The Evrensel Conflict: Act 1 -- Chapter 2, Mission: A Quest of Behemoth Proportions

Shirou was momentarily alarmed at hearing gunfire in the forest, especially since the sound seemed to match with that of Deadpool's guns, but it seemed that Reegan had the situation well in hand, sending a squad of pixies after him. Using his reinforced vision, he spotted the chaotic mercenary tumble to the forest floor a distance away. As expected, he was still very much alive, if rather banged up. Since there was no sign of other hostilities and his other teammates were keeping tabs on Deadpool, Shirou decided to continue his investigation.

Since the food and tree sap was being served out freely for the festival, the young man decided to help him a small serving of the tree sap. After thanking the person who served it, he wandered over to a nearby tree with the small bowl of sap in hand, closing his eyes and concentrating.

"Trace on," he whispered as faint, blue-green circuit lines began to spread from his hand and into the bowl as he used his structural magecraft to try and analyze the properties of the sap, both physical and magical, and even the history of its creation to an extent. If the substance was drawn directly from the trees of this forest, and the trees were connected to the giant Dalakor, perhaps it could provide some insight into the workings of this world.

@Wiggin
 
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flower - Nature's sorrow.jpgMisty eyes watched from a short distance away as the pixies set off with the new brightness of their joyful endeavor. Less so the spriggan diminished to an orange inner light and a rueful smile in watching the pixies pilot their new living stump toward the town square afterward. Gone, but gladly and well. Zhen had to pass on earlier, as did Odaw. She hadn't told Nolan. Their spirits could not persist forever without proper internment by the ideal masters. Tiny streaks of glowing yellow down her cheek from each eyeless socket were freed by a squint as she heard a quiet again for the time in the bulk of her short existence. Zhen told her so and she knew it had to be but didn't like it all the same and felt so very hollow. The glowing sunlit drops fell off her jaw as she opened her eyes and returned to David as two new translucent plants and blooms were born as the tears struck the earth. Each growing spectral plant is covered in flowers of self-repeating patterns until the larger petals faded. Closing back to buds as she got further away neither would bloom again until moonrise.

Once back to David looked at him with a smile as he pats her shoulder showing the two lines from the corners of both eyes eroded down through her bark to the wood down to her jaw. Though the canyons to pale wood underneath slowly paled as the ironwood bark regrew. As the other approached she leaned on the green her orange color tinting slightly back to yellow. Somewhat back in the moment and out of the silence listened intently as the new bird person talked to them. David seemed on guard until the scared creature managed to croak out its name. She trusted the judgment of his faithful one Waffles as David's own seemed to quell.

A long-fingered hand reached out and rubbed a barky thumb across this Harper's cheek, "Sssh, you're safe with the trees, little bird."

She looked over to David then back to Harper and let go, "Pet the loyal one before he implodes. David can help you if you need something. I need to fetch the performance artist."

Reegan leaned over the cart and into Deadpool's view as she carefully inspected the damage and particularly her arrow, "For someone denied death the cycle is less kind to you than I had ever thought possible. I hadn't meant to incite such injury, Deadpool, I am sorry. Come here." @Wade Von Doom

Strong arms picked up Deadpool as gently as they could trying to dislodge the corn with the least amount of pain she could. The horn on her crown sporting the ring of life flared as her long rootbound tongue emerged toward the hole in his pelvis. It crawled through the hole in his flesh as the arrow pulled into it from both ends and vanished. Reegan didn't have the energy to help rebuild the bulk of his wounds but at least could repair the ones that would keep him from walking. Crawled all the way through it stuck from one injury to another until with warm energy pulled it back all the way through leaving a hole in the suit, but not through the flesh. Though Deadpool's ability soon overtook the smooth healthy flesh her energy left behind. Now a deep twilight red the Spriggan couldn't struggle to breathe but still lumbered under his weight on her way back toward David. One hand under Deadpool's knees the other around his back to hold him by the other hip from his repaired indignities. Head against her sanded bust though she didn't seem much to mind.
 
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Vromia, The glowing moon
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The villagers gave off a few glances but didn’t seem to mind the oddity of Reegan’s actions as she hoisted the wounded deadpool off the ground and attempted to tend to him. They believed her to be some sort of demi-god after all with how unique her appearance was, so they weren’t going to question what she did.

