NIGHT

2 hours ago, Kingsley said:

Crafting Attempt #4
ID220908 CD: 8 LD: 1 (Uncommon Item)

Name: Lemon Ginger Herbal Tea
Profession: R3 Alchemist
Item IDs: 220908
Item Type: Tierless Uncommon Salve
Enhancements:  Antidote I
Description: A soothing, feel-better tisane with refreshing lemon, ginger and mint.
Post Link: URL

approved.

7 hours ago, Kingsley said:

27/3/2024 .

Crafting Attempt #1
ID220818 CD: 11 LD: 15 (Rare Item)

Name: White Chai
Profession: R2 Alchemist
Item IDs: 220818
Item Type: Tierless Rare Salve
Enhancements:  Antidote II
Description: Delicate white tea spiced with classic chai aromatics.
Post Link: URL

Crafting Attempt #2
ID220819 CD: 11 LD: 8 (Rare Item)

Name: White Chai
Profession: R2 Alchemist
Item IDs: 220819
Item Type: Tierless Rare Salve
Enhancements:  Antidote II
Description: Delicate white tea spiced with classic chai aromatics.
Post Link: URL

Crafting Attempt #3
ID220820 CD: 10 LD: 19 (2x Uncommon Items)

Name: Lemon Ginger Herbal Tea
Profession: R2 Alchemist
Item IDs: 220820
Item Type: Tierless Uncommon Salve
Enhancements:  Antidote I
Description: A soothing, feel-better tisane with refreshing lemon, ginger and mint.
Post Link: URL

Name: Lemon Ginger Herbal Tea
Profession: R2 Alchemist
Item IDs: 220820-1
Item Type: Tierless Uncommon Salve
Enhancements:  Antidote I
Description: A soothing, feel-better tisane with refreshing lemon, ginger and mint.
Post Link: URL

approved.

one violent swing -- despite the reach of her blade, it wouldn't come into contact with bleeding giant's surface. merely, like the wave of a wand, the sword skimmed the dog's back and swept away the colors of killjoy from the world. when it shriveled, its figure glowed white before bursting into fragments of light.

night sighed at the same time she heard the faint noise of a second exit portal breaking open behind her. its white light spilled over their forms, and she offered a hand to star. for a split second, she thought of home. "it really didn't like you, huh? and you were so friendly to it earlier. does that happen to you for all dogs...?"

how strange. and here she thought she'd offended the dog, somewhat. was it because star got the killing blow on the witch...?

whatever the case, she gestured to the portal before looking back to star. "unless you've got something else to do here."

tight spaces should've been a little easier for night -- small size and all that. but her fighting style had always kept the use of greatswords in mind, and so came the woman's defensiveness as star took the lead in the strike afterwards. night slipped back to make room, once it became apparent that the dog was gunning towards the player who'd freed it from its cage.

damn, hadn't it heard of not biting the hand that feeds it?

(maybe it got hungry being stuck in there for so long.)

the mutt's single-mindedness meant it had a blind spot, and night was banking on exploiting this as she pounced on its side with a crash. the yelp she squeezed out the wolf sounded apt for a pup, but the snarls afterwards, alongside the frenzied turn framed it for the monster it was. furiously sweeping its tail, what small ornaments littered around the room were breaking on the cold, stone floor.

night simply batted the sword in her hand, testing killjoy for a challenge.

"So you've come," boomed an unfamiliar voice through the keep.

"oh," night muttered. "goddammit."

down the hall was a large room in disarray. was it used for functions in the past? given the decor, it seemed that it should be so, but the throne ahead highlighted a kind of irregularity that night couldn't place reason to.

"Monologue incoming," koga had said.

"i'd already tuned out," night replied, quiet.

"--Why, how dare you? Have you no manners?"

to be honest, it wasn't like their enemies had any manners, either. only courteous to introduce oneself during a first meeting or some such, yet when some other man walked in on their crossing paths, he spoke without an introduction. and neither did the apparent queen give them a name -- she'd only been able to guess from the man's brief mention of it in instruction.

so when she finally comprehended the interactions between (the vampires...?) the attention she was suddenly given from the newcomer had been uncomfortable. somehow, night was just as irritated that he decided to take the throne too, but in the way that the scene reminded her of something familiar. maybe... if the man's suit was in blue...?

