Tales of Malaketh: Ritual of the Blood Red Night - Part 1: On The Run

[Balcerzak]

The weather outside was rather matching her disposition at the moment, but Mina didn't see that as any reason to rain on everybody else's parade too. She gave a noncommittal grunt and shrugged, "Whatever everyone thinks best."

[Nanami Touko]

Misea grimaced at the group for a moment, looking ahead to the horses. They were certainly frightened, if lightning decided to make itself hit nearby, they could very well lose them again. Despite the hefty chills running up their spine, Misea sighed, and slowed their speed. "Alright. Alright... Just give me a few minutes." Helping the horses to a nearby oak for shade, Misea jumped from the wagon and headed off to their left, disappearing behind a few trees moments later. The road they'd been following with the wagon had begun to run along a small wood at a point, apparently Misea's destination was in it... And minutes later they returned, hopping quickly onto the cart and beginning to turn it towards the thicker brush.

"It's still there! Luck be with us, we'll have some place warm and dry to rest in." The wagon turned towards the woods, Misea steering the horses where the trees were wide enough to give them way through.

---

It was rather bumpy, and Misea had to take things slowly, to get the horses towards it without spooking them with a hard stop or getting the wagon stuck, but a good twenty minutes later, the wagon arrived at the edge of a rather large cave... Almost a cavern, the entrance was wide enough to fit the wagon inside. Spooked at first, the horses tried to resist turning into it, but with some gentle coaxing Misea managed them into the entrance, enough to get out of the rain.

Hopping out of the cart with a smile, they threw their arms up, chuckling a bit. "Welcome to my home away from home! I jest, but really, this is the second time this hole in the earth had saved me from trouble. Try and get a fire started if you can, I'm going to make sure nothing else has holed up in here to avoid the rain." Stepping over to the side of the wagon, Misea pulled out a torch, thankfully kept dry by the satchel it had been held in. Striking flint against the steel of their sword to get it lit, they let it rest against a rock, before proceeding to... Undo their armor?

Almira hopped out of the wagon, looking around the place. It probably seemed like quite the dark place to the humans, but she could see just fine, into the darkness the stretched out. It looked like the cave turned, a ways down, so whatever was past that, she couldn't see. "Uh... Misea? What are you doing?" Almira looked back over at the knight, who appeared to just be wearing pants, now.

Finishing hanging their overcoat, chainmail, and riggings against the wagon, Misea finished by taking their undershirt off, laying that on a nearby stone. "Hmm? Getting dry. I'll leave my pants on, I'm sure no one wishes to see what's underneath, and I'd like to save my dignity, but surely there's no issue with my upper half... Right?" Misea was surprisingly lithe, but as well toned as one would expect to be wearing such armor... And covered with their years worth of scars. An especially long one covered their abdomen, whatever had caused it looked as if it nearly had split them in half. They were all healed, and only telling of things that had happened long ago, but it was surprising, for the princess at least.

"W-Well... If, you say so." Almira looked away and hopped onto the edge of the wagon, kicking her legs and waiting for everyone else to get off.

"So! Shall anyone accompany me through the rest of this cave? Or am I braving the darkness alone~?" Perhaps... "What do you say, miss Mina? I could use someone able to heal, should we run into trouble."

Edited November 15, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Moblin Major General]

Glendwr gets off the wagon and sheds his coat, revealing the blood-stained and scorched shirt underneath. "Looks like I'm gonna need a new one, after all." He put his soaked coat and hat over the side of the wagon. "I'm down for that. Besides, we might leave with more than what we arrived with." Glendwr waited for the others to determine if they were staying or going.

[Xinnidy]

Alex hopped off promptly, thankful that they had finally found this place --the rain was getting to her, and she'd rather fall asleep somewhere dry--. Of course, that didn't mean they were out of danger, it seemed like a pretty random hole of a place, could something lurk further. I have no idea how Misea even found this place, it's so far off any road... Well, runaways couldn't complain about a safe spot to stay, if it turned out to be one.

