[Owah Chronicles: The Fallen Lands] (Sakura/Hotline/Darian)

[SakuraHanaryuu]

(Going to skip right to when we reach the region for Pili town. Hoping this will snap me out of my writers block.)
-

*The entrance to Pili town was through a cave system too small for Y'grith to enter, thus the group had to split up here. The caves entrance recalling the events at the coal mines, not to mention the recent rather unsavory event with Orgas mother, the party was a little on edge to say the least. These caves were different however, long cracks in the ceiling filled with what appeared to be shells upon shells upon shells of some sort of creatures through which dim blue light shone down iluminating these caverns, the tunnes tended to be narrow but there were some locations that opened up into cavers, some wonderous and, some dangerous, there were many hazards, pits filled with razor sharp spikes, formed naturally from limestone erosion, and long falls being the main dangers. However eventually they came upon a creature easily reminding them of Orgas original form, yet not quite the same, this was a pill bug, much smaller than an Arkorian, roughly three feet tall, round, a bit chubby, and very frightful. When the group approached, the bug turned and spotted them, squeeking loudly and rolling into a ball.*

*Though Orga wanted to chase them down in her new armor, she waited, remembering the events at the Turxial town, and her great blunder leading to a very precocious situation...not to mention being thrown in a jail cell, the cell she didn't mind, the humiliation...made her sick.*

[calldahotline]

Zaessa had a few tricks with molten metal to use in situations like this. A few carefully cut pieces of thick crystal and a custom metal case that was hollow inside was her creation. When filled with molten metal it served as a dandy, if warm, light. It'd be too hot for anyone else to carry, so she held it aloft for their little company. She let Orga lead the way, as this was her home so she understood, but she kept her arm raised high with the lantern and her latest creation for a weapon in the other. It wasn't much yet, just a mace with a very long four-edged head that ended in a point, but she was short on metal after Orga's armor.

[Darian]

(Would you guys mind if I introduced a travelling caravan here? Like, a group of traders trying to head to Pili down. I plan on having them get kidnapped. Also... something fun I thought would be good is the group having to track down a rouge Queen Mother... possibly one seduced by the drow to make them an Akorian army? I mean, the drow are a big underground empire. THE big evil one, really.)

Kalira had long since released Corrin from her stomach and given her a bath, but now she made sure to keep the girl close to her long legs.

"Mmmm, it is very different here... but this place reminds me of the jungles of my home. Stay close, little one, many delightful dangers are hidden here." the witch doctor smiled as she stepped forward into the darkness. and approached the curled up pillbug. "Hmmmm... you look like a scavenger..." She murmured. "though, curling up into a ball is not the best way to avoid getting eaten by something bigger than you..." She gave the little bug a few gentle pokes with her staff, rolling it aside.

Odd that Kalira seemed so at home in such an inhospitable place.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

(Sonova beyatch, internet ate my post. Oh well them's the breaks. Also, Yes, and yes. Any ideas are welcome, add in entire countries if you wish, though little villages and towns are just as welcome, hell even an odd shack in the woods can be a fine scene for solid story telling. Get creative everyone and just go nuts with this.)

*The pill bug tottered in place before catching the down hill slope of the tunnel system, rocking back and forth as it rolled off into the darkness, ocasionally popping up in the air as it hit a ramp gnarly root or stone. As the party followed they'd see a light flickering at the end of a long crooked hall, but not of the calm blue glow from before, this was flame, and the sounds of battle soon followed, and the screech of angry bugs. summoning them to the light.*

*Upon reaching a more open cavern, filled with soft green grass like plants and shrubs all round, the party bore witness to a battle of bugs. Three, four ft tall red fireants, astride two legs and bearing four arms, clad in red armor, and bearing picks and great saw-swords that glowed like fire. The ants were defending a huge group of twenty pill bugs from an assault of seven bees, bearing thrusting weapons of different calibers, spears, rapiers, and lances. Despite lesser numbers and greater risk, the ants did their task well, but they were backed into a corner.*

*This was all the moral input Orga needed to take action, and she rushed into the fray, drawing her great cutlass "Crest", with her left claws, and her great cleaver "Depth", in her right claws, she rushed forth. Her swiftness was less than what she bore wearing the Dark Armor, yet still greater than what she showed at the start of her journey, and no magic was needed to achieve this, in her six foot tall fighting form, Orga slammed her knee into the nearest bee, despite it whipping its spear at her, the instrument was parried, and the scorpion knight drove the bee into the ground with the pommel of Crest striking it square in the head. She expected a retreat from the bees...but instead they flew into a vicious frenzy, and turned upon Orga, six to one, and shot at her with no reguards to their own personal saftey. Orga evaded and swung her blades in counter to parry this onslaught but was only able to draw the flying fiends back. The ants however, were able to send the pill bugs on a swift retreat and then fled with their charges, one hesitating, to watch the fighting before dashing off with their compatriots, down a tunnel to the north.*

[calldahotline]

Swallowing the lamp for safety, the dragoness took note of the retreating ants and their charges. It may not have been a courteous move, but it was the smart one. They had a job to do and they were going to see it done, whatever it was. Orga had taken their problem and made it her own. Zaessa had confidence in her armor, but it was still better to not chance it.

She maneuvered to protect Orga's right, drawing the attention of three bees in the process. One of them tried to stab at her with a rapier but the tip snapped off as it hit her scales. Another went for her face with a spear and had to be parried. A few swings with her new mace were easily evaded by the flying insects. Something needed done to slow them down, and the suggestion from back in the coal mine came to mind. A quick little trick with her stomach and up into her mouth came a tiny mass of nitra and brass. Spitting it into a section of a stalactite created a small explosion, disorienting most of the swarm including two attacking Orga, allowing the forge dragon to grab one of them by the thorax. Another struggling to right itself was not fast enough to avoid her mace, slamming into the cave wall with a *sqwunch* before falling to the floor motionless.

[Darian]

Kalira smiled as the little pillbug rolled away, seeming to ignore the spikes and bumpy ride. "Well, perhaps not so easy a meal as it seems..."

Still, the witch doctor frowned when she saw the green plants grow smoky and the blue light fades to red. She follows Orga when she charges into battle to rescue the ants and their pillbug herd, though she hangs back slightly and summons up the three corpse hounds to aid her. She takes in the berserk fervor as the bees throw themselves into the battle instead of retreating when the two imposing fighters crash into their lines... but if the bees are not smart enough to run from a forge dragon that has got the drop on them, it is unlikely that they would turn and run with simple intimidation.

So a fear spell might do the trick.

A wave of palpable chill rolls over the entire battlefield, and Kalira would leap forward to land right behind the two big fighters. Her ele-skull mask is on, and she is surrounded by an aura of green rot and decay. If the bees look at her, they will have an overwhelming sensation of just how mortal and fleeting their lives are... that their bodies are so much meat and mulch to be carved up.

The masked witch raises her staff, with the eye sockets glowing green.

"Flee..." she whispers.

Of course, Kalira doesn't know if the bees will be affected by the fear spell... but if there is any effect, they certainly won't be organized anymore.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*With Zaessas distraction, Orga was able to disarm one of the bees as they shrieked from the explosion, and the bee who's thorax was grabbed was swiftly decapitated by Crests swift and keen blade, falling motionless to the ground. Then came Kalira's fear spell, now if these really were 'beezerkers', they wouldn't have a fear reflex, only a fight reflex which is why berserker's fight so aggressively, they feel no fear towards their target...however the bees were clearly not beezerkers, and turned tail immediately upon the spell catching them, two fighters less, they retreated with haste, and did not appear to be coming back.*

"Nicely done girls", *Orga stated, planting her great cleaver Depth in the ground cleaning Crests blade off with a pocket cloth as she drained some curses from Depths pommel via her tail, letting her tail thicken just a little bit fuller*, "seems their home is somewhere this way", *Orga stated stepping towards the tunnel the ants and pill bugs had fled to*, "Shall we then?"

[Darian]

"Just a moment." Kalira pulled up her mask and gestured towards the bodies of the fallen Beefolk. "Do either of you wish to eat your kills? If you do not, I will eat them now... It will only take a moment."

"Eeeugh! Kalira!" Corrin seems shocked and a bit horrified. "Th-that's a corpse! Th-there's blood everywhere!"

