TLoZ ~ Daybreak Desires (Darian & GeneticMess)

[Darian]

"Step carefully, Nusso." Impa spoke softly. "I feel we all will have to be prepared for what is coming, and we don't need anymore enemies when we know not what hides out of sight."

She hesitates at the entrance to the training ground. "Should you wish to spar again, mention it to Dorian or Sheik, if you see them. They will let you know when I am available."

[GeneticMess]

Quietly, Nusso nodded and agreed with his master. He'd have to spar with her again, to train more, although hopefully she wouldn't see it as him attempting to get into another grappling situation like before. Nusso shuddered as he left, feeling dirty for the feelings he had for his master.

Now he was off! Nusso visited the springs and filled up some bottles he had on hand as a way to stat hydrated before taking his Rito form and flying off to Gorudo's Quarry. Hopefully Nikell was doing well on her own...

[Darian]

From high above, Nusso would see that Nikell was making good progress on the ground, but, as night was falling, had decided to stop at... that was Lon Lon Ranch, if he remembered correctly. Best ranch in all of Hyrule, for their horses and their milk. They were also very welcoming of strangers, if one didn't mind sleeping in the barn. Nikell would be safe there for the rest of the night, and he could check in later.

The path to Gorudo Quarry wasn't nearly as hard as the one up to Goron City on Death mountain: Less lava flows for one thing. one still had to trek uphill through a narrow canyon, and then a small series of caves. The Quarry itself, however, was a large culvert canyon open to the sky. safely out of the way of any lava flows, the town had been carved and built into the cliffsides like the pueblo had, square stone houses and caves dug into the rock, forming a multi-level construction that housed many merchants and gorons working there. What would ordinarily be a bland goron construction was livened up by Colorful Gerudo cloth and carvings, the desert amazons bringing some of their style to the hardworking market. The quarry itself was behind the city even deeper in the mountain. minecart tracks cut deep into the city, rolling over every one of the three levels.

The first level was the market level, where the stores were and was furthest away from the cliff. The second level was the residential level, where the majority of the citizens of the quarry slept and ate, and where the mayors lived. (Gorudo Quarry had a dual-mayorship: one Gerudo and one Goron. They switched off every year.) Furthest up, and deepest in the cliffside, was the temple area, which had been carved deepest into the quarry and held marks of worship by both Goron and Gerudo. The temples here were devoted to several godesses, and housed some artifacts from both tribes. This last level had torches lit day and night, and was frequented only during ceremonies and worship services. Only pious or secretive Gorons and Gerudo lived in the third level, and as this was a business town, that meant few did.

Of most immediate note to Nusso was the four wooden towers on top of the canyon walls. These were lookout towers, and they had Standard and Rito communication flags flying from them. The message was: town under restricted access, land and Identify at access. A circular landing area marked out by black and white flags.

Considering these towers were generally manned by archers, it would be a good idea to do so. One didn't want to get shot for trying to circumvent nervous guards.

[GeneticMess]

Nikell was resting at Lon Lon Ranch... she should be fine there. The man who ran it, despite being rather aloof, meant well. He had little doubt she'd be fine there. Although he heard that the ranch's owner had a daughter, he'd never met her. That wasn't really of his concern right now, though.

Gorudo's Quarry was a strong example of Hyrule's diversity and peaceful coexistence among other species. It had a strong economy, strong mining industry, strong general population... just strong all around. It was a place that fascinated Nusso, one he wouldn't mind visiting more often in his downtime.

She halted in the air at the sight of the communication flags, before heading straight for the marked landing area. Nusso kept his Rito mask on in the presence of the guards, not wanting to draw attention to his shapeshifting abilities as always.

[Darian]

"Hoi there!" A young looking Goron guard greeted the faux-Rito at the platform, with a tall Gerudo archer standing at the entrance to the city. Nusso could see the golden Bow in her hands, but it seemed the shorter Goron was doing most of the talking.

"Thanks for landing. We're taking security a bit more seriously these days, with the attack. Your name and business in Gorudo Quarry?" the young goron asks.

[GeneticMess]

"The attack?" Nusso almost said, before remembering of his fellow Sheikah's reports from this area. Monsters all over the place, from what he heard. The Goron's Ruby had to be down there somewhere...

