Luné Alpenglow
Wandering the woods, Luné felt numb and downtrodden. The dark world around her was all she could think of. The shade of the trees cooled her skin in the warm air. She was beginning to realize that the world was warming more than it had in the past days. Was it already summer? She had lost track of time in the castle, and even more so once she was out of the castle. She had not thought about the date or time in a long while, and she was completely lost in such matters now. She continued her walk, listening out for any noise and watching for any movement. She could hear the birds, and she smiled happily at their songs. She knew she could listen to them for a while, after all, she was free to wander these woods, and listen to the calm of the woods. She approached a ledge she had not found in her explorations. Looking at it, she thinks for a few seconds, then decides to hop down. It was not a large fall, and she could likely easily climb it if needed. It was only three-fourths her height after all.
She continued her walk, listening to the birds for a while. As she does, she begins to think about the situation she finds herself in. A year ago, she was training to become a hero for humanity, and now she sat as one of the enemies of all nations, a Dungeon Core. Though not all Dungeons are threats, she held no hopes that Humanity would ally with her, even though she is a Hero of their race. Her ability had manifested another feature, and with it she had made powerful allies, who could wipe her out in one fell swoop. She defeated Noalen, and now her plans aim towards the rest of her former party. And finally, she had created a rift between herself and the first she had summoned. She stops walking, and begins to think sadly about the situation between herself and Sebastia. She wanted to go to Sebastia, and find out what Sebastia wants her to do, but she also did not want to disappoint Sebastia again. She felt she had nothing to worry about when it comes to Sebastia, but she felt empty without her friend.
She sighed to herself, and began to walk again, trying to get out of her thoughts as she listened for the birds again. A few seconds later, she stops, realizing the birds had stopped their songs. Worry and panic began to envelop her, as she watched her surroundings. Placing her hand on her dagger, she listened carefully, trying to prepare for a fight if one were to start. The sound of panicked birds could be heard in the distance off to her right, then the sounds of those birds getting through the trees. It was close, so she drew her dagger, ready for a fight. She heard a voice in the back of her mind, “A test.” Turning around, she raises her dagger ready to strike, but she finds nothing. She looks around, even more worried. She then heard a low growling, and turned to face it. Where she looked, she could see a creature that was far out of place, a tiger. But this tiger was strange, as its fur was slick with a black substance, with patches of orange sticking through. Its eyes were already dead, and its mouth was curled in a snarl. Raising her dagger, she worried she may be in danger.
Kaede
Kaede stood in the shadows of an alleyway, staring up at the large building. It had large copper barrels that likely stored water, and pipes going all around the exterior. From what she had been told, this was a “power station”. Apparently, the Dwarves use high pressure steam to power their clockwork mechanisms, and she sat quietly, observing a group of Dwarf workers, turning off a valve, and then removing the piping to be replaced. She cast an invisibility spell, and began to approach, letting them replace the leaking pipe, before they unwittingly allowed her into the building.
She wandered silently, examining the intricate piping and searching for the boiler. The heart of the machine was her target, and the boiler was a perfect target. No one thought to prepare it for dangerous people, as all people agree that the power of a boiler was necessary to life in a dwarven city. She walked quietly, passing by workers who were none the wiser. She found her way down a set of stairs, barely dodging a group as she did. Entering the main boiler room, she began her examination, finding weak points and spots she could easily destroy. After a few minutes, she realized she had found a secondary boiler, and not the main boiler. She continued her search, realizing she would need to destroy more than one object in her mission.
She raised her staff, and cast an illusion on herself, one that would mask her identity once she left her invisibility and spoke her peace. She then continued her hunt, and found what she was looking for, with a swift movement, she raised her staff towards the boiler, and what she perceived to be its weak point. Dropping the invisibility, she cast her spell, blasting apart the boiler with lightning. The sparking of electricity sounded out from her spell, and she quickly rushed back to the second boiler, doing the same there, but instead in the darkness.
