Status Sera HP = 77, PP = 74, EP = 112/127, Status = Fine Frost armor -1 ep per turn
Toad = Dead
Sera quickly brought up her frost armor quickly numbing the tongue of her toad like attacker. As she slid closer to the creatures mouth twin balls of energy shot forth and impacted the toad causing the massive creature to croak. The tongue now limp fall of Sera as June and Ivy ran up to her and helped her up. The voices of her two companions mixing together as they said the same thing together. "Sera are you okay!"
As Sera brought up her frost armor, which quickly froze the toad's sticky tongue as it pulled her ever closer, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a pair of balls of energy slamming into the thing's side and underbelly. The impacts of the energy blasts forced the creature to release her as it fell, croaking its last croak as its life force washed away. Sera was released as the thing died, where she fell to the ground, luckily not face first, though her butt was a little sore from landing on it.
"Yeah you two, I'm fine... I think. Though my butt is gonna be a little sore I think from landing on it like I did, but I'll be fine I think. Jeez, that's the second animal that's attacked me since coming near Korst. First that big spider and now a giant toad. I shudder to think what it would've done to me had it pulled me in, because toads are icky," Sera said as the two helped her up, where she dusted herself off of the dirt that had gotten on her. She then looked up at the two and then around the area again. "Are you two alright? I don't know if there's anything else around that might attack us again, so stay alert alright. Now let's have us a better look around, and now I'll check with some of the animals, since the bigger ones don't seem to keen on helping and just want to... (gulp)... eat me or rape me," Sera added as she finished dusting herself off, where she looked around for any birds or squirrels, or any small creatures in the area for that matter that she could ask if they might be able to find a secret passage of some sort.
Now use Commune with Nature since she didn't really get the chance to a few turns ago, looking for any small animals first, and any nearby plants second to ask if they knew of where the city they were searching for was at. Spending a total of 1 EP to speak with them for a total of 2 minutes to get the necessary time for talking and whatnot.
Searching about for a sutible plant to which to speak with lead Sera to a rather old tree. It was fairly tall and looked old enough to tell Sera what she desired. Meanwhile June looked over the dead toad and pulled out a black pulsing organ that seemed to have seeped out of the creature. Starting her spell after dealing with the dark heart at her leisure Sera was soon in deep discussion with the tree. It turns out her first assumption had been correcte and that a road did exist next to the ruined tower. The tree old as is it was still had no idea where it would lead but said the hard trail let no trees grow and should be easy to find.
As Sera searched about for a plant or animal to speak with, she dropped her frots armor as she noticed June looking over the dead toad where she pulled out a black pulsing heart looking thing, which Sera told June to stow away in her pack as she set it down. After putting the heart away and into her pack, Sera went back to the tree she'd found and burned her energy with which to speak with the old thing.
"Just stay there for a minute you two while I talk to the tree here, maybe he'll be able to tell us where we need to go," Sera told June and Ivy as she approached the tree in question.
Speaking with the tree, Sera was soon in deep talks with the old thing. She soon found out that she was right with her assumption that there was an old hidden road or path next to the tower somewhere. Listening to the old tree's directions as to where they should go, Sera thanked him as she bowed her head. "Thank you my friend, I wish you a long and peaceful life, you have helped me a great deal, I shall follow the trail and find where it leads," Sera told the tree before her time ran out and she lost the ability to understand it any longer, letting it know that she was very grateful for its assistance in this matter.
Turning to June and Ivy, she informed them of what the old tree told her and said they should follow its directions, where she then did so and looked for the trail that it mentioned to her by the old thing. Once she found the path it spoke of, she would make sure if it was above or underground before going down said path, and if it was underground then she would get her lantern out of her adventuring gear and light it before venturing inside, though if it was above ground then she would just beckon her companions to follow her as she followed it.
Dropping Frost Armor before taking the upkeep hit, and I'm assuming that Sera gained a darkheart, so I'm adding that into her inventory if that's alright.
After a brief rest during which June conjured up some pure water to clean the goop off her and Sera, the trio continued on. Given the tree's hints the once over grown tangle suddenly became clearer as Sera found the place where no trees can grow. The road long over grown with Grasses must have been built well for the rampant jungle not to over come it completely. Heading down keeping an eye out for danger down this open grassy avenue she heard June humming a simple tune as they walked.
