RP:Epic Meal Time

From HollowWiki

Part of the Unforeseen Consequences Arc


Black Pond

The area here is moist and reeks of an ill unknown smell. In the middle of this place is a pond, black like oil it ripples with uncontrollable evil. You feel sick here for some reason, and the air in this place seems colder than anywhere else. The pond is no ordinary corrupted pool, and holds a powerful magic from within, perhaps it's best you not meddle with such a thing and travel on before you anger or bother the inhabitants of this place. An undead encampment is here.

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Kasyr hasn't really had all that much time to unwind in the last couple of months. Between Civil wars, the machinations of vindictive dragons, and the gradual destruction of the dimensional barrier in Vailkrin- he's had a fair bit on his plate. Something which is typically made even more difficult by the cultists which have surfaced within the dark city. Today, however, is a proving to be quite the exception. After all, whilst the Kensai's initial purpose in the forest was to confront a group of deranged cultists to Vakarash, it wasn't long before it became something else entirely. Which is to say, the Kensai is currently leaning up against a tree- discreetly watching the group of zealots that had gathered near the Black Pond. Whether or not they were there to simply gather water, dredge something out of the ponds depths, or even do something as daring as collect 'samples' from what dwelled within... that answer isn't likely to be revealed. If only because it seems unlikely there's going to be any survivors to interrogate, given the absurd amount of difficulty those cultists are having in avoiding the inky tentacles which have since emerged from the pond.


Madigan had been curiously inspecting this terribly dark forest for the first time. It has been her experience that dark forests such as these have the most fascinating fungi to use as weapons. A vicious environment leads to vicious species of all families. She spots a familiar-looking mushroom growing along a dead tree's trunk, surprised to see it alone and on a tree rather than in its usual clusters on the ground. Approaching it to get a closer look, its lid at the center of the mushroom cap suddenly opens and blinks at her, then coughs a black powder in her face. She starts hacking and turns away, waiting for the terrifying hallucinogenic effects to take hold but nothing happens. She blinks a few times and looks back at the mushroom, the lid now sealed. Well, it wasn't a fungus at all but a creature that imitated the appearance of the fungus as a defense mechanism, but the creature's powder didn't have the effects the mushroom does. Interesting critter. Pulling out her hunting knife that rests in a comfortable sheath wrapped to her inner thigh, she stabs right into the creature and mutters an obscure prayer in an unfamiliar language. She inspects the inside of the monster and sniffs it. Doesn't seem harmful.. She scoops up most of it with her knife and dumps the remains into a container in her bag. She'll have to test it before she tries feeding it to Ajani. Walking onward, a loud ruckus ahead of her becomes apparent. Madigan moves quickly forward toward the sound with the intent to inspect the scene and stops short when she spots a group of humanoids getting attacked by - are those tentacles? That takes her back. Ajani stirs inside the basket Madigan had fashioned herself to carry him places on her back. The poppy-jasper dragon was still too little to manage on his own and the dryad preferred to keep her hands free. She quietly hushes him in her native tongue before looking back out at the scene. One of the humanoids gets caught in a tentacle. The tentacle squeezes instantly, an audible cracking of bones and exploding organs resounding from the now-malformed corpse within its grasp. She reminisces of the anacondas back home that did much the same to their prey before unhooking their jaws and swallowing their catch whole. A smirk on her face as she recalls the glorious power of the patient serpent.


