Quest for the Shifter's Soul ((RP!))

He looks puzzled at the young girl. Not many were so brave as to ask a Centaur for the privilege of riding on his back. Or perhaps it was innocence that nurtured the thought, one who knew nothing of those past conflicts. That thought inspired a smile, the idea of a future where the children of men could forget the horrors of war...

Before he had a chance to respond to her request, her caretaker had given a ride on a slab of Earth risen from the ground. He is about to give further thought aloud to this subject when suddenly he hears a horrendous roar (after Dee dives into the river). A creature similar to a bear, however bearing a more sabre like set of teeth, emerges onto the road from the forest. Immediately he draws his bow. The animal begins a charge towards them but gradually, as it is shot with arrows, its progress slows to a halt before it falls to the ground writhing in pain. A final arrow soars through the air to end its pain.

With the threat neutralized, Carbry turns his attention back to the young girl.

"If it should please you, young daughter of man, I would continue this journey bearing you as a passenger."

((Derp it was William who made the rock for her my bad))

((Dmab, you can always edit a post here))

Meanwhile, back in the town of Arden, that was so recently vacated by our adventurers...

The Townsfolk are left to deal with the soon-to-be-rotting carcass of the beast. The streets are filled with blood and gore and they're not happy about the task, as well with having to repair the town. They're focused on their work, and don't notice anything amiss.

They don't notice the rippling movement of the black tendrils on the corpe's face. How they retreat into the cadaver. How the flesh twitched and bulged under the thin skin. How it began to bloat.

They noticed nothing. Until it was far too late.

All of a sudden a pair of gigantic crocadilian jaws erupted from the side of the dead beast, clamping down on five unfortunate townsfolk. The jaws did not bite them through, but held them, as black... it couldn't have been flesh, for it oozed like a liquid... But it held them while they were covered by the flowing monstrosity, and then it was as if they never were. A black creature of unknown species stood before the townsfolk. It looked almost human.. Or bearlike.. But then suddenly, with a flicker of red along it's body it was serpentine and lunging, with unnaturally large jaws and teeth. And then liquid, pooling under doorways.

It consumed everything. Even the buildings. Within an hour, the site where Arden has stood was nothing but bare dirt and cobblestone paths to nowhere.

And the Shifter was gone, flown off into the night.

((hoshit))

William raised a hand to aid in killing the beast, but was not fast enough with his magic. He turned and frowned at the centaur. Haughty, wasn't he? A perfectly good mode of transportation William had, and Carbry suggested a ride on a horse. Shaking his head and waving a hand, he answered for Lydia. "No, we're fine."

And without so much as a 'Thanks for the offer', he sped off down the river, in the direction he saw Dee swim.

Lydia was about to squeal that she would love to ride on him, especially since he was such a nice...horse-person...but Angel grabbed her even tighter and offered the centaur a protective glare. Lydia sighed. It seemed she couldn't do anything she liked sometimes. The troubles of being little.
"I-I'm fine here, I guess," she called. She offered him a weak smile. William's response made her frown, though. "You don't have to be mean to him. I asked him earlier. He was just being nice."

At last Brine caught up to the centaur, approaching him with an obvious aura of resentment. He kept his speech curt and brief.
"Which way?" Brine demanded, looking up at the centaur through his melancholy iron mask, the darkness of the night still curling around his form unnaturally. He crossed his arms impatiently and stared at the centaur with his good eye.

He had just run easily two kilometers, yet he gave barely any evidence that he was remotely out of breath. Someone in Brine's "line of work" had to have endurance like his. If you didn't, you would be seeing the inside of a prison cell rather soon.

William's face was blank as he replied to Lydia, both with concentration at keeping the slab going and uncaring for the centaur. "I wasn't mean, I simply declined his offer. There wasn't any need to ride him, riding this slab is a might less bumpy than a horses' back." Of course he wasn't going to tell her the real reason why he didn't want her riding on Carbry, though her brother seemed to give her enough reason not to. He was thankful for that much.

Dee continued to follow the river, speeding along it's length. It was good to be back in his element again, and the twists and bends soon became familiar as he neared his destination.

There!

Leaping from the river, he scaled a waterfall that stood at least four stories. In mid-air he could see the broken trees that lined the small lake on this side of the cliffs before he hit water. Desperately he poked his head out of the water, barking in hopes of hearing a reply.