Before setting off, Sera sat down to take a rest with June and Ivy, where while they rested June conjured up some fresh clean water that she used to wash the grime off of Sera and herself, to which Sera thanked her for doing so, moving her left wing over and tickling June under her chin with her feathers there. Once they were ready to go again the trio set forth, following the tree's directions into the mess of thick overgrowth around them, Sera led the trio over to where she'd been directed to go to in order to find the path that she was informed of.
"I believe this is it girls, come on, let's go," Sera said to the two as she found the path in question, where she pushed some of the tall grass down so they could see it better.
Stepping onto the path first, she helped June over the grass and such so she didn't trip and fall, catching her if she did so, where she would then lead them on down that path as far as it would take them, assuming it didn't lead them to the lost city before they reached the end of it that is. Heading along down the path, Sera was a little amazed that the path hadn't been completely overgrown by now as June began humming to herself. With nothing really better to do while they walked, Sera picked up the tune with June and hummed along with her as they went, smiling and looking quite pleased that they'd found this path as they went.
"I wonder how far this road will take us, hopefully it won't take us too very far or anything, because I'd hate to get stuck on it for very long," Sera said after a while as they walked, wondering how far the city might be. Sera then looked over at June and smiled at her. "So June, are you still alright? Do you still want to keep traveling with me now that you've seen what kinds of dangers there could be?" Sera asked June as they walked.
The path was patchy between stone and grasses the intricate work still visible in some places. As the duo hummed a little working tune that Sera recognized from her time at Korst her thoughts kept drifting to the city and what wonders could await her. Likely it would be full of dangerous monsters and the like. This thought alone gave Sera enough pause to drop the tune a moment. Thinking Sera asked her questions to June know that if she wanted to turn back it wouldn't be that far for them to go and she could find this path again if need be. Looking over the priestess smiled. "Y-yeah its gonna take some getting used to thats for sure." She smiled lightly "And if these are the type of dangers your going to face well your gonna need all the help you can get!" June smiled brightly looking right at Sera and not noticing the rather deep hole she just stepped into. "We OH EEEEEEEKKKKK!" June's voice echoed down the rather slick looking hole far to perfect in shape to be a random feature of the terrain.
As they walked on and hummed their jaunty little tune which Sera had picked up from her time in Korst, the trio could see the path was surprisingly still fairly visible in most places, despite the overgrowth of the brush. Her thoughts kept drifting to what they might find in the lost city. Likely monsters of some sort, she thought to herself, though what sorts she didn't know. She was fairly certain that it probably wouldn't be any of the aliens that had been trying to take over everywhere, though what exactly she just didn't know.
Asking June how she was doing and whatnot, Sera waited for her answer and just smiled at her as she spoke up. "Well thank you June, I really could use all the help I can get. And having you with me is... WAIT JUNE LOOK OUT!" Sera began saying just as June stepped into the very deep hole. "Dammit... come on Ivy, we've got to go get her. There's no way that hole is natural, so get ready alright," Sera said to Ivy where she brought her frost armor up again like she had earlier, using the same amount of energy she did before before jumping into the hole after June, telling Ivy to get them some light by using her magic once they got down there, if there wasn't enough light to see by that is when they did reach the bottom.
As Sera descended down the hole, she would spread her wings and flap them a couple of times when she reached the bottom as much as she could to slow herself down, and if the hole opened up into a larger area, she would flap them continuously to stay in a hover if the floor looked dangerous in some way. She would look around for June as soon a she was down there, where she would flap her wings and descend towards her in order to check on her and see if she was alright. "Are you okay June? Anything hurt or broken?" Sera would ask June as soon a she got to the bottom, keeping an eye out around her as she rummaged around in her pack to get her oil lantern out in case Ivy wasn't able to get her magical one going properly.
Have Sera use Frost Armor again with a total of 7 EP just like before, then Sera will jump into the hole after June. Sera is telling Ivy to try and use Eldritch Lantern, which since Ivy has the Focus in Arcane talent, she gets a total of 22 Base Casting for it, so she should only have to roll an 8 on the base casting roll, once they get to the bottom of the hole of course.
Summoning forth her frost armor Sera found that she only really needed to use her wings to slow her decent down the slick hole as it slopped at a fairly easy angle down. Mid way in her decent however the light from above started to get fainter but luckily Ivy was spot on as small ball of light shown as they went down. Nearing the bottom she found June's pack snagged on a rock as well as a small amount of blood likely from a cut. "Don't worry Sera she'll be find Im sure of it." Reaching the bottom however produced no June but plenty of humanoid foot prints as well as drag marks leading further into the unknown cave.