"Uh, of course Master. Right, where was I? Oh, yes, suffer!"

'master?' oh yeah, night was suffering alright.

she shrugged alongside koga. they had come in without a plan, and so their battle henceforth would commence also without a plan, since that had worked so well for them so far. their priorities seemed to differ as they entered combat, because while koga was cornering the vampire spawns, night decided to chase lilith herself.

an aerial enemy was no problem. with her blade fixed across her torso, tip pointed towards the mistress, she let the system take her soaring far upwards, night cutting through her foe. then, to even the playing field, a recovery swing forced lilith to the ground, the monster slamming right into koga -- but more importantly, force shattering the trapped minions from the impact. night landed on the ground with a simple stabilizing hop, readying her blade for the next move from the boss.

"... no way just 'a little'."

sure, maybe star wasn't cast to do specific numbers that put his character on center stage, to sing. but it was hard for night to believe he was anything but great at what he had to do, opportunity offered to his talent or otherwise. she might've winced at his question back. "i don't think i can compare to 'mister broadway' here. karaoke doesn't really count..."

when they broke into the bedroom, night wasn't too certain if star had guessed its inhabitant to be dorothy or the witch. either way, whilst she was inspecting the decor along the walls, her companion had already let loose toto from its cage.

“aww, isn’t he cute?”

"he sure is." night hadn't given it any thought.

but she should've, just as the growth of the pup had taken star by surprise. in a flash, her oath was drawn, and her hasty single-handed swing met its lunge the split second it attacked. a flash of white, and they were caught in that brief lock; night forced her weight against their struggle, holding her ground.

and it worked. repelled, the wolf skid backwards, creating distance between itself and the players. night huffed, placing another hand on the hilt of her sword.

"what, did i not sound enthusiastic enough? i'm more a cat person myself... you don't need to hold a grudge."

#

#

so night did, nonchalantly, piercing through the heart of the last winged monkey. she stepped through the rising ashes of its corpse once she'd jiggled her sword's tip from the floor.

"too bad," she commented, unsure of how to follow up from there. that status -- child star (was she familiar with it...?) -- made it difficult for night to ask questions without possibly feeling like an insensitive idiot, she realized. but also, beyond pure curiosity, an ignorance was matched in turn. could she imagine what that kind of lifestyle must've been like? she barely even knew how people outside of her country were living like. vague notions were all she had and could remember.

night strode past him, half wanting to peer over star's shoulder at the book he as examining. she fought the urge. "did they train you to sing specifically?" was all she could muster. it wasn't so much of a legitimate question than to signal the fact that she was done and ready to move on, standing by the steps that took them further upwards.

"i'd take a list," night shot back. despite her personal ratings of the places he'd mentioned, it was still worth noting what the active adventurers of aincrad were doing, keeping track of their whereabouts just in case there needed to be some sort of gathering again. like with floor boss fights, bistro would've reasoned. i wouldn't want to go losing anymore friends, night thought instead.

they continued with the theatre talk. "so you had to sing, too? did your cast mates ever take you to one of those bars for a gathering? the ones where performers volunteer on a scheduled night out drinking..."

night's voice faded, but only because the woman was searching her memories for a more concrete name. 42 street? didn't seem right. she only snaped out of it once star had moved into the next room with a dash.

he hit nothing but air.

well, that's what backup was for. her oath gave one of the monkeys an extra kick on star's behalf.

#

#

"oh yeah?" it wasn't as though she was disinterested, even if she sounded to be as such. rather, small talk like this wasn't exactly comfortable for night to handle, and behind that calmness was a mind constantly active, hard at work. most would've followed the statement up immediately with a better response, but there was a long pause before she added, "where've you been?"

lackluster. night tried not to look at star when she said that, nor her accidental offense towards him. big oopsies. she only shrugged. "you're going to have to tell me more about this wizard of oz on broadway, fiyero. was it a musical or a play? doesn't the scarecrow get more screentime than the wizard, or am i getting that the other way around?"

there wasn't time for them to get complacent, even though night had already sunk into that mentality. munchkins? no, she wasn't sure of who'd they encountered. but when the party drew their attention, it wasn't fair not to be hostile against them. they started it first, night reasoned, dissatisfied about ending them without negotiations.

not just the boss spinning any more. like a certain blue hedgehog from memory, it took off towards the outer edges of the arena and threw up a frenzied whirlwind, the force of which was enough to bluster night's coat, and...

