That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

Nila Misra: HP = 46, PP = 52, EP = 96, Status = Fine

Weeks.... Months... How long had it been since she had last seen her sisters? It was hard to say, hard to really measure the time as the days blended together. There had been no sign of Yami or Mana, her two older sisters who had been with her in managing to escape from Nila's seemingly maddened twin, Lina, whom she also blessedly had detected no signs of. That had left her traveling alone, and on the roads of Crolia that was not often a safe thing, even this far to the West and away from the front of both the war against the orcs and the emanating patrols of aliens coming from Badaria and Anudor. Mortal bandits were hardly unheard, especially here where the trade routes had recovered from the Arrival but the local authorities had their hands full making sure that the wars didn't reach their soil. Even an immortal like Nila wasn't immune to their harassment, whether or not she chose to hide her kitsune features, though the last group had simply broken and fled when she had displayed her unnatural powers.

She was in Crolia because she and her siblings had been taught by faeries originally, but those had been wyldfae, courtless lesser faeries. None of them could have stood up against what Lina had become, and if she wished to gain the strength to bring peace to her family she needed more strength. Having no ties to anyone else, Nila had gone searching, but it seemed that the fey were elusive. Her hunt had drawn her here, to the back woods of Crolia in the North West, near the trade lane along the coast but not quite on it, for the fey seldom if ever appeared openly in well traveled lands. Rumor and her wandering feet had brought Nila here....

And here there were, apparently, more men of a less than valorous caliber. She had been walking along the earthen path, conserving her energies, when smoke had suddenly appeared up ahead, and as she drew nearer the sickly sweet scent of burning flesh reached the kitsune's nose. The dirt path on which she walked curved up ahead, first left and then right as it climbed a slight rise, the shrouding of trees showing their autumn colors and pines with piles of old needles and new cones huddling around the base of their trunks forming a barrier that blocked her from directly viewing whatever scene might be unfolding. She couldn't see the source of the smoke, or even accurately gauge how far ahead it might be while her feet were on the road, but judging by the amount of smoke the flame was more than a simple camp fire. The woods around the road here were still thick even so close to the Western coast of Heloras, where the edge of the Frozen Sea lapped against the shore, and she had no way of knowing with any certainty what might lie within them if she chose to try and circumvent whatever was ahead of her in that manner. It had been days since she'd seen anyone else at all, the last town nothing more than a tiny fishing village many miles behind her and the next one still supposedly days ahead, though bouts of flight had shortened the supposed three week journey considerably even if she did need to stick near the road in order to accurately figure out what was going on.

 

[Knephi]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

As it turned out, travelling was not nearly as exciting as Nila had expected it to be. Her mother had told plenty of stories about her own adventures to Nila and her sisters, but so far the young Kitsune's own had been downright boring. She felt terrible thinking about it that way, considering the gravity of the situation that had started it all, but she couldn't help it. Nothing had happened. She wasn't even sure how long it had been since she’d been forced to leave her home, and everything she’d ever known with it. She’d been out before, but it had always been with her mother or one of her elder sisters, and she’d never travelled even close to this far from home.

Sure, her trip hadn't been entirely uneventful. She’d passed through a few human towns and villages, and received more than a few strange looks from the people there. She supposed it was to be expected. Not only did her manner of dress stand out, she preferred to avoid hiding her vulpine features unless she absolutely had to, even if she’d been taught how in the past. She’d run into trouble on the road, but she’d run into highwaymen while on the road with her mother in the past, and seen how she’d dealt with them. Compared to her fight with Lina... they were positively tame. Stepping out to threaten her or offer their ultimatums, they made it all too easy. That wasn't to say she liked having to fight them, but she understood the necessity of it, and that leaving them just meant they could target someone less well-equipped to deal with them than herself next.

She also had to get stronger, much stronger, and any practise, unpleasant as it might be, was another step. Lina’s power had been overwhelming. Nila wasn't sure whether she’d always been that powerful, or if it had been the work of the souls of their family empowering her, but even with the three of them arrayed against her, they’d barely even been able to touch her. It was only the fact that she’d caught her sister off guard with her last, desperate attack that had allowed the three of them to escape at all. She hoped Yami and Mana were still safe, somewhere out there. She couldn't go after them, she didn't have the right to anymore, all she could do was press on alone, and hope that she’d be able to stop Lina the next time they met. Her second tail unconsciously began to curl around her leg as she thought about it, its golden fur in contrast to her own silver marking it as the last remnant of her eldest sister, a constant reminder that Chika had given up her very soul to try to protect her any way she could in the end.

Her introspection was cut short, however, as her nose caught a whiff of something on the air. She smelled smoke, which wasn't too unusual considering there were others who camped off the road as well, but something else... it reminded her almost of cooked meat, but less pleasant. Something told her that this wasn't simply a traveller cooking their dinner over a campfire, but she couldn't tell what it was from where she’d paused, the path curving ahead and the tall trees blocking any hope of seeing far into the distance.

Wary of the dangers on the road, but not wishing to cause a ruckus if she didn't need to, Nila drew the rapier sheathed at her hip and continued forward, much more cautiously than her previous pace. The sword itself was merely something she carried mostly for appearances, and occasionally used for training. The quality of the sword itself was quite fine, but she didn't have the body of a warrior, and her conjured blades far surpassed the mundane weapon. She was attempting a stealthy approach, though, and her powers had a tendency to... glow. Brightly. They’d see her coming long before she saw them if she was lit up like a lighthouse, and she didn't want them to think they were under attack in case they really were just a caravan setting up camp.

Spoiler

Nila’s gonna try to sneak up to whatever is burning and take a look. Operative word being try.

Possibly relevant stats: 51 Dodge (With her sword drawn), 5 AV (TP 30, DU 3), 25 Resistance, 22 Perception, 8 Stealth, –2 Grapple.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Spoiler

Nila Misra: HP = 46, PP = 52, EP = 96, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

Nila's rolls!
Stealth: 10
Perception: 30

Opposing rolls! Dice only.
Perception (????) : 13
Perception (????????) : 1
Perception (??????) : 17
Perception (????????) : 14

Stealth (????) : 9, 9, 13
Stealth (????????) : 19

With the likelihood of a threat up ahead, Nila drew her rapier and proceeded slowly, on full alert. Around the bend she came upon another stretch of flat road, this one somewhat wider than the portion she had traveled but with seemingly denser woods on either side. Movement and flickering fire caught her eye immediately, and she ducked aside behind a bush so that she could continue forward to get a better look.

As the young kitsune drew nearer, the sight became increasingly clear, and the closer Nila drew to the grisly scene the more she might wish that she hadn't. A trio of wagons were sitting beside the road, with a fourth turned on its side up ahead and a fifth aflame ahead of it. The road itself was covered in corpses, some laid out in neat rows and others simply piled up, and a pair of men were taking the bodies one by one and tossing them into the burning wagon. There were wolves, or perhaps more accurately dogs, feeding on the corpses, perhaps four of them in total though on closer inspection Nila saw two more sitting over in the woods on the left.