Drifting down into the shaft, Sera saw the light fading until Ivy's magical light brightened the place up enough for her to see. Soon enough, Sera came upon June's pack that had gotten caught on a rock as she fell, where she also saw a bit of blood smeared on the rocks around it, which Sera figured that June had cut herself on as she fell down. Upon seeing this, Sera grew even more worried as Ivy spoke to try and calm her down, though Sera knew that June wasn't used to being out and about, and she couldn't be the cause of her getting hurt or killed... or worse... taken captive by someone, or something.
"I hope she will be Ivy, come on we should hurry on, I'll never forgive myself if something happens to her like this, especially if that something causes her to lose her purity," Sera whispered back to Ivy as they descended further into the shaft, with Sera grabbing June's pack along the way and slinging it over her shoulder with her own pack, which didn't bother her too much, though she hoped June was okay so that she could give it back to her.
As they got down further to the ground at the bottom of the shaft, Sera looked around to see that June wasn't there and there seemed to be some humanoid like footprints that lead off with something appearing to have been dragged behind them, further worrying Sera. Gesturing to Ivy to follow her as she flapped her wings and stayed aloft as they continued onwards, following the drag marks into the cavern. Sera could only imagine what might have grabbed June... gods... what if it was a monster of some sort, and what if it was doing terrible things to her. She had to hurry, she couldn't allow June to lose her purity because of her own selfishness and lack of perception in spotting the dangers on the jungle floor. Moving further into the cavern, Sera would be as quiet as she could while at the same time look around as carefully as she could while maintaining speed to follow the trail that had to be June's body being dragged through the place.
The tunnel Sera found herself in was rather well shaped and along her path tell tale signs of this being a constructed tunnel appeared. Rusty Pickaxes and lots of them littered the sides of the tunnel as well as numerous rusted shackles. Moving forward slowly Sera caught sight of a yellow glow up ahead.
As she made her way through the tunnels, which were quite well shaped and dug out considering, Sera could tell that these were obviously hewn out by the hands of man, especially since she saw quite a few rusted pickaxes laying around the place, littering the entirety of the tunnel as she made her way through. She also noticed some rusted shackles in here as well, telling her that the place had been made by hand yes, but obviously by slaves or prisoners working off their prison time for crimes or whatnot.
Glancing back at Ivy when she saw the yellowish glow up ahead, Sera nodded to her companion and pointed at it, letting her know that's where they were going, if the trail went that way that is. Sera dare not risk speaking aloud, so she made a series of hand signals to Ivy, silently informing her companion to be as quiet as possible and to follow her lead, keeping the way ahead as lit as possible while not giving them away as they approached wherever the tunnel led.
Her diligence would be rewarded. As she moved forward the yellow glow she had been approaching turned out to be a lone woman barley clothed holding a spear. She stood beyond a rather primitive gate which was sealed. Looking down Sera could make out the tracks of the feet as well as the drag marks heading right for the gate.
As she watched the gate a moment deciding if it was safe to approach Sera caught sight of a group of men being lead in chains by another woman who had a nasty whip on her side.
"Guard I have a work detail needing to leave. Let us pass."
"Sorry Madame I have orders to keep the gate sealed as an intruder was found in the tunnel."
"Oh? Male of female?"
"Female."
"Damn that bitch will probably keep her for herself. Come then slaves we will have to use the spider entrance." At this her slaves all men got a look of fear in their eyes as she lead them off.
Slowly making their way along, Sera saw that the glow was a woman standing guard with a spear in hand, so it turned out to be great that she had decided to stay silent and take things slowly. The woman she saw barely had any clothes on her at all from the looks of it, and she was standing next to an old sealed gate, which was curious, Sera thought. The tracks and drag marks led right through the gate, which meant that she and Ivy would have to make their way through it in order to find June and rescue her from whatever the hell had grabbed her.
Sera looked at Ivy for a few moments, waiting to see if it was safe to move up or not and maybe knock the woman guard out and just bust the gate in if need be. Just as she was about to head on out, Sera saw another woman leading a group of men all in chains, with a mean looking whip in her hand. This was obviously a slavers den of some sort by the looks of it, Sera thought to herself. But what to do about it was the question really. Sera stayed behind cover with Ivy and listened to the exchange of words between the two women, hearing them talk, Sera figured that the only way through was to either follow the work detail to this... spider tunnel, or to either persuade her way through or knock the woman guard out and just open the gates that way instead. It would be relatively easy to do either one really, Sera thought, but regardless she had to get through and fast, else she might lose June for good... and that was something she couldn't allow.