But enough of that. "D-do you really have to take off almost everything? Don't you have a dry change of clothes? Goodness..." Alex turned her gaze to the floor quickly, even if the vampire's scars piqued her curiosity, it was such an odd... situation, overall. "I can... I can go, too. Figures if something out there tries to attack us, I got the better chance to live it." If it wasn't a powerful, spiteful mage, that is, but Alex bet her chances on that being unlikely.

[Balcerzak]

Things got a little bumpy as, having pulled up to a cave that was apparently Misea's promised resting spot, the knight tried to coax the horses inside the mouth and out of the rain. Wilhelmina pushed herself up from her seat under the cover of the wagon, and slipped out the back of it, amidst the rest of the gang, all likely eager to at least stretch their legs a little.

Walking around a little--taking the lay of the land, as it were--the teacher's attention was grabbed by the sound of a clash on steel. Turning to get a good look at the source of the noise, it turned out to just be their fearless leader starting up a torch... and then taking off their clothes?

Mina quickly averted her gaze, then slowly, curiously turned back for a bit of a better look. Without the clothing or armor in the way, yeah, no, how could she ever have mistaken the knight for a woman? It was a little embarrassing, truthfully. So many scars though, wonder what stories they told?

What was more embarrassing, however, was the purposeful 'Miss Mina?' that soon enough came from the object of her observation. Flushing a little for having been caught staring, and being called out on it, she hastily stammered out an excuse. "I know I shouldn't be but, well, curiosity." By the luckiest chance the response almost properly addressed the actual question.

[scorri]

Seph didn't especially feel like exploring the cave. It had been an eventful morning, and for whatever reason, last night's sleep hdn't been especially restful. Glancing over at Almira still sitting on the edge of the wagon, Seph nodded at her, seeing a chance to maybe help cheer her up. "I'll stick with Almira, wherever she decides to go. That way, if she doesn't feel up to going with everyone, she has someone to keep her company." It seemed like a decent bet that she wouldn't want to go with the way her mood was. Though that would require her separating from Misea, which didn't seem especially likely, but he didn't know. Either way, he'd committed to it at this point.

[Nanami Touko]

Were they... No, they couldn't possibly be... Well, maybe for the scars, but... The blushing, were they honestly...? "Ladies, I may be a knight, but gawking like that... Even I can get embarrassed. My apologies, Alex, but unless your small group purchased clothes for the lot of us yesterday, I have nothing but what I've had on my back. Worry not, we don't perspire, so you won't be smelling anything awful; the rain has washed me completely, as well... But if I am to dry off, my clothes must come off. My apologies, if this is distracting." The did finish with a bit of a smile, retrieving the torch and heading towards the back of the cave.

"That's fine, Sephtis... Are you going to be staying here then, Almira?"

"Uhm... Yeah. You can come and get us, if something is down there, r-right?"

"Of course... Come along then, everyone. And try not to stare too much... I realize the scars must be interesting." Misea gave Mina the smallest wink, before heading towards the curve at the end of the cave. "Astrid, Mikaela, feel free to catch up."

So she was staying... Almira turned to Sephtis and poked his arm. "Are you afraid of the dark?" Maybe an odd question, but... "I can see in the dark perfectly. The cave extends down to a curve, all the way back there... So it just made me wonder, are humans afraid of the dark because they can't see in it?"

[sweet podado]

He had wanted to stay behind, worried that something might happen if most of them were gone...but then again, when would Seph and Almira get privacy like this during their adventure?  If anything he felt a small smirk twitch on his lips before they looked over at the countess. "Well, I guess we better get going.  I'm sure these two will be fine near the wagon," he says while nodding over at the mentioned two before catching up with the rest.  Hopefully Astrid would catch wind of what he was trying to do.

[Ether]

"Well, we ought to make an adventure out of things at this rate, hmm? Keep an eye on the wagon as we're gone, would you? Come along, Sharena." Astrid noted, gently pulling the blonde along by the hand as she stepped out of the wagon, following after the others as they moved deeper into the cave. Giving Misea an overly exaggerated whistle at their display, followed by a whimsical chuckle, Astrrd decided to weigh in properly after a moment.