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She could already hear the panicked yelling of the workers, and she ran for the exit, her eyes adjusting to the darkness quickly. Reaching the exit, she found plenty of workers already out in the dark city. Sticking to the shadows, she climbs up the building, and then casts a spell to illuminate the area. The dwarves looked up, and saw her. A Nekomimi in a roguish outfit, with a fancy hat to boot. She called out, “Listen here! Your people are corrupt! We will destroy all parts of this city, if our demands are not met! Ban slavery, and imprison those who condone it! That is all we ask! Fail to do so, and we destroy this city!” She brings her staff to the center of her body, and slings her left hand to the middle as well, connecting the illusory casting component to her “rapier”. With a cast, she was gone again, invisible, listening to the workers panicking. She dispels the light, and runs off, happy with this successful mission.
Jazak Forgeson
Jazak was walking calmly and quietly. He had not cared much about the situation he found himself in. Though the Orc and Elf were quiet, he felt annoyed, mostly thanks to their presence. As he walks, however, he begins to think of forming a party again, and his smile returns. He walked calmly to his destination, ready for this day to be over. He steps down some stairs, into an open air market. Then he began to look for his target, only for him to hear something strange. “Hey! The lights went out in the craftsmen district!” People began to move to the edge of the market, even getting to higher ground to see what they could obviously see from the tower in the district. Jazak stared at it, confused and baffled. He then began running back up the stairs, worried for Nurud’s safety.
Luné Alpenglow
The tiger, if it were even still one at this point, lunges forward, trying to catch and drag Luné to the ground. With a quick leap to the side, she barely dodges. The tiger turns to watch her, its dead eyes focusing on her, as the black begins to seep onto the grass, staining it and clearly causing it to wilt immediately. Luné held her dagger at the ready, not willing to throw it, as she thought of a way to escape. She watched as the black substance began to overflow onto the beast’s lips. She was confused for a few seconds, before the substance was spit at her, causing her to sidestep in panic. The substance slowly began sliding down a tree’s trunk, doing nothing at the moment. Luné, despite the possibility that it does nothing to anything bigger than a blade of grass, did not want to take that chance, as she could see a possible reason against taking a hit right in front of her. The beast ran forward, slashing at her again, only for her to keep dodging. She could not get a hit in, but she could not let a hit land either, or the fight may be completely over.
The beast began circling her, as she continued to formulate an escape plan. The beast watched her like prey, despite the dead stare it gave. Luné felt unnerved, and worried that she would be unable to escape even if she tried. The beast rushed forward again, and Luné decided she would take a risk, jumping to the ground, and raising her dagger. She finds the underside of the tiger to be completely absent of any of the substance, and as it rushes through the dagger, it turns facing her again, despite its entrails leaking from its stomach. Luné was already feeling sick from that, and was concerned she would be unable to kill it. She quickly scrambled to her feet, just in time to dodge another lunge, but she felt something clip her back. Then she felt pain surging from the spot of contact. Reaching back, she pulls her hand away from the wound, finding only blood. With a moment of relief she looks forward again, watching as the beast begins circling again.
She raises her dagger, and waits for it to come towards her again, she would try a different approach. It began charging her, and she sidestepped, slashing to the side with the dagger. Ice formed where contact was made, and the substance began shattering into shards, and then evaporating into nothing. With that, she realized what she would need to do. Turning to face it, now with a smirk on her face, she sees it has clearly become irritated and angered from that strike. She decides to take the initiative, and runs forward, dagger at the ready, as the tiger dodges her own strikes. She was on the offensive, but how long would that last?
She kept it up, until she saw the beast slash with its claws. Dodging backwards, she barely manages to be missed, only for her to have to dodge again, as the beast lunges. She isn’t able to slash as it does, since she was now on the defense again. It rushed her, baring its teeth in a low growl. She dodged again, only to feel its claws raking her stomach. As she stumbled backwards, keeping herself upright, she looked down, seeing the long gashes, and some of the black substance. Placing the dagger on the substance, she finds it shattering. She looked forward again, watching as the beast growled at her.
She decided to take this change, and threw the dagger, piercing its skull, where its brain should be, and she saw the whole beast begin forming ice, and then shatter, leaving just a tiger that slumps over, already dead. She approaches, holding her stomach, then she pulls the dagger out, as she hears the voice again, “Pitiful.” She looks around, finding no one again. She sheathes the dagger, and starts returning to Codex, in pain, but alive.