Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 27

Thread: The Black Forest

  1. #1

    The Black Forest



    The Black Forest is the lands North of the lesser forest surrounding the Dragon Lagoon Beach. It goes further in land than most other forests and is considered to be as hard to navigate as the Fairy Forest. The trees are thicker than redwoods and grow to enormous heights, the branches block the sun where the trees are most dense, causing certain areas to appear as dark as night even in the middle of the day. It is full of bio luminescent life, and glowing creatures as well as streams and lakes with properties that defy regular logic. It is hinted that the Dark Forest is a place where the rules of nature seem to be constantly influx. And deep within this forest a Witch lives alone conducting all manner of research in solitude.

  2. #2
    Only a day or two following their time in Atlantis, a pair of Adventurers made the arduous trek through the Black Forest. A tall, white-haired male, the ever-so-arrogant Karna, took the lead with a casual stroll. The forest was dark as midnight, but in place of stars, they were granted the bio-luminescent life filling the land. With or without these sparkling bits of organic matter, Karna could see just fine. The only minor hindrance he even had was the density of free Mana in the forest, but that didn't matter too much.

    Well... there was one thing that mattered, though. He could see just fine, he could feel his way around with relative ease... yet he had no clue where they would locate the supposed witch they were meant to find. That aspect was proving to be quite the annoyance, after all.

  3. #3
    In the company of Karna was a slightly younger lass, with chestnut brown hair and a small set of animal ears atop her head. She had the body of someone in their teens and the height to match and she moved along within the forest like she didn't have a care in the world. The tail attached to her lower back, twitching ever so slightly as she looked up at the naturally lit lifeforms which helped her see better. Not that she needed to see much better to start with, being a Demi-Human did come with several perks not the least of which was better senses than normal humans. "Every tree in this place looks the fucking same... and I can't sense past all the mana to even begin looking for a single source. This fetch quest blows... Nii-san better be all kinds of happy when I get back!" she outright demanded extreme praise for the amount of trouble something that should have been simple caused her. Still this pair was much closer than they could possible know.

    In the depths of the next thicket of trees, just a few dozen yards ahead, was something which looked like a sheer wall deep within the forest. Glowing liquid ran down it over several mushroom like protrusions and it seemed to have a large opening within. It seemed to be some sort of dwelling with glowing circles as windows and shadows moving around within. This was the place this pair would find what they were looking for or rather whom. But any who approached this door would hear a growl the likes of which seemed deep and thunderous and a large winged Dire-Wolf would emerge from the doorway looking absolutely ravenous, perhaps it hungered for the flesh of any who would trespass here.

  4. #4
    "Maybe he will be," Karna replied without hesitation. "Unless he's still a Dragonoid, or dead. I don't think either of those will show you gratitude," he concluded. Every now and again, he showed flashes of mock pessimism. He didn't actually believe the girl's brother would die under the care of Seriri and Miki, though still being a Dragonoid was highly possible depending on the situation. Ideally, he would like to return as soon as possible, preferably to a place without Dragons. Alas, maybe it was not to be.

    The pair's journey finally led them to something of substance. It wasn't quite what Karna would have expected, but even something that looked like a dead end would have been better than more of the same trees. Then, there was the growl of a mythic beast. Karna stopped moving forward, but looked on as if unfazed. It was nothing more than a Direwolf exiting the door ahead of them. As the creature stood before them, Karna stared it down without a speck of concern in his visage. "Hush," he said. He wasn't sure why it behaved this way during their approach, but he didn't appreciate the beast's apparent attitude at all.

  5. #5
    "Dragonoid be damned. Someone is praising me for all this extra work!" claimed the racoon demi-human. It seemed she found Karna's general pessimism playfully acceptable, she had no doubt in her mind that her brother would still be alive when they returned, if only because she knew the lass Miki wouldn't let anything bad happen to him. Beyond all of that she was just happy for something abnormal to finally appear within her sights. This cut off place looked like the exact kind of secret workshop of some witch that they were likely looking for, she sighed her relief. "Fucking finally, we can..." there was a pause from her as the growl came from the doorway, and what was more the look of this direwolf was unlike any she'd encountered in the wild before now. He was a large white wolf with tuffs on his shoulder and red markings around his body. He even had similar tuffs of fur over the back of his giant paws. "SHIT!" the raccoon girl stopped her tail wagging anxiously. It wasn't that she was out right afraid, it was that she didn't expect such a creature to be within these forests. Soon though a voice would appear from within and she'd look out at the pair.

