Heroica RPG - Quest #59: Rito's Resolution

[Palathadric]

I ignore De'kra. No use trying to convince the minion himself that it would be good for the world if he were not in existence. I look around myself in the cave and dig with my regular shovel.

[Etzel]

"This foe blocked our path and interfered with our quest, that combined with its hostility towards us should be more than enough to motivate our battle. Now that the path is free we should continue into the cave, but first I will distribute the drops from the enemies. De'kra, take the Ruby Lamp of Summoning, Mizuki, 1 Deadly Venom, William, 3 Fire bombs, Monk Pretzel ,1 Deadly Venom, and I'll take 2 Fire bombs."

[JimBee]

Monk Pretzel digs around the soft earth, but finds nothing but magma. Hot lava continues to pour from the ceiling, so he doesn't have much time to do a more thorough search. Maurice distributes the loot, and leads the party onward.

Party:

Monk Pretzel and His 99 Pieces (Palathdaric)

463-year-old male "hermit" Cleric

Level 15.5

Power Bonus: 0

Health: 24/24

Defense: 5

Ether: 13/23

Gold: 275

Equipment: Flying Cross [broomstick De Albert (WP:6, darkness-, fire- and wind-elemental)], Tricorn (artifact, headwear, SP:3), Ethereal Cloak (artifact, backwear, SP:2, Max Ether +4)

Inventory: Cross [staff of Malbert (WP:10, light-elemental)], Steak (WP:1, instantly kills vampires on successful hits), 2x Potion, 4x Grand Potion, Tonic, 2x Grand Tonic, 2x Ether Core, 3x Remedy, Soma, Phoenix Essence, Neutralizer, 2x Venom, 2x Deadly Venom, 2x Paralyzing Venom, 5x Smoke Bomb, Holy Bomb, Commerz Cannonball, Scroll of Sealing, Bedroll, Magnifying Glass, Shovel, Magic Shovel (will always find something when used, limited to three uses per quest), Pickax, Bone (3), Tasty Pretzel (Consumable) - 1/3 chance each of granting lucky, hastened and encouraged-effects upon consumption, Scrap Metal (worth 25 gold)

Maurice Ratibor (Etzel) ***Party Leader***

51 years old male human Paladin *Immune to Stun and Light* *Guardian Angel*

Level 21.66

Power Bonus: 1

Health: 45/45

Defense: 9

Ether: 26/28

Gold: 355

Equipment: Manta Tail Staff (WP:12+50% Stun chance), Paladin Shield (SP:5), Helm of Haroka (+2 health, +1 Power, Immunity to Stun effect, headwear) , White Cloak (Max. Health +3, backwear), Paladin's Armour (SP:4, Max. Ether +2, Immunity to Light, bodywear)

Inventory: Emerald Staff (WP:10 wood-elemental), Mace (WP:5), Longsword (WP:5), Diamond, Scroll of Sleep, 3 Potions, 2 Tonics, 3 Ether Cores, 2 Phoenix Essences, 3 Nostrums, 2 Venom, Elixir, Floral Bomb, Water Bomb, 4 Fire Bombs, Torch, Bone, Plume, Helmet (+1 max. health), Mystic Veil (+1 max health, +2 Ether, headwear, suitable for Ether users)

De'kra (Tanma)

12 year old "male" "echo" Sorcerer *Immune to Enamored and Confused*

Level 20.66

Power Bonus: 0

Health: 30/30

Defense: 4

Ether: 12/20

Gold: 273

Equipment: Chiara (WP:7, lightning-elemental dagger), Cloak of the Blue Assassin (SP:1), Heart Locket (Protects from enamored- and confused-effects), Reflective Gaunlets (SP:3)

Inventory: Dagger (WP:10), Kapura (WP:8, fire-elemental dagger), Dagger (WP:5), Kanohi Mask (artifact, accessory, allows spells to have the effects of the weapon they are cast through; suitable to De'kra only), Cloak of the Elven Spy (artifact, backwear), Ruby Lamp of Summoning (summons a Ruby Jinn for the duration of one battle), Diamond, Scroll of Sealing (loaned by Arthur), 7x Potions, 3x Grand Potions,Remedy, 3x Phoenix Essence, 2x Smoke Bombs, Noxious Venom, Tonic, Bedroll, Pickaxe, Shovel, Magnifying Glass, Magic Compass

Mizuki Kimura (zakura)