The rest of the wagons, including the overturned one, were being picked over by others while a man holding what looked like one of the strange weapons from Badaria in his arms. He was scanning down the road, but it was hard to tell whether or not he had seen her before she had ducked down. The wind was blowing in their direction, however, and as she observed the scene it seemed as if some of the dogs raised their heads and looked in her direction carefully. None of them actually did anything about it if they had detected her, however, and Nila had an opportunity to look things over more carefully.

There seemed to be at least a dozen of the figures all told, most of them clad in cloth and leather but one, a big man, sporting what looked like chain or scale. All of them had weapons, mostly maces and swords for hand weapons plus bows strung over their backs and small shields strapped to their hips. There was only the one rifle, standing on the side of the overturned wagon to give him a better view, and the rest mostly seemed busy dealing with picking over the caravan that they had raided. Nila managed to spot two figures chained up in one of the wagons, both of a darker shade of skin than the raiders and matching the coloring of those dead who were not so badly savaged that they had become unrecognizable. They were only partially visible past the more heavily armored man who guarded them and the curtain of the wagon, but they both looked female at a glance, and fairly young, maybe in their early twenties at the very oldest.

 

[Knephi]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Seeing the flickering light of a fire through the trees ahead as she approached, Nila quickly ducked off the road and into the cover of the trees for a closer look. Branches seemed to grab at her somewhat loose-fitting clothing as she moved between a pair of trees perhaps too quickly considering her intended stealth, but fortunately she managed to avoid snapping any of them. Confident that she hadn't made too much noise, she crept forward, using a nearby bush as cover to survey what lay ahead.

As soon as she got a good look at the scene, though, she dearly wished she hadn't. She’d seen bodies before, even had to kill a few bandits and highwaymen on the road, but this was the scene of a slaughter. She didn't even notice the living men still prowling the area at first, too fixated on the many corpses scattered across the road. It wasn't until her gaze passed over the more neatly ordered rows of corpses that she also noticed the men working to dispose of them. From there, her rational mind finally caught up with her more emotional side, and she realized that there were quite a few living men ahead. She made a mental note of the fact that the dead men and the living men bore some clear physical differences, most notably in the tone of their skin. From there she could make the connection that the two girls chained up in one of the wagons had been with the now-dead men, their skin a darker shade than the armed men around them.

Slavers? Or just opportunistic brigands? Nila ducked further down behind the bushes, leaving only the top of her head visible, though that likely meant little with her ears twitching atop her head at every sound. She’d been warned about these sorts of men in the past, and to avoid them if at all possible, especially in large numbers. There were at least a dozen she could see, all armed and quite dangerous looking, along with a number of what appeared to be trained hounds. As much as she hated the idea of leaving men like these to prey upon travellers, as they evidently done with this group, she knew that the odds were against her. It didn't seem like they’d noticed her, she could go back the way she came for a bit, and then fly over, or around them. It wouldn't be hard, and they wouldn't have any way to chase her.

Yami had once tried to scare her with stories about what these sorts of men did to people they captured—people like her, she was sure—but... she hadn't had any trouble before now. Certainly, there had never been this many at once, but none of the humans she’d encountered so far had managed to harm her yet. The last group had fled just from the sight of her powers! Surely she could handle this too, she couldn't just leave those two girls to that fate. She had always been the one being helped along by others, but she was stronger now, wasn't she? What use was that strength if she just let things like this happen right in front of her?

Mind made up, Nila drew herself back up to her full height, no longer caring if she was spotted. She was no brigand who would skulk around and rely on tricks and surprise. If she was going to fight, she’d fight. Besides, once she began preparing herself for battle, letting her soul’s power flow out around her, forming into a brilliant aura of pure white light, there was no longer any chance that she hadn't been noticed. As she strode out onto the road, trying to show a front of confidence that she certainly didn't feel, her eyes settled on the one holding a strange tube-like device. She’d heard about them before. They were sort of like a crossbow, but instead of bolts they just shot little bits of metal. It didn't look like much to her, but she’d been told they were dangerous, so she’d go for him first if she got the chance.

"I’ll give you one chance to drop your weapons and release those two," she declared, struggling to keep her trepadition out of her voice. She raised her rapier, pointing it directly at the chest of the rifleman from where she stood, her aura seeming to coil around her arm until it spread across the blade as well. "I’d rather not have to kill you, but I will if you force me to."

She tensed herself to spring forward, already gathering the energy to form one of her energy blades. She hoped she wouldn't need to, but she wasn't expecting them to be cooperative.

Spoiler

THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA.

Round 1: Activate Battle Aura X=9 with an extra 3 EP for the temporary HP, then step out onto the road and shout a bit. Costs 12 EP to activate, 4 EP upkeep.
+36 Speed and Dodge, +27 Attack and Melee Damage, +18 Resistance, and gaining 36 Temporary HP.

Round 2: Assuming they don’t surrender or do something else that would warrant her not attacking, she will dash at one of the enemies (details on which below) while tossing her rapier aside and forming an energy blade to attack with.

Energy Blade X=7 (At an effective strength of X=10), paying an additional 4 EP and 2 Upkeep to gain Battle Dance and Lightning Strikes. Costs 11 EP to activate (putting her at 15 for the turn), 3 EP upkeep (bringer her up to 7 EP upkeep next turn). She also takes 4 HP damage per turn from Battle Dance, and must attack each turn she’s able.

-If she has a clear path to the rifleman and nobody is right in her face (and he’s close enough to reach in one turn), run at him and energy blade smack. If other enemies are close enough for her to reach as well, split one of her three attacks off onto the nearest, or two onto the two nearest if she can reach three. Make sure at least one is against the rifleman though.

-If she doesn't have a clear path or some of them manage to get right in her face, just hit the closest ones. Split her attacks if there are multiple targets in range.

Her three attacks are made at +93 (50[Spirit] + 4[Multifocused] + 12[Soul-Soldier] + 27[Battle Aura] + 12[Battle Dance] – 12[Lightning Strikes])
Damage: 10(2d4 + 1) + 36 (13[Spirit/4] + 2[Duelist] + 27[Battle Aura] – 6[Lightning Strikes])

Buffed Stats: +36 Temporary HP, 99 Dodge, 53 Speed, 5 AV (TP 30, DU 3), 43 Resistance, 22 Perception, –2 Grapple. Stealth becomes impossible.

Spoiler

Cheat Sheet:

Combat/General:
>+5 EP damage when taking EP damage.

Sex:
>+5 PP damage when taking PP damage.
>+8 PP damage when her tail is played with (or while playing with someone else’s)
>Receive 1.5x normal Corruption. Do not receive corruption from Warped creatures.
>Impregnated on a 2+. Automatically if partner is also Fertile.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Spoiler

Nila Misra: HP = 82/46, PP = 52, EP = 84/96, Status = Fine, Battle Aura X = 9 with 3 EP into HP for 36 Temp HP, Upkeep = 4

Nila certainly got some attention when she stepped out into the open while brightly glowing, many of the looters looking up from their tasks and the dogs ending their feast in order to watch her initial approach. The man with the rifle raised it slightly as the glowing kitsune advanced down the road, but when she called out to them he didn't bring it to bear on her as one might expect. The others seemed to freeze at her command, many eyes watching her rapier while slowly reaching for the weapons hanging at their sides, and from somewhere among the wagons she heard a whistle that quickly turned into a pattern that caused the dogs to start slinking off in various directions.