"Greetings! No problem at all, sir." She responded in a chipper tone as he used his Rito persona. Looking over the two before her, Nusso was glad she wouldn't get a chance to be pelted by any arrow shot by a Gerudo's arm. And thank Hylia archer Gorons were not at all common. "Nusso, here to meet a friend." She quickly came up with an alibi... a rather flimsy one, though. Nusso didn't really know anybody in Gorudo's Quarry...

[Darian]

The Goron sighs a bit at that.

"You and your friend picked a bad time to visit, miss. With the mine closed, most of the shops have closed too. We've actually been encouraging most visitors to leave until this entire situation is dealt with. But... I suppose it won't hurt if you need to meet up with them." the Goron steps aside and waves Nusso down the ramp. "Once you're ready to leave, you and your friend will have to come here or leave through the entrance caves."

"No leaving after dark." The Gerudo guard speaks up seriously. "We have enough problems at night without people wandering around."

"Yeah... there are more monsters about, and they're active at night. Normally that wouldn't be an issue in town, but with the mines unsecured..." The Goron shakes his head. "Better safe than sorry."

He waves Nusso down the steps into the village. "Try looking at the Stoven Cafe for your friend! that and the Inn are the only places really open right now!"

A curfew... this might make things a bit complicated. Nusso will have to sneak around at night, and if they're also encouraging people to leave... well, it's possible he'll have to sneak back in, not using the Rito Mask. Fortunately the Fairy mask would allow him to zip around unseen, if needed.
Still, he's got a few hours to walk around and ask questions. He'll be able to do some covert exploring after nightfall.

(I have a plan, in addition to learning about the area, Nusso will hear rumors about the Sand Goddess cult from tourists, and that there's a specific ritual to get into contact with the group. He'll get an intro quest that he can perform during the Quarry Mine Dungeon... and after that, if you want to go even farther with that, I'll start the cock-vore quest.
Also, question... do you have any ideas about other types of voreish or devouring abilities. Like combat based ones, or at least, ones that work well from anything besides a close grapple. Like, Kirby's suction attack or sticky spit attacks. If you want Nusso to have a unique, cool vorish ability, now's the time to think of one.)

[GeneticMess]

"Sorry to hear about that. I'll try not to get in the way." She smiled, following the Goron guard and nodding gleefully at any and all instructions she was given. But the moment the guard was out of sight, off came the mask as he went further down to the cafe he'd been recommended to go to. Good place to find people and ask around. The curfew was going to be a bitch to deal with, but he'd manage, he'd dealt with tighter security before.

He entered the cafe and started rummaging through one of his pockets. If the prices weren't absurdly high, he could use a good, dark, bitter blend to help calm his nerves.

((That sounds good, gives him something beneficial to do. Would this happen before or after the third clash with Amanna, or is that still TBD?
A combat-based vore ability? Hm... for something less situational, maybe we could take the low-key shadow motif he already has and expand upon it. Like, have him cast his shadow behind his target, envelop them, and then warp them to his stomach or balls. Sort of like Shadow Sneak from Pokemon, if you need a reference for the idea I'm thinking of, but with vore.))

[Darian]

(ooo! That actually sounds pretty good! Shadow sneak... I think it might be a better idea to start with it being a self-teleporting ability, like, he has to warp himself to his prey to envelop them... at least at first. And, because that's a really powerful ability, at first... Nusso can only use it with the Twili Mask. That way we can get plenty of vore with the Imp form before he masters the ability and can warp people inside herself, and then with any form. Sound good?)
(Also, I was planning out Amanna's ability. Since you're telling me Nusso's I could tell you her's.)

The normally bustling market was nearly empty: many open air stalls were closed and the few that had vendors looked grim and worried. The few townsfolk wandering the streets looked skittish and nervous. Worse, their prices were really high... talking to those vendors would reveal that because the town was under attack, many out of towners weren't bringing their own goods or rupees to the town. With the mine closed and trade falling off, supplies were in high demand.

The minecart tracks lead through all of the quarry, and normally provided a quick, fun ride around all the town. There had even been talk about extending the tracks down the canyons...

Not so much now. The carts had been securely locked, and were guarded by Gerudo and Gorons militia. They might need to respond to an attack in an instant, and the carts were reserved for that. At night, the tracks and streets would be patrolled to make sure no monsters had slipped into the town.

The coffee at the Stoven Cafe was normally quite good, but the good stuff had been, again, reserved for the guards, who needed to be awake for their double shifts, and was not available for civilian customers. The townsfolk and miners complained for lack of the drink and no work, the guards complained because they didn't like the drink and too much work, but all were worried about running out. Gerudo coffee was a big import for the mine, and another trouble on the growing pile.
There was some coffee available, but it was either the cheap stuff, or the regular stuff which was currently overpriced.
Still... a cup of coffee wouldn't be bad, and there was even a genuine Goron Grill in the Cafe. One with actual spices and food, not just hot rocks.

[GeneticMess]

((Ah, so it upgrades over time? Sure, I can do that. And If I remember my own rules correctly, Twili form can only be used in shade, no direct sunlight or other bright lights. That should make things tricky as he starts to use the technique. I'd also like to hear what you've got for Amanna's, lay it on me.))

The mining town felt a little... desolate. Shops were closed, streets were quiet, save for the ambiance coming from the caves below, and no good coffee was available! Nusso was offered some cheap coffee but decided not to waste his Rupees. Still, he needed something in his system. The Goron Grill in the Cafe was luckily open, and was a good sign that not everything was going downhill for Gorudo's Quarry. He had a decent tolerance for Goron Spices, his tongue no worse for wear tasting it, so he gladly jumped to getting some grub. He forked over a decent amount of his Rupees to get some Meat Curry; a platter with perfectly grilled meat, covered in savory gravy and spices on one half and a pile of rice and similar spices on the other. A good meal, and it reminded Nusso that he needed to try some more of Hyrule's gourmet culture... the part of it that wasn't live and whole, anyways.

Eventually, Nusso relented and bought a cup of the cheap coffee anyways, wanted something to wash it all down. It was dark, like he liked it, but it was a bit watered down, and lukewarm, which was surprising considering where he was. Still, he drank it all. After his meal and drink, he started looking around the cafe, looking for somebody he could talk to and get some info from... someone who wouldn't just complain to him about the coffee situation, at least.

[Darian]

(Well, I had planned for Amanna's secret vore technique would be her tongue. It's a cross between a completely prehensile whip/tentacle and the sticky tongue on par with Yoshi. Yes, Amanna can use it for kinky sex, and loves doing so... but I planned on making her tongue extra durable as well, so it's viable in combat. Thing is... I think it's a little low key. Maybe Amanna doesn't need more power, but I'm having trouble thinking of how it could be improved. Like, say she can spit sticky saliva... or hallucinogenic/aphrodisiac saliva? I'm still thinking about it.)

The Cafe held a few out of town customers: a group of researchers talking about Gerudo society. Apparently they wanted to study the anceint Gerudo Sand Goddess, but the local troubles prevented it.
There was also only a few Guards taking a break in the Cafe. One was a tall Gerudo, leaning against a Wall and Nursing what had to be some of the GOOD coffee with a dour look on her face. Her uniform was just a bit more embroidered, marking her as a captain. Next to her was an armored Goron, actually snoring slightly.

[GeneticMess]

((That sounds good so far. If you need something to give it some more flare, how about augmenting it with water magic? I don't know how practical or useful that would be, though. If I come up with something else, I'll let you know, but its fine as is if nothing else.))

The tall Gerudo with the extra fancy armor. Assuming she wasn't in a bitter mood over the state of the quarry, she'd be a good source of info. Nusso discreetly walked up to her, leaning on the opposite wall not far away and looking over at her.

"Excuse me, miss? Mind if I ask you a couple questions about the town?" He spoke subtly but audibly, not trying to make a scene. "I'm with the Sheikah clan. Need to know of any immediate dangers in the area."

[Darian]

"I am supposed to be on break..." The captain grouses, and rubs the bridge of her long nose. It's clear from the bags under her eyes that she's not merely being lazy... she's been hard at work without much sleep. Hence the coffee. "Look, I'm in no state to give a proper report, but I'll tell you the basics as long as you keep quiet. Buso needs all the rest he can get if he's going to be guarding the mine entrance tonight."

The captain takes a breath and composes herself.

"Normally theres only pebbits, torch slugs, red chu-chus and kesse around here. But something blew a hole in one of the shafts and tons of dangerous monsters poured out. Dodongos and Gekongos, mostly (Wall-dodongos, from twiight princess. faster, less heavily armored, and can climb on walls), but we've gotten reports of Lizalfos in there as well.