Kasyr absent-mindedly fumbles a hand into his pocket, and procures a cigarette- the likes of which is hastily drawn to his lips and lit. It's only after the Kensai takes a few thoughtful puffs that he comes to a realization: Apparently, one of the cultists had both taken note of the faint light produced by his smoke, and was now running towards his position, in hopes of finding some means of escaping his unforunate circumstances. With a shake of his head, the Kensai casually withdraws from his lounging position- instead taking up a position behind the tree he'd been loitering against. It's only when he hears the nearby sound of crunching leaves beneath the sound of the cultists feet that he bothers to personally involve himself into this situation. That being said, his introduction is hardly an open armed greeting- instead taking the form of a carefully outstretched foot which serves aptly for robbing the fleeing fellow of his footing. Insult to injury comes when the Revenant briefly steps out from his vantage point, so as to firmly grasp the cultist by his robe- and abruptly hurl him right back towards the lake. It's hardly surprising just how swift the Pond's beast is in responding to the sudden proximity of free food- as it proceeds to promptly ensnare the cultists leg, bash him off the ground several times, and then finally drag him beneath the surface of the pond. Surprising or not, Kasyr still does whistle appreciatively at the display, before resuming his idle loitering and smoking.


Madigan watches as a single man dashes toward the forest's edge several feet away from her. At first, she thought he'd spotted what with her white hair and white hem-tail skirt, but he wasn't coming for her. He disappears into the forest's edge for a moment, and Madigan takes a moment to listen to his successful escape, but there's a crash upon leaves and then a surprised exclamation as the man's flung back out toward the tentacles. What the... The dryad looks at the floor around her and decides it'd be much too difficult to quietly approach whatever threw the man back out to his dreary fate. Instead, she takes to climbing the tree with great ease and skill. She's apt for such a task, really. Once she's in the branches, she quietly makes her way across the tree's branches, taking care to avoid being spotted. She moves swiftly, hardly a sound following her. Even Ajani is behaving and keeping quiet. The slight creaking of the branches under her weight can't be helped much, but she does make it a point to be as soundless as any snake passing through trees.


Kasyr 's ears wiggle, which is fairly noticeable, considering that he has Calico-esque cat ears. With a brief glance cast towards the foliage above, the Revenant gingerly sidles around to the other side of the tree. Once there, he slowly allows himself to slide down towards the ground, by which point he draws his trenchcoat about himself, effectively relying upon the black leather to obscure him from sight. After all, whilst the Kensai can fend for himself? It would still be a considerable nuisance to not only be jumped by one or more of the forests myriad denizens (Both natural, and those which had emerged from the rift), not to even mention the potential inconvenience inherant in drawing the attention of the Pond's 'Beast'. And speaking of the beast, it's food source has dwindled considerably. Of those cultists which remain, whilst three have taken refuge within a small crevasse in the ground, two of their number remain at the Kraken's mercy. The first poor sod is quite busy screaming himself hoarse, as the beast drags him in a winding path about the pool- whilst the second? The second lies collapsed at the waters edge, unconscious by all accounts, and yet perfectly untouched. A curious detail, but one perhaps explained by it's interest in 'playing' with the more animate of food items available.


Madigan didn't immediately spot anyone around the point where she thought the man had run through. She studies the ground floor and notices a particular patch of leaves that'd been crushed - obviously where the man had fallen - but she spots no one. She moves further along the forest's edge through the trees to see if maybe she's mistaken about the man's entry point into the forest. Several feet away, about two trees over, she pauses in an African crouch and waits. Maybe she'll hear something. Her moss green eyes scan the floor around her but she's not ready to see anything hiding in a trenchcoat, so she really doesn't. She sighs quietly and relaxes in place, lowering herself further into the African crouch. Ajani whimpers lightly but by now Madigan is aware he's just dreaming, so she pays the sound no mind. Instead, she looks around her again to see if something had heard him and would make its presence known.


Kasyr is loathe to stop watching the display, especially when the Kraken's latest plaything is currently in the process of flailing and shrieking bloody murder. That being said, the Kensai is getting a -very- distinct feeling of something looking for him, which is only reinforced by the realization that there are empathic emanations coming from close by. Had one of the cultists managed to sneak away, despite both his, and the 'Tentacled Terrors' scrutiny? If that's the case, The kensai resolves to congratulate the fellow before stabbing them. It's with that in mind that the Kensai slowly begins to withdraw his hand into the sleeve of his trenchcoat, fingers brushing along the interior. A curious enough construct, the coat is a remarkable combination of leather, mithril mesh, and preklek plating- woven together to form a highly durable, yet relatively comfortable piece of finery. Still, it is considerably heavier than most people would consider feasible for casual wear- and hazardous, by virtue of more than just being potentially fatal if it's dropped on someone. After all, there's a number of mithril scalpels secreted away within the sleeves, contained within a number of metal slats- one of which the Kensai is in the process of manually retrieving.