"All types of meat come from corpses, child. and this is very fresh meat." Kalira gave Corrin a look so knowing that she had to be teasing. "And really, in a world such as this, where eating living people are the heights of intimacy, is eating a corpse whole so strange to you?"

Corrin flushed a bit. "K-Kalira, those are giant b-bugs!"

"Many kinds of bugs are delightful snacks in my homeland." Kalira at last allowed her teasing smile to show, and patted the girl on the head. "It's not merely a matter of waste-not, Corrin. Because I serve Zarosh, I must perform rites over any corpses I find or create, or deliver them to their proper place... especially for sentient beings. Since we are in a rush, though... all I really need to do is say a small prayer and ensure that the bodies are digested entirely." Kalira shrugs a bit.

"Most clerics of Zarosh do not travel and stay in their communities, because performing such rites often can be... draining and time consuming," She admits, a bit embarrassed. "Fortunately, vore allows me to sidestep that duty by disposing of such corpses entirely, and I am able to be a more... active traveler. And I do so enjoy travelling with a full belly. So,"
She looks back to Orga and Zaessa. "Do either of you wish to eat the corpses?"

[SakuraHanaryuu]

[Reaction]: *Orga held her belly*, "I'm pretty full actually, mom made sure I had my fill from the abyss before she left, Got a good two days worth stuffed in this belly of mine, though you can't tell right now." *Orga Slapped her warrior forms slender belly.*

[calldahotline]

Zaessa looked at the decapitated bee in her claw, grimacing slightly. There was a lot of insect meat in Torarie's dimension, and Unhu was going to be using some in her cooking. She may as well start to try and get used to it [even though this stuff was raw]. "Well..... I suppose I'm hungry.... enough." Walking over to get the limp bee from the wall, she eyes them both up for a moment before she puts the headless one in her mouth and tries to swallow it quickly. First one down, she makes an exaggerated "bleh" sound, sticking out her tongue. "That insect blood is vile stuff..." Hesitantly looking at the other one, the dragoness gives it the same quick swallow treatment before sticking out her tongue again. "Ugh.... never let me eat raw bugs again." Bringing up a little molten metal, she gives her mouth a rinse to get all the residue burned away before sending it back to her storage. Seeing Orga move to follow where the ants went, the forge dragon retrieves her crystal lantern and follows her.

If someone points out that she might have been able to use her molten metal to cook the bodies, Zaessa would stare blankly for a moment before slapping herself in the face and muttering.

[Darian]

"Well, some bugs are better raw than others." Kalira says with the voice of long experience. "The large maggots back home... mmm, they were great."

She honestly seems a bit disappointed when Zaessa eats both of the fallen bees, but murmurs a short prayer after she does so. "Please, let me know if the venom in thier stingers has any effect on you."

With that slightly worrying remark, the group began walking after the retreating group of ants... there was no telling if they'd catch up any time soon: the ants and pillbugs could move at a quick pace if they wanted to.

(Quick question: Were those bees just a natural part of the locals or were they the children of a rogue Mother?)

[SakuraHanaryuu]

(They were not Arkorians, they belong to a great hive I intend to incorporate into the plot of Pili Town)

*As Orga impatiently shuffled with her flank turned to the two, and she saw Zaessa nom the bees raw she burst into laughter*, "Your supposed to cook poisonous ones you big goofball, isn't your belly filled with white hot metal?" *Orga slapped her belly, unable to hold back her chuckling due to the faces Zaessa was making*, "Anyways, lets get going, next time you should probably give any venomous bugs you find to Unhu, maybe one of us can carry her in our belly, we have three fine predators after all, though, I think Mom meant her as a gift to 'you' Zaessa, I noticed how much she pays attention to you."