    A dark tanned woman with large breasts in a black form-fitted mini-dress with a white winged lab coat appeared in the door way. Her cyan locks moved in the breeze and she pushed glinting glasses up onto her delicate nose as she took in the two and reached for the angry dog giving it a gentle stroke. It seemed that Karna's words hadn't calmed it at all, but she would. "Now Youko, we've been through this... sit down and wait," she said pointing to the side where the giant wolf padded off to still looking at the pair a bit skeptically. "He's looking for his master. And all who have crossed the void reek of free magic like her... perhaps he sensed the connection?" she questioned rhetorically. "Come, I might be able to provide you with what you seek," she said moving further in. If the pair followed they would cross Youko's path and he'd give both of them a sniff, wagging its tail for Hikari but managing a low growl at Karna for reasons unknown. Within this space there were several golden glowing hologram like projections, they seemed to be maps and globes with features on them not unlike those symbols used in the game Age of Eternity. On the tables were various plans, small pieces of gold, gems and tools of various magical basis. There were bones and skeletons lining the walls of all sorts of magical creatures and several cabinets of locked and closed natures with glass fronts that seemed to contain objects made by this woman. One case contained vials of fluids which glowed eeirrely and gave off their own magical energy.

  6. #6
    "Yeah... you let me know how that works out for you," the male quipped. This was all he had to say before staring down the Direwolf, which he did while entertaining the idea of killing it if it made too many moves. Of course, the beast itself was probably having the same thoughts, but that was of little importance. Survival of the fittest was a thing, after all...

    This little stare-off lasted until a woman emerged to meet the Adventurers, standing down the beast. She resembled a scientist more so than a witch, but Karna's thoughts were elsewhere. Shunning the woman's mention of the Direwolf's purpose, Karna appraised her from top to bottom... mostly top, and whistled. "Giving Paizuri-dono a run for her money now, are we? Didn't see that coming from a witch," he commented, still not sparing the rod of whatever he first thought about anyone. He was content to follow this woman toward whatever she intended to show them, abandoning even the thought of the Direwolf. The bits and baubles around them as they walked were of no initial concern to Karna, until he stumbled upon the magical fluids, of whatever sort they were. He paused at them, taking a moment to look their way with what seemed to be slight disdain.

  7. #7
    "You'll see it!" this was an affirmative thought by the raccoon girl. As they met this witch she seemed to be more scientist than witch, maybe a bit more like a laboratory technician than someone Hikari expected to be living alone in the forest. "Sou ka, that's why she said you were weird..." Hikari thought this was strange but this woman definitely seemed to be more Doctor than witch. Karna went on to appraise the woman, seeming to forget all the more about the Direwolf and his apparent dislike of the lad. Whatever the case, his words met the ears of the woman who walked casually around the room, her eyes transfixed on a glowing globe as she searched for something of importance on the map. "Oh? Those are definitely the words of someone who crossed the void, those from this world... know that all women who originate here tend to be more rather than less... adult ones anyways... Lilura, is the name I am called," she said offering a tiny bit of reassurance to the raccoon lass, who'd already gone about crossing her arms over her chest. She was really getting tired of people having more filled out bodies than hers.

    "Alright, big boobed witch doctor lady person... whatever don't care, we have two friends that have the Devouring. Well one definitely does, he's my brother the other might and that isn't good either. And ah... we heard from the Queen of Atlantis that you might know of a way to fix it for them... can you help us out?" she asked of the woman who frowned slightly only to push her glasses up onto her face and have the shining light from the hologram globe obscure her eyes for a moment. "Two of your friends, ones who crossed the void but were not completely taken in by it..." she said with a great deal of knowledge on the subject. "The Devouring appears in those whose link to the world is less than it should be. Those who cross the void with strong ties to this world, experience no ill effects," she commented as she began moving about this room. Magical equipment began floating, pieces that looked like needles and magical vials began moving about being fitted together in a strange way. "Ones like you two, will never experience such sickness," Lilura mentioned looking at both Karna and Hikari for several moments. She knew how Hikari came to be here and knew her tie to the other world was gone completely. Her body had no tendrils coming from its halo. Karna too didn't have tendrils coming from his void halo they were all turned inward. As an example of this she held a vial in the air out in front of her and began filling it with condensed free magic. "If the vessel is made to contain the free magic which is here, then all is fine..." she explained. It was a strange lesson to give though as the vial was soon topped off and moved. What happened next would be the gathering of a different material. Not a magical container but a simple mason jar. "On the other hand, if the the vessel was not made to stand up to the amount of free magic placed within it... It can only hold it for a short time..." she poured the same small amount of liquid from the other vial into this mason jar and topped it. Strangely the magical fluid within expanded rapidly, trying to fill the space completely, until cracks were created and the tendrils of energy began to leak outward and then, the whole of the jar would shatter into dust leaving not even the glass behind. "The Devouring works as such, and will eventually return to the void that which no longer can contain the free magic of this world, nor lack of magic from the other..." this was her explanation but its details seemed to cover why one like Seriri could help at least a little.

