middaeg | DRAGON'S TREE QUEST, PT III (OPEN)

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DRAGON'S TREE QUEST, PT III (OPEN)

Who: those who signed up for dragon quest iii!
When: throughout may!
Where: the wilde
What: dragon mom needs assistance
Warnings: n/a will update as needed. violence is sure to ensue.

Come. I will show thou what must be done, for thou has come to wake me, hath thou not?

I. THE MIRRORBOUND OUTPOST
[ with construction and the group effort successful during the last working months, the mirrorbound outpost has successfully established a safe rendezvous point starting at the bright wall or even the wilder created northern outpost. thanks to the teleporter and traveling enchantments, questers will find it easier to hop back and forth from here to the city. take the time to decorate if that’s your thing, or further equip the outpost with battle-ready spells or just good places to relax before work. meet your fellow questers, stock up supplies. any veterans are welcomed to share information with new partners coming as a first (in fact, this is encouraged), and even more encouragement goes to talk to the citizen wilders established here for more tips on sprucing the place up into a fine, infection-free fort. add your touch!

the brush continues to grow against the chill of the wilde around it. there doesn't seem to be a huge threat this time, unlike the serpent and wolf of previous months, and it feels as if the threats have diminished in number as well; with the coming of the wilde's fall, the bee swarms, vermin and frogs that'd plagued the groups previously are all scarce and nonexistent with the coming of hibernation.

with the fauna settling into a kind of hibernation, this month may be the one to make headway into doing the most damage to the cywld still present in the areas— both with the tree itself, as well as the boulder in which the dragon lay— and to make the outpost a permanent station. ]

II. THE BOULDER
[ nearby and part of the clearing, a massive rock sits: the formation appears to be just a large boulder at first, with nothing special to its mossed edges. a closer look can herald some unusual features on the surface. the boulder curves like horns, there are wings seamlessly sculpted across mineral, small but seemingly folded. this is supposedly créia, in the flesh. it's cleaner than it used to be, that's a given, but more is needed to take care of this legend. questers will be encouraged to always keep this area spotless and constantly cleanse the grass and rock with charms, spells and whatever you have up your sleeves. don't have those? offerings like flowers and healthy plant-life will bring the same level of effort and appreciation over time— and are not limited to those by any means! with most of the animals hidden away for the coming winter, maybe not so many greedy beasts will come around to snatch what you’ve left behind. take advantage of the crispy autumn chill to make the slumbering dragon a sleeping beauty. ]

III. THE TREE (DUNGEON)
[ close and not too far from the outpost and its boulder is the biggest problem of all: the dragon's tree, a massive one, grander than all those in the wilde and seem miniature in comparison. it stands tall, bark scarred and chiseled, holding evidence of ages past in the many knots and healed burns, dark wood branching off into pine-scented leaves. it's wilted, in poor shape and black as if there's no going back from the rotting point it has reached.

as the month wears on, the tree will be freed up enough to allow . . . a peek inside—? well, that's not very good, and yet it feels to hold the promise of something new all the same. within the crack that shows itself as the taint recedes slightly, the tree isn't half as spacious as one may presume from outside appearances; as the cwyld diminishes, however, it does expand enough for a group of five to enter at a time, and an initial scout will discover a few things: it reeks of magic, both tainted and not, and holds the familiar scent of nature from eren's dream, and, the crack opens up to this initial room, but there are openings that can be easily cleaned to step through to different areas themselves! each room is sizable enough for a group of up to five, and as far as the first floor goes there are three rooms not including the first. you are not required to have three groups of five in order to complete this, but the max is up that way.

—the foyer: has spiderweb-like tendrils of cwyld crisscrossing the walls and ceiling of the tree, as well as parts of the floor. they will reach for any signs of magic and hold fast their target, small, jellyfish-like needles pricking into unsuspecting flesh to infect it. most clothing will defend someone from this simple nuisance. this room, outside of the mentioned cwyld, is safe. just don't light a fire in it.

—left room (puzzle; witch specialty): as one steps in, it's positively empty of magic; if one isn't careful, they may suffer from magical exhaustion and need to step out into the foyer for rest. that said . . . immediately within this room are three objects: a petrified sapling, a high wooden pedestal, and a large glass marble with an emerald scale trapped within. the marble cannot be initially cracked. upon closer inspection of the room, there are channels in the floor which one can pour . . . something . . . into, and they pool around the sapling as their end. this puzzle can be solved by manifesting magic into a pure form for "water", and then using an imbued crystal as light shined through the marble once placed upon the pedestal, which will heal the sapling and cause it to wiggle happily. how this ultimately happens is up to you all, but it is worth noting that it might require some fine timing.