"Now now! Calm down lass!" an accented voice called, and suddenly a man with grizzled but handsome features strolled around a corner. He was clad in green and brown, his garb that of a traveler and his complexion pale, like one might expect from a local. His hair was dark brown and short, and his eyes were a bright hazel. Perhaps most surprisingly, he was completely unperturbed by her glowing presence, seeming almost amused by it rather than distressed as his numerous companions seemed to be.

"There's no need for sorcery here!" he continued as he advanced to the forefront of the group, strolling casually through the dead and briefly putting a calming hand on the shoulder of the more heavily armored man, who had been reaching for his weapon and glaring at her intensely. "This lot is honest salvage on our part, we had naught to do with their fate!" he said earnestly, "we just happened upon 'em by chance while on our way through the woods on a hunting trip!"

He stopped some ten feet past the perimeter created by the devastated caravan, putting his hands on his hips and facing her squarely as the hounds advanced to just behind him and then sat down, bloodied tongues lapping at their equally bloody jowls and then lolling out of their mouths. "As for those two, well... We found 'em among the dead!" he continued brazenly, "looting the bodies... Tsk. I guess it's a bit much to expect decency from the Romani, eh? Scavenging off their own kind... One of 'em is some sort of witch, tried to ensorcell one of my friends too!"

The stranger chuckled softly and scratched at the stubble growing on his chin, "not like you of course! Now, why don't you relax, sweetheart? There ain't no need for any more bloodshed here!"

 

[Knephi]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Nila's head twitched to the side as a voice spoke from somewhere she hadn't expected, eyes quickly settling upon a man she hadn't seen prior stepping out from behind one of the wagons. She subconsciously shifted into a more defensive stance, but allowed the blade she'd been about to form dissipate. Was he the only one she'd missed, or had she gotten in far over her head? She'd already been uncertain about the numbers she'd seen, if there were more...

His words were peaceful, offering her an explanation, but she was still wary. His words made sense, though some of the specifics were uncertain to her. Were Romani these people? The dead ones, and the girls? She wasn't very well versed on the terms humans used to refer to each other. There was still much she didn't understand of human culture as a whole, maybe this really was just a misunderstanding? She glanced back to the wagon where the girls were chained up for a few moments, hoping to get some sort of reaction from them. What was she supposed to do here? She hadn't missed the fact that while all of the other men seemed wary of her—much as all the brigands she'd previously encountered had when she'd displayed her powers—the one who was speaking to her seemed unperturbed, as if he was used to such things. Nila tensed as he continued to approach her, the dogs following on his heels, but she managed to relax slightly as he stopped still well out of reach of her.

"I... I can't just do that," The young kitsune spoke hesitantly, a hint of uncertainty creeping into her voice. She was in the right here, wasn't she? If she was, then... why did he seem so reasonable? Sure, these guys didn't look too different from the ones who'd tried to rob her in the past, but maybe it was just common among travellers? She couldn't judge them based on their initial hostile reaction, that was her fault for approaching as she had.

"I am... not from around here, and I don't know exactly what is going on here, but all of this," she spoke again after a moment's pause, motioning with her free hand as she lowered her rapier, lingering on the cart with the girls for a moment, "is too suspicious for me to just ignore. Forgive me for being blunt, but you're the first group I've run into on the road who haven't attempted to rob or kill me yet. It's a little hard to trust you, given the circumstances we're meeting in."

Finally, as long as they had continued to appear nonthreatenning, Nila sheathed her rapier, crossing her arms under her chest and adjusting her posture in an attempt to at least keep up an appearance of being in control. Truthfully, putting her weapon away didn't make her any less dangerous, and her aura remained as strong as before, but they wouldn't know of her other abilities, and perhaps it would help to defuse the situation. "And those girls. You said they were looting the dead, but aren't your people doing the same? Why do they need to be locked up like this for it? What do you intend to do with them?"

Spoiler

Nila's going to put away her rapier but continue maintaining Battle Aura. If someone does happen to attack her, do the same as I planned for in the previous post (only targeting the apparent leader first), but that's looking less likely to happen now. Otherwise, just talking.

Possibly Relevant Stats: 77 Dodge, 53 Speed, 5 AV (TP 30, DU 3), 43 Resistance, 22 Perception, –2 Grapple.

Spoiler

Cheat Sheet:

Combat/General:
>+5 EP damage when taking EP damage.

Sex:
>+5 PP damage when taking PP damage.
>+8 PP damage when her tail is played with (or while playing with someone else’s)
>Receive 1.5x normal Corruption. Do not receive corruption from Warped creatures.
>Impregnated on a 2+. Automatically if partner is also Fertile.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Spoiler

Nila Misra: HP = 82/46, PP = 52, EP = 84/96, Status = Fine, Battle Aura X = 9 with 3 EP into HP for 36 Temp HP, Upkeep = 4

"Mmmm? And why not?" the man said curiously, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head to the side. His arms came up and folded over his chest, but he maintained an amicable grin that was at least charming enough to be disarming. "I can tell by the accent," he remarked casually when Nila said that she wasn't from around here, "sure, sure it looks suspicious! But there's an explanation for all of it! Really, there's no reason to suspect that everyone you meet is a thief... Even in times like these! What kind of attitude is that to live by?"

He gave a wave toward the dead, "we came upon 'em near an hour ago, already dead but their wagons all still in good condition. Strangest thing.... No sign of what mighta done it, barely a sign of a fight except for the corpses and the one overturned wagon. No fancy marks that might say it was done by the more destructive magic, or I'd be a lot more worried about you showing up! Well, no sense in leaving a perfectly good supplies behind, so once we found no danger we figured we'd poke around, see what might be found out while we pick over any valuables. These are tough times, yah know?" Though he had seemed fairly confident already, when Nila slid her rapier back into its sheath the stranger briefly gave her a relieved look.

"Well, eheh... We are, but it's.... Different. Romani aren't supposed to be looting their own dead, for whatever reason. Part of their culture, I know because I caravan'd with 'em once or twice afore the last couple years mucked everything up. Whatever you die with, you're supposed to get burned with. So we took everything outta one of their wagon and are usin it to give 'em a proper burial. As for the girls, I already told yah about one of 'em tryin to magic one of my fellows, and there there's a conclave nearby where a lot of 'em gather. We're gonna take 'em there from here once we're done. Let 'em face whatever their people will do to 'em while we sell off their wagons before gettin' back to our trip."

The rest of the group was still watching the exchange between Nila and the man who had advanced to speak with the still brightly glowing kitsune, the one standing on the overturned wagon still holding his rifle almost ready to point at her while the rest still fingered their weapons nervously. The seated dogs, on the other hand, seemed entirely calm, sitting behind their apparent trainer patiently and staring at her with tongues and tails wagging. One of them scootched a little closer and brushed its head against its master's leg, causing him to scratch it behind its ears idly while keeping the brunt of his attention on Nila.