*Orga's eyes then lit up in curiosity*, "By the way...what 'did' you two get up to in the shadows?", *Orga placed her claws on her hips, her impatient mind wandering to some odd and questionable places.* "Did she just want to talk? Or did she give you the grand tour?"(easily taken out of context in a vore RP XD)

[calldahotline]

Seeing the amazon's disappointment, the dragon says "You want the next ones, go ahead. I'm not setting lips to another one of those." Another look of disgust crosses her face for a moment. "That's a nice idea Orga, but where would we carry those? Where would we carry her that wouldn't be in the way in a fight? And how would she even cook anything out here?" (She could use portals to ovens in the shadow realm, Zaessa would not have quite figured that out yet.) "Besides, I don't think she's nicer to me than anyone else. She's certainly less stern than with the kitchen staff." Admittedly, the Abanox had been particularly good to her and she tried to return the good will, but the idea of the woman being a gift, just property moved around.... That was probably the most souring thing in her mind since the *incident*. Zaessa was distracted for a moment when her companion asked the second question. Coming back to herself she offered "We talked, she seemed open and friendly, and she led me on a tour of the city she had there. Everything seemed fine." Orga didn't need to know about their fun, so Zaessa kept quiet about it. Over the week of travel, the golden glow in her assets had faded until now it was barely noticeable. She shook her head, thinking about Torarie getting violent again and trying to get herself thinking about something else.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

[Reaction]: *Orga scratched her head*, "Yeah...mom blew it back there...we need to make her pay for that one somehow...don't know how though..." *Orga shrugged*, "well, a full tour has never turned me into a glow worm, was just curious though. Now then, Onward to Pili town."

(My next post will bring us into the town, with details on what the town looks like.)

[Darian]

(Cool! I plan to introduce a few characters there... and would you like to handle the big problem affecting the town? I mean, I had an idea, but it's more along the lines of 'oh gawd fire!' than getting a quest from the village elder. Which do either of you prefer? Any next quest can wait till we explore the town a bit, I think.)

"It's so... icky... and-and..." Corrin mumbles, her eyes wide at the bestial action of devouring the corpse of a sentient being whole. Kalira simply sighs and pats the girl on the shoulder.

"You have lived a peaceful life in which much has been provided for you. Others have to hunt for their food, and wasting any of it is a great loss to them. Besides, this way, Zarosh will ensure the departed souls find their proper place in the pantheons, or return to the cycle of life and death."

Corrin blinks a bit at that. "Oh... I suppose if the souls aren't... captured... it isn't so bad?"

"Souls are a touchy subject for every god. As you've seen with Torarie, they guard those promised them jealously." Kalira nods sagely. "Still, we shall talk about the best way to cook bee later. I am very interested in this town and it's people."

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*The caves had grown a lovely hue of verdant green, with grasses, and bushes and leaves, even slender trees wrapped around the concave sides of the tunnels, as if this place in particular had been possessed by an old forest, through a gnarly, winding path, and beyond three old willow trees, they arrived at last at Pili town, able to see all three districts of the seemingly large structure from the entrance.*

*The bulk of Pili Town was a cobbled together mass of brick housing stacked on top of eachother to form a strange super structure, the inside of which was much like an ant hill, Pilians could navigate it but few races other than rat folk or other tiny-kin would have a difficult time inside. The larger Red Ant Knights ironically, had constructed a fortress wall out of these bricks as well as a decent encampment, farther back, as Orga would recognize, was an Arkorian estate, several spiral shaped buildings, also made of mud brick, with one particularly large spiral structure in the center of it all.* Beyond the town in its background was a massive tree, a great Ash tree by its appearance, this tree, was so large that it formed the backdrop of the entire town, a crystalline ceiling highlighting the entire grand structure, its base being found behind the town, off of an unseen drop-off, a path near the entrance to pili town would allow anyone visiting to divert around the town, to the great tree instead.*

*two red-ant guards awaited the group, armed with scorching hot spears in the same fashion as the arms of the other ants from before.* "HALT" *for little bugs their voices boomed over the group actually making Orga jump right off the ground with a "Whoop!"

"You may not pass, our chief has yet to decide if you may enter the village." *their voices were deep, masculine, and stern, but also smooth and confident, they were good voices for warriors to possess.*

[calldahotline]

[REACTION] Zaessa stops as ordered, not showing fear but just trying to make them more at ease. The caves have grown considerably lighter and she swallows the now unneeded lantern. This was Orgas people.... apparently, though not much resemblance. Better to defer to her and show respect.

[Darian]

There's a loud sigh from just to the left of the gate.