She glanced over at Ivy to see what she thought about this development, and hoped that she had some sort of insight to give on the situation. If nothing else, Sera would wait for the work detail as they'd been called to pass, waiting for a couple of minutes more to make sure they were out of earshot. Then she would try and stealth her way up to the woman after whispering a hastily thrown together plan to Ivy. "Alright Ivy, I need you to carry a rock or something over there and when you see me getting close enough to get at her, drop the rock and make a little clatter so she comes out to investigate and then goes over to do so where you droped the rock, where I'll jump out from behind cover and grab her and cover her mouth with my hand and put her into a choke hold until she answers my questions, then after we get what we need we'll go after June. If I can get close enough to grab her when she comes out from behind that gate, then try and paralyze her with your magic alright before I jump her, to give me an edge," Sera whispered quietly to Ivy as she began creeping up closer, preparing to launch herself out of cover at the woman, where she would throw a hand over her mouth and her other arm around her neck as she pressed down.
If Sera's plan managed to work and she got the woman into a choke hold after she came out from behind the gate, she'd whisper in a low voice to her opponent. "Alright now you're going to tell me what I want to know miss, or I'll just go ahead and squeeze a bit harder and knock you out... I may accidentally slip and break something I shouldn't because I never can remember just how to hold my arm when doing this, plus if you don't decide soon you'll freeze," Sera said, giving the woman a few seconds to decide whether or not she wanted to risk Sera breaking her neck or not trying to knock her out. If her threat got through to the woman, then Sera would slightly loosen her grip to allow the woman to breathe, slowly removing her hand from over her mouth, though if she even attempted to scream then Sera would clamp her hand back over her mouth and just hold her there against her frost armor and keep her there until she fainted. "Now... what is this place? What's behind that gate you're guarding? And where did they take the girl that was dragged through here? Also what is in here in terms of people and monsters? Talk quickly and quietly or I may go back on my decision," Sera would go on to say to the woman, assuming she managed to get the drop on her and catch her off guard and Ivy managed to zap her with her magic to give her the edge against her. She would express the need for the woman to hurry by pressing her frost armor against her back, to force an answer out of her.
If she couldn't manage to get the woman out from behind the gate and close enough for a good choke hold on the woman before being spotted, then Sera would summon forth her powers and bind her to the ground, using them to coil around her mouth to prevent her from screaming for help until she could get through the gate and jump on top of her, covering her mouth with her hand and saying the same things to her.
After waiting for the group of slave to pass, which Sera doesn't think it a good idea to try and rescue at the moment, have Ivy use Ray of Paralysis on the woman in hopes of paralyzing her, or at least damaging her a little bit to get her to answer Sera's questions, assuming Sera manages to grapple her and whatnot of course. If she can't initiate a sneak attack grapple because of being spotted, then Sera will use Entangling with 7 EP, targeting just the woman and not the area around her.
Also what kind of woman is this? A human? Night elf?
Status Sera HP 77, PP 74, EP 93/127, Status = Fine, Frost Armor. -1 ep per round
Rolls
Sera attempts to sneaky sneak 21 vs 33 Fail..... She is spotted
Sera uses entangle auto hit poor guard Entangled DC 64 (unknown bonus of +8)
Guard struggles. Cannot beat DC
Sera's plan was near fool proof except for one thing her frost armor. Moving forward all was going according to plan but just as she was about in position the guard turned her head and caught the small blueish glow. Turning about to yell for help Sera was a fraction of second faster as thick sturdy vines erupted from all around the woman quickly gagging her and putting her on a very provocative display. The vines quickly tangled the woman with one shoving deep in her mouth stopping her from screaming and only letting gargled noises come from her mouth. Other vines wrapped around her legs and spread them out tight stretching the woman into a spread eagle. The guards humiliation didn't stop there as other vines wrapped tightly around the guards breasts to squeeze them tight drawing and audible gasp from both Ivy and the woman. Thankfully the final vine stopped just short of the woman's sex. Ivy stunned a moment by the sight quickly flew threw the bars and shapshifted to a larger size and started to open the gate allowing Sera access.