 

[Knephi]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

"You're right," Nila spoke up again, almost timidly, once the man had finished his explanation, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made such assumptions when I know so little of this land's customs."

"You are the first... civil people I have met on the road, and I appreciate you choosing to talk, rather than fight, even though I made the first move." As she apologized, the kitsune gave a slight bow, her aura seeming to visibly fade slightly as she did so but not dissipating entirely. Aside from the suspicious circumstances she'd found them in, Nila had no real reason to continue distrusting these men. Everything their apparent leader had said seemed reasonable enough. Her knowledge of the various human cultures was rather poor, but if the two girls were criminals, even for something as seemingly harmless as this, they deserved to be punished for it, didn't they? It wasn't really her place to interfere with their laws, even if it did feel a bit unfair to her. Besides, she had her own mission to accomplish, and was only passing through these lands, she couldn't let herself get too caught up in their problems, especially with no clear villain in this situation.

"I won't hold you up any longer, then. I apologize again for the misunderstanding," She finally added, after an awkward moment, uncertain of how to continue. Assuming she wasn't stopped along the way, Nila began hesitantly continuing down the road, careful to step around the bodies that still remained on the road, and attempting to keep a reasonable distance between herself and the still wary men along the way.

Spoiler

Reducing Battle Aura to X=5 for 0 Upkeep, and walking away. Right past all of the armed men. Hopefully Nila is right and these people are totally not just waiting for her to turn her back to them.

New Stats: 61 Dodge, 37 Speed, 5 AV (TP 30, DU 3), 35 Resistance, 22 Perception, –2 Grapple. She also loses 16 of her temporary HP, presumably.

Spoiler

Cheat Sheet:

Combat/General:
>+5 EP damage when taking EP damage.

Sex:
>+5 PP damage when taking PP damage.
>+8 PP damage when her tail is played with (or while playing with someone else’s)
>Receive 1.5x normal Corruption. Do not receive corruption from Warped creatures.
>Impregnated on a 2+. Automatically if partner is also Fertile.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Spoiler

Nila Misra: HP = 46, PP = 52, EP = 96, Status = Fine

"S'alright, s'alright, these are dangerous times we live in!" the man replied conversationally, now seeming more relaxed than ever. "Eheh.... Well, wouldn't want to attack some random stranger over a misunderstanding, right?" he continued as Nila bowed and let her aura dim slightly, reducing its drain on her spirit but also its potency in case the group suddenly decided to drop their civil attitude.

"You didn't hold up nothin! Well, nothin too important. Not like they're goin anywhere, right?" he continued casually, "you can be on your way, of course!" He stepped beside her as she made to walk past the group on the road, and about half of them stared at her for only another moment before going back to their various tasks. The dogs fell into step after him, tails wagging in a friendly manner as he started escorting her across the section of road dominated by bodies.

"I'd offer to escort ye, but I figure a pretty young thing like yourself doesn't want to be around so much grime!" he said charmingly, giving Nila a disarming grin. He boldly reached up and placed his hand gently against her lower back as he led her along, remaining between her and the dead while skirting along the edge of the road. Passing by the rest of the group, about half of whom were still staring at her wearily, Nila would be able to notice a few more things about them, namely that most of them were relatively dirty save for the armored man and the one who had done the talking, and that while they were hardly equally represented among the well armed group there were women among them, two to be specific.

"Besides, you look like you can handle yourself!" he continued brightly when they were about halfway through, and by the time she got all the way across the ruined caravan Nila would have a more accurate headcount. There seemed to be about four of dogs, all of them loyal to the man talking to her. Including him, there were about fifteen men and women, all armored lightly but with bows or javelins in addition to hand weapons, save for the one with the rifle and the man with the chainmail who was carrying both a mace and a sword.

Once on the opposite side of the dangerous looking group, the man would stop and take his hand away from Nila's back, leaving her to continue on her own. "Safe travels miss stranger!" he would say cheerfully, and then simply let her go on her way, watching her for about a minute before turning about and strolling back to his companions to return to whatever he'd been doing when she showed up.

That left Nila with little else to do besides continue onwards. Unless she opted to do something else, possibly involving her powers, the young kitsune would be able to continue on, and after a time it would become relatively clear that she wasn't being followed, at least as far as she could tell. Should she drop her aura entirely at that point, her spirit would regenerate back to full strength over the course of a few minutes. Left with only herself and her thoughts, she followed the winding coastal road for hours with nothing to break the monotony.

Eventually, however, as dusk approached and the clouds began to glow bright orange from the light of the setting sun, Nila would hear the sound of moving water up ahead over the distant lap of the water against the coastline that she had heard on and off throughout the day. The wood grew thicker here, the trees smaller but closer together and the undergrowth heavier. Proceeding onwards, the sound of rushing water would grow stronger, and she would come upon a well built and seemingly well maintained wooden bridge that spanned across a wide river. The water came down from a hill, producing a good bit of white foam as it rushed down towards the sea, and with the time of year what it was she could see salmon slowly forcing their way upriver. It was about twenty feet across, not much of an obstacle given her particular powerset, but with the bridge ahead of her there wasn't even any need to waste any of her energy on it.

As she stepped onto the edge of the green painted wooden bridge, however, a loud ponderous voice called out; "Stop!" The voice seemed to resonate from all around her, but the speaker wouldn't remain hidden for long. A massive hand suddenly appeared clutching the left railing on the bridge, and a massive figure hauled itself up with surprising agility. It was vaguely man shaped, with dark brown skin the color and texture of tree bark and long bristly black hair. It was thickset, with wide shoulders and burly muscle left plainly visible by the simple brown waist-cloth that was its only piece of clothing. The man-creature was huge, easily at least ten feet tall and with arms longer and thicker around than Nila's torso, and fists large enough that he could probably fit her head in one of them and crush it like an egg.

"Yer crossin me bridge!" the gigantic thing said, and though it wasn't the golden color that she had grown accustomed to in her brief time with the faeries near her home, it did at least slightly resemble a troll in its facial features. "You wanna keep goin, you gotta pay the toll!" it continued in a deep, gravely grunt of a voice that was only a few octaves away from being too low for it to be intelligible as coherent speech.

 

[Knephi]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

"Yes, you're right," Nila nodded at the man's reply. It really had turned out to just be a misunderstanding, and it would have been a shame if anyone had been hurt over it, "Still, I will have to be careful from now on. Though there are those who deserve it, I would not want to hurt someone over a misunderstanding like this."

The young kitsune's body tensed, tails bristling as the man placed a hand on her back, but she relaxed a moment later when he did no more than that, simply guiding her around the bodies remaining on the road. It wasn't necessary, but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless. Fortunately, the rest of his group seemed to have relaxed as well, many going back to the work they'd been doing beforehand. The dogs were following after their apparent master, but they seemed friendly enough as well. She debated reaching down to pet one a few times, but held herself back. She didn't want to cause any problems in case they reacted poorly.

"To you as well," She replied simply to his parting remark, continuing on her path down the road. Once she'd been walking for another few minutes, and hadn't heard any sign that she was being followed, she allowed her aura to fade completely, releasing the burden upon her soul. By this point it had merely been paranoia that had her continuing to project it, the vague worry that she might have been wrong to trust them. It seemed she'd been right after all, though, as nothing jumped out to attack her when she released her protection.