-- was sorun in the air?

she'd noticed one she was tracking the boss' movements, a feat harder without her searching skill at top condition. night scowled when she began to lose her footing too, but fought against the harsh winds just to get close enough to fire an attack. cardinal's detection system for the sword arts wasn't exactly dependent on the presence of targets before them -- one could hypothetically strike air for practice if they wanted. this wasn't the scenario.

timing wasn't exactly her forte, but even her early swing as the pangolin was approaching had a lasting detection as her strike ending, stopping the boss temporarily in its tracks to flinch. night had expected to take the killing slow, so while it was barely in balking damage for the boss, it was enough to drop gravity to its expected levels for barely a moment.

the terra firma charged forth. like every song and dance ever, night supposed. but partway through its run did the creature pick up speed -- which was odd. night was used to it switching to it deliberately at the start of its movement before attacking rather than as part of. she watched the beast roll towards her at high speeds, and if night felt safe about this sight, it was due to the fact that she could redirect it away from sorun.

so she ducked, sword sliding against the unarmored flesh of the terra firma where it had coiled up loose, but remained exposed. instead of coming to a halt once it reached the edge of the arena, however, the pangolin but stayed, turning faster, almost as though to pick up speed even if it never went anywhere.

what? was it stuck? night watched it a little longer, confused, blade in hand to her side.

night hummed, surprised, and stumbled back once the witch had fallen. nothing but ashes -- just like the books. but given that star hadn't moved through the portal home yet, she steeled herself to pay attention: her companion was directing her upstairs.

they never did explore the rest of the castle, so surely it begged the question of what it must've been for.

"i never took you to be interested in exploration," she replied, arms folded. "but then again, i never took anyone else to be interested in doing more work than what was necessary, either." still, she strolled forward, taking the lead on their ascension upwards.

in the original tale, there were a lot more enemies the witch had sent out against the tinman, scarecrow and lion. for elphaba, she recalled, there wasn't anyone else she was sure was kept captive on purpose. experiments from the wizard at best, but no more.

"they put you as the scarecrow anyway." night spoke aloud, almost to beat back the fear of being in the dark while going through the stairwell. "out of pity, you figure?"

an answer she wasn't capable of refuting, so she sent him the invite with her own reply. "night. nice to meet you, sorun."

it wasn't a while longer that they'd reached the edge of the dustbowl. terra firma's habitat was almost like an arena, with slippery sand slopes that lead any unlucky fauna down to its heart, where they might be subjected to the beast himself... though night had always suspected the creature to be an herbivore in its ecology.

"it'll move fast," she started, crouching down in preparation to slide down the dunes at the bowl's edge. "see if you can find a rocky ledge to ascend back up after we get down there. that'll busy you while you wait. it shouldn't be long for me to take care of that thing."

then, without further warning, she dove in with a roll, one foot ahead of her to cut through the sand almost as though it was fluid. she got to the bottom steady, sword drawn and waved around as though it was a baton.

time to get the creature's attention.

"hey, asshole!" she hollered, unserious. "i'm going to build a bureaucracy on your land if you don't come fight me right now!"

"you'll be a statistic by not being careful," was the last she stated on the subject, still intentless, before starting off with the man behind her. as she talked, her hands were fiddling with the quest interface; hasty through practice, yet relaxed in performance. 

"so here's what we'll do: you try getting a hit on it if you can. the beast is tricky, but it'll lock you in combat even if your blow doesn't connect. let me take the bulk of its attention; just defend yourself against the storm if possible. i won't be liable for what happens if you suffer from environmental damage, so get ready those beginner potions if you have any."

and it was only halfway through their journey that she remembered something important, the field of the party invite blank on the interface ahead of her.

night's head swiveled to turn to her companion, and she squinted, studying his face. familiar? she wasn't sure. "sorry. have we met before? or do you just hang around the town of beginnings often? -- i haven't gotten a name."

the witch had definitely changed as far as her memory was concerned.

it wasn't elphaba any longer -- no green skin, and no visible broomstick-staff. the same sort of cackle, however, and goth-looking attire; placed in any modern-day street, night would've assumed it a random middle-aged goth and paid her no more attention.

so when star decided to get to work, so too did night into the fray.