Madigan decides to return her attention to the hungry water creature and its prey by climbing to the tree closest to the clearing's edge. There she sits with attentive eyes, watching what seems like the last prey. She missed it; she frowns, disappointed in having missed most of the predator's hunting. She decides to move back farther away from the clearing's edge to avoid the tentacle creature taking notice of her, and she drops to the floor in the hopes of a light landing. That was not the case, however. She ends up crashing on top of a mass on the ground she'd not noticed. Is that cloth she's on top of? She struggles away from the thing, having a hard time of it what with awkward angles.


Kasyr curses, rather audibly, at that. It's not so much the sudden collision, so much as the manner in which he abruptly clenches his fist- at once shattering the Mithril scalpel he had all but retrieved, whilst simultaneously carving through flesh and muscle. "Ffff-" The rest of that word is promptly cut out by the sound of twigs and leaves suddenly crunching, having apparently been caught in the path of the curious semi-solid mass of shadow which ruptures from the Kensai's person- seemingly fashioned for the strict purpose of hastily dislodging Madigan from the Revenants person. Not that she's all too likely to get a good glance, since hit or miss, that calignous tendril is fairly quick to retract from whence it came as Kasyr clambers to his feet.


Madigan had been pushed over as soon as she managed to get some footing on the ground which sent her off her balance again. This only served to infuriate her like any animal would be that's getting knocked off its balance repeatedly. Disturbed by the abrupt jerk, Ajani starts to cry out and baby-dragon roar its agitation. He'd been soundly asleep when all of a sudden, hell broke loose for him. Madigan regains her footing and slips the basket off her shoulders, her usually soft skin morphing fluidly into the roughness and thickness of a tree's bark. She hisses at the thing she'd fallen on, not in the least appreciating its pushing her.


Satoshi told Kasyr, "*a series of light nudges precedes a hasty mental replay* [Kuzial spends a quiet moment staring at Satoshi, letting her know with just a look that he would rather be anywhere else but here, until with a faint nod - a gesture given between equals - he speaks in his unconsciously euphonious voice. "It is not war, Frostmaw Queen. At least, not between you and I." Ignoring the guards entirely, he steps closer to the queen. "But you and I are at war with another. He whose name I would rather not speak." The drow makes a gesture with his foot like he were crushing a bug which explains enough. "Yet, Satoshi, I cannot wage a war with enemies lurking in the shadows... enemies like your husband..." He stops there to try and gauge her reaction, before he speaks once more. "So I come seeking a truce. Not alliance, I'd rather align myself with anyone before Kasyr, but at the least an agreement our blades will not seek each others' flesh." Though he doesn't say it, it is clear with how he speaks he wants this truce to extend to her and her formidable companions, also.] What say, you~?"


Kasyr told Satoshi, "*There's a long pause here, before the response finally arrives* I've not actively pursued him in quite some time. In part, due to the..gravity of certain situations diverting me. In part, due to other complications. Still, if he seek's a truce, so that he might bury his blade in the leechs' minions unhindered, I'll not deny him that priviledge."


Kasyr takes a step forward, before simply canting his head off to the side- simultaneously befuddled by Madigan, and her mewling dragon, as well as distracted by..something else. With a blink and a faint nod of his head, the Kensai proceeds to slide his hands into his trenchcoat- before leaning towards the unexpected interloper, "Et who the hell are...?" Kasyr squints a little at Madigan. The forest is pretty dark and ominous, after all, which sometimes makes things a little less clear. "Er.." There's also an awkward bit of gesturing with his left hand, as he proceeds to use it to loosely gauge height. "...Not a cultist, are tu?" Whilst a relatively harmless question, given that the Kensai's an empath- it's deceptively useful. That, and dryads don't tend to be apostles of the apocalypse. "..And that mewling lizard."


Madigan 's eyebrows come together in confusion. "What of it?" She eyes him up and down, noting his ears. Ajani manages to knock his basket over and pushes the lid off with his light weight. He crawls out and hisses angrily, not liking being ignored for too long by his mother. He leaps toward her but his front leg gets caught in a hole and he flips over, landing on his head with a squeak. Madigan glances down quickly at him and sticks her foot out to try to push him behind her. "Ajani, no. Stay back. Go back into the basket." He whines at her, butting his head against her calf. As long as he's behind her, she's satisfied. Her green eyes turn back to the calico-eared man, awaiting an answer.


Kasyr offers a sidelong glance at the pond, given he hasn't heard anything in a bit. With it placid as can be, save for a few bubbles, his attention flicks back to Madigan, and especially that eyecatching dragon of hers, "Allow me to properly introduce myself, enfin. Kasyr Azakhaer, I imagine you've heard of moi?King of Vailkrins Vampire community, as well as King Consort of Frostmaw." The kensai allows those words to settle in for a moment, before he simply adds, "You're..one of her's, are you not?" Despite having remained within Vailkrin for the last few months, the Kensai has remained in constant contact with Satoshi, to keep himself abreast of matters in Frostmaw. Something which is no doubt partially responsible for the relative lack of hostility being displayed, despite the somewhat unpleasent introduction. "What brings you here?"


Madigan furrows her brow once more. She'd never heard of him but the mention of Frostmaw catches her attention. "Satoshi?" she asks for clarification. "What does 'consort' mean?" She scoops Ajani up finally, realizing this Kasyr man wasn't going to try to attack her. She allows her skin to smooth over as it had been before. She watches him carefully, wondering why he'd been moving his hand the way he had. A spelldance, maybe?


Kasyr gives her a particular look, before shaking his head. Dryads. "Oui, Satoshi. Et consort means Husband. Now then, I ask again, madamoiselle. What are you doing here, exactement?" Somewhere, off to the side- the cultists in the crevasse are finally starting to move once more, oh-so-quietly slipping out from their hiding place. Whether by virtue of zeal, or stupidity, the fellows are once more venturing towards the waters edge, albeit doing their utmost to avoid making any excess noise. Specifically, two of them venture towards the Pond itself, while the third discretely ventures towards his fallen companion- who, despite having fallen to the ground at the very verge of the pond, seems to have remained untouched.


Madigan makes an o-shape with her lips in understanding. A husband; look at that. She never would've suspected the Queen to have a husband but what would a dryad know? Her people neither had the ceremony nor a word for such a union in their language - for obvious reasons, of course. So, it would be reasonable for the notion of a married person to not occur to the dryad. "I was looking for useful things. Hostile environments tend to foster useful resources. What are you doing here, 'exactement'?" Madigan makes a habit of mimicking accents and unusual words that seem somewhat familiar, though rarely is it a maliciously intended thing. It's usually a playful response or even an unintentional habit.


Kasyr simply makes a broad sweeping motion with his left hand, before ending with a jerked thumb motion towards the cultists, "Keeping tabs on...unwanted elements in the area. They're doing a decent job of not being my problem, however." And speaking of them. The pair who had approached the waters edge were now filling containers full of the water, whilst occasionally looking about fearfully. On the other hand, the cultist who had run over to his companions aid was having a fair bit less fortune. Not so much in that he's being mauled, but more that his efforts to drag his comrade clear of that shore are meeting with a fair bit of resistance. It's comically futile, the manner in which he tugs and yanks upon his companions arms and torso, in an effort to get them budge. He is, in fact, so devoted to the task that he fails to even notice the thin tendril emerging from his fallen companions cloak. At least until it curls about his leg and tugs them both tugger and tuggee beneath those Abyssal waters. "Bait. So, that's why it left the body there."


Madigan glances over her shoulder at the scene once more, following Kasyr's line of sight. "Smart hunter. Not many animals would do that. What trouble are they causing you?" She turns her attention back to him. Remembering she has Ajani in her hands, she glances down at him only to see a sleeping hatchling in her arms. Dragons seem to sleep a lot more than she'd expected.


Kasyr can't help but smirk grimly as the cultists nearly drop their hard acquired 'goods'. "It's this city. That they are causing trouble for, I mean. The entirety of the city-state of Vailkrin. I'd say more, but.. well, it would take a long while to explain. Longer than I care." As he spoke, he slowly began to make his way around the tree- seemingly intent upon getting a better look at the display. And what a display it was! Even as both cultists sought to flee as quickly as they could from the pond, the beast within seemed far from down with them- a fact that was becoming more than apparent in the way those bleak waters violently churned and bubbled. With a sickening squelch, the 'waters' heave upwards, though rather then crash back down, they solidify- rapidly forming blasphemous mound of quivering black ooze. It's within mere moments that a vile form is vomited forth from that mass; as a massive tentacle bursts forth in a spray of ichor, before slamming down against the ground. It's with serpentine speed that the obscene appendage approaches, rapidly gaining upon the two cultists. It's only the sudden flaring of flame and darkness that betrays this confrontation as slightly less one sided than it initially seemed. ..Slightly, since despite the apparent magical capacity of those cultists, it does very little to halt it's advance. Faced with that realization, one of the cultists abruptly turns his focus upon his companion, a quick spell all that's needed to send his companion hurtling to the ground as his ropes spontaneously combust. It's with the hopes that his companion will provide a fitting sacrifice that he carries on- wholly unaware of the manner in which that Tentacle ignores the immoblized individual and pursues him instead. Realization only comes with the ominous shadow which is cast over him just moments before the tentacle smashes his body into pulp, and his half-cooked-and-inert companion back into the waters. Waters which gradually sink back down into a deceptively placid appearance.


Madigan stares out at the scene wide-eyed. Ajani remains undisturbed. "Well, then..." She looks around her at the surroundings, taking a good glance at everything. "Not returning to this pond..." she mutters under her breath. She suddenly looks up at Kasyr and smiles charmingly at him, though maybe it's not so obvious in the darkness of the forest. "I'll maybe be seeing you in the future, then. Nothing gets so big without prey around big enough to satisfy its hunger. I'll bet those people were a snack the way a lizard is a snack for a snake. I have a baby to think about," she tells him, raising the sleeping dragon up as explanation. "I would stay and watch more strange creatures feeding on overconfident, foolish people, but Ajani can't defend himself, so..." A tight-lipped smile as she moves toward her basket and straightens it, placing Ajani inside tenderly and putting the lid in place. She picks it up and places the basket's straps over her shoulders. A nod to Kasyr before she starts making her way back the way she came. "Oh, and," she turns to look at him. "You might want to get that cut healed before you go around touching things here. Everything is crawling with infectious bacteria. But maybe you already knew that." From her bag, she pulls out a lump of fungus uncommon to this area. "Crush it in a bit of water and then spread it into your wound to keep infection out." Thinking for a moment, she then adds, "You might not need it, though. But keep it anyway, or give it to an overconfident, foolish person who wants to try their luck against this wild." Another charming smile before she turns to leave.


Kasyr is sort of dead, what with being a vampire, but that doesn't stop him from accepting Madigans gift and offering her a brief smile, "I'm sure I'll find some use for this, Madamoiselle. Merci. Er. Thank you, as well. As it stands, my business in this wood es just about done, so I'll be departing as well. Just need to make sure none of those containers survived that..display." And yet, when the Kensai redirects his attention towards the Pond, none are visible. Though it's possible, and even likely, that the cultists had inadvertently dragged them to the ponds depths... "I could have sworn I saw one." A second glance confirms the same thing as the first, and so the Kensai simply moves to depart.