Her trip returned to being boring quite quickly, as there were no more interruptions for the next few hours, simply the winding road and endless lines of trees. Her mind began to wander to her quest once again, her seemingly distant goal. She had to become strong enough to face her sister, but that was such a vague goal. How did one go about gaining strength? Certainly, practice was a part of it, but that wasn't enough. She didn't have the luxury of time to slowly improve. Lina was still out there, hunting for Yami, Mana, and herself. She had already begun to improve, but it was too slow, she needed something more.

She was drawn from her thoughts by a sound this time, one she recognized as moving water. A river, perhaps? It was beginning to get dark, so she'd need to stop for the night soon, maybe somewhere near the river would make for a good campsite. A chance to bathe wouldn't be unwelcome either, if the water was calm enough for it. She'd been travelling for some time now, and learned that such chances were a luxury she shouldn't pass up.

As she came close enough to see it, she also noticed the bridge spanning the river. It was surprisingly well maintained for being in such a remote location, but perhaps this was a commonly travelled path? Regardless, she decided she'd look for a spot to set up camp for the night on the far side of the river. She had begun to tire from the long walk some time ago, as she still wasn't used to so much travelling. As soon as she stepped onto the bridge, however, she was startled be a massive hand seemingly appearing out of nowhere—though more likely simply from out of sight beneath the bridge—and swiftly pulling an even more massive body over the railing to stand in her path.

It was a troll of some sort, or at least it looked similar to the few she'd seen in the past. What stood out most to her, however was just how big it was. It was easily twice her height, and many times more in size. In fact, she was pretty sure his arms alone were thicker than her torso. She took an involuntary step back as he crashed down on the wooden bridge in front of her, almost automatically taking a defensive stance. She was far more intimidated by this single creature than she had been by the full group of armed humans previously. She wasn't certain what she'd do if she had to fight this thing... could her blades even reach something important through its thick skin? It looked like it could crush her entire body effortlessly if it grabbed her.

She relaxed slightly when the troll spoke, realizing that he didn't intend to attack her, at least immediately. She very nearly began to form a protective aura around herself as she had previously, but decided at the last moment that perhaps it would be better to appear as non-threatening as possible. She wasn't sure even her powers would prevent him from snapping her like a twig if he wanted to. If he was simply in charge of this bridge, then she could speak with him and be on her way. She had other options, with her ability to both fly and teleport herself, but it would be extremely rude to just ignore the bridge's keeper if she didn't have to.

"I apologize, but I am new to this area, I wasn't aware there was a toll," Nila spoke up after a moment's hesitation, relaxing her posture and attempting to quash her obvious fear to appear diplomatic, "What is this toll? I'm afraid I don't have much on me, but I will do what I can..."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Spoiler

Nila Misra: HP = 46, PP = 52, EP = 96, Status = Fine

A wicked grin appeared on the troll's face as Nila spoke, his hands briefly clenching into fists and his eyes widening as excitement seemingly overtook him. "Heh... Heh... Heh," it chuckled darkly as he took a single massive stride forward, leaving the tiny kitsune standing in his shadow. "The toll... Well, what you pay's up to you," it slurred slowly while gazing down at her, "you empty yer coinpurse an I'll let ye go.... Or you gimme sometin noice an' shiny! If'n ye ain't got somethin I like, or if ye ain't got good coin, then ye'd best be gettin' 'at robe offah yah! Frail little thin' like you, I'll hafta be real.... Tender.... But you make it good fer me, an' I'll return the favor sweetheart!"

(Blehhhh, short post.)

 

[Knephi]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

"My robes? Why do you want them? I don't think they'd fit you, and I'm afraid I can't afford to pay that much money..." Nila paused for a moment after she spoke, wearing a look of confusion, not even seeming to catch the troll taking a step toward her until his body cast a shadow across her. She took another step back as she noticed him stepping closer, but it did little to widen the distance between them. Just as she opened her mouth to speak again, though, she froze, a crimson blush spreading across her cheeks.

"W-wait, you can't mean... You w-want me to..." She stuttered, completely flustered, once she finally realized just what the troll had meant. "I-I can't do that! I've never even... Um, I mean, I, uh, I apologize, but I cannot pay your toll. I'll have to... find another way around."

Even as she fell back into her usual, more formal method of speech, she couldn't manage to keep her words straight, stumbling over them a few times as she spoke. She held her arms up in front of her in what she hoped was a placating gesture, quickly backing away "So, um, I'm sorry to bother you... I'lljustgonow."

She could just teleport, or fly over the river, after all. She didn't even need to use the bridge. She'd just do that... somewhere away from the very large troll. The very large troll who had clearly expressed a desire to do things she wasn't sure were even possible without killing her, considering just how large he was. She didn't think she wanted to find out, but it seemed like a really bad idea to make him angry, too. Bypassing his bridge right in front of him might make him angry, she reasoned, so it would best be done somewhere else. Preferably somewhere far away from here.

Spoiler

Also a bit short, but anything more relies on the Troll's response. If he just lets her go, you can assume she'd walk downstream until well out of sight, and then use Flight to cross to the other side, and return to the path (Probably by continuing to fly on a more direct route over the forest, so she could avoid getting close to the bridge again).

Otherwise, well, that'll have to be addressed based on what he does. Even if he just says something more than just to send her on her way.

Spoiler

Cheat Sheet:

Combat/General:
>+5 EP damage when taking EP damage.

Sex:
>+5 PP damage when taking PP damage.
>+8 PP damage when her tail is played with (or while playing with someone else’s)
>Receive 1.5x normal Corruption. Do not receive corruption from Warped creatures.
>Impregnated on a 2+. Automatically if partner is also Fertile.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Spoiler

Nila Misra: HP = 46, PP = 52, EP = 96, Status = Fine, Grappled

Rolls

Spoiler

Grapple: 45 + 20 = 65, hit, Nila has been grabbed.

The troll's wicked grin widened as horrible realization about his intentions came over Nila's face, and her blush only seemed to encourage him further. He took another step forward, ending up hanging over her as his lascivious grin now towered directly over her, and chuckled down at the frightened kitsune. "Heheheh.... You ain't understandin me," he grunted coldly as he matched her step for step, her outstretched hands brushing against one of his knees as he took a long stride, "you stepped foot on me bridge!"

One massive hand lunged, and not a heartbeat later Nila was being lifted into the air by a massive hand clenched around her waist. She ended up face to face with the burly troll, leaving her nose inches from his massive toothy maw, jagged teeth visible through his wide grin and the foul scent of his breath unavoidable. It smelled like rotted meat and cheap booze, perhaps not unlike the creature's diet all things considered.

"You'll be payin me toll... Or I'll be takin it from ye, understand?" the troll grunted, the rumbling of his voice sending vibrations running through her body. The hand around her waist wasn't too tight, yet, but where she had only been able to imagine the strength that the massive creature could bring to bear before, now she could feel the crushing power that the monstrous man was capable of exerting. His fingers were thicker around than the lithe kitsune's arms, and it wasn't hard to imagine that a good squeeze from them could split her in half at the waist.