A small child watched from a distance as Harper introduced himself to the large man, the living tree holding a mercenary, and the small dog. He shifted in place as he watched them interact, perhaps he was nervous? He took a step forward and then stopped himself before awkwardly standing near one of the many homes. He had large gauntlets on his hands, his fingers shifting idly as he watched. He looked like he wanted to go over and say hi, but he was stopping himself.

Morgan, meanwhile could see Redwin shake his head, his warm smile falter for a moment after hearing that she wasn’t from this “clockwork giant.” He shrugged and chuckled softly, scratching the back of his head. “Ah well, can’t say I’ve heard of this Gaul fella, must be quite a distance away. I was curious since a few of our villagers have been going to the clockwork giant over the past few months to find a rumored ‘cure’ for our blessings, but we haven’t seen them in a while. Thought you might’ve seen them is all. People are too scared to venture to the clockwork giant here away from Dalakor so it’s ah… Bit of a predicament if you get my meaning…” Redwin explained but then waved his hand in the air, “sorry for bugging you about it, you should be enjoyin’ the food and all,” He said with a shrug.

Meanwhile, Shirou nestled himself under a nearby tree to inspect the bowl of “goop” he had heard so much praise about. The man’s abilities allowed him to see the chemical makeup of materials, giving him an edge when it came to investigating strange matters. No one seemed to notice his veins taking on a strange glow and he gleamed info. What he found was that the sap was similar to peach jello, infused with magic that regenerates energies within the body. It had various types of vitamins that allowed a person to sustain many effects much longer than the average individual. There was also a mysterious element that could not be defined, and its effects were just as confusing to understand. It seemed to utterly random in how it affected the human body, but for the most part, it didn’t seem harmful in any way in small doses.
 
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Redwin is given a cone of attention from Morgan as he talks and she eats the steak in small bites, eyes unblinking and ears immobile. She utters a ‘hmm’ at the notion of villagers going out in search of a ‘cure for blessings’ elsewhere, and not returning.

“I am confused.” Morgan says, stopping her meal and ears flitting.

“Why do people seek a cure for a blessing? Aren’t blessings good things? You are blessed to be a fine cook, surely. This is very delicious. Or are these blessings more than just a great skill in cooking?” Morgan holds up the mostly eaten steak and has a nibble and tilt of her head to one side.
 
Harper Jules

"I-I.. Y-yes! I'm fine! ... Justscaredsinceyouguysaresotall'n'all'n'youremindmeofm'crew." He'd squawk out in a single breath after a brief pause, taking notice of the rather large dog staring up at him with what he hoped was affection and not hunger.

At being 'petted' by the tree, Harper would instinctually lean into the wooden finger, feeling strangely comforted by what he assumed was a treant's words. Birds and trees were natural friends, so he guessed he shouldn't be surprised, though he'd still hastily follow Reegan's instruction and begin brushing Waffles with his feathers to the best of his ability, using his feathers almost as soft rakes.

He'd nod his goodbye to the spriggan as they'd go, before turning his head around to look at David once more, continuing to pet the surprisingly timid dog, wary of its impending explosion. He'd heard plenty of stories about dogs outside the church, what with them being caught and trained for all manners of things. Pirates were prone to playing dirty, so really an exploding dog wasn't all that unbelievable to him either. Or did the tree say implode? Either way, he wasn't taking the risk. It was probably a test.

"Aye, so.. Y-you're not from here mister strong man, sir? 'cause neither am I, 'n' I was just hanging around this place since I had no other place to go and the people were nice, but they were telling me 'bout some gift I was supposed to be gettin' 'n' I don't think I really want it, so could I go with you?" He'd bumble, jittering in discomfort and mentally preparing himself for the expected denial, before remembering he should probably be trying to sell himself like the captain always told him.

"OH! A-an' before you decide, I'm really good with maps! I see good too when things're far away, the glasses just help me see up close, Y'won't even notice I'm with ye, promise! I even know a spot of magic!" The harpy would continue, before putting on his best, albeit strained, smile
 
David Ludlow
Talkin' to a Harper and giving a pat


"Easy, boy. We're not gonna hurt you." David said in response to Harper's one breath phrase. The tall man watching as Harper looked like he was going to explode from fright, but thankfully relaxed when he proceeded to pet Waffles, of whom accepted the gentle feathery pets with a happy bark and nuzzling into Harper for more pets, the Bird person relaxing more when Reegan came over to pet Harper before going off to pick up the broken mess that was Deadpool.