"My dear old friend, you're going to drive all of these impressionable young women insane with such a display. I might reckon even I have yet to be quite so brazen~" 

[Nanami Touko]

"Whh-- O-Okay... You don't have to tug." Exploring a dank cave with this group wasn't quite what Sharena had been interested in, but she had sort of gotten the idea Mikaela was trying to enact, leaving those two alone. Nice to know I'm not the only weirdo here, getting interested in vampires... Are we all like that? Have they been picking up humans that just, aren't scared of those teeth? Oh my...

"Astrid, please... I'd simply rather not freeze. You know how devastating illness is on our kind, should I get sick trying to keep Almira safe... I'm sure you have a handle on your own tag along, and... Alex and Mina aren't so foolish as to fall for a vampire, clearly." Perhaps it was rude to be so teasing at their expense, but Misea couldn't help it, despite all the attention. It was nice to be appreciated~

And turning the corner down the cave, brought them upon... "Well hello. What's this about?" That, that wasn't there the last time Misea had been here. A door, metal, and bricked up walls? No light was coming from underneath it, but... "How odd."

And that left Almira alone... With Sephtis. She looked at him, still wondering if he'd thought about her little question, but also... Ended up blushing. "Uhm... Dark, yeah... Mm..."

Edited November 16, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Ether]

"Not that I think such a thing is foolish to begin with, but were that the case... based on what I have seen so far, I would mark the both of them to be utter fools." Astrid replied, piling on an extra layer of teasing towards their green companions. That was cut short, however, as they came across an odd door within the cavern... one that Misea had not been expecting, given their reaction.

"Well, if you do not recall that being here, such a thing does not bode particularly well for this place being uninhabited..." Astrid noted, wandering over towards the odd door and walls, and inhaling a deep breath with her nose, seeing if she could pick up any sort of identifying scent off of the construction.

[Balcerzak]

A vampire, embarrassed? It was... actually incredibly possible, and she was rude for assuming otherwise. Acknowledging her continuing prejudices, known and unknown, didn't help Mina's blushing any, though. The mention of his lacking any clothes but what was on his back was just further fuel for her fire, given that she'd explicitly gone to the trouble of picking some up, for all the vampires, only to have completely forgotten in the aftermath of Astrid's kiss. How could she have been so dumb? It was completely unfitting of her, a teacher, no less.

Snapping herself out of the bit of freeze she'd locked into, feeling suddenly overwhelmed, wasn't easy, but after enduring a final tease from the man, his wink actually cracked the ice. Well, maybe it was the fact that, content with the damage he'd done he'd turned to go start pioneering the mission, and wasn't actually looking at her anymore. Either way! What was important was that Wilhelmina managed to put some strength in her legs and rush back to the wagon, pulling her trunk toward her and opening it to find the purchased items.

Oh dear... one of these outfits was definitely a mistake. ...Mina would have to give that one later, separately, with an apology, when nobody was around. But the no-nonsense slacks and dress shirt should suffice, she could deliver those with head held high. ...If only she could catch up! She had to hurry along to make pace with the rest of the group, and was too caught up in worries of her own to really notice that Seph and Almira had been left alone on purpose, instead of simply by accident.

Unfortunately, she wasn't so far behind as to not hear herself being made the object of further japes and capers, but there was no helping it, she'd brought things upon herself. Pouting slightly, she turned the bend and almost ran into the back of the countess, as the group had stopped to admire a most unfitting door plastered across the body of the otherwise natural cave.

Apologizing and sliding past Astrid and her shopkeep, she had to fight the natural curious instinct to go immediately and inspect the door. Was it locked, with what mechanism, what lay beyond? All those sorts of tantalizing questions. But, she had other business. It actually turned out to be for the best, that she made her way to Misea, as Mina doubted she could have kept her concentration to make any progress with the countess also inspecting the obstruction that had been placed in their way. Imagining Astrid breathing deeply beside her ear, as she poked around at a keyhole was a bit of an unsettling mental picture. ...No, focus, girl!

"Right, uh, about your clothes," Mina stammered slightly, but managed to get the words out mostly without issue. "We did end up buying a few other things than just for Almira yesterday, only I, uh, forgot to distribute them with the... distractions. Here," she thrust out the formal clothing, both top and bottoms, to the knight, her glance cast slightly aside, so as not to be drawn once again to that scar nearly bisecting his torso.