There was a returning call, and then another. Suddenly, from the surrounding cliffs and trees were dozens of long draconic forms, leaping into the water to greet and chase Dee. Many of them were larger than the dragon, though only by a few feet, and there were even a few tiny pups, the size of a medium dog.

Gleefully the dragons barked and growled playfully, chasing each other through the water and splashing everywhere. One of the larger ones grabbed Dee's neck in it's jaws and pulled him underwater, but they both rushed out onto land a few moments later, with Dee in the rear, nipping at the larger one's tail to chase it on.

Carbry meets the cold death-stare of this man. He had a feeling the next leg of his travels would be quite the ordeal with the friendly company he was keeping.

"It would serve us best to follow the path of the river."

William continued to speed along the river until he came to the waterfall. With a grunt he gathered the strength to propel the slab up and over the top, bringing it to the ground at the top with a thump. He stepped off, mouth agape at the dragons in front of him. Never had he seen this many, it was incredible. They all moved as fluid as the water they swam through, William was practically mesmerized by the glittering scales.

He could barely make out Dee in the ruckus. Turning back to his two passengers, he cocked a thumb at the dragons with a grin. "You ever see anything like this?"

Brine looked down the path he'd been directed. He gave one lingering glance to the centaur before taking off at full speed, powering down the trail.
Before long the waterfall stood before him, the glistening mist spraying up at him, pecking against his mask. Brine sighed and approached the rock face. His gloves helped with the grip, and it was fairly easy to find footholds, so he began to climb the wall without much trouble. As he neared the top one of his feet slipped and he nearly fell, dangling by one arm. Grunting from the strain, he pulled himself up, finding another foothold and returning to his ascent.

As the river dragons celebrated the return of their kin, a lone figure looked on from his perch amongst the trees. A figure clad in a rough, dark grey cloak, his face hidden by shadow. Watching the jovial celebrations, he chuckled quietly to himself, fondly regarding the sight that few were fortunate enough to behold: A CELEBRATION amongst dragons.

Carbry continues down the path through the forest, reaching the waterfall a few second before Brine. He stands tall looking up at the waterfall, and watches Brine climb up.

"Surely there is another way around..." he says, unable to climb it. I'd like to see you attempt to climb a wet, tall wall with hooves. He stares still at it for a while, pondering if he should just leave this party now and continue his search elsewhere.

At the sudden appearance of strangers, the dragons' greetings were brought to a sudden stop. Heads turned, ears rose and the flow of the dragon's pool shifted in several directions. A few of those with weaker hearts slipped into the water, almost at the same time as the rasher, and often younger, ones leaped /out/.

A small, but strong-looking one snarled and bounded forwards a few paces towards the adventurers, but almost immediately was smacked in the face by small bunches of water, not all of them from Dee.

A few dragons nearby laughed, as the angry one shook the water off and retreated sulkily.

The dragonic crowd parted, giving way before the largest of the bunch. Thick as a doorway, the tribal leader's head rose far above a man's, thoguh the face was almost hidden behind the thickly matted and braided mane. The sheer amount of trinkets braided into it would fetch a fortune, including some incredible feathers that could only have come from a large winged beast. Many of the dragons had one ear peirced with a heavy loop, like Dee had, but this dragon had both done. Hanging from the second earring was a silver bell the size of a man's fist, delicately etched with designs and runes. The dragon approached with such grace that it was silent, yet when he stopped, and shook off the water that clung to his scales, it rang clear and beautifully.

He stopped and stood silently, waiting for an explaination.

William slowly looked up at the enormous dragon in front of him, eyes wide. He thought the other dragons were a sight, Gods, this dragon was something to behold. He quickly shook his head to clear his mind, it wouldn't do to have a cluttered mind when talking to this one. He wasn't sure whether or not to hold out a hand to shake, and decided against it, so simply stood up straight and put on his best smile, arms akimbo.

"Hello, Sir! My name is William Ericsson. I am a wanderer, adventurer, and manipulator of rock and earth. I am on a quest for the Shifter's Soul, I believe with a dragon you might know as Dee, though I could be wrong, these two behind me, and another named... You know, I don't think I actually caught his name." He waved a dismissing hand. "Not really important right now. I apologize for encroaching on your land, I simply followed Dee here as he seemed very distressed about the safety of your kind, and I wished to see through to your safety as well."

Dee looked a little startled when William said that he was with the human on this quest. To be frank he wanted nothing to do with the cursed thing! That's why he sat comfortably back in this bar and sold what information he could glean. When did he ever agree to such a thing?!