Upon Harper's mention of them not being from around here, David would nod. "Yeah, we're not from around here." Would be the only thing he said as he listened to Harper as he continued. His wariness getting worse as the mention of a gift came up, the situation was slowly turning odder than David would like. The giant of a man mulling over the information and his own intuition. His experience with dealing with the Vietcong, and the criminal underworld served him well in this regard. Hopefully the others would have more information. He did now however have a key phrase to ask around with, the 'Gift.'

His musing would be put on hold as Harper put forth his skills, and to settle the fears of Harper, he'd respond. "I got a funny feeling about this whole place too, kid. But you ain't gotta worry, we'll take ya along with us. Just expect to help out when needed." He gave Harper a pat on the top of his feathery head. David standing up to go rejoin the others until he noticed the child looking at them. Waving the boy over, he was curious what the boy wanted.

@Noble Scion @Wade Von Doom @littlekreen @Wiggin
 
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Vromia, The glowing moon
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Redwin let out a jolly laugh as Morgan complimented his cooking, but slowly trailed off as the festivities around them continued to go on. “Y’see miss, my blessing isn’t that I am a great cook (although I do enjoy the sentiment) but it is actually the armor everyone in this village wears, a gift from the great Dalakor not too far from here. That large god has stood there asleep for generations, it was there before even the time of my great grandfather. The thing is, when you’ve been around these giants long enough, your body starts to change and become more like them. Some nomads such as yourself don’t get that knowledge sometimes and are left just looking like the average person,” Redwin explained before pulling up a log to sit down on top of as he continued to speak in the middle of the crowd.

“The problem we’ve been having though is that some people don’t like the armor we are gifted with. The thing is… it can’t exactly be removed once it’s created, so they went to the clockwork giant hoping to ah… remedy that if ye get my meaning. There have been rumors for a few months that there’s a certain device inside that behemoth that gets rid of curses or even blesses in our case. Whatever the matter is, I was hoping you’d have been dropped off by one of their weekly blimps and had seen any of them around. We haven’t even gotten any word from them after they left, they just sorts of… disappeared,” Redwin said, his tone getting slightly sourer and saddened as he spoke, his gaze drifting off as his red hair shined in the sun. He then shrugged and turned back to morgan, putting on a smile once more. “Anyway, I shouldn’t be worryin’ you with such things, hope you enjoy your day miss. The festival will be going all day heh,” He said after chuckling, before getting up and walking into the crowd.

Meanwhile, David waved the boy over. His eyes looked down, slightly nervous at looking at the tall man. He then looked over at Waffles and down at his hands before putting them behind his back. “I ehm… hello sir…” The kid said meekly, shifting weight from foot to foot. “I was uh…” He spoke before stopping. He seemed to be around the age of 10 with how small he was, despite the gauntlets most definitely not being for a 10-year-old. “Are you from the clockwork giant? I was ah… hoping you’d of seen my papa. He’s like…” The kid started to say, putting his hand up in the air and stretching. “...this tall an he.. Ehm… He has a big helmet that’s all rusty an he’s… uh… my dad…” The kid them finished, quickly putting his hand down and behind his back. “He said he’d be home after a week but uh… it’s been more than a week. He said he was fixing something, I hope he fixed it,” The boy then hopped in place, having gained some semblance of courage after speaking. “I’m… Artim,” He then said.
 
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Vromia, The glowing moon
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Redwin let out a jolly laugh as Morgan complimented his cooking, but slowly trailed off as the festivities around them continued to go on. “Y’see miss, my blessing isn’t that I am a great cook (although I do enjoy the sentiment) but it is actually the armor everyone in this village wears, a gift from the great Dalakor not too far from here. That large god has stood there asleep for generations, it was there before even the time of my great grandfather. The thing is, when you’ve been around these giants long enough, your body starts to change and become more like them. Some nomads such as yourself don’t get that knowledge sometimes and are left just looking like the average person,” Redwin explained before pulling up a log to sit down on top of as he continued to speak in the middle of the crowd.

“The problem we’ve been having though is that some people don’t like the armor we are gifted with. The thing is… it can’t exactly be removed once it’s created, so they went to the clockwork giant hoping to ah… remedy that if ye get my meaning. There have been rumors for a few months that there’s a certain device inside that behemoth that gets rid of curses or even blesses in our case. Whatever the matter is, I was hoping you’d have been dropped off by one of their weekly blimps and had seen any of them around. We haven’t even gotten any word from them after they left, they just sorts of… disappeared,” Redwin said, his tone getting slightly sourer and saddened as he spoke, his gaze drifting off as his red hair shined in the sun. He then shrugged and turned back to morgan, putting on a smile once more. “Anyway, I shouldn’t be worryin’ you with such things, hope you enjoy your day miss. The festival will be going all day heh,” He said after chuckling, before getting up and walking into the crowd.