[Nanami Touko]

Astrid could sniff, sniff and sniff, but all she'd pick up would be the faint smell of clay from the bricks in the wall, and the iron from the door. Nothing else permeated the area near the door... The cave smelled musty and old, otherwise. Alas for the vampire~

And for the other... Misea's lips curled into the smallest little smile, taking the clothes gently from Mina... Not without letting their hands brush against each other a moment. "My my. I'm so glad you were thinking about me, Miss Mina. I'll gladly get changed once we have a moment." How far could Mina get pushed before breaking down, they wondered? Without so much more than a glance, Misea turned with clothes in hand and torch in other towards the door. "Shall we take a peek, them?"

The door wasn't locked, as it easily opened with just a push... Creaking metal lead to... An empty hall, bricked and expanding, in the torchlight. "Curiouser and curiouser..." MIsea showed no fear, stepping into the space. "Hello?" their voice then rang through the empty halls. No response, save for echoes. "Well! We've found quite the place to rest. Whatever this is, it seems quite abandoned."

[sweet podado]

"Yes, because calling out into the darkness is going to get you an answer Misea.  Honestly," Mikaela couldn't help but snort before looking at the little group they had going on.  He of course is having fun just watching the interactions between the two human girls and the vampires, amusement clearly dancing across his facial expressions.  Still, he couldn't help but wonder as to who on earth had placed this passage here.  The fact that Misea didn't know of it was worrisome, but the merchant kept a cool head about it as he looked at the vampire.  "It may seem so, but it still seems...odd, to find something like this all of a sudden," he says, brows furrowing slightly as he continues to wonder about what was ahead of them.

[Moblin Major General]

Glendwr wasn't exactly sure what to think of this new situation. Apparently, in the many years since Misea's stay here, someone put a door up, as if this was a sort of secret society. Whether they were still there remained to be seen. "Shall we push on? We have no idea what went on here in the decades since your stay, sir, so why don't we find out? " Glendwr slowly walked past the door and into the room. "Let's see what we can find."

[scorri]

"Mmm, yeah, it is dark. The rain will do that, especially in a cave like this. I think some humans are afraid of the dark, yeah. Probably because of what you said. The unknown is scary for sure. And not being able to react to things because you can't see them is always hard. And I wouldn't really mind getting some sort of light in here. We could probably make a fire if you wanted." He smiled at her. "That would solve that problem and it could be good for warming up. Hey, we could even put Misea's jacket and shirt near the fire to help dry them out." This was actually a decent idea. If there was wood around... This was maybe going to be a small problem here. Well, he would get to that part of it if Almira thought it was a good idea.

Edited November 17, 2018 by scorri

[Xinnidy]

"I'm not... w-whatever." The vampires just had to go back and forth at them, huh? Alex wasn't getting any respite from her actions, grumbling and lagging behind a bit. Why did they need to focus on that? Bah. It didn't come to Alex how flushed her face was, she was entirely new to this. "Honestly, these two..." She mumbled. Were all vampires that way? Well, at least Almira was an exception...

Though she did suddenly bite Alex.

Sighing, Alex couldn't do much but press forward, at least intrigued with the notion of a construction that wasn't supposed to be there. "Yeah, uh, I think we should give this one more good look." She couldn't trust it, how did it just appear there and suddenly became abandoned? "Let's give it the good check up." Maybe it was time to light a flame, in case things got too dark for her... and in case some unwanted company was there to fling it at.

[Ether]

"Nothing smells amiss, either. It certainly doesn't appear lived in." Astrid added, following after Misea and entering the odd hallway.

"Well, we won't learn anything simply standing here at the entrance, will we?"

[Balcerzak]

That was deliberate. That skin to skin, lingering as the vampire took the offered clothes. It couldn't have been anything but. However, before she could even protest, or blush, or react, Misea moved on, like nothing had even happened, making toward the door. How... frustratingly hard to read? What exactly was his angle? At least with Astrid everything was out in the open.

Mina let her hands fall to her sides, her head cocked slightly in befuddlement. Sadly as well, there was nothing interesting to be had with the door itself, it just swung open easily, with only the scantest squeak of protest. Ah well, not every latch can be exciting. A cave with walls and doors was something all on its own, perhaps someone should go and fetch the others. While the horses couldn't fit through, it might do good for peace of mind to have a secure barrier between the company and the outside.