But the leader flicked his ear and set the bell to chiming once more, and Dee choked back his words.

"You will go" The larger dragon rumbled to Dee in their own language, almost as if reading his mind. And though his fur bristled resentfully, Dee bobbed his head in a nod. He wanted to go back to his comfortable den among the humans! Not go waddling through the forest for some... Evil Thing!

The cloaked stranger watched the interaction between William & the dragons with much interest. Few were brave (or foolish) enough to approach even one dragon directly, & yet this man practically waltzed right up to an entire den of them. It was anyone's guess whether or not this would lead to the man's untimely demise.
No matter what the outcome will be, it should prove entertaining to watch. Entertaining, & hopefully informative. For, if these people truly are questing for the Shifter's Soul, then they may yet prove to be of use. At the moment, though, the best course of action was simply to sit back & let the cards fall where they may.

Lydia hopped off the rock when it landed at the top of the waterfall and trotted toward the water, where the dragons were yelping and splashing. She made it all the way to the edge of the water before Angel could catch up to her and snatch her off her feet. Of course, this made the younger of them squeal with disappointment; she'd wanted to swim with Dee. But Angel had seen the look of hostility on the other dragons' faces at the intrusion, and had no intention of allowing his sister to be the first thing the angry dragons could get their claws in.
But Lydia was too small and too active to be restrained and quickly wiggled out of Angel's clutches. She ran straight up to the huge dragon and waved at him. "Hi! I'm Lydia, and that's my big brother Angel. Dee is our friend!"
The strange draconic sound the leader made delighted her, and she tried to repeat it. By this time, Angel had dashed up and carried her away, taking her back to behind William. "Angel!" she protested. "I was making friends!"

Almost all eyes were on Lydia and her brother. With a shocked silence hanging in the air.

And then. The dragons began to /laugh/. Barking rumbling sounds, that sounded from most of the gathered dragons, including Dee and the Leader himself. There was just nothing else to do when face with such comedy! A small little /human/ marching around, going straight up to something many times her own size without a trace of fear... And getting dragged around and putting up such a fuss! Why how silly this human was to them! How like their own cubs she was. How... Draconic!

The leader turned away from them and began to slip into the water. For a moment it seemed as if he were leaving them, but then he spoke over his shoulder in a deep rumble;

"Come, little storm-maker. And bring your friends. Your centaur friend will find a rockfall near the western edge that he may use to join us."

"Storm-maker... He doesn't know how right he is." Dee laughed, smiling at Lydia before bounding into the water himself.

The Leader swam to the edge of the dragon's pool, turning sideways in the water to look up into the branches at the concealed stranger. "You may come along as well" Was all he said, before gliding away towards the watery cave that the dragons called their den.

The entrance was low, with deep water flowing out from it, and a small damp footpath around the edge. The path seemed more used by the young dragons, who romped along the water's shore, instead of in the deeps as the adults did. Inside the cave was a series of ledges and platforms out of the water where the dragons lay to rest. It was simple, unadorned, and lit by the sun through a hole in the cave's roof. The leader's ledge was clear, it was the largest flat space, near the back of the cave and warmly lit by the sun. It was there he lounged to dry.

William winced a bit when he saw Dee's reaction to the leader's order. He didn't want to get Dee caught up in this quest if he didn't want to, but William wasn't sure about speaking up against the rather large dragon. He made a note to make it up to Dee somehow. Chuckling at Lydia's antics, he began to follow the dragons to their den, but stopped and looked up to the trees the leader was speaking to. He squinted. He could just barely make out a shape in the trees. He had a hunch it wasn't a sloth. He jogged over to the tree and looked up. "Ho there! Sneaky, aren't you?"

The non-sloth, upon being greeted by the stocky stranger, gasped & flailed, rolling off of the branch upon which he had been so comfortably perched & plummeting to the ground. He landed directly in front of William, face first, with a resounding thud. After several seconds of silence, he clambered to his feet & dusted himself off.

Though he towered over William at roughly 6 feet tall, little else could be seen of the cloaked stranger. "Can't a guy get some sleep around here? Honestly, I thought a spot so close to a den of dragons would discourage anything from bothering me! I was just having the most wonderful dream, too."