There's a whole cave system down there, and we normally handle that a lot more carefully or avoid caves like that... but something knocked it open intentionally." The captain sighs and shakes her head. "There's too many monsters down there as well. It's almost like something gathered them there... but even Lizalfos couldn't herd that many dodongo into one spot. We might've hit a breeding site but there wasn't any of the normal signs..."
She groans and takes another sip of her coffee.

"and now I'm rambling. ugh." The captain gives Nusso a pointed look. "Don't go poking around the mine. I've got guards on the entrance day and night for a reason. And don't go spreading this around, but if things get much worse... I'm considering evacuating the town. It's not that bad yet, but we haven't been able to make any headway into the new caves, and if we can't clear out those monsters..."

[GeneticMess]

There was a reason coffee was being rationed for the guards, Nusso realized that as he gets a clearer look at her face. He almost decides to leave her be, before she starts to spill, presumably to get him out of her hair. "Thank you. I'll try not to hold you up for too long."

So, somebody hit a strain of monsters and they all came pouring out? That seemed to be the given explanation, but like the captain, Nusso had his doubts. But what could have caused it? This sounded like a bad omen, and only further reconfirmed Nusso's fears that a big storm was brewing.

He was advised, nay, told not to go near the mine, and the place was heavily guarded. And not to spread this around, but Impa would probably appreciate this information, although he intended to relay it to Nikell at the very least.

"... Thank you. And, I may be overstepping my boundaries, but what is known about the Goron Ruby's current location?"

[Darian]

"Ugh. Ask the Brothers and Sisters at the temple. They were complaining about it, but I've got too many problems and not enough guards." The captain waves Nusso away.

"Go ask them, if you want any more information about that stone. Just don't cause trouble."

[GeneticMess]

"Thank you." He quietly says before stepping away. He'd gotten the information he needed from her, and wanted to give her some peace and quiet. After the chaotic state of the quarry, the captain needed it.

Nusso walked across the barren town again, asking a guard or two for instructions to the temple. Once there, he approached pretty much the first person he could find and asked them about the ruby.

[Darian]

The Temple was easy to find: to the west of the quarry on the third level. It was on an outcropping of rock that looked over the second residential level. Nusso could see how a skilled Shiekah could climb up from the lower level undetected, if they were patient and quick enough. That at least explained how Fydin had originally gotten the Ruby. From there it would have been a matter of climbing back down and walking out... if the town hadn't been attacked at that point.

The priestess there was in a tizzy. When Nusso asked about the Ruby, she'd gotten very quiet, and told him that it wasn't available for public viewing. She wished she could let the worried worshipers at her temple see it, offering Din's reassurance in this time, but... well, they had to be careful, and the sisters and brothers of Din did not want to risk... loosing the Ruby with monsters about.

Obviously, they were hiding the fact that it had been stolen. Things were bad when those of the Faith were nervous.

However, one of the Sisters seemed... oddly at peace in this troubled time. She actually tended a small shrine behind the Temple... to what goddess, Nusso didn't know: Din wasn't ever portrayed as having a snake instead of legs. Something to investigate now? or later...?

[GeneticMess]

The Sheikah looked over the temple and noted the potential path he or any Sheikah take, and the one his comrade likely took, before monsters started running wild. Walking inside, Nusso was quick to notice how much of a quiet, subdued frenzy everyone was in. He asked about the Ruby, and was outright lied to about it's location, but he said nothing of it. Proving the priestess wrong and driving everything further into chaos would help no one. He decided to move on and look elsewhere...

But one of the sisters... they were calm. Too calm. She was near a shrine behind the much grander temple, one that depicted Din with the lower half of a snake. Peculiar, he never remembered any common interpretations of the goddess looking like that from his studies. Maybe this sister would have some other insightful information, and figured it would be helpful to approach her now and ask what she knew.

[Darian]

"Oh, hello there." The calm sister greeted Nusso as he approached. "Have you come to make an offering?" she asks, guesturing to the mat and bowl set in front of the statue. "Most of the worshippers are inside the temple, praying to Hylia or the Golden Ones."

She sat on a small bench to the side of the shrine. "If you wish some privacy to make your prayers, simply ask."

[GeneticMess]

"Offering? Oh, no, I was just..." He paused, looking up again at the serpentine statue. When Nusso looked back down, the sister was sitting on a nearby bench, and he followed. "I'm not here for spiritual or religious matters. I have something more urgent to discuss."

Nusso hesitated, and almost sat down, but did not. "May we head inside? I do not want to risk our words falling upon the ears of anyone with unsavory intentions."