The chorus of opinions leaned towards giving it more of a thorough sweep first, which... honestly, had some merit to it. "I suppose some further exploration makes sense. L-Lead on." Wait, why did she just stutter? Oh, Mina.

[Nanami Touko]

"They might, Mikaela! You never know. In any case... L-Lead on I shall~ But before that, Alex, here. Take my torch, I can see just fine in the dark."

Player Phase, Turn 1

Misea heads to 17,46

Sharena heads to 17,30

"Quite the odd little dungeon we've stumbled upon," Misea began, fixing themselves into the dress shirt they'd been given. It was a bit clingy, against their damp skin, but better than walking about topless. "Still, no signs of inhabitants, no ambush, from the looks of things... How extremely curious." Glancing back towards the group, despite what could perhaps cause issues, Misea felt it was worth a try anyway. "Mina, would you mind coming with me to check things out? Alone, if possible, I... Have something I wish to discuss with you. I hope that's not a problem. Oh, right, seeing in the dark... Your staff should be able to light itself up, if you give it a touch of magic. Will that be sufficient?"

Sharena turned and headed the opposite direction, the place oddly not as dark as she'd expected... Maybe that was just Misea's torch, still sharing light from down the hall, but in any case... "Now this feels like a proper adventure... What's water running through here for? And is that-- a chest? Astrid, come look over here!"

Stats!

Rules of this current map:
As long as no enemies are present, movement is doubled. It is day time, but as the sun is not present, vampires will not receive a -2 penalty to stats... They will also not gain their night time bonuses, and their stats will simply act as normal. Feel free to explore as you wish, there are traps and enemies afoot, but nothing will be sprung on you without warning. Have fun~

---

"A, a fire right... And I guess that makes sense, er, not, knowing things can be pretty frightening... Uhm... Th-There isn't any wood around here, though. Unless we light the wagon-- which is a really dumb idea! Haha..." Almira was finding being alone with Sephtis a bit-- a lot --troubling. "M-Maybe we should go with them after all? The horses aren't going to wander off into the storm, and... W, Well there's nothing to start a fire with here... What do you think?"

[Ether]

"Hmm... what a curious space. Try not to wander off on your lonesome, anyone. It would not do to stumble upon something heinous without anyone nearby." Astrid noted, before following off in the same direction that Sharena had gone. Misea had certainly taken an interest in Mina, or so it seemed... perhaps taking advantage of the wrong foot Astrid herself had gotten off to with the woman... oh well.

"A chest, was it? I've not any skill in opening locks... there is a decent chance I could smash such a thing open with my axe, but that could damage the contents, depending on what they might be."

Astrid moves to 31,16

[Moblin Major General]

"Looks like there's a room behind that wall over on the left. I wonder if there's anything in it."

 Glendwr moves to 47, 16

[scorri]

"Mmm, yeah. Yeah ok. Good point with the wood. And yeah I guess. That would work." It wasn't like they really could make a fire easily. "Oh, uh..." He glanced back at the dark cave. He didn't see any sort of thing to make a torch out of though... "Uh, I might need your help to find my way through there though. It's pretty dark and we don't have a torch and as you pointed out, I can't exactly see in the dark..." He took a few steps towards the back of the cave and then paused, turning back towards her. "You coming?"

[sweet podado]

And as soon as Misea says they want to talk to Mina alone, Glen goes right on after them.  Sighing, Mikaela shakes his head as he looks over at Alex.  "No social cues, eh? Well, I'll be heading forward then.  Would you like to tag along?" he asks the other, offering a hand and a smile.

Edited November 21, 2018 by sweet podado

[Xinnidy]

"I... yeah." Alex nodded back to Mikaela's remark, but was still fairly distracted. Misea certainly did enjoy making Mina red, huh? Actually, the vampires seemed to take a liking to her pretty quick... Alex didn't know what to make of it right then, but it was something that slightly bothered her, for some reason. Or maybe it was just the moldy air in the structure. "Let's figure something out, this can't be all about this place." She grabbed the torch and went on, now needing to make sense of this eerie place.

Alex to (33,15).