"If you're Dorothy, does that make me the dog?"

she clambered up the stairs by the side, away from the bulk of the fireballs. star's assault was her distraction -- night took advantage of the witch's blind spot to strike her through with a lunge.

"whatever made you say that?"

atop the stairs was a safe place to be; the stage was even, flat. maybe the carpet, however rugged would pose a possible environmental threat, but night felt unlikely to lose her footing on the cloth. she stepped back at the comment, sword at the ready. "i'm not dorothy," she stated, "but between you and me, do you just like being inhuman for a bit? first the scarecrow, now the dog..."

never mind. the only thing that was stopping her from assuming this conversation was part of the quest was the fact that the person in front of her was a player himself.

"... are you really going to be okay in that...?" she'd started to ask. but the man continued on with a monologue, and painted a really strange picture of a novice trying his best to do anything... except he came to the fifth floor. almost five levels too early in most people's opinions, including night's own.

so she blinked twice. how was her tolerance for sociability doing? somehow, despite the trial from earlier, the player was no abdullah at the very least, so night gambled and figured she could do with a little more.

"are you really that impatient?" she first started. cold and blunt, yet lacking the hostilities of a proper insult. but then she gestured to the desert bowl ahead with the nod of her head, turning to face it slow. "i'll be headed that way if you need that boost. and if that doesn't work out too well for you, i'll walk you back to town, too. just don't act too recklessly again in the future if you want to keep your head on your shoulders..."

was there a second part to her sentence? night only heard the first bit, and wasn't sure why nari started laughing, standing in place. then again, it wasn't as though night had the headspace to come up with a response -- but it wasn't as though she knew what to add onto that, either.

"er, you know... like the sport...?" she weakly added, watching lilith slither and circle the arena. when the figure lunged towards the players, night rolled and went into a counter hit with an uppercut swing. she listened to nari then, watching the boss try to get up without stumbling, especially in its decrepit state.

"it's no problem," night returned, almost in a whisper. the player had her doubts about the quest right then -- between lilith's inability to strike hard and fast despite the blessings from earlier and the mystery of the quest-given sword. surely, she wondered, there had to be a catch that they were both missing.

and speaking of catches, she wasn't going to forget --

"living is definitely preferrable."

weakpoints of a terra firma...

talk about one of the more boring jobs to do. night would've had chalked it up to chance if she'd been dealing the information as a broker, but it's exactly her distaste for discrete accuracy that pinned her as the executioner's sort, and not the judge. she held a hand over her mouth as she yawned, walking through the safe zone's borders; if there were hostile creatures around, night was half hoping fighting spirit had some sort of passive to drive them all away. there wasn't a reason for her to pick on the weak creatures if she didn't need to.

the quest had originally started from a rumored hunt, but this time, talking to abdullah before she left town was annoying and exhausting -- like she had the col to pay the guy for asking about the one pest he wanted exterminated! of all things, she should've been the one getting paid the mark's bounty. cordial as she had to be, it still took her being patient and leaving approximately two hours later for the quest to have started.

night was never planning on doing this again if she had to. at least offloading the conversation part to someone else...

in the waste was a player in red, far away, but along the path to her destination. she thought nothing of it as she tugged on her white poncho, holding it up to her face in expectance of a sandstorm. then, she got closer, and realized the man wasn't exactly fit for the weather.

"town's that way," she said, and pointed behind her towards fortazela. deeply indifferent, she expected to move on with thanks (or at minimum without argument), the player being sleepy as usual.

