there. Nym couldn't help but think there was something amiss here, but with how thick the canopy was here the light was muted and it was hard to see what was up in the higher parts of the treeline. The wolfgirl was looking around too, feeling suspicious, sticking close to Nym under the shade falling on top of them.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Nym was really happy she had Eru along. If it had just been her they would have had no hope of finding the trail. Though even with Eru it proved an arduous task. They found the trail easily enough, but the tentacle monster was apparently able to spread out its weight alot better then her or Eru could.

Then the trail just stopped. "Wait, it just stopped? Does it live in the quicksand or something?" Nym looked back at the patch they had bypassed, then up at the trees. "Maybe its in the trees. I wish we had a torch or fire magic or something so we could see up there. Anychance you can hear anything?"

Well she waited for a reply dug into her bag, trying to pull out the flint and steel she had been given, she'd also grab some of the reeds and try to light the ends up to act as a basic, if short lived, torch.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"No, I just lost it." Eru explained, looking rather unhappy about that. "It's too hard to find again. Altough..." Looking up together with Nym, both girls would notice hints of movement in the trees, stopping whenever they've tried to focus on picking them out. "I think I can hear something up there." She growled, tensing in preparation for a fight, reaching for the knives she was given. Quickly picking out one of the reeds, Nym would need a moment or two to set it alight with her flint alone, but in the end she'd get a very short-lived torch that wasn't too bright. Still, as she raised it up above her head, she'd notice the light reflecting off of something large and black between the leaves. They were not alone in this place.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Shit, ya there's definitely something up there Eru." Nym said, quickly pulling out her axe and holding it a bit weakly with only one hand. She'd hold the torch till it burned down, hopefully it would atleast let them see the other creature before it jumped them. Though she decided that since they were almost certainly spotted, at the very least it wouldn't harm her to say. "Hey, whatever you are, we don't need to fight."

If it wasn't sentient, well they were going to have to fight it anyways, if it was then maybe at the very least they'd be able to get a chat in first and maybe talk it down, or atleast get it to come down and be visible.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

There was some rustling up in the trees, some of the leaves and branches shifting as the creature disappeared out of sight completely. As the makeshift torch burned down, it appeared that it was no longer there... But Eru hadn't let her guard down, looking tense as she continued to scan the area. Eventually she seemed to focus her attention on a spot somewhere up, looking at the top of one of the trees. Before either girl could act, though, a voice finally replied to Nym's earlier declaration. "You say that, but you draw your weapon anyway. Doesn't seem that friendly to me." The voice sounded female, though it had a strange, slightly vibrating quality to it. Furthermore, whoever was speaking sounded wary.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Well, it always pays to air on the side of caution whoever you are." Nym said, following Eru's eyes toward the treetops. "I mean, for all we knew you were some wild animal that was trying to ambush us." Nym half planted her axe in the ground beside her. She was able to draw it if needed but she was trying to make it obvious that she didn't want to be hostile. "But ya, anychance you can come down atleast to somewhere we can see you. It's not really that encouraging to be talking to someone we can't really see."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Well, as you've probably realized, I am not an animal." The voice replied with a hint of irritation, causing Eru to growl in frustration as she tightened the grip on her blades. "And maybe I'll think about coming down later. Who are you, anyway? Why are you here?" The mysterious person queried, still on guard. "There's nothing to be found here for the likes of you. Nothing aside of danger. Most people would steer clear of such a place instead of venturing deeper into it, unless they had no other choice."

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"I am Nym, and this is Eru. Who are you? We came here because we were tracking back the trails of a tentacle being. We were hoping to find its lair and get a tentacle piece without having to battle it." Nym lifted her hands from the shaft of the axe and quietly said. "Eru calm down. I don't think our watcher is taking it to well, and I'd rather not fight something we can't see..."