Meanwhile, David waved the boy over. His eyes looked down, slightly nervous at looking at the tall man. He then looked over at Waffles and down at his hands before putting them behind his back. “I ehm… hello sir…” The kid said meekly, shifting weight from foot to foot. “I was uh…” He spoke before stopping. He seemed to be around the age of 10 with how small he was, despite the gauntlets most definitely not being for a 10-year-old. “Are you from the clockwork giant? I was ah… hoping you’d of seen my papa. He’s like…” The kid started to say, putting his hand up in the air and stretching. “...this tall an he.. Ehm… He has a big helmet that’s all rusty an he’s… uh… my dad…” The kid them finished, quickly putting his hand down and behind his back. “He said he’d be home after a week but uh… it’s been more than a week. He said he was fixing something, I hope he fixed it,” The boy then hopped in place, having gained some semblance of courage after speaking. “I’m… Artim,” He then said.
David Ludlow
Talking to a Kid


David listened to the boy explain the situation going on with him. He'd shake his head when the kid asked if they were from the Giant. "Sorry but I haven't been near, but uh..." He paused as he tried to find the right words. "Wade there was over near it earlier today." He half lied, he still didn't want correlation between Deadpool's bullshit and whatever was going on.

He noted the characteristics described, the rusty helmet and the fact he was going for a week. It sounded dire, his instincts saying either the Dad was dead or trapped. But he wouldn't share these thoughts with the kid outright, as evident from how emotionally damaging it'd be. As such, he'd just pat the kid on the head. "Nice to meet you Artim, I'm David. That's Reegan, that guy with her is Wade." He'd say before asking. "Artim, do you know where your Dad left this village at? Like where he began his trip, it'd help us find him. See if he got lost or just needs some help to get back here." He explained the first part of his plan.

The other part that would be needed for the tracking of the missing father would be asked for. "Say, do you have anything of your father's? Like a shirt, anything? My dog here can smell it and we can go and track him down."

@Wiggin @Noble Scion @littlekreen @Wade Von Doom
 


Morgan keeps eating as she listens intently to Redwin. When he sits down on a log, Morgan kneels down to be at eye-level with him as if she were sitting on an invisible chair. The blessings of these people, given by the giant being they had seen before, were actually becoming more of a nuisance. To remove this nuisance, they have gone to a Clockwork Giant and yet have not returned. That was ominous, but reading his tone and face, Morgan does not want to distress him more by stating so.

“Thank you for the meal!” Morgan yells after Redwin with one hand while the other holds the trimmings of fat from the steak. She would normally eat these as well, but has decided to save them for Waffles. Fat trimmings and information in hand, Morgan puts her nose to the air to search for her team, and weaves through the festivities until she finds the one she smells to be the closest: David and Waffles, and a bird person, to her surprise.

“Waffles! I have a treat for you, friend.” Morgan walks up to the group with her handful of fat trimmings out for the canine. “Hello! I’m Morgan.” She introduces herself to the bird person before talking to David.

“David. A nice man gave me food and knowledge. We should find The Doctor and tell him right away. There is a Clockwork Giant that might be what we are looking for here.”
 
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Vromia, The glowing moon
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Artim stood there for a moment, offering a tiny little wave to the crew as David introduced people. He smiled for a moment, showing that he was missing one of his front teeth but it eventually faded as he intently listened to David.

“He ah… went on the ehm… big wooshy air ships that go in the sky!” Artim explained, waving his hands in the air as if that would explain just how big one of the ships one. “There’s a port or somethin’ at like ah… behind the town building. They come every once in a while like uh… every few hours. There should be one soon I think.” He then continued, putting his hands behind him and bouncing back and forth on his toes and heels.

He had to process what David said for a few moments afterward. The boy’s face squinted inwards, lost in thought as to what type of item would work. Eventually, his face brightened as he held up a hand and started running off. “Oh! Oh! I have somethin’!” He said, leaving the crew alone. After a few minutes, he returned with a long piece of cloth. “I have papa’s scarf for when he visits a colder giant for supplies!” He returned, holding up the scarf for David to take. “Ah… he won’t like it if I lost it so ehm… could you be careful with it?” Artim then asked, tilting his head.