In this world, Magic is Everything. All people, all races, are granted with the power to perform mystical and magical feats via grimories, mystical tomes granted to each and every child on their 15th birthday. Those blessed by the mana can have their names written down in legend.
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Having dealt with the wargs and their fiery alpha, the tracks were located yet again and followed through the fringe, leading into the outskirts of witch territory. Taking them into the outer forest, you go further through the forest until you find a strange type of fence. Climbing over the fence, you wander into a small clearing where the missing cows, sheep, chicken and pigs can all be found in the best possible shape. Also, noticing a small hut near where the animals can be found drinking from a small pond, it is from this building that the “Cattle Thief” will make her appearance. Blowing a sharp whistle, the surrounding trees begin to rustle and shake as a large figure makes its way over the fence and into the small clearing.
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[attr="class","shadowsSub"]Details
Maximum Number of Players: 2 [break]Minimum Word Count: 3500 [break]Location: Outer Forest [break]Special Requirements: It goes without saying that the livestock has to remain alive no matter what, as getting them killed by being careless will automatically fail the mission. Aside from that, it is up to you to either find a credible way of dealing with the cattle theft issue or to fight both of them until they can no longer do so. Whether this is done by incapacitating them or killing them is up to you.
[attr="class","shadowsSub"]NPC Information
What NPCs are in this mission? Please fill out the template for any notable NPCs. While those you have to socially interact with during the mission are not required, any enemy that is presented in the mission must be listed here.
Health Limit: Grand [break]Physical Speed: 10 m/s [break]Physical Damage: Senior [break]Magic Element and Types: Wood/Plant | Attack | Defense creation | Supplementry Construct |Restraining [break]Combat Style: Being the person who created both the fencing and the quaint little hut, Kitty possess the ability to utilize both wood and flower magic, allowing her to create a plethora of structures, as well as restraints that can be rather hard to break out of. Using these to back up her large forest-dwelling friend in battle, the two supplement one another quite well. [break]Additional Information: In spite of only being a thirteen-year-old girl, Kitty has a firm grasp over her magic, as well as her apparent ability to communicate with the creatures of the forest, including her pet cohort. For reasons that are her own, she never felt like she fit in with witch society, and has since decided to live on her own. Taking the livestock away from those she felt undeserving of them, she had her Chort take them from the land of clover, as well as the other surrounding countries into her own little sanctuary. Clearly, she’s a vegan and would never eat any of them herself.
Health Limit: Grand [break]Physical Speed: 20 m/s [break]Physical Damage: Grand [break]Magic Element and Types: Blood | Hex and Curse | Healing [break]Combat Style: Grumbles has grown quite accustomed to Kitty’s magic, and as such is quite capable of timing his blows with hers, not to mention using her constructs as a means of swinging himself about like an ape in the trees. Casting debilitating hexes upon making physical contact with his query and possessing the innate ability to quickly regenerate itself, keeping it down without killing it is something only Kitty seems capable of. [break]Additional Information: A massive beast that easily reaches three and a half meters in height, Grumbles is a creature of nightmares shared only in stories to keep children from wandering into the forest at night. Possessing large goat-like horns, a third eye in the middle of its forehead and powerful forearms with which it can easily pick up and smash a bear to death with another bear. Looking more imposing than your average demon, Grumbles listens closely to what Kitty has to say, behaving like a young puppy when around her. When she or the livestock are in danger, however, that mood quickly changes into one of the wildest, angriest, most feral beast one will ever encounter.
Post by Franklin Stein on Dec 30, 2021 11:54:19 GMT -5
[attr="class","hansname"] FRANKLIN STEIN
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"Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done!"
Without the distractions of wargs or other predators it left the remaining travel to be rather dull and eventful. Griswold had already managed to find the remains of the trail before they had been interrupted and attacked by the predators of the Fringe. With them gone it was just a simple matter of following along again. Even Frankie, who had no experience in such endeavors could follow the trail once it was pointed out by Griswold. The mad mage had been a little disappointed that Griswold hadn't actually killed any of the wargs. He had been looking forward to studying their anatomy and had made his intentions clear to the other wizard. However, since Griswold had been the only one to participate in the conflict and had purposely chosen not to kill any of them, including the Alpha which he had fought, Frankie supposed it wasn't meant to be. Surely, subduing them had been more difficult than just outright killing them all. So if Griswold had taken the more difficult route it was because he wished to. Frankie could only assume that it was either out of some respect for nature or perhaps he simply didn't want to dirty his hands with it. Such motivations were beyond Frankie. There was always the chance that those wargs would attack other people who would not be able to defend themselves so it wasn't as if leaving them alive removed the danger they represented. But again, it wasn't his problem. He could always seek out more wargs later if he found the time to explore that avenue of research.
Trekking along Frankie realized they were quickly entering a portion of the Fringe that was very close to the Witch's Forest. Since the Fringe was so close to the Forsaken Region and there were so many fascinating unknown aspects to the place he had taken some time to at least research what little maps existed of the place. Most things were still left very much unexplored, but the more famous locations like the Witch's Forest at least had their borders marked. Given the tense relationship with the Witches these maps served less to reveal the forest and more to educate people so they don't accidentally intrude in the space and wander where they shouldn't be. Not even Clover Kingdom's royalty wanted to insult or upset the Witches without very good reason. Personally, Frankie would have loved to enter the capital and ask all manner of questions to the Queen or any other Witch he might be able to talk to. However, he had read enough about their people to know that outsiders were not welcome within the capital and most not appreciated in any capacity by Witches. Male outsiders were considered even less by the Witches. So, this wasn't likely something he was going to work around just because he wanted to. He would only have to hope that an opportunity would present itself eventually.
"It looks like we are starting to move beyond the borders of the Witches' territory. What are the odds that some mana creature could be so close to their lands without them knowing it? I have no personal experience dealing with their kind, but all research leads me to believe that security has always been one of their greatest strengths. Could we be stumbling on a diplomatic issue here?" Frankie didn't really care about diplomacy or how relations might be impacted with royalty. Let those stuffy shirts figure out those issues. However, it still was a valid point. If whatever was thieving from the Forsaken Region was doing so with the blessing or Spirits forbid the orders of a Witch it could mean something as far as relations went. How they handled things might cause problems for others. Just like before though he'd leave it up to Griswold to figure out. The manner was likely higher up on the food chain then he any way.
Some more walking later and the pair finally came to a fence that enclosed a number of domesticated animals. Frankie didn't have a list of every animal that was taken during the thefts, but as the tracks led to the fence this did seem like it was the place. Curious enough, every animal seemed to be in peek condition. If any had been slaughtered there were no obvious signs of it. Could they have been grooming them for trade later? Trade with who though, the Witches? "Looks like we have found our missing animals. Perhaps whoever resides in the hut beyond the fence will give us some answers on just what is going on here." Frankie pointed to a hut not far from where they stood to emphasize his point. The building had not been hard to spot as a good number of the animals were congregating near a pond not far from it. The mad mage turned to regard Griswold, waiting to see what the other man would do next as a clue for his own move. They could just talk to the people in the hut, preemptively arrest, or he supposed they could always just re-steal the animals without alerting the hut owner. Though the latter didn't exactly stop the potential for future thefts.
[attr="class","hansheader"]N O T E S
Frankie keeps travelling with Gris after the tracks. He comments on the proximity to the Witch's Forest and what that might mean for the thefts. Eventually they reach the fence and he points out the hut while commenting on the stolen animals.
Rank & Element: Junior Class & Type: Accessory Magic Specializations: N/A Appearance & Lore: The Magic Knight Mantle is an Item in which Magic Knights wear to show the Squad that are in. Each Squad has a different color Mantle along with their own squad logo as well. When these items were built they were made out of a special material that allows them to be unbreakable from any sort of attack, but does not block the wearer from any attacks. Magic Knights of the Clover Kingdom has worn these Mantles for hundreds of years. Abilities:
“While I imagine they could if they wanted to, the demon threat that forced most of them out of their homes, holds many of them captive and has some of them choosing their side likely means the witches wouldn’t care about a beast wandering their lands. Besides, these are the outer woods, most of them don’t venture far enough from their homes to give a crap about this part of the forest most of the time.”
Responding to a fair question posed by Franklin in regards to the likelihood of them running into any angry witches that would see them strung up and killed for having balls, it was not something Griswold imagined the two should be worried about. With the hectic life within the witches forest, which, the magic knights and he knew surprisingly little about ever since the message first got flung into the world that the queen of witchkind was in fact the archdemon Lilith, he could not imagine anyone giving a damn as to whether or not they were out here, what with them being filthy men. That said, there were possibilities of running into witches that broke away from the main city and now fought a guerrilla war against the demons and their demon-adhering kin. Though he imagined those would sooner welcome them in the fight, rather than making additional enemies that would make their lives that much harder.
“That, and many of these witches used to keep and train mana beasts to protect their lands. Not too long ago, I’ve come to these woods to help find specific herbs so someone could brew a cure for early stages of vampirism. The lake I came across to find some of those herbs were filled with Grindylow, a species of water dwelling mana beasts that are… well, voracious.”
Leaving it out verbally, though more or less implying that it was very possible that this creature was one of the witches’ own beasts, much like the Grindylow in the lake, he figured it was best not to get too far ahead of themselves. Even when all of the evidence pointed in one direction, making it hard for anything else to be the case, that did not mean fate didn’t have a way of shifting things around just enough for it to actually happen anyway, so he wouldn’t openly express it as a given yet. Instead, he’d just press on, continuing to follow the trail and making his way over to a place he had not fully expected. A strange fence made entirely out of wood and plant matter that seemed to have been grown from the ground up rather than being made like humans built their defenses. It reminded him of life when he was still a child, living in an enclave that had been grown out of nature itself by the elves and dwarves that lived inside of it.
Aside from it being far more friendly to nature and everything living inside of it, it showed a great deal of respect to the natural forces that were constantly at work to keep the world green, alive and breathing. It made him wonder as to exactly what was going on here, and whether these were defenses put into place to keep people out, or whether they were just there as a means of establishing boundaries. Not really caring much about either since their culprit had clearly entered the area behind the “fence”, the two made their way in. As soon as the natural defenses had been cleared, the first thing he could see were a bunch of farm animals that seemed to just be grazing and doing their thing in an open range. Unbothered by anyone or anything, there was really no telling which of these animals was the cow they were looking for, as there were several of them wandering about, and that wasn’t nearly it.
Cows, goats, sheep and a whole bunch of chickens, geese and ducks wandered the grassy spot between the trees as a small pond provided them with swimming, bathing and drinking water. To say that this was not the first thing he had expected was rather an understatement, because this was unlike anything he had expected to encounter in this place that should have been torn up by internal struggles. That, and since the beast that took the animals here was by all means a beast, putting them all down here without eating them could only mean that his earlier assumption was correct. This beast was also working under a witch, having likely been trained from birth or creation, as he was still entirely uncertain as to what they were dealing with. With the lone hut being the one thing that even remotely pointed towards the idea of anything civilized being around in this place, it wasn’t long after they entered that a deep howl came from behind the hut, followed by the front door opening wide.
Almost being big enough to look out over the hut itself, the creature presented itself as something capable of quadruped and bipedal movement, which was more or less what they had already deduced by going over the footprints. Looking like some sort of massive mutant goat, the creature possessed a mouth filled with sharp teeth that could easily tear flesh, though also showing some molars in the back, proving it to be omnivorous, which was a good thing in this situation. With the large curved horns, the clawed forearms and the third eye sitting in the center of the creature’s head, even having full sight of the creature did not mean he was any more certain as to what this beast was. But perhaps equally interesting was the fact that the person wandering out through the front door seemed to be a witch that was still in her teenage years.
Whatever was going on here, for the time being, the large monstrosity remained fairly docile, were it not for the fact that it was constantly showing its fangs and seemed ready to charge at them at the slightest offense. But as the young girl approached them, it did not make any moves, likely waiting for orders or for when it believed it needed to protect this witch-girl which appeared to be its master. A strange situation indeed.
Post by Franklin Stein on Jan 4, 2022 15:32:31 GMT -5
[attr="class","hansname"] FRANKLIN STEIN
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"Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done!"
Frankie was thoroughly intrigued by what Griswold was telling him concerning the recent changes to the Witch's territory. He had heard some of the rumors and tales of the conflict with the demons and how that was impacting the Kingdom as a whole, but his own information was still quiet limited. As a low man on the totem pole Frankie was only fed whatever information was deemed necessary for him to know. He wasn't about to be assigned any missions to take the fight to the demons after all and it wouldn't surprise him if some of his superiors were concerned on how far he might go for a chance to experiment on the otherworldly creatures. He certainly couldn't deny that he would drop everything right this instance for a chance to experiment on them even if it meant certain death. All of that knowledge and the possibilities of their mana was simply too good to pass up. Plus, he was curious if their magic was truly as corrupting as the stories said or if they were simply corrupted creatures wielding vast magic. Was it the energy or the user who was the evil thing? Or perhaps both?
"I didn't fully realize just how affected the region had become due to the demons. I've only heard stories after conflicts that have erupted and much of that is barely rumor. No one I know has personally come into conflict, or at least not spoken of it to me." Frankie didn't bother to add that had they he would have asked them all manner of questions. It was likely why if he knew anyone who had they had not spoken up sooner. Any data he could collect whether personally or indirectly would have been greatly desired. "Vampirism? I didn't realize that was real?! Are they still afflicted? Do they know where they got it? I've heard the stories of the Witches' connections to mana beasts, but I did not know it was nearly so prolific. I wonder if they are innately able to tame these creatures or if it simply so ingrained in their culture that they are all raised with some relative skill in doing so. With the rare genetics it is hard to pinpoint what is hereditary and what is not. My studies in that area is mostly been around Elf and Human genetics. Though I hope to incorporate Dwarf, Witch, and even Daemon eventually." Frankie had practically drooled at the idea of vampirism. Not so much for himself, but for the possibilities. Was it easier to cure then some fatal injuries or terminal diseases? Most things were possible with Healing magic, but it was a matter of availability. Many commoners simply didn't have the means to afford such luxuries. If vampirism held the mythical healing properties they were alleged to have perhaps he could infect someone long enough that they healed whatever ailed their living body and then could be cured with these herbs Griswold mentioned shortly after? It could revolutionize medicine and healing!
Frankie had still been pointing at the hut contemplating the possibility of simply stealing back all the animals when the answer on why that would not be possible became very apparent. His mouth dropped and then broke into a wide unnerving smile as the large creature stepped from the front door. The thief and guardian of this pasture was easily as big as one of Frankie's larger golems. It's third eye seemed to take everything in and might even be able to see in spectrums, perhaps it gave the beast night vision or allowed it to see mana more clearly? It's massive forearms definitely explained how it was able to so easily carry whatever animals it had abducted and also why it had been able to fend off a bear with ease. The behemoth had likely simply tucked the cow under one arm while swatting the bear dead with the free hand. Frankie had never before seen or read of such a creature and the fact that it was clearly intelligent enough to follow orders and remain passive despite all the prey around it was equally impressive and intriguing. The smaller girl who seemed to be accompanying it didn't escape Frankie's notice either and all manner of questions formed in his head fighting to free themselves so they could assault her for information.
The girl in question had noticed their presence and had started to approach them, the large monster serving as her bodyguard just behind her. She moved so that she put herself between the animals and the Magic Knights. Was she looking to protect them? Would explain why not a single one of them had been harmed in all this time, but why would she see the two of them as a threat to the animals? Although she put herself between the Knights and the cattle she did not get so close that either could easily reach her. Eventually she stopped 12 or so meters away, close enough that all could be heard so long as they lifted their voice a little. "You both are about to be trespassing if you cross that fence! This is my land, I staked it fair and square. I'm not a hundred percent sure what you both are doing here, but I'm not looking to have any guests so I'll ask you to leave if you don't mind!" Despite her age she was very serious and spoke like someone much older and more mature. Frankie wondered just how long she had been out here on her own for her to develop beyond her years in such a way. It was also clear that she didn't view either of them as any sort of threat. He wondered if she was just that confident in her own abilities or if she trusted the cohort behind her that much. He wondered if there were others like this beast in the trees waiting for her signal.
"We didn't come purposely to intrude, but we did track your companion behind you. We are from the neighboring Forsaken Region and were asked by farmers there missing their animals to find them. We followed the one behind you who led us here. From what we can see all of the lost animals we are looking for are on your land." Frankie did what he could not to make any accusations, nor did he presume that all the animals here belonged to those in the Forsaken Region. Many were, but there was a chance somewhere not and if she thought he was trying to claim them unjustly it could force a conflict. Frankie wasn't normally opposed to such things, even if it meant fighting a little girl. However, he had too many questions for the girl to want to spoil it by forcing a fight. She'd never talk if they had to subdue her. Plus, based on Griswold's reluctance to fight the wargs Frankie could make the reasonable hypothesis that he desire fighting the girl even less. "These are mine now! We took them from the farmers, we know that they were going to get eaten and that isn't right. Here they are safe and fed! No one is going to hurt them or force them to make eggs or anything like that. Why don't you all just go back and let the farmers know they died or something? That is what was going to happen to them any way if they stayed. Don't even think about trying to take them either. Me and Grumbles aren't just going to let that happen if you do!" At the last bit the girl pointed to creature beside her, clearly this grumbles. She clearly was shrewd enough to know some might try to force the issue. However, she also didn't seem to want to force a fight, which was good. Frankie turned to Griswold and shrugged, not really sure what to do next. He had been hopeless trying to get information from the adults back in the village, he certainly wasn't going to do better with a child. Perhaps Griswold would have an idea, he had to be a better people person then himself.
[attr="class","hansheader"]N O T E S
Frankie is curious about the demon conflict and asks some questions about vampirism, clearly excited. Marvels over the creature before starting to talk with the girl. She admits to taking the animals for their protection and having no desire to give them back. Frankie looks to Griswold for help, clearly out of his depth.
Rank & Element: Junior Class & Type: Accessory Magic Specializations: N/A Appearance & Lore: The Magic Knight Mantle is an Item in which Magic Knights wear to show the Squad that are in. Each Squad has a different color Mantle along with their own squad logo as well. When these items were built they were made out of a special material that allows them to be unbreakable from any sort of attack, but does not block the wearer from any attacks. Magic Knights of the Clover Kingdom has worn these Mantles for hundreds of years. Abilities:
“That’s not surprising, most of the people I know that’d get involved with that kind of thing either don’t survive, or experience so much hardship they’d rather not talk about it. Can’t really say that I blame them either, some things are better kept to oneself as it isn’t exactly conversation material.”
The same could be said for him and the whole battle tower encounter, the things he had experienced and seen there not being the kind of things he personally enjoyed divulging to others, least of all those that hadn’t been there to witness it. While it had apparently been far harder on some of the others when it was all said and done, for Griswold, the amount of hardships he had endured also hardened him to some of the realities of the tower. While the place had proven that he was nowhere near as strong as he believed himself to be, that had only motivated him to become stronger so that the next time he encountered a demon, he could crush it with his own two hands. At least that was the intention, though he knew the reality of things were far, far different than that as even one of the strongest men he knew had truly struggled with the demons they had faced in that hellish place.
Even with the great fire spirit Salamander, a lesser spirit of silver and a lesser spirit of resin, the archdemon was leagues above what he had expected. While he had no scars to show for all of the fighting, to prove that an exploding demon had flung him across the room, how they had defeated a gladiatorial demon in his own arena and a warped elf, there was no erasing the memories of that place and what it had done to those that had ventured in along with him. Truth be told, he wouldn’t have it any other way, as forgetting all of it was counterproductive to his training. The more he remembered the beatings he had received and the battles he had fought, the more it would dampen his desire to keep exploring different avenues of training and self-improvement. And speaking of demons, with how excited Franklin had been to learn about vampires, Griswold wondered if the guy might be getting himself into any trouble at this rate.
“Of the ones I encountered, none still remain to plague the populace. The woman that had been bitten and infected by the lord of his coven, we cured her with herbs found in this very forest, so I’d say she got lucky.”
Had they been less willing to go out into the forest, the only thing they would have been able to do for the woman would have been to kill her before she turned. And while the encounter with the demons had been quite hard on him, that did not compare to the things he had needed to do when he finally found the vampire Aronil’s lair in an elven ruin not far from Kiten. Because the vampiric lord had aimed to reconstruct a family he had lost, he had turned various women over the year, not to mention children. And while it had been difficult to put the women down, even as they violently attacked him, putting the children out of their misery had been the worst thing he had ever done in his entire life. Even as he had tried to go about it in a quick and painless manner, there were nights that he sat around the campfire where he could still hear their screams as he stared into the flame.
Clearly though, it seemed that Franklin and himself had some different ideas on how to operate. Because where Griswold would prefer to get rid of threats altogether, Franklin wanted to capture them, their DNA and whatever else. And while he was no scholar himself, Griswold could still imagine how doing such forms of research might bring results towards potential cures for things like vampirism and lycanthropy, the latter of which he would not bring up just yet as he did not wish to derail things even further. What with the little witch approaching them along with the large monstrosity behind her as a big scary bodyguard, who spoke to them about how they were trespassing, a thing he himself cared about very little as he made his way over in no time at all. While the creature behind her was quite imposing, it was not enough to dissuade Griswold from doing his job, which had been to figure out what they were dealing with here.
While Franklin and the girl spoke, Griswold just analysed the conversation while remaining quiet, as interceding at this point would not get them anywhere. Hearing how the girl had taken these animals because they were going to be killed and were being kept as livestock, he could imagine how that might ruffle the feathers of certain individuals. In truth, he himself had been brought up without ever really eating any meat, living off of vegetables, nuts, berries, mushrooms and fruit. To the people he had been living with since birth, killing for the sake of eating was not accepted, as one could only kill to survive, after which if the thing they killed had any meat on it, they would then go about cooking and eating that. Because being wasteful was also something that was frowned upon. As a citizen of the Clover country however, he had come to understand how farms worked and came to eat meat a whole lot more often as it was one of his favorite kind of meals.
“Listen kid, I am aware that those animals would be killed at some point, but you have to understand that they were someone’s property. They’ve owned those animals since the day they were born, and will continue doing so until the day they die. And because I know you understand why there are rules in the world, I’d like to point out that you trespassed on the farmer’s lands when you stole his cattle, just like we are now trespassing on your land. So imagine how the farmer feels.”
Seeing as how he did not want to have to fight the large monster or have to result to doing something that might get the kid killed, Griswold truly hoped that he might be able to get all of this over with by using words. But the more he thought about it, the more he began to realize how much of a hassle it would be to have to drag a cow back all the way to the forsaken region. As they clearly lacked a creature large enough to do it and Griswold did not have the muscle to lift and carry a cow, all of this created a few logistical issues that he’d need to figure out. But for now, it was most important to get through all of this without anyone having to get beaten up or killed.
Post by Franklin Stein on Jan 9, 2022 21:22:59 GMT -5
[attr="class","hansname"] FRANKLIN STEIN
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"Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done!"
If the pair hadn't bigger fish to fry in that moment Frankie might have better vocalized his disappointment over the news that there were no more infected vampires. His mind had already been abuzz with the possibilities had he such a test subject. Still, he supposed he would have to be content with the fact that Griswold could at least point him to the herbs that were used to cure the vampirism in the first place. Even without the infected blood to study he could at least study the herbs that were used. Perhaps they would have some basis in other medicinal purposes. Even if they did not there was not telling what might happen in the future. The world was a very large place and where there was one coven of vampires there would be others. There was always the possibility that Frankie too might stumble upon an infected looking for a cure and already having the knowledge of the herbs could save him considerable time in manufacturing the cure. Frankie had a small garden that he had been tending to on the Green Mantis compound. It was mostly mushrooms and poisonous plants, but he was always happy to add rare medicinal herbs if he found a reason to. If Griswold shared the list of what was used for the cure he could see about trying to transplant a few within his own garden for future use and study.
For now though he had bigger things to focus on. Like how they were going to retrieve all the animals that had been taken by this little girl and her very large guardian. The mad mage had concocted a lot of theories on what sort of creature had taken the animals and why. At first his leading theory had been a mother predator abducting animals to carry back to a nest or den where she would feed them to her babies. Once he found out they were nearing the Witch's Forest though his theory quickly changed to some sort of devious plot. Perhaps the daemons were looking to create strife between Clover and the Witches by making it look like they were at fault for the crimes and hoping that some a conflict would break out between the two parties. A conflict that they would no doubt exploit in some manner or at the very least revel in the chaos they sowed. What Frankie had not expected was that it had all been done on the orders of a small Witch child and for the only reason that she was an animal sympathizer?! She truly went through all this effort not to eat, sell, or do anything with these animals other then keep them here for the rest of their days. It seemed preposterous, yet here they were. He wondered if she understood the dangerous implications of her actions. Others might have led with violence and not only would her wellbeing be at risk in such a case, but no doubt if word got out that a small Witch was attacked by citizens of Clover it would likely result in some sort of political problem between Clover and the Witches. This whole affair was a headache and one he was glad Griswold could help sort out.
Both Frankie and the girl would listen carefully as Griswold would present his argument coolly. Frankie only nodded his head in agreement as the other man spoke, wholeheartedly agreeing with the logic that was being presented. He might have gone into the political ramifications, but perhaps that might have gone right over the child's head. Hopefully this would settle and convince her to let them go. The little girl for her part thought about it all carefully. Even as Griswold finished her face screwed up as if she had been sucking on a particularly sour lemon. "I didn't trespass! Grumbles did, but I see your point. I just don't like it! Why don't the farmers just eat vegetables and other stuff like I do? They don't have to eat the animals if they didn't want to! I could give them some vegetables or something. Heck, some of the animals I took didn't even look that healthy any way." By the end of her little rant she had stamped her foot once or twice. It wasn't exactly a tantrum, but it was clear she wasn't exactly clear headed where the topic of animal husbandry was concerned. However, since she had not denied them or called her companion to attack perhaps they were starting to get through to her. Her argument had devolved and judging by her reaction even she realized she wasn't exactly making the best case anymore.
Frankie thought desperately on what they might be able to do or say that could help convince her to let them take the animals back with them. He was thinking so hard that his eyes began to spin in his head, in opposite directions no less. A trait he did when he was just on the edges of what could be a solution. When they finally stopped he spoke. "Not all these animals were going to be eaten. A family might use a cow only to have milk to drink or a sheep so that they could take wool in the summer and use it in the winter to keep themselves warm. Some families treat these animals as if they were part of their family. Treat them like you might your Grumbles. Would you keep these animals from their family? If there was a child your age missing their family would you want that? Would you want someone keeping Grumbles away from you?" Frankie wasn't sure how well this psychological tactic would work, but he was hoping it would at least move them in the right direction. He truly didn't understand what motivated most people, but he supposed while they were still having cordial conversation he could make some sort of effort to assist. Who knows? Maybe Griswold would have something he could add that would help push their argument over the edge and finally convince this girl to give up their animals in peace.
[attr="class","hansheader"]N O T E S
Frankie laments over the lack of vampires. Agrees with Griswold's argument. Kitty seems less agreeable, but does seem to be leaning more and more towards agreement. Frankie makes an additional point hoping that between Griswold and his argument they could win her over.
Rank & Element: Junior Class & Type: Accessory Magic Specializations: N/A Appearance & Lore: The Magic Knight Mantle is an Item in which Magic Knights wear to show the Squad that are in. Each Squad has a different color Mantle along with their own squad logo as well. When these items were built they were made out of a special material that allows them to be unbreakable from any sort of attack, but does not block the wearer from any attacks. Magic Knights of the Clover Kingdom has worn these Mantles for hundreds of years. Abilities:
Because of the fact that he too had been growing up in a place where people did not eat meat to live, but only when they had been forced to kill any aggressive mana beasts that had taken to attacking the enclave in search of food, Griswold could relate to the way the girl thought. That said though, she was still committing crimes, even if she claimed Grumbles was the creature that did it, it likely still did so under her orders. And when someone or something did something because they had been told to do it and aided in doing it by someone else, that meant that they too were responsible for the fallout. It was something he had once tried to explain to someone who had chosen to live life as a pacifist, but still wanted to be a tactician. To Griswold, that sounded like folly, but to each their own.
On the matter of folly, there were some gaps in the way the girl was trying to chat away the fact that she was in the right here, though that was something Franklin explained away relatively quickly. Because it was very much like the way he explained it, what with not all farm animals being there primarily for the slaughter. A great deal of them got to live long lives on the farms as producers of wool, milk and eggs, which were some rather heavily required reagents when it came to living in the forsaken region. Being the kind of place where people needed to live off of the land because they did not have the money to spare to just go around buying new socks and sweaters, getting meat from the butcher or buying lumber from the lumbermills. They had to go out there and produce things for themselves, selling the extra and using that to plan out the next year.
So if they suddenly lost cattle, that meant they’d have to factor it into the plans for the next year, which might put them into the negative numbers all of a sudden. Still, these cows would all eventually be going to the butcher to be taken care of before the animal had become too old, rendering the meat tough and hard to eat. But that was an eventuality that they could not deny as the meat was worth a lot, and it meant the farmer got to fill his larder for the next period of time. Believing that much did not really need to be explained to the girl, who seemed smart enough to know what was going on, Griswold just left it off where Franklin did in that department. And since giving the farmers vegetables was not really a solution, he thought about what they might do that would please all parties as he’d rather not fight anyone in a place like this.
“You know what, I think we’ve already established that stealing cattle is not allowed, and since I believe neither of us really want to push the matter to the point of a fight, I believe I’ve come up with a decent compromise.”
Believing such places as the one they currently found themselves in needed to be preserved as it had more or less been turned into a haven for all sorts of domesticated animals, he figured returning them to a life where said domestication would return and take what freedoms they currently enjoyed would likely not work out well. So instead, he imagined the idea she had with regards to the vegetables might be something to pull in. While it was unlikely the farmer was going to be happy about not having his animal returned, at this point, he believed they might as well tell the man that it had been snatched up by a large animal from the Fringe. But if they wanted to collect any pay, as was normal after doing the kind of job they did, they would need to come up with a part of the beast that did it.
So on their way back, if they bear carcass was still there, he could just take the head and show it to the farmer. Not believing the man would have the knowledge required to tell whether or not a bear could kill and drag a cow out of a field and into the forest or if it had been something else, it was worth a try. And if the carcass had been taken away by the wargs, he’d just take it over a different direction altogether and pay the man for what the cow was worth as a means of reimbursing the man for his loss. Either way, he would be taking a bunch of the vegetables to the farmer for consumption while taking the rest into town to see if there were any needy individuals that might want to stock up their larders with some free food. Needless to say, he’d also be keeping some for Nuck.
“Those vegetables you were talking about, I’ll take those back to the farmer as payment. However, I am going to be needing your word for it that you and Grumbles won’t be stealing any more cattle from now on. Because if you do, I’m going to have to come back here and take every last one of them back to where they were taken from. Do we have a deal?”
Post by Franklin Stein on Jan 11, 2022 11:32:32 GMT -5
[attr="class","hansname"] FRANKLIN STEIN
[attr="class","hansbase"]
[attr="class","hansfade"]
[attr="class","hanspost"]
"Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done!"
It had been clear from the moment the group had starting talking that the girl was a little on the obstinate side. Like many young people she believed what she wanted to and there was little anyone could say or do that was going to converse her otherwise. However, thankfully she seemed a bit more mature for her age because as the conversation had continued more and more it seemed like they were getting through to her. Now her frustrated appearance seemed less a result of having to deal with Griswold and Frankie and more a show of frustration that she knew she might actually be in the wrong here. Frankie could understand and pity this turn of events for the girl. This seemed to be a rather large part of her world view and to have it shaken in any capacity must not have been particularly fun for her. He wondered how much she would be revaluating it all once they left.
Regardless, it didn't seem like they would be pushing the point to a conflict. True to his hypothesis Griswold had made it absolutely clear in his comment now that this would not break down into violence. Frankie understood why the other man might not want to have to hurt a little girl, given her crimes weren't terribly severe. However, making it known that it was off the table did remove some of their options. He didn't think the other man would threaten the girl either, but now there was zero chance of that. You couldn't exactly make threats when you already swore you would do no physical harm. Griswold had mentioned something about a comprise so he did wonder what that could be about. He must have had something he thought of if he was going to mention it. Here was hoping it might resolve in everything being taken care of in a manner that not only satisfied the little girl, but also the people of the Forsaken Region. No offense to the little girl, but as far as Frankie was concerned his obligation was to them not her. If he had been on his own he likely would have subdued the girl and her pet and taken all of these beasts back by force if necessary. The ramifications of not having the animals that they had built their whole livelihood on was too great in Frankie's eyes to not be willing to stoop to force. However, Griswold had led much of this mission from the very beginning. He had also handled everything they had come against with relative poise and fairly efficiently. Frankie could at the bare minimum give him the benefit of the doubt once again.
Besides, during this whole exchange something had dawned on the mad mage. He was typically more astute then this, but as a relatively anti-social child maybe he had colored his own past over everything too much. Where were the girl's family? She had her Grumbles, but that was obviously not biologically related to her. She was out here on her own with nothing but the large guardian and the domesticated animals she had taken. Where were her parents? Her siblings? Any other family that might miss or take care of her? They had been out here long enough that if there were anyone else in that hut you'd think they would have come out by now to see what was taking the girl so long. It would be the same for if they were in the forest or nearby collecting wood or performing some other chore. If anyone else was living here with her surely someone would have approached them as well by now. His theory then was that she was alone. Perhaps she had lost her family in the recent conflict with Daemons that Griswold had mentioned or perhaps she was one of the very few Witches who would leave the Forest and their society due to philosophical differences. He couldn't be certain without further data, but it seemed a plausible hypothesis. He wondered if they could use that in their negotiations.
To say Frankie had been surprised to hear that Griswold was willing to accept her initial deal of simply taking vegetables would be the understatement of the year. Perhaps the vegetables could be used to feed the family for a while, but there was no way they were an equivalent exchange to what the family would be losing by not having access to whatever domesticated animals belonged to them. He wondered if the other man was prepared to do something to assist those families when the vegetables ran out and things got difficult without their cattle or herds. In all likelihood Griswold would, that was the sort of impression Franklin had gotten from the other man in their short time. He supposed if this got the little girl to refrain from stealing any further the net gain they would get from lack of future theft would outweigh the immediate losses by not bringing what was already taken back.
The girl for her part seemed to think very hard on the matter. She tapped a finger on her chin and stamped a foot over and over as she contemplated the compromise. Hoping to push this deal over the edge Frankie gave one last comment. "If you like we can also visit again in the future. I would love to study... I mean play with Grumbles and yourself. Check on the animals to make sure they are healthy and if they get sick help them. That sort of thing." If she truly was alone out here she might be lonely and Frankie was hoping that an offer to ease that loneliness might be just the edge they needed. A twinkle appeared in her eye at that comment, but she didn't react beyond that to Frankie's words. Eventually she shook her head in the affirmative. "I am alright with this. I'd like to free the others, but like you said I suppose it wouldn't be right. Besides, we only have so much land here. If we kept taking anymore eventually it would start to get cramped and my new animal friends wouldn't like that. Grumbles please bring the vegetables and the other things too."
At her order the large creature did what it was told, running off to just behind the hut and out of sight. A few minutes would past, but eventually it would return pulling to carts, one in each hand. One cart was filled with small boxes that had a number of vegetables. It was far more than any one girl should have been able to grow, but perhaps she had magic that assisted her. Just as she promised a good number of the crops would fulfill the dietary requirements lost by lack of protein. In the other cart though were a number of wolf and bear carcasses, none of them old enough to start decomposing. "You can have these bad predators. Grumbles tried to just scare them off, but they wouldn't stop trying to come and hurt my new friends so sadly he got too rough with them and they died. I was going to bury them all, but if your village really needs meat they can have this." She looked at the cart of dead animals quiet sadly, clearly she hadn't enjoyed doing what had to be done. "But this is an exchange! Now you do have to come back and visit okay?!" She said the last part as a command, the sort of thing you actually would expect for someone her age and it lightened her face and made her seem brighter for it. With this Frankie supposed things would be sorted, but he waited to see what Griswold would say next before doing anything further.
[attr="class","hansheader"]N O T E S
Frankie is surprised by Griswold's offer, but rolls with it. Even offering something extra figuring the girl might be lonely. Kitty agrees and offers up not just the vegetables, but the carcasses of a number of predators that tried to kill her new family.
Rank & Element: Junior Class & Type: Accessory Magic Specializations: N/A Appearance & Lore: The Magic Knight Mantle is an Item in which Magic Knights wear to show the Squad that are in. Each Squad has a different color Mantle along with their own squad logo as well. When these items were built they were made out of a special material that allows them to be unbreakable from any sort of attack, but does not block the wearer from any attacks. Magic Knights of the Clover Kingdom has worn these Mantles for hundreds of years. Abilities:
Not really expecting the girl to actually go along with it as they too needed the food around the farm for herself and the animals, Griswold imagined she likely had more of it stashed away somewhere, or had another farm in a place where the animals couldn’t reach it. Whatever the case, by going along with all of this, she had at the very least shown her good side and got to keep the animals. For her, that should have been a big win. Believing she had not done a bad thing for the wrong reasons, as she really just wanted to make the lives of animals she thought were going to be killed better, he imagined her reasons were not all that different from his own. Besides, with the amount of money he made now that he was counting among the royal knights, he could actually spare a good sum of it to pay for some cattle.
Believing she would take care of the animals there, he continued pondering on how he might bring the news to the farmers while hoping they would pass by a half-eaten bear on the way back, as all he really needed was the head to be as intact as possible. But when the girl brought a cart with dead woodland creatures that had been coming from the outer forest to eat the animals, it turned out Grumbles had been a pretty effective protector. While it was clear that she regretted that they had to be killed, it seemed that she at least understood that there were times where one had to resort to the harshest of measures. It was something he knew well as he had grown up with that same belief and conviction, for they had to also deal with woodland creatures and mana beasts that wanted to eat the elves living in the enclave.
Because they only ate meat when they had killed an animal that had been too hostile and dangerous to turn away, he imagined the same applied here, after they had gone through the motions with the bodies. When he heard Franklin trying to sweet the deal with social interactions on a scale of unknown frequency, Griswold froze for a moment. With how out of the way this place was, Griswold did not believe he’d have the chance to come by a lot, so it was not something he knew for sure he could promise. But since she seemed to have already accepted the whole deal for what it was, he imagined he kind of needed to honor it now. For what was a man worth if his word was worth nothing?
“Alright, you have yourself a deal. I imagine I can use the bodies of these creatures and claim they were responsible for taking and killing the cattle you have here. That way, they won’t go looking on their own, especially with a bit of compensation, not to mention getting to eat what remains of the culprits.”
Pointing towards the vegetables and the bodies of the creatures, as Griswold was quite skilled when it came to skinning and gutting creatures with pelts. That way, he could provide the farmers with a believable culprit for the taking and killing of their animals, meaning they would act as a trophy of proof. After that, he’d be able to prepare the meat of the animals for consumption, the pelts to be turned into anything ranging from clothing to rugs, while the vegetables could be handed out just the same as the meat. The farmers themselves however would receive a money compensation from Griswold himself as he did not feel right telling lies to these people while also accepting their money for bring the supposed perpetrators to justice. So as he was about to leave the place behind with the cart in tow, there was something that suddenly came to mind as his inquiring mind just needed to know.
“Before we leave, mind telling me what kind of a creature Grumbles is? I’ve grown up in a forest much like this one, though I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Once he had gotten his answer, he would nod at the girl while doing a bit of a wave to say his goodbyes, not being one who was very verbal about these kinds of things. What with Franklin more or less making it so they would need to come by again sometime in the future, Griswold imagined that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. She was but a lone girl with her guard monster after all, and with the state the witch forest was in, he could imagine how it was both a lonely and a dangerous existence at this point. And even though witches often did not take well to men, Griswold himself was not aware of there being any rules about them being in the outer forest, making the demons the most pressing concern. So as the two of them left and put a bit of distance between the safe haven for farm animals and themselves, Griswold turned to Franklin to set the record straight.
“I’m not sure whether you picked up on it or not, but the carcasses are going to be the scapegoat for this whole thing. They’re dead, so I doubt they’ll object. Once we’ve shown these to the farmers, I’ll compensate them for the animals they lost as best I can before taking the carcasses and vegetables into town. I imagine there will be plenty of people who would want to stock up their larders with free food, especially with winter being just around the corner…”
Not wanting the girl to know that her offering of vegetables and meat was nowhere near enough to compensate farmers for their livestock, which were worth quite a lot of Yul, he figured telling Franklin about the plan itself might make it clear that he was not some idiot. And with there still being quite a long way to go before they’d reach clover again, he figured it’d give the guy something to think about and occupy his mind with for the time being. Whether he was going to help him out once most of the talking with the farmers was over and done, there was really no reason for him to feel obligated. However, since they had come this far and were both knights of the forsaken region, it wasn’t exactly that out there. But time would tell how things would end up, or so he thought as he dragged the cart along.
Post by Franklin Stein on Jan 15, 2022 21:04:25 GMT -5
[attr="class","frankiestats"]
POWER 021
DURABILITY 059
SENSORY 001
STAMINA 025
CONTROL 034
MANA SKIN Senior
HEALTH Senior
MANA POOL 105/105
MANA REGEN 25 ic | 20 ooc
SPEED 05 m/s
STRENGTH 1/2 Junior
[attr="class","frankieimage"]❝Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done!❞
[attr="class","frankiescroll"] Frankie had not thought of the idea of lying to the villagers, but the second Griswold offered the idea up his quick calculations led him to believe it would likely work. Although Franklin likely would have taken the animals back, by force if necessary, had it only been him on this mission he couldn't exactly complain about the end results. Ultimately, they had enough vegetables, meat, and pelts to take care of any losses produced by the disappearances of the domesticated animals. If their animals were meant for the slaughter they would get equal returns with the carcasses of the dead predators. If they were looking for something more long term with the care of their animals then the money they could potentially get from selling any of the vegetables, meat, or pelt should more than make up for the cost of a new animal and likely leave a little extra for the family in question. Frankie wondered what the consequences were for lying on a mission report, but he supposed it wasn't really worth thinking about. If this is what the more experienced Magic Knight recommended for completion of the task then he wasn't about to argue against it. Ultimately, the mission would be completed and the people negatively impacted would be reimbursed for their losses. A net profit once the numbers were balanced was a more than satisfactory ending to this all.
The little girl didn't seem nearly that concerned with what they would tell the villagers whose animals she had taken. She had after all told them to simply lie to them in first place so not surprising she wasn't bothered by that lie changing with the new circumstances. "Grumbles is Grumbles!" Was her initial response though it only took a second for her to realize that might not be sufficient. "Umm... I don't know much about what Grumbles is. They've been around for so long I don't really care. I do think I read something once that had a picture of it though. I think the term is Chort, though I could be wrong." The girl looked back at Grumbles as if reassessing the memory of the picture with what she saw before her. Ultimately she just struggled and the creature let out a small purr in response to their master's attention. Frankie had been enraptured by all of this though and quickly removed a small notepad where he made a note of the name. When he got back he would be sure to look into any books on the topic of Chorts and read every single one. If he was to be returning here in the future he wanted to be much more knowledgeable on the subject. All the better to study the creature up close once he knew more about it.
With the pair walking away now Griswold once more made his plans clear to the mad mage. Frankie's hypothesis had proven correct. "The clarification is appreciated, I had assumed that would be the case. So long as the all involved come out as good or better than they were then the mission can likely be classified as a success and I have no objections. Depending on how the predators sell we could likely make up for most of their lost income on that alone or compensate them with the pelts and meats from the animals." Frankie remarked on all the things he had been thinking about previously when he first head Griswold mention blaming it all on the animals. "In any case I will follow your lead. If this resolves things that is what is important. It would be a shame for any harm to come to the Chort... and the girl." Frankie added the last remark almost as an afterthought though he did in fact mean it. Not only was the Chort something unique and new, but a girl who could tame such a creature was also remarkable. He eagerly looked forward to the next time they might meet and learning more from the both of them. For now though he would need to focus on completing the mission at hand and seeing to the carts being returned with Griswold. With the more charismatic mage doing the talking he was sure it would all end up just fine.
[EXIT & CLOSE]
Combat Summary
[attr="class","frankiescroll2"]
Notes The deal is done, Frankie ultimately agrees that this might be the best plan and is willing to go along with it as they leave.
Rank & Element: Junior Class & Type: Accessory Magic Specializations: N/A Appearance & Lore: The Magic Knight Mantle is an Item in which Magic Knights wear to show the Squad that are in. Each Squad has a different color Mantle along with their own squad logo as well. When these items were built they were made out of a special material that allows them to be unbreakable from any sort of attack, but does not block the wearer from any attacks. Magic Knights of the Clover Kingdom has worn these Mantles for hundreds of years. Abilities:
