World Tree MUSH

    "Now, he said it was here somewhere..." A woman's voice echoes in a cavern. The walls shine a soft blue from the magic eminating from it as she stares down at a map. "And I spent a good amount of Fol on this too! Oooh it has to be here somewhere." folding the map up, she tucks it into her robes and continues down a path, "Now, if it's right... it should be left and through a door." She gives a bit of a grin, "If it's true, then this will be a good find, maybe I can find out where I am..."

    Taking a left at the next turn has the Symbologist walking down a dimly lit tunnel and into a dead end, a frown upon her face, "The map said it'd be right here..."

    Cecil moves clearly in the armor he wears, but it isn't totally silent. Celine will hear him coming well before he appears, the tall knight in vicious-looking, spike-laden black armor carrying a pitch black sword of night at the ready. His echoing voice is murmuring, "I think I heard something up ahead."

    Probably because he did. The intimidating Dark Knight has taken point for the party, or at least tried. The heavily-armored guy being a good idea right?

    Meanwhile, Rydia has largely stuck to the back row. The tiny Summoner might not seem to be the wisest choice to bring along on a dungeoneering adventure, being both: incredibly small and frail looking, and also incredibly young on top of it. But that doesn't stop her, and she probably would have chewed Cecil's ear off if he had decided to go anywhere WITHOUT her, anyway.
    She has a bow slung across her back, being in a cave making it harder to actually use it, her hand lingers closer to the dagger at the belt of her tunic, while her other hand tugs her white wolfos hood and cloak tighter about herself.
    "You thought you heard something, or you heard something, Cecil, which is it?"
    She's not being sassy, this time, she's actually poking the Dark Knight to clarify.

     Benito is one who looks out of place on this little adventure seemingly not wearing anything in the way of armor nor carrying with him any visible armament. No instead he walks in a very nicely hand stitched trench-coat and massive brimmed hat that partially hides his face. 

     He walks along the glow of a cigar stuck out the corner of his mouth helping to light his way as he walks with the rest of the group hands deep down into the pockets of his coat. Smoke slowly raises up from the end of that smoke stick while he takes one drag after another. 

     "If I were you, I'd be more then keen on getting back a hold of the one what sold it to you." Smoke rolling slowly out each corner of his mouth as he spoke. "Have a few words with em about it." Calm and collected as his eyes slowly shift from one corner of the structure to the other hands not leaving his pockets.

    Tapping of a foot echoes lightly through the cavern system as Celine stares down the wall. Pulling her map out, she takes a look at it, then the wall. "It's /supposed/ to be here." she muttered, "Can't see any switches or the like either." there's a hmm as she backs up just a bit, "Energy... A..." she blinks and perks up a bit, hearing loud thunking sounds echo. "Strange, there wasn't anything on the way when I came in." there's a small frown upon the woman's face as she moves towards the wall.

    Without Claude or Rena here, if a fight broke out, she'd be in a small bit of trouble.

    The familiar scent of smoke, something she was used to when Precia built things, gets stronger and closer, the man's words catch her ears and she relaxes just a bit. "Well, I will soon. Assuming if I can't get behind this wall." she replies back to the voice, only placing it to the body when it shows up. Some thoughts come to her head, only to shake it out...

    "I didn't expect to see anyone else here, you know. And there is something else coming, armored I think." she hmms a bit, "The name's Celine, you?"

    Yes, armored noises. And yes, Cecil is sighing. "Fine, I heard something." Which turns out to just be... Celine and Benito chatting as the knight steps fully into view. His sword lowers immediately, as he can tell these two are unlikely to be a threat. Not because of being incapable, but they obviously aren't dungeon dwelling monsters.

    "It would appear that we have bumped into some adventurers... I suppose that is better than a giant monster," the knight muses.

     "Not really the adventuring type." Benito comments calmly puffing away at his cigar while looking over the shoulder at the map. "Just a simple businessman doing a little legwork to help out his family." He pauses for a moment, looking back to the person with their little map. "You can call me Mr.Bontade, as said a moment ago, I'm a businessman."

    "That's... Kind of better than a giant monster." Rydia partially agrees with Cecil. "But it also means we have to split any treasure we find up even more." The child notes, with a scrunch of her nose. "And divvy up potions, designate who gets ether-- those are rare you know- plus there's the logistics of figuring out who's up ahead and who's in back-- and that's if they don't just attack us."
    She just says all this right in front of Benito and Celine, pretty blatantly, before pointing a finger.
    "-And you two better not get any ideas about attacking us. Cecil is a brave and powerful Dark Knight and I'm a mighty wizard."
    The second part is only a half-bluff. Look it worked for Rune, why can't it work for her.

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> Stockpiling ethers to never use, ever, is important you know.

    "He really is," comes another voice, which Cecil and Rydia will recognize. Vivian isn't in disguise tonight, she's in her usual jet black look, complete with raven-colored wings. The Swan woman slinks out of the passage as well, but doesn't approach the group for... some reason.

    She continues, "Perhaps the monster is not giant and merely looks innocent, though. Good evening, travellers."

    "Mr. Bontade, huh?" Celine might be blushing just a bit, only to shake her head at the thought. "Well, if I can get through here..." she hmms, "I suppose I can part with some Fol or a peice of the treasure." she nods, "Maybe an Orichalcum." she smiles, "Now, can you find any switches in this wall? Maybe it'll open." with the noise stopping and more voices coming in. She turns to face the new ones and hmms, person in armor... and a little girl.

    "It seems you have, Sir Knight. What kingdom are you from?" she brazenly questions, "The pitch black armor is a unique touch, I have to admit." she leans to the side to take a look at Rydia, "You don't have to worry about potions, but this... ether...? What's that?" though with the finger pointing and brazen request makes Celine puff her cheeks in annoyance, "A little girl with a brazen attitude. I didn't realize it was bring your child to a dungeon day. We have no reason to attack you... yet."

    She huffs a bit, but when Vivian makes her comment, she gets a grin, "I like that."

     There's a moments speculation and he's about to respond to that little display from Celine when suddenly he hears a voice questioning him. 

     "I'd say it more depends how fast you can cast that little black magic of yours." He takes a long drag from his cigar. "And if you can cast it faster then I can depress my pointer finger." A lighthearted genuine looking smile crossing over his face as he looks towards the caster. 

     He chuckles to himself before moving a hand to ruffle her hair, leaving behind a bubblegum cigar tucked behind her ear in the process. There's a light wink towards the caster as he comes back to a stand. "Gotta admit, love the fight you got in ya kid, consider that on the house." 

     Then his attention drifts back over to the wall, and he leans hard on his right leg spinning on the ball of his heel, the mirror finished polish of his fancy dress shoes catching the light nicely. He leans forward taking a huge drag of his cigar then blows smoke from his mouth like a dragon all across the wall looking for where instead of rolling off the hard surface it slips into the non airtight cracks of the design.

    Cecil chuckles, "I am a Dark Knight of Baron, though we are far from our homes." He lets Rydia introduce herself, but for him, he inclines his helmeted head, "Cecil Harvey. We mean you no harm if you have no intent to attack us." He sizes up Benito, then shakes his head at some internal thought... for just a moment. Then, something else gets his attention.

    "Vivian," he says, lifting his dark blade in an immediate defensive posture. He /almost/ springs to attack, but the tone the others take makes him more cautious, realizing that they wouldn't know the context. "Right. Switches in the walls. I heard something about this. Rydia?"

    "Yeah he really is and--..."
    The voice confirming Rydia's assessment of Cecil, makes the girl puff up smugly, that someone agrees with her. But when the familiarity of the voice sinks in, the green-haired child blanches. Pale as a sheet, she turns her head stiffly to face the Swan, eyes wide with mixed emotions. And not one of them good.
    But once the initial shock passes, her gaze hardens.
    Rydia rallies, and the girl rallies fast; refusing to show weakness in front of Vivian, she whirls around. Though her hand is resting on the hilt of the dagger at her belt and she keeps the woman in the corner of her gaze, for the time being she -pointedly- ignores her presence and opts to respond to Celine.
    "Well excuse me. I go to dungeons all the time- I run through twelve dungeons a day, I do what I want. And ethers are very rare, and you're not getting one."
    Cecil would know she's... Usually better with people than this, but it seems Vivian's presence has ratcheted her up. Hard.
    And then Mister Bontade gives the girl a mighty ruffle. The contact has Rydia flailing, wild green hair getting even mussier. "Garghghagh!"
    Huff. Benito gets a pretty huffy look before... Rydia realizes there's something behind her ear. Uh oh.
    "Look. If you're not going to attack us, then we're not going to attack you- at least Cecil and I won't. I can't speak for *her*." The Summoner says.
    That's when something else might become apparent. The girl is surrounded in a thin layer of mist. And it swirls around her as though agitated. But she waves it off, and in the direction of the wall.
    "Whyt, see what you can find."
    Damned thing, that. Because the mist actually listens to her and starts searching for any seams or cracks in the wall that might indicate a switch.

    Tsk tsk. "Let's not be hasty. This is just a coincidence, and I'm merely satisfying my curiosity. When was the last time I just randomly attacked YOU, Rydia?" It's a fair question, because one of the more recent times she helped Rydia.

    Vivian turns to Celine and flexes her wings, before she slides her gaze to Benito. "Vivian," she introduces herself. "I am a wind mage of some skill, though that is not of much use right this moment. I will see what I can find for switches... I'm something of an explorer myself."

    Unwilling people to do her bidding, get.

    The smoke and mist swirl around the wall and slip through some very thin cracks in the wall. "Well, what did you find?" she questions. "Did you find the door or anything?" she looks a bit impatient. "If it's something we can get through..." she leans on one of the other walls, "If it's hollow and no switch, why don't you have the little mage blast it open? Do you know Explosion at all?" she directs that last question towards Rydia.

    "Wind mage? You only specialize in one of the Heraldric Arts? Must be pretty powerful if you only focus on one Symbol." she nods, then turns back to Rydia, "And what do you know? From one spellcaster to another."

"Well she's not the only wind mage." Cracking his neck as he speaks. "Watch me huff and puff and blow this little piggy's house down." Spoken before the businessman suddenly full force kicks the wall with an almost superhuman strength. Even if he doesn't manage to kick it open there will be a deafening clang of dress shoe slamming against rock and an indent will be left behind.

    Huh, Vivian is behaving. "Wind mage and necromancer," Cecil grunts, but he does sheath his sword at his side. Seeing Benito kicking the wall, he calls out, "Best leave it to more subtle fingers. We can stand guard in case something happens."

    That's his idea anyway.

    A lot is going on. At least for Rydia, who is giving the bubbglegum cigar a few curious sniffs. It smells like something she can put in her mouth.
    Look, candy like this just doesn't exist on Blue Earth.
    But the child tenses, shooting a withering glower over her shoulder Vivian's way. That mist filters back out of the wall just in time for Benito to give it that solid kick. If that doesn't do anything though, the mist... Coalesces. Gathering into a more semi-solid form as it takes on the shape of a small dragon hatchling. That also starts fiddling with the walls where it can.
    "I don't know, Vivian, when was the last time you didn't have an ulterior motive?" The child snipes.
    "Oh yes, she's powerful." Rydia confirms for Celine.
    "She's also a murderer."
    She also doesn't pull her punches when it comes to *warning* Celine. Who then asks the impossible.
    "...No."
    That's not an 'I can't do it' no.
    That's an 'I *won't* do it' no, when probed for an explosion.

    "Heraldic Arts? Not familiar," Vivian replies to Celine first. "I am a Blight Crow, a type of Wird Master. Likely not familiar to you, since... well, my own world is very much separate from most." She doesn't know if Celine even knows she's in another world yet, but nothing like diving in right away, right?

    Rydia is tutted at, "Not always. Tonight I just want to see why this cave is so interesting, curiosity alone. There is nothing personal in anything I've done. I feel for you, I do."

    Benito's kick makes her wince, then sigh as she steps toward the wall, taking a careful look at the results. "As for my magic, I do have other abilities, but wind magic is my strongest. My gift, I suppose."