Her assailant breathed in through his nose suddenly, the rush of air enough to rustle Nila's hair, and the outflow from his mouth was about as unpleasant as one could expect. "Mmmm, ye smell... Tender~" he crooned hungrily, delivering another wicked grin that put the sharp, uneven teeth filling his mouth on full display for Nila, "so, what'll it be? Ye gonna cooperate, or mm'I gonna have to show ye what happens ter folks that don't pay what's owed 'round here?"

 

[Knephi]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Nila quickly began to panic as the troll took another step after her, crossing the distance between them in an instant. She began to draw the power she needed to form a defensive aura as he made his intent to stop her clear, but she'd barely even begun when she was interrupted. His arm moved faster than she'd have thought possible for something so massive, and she felt her feet leave the ground as he plucked her up by her waist, lifting her up to level with his face. Her fear only intensified further as he grinned at her, the sight of those jagged teeth sending a shiver down her spine, quickly turning to revulsion as his rancid breath washed over her.

"No! Nononono! You can't do this! Let me go!" The young kitsune screamed almost hysterically, panic setting in. She pounded ineffectually against his fingers with her fists, but each was as thick around as her arm, and though his grip wasn't too tight yet, there was nothing she could do to loosen it further. She continued to squirm in his grip as she did so, but she simply didn't have the strength. There was no way for her to get away, even her abilities couldn't give her the strength to break the troll's grip, and he had her in a position where it would only take him tightening his grip to crush her.

"No, not like this..." She muttered after a few more moments of futilely pounding at his fingers, finally giving up her struggles and slumping back in his grip. "Please... Just let me go. You can have my money, all of it, whatever else you want, just don't make me do this..."

She tried to reach for her coinpurse, but found it pinned to her side by the massive hand around her waist. She gave it an experimental tug, but found it impossible to budge. Hopefully he'd understand her intention, as she didn't trust herself to speak again without breaking down entirely. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, she wasn't supposed to be this weak. How could she ever hope to defeat Lina, and save her remaining sisters, if she could lose so easily to something like this? To be overpowered so easily, all of her abilities rendered completely useless in an instant... It was humiliating for her. She had thought she was getting stronger, that she was actually making progress. To have it all be for naught...

No, that wasn't right. She still had one option. It had worked on Lina after all, even if it had nearly killed her in the process, it could work here too. She hoped he'd just take her money and let her go, she could always do something to make more. Maybe it was just her fear talking, but that didn't seem very likely at this point. He seemed to know what he wanted, and she wasn't sure anything would be enough to dissuade him at this point. All she could do was be prepared for the worst...

This was going to hurt. It had hurt worse than anything she'd ever experienced last time, and though her control had improved, she didn't think that would change. She began gathering her power again, but this time it wasn't to form into a blade, or a protective veil. This time she simply intended to unleash as much of it as she could in an indiscriminate wave of destruction. She could only hope it would be enough, because she'd be in no shape to fight back afterwards.

Spoiler

If he doesn't just accept her money (If he does, disregard this), Nila is going to go all out, and put literally everything she has into an Explosion. Possibly destroying everything in the immediate vicinity in the process.

Power Attack Modifier: +50 (But since it's an AoE and he's in a grapple, I believe it hits automatically unless he has Brawler)

Using Explosion at X=59. Her spirit ceiling is 24, so she's going over it by 35, spending a total of 94 EP and losing 35 HP. Dealing 295 damage to everything within 295 feet of her.
This power ignores 1/2 of AV or any resistances, and has +10 to Resistance checks made to determine whether it would be reflected, avoided, or countered.

Also leaving herself at 11 HP and 2 EP, so if it isn't enough, you can assume she won't be putting up any more meaningful resistance.

Spoiler

Cheat Sheet:

Combat/General:
>+5 EP damage when taking EP damage.

Sex:
>+5 PP damage when taking PP damage.
>+8 PP damage when her tail is played with (or while playing with someone else’s)
>Receive 1.5x normal Corruption. Do not receive corruption from Warped creatures.
>Impregnated on a 2+. Automatically if partner is also Fertile.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Spoiler

Nila Misra: HP = 46, PP = 52, EP = 96, Status = Fine

Nila's terrified panic seemed to delight the monstrous man holding her, his grip tightening enough that it started to hurt as she tried and failed to reach for her coin purse. "Heh heh... Knew ye'd come 'round at one point or 'nother," he grunted slowly, and then perhaps to her surprise Nila found herself heading back towards the ground. The troll set her down and then simply ripped her coin purse from her belt, holding it between two fingers and pulling it away. Examining it for a moment, the troll grinned and glanced back at Nila, finally releasing his grip from around her waist.

"Off with yah then," he grunted and pushed her forward and to the side, back towards the bridge. "An' watch out fer them folks up ahead!" he continued as he simply spun on his heel, strolling back to the bridge and hopping back over the side. There was nothing but a raging river beneath, at least as far as she could tell, but there was no splash and if she looked down from the railing as she crossed it, no trace of the troll who had just stolen every coin she owned, or at least every coin in her pouch.

 

[Knephi]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Nila's relief was palpable as the troll set her down, beyond the point of even caring that he was taking every coin she owned, and she once again released the energies she'd been gathering harmlessly. Compared to the alternative, and the uncertain prospects of her desperate plan, she'd gladly give it all up. She stumbled a bit as the troll gave her a shove back toward the bridge, but caught herself before she could fall.

"Those folks? Who do you-" Nila began, turning from where she'd made it halfway across the bridge, but the troll was nowhere to be seen. She hadn't heard anything that would have indicated his landing in the water below, and peering over the edge she didn't see anywhere he could have landed either. Now that she thought about it, she had no idea where he'd come from when he first appeared either, seeming to simply hop up onto the bridge from out of thin air.

Shaking her head and deciding she'd be better off not thinking about it any longer, Nila continued across the bridge until she made it to the other side. She still needed to make camp, and though she certainly wasn't going to camp by the river like she'd originally intended, she didn't want to go too far, worried about whoever it was the troll had spoken of. Once she'd made it a few steps beyond the bridge, Nila once again began to focus her powers, this time forming into a different sort of aura, her body feeling lighter until she began to float off the ground.

She'd continue in the air for the time being, keeping an eye out for both a good place to spend the night, and any sign of the people the Troll had spoken of. If there were any more bridges, she was going to make sure she flew around them. She wasn't eager to meet another troll like the one she'd only narrowly escaped from unscathed, especially considering that she no longer had any money with which to pay.

Spoiler

Activating Flight, which costs her 1 EP to activate, and 0 Upkeep, and flying ahead roughly following the path, looking for a good place to camp before the sun sets completely, and watching for any sign of other people on the road.

Also she may have developed a phobia of bridges now, worried they all might have trolls hiding under them.

Spoiler

Cheat Sheet:

Combat/General:
>+5 EP damage when taking EP damage.