| NIGHT  | Lv. 144 >> P. 112, Lv. 32  | Status: //  Notes:  //

Spoiler NIGHT | HP: 1080/1080 | EN: 146/146 | DMG: 27 | ACC: 7 | EVA: 6 | LD: 9 | BH+HB: 108 | FLN/HLY: 16 | Stealth Rating: 6 equipped oathkeeper. FLN II, HLY II regards. EVA II, HB II signet. ACC III, EVA battle-ready inventory Teleport Crystal (3) | TELEPORT imugi's inspiration. (5) | MASS HP RECOVERY skills Spoiler mod count: 5/7 STRAIGHT SWORD | RANK 5/5 focus, stamina, precision shift: aoe CLOTH ARMOR | RANK 5/5 athletics, nimble COMBAT MASTERY: DMG | RANK 3/3 SEARCHING | RANK 3+1/5 BATTLE HEALING | RANK 5/5 emergency recovery ENERGIST QUICK CHANGE CHARGE FIGHTING SPIRIT HOWL focused howl SCOUTING FAMILIAR EXTENDED MOD LIMIT extra SURVIVAL CONCENTRATION HIDING untraceable, vanish, surprise attack-t buffs Spoiler statue KUMATETSU | +1 DMG consumables Liquor of Light | DMG III Breakfast Fry | PROTEIN II Crème Brûlée | filled | ACC III Smores | EVA II paragon Lv. 5 | Gain additional col equivalent to 15% of EXP earned in that thread. Lv. 10 | +1 LD to looting. sword arts Spoiler en cost matches multiplier unless stated otherwise. shift underlined. ST | x12 -> x15 | x20 AOE | x15 -> x18 TECH-A | x12 | STUN | 13EN TECH-B | x12 | DELAY TECH-D | x12 | SHATTER TECH-F | x8 | AOE STUN  TECH-G | x12 | BURN misc. Spoiler housing Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Searching | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests. foraging | r2 | xp: 69/150 Greenhouse | +2 G.EXP, +1 CD&LD to gathering attempts. Familiar: Profession | +2 G.EXP Demeter's Cornucopia | +1 CD to gathering attempts.

night's face scrunched up. she then promptly skipped over the highlight of the answer that most people would've likely honed in on: "...the wizard of oz was on broadway?"

"yeah, you're right. they missed out on a lot of the cast. i'm surprised we haven't fought any kalidahs." 

"gesundheit."

"if they were going to skip anything, why not the tornado?"

the question hung in the air on their trek, though night considered it as they made their way to the castle. once they'd entered the courtyard and alerted the first squadron of flying monkeys, she darted, stance low, past star's initial attack. in a swing he was able to take down the vanguard -- and while night hadn't expected reinforcements in her run, she was definitely prepared to take them on.

so that's what occurred further ahead and to the side when larger bat-beasts came diving in. like comets, they twisted through their trajectory with tucked wings, that only spread once the monkeys had gotten close to night. she didn't let them have the initiative moving forward; them getting ready for an attack just as well had meant being vulnerable to oncoming destruction.

a short run from the gate would lead them to the castle's main entrance. as it opened slow, night pushed against its surface harder, ushering star to get through to safety -- and fast.

"you missed the perfect chance to say 'i've a feeling we're not in kansas anymore,'" star had said.

to that, night returned a wry smile.

"was it in a middle-school play?" she queried him, as they started to walk. "when you played the scarecrow, i mean." the question wasn't entirely serious, but night wasn't sure when the wizard of oz would be involved in anyone else's life as something other than a story from a book.

the trek up towards the castle was more a winding path up several slopes, from the route night had opted to take. short and easy. there was the choice of scaling the rock face directly, but that seemed more a hassle than anything, so she decided to avoid that strategy.

"it's curious," night began, "that the wicked witch would be present here, but unlocking this quest hadn't required the wizard himself. in that same vein, shouldn't there be a second witch to kill, too? hypothetically, of course."

she too believed she'd missed a second opportunity -- one where she'd click some red heels twice for show.

"and goodness knows, the wickeds' lives are lonely..."

bright-eyed and distant, sitting perched on a tall rock just a distance away from star. she'd been watching the sky to pass the time, and though she didn't have to wait long, night had already started to get comfortable with the loneliness of their silence. in the corner of her vision was the castle, and on occasion her sights would snap to the flying monkeys' silhouettes against the cosmos.

she barely heard the sounds of her companion waking, lost in thought. but once star had started to move, night cut off her humming, a glance over her shoulder. from here, she wouldn't need information from bistro to advance further -- the song and dance was already familiar enough to her.

with a slide, night dropped to the ground. how should she open? 'welcome to salem?' that didn't sound genuine, but it got the point across. still, night gestured to the castle approaching her companion. "it'll be a witch hunt. like the wizard of oz, if you're familiar with it. do you remember how the story goes?"