RP:The Vial
Main Graveyard Area
Hector is darting nervously around the murky darkness, trying in vain to look unsuspicious and innocuous. It's not everyday a dryad desecrates a grave, let alone one of such importance. She knows there will be dire repercussions for her actions, whether from necromancers who wish to claim her prize for themselves or those who had a certain respect for the particular monster that Hector and her friends would attempt to unearth and steal from.
Daisy wasn't quite sure exactly what they were off to do when Hector was all 'hey! let's go!' earlier that day. What she does know is that her friend hasn't steered her wrong yet! So she follows the dryad in a similar ninjaesque fashion. "Hector?" she hisses out a whisper. "What are we doing again?"
Hector parts her inky black vines that serve as hair so that she can get a better look at Daisy. The nervous dryad checks in all directions to be sure they shan't be overheard before leaning over to whisper the word that she would much rather be shouting. "Potions." There's a slight pause as the pale pearlescent dryad realizes that she needs to explain further. "A powerful necromancer has something of mine, and now I have come to reclaim it. Very rare, very valuable. . .very dangerous." A few necromancers enter from the south and Hector stares blankly at them, giving them a look she intends as innocent, but comes off as quite ghoulish. The necromancers decide to mind their own business for now.
Daisy 's eyes shimmer. Dangerous potions. Well you might as well dangle cake in front of a fat kid. If she wasn't ready before, she certainly is ready to help out now! Those necromancers show up and Daisy doesn't have to try to look innocent. She always looks sweet and lost when she comes to Vailkrin. Those mancers probably think the ghoulish Hector is going to eat the kitten. A smile is flashed and she whispers to Hector again. "Well you do have a right to your property."
Hector nods her head, not looking away from the death workers. She continues to fill in the kitty. "Rights have little hold where this necro is concerned. The potion itself is in direct opposition of natural law, as is the necro-chaotic-semi-undead-completely-dismembered-and-shredded-probably-won't-wake-up-or-else-we-are-so-past-dead-the-gods-will-wonder-what-happened corpse." If the dryad had pupils in her solid black eyes, they'd be extremely dilated in fear. Hector brushes her vines away from her face again to see if Daisy is still on board. "So, even if no one else stops us, the monster might wake up."
Daisy swallows one of those audible swallowings that happen when there is fear involved. Monsters waking up from the dead aren't so much her thing, but she is bound and determined to help her friend. It shall be done! Fear locked away behind that sunshiney disposition the kitten is so famous for, she smiles with a firm nod. "I'm behind you." Over there in a bit of brush is Snoozle, nomming on some weird leaves and trying not to make herself so noticeable. She's never really far from the druid. Probably a good thing too.
Hector nods determinedly and gives a vehement fist pump. Though the dryad is silent her intent couldn't be more clear: Potions!! The unicorn filly of that same name skips quietly but happily into view to sidle up next to Hector and nuzzle her gently. "Now, Potions, just like we practiced." The filly whickers softly and tosses her silvery mane gently. The ripple of the mane spreads into the rest of the world creating a necromantic buffer. Hector grins at Daisy, proud of her unicorn's new trick. "Now, we have the magical auras of necromancers. Our equiniform friends exude it. Should keep the townsfolk from mobbing with torches and pitchforks." The dryad places her hand on Potions’ back and they walk slowly through the graveyard looking for something. "The grave will be marked by a cow. And not just any cow. . ." Hector blinks in embarrassment as she realizes something awkward. "Er. . .well, let's just say it's a very recognizable cow. Not that -you- have any particular reason to recognize cows, but well." Hector doesn't know how to say it without seeming rude, so she just stops talking and scans the graves for the one she seeks.
Daisy is pleased to see Snoozle trot right up to her filly kin. Mostly because pitchforks and torches don't mix well with fur. Keeping the ponies close will prove useful indeed. The kitten actually climbs up onto Snoozle's back to help give her a little more height for looking around. Being not much taller than the gravestones proves to be less than helpful when looking through a yard of them. "I know what a cow looks like." What she doesn't know is of Hollow lore. There's that statue outside of the tavern in Kelay but she doesn't know what it is for other than a nice little perch for resting on.
Hector nods imperiously at the necromancers as she passes them. They duck their heads as the necromantic miasma brushes them. Such strength is daunting, but strangely they seem to feel a bit more powerful as well, as if, proximity is causing them to surpass former limits. The questors pass out of range before the necromancers have a chance to test the theory. Stygian unicorns empower death magic, and neither of the questors have access to the unnatural arcana. Fortunately, Hector has vast knowledge of applicable bits inside her untidy head. Eventually Potions stops and nudges at a small bovine statue. Hector is looking a bit too high. Apparently the stature of the necromancer priestess had escaped the dryads mind, but the filly could feel the power coming from the statue and was attempting to be helpful.
Daisy does her very best to look non-threatening as they pass the necromancers. No one has to know who or what she is. Hell, she could be the dryad's pet for all they know. Cute little dress up doll for Hector's entertainment. Maybe an assistant. Oh, that would be fun to do! Daisy makes it a point to note that little bit of fun to be mentioned when they aren't on such an important mission. She definitely hopes she can be of some use to Hector today. Maybe she'll need the kitten to fit into somewhere small or... the caravan stops, breaking up the feline's random train of thought. "Oh. I thought it would be bigger," she said.
Hector looks around in confusion. "Thought what would be bigger?" Potions is nudging Hector and digging at the base of the Daisy-sized statue of. . .well, a very important cow whose name would only confuse the matter. "You see the statue? Where?" The dryad peers in all directions except the correct one: down.
Daisy slips off of Snoozle's back with a little giggle. She does love this dryad so much. "Here." The bovine is caressed with a pair of tiny, furry paws that wipe away some dirt smudged there on the cowish face. Shame on you, kitten. You of all creatures should know that great things don't always come in large packages. The druid blinks then smiles again, giving Potions some praise. "Good job finding this."
Hector finally figures out what Potions had been telling her. "I'm sorry, dearie, don't know where my head was. Certainly wasn't on my shoulders." She kneels next to the divine bovine statuette and examines the engraving. "'I'ma punch you face!!'. Yes, this is certainly the right grave." She brushes away dust, moss, gravedirt, and other flotsam that accumulates in the dank darkness of even the best kept tombs. The more the questors work, the more the ethereal guardians take notice. It isnt until Hector moves the statue that the guardians manifest: specters and phantasms called into being by one Joliette Thorne, activated by the presence of grave desecrators. "Oh dear," Hector says. "This could be a mite troublesome."
Daisy does her very best to help Hector clean up the statue. So engrossed with her work, she doesn't notice the guardians. She barely notices when Hector notices them and then verbally expresses the noticing. "What is it? Oh." Great. Specters and phantasms don't tend to care how cute you are. "What do we do?" For now, the female pair have a pacing, protective, pony barrier between themselves and those guardians. Snoozle shakes her mane with a snort, determined not to let anyone hurt her kitten.
Hector holds very still, mind racing to think of a potion that can save her. Potions always saved Hector before, and Potions would again. The stygian filly stands in front of her friend and snorts a challenge. The activity draws the necromancers from before into the area. "Hey, they're desecrating the Archpriestess' tomb!" "You felt their power, the specters are no match, quick send more power into the shades!" The necromancers send aid to the shades, and the proximity to the unicorns acts as a loop to make the specters infinitely more powerful they glide forward, crackling with dark energies raking their claws toward the primary criminal, Hector. Potions rears up and bonks the specter, which rakes a large gash in the poor filly's side. A screaming whinny reverberates throughout the town, stopping everyone dead in their tracks. For anyone who's seen a stygian unicorn get hurt knows one thing, at least they do if they have a mnemnat to shield them. The scream of the filly combined with the intensely focused necromantic energies calls in a hurricane of dense angry fog, a fog that will erase that deafening scream, and the injury itself from all memory. The phantasms fade back into death, forgetting what had called them. The necromancers forget their entire lives and wander aimlessly through town. Those farther away will merely forget the last few minutes, and will assume they were simply daydreaming. The two femmes and their stygian unicorn friends, are taking the brunt of it. The lethe mists heal them and erase the entire quest from their minds, but when they wake up, Hector will connect the dots and fill everyone in, without the scary bits that just went bye-bye. Not to worry though, more scary bits are to come.
Daisy is being licked in the face by her sweet Snoozle. Stygian ponies are something fierce, aren't they? But what the heck just happened? Grave. Open. Bovine statue. Oh, hello Hector. She pulls herself up with the pony's aid while listening to Hector's dot connecting. "Okay." Really? That is all you have to say? Oh well. Carry on, kitten. And she does, kneeling down by that grave. "If you tell me what you're looking for, you can lower me down and I'll get it."
Hector said to Daisy, "Well, to most people it'd just look like a shard of glass. It's a very tiny vial, about the size of. . .um, I don't know of anything that small. Let's go, a tenth of a grain of rice. Yes, that small, glass vial." Hector helps dig and in her fervor, she bumps the cow statuette and knocks it over. Air rushing past brings the unmistakable sound of a cowbell. . .and angry mooing. "Oh bugger, hold on to your hat. We've made. . .er. . .a very powerful cow. . .angry."
Daisy thinks it is probably good for Hector that she has really awesome kitten eyes that can see pretty much anything. Like when your cat just stares at the corner of the wall and you swear nothing is there. Yeah. They see something. "Would it be kept in something like a locket or..." Whoosh! Daisy does indeed place both paws on that floppy hat of hers to keep it from flying away. "Well," she speaks over the mooing. Or tries to anyway. "It is probably a good thing animals like me, hm?" She grins, thankful for already being on the ground since she'd probably get knocked over anyway.
Hector giggles nervously. "I really hope she likes you." The divine cow appears in all her glory, warping and reshaping the world, undoing everything that had been done. Hector's eyes widen and tear up as she recalls the pain that Potions had gone through, and is again as the cow undoes the healing. Toxic tears land on the ground and illogically sprout into flowers, daisies of all things. Hector leans over to drape herself over the mortally injured unicorn. "Please, not Potions. . .anything but Potions." It seems to be what the ascended cow wants, an apothecary saying 'no potions' a reversal. The cow reverses the injury and Potions is whole again. The distraught dryad doesn't see what the cow does to the kitty that shares her name.
Daisy doesn't know what to do! She's never met a cow god before. Goddess? Higher being. Little paws twist gently at her waist while Snoozle tots over there to nuzzle and comfort Hector and Potions. She puts on that brave smile of hers and approaches the ascended. "Hello Miss." So polite while gesturing to Hector and the ponies. "We're honored to see you today." Another smile is flashed, but it quickly dies. The kitten's paws immediately reach back to her tail. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. That five inch bit of tail is all that is left. The bit that was hacked off by Kuzial? Daisy was saving it, trying to put it back on. It is dust now, never to be recovered. The cow doesn't care. She takes what she wants. What are you doing? Don't just touch a god! "My name is Daisy," she whispers, placing a paw on the bovine's nose.
Hector blanches when she hears what the kitten had said last. Claiming to have the same name as a goddess!! That's insane. Hector raises her teary eyes to look at the cow. Potions shivers in fear, she may have a permanent fear of cows now. The Ascended Daisy blinks slowly, and bows to the kitty having been out-nonsensed. The goddess bowing to a mortal, the ultimate irony and reversal. The goddess departs, but not before undoing one last thing: the burial of the casket. With one last ringing of her cowbell, bovine Daisy is gone.
Daisy can't hold herself up anymore. She falls to her knees and crawls that bit back to Hector and offers her dryad friend the weakest of smiles. "I can find your shard now." She reaches over to wipe those tears from Hector's face with the back of her furry fingers. So soft. "Will you help me down?"
Hector slowly lowers the kitty down. "Remember to be quiet. We don't want to wake her up, we've already drawn enough attention to cause problems." A light thump comes from inside the casket. "I really hope those are just glow worms in there."
Daisy wrinkles her nose and tries to breathe as little as possible. Someone should invent Febreeze already. This is terrible down here! "I'll be quiet," she whispers back while walking along the top of that casket. Glow worms. Right. Yes that is what is in there. Down on all fours, the kitten tries to get the casket open. It takes a ridiculously long time with her weak little paws, probably creating some sort of tension above ground. Ah, but she does get it open and the moonlight just so happens to shine a perfect little glint on that shard. How convenient. Using a claw from her forefinger and thumb, the kitten fetches that little vial and smiles up at Hector. "I got it." It seems that is not all you found, kitten.
Hector reaches down to pull Daisy back up with their prize. A dim glow emanates from within the casket, followed by a second. A pair of pea-shaped creatures zip out of the casket drawn to the unicorns. They undead critters zip faster and faster, glowing brighter and brighter. They'd spent so long locked underground with their Mistress, and now they were free. Soon the power would spill over and they'd burn the unicorns, and incinerate the flammable dryad. They zip around so fast that they appear to be whips of flame, scorching the air and snapping at leaves. The pile of ashes where the brush used to be was a clear indicator of what the tiny undead orbs wanted. Hector takes Daisy's hand to get her out of the hole where she'd be a sitting target. The dryad dives to the side to avoid the streak of one flaming whip.
Daisy kind of topples out of the hole, but manages to keep their treasure safe. "Hector? What are those?!" For once, the feline is glad she is small! One of the creatures zips by, nearly catching her furry little ears on fire. Oh, reasoning with something like this is nearly impossible! Do they even speak or understand common? "Snoozle, watch out!" Great. Well. Maybe the things will accept a taunting. From the ground comes a whirlwind of leaves. They fly in a diamond shape, staying in perfect form. Now and then a single leaf will shoot out at the nuisances. Come get me. They dance some more, daring to be set on fire. Can't catch me. Those leaves move further from the ladies and their pets, forever taunting and teasing the creatures. Daisy will send those leaves as far as she can possibly send them.
Hector is rolling and leaping trying not to burn. The leaves distract the flaming undead slightly. "I don't know, Daisy, but they are on -fire-." Upon hearing the name of their mistress' Goddess, the undead have the sense to skedaddle, or more precisely, gowai. The Arch Priestess of Daisy was scary enough, they didn't want to deal with Daisy herself. Hector stands up and brushes herself off. "Okay, that was odd." She steps closer to Daisy to examine the vial. It's so tiny that it's small wonder it had escaped notice before. Who would possibly make a vial that small? and what could possibly be inside. Fortunately, Hector already knows the answers to those questions, so won't need to ask them. "Yes, we've got it. Now we just need to get outta heres before someone or something else attacks us. Potions!" Seeing that her filly is still quite shaken, she rubs her ears and withdraws a flask of whiskey. "Drink up, hun. We can't fix what a god does, but we can get ourselves drunk enough to get through the hard times, yes?" Potions lips the bottle, and a faint mist rises to push away the painful memories and combat the alcohol. The unicorn won't get drunk, but she still will feel a little better. "Daisy? Thank you for your help. Can I have the vial, now? Very dangerous, and whatnot." The dryad can barely keep the avarice out of her voice. Getting this potion is a huge success.
Daisy lets out a soft whistle as she hands over the vial to Hector. "I'm glad I could help." Snoozle comes right away and the druid hops up on her back. Luckily nothing happened to Daisy's Little Pony, but she'll find out about her tail later. "Take care and call on me if you need more help with something." It isn't always dangerous doing things with Hector. Last time granted her Snoozle. This time... er... she met a divine bovine! Yes. Positive things, positive things.
Hector said to Daisy, "Okay, I will. I think I'll let Potions sit the next one out though. She isn't supposed to get hurt. . .not even by gods."