"Hello, Haril! Who is your friend here?" The tiger asked.
"She is a new guard applican, Jaden. She will be taking her test soon if she has the time." Haril replied.
"Vexie Silver of the Isla Silver Reef." I introduced myself. "It is good to meet you, Haril."
Jaden grabbed his chest, making as if he had been shot, "You wound me, Madam. I would hope it will be a good time meeting me as well."
I glanced at him again, "You were speaking of and not to me. Is that customary here? I don't count this as meeting."
Rather than be insulted, he laughed. "My apologies. I am Jaden, may I know your name?"
I blinked, then said, "My name is Vexie."
"So what made you want to be a guard, Vexie?" Jaden asked.
"I'm not entirely sure I do. It's this, Adventuring or doing random tasks for Isarial." I informed him.
"Oh, come on, those aren't your only options. You could start a business, find religion become an explorer, or even start sailing the waters." Jaden said.
I shrugged, "I don't want to be on a ship again for a while."
"Well, that's fine. There's still plenty of options it's a wide world of crazy things. You can never limit yourself with the options of others." Jaden said.
"Have you even been off this continent?" I asked.
"No, I can't say I have. It's rather difficult to do so." Jaden said.
"As I said, I am from an Island two or so months from this continent." I informed him.
"Wow, exciting. How did you get here?" He asked.
"Mm. That part is.. I'm not sure besides I was on a ship this morning that docked in Winter's Halt." I told him.
"A ship brought you in? Well, that should be easy to find out who owns it. It would have to be unregistered to travel like that and especially to carry that kind of cargo. Unregistered ships are easy to find with a good dock master. Krakauer the Goliath who runs those docks keeps a tight hold of them." Jaden said.
"The sailors and 'cargo were all arrested." I said.
"Even easier!" He laughed. "They will have started the process. Sorry, got ahead of myself do you care about who captured you?"
"I understand where I am so I don't particularly care about them. I am vaguely curious about why and how. But I already suspect my Aunt was involved." I shrugged.
"Family strife, hmm? Well, if you don't really care to know that's fine. I'm rather curious now myself, though. I'll probably dive into this and see what I can find out." Jaden said.
"If you want to. Dirthin scared the guards, so I was able to avoid being arrested. Oh, I did kill a few sailors while escaping, so there's that." I said.
"I don't think that will impact my investigation. Ah, yup. I've claimed it, so I'm off to solve it. Lovely meeting you, little cutie." He smiled then walked away.
I flicked an ear back, then Haril said, "And that was Jaden. One of the other founders. He can be a lot."
"Mm. Eh. Anyways.." I began, stopping when a child came sprinting up to us, followed by two women.
The child, as I suspected, called Haril, 'Daddy' and wanted to show him something he'd drawn. Both women were clearly pregnant. Haril smiled and looked over the art done by the child.
"Hello, I'm Ashtar." The brunette greeted, extending her hand with a broad smile. That smile froze when her eyes locked on my throat. "Ah... Um.. So, that's definitely.."
"That's a strong reaction.. know him?" I asked.
"Unfortunately." She responded.
"Know who?" Haril asked.
"Asmodeus." I said, tapping the symbol on my choker.
"Ah, that's the guy my son turned into a snail. He seems like a bit of a child himself." The black haired woman said.
".. Eh?" I tilted my head.
"Always craving attention and entertainment sounds like a child to me." She said.
"How many times has the King of Hell been turned into a snail?" I asked. James had said the same thing.
"Just the once by Ari, I think. I oughta introduce you to Bibs." Ashtar said.
"Yup, my boy Isarial did it." The black haired woman said.
"That's... he's your son?" I asked confused.
"Yup, have you met my boy?" She asked.
"I met Isarial, and his feline family.." I confirmed. "He sent me to check this city out and meet Haril.."
"Yes, the family situation is a bit complicated, but if my boy sent you here, you must have done something impressive. Or at least interesting." She said.
"I'd tell you if I knew." I said with a shrug. "So who is Bibs?"
"My very good friend." Ashtar said. "A rival to Asmodeus."