Sex:
>+5 PP damage when taking PP damage.
>+8 PP damage when her tail is played with (or while playing with someone else’s)
>Receive 1.5x normal Corruption. Do not receive corruption from Warped creatures.
>Impregnated on a 2+. Automatically if partner is also Fertile.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Spoiler

Nila Misra: HP = 46, PP = 52, EP = 95/96, Status = Fine, Flight

Rolls

Spoiler

Perception: 20 + 22 = 42. A max roll!

Nila would get no answer from the bridge troll, though perhaps under the circumstances she might be more thankful than anything that he had gone. With no sign of the monstrous man around, Nila was able to proceed across the bridge without further molestation, and once on solid ground again she promptly left it by activating a particular skill that allowed her to ignore the effects of gravity entirely. It was a trick that she had become particularly skilled at over the years, allowing her to maintain it almost indefinitely, and allowed her to take off from the ground to hover at least over the treeline as she followed the somewhat winding road and searched for a place to bed down for the night.

Darkness crept over the land, and though Nila had a bird's eye view of her surroundings it became increasingly difficult to see as she pressed on, putting as much distance as she could between herself and the troll. She had spotted a very nice looking spot just past the bridge on the side she was on, sitting on a bank high above the river's edge on a mossy patch of ground that looked as if it would be quite comfortable for a night's rest, covered as it was by the long bows of a pine. That was far too close to the bridge, however, and her desire to get away prompted her to ignore it no matter how tempting a campsite it might be.

Nila encountered no more bridges during her brief flight over the road following the Crolian coast, though the road continued on with no defining features or truly suitable campsites for miles ahead. Eventually, she was left seeing by starlight as the sun finally set in full over the sea to the West, and when left seeing by starlight since the moon had yet to rise she found her options increasingly limited. Narrowly avoiding a branch from a slightly taller than usual tree, the young and inexperienced kitsune was left with a number of options that she could see from the air, the simplest of which was simply using one of the slightly cleared areas beside the road as a place to rest for the night. It would leave her exposed to anyone who likewise traveled the road, but given how barren it had been so far that might be a risk worth taking for her.

Alternatively, there were a few spots out in the woods that might offer some shelter for the night, away from the road. One was by a large, mossy boulder that stood in the center of a clearing with ground coated in more soft moss and fallen pine needles. Another was in a stand of birch trees that created a hollow in which she might be able to pitch a tent or string a hammock if she had either such thing on hand, or simply fall asleep on the ground if she lacked any more comfortable options. A nearby oak, on the Eastern side of the road, had limbs large enough that she might be able to sleep on one of them if she didn't mind risking a tumble to the ground if she rolled the wrong way in her sleep.

If she wished to go a bit farther, however, there were a few options offered by the sea. She could see a small island just off the coast, little more than a dark outline at the moment but easy enough to spot. It was small, but isolated, and would mean that she wouldn't need to worry about being intruded upon. If she didn't want to go quite that far out, however, a sandy beach sitting on the coast was only a short ways away, and high enough that the tides wouldn't become an issue.

 

[Knephi]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Darkness came quickly as Nila continued her flight. She'd passed up a few suitable spots along the way, but she wanted to put as much distance between herself and the river as possible before if became too dark to continue. All too soon the sun had fully set, though, leaving her only the light of the stars to navigate by. She'd considered going all the way out to sea, having spotted a small island in the distance which would provide a measure of protection against any unwelcome visitors, but it was probably rocky and uncomfortable, and she didn't have much in the way of camping gear.

Instead she settled on a small clearing off of the main path, hopefully far enough in that she wouldn't be noticeable from the road. Though she had rarely worried too much about such in the past, she was suddenly feeling much less safe than she had in the past. A large, mossy stone stood in the centre of the clearing, and the ground around it seemed soft, a mixture of more moss and fallen pine needles. It looked to be well suited to sleeping on, given that she carried little more than blankets to make herself more comfortable.

She lay one on the ground against the side of the boulder before curling up upon it, pulling the second over herself. She lay like this for some time, but sleep would not come. Every noise sounded like someone stepping out of the forest, every moment she felt as if phantom hands were closing around her, come to drag her away to their lair. Finally, she threw the blanket off of herself, too paranoid to sleep alone like this. If she had some sort of protection...

She began digging around in the pack, an idea springing to mind, but the lack of light made it impossible to find what she was looking for. With a frustrated sigh, the kitsune set the bag down, drawing upon a tiny portion of her spirit, just enough to form a glowing aura around herself to light up the clearing. That done, she returned to searching through her possessions, eventually retrieving a small wooden case. Inside were a number of vials, and basic alchemy supplies left to her by her teacher. What she intended to do wasn't within the bounds of conventional alchemy, relying on one being able to harness the power of their spirit as she could, but it was all she could think of to give herself some peace of mind. She'd never actually done this before, but her teacher had showed her how... it couldn't be that hard, could it?

Gathering up nearly a dozen stones, each roughly the size of her palm. She poured a small amount of a viscous liquid from one of the vials onto each stone, before touching it and channelling her power through it, changing the makeup of the stone into something far more volatile as it absorbed the liquid. When she finished the process a few minutes later, she had ten such stones, which she began to space evenly in a wide circle around the edge of the clearing. They weren't particularly powerful, but they would explode, hopefully loudly, if someone were to step too close to them. It should be enough to wake her up, even if the crude bombs themselves would cause little more than minor injuries. It wasn't perfect coverage, but hopefully it would be enough. It wasn't as if they were easy to spot, looking little different than ordinary stones.

That done, she once again curled up with her blankets after putting her equipment away and extinguishing her glowing aura, and soon drifted off to sleep. She could only hope her makeshift defences would be enough if any threat presented itself in the night.

Spoiler

First activating Battle Aura X=1 for fluff reasons (personal flashlight powers!), then using Bomb to create a mine at X=1 ten times, setting them in a circle around the perimeter of the clearing, ensuring they're far enough that she's outside of the 15 foot blast radius. It probably won't be perfect coverage around the camp as a result, but should cover a good portion of the perimeter.

These are tripped by anyone moving within 5 feet of them, deal 3d6+1 damage in a 15 foot radius (They're mostly there for the noise they'd cause, not the damage), and require a perception check of DC 32 to detect.

Deactivating Battle Aura Flashlight Mode again before she goes to sleep, and she'll be spending a total of 11 EP between it and the bombs.

Spoiler

Cheat Sheet:

Combat/General:
>+5 EP damage when taking EP damage.

Sex:
>+5 PP damage when taking PP damage.
>+8 PP damage when her tail is played with (or while playing with someone else’s)
>Receive 1.5x normal Corruption. Do not receive corruption from Warped creatures.
>Impregnated on a 2+. Automatically if partner is also Fertile.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Spoiler

Nila Misra: HP = 46, PP = 52, EP = 84/96, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

Nila does a bunch of stuff!
Perception: ??
Damage: 12, not much after AV.

Choosing the clearing out in the forest over any of her other options for a sleeping place, Nila would be able to touch her feet upon the ground, barely able to see beneath the darkened bows of the trees that shrouded her from the stars above. It wouldn't stop Nila from trying to sleep on the mossy ground, covered from one direction by the great mossy boulder that surrounded her. The rest, however, seemed so frighteningly open to her, and after her encounter with the troll only a few hours prior the inexperienced kitsune was all too ready to be afraid. The deep gloom of the oceanside woods seemed to hold more creatures than it had any right to.