  8. #8
    The words of the forest witch rang true in Karna's mind. Age of Eternity, as a game, did possess many a buxom woman. Of course, that was simply how most games worked in modern times. Whatever the case, Karna followed along with only a couple of moments where he lost focus. Hikari came forward with the clause that their companions had the Devouring, prompting the witch named Lilura to begin exemplifying how the illness worked. Karna... didn't care, to say the least. She could have stood there, explaining the perfect countermeasures to the disease, and he would have done the same thing he was doing now...

    He let out an exasperated sigh. Why did she even bother with all this, he wondered. Vials, jars, free magic... none of it concerned the mentally-aloof young man. He came here for one purpose, and one purpose alone. When Lilura finally shut her trap and stopped with the examples, he'd be sure to let this be known. "Listen, lady. Nobody cares about all that. Do you have the cure?"

  9. #9
    Karna's words when Lilura stopped talking made Hikari laugh aloud. She stifled it soon after and Lilura shook her head from left to right. "Cure is the wrong word is the point," she said with a straight face. "I can provide an augmentation to quell it, and in return give them a bond with a strong free magic creature," she said. She was still doing other things, mixing fluids shifting them around and when she was done a thing which looked like the needle version of a wand appeared. The fluid held within it was green but seemed to be alive in a strange way. "As an aside the explanation is necessary. Free magic doesn't have form, it will take the one which is most suited to the individual it is drawing power from. It will draw the excess free magic and allow those stricken with the Devouring to continue to live their normal lives," she said seeming to feel enlightened. "These are the pinnacle of creation and magic, they've taken so long to create, so many have died... the least you could do is listen and understand what you will be asking them to take on," she explained gently.

    Hikari looked at the lady and frowned slightly. "I know you don't know this, but those two aren't likely to care what they are taking on. What you said makes it sound like the forms of the creatures they get will show their true selves. They aren't exactly doing a good job of hiding their true selves from anyone anyways. My idiot brother isn't the type to have himself create something monstrous and he's absolutely the best. I vouch for this... the other girl is too much the same for me to assume anything else either..." Hikari concluded. Whatever this woman wanted to warn them of, she didn't think it would matter much to the pair of individuals who would be taking them on. Lilura looked at the lass and her brows drew together. "Then I suppose all that is left is the discussion on what you will do to gain these prizes. Two of them are a life's worth of work, there is much which can be traded for them..." Lilura was quite serious, but she didn't necessarily need money. Her research was most important to her as such there were only a few things she'd take as payment. "Yare yare, you make it sound like you don't want money... but I have 100 gold coins here," Hikari said pulling the pouch that Miki had given her. It was Miki's own money pouch and caused Lilura's eyes to widen. Youko the Direwolf looked at this pouch and a deep growl left his body as he padded over to Hikari. He sniffed this pouch and nudged it with the tip of his nose, and Lilura looked at the the group at large. "Where did you get that pouch? Give it to me!" demanded the scientist. Hikari handed it over, but before she moved away, she dumped all 100 gold coins into the lass' open hands. "Not money, never money... but this..." she took it over to the table, hands running over it, free magic being interwoven and then the holographic map gave a strange bleeping noise and showed right in its midst the person this belonged to. "SHE'S IN ATLANTIS! Do you realize what this means!" she said to Youko and surprisingly for the first time, the Direwolf spoke. "Return me to my Mistress in Atlantis... she will exchange the cures you seek for this favor," said the wolf. This entire situation took a very strange turn in the moment.

  10. #10
    Scoff. All Karna could do... was scoff. This moment was reminding him more of the video game version of this world than anything else thus far, and he didn't like it. There were too many rules and regulations, even to something like curing an illness. Worse yet, she was making an effort to warn them of what the other pair would need to agree to. Hikari had that front covered with her rebuttal. "What she said. Now, hand it over," he added.

    Of course, the woman expected something in exchange for this service, and it wasn't money. It took some nerve for her to demand payment for something that wasn't even a proper cure. Besides that, what did she expect? Apparently, Hikari's offer of 100 gold would do the trick, even if not for the gold itself. What she wanted was... the bag? No, it was a bit more complex than that. Even the Direwolf joined the conversation once the bag was properly addressed along with an image of Miki. "Oh, wonderful. A fetch for a fetch, and now there's a talking mutt we have to take with us. This is definitely what I signed up for," he said, scoffing yet again.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •