[Maruem]

Music

It was a quiet night in Romalia. A peaceful, starry night with a bright and beautiful moon glowing up above, high in the sky. Faint wisps of cloud drifted across the sky in a wind that blew high in the atmosphere, not nearly so intense near the surface. One of the wisps blew in front of the moon and swallowed the light momentarily. The floating flames of the magical street lanterns flickered in a dance of fright as a delicate breeze drifted over the town of Romalia, caressing it in a chilly blanket of cool air. As quickly as it was gone, the brilliant white light of the moon beams returned and the wisp of cloud floated off and away into the night.

In an old worn down chapel, a youthful and quite handsome man of no more than thirty years knelt in prayer by the light of the votive candles, all brightly giving off a warm glow on a little rickety table. The chapel in which he now prayed had long ago been abandoned in the ruins of Romalia, with thick and twisted overgrowth having almost entirely overtaken its ancient stone structure, engulfing the once beautiful, engraved, stone pillars around him. He wore on his person a long black coat known as a cassock, which reached all the way down to his ankles. Over it he wore a slightly shorter cloud white tunic with golden strands swirling in plant like leaf and flower patterns along the outer edge of the surplice, its wide sleeves hanging past his waste as his arms were raised together in devout reverence. His green stole rested around his shoulders and dangled just barely brushing the ground at his knees, though it moved not a millimeter. It was as still as though it were worn by a man of solid stone, for he seemed almost as if frozen in time. The crosses which ornamented either end of his verdant stole attracted the light of the candles and seemed brighter than the rest of him in that dark room.

His focused and devoted prayer lasted deep into the night, as the clouds rolled on by overhead and the light breeze occasionally drifted into the chapel to disrupt the calm of the candles. Finally, the clergyman's eyes flashed open as if the stone encasing him had shattered and he was free to move. He had steeled himself long enough, and as his chest rose and fell with renewed vigor and breath for what seemed like the first time in hours, he knew what it was he had to do, and he could feel that he had gained the guidance of his father as he looked past the glimmering candles to the pitch dark stairs behind them. The stairs which led deep into the veins of the city, into the catacombs.

There were many dead who had too long been left abandoned, and it was high time that a member of the church went to check in on them in their final resting place, even if it was in direct defiance of his orders from the archbishop. The priest rose to his feet, strong and steady. Hanging from his back glistened the shield he had become known for, its rim ornamented with a blade and its flat shining surface etched with the scripture of the passage he had held most dear to himself as a young seminarian.

"Isaiah 41:10-12
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all."

As his dark skin glistened in the light of the candles, Father Gabriel ran his left hand over his smooth bald head. His thick beard speckled with a handsome salt and pepper coloration despite his young age. He was of a powerful, almost imposing build, uncommon amongst his fellow men of scripture. He took a step toward the entrance to the catacombs, and as he took that first step, he felt the dread of entering that forsaken place, a chill which gripped him at the arms with clawed hands, scraped their way up his back and started prickling his bare scalp with pins and needles.

This home of his god had long since been destroyed, and those who rested below were no longer resting as they should be. Evil things were at play in the catacombs, and as he took another step closer, the crosses on his stole seemed to give off a brighter and brighter aura, warding against what evils lie ahead. He looked down into the depths of the precipice, and saw nothing, but he felt the cursed spirits of many denizens down below. From behind him, a stronger, fiercer, angrier wind blew, and was seemingly swallowed by the maw of the catacomb's entrance.

Father Gabriel grabbed the shield of faith from his back, and in his left hand he held a torch of acacia wood, with frankincense soaked cloth burning at the end as his light. He began to speak in an unwavering deep tone as he took one step forward, and then another, and another. "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and..." His powerful voice trailed off as he descended into the darkness below and the chapel was once again left in silence and in darkness, the warm light of the votive candles snuffed out behind him by the gale.

---

- - - - - Two Days Later - - - - -

Music

The dawn of the second day after Gabriel's descent began with Maruem going for a brisk walk outside the boarders of Romalia. He left Orion's Villa early enough that the sky had only the faintest hints of light as the sun was still barely beginning to crest the horizon. Making his way away from the city, he was able to enjoy the overgrowth of an ancient land swallowed up by the trees and other plant life as it quickly began to grow brighter and more visible around him. He had a minor side objective ahead of him. Rumor had it that a lone myrmeke soldier had been causing trouble and attacking travelers in the area.

It had been an uncharacteristically early morning for him, with a very simple breakfast, and an enjoyable time lying on the roof waiting for the sun to being shedding its crimson dawn light on the land. Maruem had done what he could to enjoy it, but he needed more of a concrete plan, and it felt too early for that. Of course, he needed to grow Astra more before he met with Baron Parcis again at the end of the week, but no one would be awake yet, and so, he made his way out of the guild hall to idly walk around and potentially encounter some candidates, or just think up a more stable goal for the day.

As he wandered away from the safe zone, various monsters became more readily apparent. A small pack of Roamuruses could be seen off in the distance charging toward some sort of prey, their beautiful grey fur glistening in the light. Maruem's specialty was multi-target combat, but today felt like a one on one kind of morning. And after several more potential candidates appeared around the vicinity as he walked, he stumbled upon one that intrigued him and matched the description he had been given. He encountered it when he found himself standing in front of what appeared to be the ancient remains of a gas station or other service building. Somehow, it had dawned on him more and more that it appeared as though the roads had been the first thing to wear away despite building and machines still holding some of their old form, albeit in a terribly decrepit and useless state.



There, climbing over one of the rusted carcass of an old automobile, stood a gigantic ant with two long chitinous spears at it's sides. A Myrmekes Soldier. He looked around to watch for it's fellows. Often they only went out this far when they were guarding workers, but by all appearances, this one was on it's own. It was definitely the one he was looking for. Maruem moved as quietly as he could. climbing up on the wall of the old building. From above the overhang he could see the glint of the sun on it's smooth black sphere eyes. It had not yet noticed his presence, and he knew he was not going to get a better opportunity as it stepped forward just a little more, it's insectoid body holding its head high above the ground as it still stood on the old car.

He began casting Hailshot and as soon the first of the ice shards began to cool the center of his palm as it was summoned into existence he jumped down, immediately also casting Upheaval. Rather than the kick being performed forward however, it was downward, and slammed the giant ant creature in the thorax, forcing it's legs to buckle and its head and thorax to slam into the ground with great force, the casting of Upheaval also granting him his first stack of forma to boost Hailshot's effectiveness against the ant further as the point blank shotgun blast of frigid spears shredded the back of it's head.

He now had two stacks of forma, and a powerful ant which had gone from a nice peaceful walk to grievously wounded in mere moments, but it was not done fighting yet. It clambered to it's feet, Maruem swaying haphazardly on it's back as he tried to maintain his balance. haemolymph spilled forth from the gaping wound. He leapt off of it's back and high into the air, his feet narrowly clipping the overhang above as he spun to build momentum with the two stack enhanced casting of Helm Splitter. His lance was in his magic pouch, but he had invested in his fists as well in the time he spent here, and as his attack came downward, Maruem's hand, in the shape of a typical karate chop, slammed down into the already gored ant head. The ant again crashed to the ground.

It tried firing one of the chitinous spears from its side at whatever the crazy force attacking it was, but the attack missed, and as it hung to life by barely even a thread. Maruem formed his hand into the shape of a karate chop once more, but with his elbow angled perpendicular, as he thrust his hand like a spear of his own, piercing the armor of the giant ant, not at the head, but instead at the abdomen, his hand piecing deep into the insectoid sludge and meat until his hand hit something more firm. A small cloak of muscle surrounding it's rudimentary heart. With the three stack enhanced basic attack, the creature just barely hung on, he struck again, and the Myrmeke finally fell. Maruem went off to find a stream of some kind to wash up, his target quickly dealt with, and the hope of a safer route opened up.

When he was done with his cleaning routine and his warmup for the morning. He searched the creature for anything of interest and proceeded to make his way back home after a general inspection of it and the surroundings. On his way back, he again saw the pack of Roamuri, feeding on the remains of quite a massive red calydonian boar. They made no sign of having noticed his presence, and he a ways off to begin with, but even so decided to give them a wide birth for now. Animals were far more dangerous when food or anything else that needed protection was involved. It was a feeling he could relate to.

He crossed the bridge over the quiet flow of the Aniene river, and stood before his grand home, Orion's Villa. The windows glistening in the early rose gold light of dawn, and he wondered if Ciriodhul was not up already, preparing the home for its other inhabitants. The sparse gravel on the cobbled stone road crunched occasionally under foot as he made his way to the entrance of the city. The graveyard shift guards sleepily leaning on their polearms as he nodded to them both and made his way into the city.

He walked into the housing district through the gate and as he made his way down the stone road, he passed a small group of Gaians and overheard them mention a name, reminiscent of an angel of old. He came closer and greeted the Gaians as they began to hush each other. "Greetings" he waved to them. "What ill tidings bring such worry to your eyes and hush to your voices?" The Gaians seemed taken aback for a moment at his insight. and yet. after a brief moment of recognition, one of them let out a deep sign of relief and the worry gave way to hope. "Well I'll be, is that you B..." Maruem began, unsurprisingly being interrupted by the squat man he had met not so long ago.

"Don't you go thinking Boris has forgotten you Mr. Maruem. He asked around to get your name because you did not introduce yourself last time, but Boris has been keeping an eye out and an ear open. He's mighty glad to see you now, your progress gives Boris hope." Boris monologued to Maruem with a very genuine tone, taking him aback a bit and making him wonder if this was really the same man who had dislocated his jaw some time prior.
"It's good to see you Boris, I appreciate you following my progress, but you all seemed worried. What happened? Is it anything I can help with?"
"...Well you see, it's about Father.." One of the others began before another hushed her.
"Listen here Nibblewab, You may live in the high class district but don't ya go getting all snooty on us now. Boris is vouching for this one being a good man, and you had best respect that. Let the lass speak. As a fellow property owner of the city, he has a right to hear about it's problems."
One of the group, the one apparently named Nibblewab, sighed and relinquished his interruption with the discontented wave of a hand.
"As I was saying, it's Father Gabriel. He's one of the strongest and most well loved clergyman in these parts, but he recently made it his mission to go into the Catacombs of the city to deal with some of the evil that recently started acting up a bit more down there. That was on the night before yestermorn however, and since then no one has heard from nor seen any of him. The town guard went last night to the entrance he had gone to, but they heard something that was not a native of the catacombs, something that should have had no way of getting in there. A..."
"A Minotaur!" interrupted one of her companions, clearly an excitable fellow.
"Well, that's the way the rumors are twisting it, I've mostly heard tell it's just a stray cow that had wandered down and gotten lost." She continued, a little deflated at the constant interruptions.
"Point being, something happened in those catacombs. He would have been out long since if it hadn't. Though I'm not sure why Boris trusts you, somehow it's a relief being able to tell someone else all of this, it won't do any good to have another person die in there, if dead he really is." The young lady was very obviously the optimistic sort, Maruem thought sarcastically.

Maruem considered what they has said for a moment. He had no major plans for the day as it was, and this was a situation that piqued his interests, both because there was someone who may be in need of his help, and because it was an opportunity to show to himself that other's faith in him and his guild would not be misplaced. It likely could not be a solo venture though. The last thing Maruem needed was to go in and get trapped in the same situation the Father was in, assuming that Father Gabriel was actually trapped and not lost to them already.

If he were to do this, then the responsible decision was to go with others. And if he did that, it would also be a chance to work with people in a new environment, he'd only heard stories of the catacombs up until then, and those stories were few and far between in his experience. Potential allies who may be interested in the aspirations of his guild would be nice, but for this expedition the best option was probably to just keep it in house, with an invitation to his fellow members. He could not deny to himself that there was a small aspect of his motive in accepting that was selfish, but it was also readily apparent to him that this Father Gabriel character was important to at least these few Gaians, and abandoning him to whatever fate he had met down in the catacombs was not an option.

With a wink to Boris he began his acceptance of a quest not given. "Well then, as the leader and representative of the Adventurer owned guild, Astra, I will go into the catacombs to rescue or retrieve Father Gabriel, whatever his state may be. I will do so with minimal delay and with the help of my companions. Upon the success of my mission, I will bring the Father to my guide hall should he be alive, as well as sending word to the guards via the men under Guardsman Brom at the North-East Gate. In return, upon the success of my mission, I ask only that you consider voicing a more positive opinion of my guild in general, but especially should you encounter any of those who have their doubts or give more than their fair share of nay-saying. Are the terms of this verbal contract acceptable?"

One of the four, Nibblewab, scoffed at the formality of it all, but even so, he accepted the deal with a "Fine, God knows we won't be going down there. Just save him quickly alright, The Father has been good to us. He protects us well." and as he did so, Maruem imagined receiving a minor notification on a scroll icon. He imagined pressing it within his mind and the notification window opening up to inform him that he had received and accepted a quest to save Father Gabriel from the Catacombs of Romalia. Of course, none of that happened. Gaia still was not a game, though he could always pretend otherwise.

Maruem discussed the details with them to learn about where it was he was headed into the catacombs from and where the Gaians could head should they wish to wait for the father later in the day, indicating that because he suspected this would be a full guild endeavor, his allies would be leaving the hall empty, so the best place to say within arms reach would be the north-east gatehouse.

Soon after, he broke off from the group, making his way through the city toward a different portion of the outskirts in search of the abandoned chapel among the ruins. He had to weave through the early morning carts and pedestrians who blocked the road, but it was not so congested that he forewent opening his menu as he walked. Before he could move on with anything else, and especially before he delved into the depths of the underground catacombs of the city, he needed to contact his guild. As a Guild leader, he could no longer just act on impulse, or at least not as much as he was used to.

He shot a quick and identical message to all of his guildmates, informing them of the situation. "A Gaian priest went missing two days ago after journeying into the Catacombs. I have accepted on Astra's behalf, and I now ask that you join me if you can make yourself free for the day. I know it's accursedly early in the day to be accepting quests, but I have a feeling that every second counts with this one. I am sending this message to each of you, so should anyone choose to stay at the guild hall, there won't be any repercussion for staying out, just be aware that you may have guests to entertain as I have informed some concerned Romalians who gave me the quest that I will be taking the Father to our home should we be successful." Along with the invitation to join him on the quest, Maruem wrote out the directions he had been given to finding the Chapel.

He soon found himself in front of the old holy building that had been described to him. Two of the city guards were stationed at it's entrance, but they did not seem to be aware of his presence, or at least they did not acknowledge it. They stood tall with their glinting armor polished up enough that the dawn sun reflected off brightly, but not so polished that one could see themselves in the metal. This was clearly a more practical and utilitarian finish, and these guards likely were not of a high station. Their eyes were strikingly still as they faced directly forward off into the distance, up until Maruem tried to enter between them. Suddenly their spears crossed in front of him and they asked what business he had there, this strange intruder being a suspect sight after the recent disconcerting news of the Father's mysterious loss of contact.

"On behalf of the guild Astra, I was hired to enter these catacombs in an attempt to rescue Father Gabriel. I should have allies joining me from my guild hall across town. I ask that you let me pass unhindered so that I may inspect the entrance and gain an understanding of what it is my team will be dealing with." He decided it best to give them the full details of his mission since he firstly, had nothing to hide and secondly, wanted to give himself the best chances of being allowed to pass. He hoped he would not have to wait long for any companions to arrive, before other adventurers who had heard the rumors hopped on as well. It was also already seven forty and he did not want to leave the Father alone any longer.

Now that he was ready at the destination, he sent an additional message to his guild mates, formatted to seem a bit more like a formal quest.

"Quest: Explore the Catacombs, Rescue the Priest.
Reward: Loot from monsters slain as well as the experience of exploring and hunting in the catacombs. Encounter with a Minotaur possible.
Quest Giver: Maruem - The Eclipse
Location: St. Baal's Cathedral
Additional Notes: Be prepared for ghosts"

After hearing the first response from one of his guild members, Maruem sat down just a little ways into the cathedral. Long vines and thick trees had overtaken it's inside, with the pillars warped from the great trees and the sky clearly visible through the cracks and holes in the roof. It was time for him to show Astra's potential with this informal quest accepted. After taking a few minutes to note down the details of his discussions with the Gaians and guards in his UI's notebook feature, Maruem dismissed the menu and entered a more contemplative mode. He thought for a moment before standing and walked toward the entrance to the catacombs.

The guards had told him that it sat to the back of the cathedral, and sure enough it was there, hard to miss with a ray of gold piercing the shattered dirty remains of a stained glass window, and illuminating several meters down into the deep catacombs below. Taking a few steps in, Maruem felt the chill of some very ominous force down below. He looked in and the halls were empty, but he knew some force to be reckoned with was down there, and they most definitely would not be getting out unscathed. Stepping forward a bit more, he got enough of a feel for the halls ahead to understand this was going to be quite the trip.

Having felt the oppressive darkness they would be contending with, he stepped back out and sat cross-legged on the splintered rubble of an old pew, trying to remember the tactics he had used in past raids and mentally simulating his training as he waited for the companions to arrive. They had to be ready for anything once they got down there.

Word Count: 4184
Tags: Ciriodhul Katarina Axey Sayinh
Notes: Sorry for the delay and sudden notification. I wasn't satisfied with the first iteration so I made some edits.
Gabriel's Speech: 920040

[Axey]

- - - - One day earlier - - - -

After wrapping up a monster hunting job in the outskirts of Romalia, Axey started heading in the direction of the forest instead of back into the city.
Although he was quite tired after the day’s work, Axey had planned to pay a certain someone a visit; he'd be able to get plenty of rest after he got there.
The trip was quite uneventful, taking slightly under half an hour of travel on the back of a tamed Cattelle.
After making a couple stops to reapply the effect of Basic Taming on his new friend, Axey eventually reached the entrance of a cave. To most Panpaidi, the cave would seem completely unremarkable, but Axey’s Animal Senses allowed him to pick up on a faint sense of plums coming from inside.

Hopping off his new feline friend’s back, Axey approached the cave’s entrance with his lute in hand, before playing the first 7 notes to the Super Mario Bros. theme.
As soon as he did, a tiny winged humanoid creature appeared in front of the bard in a puff of smoke and glitter.
“Axey!” she yelled with a smile “What took you so long? I was expecting you an hour ago!”
Smiling back at the fairy, Axey scratched the back of his head “Sorry, sorry, I got caught up in something, but I’m here now! I promised I'd visit after all.”
“Come inside, I'll make some tea and you can tell me about what was so important that you had to delay your visit to little old Mirabelle.”
With that, Axey followed the fairy inside to tell her about his recent adventures. The two spent the evening chatting and playing until nightfall. As Axey was about to leave, Mirabelle spoke up “Why don't you spend the night here? The woods can be dangerous at night, you can leave in the morning.”
After thinking for a moment, Axey decided to accept the offer. “Sure, not like I have anything planned tomorrow morning anyway.”

Axey woke up the next morning feeling great. He raised his index and middle finger and made a swiping motion to open his menu and check the time. It’s not even seven am yet? Feels like I slept way longer than that. He thought to himself while getting up.
“Oh, you're up. Did you sleep well?”
“I did, thanks for letting me stay.”
Axey and Mirabelle chatted for a bit longer before the adventurer received a message from a friend.
"A Gaian priest went missing two days ago after journeying into the Catacombs. I have accepted on Astra's behalf, and I now ask that you join me if you can make yourself free for the day. I know it's accursedly early in the day to be accepting quests, but I have a feeling that every second counts with this one. I am sending this message to each of you, so should anyone choose to stay at the guild hall, there won't be any repercussion for staying out, just be aware that you may have guests to entertain as I have informed some concerned Romalians who gave me the quest that I will be taking the Father to our home should we be successful."
Axey very quickly finished his food, stood up and replied “I'll come with you. I’ll be there in about half an hour, not in Romalia right now.” before turning to Mirabelle. “A friend of mine needs some help with something, I should get going.”
“Alright. See you around, pal!”

With that, Axey walked out of Mirabelle’s cave and looked around to see if the Cattelle from yesterday had decided to stick around. While he didn't see the beast itself, he did notice its tracks leading a little further into the trees. After following the tracks for a short while he found the animal, or more specifically its body.

Crouching beside the Cattelle to inspect what happened, he noticed a couple arrows sticking out of its side right as his ears picked up on a rustling in the bushes to the south and he saw a small green creature moving through the bushes west of where he was. Goblins… looks like there’s two of them, and at least one has a bow, Should be easy enough.
Axey took a deep breath and started running towards the goblin he had seen to the east while reaching for the large axe in his magic bag.

Once the axe was out of the bag, Axey activated Prancing Attack while running towards his first target. His body moved on auto-pilot, perfectly moving out of the way to dodge an arrow that came from behind him. Shit, there’s more I didn’t notice! Axey thought as two more arrows flew at him and two goblins carrying a sword and a shield jumped out of the bush to intercept his charge.
Both arrows hit their target as Axey swung his axe down on the nearest goblin, completing Prancing Attack and activating Minnesong of the White Maiden
“There will be blood!” he began to sing as the axe hit the goblin’s wooden shield, splitting it in half, before swinging his axe upwards, empowering the second attack with Oscillating Weapons “shed!” The oversized axe cleanly cut the goblin in half as three other arrows flew at Axey. “The man in the mirror nods his head”
Expecting the attacks this time, Axey was able to avoid two of the three arrows thanks to the evasion up granted by his song, while blocking the strike from the goblin with a sword. “The only one” He retaliated with Instrument Strike, thrusting with the axe's handle to stun the enemy, allowing Axey to easily line up an attack to hit the goblin's neck, killing it with a critical hit. “Left” he looked for the nearest of the three archers as he activated Folksong of the Lollopping Bunny
“Will ride upon the dragon’s back.”
After dodging another arrow and being hit by two, Axey finished casting his song and continued to advance towards the goblin that was shooting at him from the west. “Because the mountains don’t give back what they take,” the goblin tried step away as Axey attacked but was cut down by an attack empowered by Oscillating Weapons right before two arrows flew past Axey, who was already turning to face the two remaining monsters, only to see them turning tail and fleeing.

Deciding giving chase was not worth the trouble, Axey put his axe away and checked his health and statuses. Huh, so the arrows were poisoned. The poison’s literally doing less damage than my passive regen, though. He thought while looking at his health very slowly but surely rise back up, speeding up once the poison’s duration ended.
Axey started heading back to Romalia while contacting Maruem again. “Hey, looks like getting there is gonna take a bit longer than I first expected, my ride kinda got killed by goblins.”
As Axey was heading back towards the city, he received another message from Maruem:
"Quest: Explore the Catacombs, Rescue the Priest.
Reward: Loot from monsters slain as well as the experience of exploring and hunting in the catacombs. Encounter with a Minotaur possible.
Quest Giver: Maruem - The Eclipse
Location: St. Baal's Cathedral
Additional Notes: Be prepared for ghosts”
Guess I should respond formally as well. Axey thought before sending his reply.
“Quest Accepted by Axey.
PS: Since it’s in a catacomb, it might be a Zombie Minotaur. I’ve dealt with one before, and they’re very clumsy, shouldn’t be too dangerous as long as you focus on dodging.”
Taking his lute out of his bag, Axey started using Sonata of the Resonating Beat in Presto to try and reach Romalia faster. Note to self: invest a few points into Trekking later. Can’t always rely on taming creatures to use as mounts.

After 40 minutes or so, the adventurer finally reached his destination, where his way was blocked by the guards at the entrance. “Hello officers, I'm here to look into the disappearance of a local priest, I believe my friend is already inside?” 
The two guards looked at each other for a moment before letting Axey through into the church. “Somebody order a Bard?” He asked as he stepped in and saw Maruem sitting on some rubble near the catacombs’ entrance.

---

Word Count: 1386
Tags: Katarina  Ciriodhul  Maruem
Note: It's good to be back

[Sayinh]

"Eufffff, hic,”
- Fuuuuh. that damn Incubus, - Sayinh groaned, as he rose from a small impromptu bed made of whatever was piled up in a back alley behind the bar where Ink had dragged him to. Out of nowhere, that god-forsaken creature had appeared before him, only to swirl his tail around the Enoch and drag him off for “just one drink”.

- The night before -

Sayinh was strolling the streets, just to have something to do. A habit he’d caught himself back in the real world when he didn’t feel like just sitting in his room back at the apartment. Slowly he stopped walking and started staring into the fire of one of the torches along the path.
After a little time, someone asked from behind
“Where have you gone right now?
“Nowhere in particular,” Sayinh answered absentmindedly. However, his back began perspiring and the skin in the back of his skull started to crawl as he realized who was standing behind him.
“Well… It’s getting late and I should… get… going. And I have… a… stray… uh… yep, he said. He started walking, but before even his first step reached the ground again, he was stopped dead in his tracks. The Incubus had swirled his tail around Sayinh.
“Come on, not so boring now. Ink said, grinning widely as he dragged the Enoch behind him.
“Wait! Stop! H-hey! Sayinh protested!
“H-How are you even here? Don’t that kid need to be close?”
“The spunk? He’s.. he’s somewhere. I.. think. But that’s not important!” the Incubus said and kept on lugging the struggling Enoch behind him. After a little while, the two of them stopped for a couple of seconds, before the Incubus gave a quick “Yup” and waltzed in the door to a small tavern.

It wasn't a fancy place. It was a mix and match between wooden benches on either side of large rectangular wooden plank tables and round tables with simple chairs. However, the mood was amazing. People enjoying themselves, drinking, laughing, singing, and dancing. Sayinh got caught a little by the atmosphere and for a split second, his face lightened as he forgot the stress from earlier. Well, that was until the Incubus pulled at him again. He was sat down at one of the tables and Ink placed his bottom across from him. He raised his arm in the air, showing two fingers.
“Two jugs over here!” he yelled toward the counter, almost drowned out by the crowd of people shouting and laughing. However, the bar lady had heard them. Although almost drowned out, she responded “Sure thing honey, two coming right up.”
Sayinh couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Hey! What is it you want?!” he said in exasperation.
“What do I want? I mean, I knew you weren’t the brightest of the bunch, but... Ink teased, and timed to perfection, the two jugs were plonked down in front of them.
“To drink! Have you ever done something just for the hell of it? Let loose, have fun, stop being such a bummer” he said as he grabbed the jug and put it to his mouth. And boy could he consume! In three large gulps, he’d downed more or less half the jug. He kept the jug up, grinning whilst he, with his tail, slowly nudged the one in front of Sayinh forward. Hesitatingly, the Enoch looked at the jug, which was getting closer and closer to the edge.
“Come on! Just one drink. Then I’ll let you go.”
- ... J.. just one won’t kill me. And he said he’ll let me go after! I can do this, - who’d have thought Sayinh’s first night out drinking would be strapped to a table with that guy. Of all people, why that Incubus?
“Fuq it” he said, grabbed the jug, and started chugging. The faster he reached the bottom, the quicker he could get out of there.
“Wow, someone’s thirsty, huh?” Realizing the Enoch would soon empty his beer, Ink raised his hand again. “Uh, one more over here! My friend seems quite thirsty.”
At that moment, Sayinh had just emptied the jug. He slammed down the jug and panted, grimacing a bit whilst gasping for his breath. “Hey! You said one!” he complained. However, before he could even get up, the next jug had been placed in front of him.
“Well yeah, but you drank it so fast, I thought you were thirsty. So I ordered another one, and you’re not just gonna leave it, are you? Come on, it has already been poured, and look at it!” Ink enticed.
Sayinh looked down at the beer. The foam just trickled down the side of the jug, “...One more. Just one! And then no more! Okay?!” Sayinh said, all the while raising a finger at the Incubus. Ink said nothing to answer, just raised both his hands in defeat.

Try as he might, Sayinh couldn’t chug the second jug of beer. Slowly the alcohol started affecting him too and his strings loosened a smidge. Just a tiny bit. He was definitely still alert of Ink… definitely. “What’s with you? What is your schtick? What’re you up to? I mean, you’re so forward. A-and you’re… I don’t even know what to say about you, you’re so… Ugh” he said as he indicated to the entirety of Ink with his hands. From here on out, Sayinh started monologing to Ink. Alcohol was an amazing potion, removing subconscious inhibitors.
As the jug in front of Sayinh slowly emptied out he almost looked sad. Ink looked at him and smirked. “Ooone more?” he asked whilst pinching his finger together af to say ‘a small one’. At this point, though he’d only had to beers, Sayinh, who’d never drunk before, was beyond intoxicated.
“Mmmm, m’ one. But thaet’z it then!~”. he managed to say, his speech slurring a lot.
“Alright! See, now we’re talking!” Ink exclaimed. Then he rose from the table and walked up to the bar, returning with a white porcelain bottle and a couple of small cups.
“Now. This is the good stuff. Try it”. he said and poured two cups.
Sayinh took up the cup and downed the drink in a single gulp. Suddenly he got this burning sensation trickling down his throat. “*cough cough cough*, hwat was that?” he exclaimed as he grimaced and scraped his tongue against his teeth. Ink downed his as well and exhaled.
“Pheeew. Something strong, I’ll tell you that. I don’t know what it is, I just asked for the “good stuff”... The thing they keep out of reach normally.”
“That’s horrid! … pour me one more”
It didn’t take long before things went wild. Suddenly, Sayinh was no longer against being there. He was dancing with everybody willing to, talking unintelligible rubbish with most people and downing alcohol in amounts that definitely wasn’t safe for him.
- I’d never imagined something like this to happen. So that’s an Enoch without their… reservations. Hm. More fun than I’d imagined. -

The evening went on, and the further into the night we ventured, the more relaxed and less energetic the atmosphere became in the tavern, as well. At this point, Sayinh had lost the left leg on his trousers, which had become the length of shorts. His hair was a mess and someone had spilled a large amount of beer over his chest so his shirt was like painted onto his body. In his inebriation, Sayinh had knocked over a beer or two with his wings too. At times they’d flutter, which had caused an altercation because it had whacked someone over the back of the head.

As the energy had run out of most people there, the atmosphere changed to a more relaxed setting. A couple of men sat at the bar, conversing with the bar lady. “Are there any news on the Father? Has he come up from the catacombs yet?”, one of the men asked.
The bar lady sighed and replied; “Unfortunately, there’s no news yet. Everyone’s worrying. I just hope he’s okay.”

Currently, Sayinh was slumped over the table. Clearly unable to take care of himself in his current state. Ink, who sat across from him, drew a deep breath. “Well, buddy. I think it’s time to head out. You’re done for tonight,” he said, as he rose from the bench and looked at the Enoch.
In response, all he got, however, was “Mmm, hmm ergh”.
- Fly high, crash hard, I guess. - he thought to himself, almost feeling sorry for Sayinh. Almost.
“Come on. Let’s go.” he waved his hand.
Sayinh got up and unsteadily waddled across the room. A couple of steps later, he stumbled over his own feet, sending him grabbing for the bar counter. With him clutching the bar, the bar lady came over and asked. “So honey, did you have fun?”, whilst drying a jug from earlier.
“I hjad sho much fun, hic,” he said, smiling as brightly as he could. “That’s nice honey. So are you here to pay?” she lifted an eyebrow. Sayinh just pointed behind him.
“M’kay, shat guy will pa’” However, he stopped midsentence, and instantly sobered up. Because behind him, there was no longer any Incubus. As if it’d never been there, it had gone up in smoke.
“That FUCKer. I swear to god I’ll strangle that piece of shit next time I see him.”. A slight amount of panic welled up inside of the Enoch.

Seeing the distress in the Enoch's eyes, one of the men who was chatting with the bar lady stood up. The man towered in front of Sayinh. It wasn’t often Sayinh had to raise his chin to see the face of the one in front of him, but he had to here. Not to mention that the man was as wide as he was tall.
“Well then, are you going to pay,” he said, as he grabbed out for the Enoch’s arm.
Although Sayinh was a bit in distress at the moment, that wasn’t the main emotion he was feeling. At this point in time, he was seething with anger, and seeing the arm grabbing for him, he exploded. He equipped his “Wings of Seraphim”, stared directly at the man and bellowed “You dare!”.
The man’s hand shot back as if he’d received an electric shock and looked at the Enoch in slight terror.
That was all Sayinh needed to expel some of the steam inside. He unequipped the wings again, returning to his original appearance.
“Sorry, I’ll pay, but if you see ever see that piece of… ugh!” he said and found a pouch from his belt.
“How much?” he asked. Only to be met with silence. - Fuck, that was too much for them -
“Relax, I’m not gonna hurt you! So, how much?” he asked again
“D-don’t worry about it, sir. We’ll just put it on that demon…oid’s t-tab. Okay?” the bar lady said.
- Hm, that works too -
“I can’t let you do that, let me at least pay for a beer.” he looked at the sign behind the bar lady and gave her the corresponding amount for a beer and left.

- Present day -

When he looked down himself, regret started pouring in. Missing a pantleg, reeking of beer, and his hair a mess. - I. Need. A shower... Pronto. -
He dragged himself to the nearest river, where he found a group of women washing baskets of clothes whilst their kids jumped around in the water. He took off his shirt and trousers to wash them, catching a good amount of attention and creating susurration.
He dipped his clothes in the water, rubbing it back and forth to try and get the stench of day-old, dried-out beer out of his shirt.

After washing his clothes, he jumped in, himself. Scrubbing his body as well as he could, enjoying the water, even though it was quite cold.

As he finished washing himself, he got up and used his wings to dry off his shirt and trousers. - So… what should I do today… if anything… -
“Did you hear? That adventurer claimed they’d go to the catacombs and look for Father Gabriel!” said one of the ladies beside him, who had started conversing instead of ogling him down.
“And didn’t ask for money for it! I thought all these so-called “adventurers” were stuck up assholes, doing nothing without profit,” the other said.
“Right? I guess some of them are.. good enough” the first one said and looked at Sayinh again, elevator eyeing him.
As he left, Sayinh had a contemplating look on his face. - I remember someone talking about that yesterday, - he thought.
- Maybe, it could be fun to go check it out. I mean, slaying cows isn't exactly exhilarating work… and it could take my mind off that guy. -

As such, he made his way toward the cathedral after asking the two women where “father Gabriel” disappeared from. Upon arrival, which was still quite early in the morning, he noticed a couple of guards standing in front of it. - It worked yesterday, and I really don’t feel like conversing with a pair of ‘I’m the shit, so you listen to me’ guys, right now, - he thought.
As such, he determinedly walked toward the entrance to the cathedral. “Stop.” the guards said.
“Step aside.” the Enoch commanded. However, the guards just crossed their weapons.
- Yep, let’s try it -, he thought, as he quickly equipped and unequipped the Wings of Seraphim as he repeated
“Step. Aside.” and walked right past them.

---

Tag: Ciriodhul, Katarina, Axey, Maruem
Words: 2278
Total word count: 2278
Notes: No, Sayinh's normally not such an ass. But he's a bit grumpy today.

[Ciriodhul]

----- One Day Prior -----

“Hello? Hello-o!” were the only words of warning, before someone pulled the lid of his left eye open by force. Now he was both wide awake and looking directly at the blurred shape of a certain spirit orthogonally hovering above his head and with its upper body directed towards his pupil as if it wanted to crawl inside. His first reflex was to blink and wet his eyeball, which he thankfully was allowed to do by the spirit letting go of his lid. “Finally. I was already beginning to worry you’d never wake up.”

After blinking a few times and cleaning the corners of his eyes from the sleepy dust having collected there, he could see the little cat Faunri spirit in a white shirt and black skirt clearly. Sola. Slowly but surely Ciriodhûl regained the memories of the last day. How he had stumbled upon a man tossing weeds from a roof. How he had agreed to join his guild and look after his guildhall as a housekeeper. How he had come to terms with the appearance of the spirit in front of him and how he had promised to never desummon her against her will. And then finally how had found a home. After having lived on the streets for the past week, neither truly awake nor truly asleep, it seemed his body had forced him to rest. His room was already bright enough to be blinding him and yet it had not been enough to wake him from his first comfortable sleep in this world. “I’m sorry. I guess, my sleep-deprivation has been worse than I had anticipated.”

“For someone calling himself a housekeeper you sure are lazy.” Albeit her words Sola was smiling at him and in the process of straightening her oddly disheveled white hair.

“You’re not incorrect. Let’s get to work.”, the shaman replied without questioning Sola’s behavior, got out of the bed and tossed over his robe. There was still a lot of work to be done in the greenhouse and the rest of the building and he also had to make sure to repay Maruem’s kindness and earn the bed he had just arisen from. Without further delay he made his way upstairs. What was left of the morning, he spent on weeding and sorting out the rest of the plants, until all beds had only soil left in them and there were multiple piles of different plants stored next to the door. One for weeds and one for each useful kind of plant. At the start Ciriodhûl had left some useful plants inside the soil, until he had realized that they were growing too chaotically after all to both leave them in and have properly nurtured and structured beds. Therefore, he had begrudgingly decided that it was for the better to get rid of all plants first and replant the greenhouse from the ground up, after he had also freed up the blocked drainage system. But when he first lifted the covers of the first canal running alongside one of the beds, he was overwhelmed by a sharp pain in his stomach. In his eagerness to finish the work Maruem had taken him in for, he had completely forgotten everything else. He had not checked on his host, skipped breakfast and ignored his hunger, which now could not be ignored any longer. Sola, who had already landed inside the canal to stick her head into the holes coming out from the bottom of the bed, hovered back unto the shoulder of the kneeling shaman and gently gave him a chop to the side of his head with the side of her hand. Without a doubt she had noticed the expression of pain on his face.

“It appears, not only your sleep-deprivation has been worse than you anticipated.”, she repeated his own words from the morning, while mockingly imitating his pattern of speech.

“Huh, I really am a complete failure at this, aren’t I? I can’t even remember eating. If I can’t manage myself, how am I going to manage the inhabitants of such a place?”

While he was mumbling in self-pity, he received another, now slightly more painful chop to the head. “Just get us something to eat. It’s not that difficult.”

Of course, Sola was right. And yet, he grew only more ashamed by the fact, that he had not only forgotten to eat himself, but had also made Sola skip a well-deserved breakfast as well. Downstairs in the living room next to the kitchen Ciriodhul found a note written by his host, which also explained, why he hadn’t heard from him by now: “Dear Ciriodhul and Sola, Good Morning! I hope you found your new home a comfortable place to sleep. Feel free to deal with whatever business you may have in or out of the house, and to explore the grounds to your heart's content. I will be out for a few hours this morning to handle getting some supplies for the house and to register my new guild mates. If you have any questions or concerns, or if anyone comes to the house while I am away, feel free to send me a little message and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as I can. Have a wonderful morning in your new home! You're truly, Maruem. P.S. Sola, keep him out of trouble alright? ” And another chop to the head, probably as a reaction for not having him kept out of trouble. In the kitchen Ciriodhûl used some leftover bread and cheese from yesterday to appease his and Sola’s hunger. Since Maruem seemed to already be out to buy supplies and he himself did not have any money on him, he chose to ignore the desolate state of their pantry for now. While eating, he absent-mindedly shifted through the list of his skills. “Wait…”, he halted for a moment, “…did I already level up?” Although Maruem had declined the use of Undying Servitude just yesterday, there were two brand new housekeeper skills in his list: Housekeeping Aptitude and Call of Service. The first one enabled him to be a treated as a chef inside a selected house or guild hall, but since it also required the consent of the owner, he would not be able to use it for now. The same was true for the second new skill, which required him to use the first to be properly functional. “I really need to get Maruem to accept all of this. At this rate my whole RP talent is practically useless. At least it seems to be leveling up by my actions regardless.”

When Ciriodhûl went back upstairs into the greenhouse to clean out the drainage system from all the dirt and plant matter clogging it up, he did not know, how important this day would turn out to become for the future of Astra. While Maruem was away, two new members would join the guild. Although Ciriodhûl had only gotten to meet one of them personally by the end of the day, he would fight side by side with both of them on the next day.

----- Day of the Quest -----

This time around Ciriodhûl woke up at the first beams of sunlight illuminating the world outside of his window and found Sola laying on his breast and her head firmly snuggled up under his chin. “So that’s the reason her hair was so disheveled the last morning”, he thought and gently stroked her back to wake her from the slight slumber she had apparently fallen back into, after she must have crawled on him. After standing up and putting the yawning little cat girl on his head, he took a brief glance outside his window and since his room was located right above the main entrance into the building, he caught a glimpse of Maruem, who was again already leaving the guild hall as early as the shaman thought humanly possible. “I hope, he is getting enough sleep like that.”, he wondered, while he was on his way downstairs to quickly freshen himself up. This morning he had planned his schedule the night before, so that he didn’t repeat the same mistakes. Now that they had been joined by Maruem’s friend Katarina, a cleric in the petite body of a young female fox Faunri, and they would be joined by Axey, a bard in the body of an axolotl Faunri, in the near future, the housekeeper had to step up his game. While he passed Katarina’s room, he briefly stopped and thought about waking her up but decided against it. Whatever it was, she had gone through the last week, and yesterday it had seemed like a lot, she probably needed as much sleep as he had needed. After freshening up, he went into the now stocked up pantry and started preparing breakfast for himself, Sola and Katarina. The dirty dishes in the sink told him that Maruem already had had breakfast on his own. He himself gobbled down some bread, some cheese and some salted meat, while he prepared some scrambled eggs with fried bacon for the girl, who was most likely still sleeping, and a small portion of it was diverted directly into the mouth of the nagging little spirit at his side. With a slice of bread to its side, he left the plate on a dinner tray in front of the girl’s room, before he started doing the chores. First of he roughly cleaned the kitchen, then he took some old empty linen bags out of the pantry and put all the plants from the greenhouse inside, he intended to sell today. When he was about to leave the building, a message from Maruem reached him.

“A Gaian priest went missing two days ago after journeying into the Catacombs. I have accepted on Astra's behalf, and I now ask that you join me if you can make yourself free for the day. I know it's accursedly early in the day to be accepting quests, but I have a feeling that every second counts with this one. I am sending this message to each of you, so should anyone choose to stay at the guild hall, there won't be any repercussion for staying out, just be aware that you may have guests to entertain as I have informed some concerned Romalians who gave me the quest that I will be taking the Father to our home should we be successful.”

For a moment the housekeeper just stood there. He, of course, was able to understand the contents of the message. However, he was still surprised by the sudden turn of events. Briefly unable to deal with the change in plans, it was Sola, who broke his stasis first by lifting up the pointer finger of his hand he used to carry the plant bags. “Come one, put them down already and get going.”

“Sure”, he replied and shook his head to get ahead of the situation. He placed the bags next to the main entrance and went back inside the kitchen, while writing a reply to Maruem: “I’ll be there as soon as possible. Give me a few moments for preparing, though.” Then he started with putting more bread, salted meat and cheese into his magic pouch as provisions, which were joined by four old canteens he filled with water from the closest well. Lastly he wrote a short notice inviting those guests Maruem had spoken of inside the dining hall, where he prepared two trays of sandwiches and a small keg filled with heavily diluted wine as accommodations. All these preparations took a while and in between he soon received a second, more formal message:

"Quest: Explore the Catacombs, Rescue the Priest.

Reward: Loot from monsters slain as well as the experience of exploring and hunting in the catacombs. Encounter with a Minotaur possible.

Quest Giver: Maruem - The Eclipse

Location: St. Baal's Cathedral

Additional Notes: Be prepared for ghosts"

Finally, after having checked his battle equipment he ventured out into the city. Before leaving he again briefly contemplated, whether he should check up on Katarina. And again, he decided against it. She had most likely received the same messages and he believed checking on her would just unnecessarily overstep his boundaries as a housekeeper. He also did not even know whether she was still in her room or the building, after he had been preoccupied with his preparations.

In front of the overgrown cathedral two guards were stationed and blocked his path.

“I am sorry, but the cathedral is currently off-limits. Please go ahead.”, one of the guards said and inspected the shaman in front of him. “Don’t tell me. You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

A bit confused, Ciriodhûl bowed down and introduced himself: “Thank you for your concern and duty. I am Ciriodhûl, however, shaman and housekeeper of Astra. I came upon being ordered here by my guild master, Maruem, the Eclipse. It seems he has taken on a quest to search for Father Gabriel, whose disappearance is most likely the reason you guard this cathedral.”

“Alright, you may pass. Just make sure, you don’t get lost in there as well.”

And thus the shaman and his spirit entered the cathedral and looked out for Maruem.

---

Word Count: 2231
Total Word Count: 2231
Tags: Katarina, Maruem, Axey, Sayinh
Notes: Please let me know, when my interpretation of Katarina's whereabouts is completely wrong.