Was that soft whoosh just a brief gust of wind, or the sound of someone slipping through the trees toward her? Was the soft chirping above from bats hunting their nightly prey one last time before retiring to a warm cave to wait out the winter, or some untold horror hunting her from the sky? Was the soft hoot of an owl that seemed to come from right above her just a bird awakening for a nightly prowl, or the signal of some hunting party's scout that they had found suitable prey? Were the soft crunches of branches that seemed so near nothing more than a woodland creature, or someone coming towards her?

It was impossible to know, not for certain, and eventually her frightened paranoia's denial of her ability to take her rest prompted Nila to action, first by trying to search for something in her pack in the near total pitch blackness but finding that an impossible task. Setting herself aglow to briefly drive away the darkness around her, the kitsune dug around in her pack for a few moments before finding what she was looking for, a pack of small vials of various chemicals. Such small quantities were normally meant more for practice or additives than true alchemy, necessitating that she track down more substantial ingredients if she wanted to make anything really useful, but with her spirit magic she only needed to waste a few droplets of a few of them in order to make something that would offer her peace of mind while she slept.

Namely, a simple but likely effective early warning system in case anything decided to sneak up on her, a set of simple explosives formed from small stones infused with the chemical she'd chosen and a tiny portion of her spiritual essence. Nila could easily have made the explosives far more potent, but in this instance she didn't really need to, and within the span of a few minutes had a number of small bombs that would make more flash and bang than they would damage any would-be attacker, but they would at least warn her in case anything tried to sneak up on her while she slept but didn't notice them. After they'd been placed in a rough ring around her sleeping place, Nila would be able to bed down with a bit more emotional security about her situation, and within a short while she would fall soundly asleep.

Unfortunately, she was unable to rest through the night without being disturbed. A loud crack and a blinding flash went off nearby, the explosion of one of her protective devices, and her eyes would open just as the last light cast by it was fading. She heard the loud cry of a startled animal, but the low rumbling noise was moving away from her rather than towards her, and after a moment Nila would spot what had set off the bomb. The moon had risen while she slept, and beams of moonlight pierced through the canopy to illuminate small sections of the forest. It was a full moon, meaning that the light was bright, and in one such beam she spotted a small black bear hurrying away, slightly singed and badly frightened but otherwise no worse for wear. It probably wouldn't be bothering her again, at least, this particular specimen fairly small, likely just past the stage when it could be called a cub, and the black bears of Crolia were the smallest native breed and known for both their curiosity and their cowardice.

As she recovered from the adrenaline rush of being awakened, however, Nila would hear something else, over the sounds of the woods and the distant sea. A soft voice barely audible but just at the edge of her hearing, was drifting through the forest. A melody crafted by the voice, its words either unintelligible or not in a language that she could understand, proved both soothing and inspiring, especially of her curiosity. Such might prove a boon to her efforts to getting back to sleep, as the tune was fairly relaxing, but if she were feeling more courageous than before Nila might try to follow the voice back to its source.

 

[Knephi]

Re: That Which Loves is Mad (Knephi)

Nila woke with a start at the sound of a nearby explosion, struggling to disentangle herself from her blankets to face whoever had triggered her traps. She was surprised then, when once she'd managed to scramble to her feet, energies ready to form into a blade at a moment's notice to defend herself, that all she saw was some sort of small bear disappearing into the trees. Of course, she mentally berated herself, she should have considered that wild animals might set off her traps too.

This time having the moonlight to guide her efforts, Nila again began digging through her bag, intending to replace the trap that had been set off before going back to sleep. As she found the case containing her supplies, meagre as they were, again, though, she also noticed something else. She hadn't heard it initially, perhaps still not fully awake, or perhaps simply too distracted, but there was some sort of sound, just barely audible, like someone singing. Were she in any other situation, or perhaps had her encounter the previous day not left her so paranoid, she might have simply returned to sleep, the melody quite pleasant and soothing, despite how muted it seemed. Now though, she simply wouldn't feel comfortable until she knew who it was.

She was also undeniably curious, and was reminded of stories she'd heard of the fey in the past, wondering if the mystery singer might be one of them... They were who she was looking for, in part at least, though they had proven quite elusive so far. Of course, thinking about it in retrospect, the troll from yesterday may have been one of them as well, though the hostility of their meeting meant she hadn't considered that until now. She wasn't about to go back and ask him about it, either.

Mind made up, the young kitsune straightened her clothes where they'd become skewed in her sleep, having cared more for the feeling of safety they provided than any possible discomfort when she'd gone to sleep, and neatly folded her blankets, though she left them and her pack by the rock, intending to return to retrieve them, and probably get more sleep, after she determined the source of the mysterious song.

That done, she began making her way in the direction of the sound, though the forest quickly became dark again as the canopy of trees above her became thicker. She'd never been afraid of the dark, but now it felt oppressive, as if there was something watching her just out of sight, waiting for a chance to reach out and snatch her away. She considered doing the same thing she had previously for light, but she didn't want to startle the singer. On the other hand though, she did have other options. She hadn't really considered it before, but now that she was in a more stable state of mind after at least a short rest, she considered one of the natural abilities of her race.

As natural shapeshifters, kitsune could change their body physically at will, though Nila rarely did so for appearances sake, only really to occasionally hide her heritage among the more xenophobic humans. That wasn't all she'd learned to do, and she knew that she could do more than simply alter her appearance. It wasn't too dissimilar to her alchemy in concept, altering the physical makeup of parts of her body to better adapt to her surroundings. With that in mind, she focused on her eyes, altering them subtly to better see in the dark, and quickly everything around her came into better focus, if mostly in shades of grey and little colour.

It wasn't something she'd want to do at all times, as altering her vision caused physical changes as well. She'd done this a few times in the past, and the result was her eyes becoming almost cat-like, a somewhat disconcerting appearance on someone who otherwise looked fully human aside from her ears and tails. For now, though, it let her better see her surroundings, and that was most important. Now that she could properly see her surroundings, she continued on her way. She tried to be careful not to make too much noise as she went, and to keep an eye on her surroundings and her ears open, not wanting to get taken by surprise by anything. Hopefully, whoever it was would be friendly.

Spoiler

I'm not entirely certain on the use of Shapeshifter with a character who has no normal mutations, only racial ones (But I assume she can do something with it, since it is a racial feature). If this doesn't work as-is, or she needs to "trade" something for it, let me know and I'll edit this.

Otherwise she's just going to use Shapeshifter to gain the Night Eyes mutation to not be blind, and then look for the mystery singer.

Spoiler

Cheat Sheet:

Combat/General:
>+5 EP damage when taking EP damage.

Sex:
>+5 PP damage when taking PP damage.
>+8 PP damage when her tail is played with (or while playing with someone else’s)
>Receive 1.5x normal Corruption. Do not receive corruption from Warped creatures.
>Impregnated on a 2+. Automatically if partner is also Fertile.