21-year-old female human Assassin *Lucky*

Level 16

Power Bonus: 0

Health: 27/27

Gold: 460

Equipment: Top Hat (WP: 14. 50% Stun chance, retrievable), Sticky Gloves( Increases the amount of gold stolen by 50% (rounded up)), Magic Viper Skin (accessory, heals 1 health to wearer each round of battle, unless knocked out)

Inventory: Sylph Shuriken (WP:12, wind- and light-elemental, retrievable), Fauxthril Hand Cannon (WP:7), Bow (WP:5), Grand Potion, Potion, Phoenix Essence, 2 Venoms, Deadly Venom, 4 Nostrums, 2 Holy Bombs, Bedroll, Shovel, Pickaxe, Telescope, Magic Compass, Magnifying Glass, Cannonball, Death Progg Claw, Trial Brew

William Harkenshire (Fred Daniel Yam)

??-year-old male human Warden

Level 17.5

Power Bonus: 0

Health: 32/32

Gold: 215

Defense: 11

Equipment: Croise Crossbow (WP: 11), Chimera Armor (Torsowear, Suitable for Knights and Barbarians, +2 SP, +2 Health), Pauldrons (SP +2, suitable to Knights, Dragoons and Skirmishers; accessory), Fashionable Shield (SP:7)

Inventory: Repeating Crossbow (WP: 5 May not be upgraded; Fire; Hastened), Hand Cannon (WP: 5; Lightning, Wood), Lion Knight Shield (SP: 4, suitable for Knights), Amulet of the Elven Horse Rider (Power +1 on the front row, doubles movement), Sapphire, Smoke Bomb, Bedroll, Pickaxe, Skeleton Decoy, Shovel, Magnifying Glass, Venom, Elven Bomb, Bomb XX, Wave Sword (WP: 11; Cursed Effect), 4 Fire Bombs, Water Bomb, Amethyst, Grating Stone, Elixer, Military Grade Water Bomb, Military Grade Lightning Bomb, Bone, Magic Saucepan, Nostrum

The luminous lava makes it relatively easy to find a narrow passageway in the spacious cave. The heroes follow it for a while, until daylight can be seen through an opening in the distance. The heroes become temporarily blinded by the sunlight after being in the pitch black cave, but slowly regain their vision to see a breathtaking clifftop view of seemingly much smaller mountains below. A strong wind whips their faces, and to their surprise a feminine figure is standing on the cliff's edge looking out into the distance.

As the party approaches, the figure turns around and replaces the hat she was holding on her head.

"Ah, 'eroes."

How will the party respond?

[Tachyon]

OOC:Mizuki gave 150 gold from her inventory to all other players and her dagger to Dek'ra

[Fred Daniel Yam]

"Ah, 'eroes."

How will the party respond?

"Hi!"

[Tanma]

IC: De'kra clicks, "Greetings. Apologies if we have met, but I memory has had problems in the past. I don't know my own name, had to make one up. But something about you does seem familar though. What is the view like from here?" He scratches his head, trying to remember where he might saw this figure before.

OOC: Back in the day De'kra read all the quests.

[Etzel]

Maurice was not a little surprised to see the heiress of the Shadaeux family standing here in the middle of a mountain range in Dastan.

"Greetings mademoiselle Shadaeux. What has brought you to a such a dangerous place like this? Are you not aware of there being a furious dragon in the neighborhoods?"

[Tanma]

IC: De'kra stumbles as his hand flies to his dagger. One of the Shadeaux! Thoughts of quest 4 whip through his mind, as his eyes blink cyan and lime. As he tries to keep calm he notices new writting in the journel. Pleased to have a reply, though not so much for its content, he returns.

Nuparu, sometimes I wonder if that was the wrong name to call you. Sure it fits, you are an inventor and a weilder of knowledge. But I feel sometimes as though Vakama might work better.

Vakama was once a Matoran, a villager, with twin unique features. One, he was a gifted craftsman. He could make masks of power that astouded the world. He made the Mask of Time I once spoke to you of. His other trait was that he was a...anomaly? There really isn't a word for it in your language. But basically he possessed traits in him that happened because of random sideeffects when he was forged. In short, he could see things that had yet to be, or so it may seem. Another Matoran dear to my heart, Kapura, had a different anomaly that let him move quickly by moving slowly.

Vakama was one of six Matoran chosen to become Toa, the transformed next stage of the Matoran. However when the prior Toa went to give Vakama his power, a duo of merceneries came and tried to capture the Toa. They used Vakama as a hostage, and the Toa was imprisoned. Vakama did escape and he and the others did become a Toa, but he was haunted by this failure. He spent much of his time trying to rescue the Toa, which allowed the evil to take advantage and...give every Matoran amnesia. That was why my people forgot their past.

I agree that Heroica is flawed, that the system of Eubric should not be mindlessly followed. I have refused to do what my party has said before, so I can understand. I think part of the reason I remain in Heroica is to offer different opinions, so that every option can be explored. Heroica sometimes seems like a warhammer, a blunt weapon where a dagger might be more precise.

...You are leaving aren't you? I can not stop you if you feel you must leave Heroica, the thought of leaving has come to me before. Quest 4 was one such time, I pretty much left then to sulk in the hall. But if you do go know I will welcome you if I see you again, and if you need my aid tell me. Just know that I might disagree, though I will try to understand. Even if you must leave though, try to stay in contact. Please.

Sincerely, your brother

De'kra rubs his head as he finishes, weary from it all.

OOC: Vakama: To me my X-Matoran!

[JimBee]

"Oui. It is I, la femme Umbra Shadeaux. Non, I du not know you, zough I am familiar wiz your type. 'Eroes from 'Eroica, I expected zey would zend you sooner or later. Oui, I am 'ere fur zis dragon zat you speak ov. You see, ze Shadeaux 'ave a long 'istory wiz dragons, and I am 'ere to make zure zat it recovers frum whatever zickness it 'as. Without ze interference frum ze likes of you or anozer zource. Oui, I remember ze last time I met wiz 'eroes, not zuch a rezonable bunch, non? And zo violent. Hit zings furst, zen talk."

[Tachyon]

Mizuki pulls out a flask of tea and offers it to Umbra.

She whispers to Maurice "Shall we offer to go with her ?"

[Tanma]

IC: De'kra took some breaths as his eyes froze over. Finally he stated, "Last time I met Shadeaux member, he manipulate us into starting war across Uland, in order to get business from selling weapons to both sides. But...Heroica does tend to react and violence rather than think. If we had thought things though, we could have stop that war. Just now we slaughter some beasts for being in our way, like thugs."

He paused, before continuing, "I will be honest, I do not trust you. But I care more about helping Rito than my past grudge. And I would like to be a hero who thinks and talks, not one who kills at first instinct. I need to help save dragon, but I do not know what parasite I face, or what dragons are like. You see to have an idea of what can do. Since we will have to help no matter what, could you tell we what you know, what your plan is? I can not promise I would agree, I not agree and your house's methods in the past. But I will listen, and I will not interfere, since we have no real plan."

OOC: good lines

[Etzel]

"Oui. It is I, la femme Umbra Shadeaux. Non, I du not know you, zough I am familiar wiz your type. 'Eroes from 'Eroica, I expected zey would zend you sooner or later. Oui, I am 'ere fur zis dragon zat you speak ov. You see, ze Shadeaux 'ave a long 'istory wiz dragons, and I am 'ere to make zure zat it recovers frum whatever zickness it 'as. Without ze interference frum ze likes of you or anozer zource. Oui, I remember ze last time I met wiz 'eroes, not zuch a rezonable bunch, non? And zo violent. Hit zings furst, zen talk."

"Well, I don't know what heroes from Heroica that you have met before, but I can assure my party is quite reasonable. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Maurice Ratibor, Paladin of Ennoc and leader of this party. We are actually here on the exact same reason as you, my good lady, a sick dragon isn't in anyone's favor and we mean to cure it. I believe that if we joined forces we would be better suited to take care of this dragon, we are a team with many diverse capabilities and you claim to have knowledge about dragons. I'm sure you will find us much more trustworthy that whatever rag tag band of heroes you have met before."

[JimBee]

Mizuki pulls out a flask of tea and offers it to Umbra.

Umbra waves away the flask.

"What are you trying to du, poison moi?"

He paused, before continuing, "I will be honest, I do not trust you. But I care more about helping Rito than my past grudge. And I would like to be a hero who thinks and talks, not one who kills at first instinct. I need to help save dragon, but I do not know what parasite I face, or what dragons are like. You see to have an idea of what can do. Since we will have to help no matter what, could you tell we what you know, what your plan is? I can not promise I would agree, I not agree and your house's methods in the past. But I will listen, and I will not interfere, since we have no real plan."

"Trust me?! I du not expect zuch a sing, non, I du not want it. I did not ask you to trust me, but I will not let ze likes of you interfere wis ze plans of moi. Plan? My 'plan' iz to make sure zat ze dragon gets well."

"Well, I don't know what heroes from Heroica that you have met before, but I can assure my party is quite reasonable. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Maurice Ratibor, Paladin of Ennoc and leader of this party. We are actually here on the exact same reason as you, my good lady, a sick dragon isn't in anyone's favor and we mean to cure it. I believe that if we joined forces we would be better suited to take care of this dragon, we are a team with many diverse capabilities and you claim to have knowledge about dragons. I'm sure you will find us much more trustworthy that whatever rag tag band of heroes you have met before."

"Maurice... wait, I du not care what your name iz, non! I am not fighting dragons wiz you... nor will I... let you."

Umbra seems to pause for a moment, but continues to stare defiantly at the heroes.

[Palathadric]

Can't get online consirtently at present. Etzel controls Pretzel. Will sleep when he gets chance.

[Etzel]

"Maurice... wait, I du not care what your name iz, non! I am not fighting dragons wiz you... nor will I... let you."

Umbra seems to pause for a moment, but continues to stare defiantly at the heroes.

Maurice uses Diplomacy

"Now mademoiselle, let's think this through. Since we have the same goal as you, to cure the dragon, we can't possibly be interfering with your plans, right? Besides, I'm not implying that a fine lady as you can't take care of herself, but to go alone into a dragon's lair is very risky and I fear for your safety."

[Tanma]

OOC: My internet is gone, sorry for the wait.

IC: De'kra clicked, "Can you be more specific? Because last time I blindly followed Shadeaux, it led to issues."

[JimBee]

Maurice uses Diplomacy

"Now mademoiselle, let's think this through. Since we have the same goal as you, to cure the dragon, we can't possibly be interfering with your plans, right? Besides, I'm not implying that a fine lady as you can't take care of herself, but to go alone into a dragon's lair is very risky and I fear for your safety."

Maurice's words seem to have a positive effect on Umbra, as her facial expression softens slightly.

"Oui... per'aps you 'ave a point, per'aps you 'eroes are not as bad as I once sought. I will not fight ze dragon, non, but I will trust you to help it get better. You.... you may pass. The dragon is right up zis pas, at ze very peak of ze mountain zat towers over all of Dastan.Just do not hurt it, si'l vous plait. "

[Etzel]

"Oui... per'aps you 'ave a point, per'aps you 'eroes are not as bad as I once sought. I will not fight ze dragon, non, but I will trust you to help it get better. You.... you may pass. The dragon is right up zis pas, at ze very peak of ze mountain zat towers over all of Dastan.Just do not hurt it, si'l vous plait. "

"Merci beaucoup, we will do our best to solve this problem. Just a question though, have you seen the dragon and been able to determinate the cause of its sickness? Also, if you have any knowledge about dragons that you think might be helpful to us, we would be very thankful if you could share those with us."

[JimBee]

"Merci beaucoup, we will do our best to solve this problem. Just a question though, have you seen the dragon and been able to determinate the cause of its sickness? Also, if you have any knowledge about dragons that you think might be helpful to us, we would be very thankful if you could share those with us."

"Zere iz some sort of parasite on it, ze specifics are unknown to moi. Zere is not much else you need to know besides zat it is angry and ferocious."

[Etzel]

"Zere iz some sort of parasite on it, ze specifics are unknown to moi. Zere is not much else you need to know besides zat it is angry and ferocious."

"Nothing we didn't expect from before then, well thank you anyways lady Shadeaux."

Maurice turned to his party comrades.

"We better get moving. Stay alert but be careful with your movements when we approach the peak of the mountain, we don't want to disturb the dragon more than necessary."

Maurice starts leading the party up towards the peak.

[JimBee]

QM Note: The party might want to prepare. I would like to ask everyone to check in (besides Etzel who has obviously been active). I know that Tanma and Pala have had internet problems, but Fred Daniel Yam and Zakura have not posted in a few days. Please check in within the next 24 hours, thanks.

[Tachyon]

Mizuki sips down a Nostrum

[Tanma]

IC: De'kra clicks, "I appear to have some noxtious venom, if anyone want to use it? If not I ready to go"

[Etzel]

"Well, we better be prepared for whatever we will encounter. Monk Pretzel, here take this tonic and drink it, it would be best to have you on full ether if things turn rough."

Maurice hands a tonic to Monk Pretzel. (who will drink it)

[Fred Daniel Yam]

William uses his Grating Stone on his Croise Crossbow.