"Sure. I'll meet 'em." I shrugged.
"Well, we can delay your test until your ready, it's not exactly a pressing matter." Haril said.
"That's good to know." I said, "Thanks, Haril."
"Not a problem, I must get back to my rounds." Haril replied, ruffling his sons hair, and striding away.
"I'm gonna take her to see Bibs. I'll see you tomorrow Adelaide." Ashtar said, hugging the woman, then she patted the boys head, "You, too, Simon."
"We'll see you tomorrow." Adelaide said. Simon waved, taking his artwork with him and the woman.
Ashtar led me back to the entrance, where ruined lion statues were on either side of the doors, and out them. We were walking down a path, and across a bridge, lined with trees. The trees excited me some, though very different, were like my jungle-home. I saw birds and squirrels, chipmunks and the like. It seemed like a peaceful place.
We passed some guards along the way, and I noticed the woman was walking a little slower. "Is it getting tiring to walk?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm fine." Ashtar said. "What was your name?"
"Ah. Apologies, I'm Vexie." I said.
"Oooh, that's interesting name." She said.
I noticed her ankles were reddened. I picked her up onto my shoulder, which she protested. "It's fine, you're kinda light actually. Anyways, I like your name. It's a good warriors name."
Seeing me ignore her protests, she sighed heavily. "Well, I guess being named Sword isn't so bad."
We crossed another bridge, and once we were approaching the gates to a town, I set her down. "Is it better?"
"A bit. I guess I stood too long." She sighed, leading me past the guards, gates and towards a house where a big stone man sat. A Goliath with red patterns. "Kershka!" She waved at him smiling.
"Ello Little Mountain." The Goliath said.
She gave him a hug. "This is Vexie. I brought her to see Bibs."
"Ah, guest. Kershka has been told of our guest." Kershka said, opening the door to the house.
"Come on," Ashtar said, waving me to follow.
Maybe it was dumb, but I did indeed follow. It's not like they were taking my weapons. Inside was a quaint home. A bookshelf, dining table, well used desk, and a cabinet were all present. Along with a set of stairs. Seated at the table was a spectacled goblin with tea set up. Kershka followed us in, shutting the door.
"Welcome to my home. Might I offer you some tea?" The goblin asked.
"Thank you for the welcome, and I apologize if it's rude, but experience causes me to ask, is there anything in it to coerce words or quicken an end?" I asked.
"No, there is no such trickery here. If you would like, I could add sugar." The goblin said.
"I'll accept a cup with appreciation, then. I don't need sugar, I am sweet enough." I joked.
He chuckled slightly and handed me a cup. I accepted it and after I took a sip, he said, "I have been informed that you are a follower of Asmodeus?"
I tapped the symbol on my neck and said, "I guess so. More of a babylock.Babylon. I heard you're an adversary of sorts to him?"
"I suppose you could call me that. I've thwarted a few of his more... ridiculous plans." The Goblin said.
"I'm Vexie Silver of the Isla Silver Reef." I introduced myself.
"I am Bibs from several places. Mostly because I don't quite remember where I am from." Bibs replied.
"Should I assume this is a threat assessment?" I asked.
"In a way it's a threat assessment. Just wanted to see how chaotic you really were." Bibs said.
"I wouldn't have come to this gods cursed place willingly, to be frank." I said, hearing an knock at the door.
Kershka got up and opened the door, letting in a large muscular man. "Many places are cursed by the gods. This one in particular is." Bibs acknowledged.
"There is also a greater chance of catching his attention here. He's obsessed with this continent.. he may end it." I said.
"Oh, he's tried several times." Bibs said.
Gregor sat and said, "And this was the worshiper? Sorry.. was expecting more blood and fire."
"Both I can do. Rarely in his name, though. I worship no one, for the record, Mr. Shifty." I said in an off hand manner.
"Yeah, I'm just going off what I was told of. Any time I've come across one of his worshipers there is usually blood and fire." The new man said.
I pointed at myself, "Vexie. Not worshiper. Follower not even. Warlock, barely."
He pointed at himself. "Gregor. Semi annoyance to the one you don't worship."
"That's literally all of them." I pointed out.
"Eh.. alright fair enough. But only one of theirs symbol is wrapped around your neck." Gregor said.
"True. It's unremovable. And I can't cover it up." I said.
"It's removable. I've done it before." Bibs said.
"You have?" I asked.
"Yes, not every followed enjoyed their deal." Bibs said.
I tapped the choker, "This has been here since I was a toddler. My late parents made the deal."
"So your parents made the deal, and you were a part of it?" Bibs asked.
"Unfortunately my information is second hand. I don't personally remember it. My Uncle said that my parents made a deal to remove a Rakshasa from the Empire, and that I was a part of it." I shrugged.
"That's not a lot of information, bit it is concise enough.. it's understandable." Bibs said.
"I call it a proof of possession more than anything. As far as I know the only time I need to be concerned is if he wants something of me or I die." I shrugged. "And I don't intend to catch his attention. Though I'm probably in the wrong house for that."
"Indeed, you are in the very wrong place to avoid his attention." Bibs said.
"Probably equal with the Isarial kid, isn't it?" I asked.
"Hmm. I'd say it's about equal at the moment, yes." Bibs agreed.
"Anyways, as for chaos, that really depends on threat level. Such as, I killed a few of the Sailors whose ship I woke up as cargo in.. but I did also free the other people. And I didn't hurt the guards that tried to arrest me. Though that was because Dirthin intimidated them." I told them. "I will meet a threat with equal hostility. If I can kill it, I probably will with little provocation. Such is the same for any Tigrine."
Gregor looked puzzled. "Tigrine? Sorry.. I haven't heard of that kind of tabaxi."
Offended immediately, I looked at him with my mouth agape. "Tigrine are not tabaxi! Tabaxi can be tigers striped but they are not tigerfolk! Tigerfolk are more akin to Leonin. Tigrine are Tigerfolk."
"My apologies. We do not have tigrine here. We only have tabaxi and leonin here. And leonin are rare." Gregor said, raising his hands defensively.
".. I had heard that." I said, feeling wronged, "I'm from a Jungle Island to the far South."
"Haven't heard of such a place." Gregor said.
"That's because the gods don't want people of this continent traveling. Still, they do. Anyways, Tigrine are stronger than Leonin." I told them.
"Dirthin would love to prove you very wrong on that." Gregor said.
"He said he was surprised with how hard I hit." I said pridefully. "He's gonna teach me to fight better."
"Probably just so he'd have a better fight out of you. I swear he'd train someone who was out to kill him just to get a better fight." Gregor said.
"Eh. Whatever work, I guess. He's quite a cute little cat." I said, sipping the tea.
"I've never pictured him as a cute little cat." Gregor said.
"Little definitely not." Ashtar said, "but I guess he could maybe be considered cute. Or maybe it's just Vexie."
"Well, he's essentially the size of a lionfolk. They are smaller than Leonin." I said. "Like Island Tigrine. We're smaller than Taiga."
"Yes. He is a little on the small side for a leonin. Him and his brother." Bibs said.
"I noticed that." I said. "Are they usually nice?"
"As long as you don't give them a reason not to be, they are more civil than nice." Bibs commented.
"Reasonable." I shrugged. "Anyways. Feel better yet?"
"Oh, for sure." Gregor said.
"Yes, you seem perfectly fine. Did you want me to remove that symbol from you?" Bibs asked.
"What is the process?" I asked.
"Well. I would touch the symbol first to see what kind of bond it is." Bibs said. "It may be simple, it may be a little difficult."
I flicked an ear back, then shrugged. "You can look and see."
He reached out and placed his palm against the symbol. "Alright, well there are two layers of this. One would instantly kill you and the other would immediately set a large area around you on fire. Straight up his alley."
"Hm. It's fine." I said.
"Well, if you aren't in a particular rush, I could work on it in my off time." Bibs said.
"If you want to. I don't mind either way." I replied. "I appreciate the knowing, though."
"Not a problem." Bibs said.
"The tea was nice, too." I noted. "I think I'll keep exploring this unfamiliar terrain, though. This continent may only be a little bigger than the Isla, but it's vastly different."
"Find good friends, it makes walking around much better." Kershka said with a big grin.
"I'll keep that in mind." I said, not wanting to burst his bubble that my kind preferred being alone.
Gregor was talking to Ashtar and Bibs was sipping his tea. Kershka let me out of the house, and so I wondered the town, briefly, turning heads. I supposed tiger stripes were rarer. Once I finished looking around the town, I headed out and into the woods. I started following the river and eventually found a lake.
I circled around it and soon it began to turn dark. I found a nice leafy, full branched tree and climbed it. I settled in, making myself comfortable. I was rather listless. I had no goals, no plans. Without anything to distract myself with, I began focusing on what I remembered last. Just an argument about the ownership of the island with my aunt, really.
I dozed off. Waking shortly before dawn. I stretched, then climbed down the tree. After a brief look around. I returned to the lake to clean my fur up. Wanting to give my fur a cleaner smell, I looked around the area to see if my favorite plant was available. It was useless, there were no such plants.
So I pulled on the new clothes, they weren't bad looking. The bottoms were similar to underwear with silk legs that were poofy with cuffs at my ankles, though it still showed the sides of my thighs. The top was a cropped and shoulderless long sleeved blouse, with bloomed sleeves and ribbons to be tied over the shoulders. The bottoms were deep blue, and the top white.
Then I headed in a random direction away from the lake. I spotted a large deer grazing, with a few smaller ones nearby. Having no ranged weapons, I skirted around to avoid detection and cast Pass Without a Trace to assist with that. Then I pounced onto the deer, cutting it's neck with my blade. After killing it, I field dressed it, gutting ad skinning it. Chopping it as I needed and collecting valuable parts.
I heard something people sounding coming, and didn't react much to it. It turned out to be a teenager and an older man who should no longer be in the woods. I watched them as they noticed me. They paused, noting my kill and looked about. Expecting trouble, I turned back to my task.
"Excuse me, Miss?" The teen asked, "You don't seem to have any gear on you.. might you need some wraps for your meat? We have some extra.."
"Er.. what?" I was a little taken aback.
"Well, the Elder said we should offer you a way to carry your meat." The teen said.
"Is it poisoned?" I asked.
"Gods, no." The boy said.
"Well, why are you both in the woods?" I asked.
"We're hunting deer or boar for our village." The teen informed me.
"I see. Then if you can cook me a meal, I'll give you the remainder of the meat." I said.
"We couldn't accept that!" The teen said. "It's your kill!"
"It will spoil. I just wanted a meal and the antlers." I said.
The teen looked at the old man, who nodded slightly and said, "Thanks, then. We'll accept your meat and treat you to a meal."
"But Elder," The teen said.
He raised his hand. The teen helped me package all the meat, so I finished cleaning the kill, stripping it entirely. I helped them carry the meat back to their village. It was in a bit of disrepair, so I began fixing up the place while they cooked my meal, along with the remaining villagers meals.
Once the meal was ready, they called for the people to come eat. They were a hungry looking sort. Mostly old people with a handful of little kids, a young couple, and that teen. Only seventeen people. After we all ate, they worked on preserving the rest of the meat. This is when I asked why their population was so skewed.
They told me the adults and teens had been lured to a hungry darkness that had swallowed them whole. Remembering the curse, and from sheer curiosity, I enquired more about the situation. They wouldn't really answer. Still, before I left the young couple told me to avoid the Southwest.
I made as though I listened, heading East. But an half hour away, I turned and headed Southwestward. It took half a day to come across a strange town. It was in an overgrown meadow, it's walls once white. I could see through a shroud of strange darkness that war had stricken the town. It had once been beautiful, even I could tell. As I gazed at the town, noting it was clearly abandoned, I heard a noise.
I turned, looking in the sounds direction. I saw nothing. When I turned back there was an old woman with a tent and a bubbling cauldron of soup. I placed a cautionary hand on my blade.
She looked up from stirring her gumbo, "Well hello there, Dear. What can I do for you? Surely you aren't aiming to go in there."
"I don't see why I wouldn't." I said.
"Alright, ya pulled my arm. How about this? I can give you a little tool to go in there wondering around without losing your soul." The old woman said.
"My soul is already spoken for." I replied.
"Well, that certainly sounds handy." She said.
"What's your interest?" I asked.
"My interest is to help wary travelers.. and finish my gumbo." She answered.
"And what do you want?" I asked.
"I'm sorry, Dear, I don't think I know the difference." She said.
"Noone approaches others to help or offers things for no benefit to themselves." I said.
"My benefit is to finish my gumbo." She said.
"How so?" I asked.
"Well I trade for these particular good for emotions. Emotions are tasty." She said.
"Alright.. then what do you want from me?" I asked. "Specifically?"
"You specifically? Nothing." She said, "If you need nothing from me, I need nothing from you."
"I see. Then maybe the next time I see you there will be something I want." I said. "Right now, I just need to explore and get my bearings."
"Well, then why didn't you say so? I happen to have a compass." She said.
"Alright. What do you want for it?" I asked figuring she was like a snake oil vendor in the Empire.
"Oh, for a compass such as this? That sword should do nicely. Don't worry, you won't need it in there." The woman said.
"Alright, why not." I said, unequiping my sword and offering it to her.
She accepted the sword and dropped it into the pot. "There we go. I doubt you'll notice a thing. Enjoy your compass, have fun. And remember if you need granny gumbo, she'll be there." She said, giving me the compass.
I glanced at it before putting it in my coin pouch. When I looked back up, the woman and her things were gone again. And my sword still was. I shrugged, and walked towards the town. I paused briefly outside the broken gates, then I stepped inside. The first thing to strike my senses was the stark silence of the place.
The second was the absence of color.. the world became black and white. Next was the war path that what looked to be orcs had caused, and the skeletal remains of humans and orcs. As I walked along, shadowy orcs appeared, swings weapons, grunting with their efforts and fading. The further in I walked, the more they started to take note of me.
Soon, they began to charge at me, as I'd gotten deeper in. Avoiding them subconsciously, I picked up my pace, running along until I spotted a near pristine mansion. One wall was blown out, and orc corpses were heaped around it. I heard a sharp ding, and reached for my bag. The compass was pointing at the mansion.
Thinking it strange, I continued my way quicker pace into the mansion. The shadow orcs stopped, appearing unable to enter. In fact, they seemed to surround the place, acting as though they had no idea how to get in, or that they could still see me. I frowned watching them. Though the compass had other plans. It dinged again, drawing my attention back to it.
It was pointing to a set of stairs. When I walked over to the stairs is when I noted the compass was pointing next to the stairs. Stepping to the side, I realized there was a trap door. Sure enough, the compass was pointing to it. Opening it, I headed down the spiraling stairs and took a look around.
The basement was incredibly different from the upstairs. A long and tall corridor sprawled ahead of me with a large open doorway to the right, and several shut doors. Having it so pitch black was difficult to see, even with my Devil's Sight. But I did spit little plate looking things that I believed were a form of oil lamps.
When I cast Produce Flame and brought my firey palm to the plate, I learned they were silver in addition to capable of holding flames. Oddly, they did not possess any form of oil. Nor did the flicker.. I went through, lighting every silver dish. Once the place was lit up, I noticed there were silver lines running down the middle of the walk way and going into each of the rooms.
Still, there was that wide open door. So I walked back up the corridor and turned into that room. In the immediate center of the table was a warmonger on a table, all around the room were tools, spare parts for warmonger, blueprints and the like. Looking around, I felt overwhelmed by it.
Sighing, I approached the timing on the table. I noted in his chest was another silver plate. I also noted runes indicating binding and powers, along with how to direct those powers. When I leaned in and looked closer, I saw a name etched very carefully, every letter dropping with soul binding. Then I made a mistake by letting the flames in my hand get to close.
The flame lit immediately on the silver plate causing the chest cavity to begin closing. I narrowly missed it closing on my hands. Sounds began emitting, like steam through a kettle, from it's body, and soon it's eyes lit up and it sat up sharply. Alarmed, I stepped back from it. I didn't want to meet Asmodeus so soon.
It looked at me, my ears flattened. Then it spoke. "User designation." I stared at it unmoving. "User must be designated."
I edged over to the blueprints looking for a manual of some kind while it continued it's inquiry. After reading and mulling it over, I said, "Register user, Vexie Silver."
"User designated. Please assign designation to unit." It said.
"Unit designation... Trevor." I told it, saying the name etched in it's center.
"Unit Trevor is ready to serve." It said.
"Very well, guard me." I replied, thumbing through the manual.
I left the room, looking for a bag. I crossed the hall into the room across from the Warforged Room. I opened the door, and spotted a mummified corpse on a bed. Raising an eyebrow, I began looking through the room. A desk, night table and closet. In the desk I found an item. It appeared to be broken in some way, as it wouldn't work.
Unimpressed with the rest of the bedroom, I went out of the room and to the next room. It was a nice standard bathing room. Wondering to the next room, I found a quite large machine looking thing. Avoiding touching it, I wondered around the room until I found yet another manual.
After reading it, I discovered it to be directions on how to use the machine. There was a way to restore the magic to this area, the machine simply needed to be recalibrated. The directions were all in the manual. And pretty simple to figure it out. I spent several hours on it before I was too tired to continue.
Then, with Trevor nearby, I napped in a corner. When I woke up, I cast Good Berry, then ate some berries. I got back to work, then. Following the manual, and double checking everything. I wasn't sure how long I worked on it before I took a break. But after a short rest, I finished it up in an hour. Next, there was just to test it.
"Well, Trevor, this will either restore magic to this place, or kill me. If I die, leave this.place and go East. Ask for 'Hearthry' at the city." I told it. "They can use your services for their kid, it seems."
With that said, I pulled the switch. A shockwave ripped through the room, followed by a violent shake and blast of light. Trevor had attempted to shield me, but we were both pushed back. For a bit, I'd lost consciousness. When I recovered, Trevor was standing guard. To test if magic had returned, I took the item I'd found in the desk.
I attempted to activate it. It asked for a name to contact. So I thought for a moment, then contacted Snow Den, figuring she was the least busy person I could contact. I only realized it worked when I heard Snow Den's voice speak to me.
"Um, hello? Who is this?" She asked.
"Er.. It's Vexie. I seem to have found a strange place. It had destroyed the magic in the area, and I managed to alter the machine and restore the magic. Though, I don't know if it's safe here. I figured you might be the least bothered if I contacted you. Sorry for the rambling." I babbled.
"Ah. Vexie. It's fine. Where are you?" She asked.
"Um, West Northwest? I'm not entirely positive. I found a warforged and accidentally activated it. It's a paladin type, so it can heal if you want it for a guard for the kid." I told her.
"Hm. Hold on, let me talk to James." She said, then after a moment, "He would want to inspect it first."
"Ok. I have the manual." I said.
"That will be handy to review." Snow said.
I ended the contact, then and headed out of the room, and back upstairs. Everything had completely changed. Color had returned, as well as sound and it looked safe. I also couldn't tell that it was getting late. Out of pure curiosity, I tried contacting the goblin, Bibs, with the newly magical contacting tool. It didn't seem to work. Frowning, I tried contacting my Aunt. Which worked.
"Hello? Who is this?" She asked.
"I'm coming for you." I said, ending the contact.
I looked around, and aside from the skeletons, couldn't see any orcs. Even wondering around, I couldn't see any threats. Going back to the mansion, I searched the upstairs. It looked like perfectly normal home. A living quarters, bedrooms bathing rooms and even a kitchen. I found some cleaning supplies and got busy tidying up the place. It was very filthy.
Once I cleaned the main entryway, I was getting tired. So I headed upstairs and began cleaning a bedroom. I'd barely gotten it clean when I fell asleep. When I woke up, I cast Good Berry, ate it, then headed East.