In one swift motion, the cloaked man stands beside William, draping his left arm around Will's shoulders & gesturing forward with his right, as if pointing to some sort of non-existent screen. "There I was, standing in the grandest mead hall you've ever laid eyes on, where the alcohol flowed like water. On each arm, a women so beautiful that the gods themselves would give up all of their grand power & immortality simply to spend but a single night in their company. Before me, all the nobles of the land, each raising their goblet or glass in a toast to my good fortune. And, as I lead the hall in a ballad, servants of each of the nobles presented me with tributes."

The cloaked man released William & started walking forward, flailing his arms as he continued. "Gold, silver, gems, enchanted weapons, & other treasures so grande that they defied description! Finally, a pair of servants carried towards me a chest. As the opened it, a bright light filled the room, dazzling all who saw it. It's splendor caused grown men to weep with joy. And, as I reached the climax of the ballad, the light began to fade. My ultimate reward began to come into view. But then, just as I was about to BEHOLD THE GLORY of my ultimate reward....."

Suddenly, the cloaked stranger ran up to William & gripped him roughly by the shoulders. "YOU WOKE ME UP! So tell me, oh Stocky Stranger: WHY?!?!?!?!"

William watched the man fall to the ground, and took a step back. He wasn't too prepared for that, but it was best not to show it. Really, he had thought the man was awake and had seen him coming. Then the rant started. It was... even more unexpected, though William kept a face between amused and stoic. An impressive feat. He listened to the man, and let him do what he was going to do, and when he finally stopped, William said his part.

Firstly, pushing the man off of him, William dusted himself off. "Look, buddy, I got a few things to say to that," he said, beginning a count on his fingers. "One, I'm sorry to wake you so rudely, could'a sworn you were awake when I called up at you. Two, I called up to you because that big dragon over there noticed you, and I was kinda surprised I didn't obviously, and I don't like being spied on much, but of course you were asleep."

"And thirdly," William said, holding up three gloved fingers, "I'm not sure you know how dreams work, but in my experience, you never get to finish dreams. Always when the good bit's about to happen you're awoken by some jerk or bandits or wolves or what have you. Do you get what I mean?"

The cloaked man, upon being pushed off, stumbled backward, & only barely managed to stay on his feet. "Ah......I see. Well then, don't I feel incredibly foolish. My apologies, good sir. I've always been a little grumpy when first waking up."

He walks towards William, pulling down his hood, revealing his heretofore concealed features. A somewhat youthful face, pale as the full moon. Medium-short, messy, chestnut brown hair, with just a slight 5'Oclock shadow. His eyes, clear & bright, seem to shift between green & blue, depending on the lighting.

Stopping just a few feet in front of William, he reached out, offering his hand. "Aengus McLoughlin, at your service."

(( Just a minor note, Angel and Lydia aren't human. Very similar, but not. They're some kind of elf-thing. They have the pointy ears and they also have sharp teeth and a few other little things I haven't decided on yet. But yeah. Not actually human. Just fyi. I have drawn Lydia; will post her soon. Haven't drawn Angel because I can't draw men, but he's her brother, so they look pretty similar.))

The dragons' laughter made Angel's face burn hot with embarrassment, and he gruffly pulled his hood far over his face. Unfortunately, doing so meant he only had one arm around Lydia, and within instants the sprightly child was free again, dancing ecstatically along the shore and around the leader, imitating the dragons' barking laugh. Angel looked as though he wanted the earth to swallow him up.
Upon the invitation to join them, Lydia squealed in utter delight and dashed to the water's edge, only pausing long enough to throw off her shoes and concealing cloak before plunging headlong into the water. Thankfully she had on a light tunic and leggings underneath, or her little child's figure would have been skinny-dipping for all she cared. As she hurried to catch up with the water-creatures, Lydia employed a kind of awkward dog-paddle technique. It was slow and tiresome, but she didn't mind, nor did she give up. With blithe stubbornness, she just kept on paddling.
"Lydia--ugh!" Angel gave up trying to scold her and just trudged over, picked up her discarded things, and followed the dragon pups around the ledge into the cave and resignedly sat down.

((Whups. I'm a derp. Well, maybe the dragons classify anything bipedal as 'human?' hahah.))

She was in their pool! While the young dragons swam after her in delight, there were a few that kept a wary eye. Her clear innocent nature and childlike delight put at ease all but the most stubborn dragons, and they weren't going to go against the entire pack like this.

If she knew how many bones rested at the bottom of their deep pool.... But it was too far to be seen from the surface.

Dee circled back, nudging Lydia along with his nose and a gentle, but strong current of water.