    "Hmm, that's a shame." Celine mutters at Rydia's firm 'no'. The clang of shoe on rock echoes through the cavern... and dents it quite nicely, while the tiny mist dragon starts fiddlign around the wall... and there's a click.

    Soon after there's a loud rumbling sound as the door starts to part the ground, lifting up into the ceiling. "Well well." she mutters, turning to Vivian, "Wird...Master? I knew I wasn't on Expel but this just takes the cake." she shakes her head, "Maybe this will get me back to Kross..."

    She gives a bit of an impatient huff as the door finally goes into the ceiling... revealing what Celine's been trying to find... or at least what the map says. There's a pedistal in the center of the room and on it, is a small silver colored figure. Celine slowly enters the room... and as dust clears, there's a variety of sleeping beasts in the room, how they're still asleep from that racket?

    "Hmm, who wants to go get that for me?" she turns towards Cecil with a smile, "Oh strong knight, why don't you go in and fetch it for me, I'm sure if they wake up, you can keep them occupied while us fragile casters make with the magic."

    It is a very firm no. Rydia will not cast anything fire-related, and the girl seems to shrink into the folds of her wolfos fur cloak, clutching it tightly around herself.
    The way forward is opened. "H-hmph..."
    Right so about that next room... Full of sleeping monsters. It's probably a good idea to be quiet and--...
    *~POP~*
    Rydia has discovered why it is called bubble gum. Though the exploded bubble she just blew has made a mess of her face... It was also really LOUD.

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> IT BECAME A LOADED CHEKOV'S GUN AS SOON AS YOU HANDED IT TO ME, BENNY.

    Sleeping monsters aren't great for a heavily armored knight, but Cecil will give it a shot anyway. He grumbles, lifting sword and slowly approaching, creeping toward the room with a wary eye toward the beasts lest they-

    *POP*

    Cecil curses under his breath and quickly lifts his shield, motioning for people to move while he protects from any sleep-addled monsters that may leap to the attack. His blade doesn't strike unless one moves, but when it does the life-sapping blade is swift.

    Sigh. Vivian is, actually, quite fond of children, so she doesn't get too upset about Rydia's decision. A glowering, that's really it. And for now she is actually a part of this group, and preferring to keep things simple. The winged woman reacts quickly, casting a spell with a murmured chant and a sudden, queasy nausea around the room as she yanks on magic and life more than she should.

    The spell she casts is not flashy, it is merely a collection of creatures. They aren't animated but they do have scent as well as sight, the collection of 'invaders' hopefully providing a distraction long enough for the others.

    Celine follows behind Cecil with a nod. "You just guard... I'll pluck the thing up... and then sell it... and I'll split the Fol between everyone here." while it wasn't optimal for Celine, she did end up needing everyone here. Just as Celine starts reaching for the figurine.... there's a 'POP'. She grabs the figurine, takes a look in the direction it came from and frowns.

    There's a loud snort and stumbling as the beasts get up... and spot intruders. A loud roar echoes through the chamber and Celine backs away, "Okay, we got what we need, let's go! I don't think we can fight properly right now!" But with Vivian's distraction creatures, the beasts start swiping at them, angry at them... and trying to get to the intruders!

    That's about what Cecil expected. Fortunately, his sword is already out, and he's on the move, shield-bashing one of the creatures while slicing at another. His goal is to cause chaos, to confuse them amongst the illusory enemies, and he does that as best he can and only grunting when one of them manages to knock him backward, jarring and bruising the knight.

    "Good," he huffs, hearing the call to retreat. The better battle is one not fought. He covers Celine's retreat with a quick backing up. "Vivian, if you're going to help in any other way, can you cover our retreat?"

    Vivian seems a little amused. Being in the back like she is, the mage isn't all that worried. She only has to outrun the others, not the monsters! But Cecil's call makes her sigh, "I suppose I do owe you something." She doesn't move though... not until Celine and the others are back out of the room. Covering the retreat? She can do that, with a blast of slicing wind at the ceiling, carving out some rocks to crash down and cover the escape.