As she crept closer, while Ivy got ready to enact their plan, Sera forgot to take into account that her frost armor did give off a soft glow of sorts, which ended up giving her position away to the woman before she could take cover. Before the woman could scream a warning to anyone else however Sera blasted her power at the woman, entangling her in the vines it summoned forth, where one of them shot into her mouth, muffling any scream she may have to offer while the rest coiled about her and put her into a fairly lewd position considering. Sera was taken off guard by the naughty position that the vines placed the woman in, almost as stunned as Ivy was for the moment that her vines had taken on such a lewd and naughty demeanor. Though with her mind in the gutter like it was sometimes with the lewd thoughts she had she shouldn't have been so surprised really.
Sera watched as Ivy slipped through the gates and opened them, allowing her entry, which Sera then shut them back and locked them, then she turned to her captive in the vines, which she'd mentally ordered to lower her to the ground so she could more easily speak with her, yet still not easily get free. Once she was next to her, Sera had the one vine that was poised at the woman's nethers to go up and coil about her neck, giving a gentle squeeze to emphasize the fact that she could easily knock her out or worse if need be. "Now tell me what I want to know miss, else I shall go ahead and just knock you out... or worse if I don't find my friend quickly and in good condition. Firstly, what is this place? Secondly, whom do you serve? Thirdly, what's beyond this gate you're guarding? Fourthly, where did they take the girl that was dragged through here? And lastly what is in here in terms of people and monsters that I may have to fight? Talk quickly and quietly or I may go back on my decision," Sera said to the woman, having the vine in her mouth gently pull out of there so she could speak, though she'd keep it close at hand to muffle her if she tried to scream any.
The woman stunned at the sudden turnaround quickly spoke not wanting to suffer the vines in any manner. "This is the panther tribe stronghold and I serve her highness Jolynn Matriarch and mother of the tribe. Beyond is our home as for the woman she will be evaluated by the Matriarch and either assimilated into the tribe or join our queens harem." It seemed Sera was not going to get much more out of the woman as the shock and surprise wore off and her face took on a defiant look.
Listening to the woman speaking and answering some of her questions, Sera looked more and more displeased about what may very well happen to her friend. "The Panther tribe huh. Tell me something then, might I... parlay with your matriarch then in a peaceful manner and be allowed to leave afterward to come to an agreement for my friend's release? Because I'd like to not have to hurt anyone in order to rescue her and continue my quest," Sera asked the girl in a diplomatic tone, thinking to herself that maybe she could trade something for June's release without having to fight, though she abhorred slavery, she was also practical and knew that she couldn't end slavery everywhere alone, so she could only do what she could to help her friend first, everyone else second if at all possible.
Sera waited for the woman's reply, wondering if she could very well resolve this situation peacefully so that she and Sera could go on their way and hopefully find the treasure which she sought. Though while she was hopeful that she could resolve this peacefully, she wasn't very sure that she would be able to do so... but maybe, just maybe she could manage it, she hoped.
"You are an outsider and have no say in the tribe. We rule our selves surrender and it may end up good for you." The woman was defiant despite her situation leaving Sera with gnawing feeling in her gut that she was gonna be in a fight one way or another.
"(Sigh)... though surely your people know the meaning of diplomacy and trade, as well as compromise. But it seems that I have no choice in this now, I must save my friend. I would have been willing to trade for our safety and release in more than one way," Sera said in a disappointed tone, undoing her robes enough to show the girl her naked body... all of it, just to see her reaction to Sera being a futanari, as if showing her what her and her people would be missing out on for not coming to a compromising deal with her for her's and June's release. "But it seems that you don't wish to resolve this peacefully or anything such as that... and here I would have been willing to do most whatever was needed to secure my friend's release, most things short of becoming a slave myself that is, or allowing either of us to be hurt," Sera went on to say, seeing if the woman would think about it for a few moments, what Sera had said with meant with her compromise.
Sera wondered if the woman did accept her proposal and took her to meet with her matriarch, what sort of thing she would be asked for to secure June's release... though she was fairly certain that it'd be something of a sexual nature most likely... if what the woman had said to her earlier was any indication of June possibly being added to the matriarch's harem. Then Sera got an idea of a sort, assuming the woman hadn't answered her and agreed to take her to see this matriarch.
"What would I have to do to join your tribe then and claim my friend that way to make sure she was given to me?" Sera would ask boldly, assuming the woman had either not answered her or hadn't agreed to take her on. She would figure that this might be her only way of getting in peacefully without a fight that she likely wouldn't win in any case most likely, so... she would swallow her pride for now and attempt diplomacy as much as possible, not wanting to have to hurt these people and disrupt their way of life... if she could help it that is.