"Yeah, you might be waiting a while..." comes a feminine, if strong voice. "We've been waiting to get in to trade since morning."

To the left of the gate is a train of two wooden wagons with canvas tops, like something out of a western movie. The canvas is marked proudly with red paint, an image of a cow ringing a bell.

A young woman is tending a donkey, though she looks a bit irritated doing it. Her sundress is actually very nice, white with some small, colorful patterns and embroidery along the waist and sleeves. But the short sleeves reveal that she's got some real muscle to her, the kind that comes from long, hard work. There's no hard angles to her though, and she is every inch a curvy active farmgirl... not a noblewoman. Made more obvious from her choice of footwear: strong, thick leather boots, made for walking.

The most obvious feature to her, is her long blonde hair. A full head of it, so bright it's almost white!

"Name's Cremia. I came here hoping to trade and make some new customers, but not only has the journey been two gallons of trouble in a one gallon jug, me and my sisters have had to sit outside the gate and ain't even seen another soul since we got here!" She huffs angrily and glares at the mulish donkey. "And don't you give me any more lip, you bastard. You're lucky I still need you to get us out of this cave, or I'd be selling you to a butcher! Ripoff..."

How odd to find a human trader in a place like this! Braving the depths is no joke! There isn't any guards around, but if one looks closely, they might see two pairs of small eyes looking out from the darkness of the first wagon...

(Yes, I'm stealing Zelda chars to be kidnapping victims. I did it before, and I'll do it again . Still, I plan on using these tow as semi-introductions to the human-ish nations around here. so feel free to talk to them.)

[SakuraHanaryuu]

"Then you haven't challenged for entry rights it would seem, if this is an Arkorian village, though I'm still not sure about that...then you have to earn the right to enter the village, you challenge the guards, they test you, if you fail the challenge, you don't get in..sometimes its simple, sometimes its crafty, depends on the village, my old town had you retrieving a gift for the chieftain, in the form of a wild beast, anything would do really, but the bigger the beast the more impressive your entry, for my own coming of age rite, I caught a crocodile, not a very large one, but you know crocs, they hit above their weight class, got me a fair position."

*Orga stepped forth, and knelt before the guards*, "I request trial, as do my friends, I cannot speak for the tradesmen. Name this villages rite, and we shall each see it done for the honor of the chieftain." *The guards changed their poses and positions, tapping Orga, Zaessa, and Kalira on their heads with their spears, leaving some dull embers atop their heads, and Orga rose awaiting the guards task*, "Go to the great Ash yonder, and retrieve a fallen twig, then return here with it to feed our fire pits."

*Orga took one look at the tree, and produced first a frown, and then a smile*, "it will be done, for the honor of the Chieftain, and benefit of the people." *As Orga passed by the traders on her way to the tree she stated*, "do as I did...though...you might need your whole wagon for the task, I suspect a tree of that magnitude will have equally elephantine twigs." *She wasn't wrong, when the group arrived at the ring of twigs fallen from the towering branches, they found huge pillars of wood, each easily as thick as an entire tree, Orga saw one that had just fallen, hitting the ground with a thunderous crash*, "imagine having one of those fall on you...from out of nowhere...just, wham!" *She mused, before looking over the options, she didn't bother explaining anything farther, she just went for the largest branch she could find, and then began to roll it like a log up the hill, however if Zaessa or Kalira tried to help her she would hiss at them and tell them to*, "Get yer own", *before huffing and pushing her extra large "twig" up the hill...the thing was huge and she wound up shifting to her larger worm form just to control the cumbersome thing, she required the forms weight to stabilize the mass of wood, and she was able to get the twig up the hill correctly, though no faster than either of the others due to the heavy burden.*

[calldahotline]

The dragoness would already be looking for her own, the village probably needed more wood so two bundles would be better than one. She had to wonder how a tree of that size grew down here, but that wasn't vital at the moment. Rooting round, she found a good sized branch about two wagon lengths long and about as wide as a wagon too. It was smaller than the one Orga was taking back but she would be able to move it easier. There were too many "nobbly bits" on it to roll effectively, so she hoisted it on one shoulder and began making the trek back. Where Orga had trouble with every rock and narrow cave, Zaessa was able to just walk straight past.