—right room (puzzle; monster specialty): as one steps in, it's positively overwhelming with magic in contrast; if one isn't careful, they may lose their minds and display unusual behavior, needing to step out for a bit until it releases itself from their systems. this magic stems from a sapling that's sick with it, glowing brightly within the center and to three spots against the walls. to solve this puzzle, one must form a "bond" with the sapling and take on the excess magic it holds while managing their own selves in order not to soak up too much. how this goes is ultimately up to you all, but it is worth noting that temporary bonds may prove very useful in this venture.

—center room (combat; both): the apparent "heart" of the tree, or so it would seem. unlike the other rooms, this one has no visible ceiling and the sounds of birds can be heard from high above. it's also . . . very . . . not "heart of the tree" like; where there should be a large pillar of heartwood within there is nothing, with a pit of darkness below and the aforementioned lack of ceiling above. the smell that drifts up from this pit is rotting and earthy. there are paths up and down, but before they can be thoroughly explored a roar deafens the room from below— a scritching, scratching sound aches painfully against the ears of those within the room and a giant maggot, pulsating with cwyld and infected wounds with birds still in it, turns its many-teethed maw at what it assumes is new food to consume.

it is steadfastly rooted in the pit, so it's an easy target to hit, but the hide is oddly thick for being a baby pest and oozes sticky liquid when attacks do make it through; while seemingly just gross, it will slowly dissolve whatever it lands on! the maggot also has a few choice moves it likes to do, which includes attempting to swallow, smash, and rollover whatever is in front of it, as well as spit acid. a combination of monster and magic is necessary to defeat it, as a monster's various natural weapons (including their inherent magic) are effective in busting through the thick skin while a witch's magic is key in killing it, as it regenerates otherwise. enough fighting will eventually slay the beast, and depending on how it's done it can fall back within the pit, crash against the ground, and even blow up! choose your own disgusting fate, just be mindful that it blowing up does mean its corrosive juices get everywhere and require extra hands to clean.

welcome to your tree dungeon, everyone. This isn't the last of it, and there's still plenty to do within if someone doesn't manage to sign up for this round... more details regarding other exploration will be given as needed as well, such any investigation towards the saplings as well as the up and down of the center room and the like. ]

( a huge thanks to the mods for most, if not all of this information to play with! any questions on how to proceed could be asked below! )

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I wasn't saying it was bad... It just seems like we're finding so much through the dreams. Even if it doesn't make sense at the time. [Mikasa wasn't sure where she stood when it came to hope. In many ways, it was scary. She's seen so many hopes and dreams get shattered in the blink of an eye, had her own smashed. But there had to be a way, even if it was difficult, they couldn't just sit and wait without trying.

The explanation gets a sigh, then a nod.]

I'd heard the wilders were separate to the city. I didn't realise it was that much.

Yes, and we still don't know what the source of them is. Or rather, if any of the mirrorbound do, they haven't said as such, but I think I would know by now.

[She had connection to Eren, and Eren has his finger in like... every pie, so a lot of information gets filtered to Maria that way. And by her own investigations; she tends to look at things from an angle some people don't.]

They are, yes. They are their own little faction, and it is... probably for the best, considering most of what they do is outside of Aefenglom's jurisdiction.

What do you know about them? [It's curt, without really meaning to be. But really? From what she'd gathered in her time here was the dreams were one big mystery. Even with the dream walking and such, it all just seemed like speculation and guesses.] I've not really asked much, been busy trying to work out what is happening with me. [What she was turning into. Fae was pretty board and it felt like she'd only just scratched the surface there, let alone looking into the dreams.]

Yeah. It was almost the same where I was from...Though we still had to defer to the higher-ups. But we had to go back into the walls, there weren't any nomads like there was on the expedition. [It was a harsh view. But while shades were dangerous, the Cywd was dangerous. It wasn't like venturing out to where the titans were.]

Not much. Some are prophetic, but not entirely accurate. Dorchacht was quite different in the Dream than it was in reality, though many of the things in the dream were reflected in reality in a different form. The slave markets, for example, were quite different.

[Maria stops to think about it, and then frowns.] ... They can influence the waking world, though. People attacked during Dorchacht's dream fell ill in the waking world. So all those things are connected. Just... I don't think anyone knows what the source is.

[She tilts her head a little.] The Wilders, I think, have their own representation. The city understands their necessity, as well, I believe. So they allow it, because otherwise they wouldn't be able to have a safe... buffer zone around the city and past the Bright Wall.

[Maria couldn't see it, but the fae stills. Cringing at the word 'slave'. Holding her tongue one whatever comment she had about the dreams there. And Dorchacht, she's heard about it's history, how they'd changed in a matter of months. It was important. But she didn't want to look into it, while she'd helped the kidnapped boy before, hearing the history of it made her uncomfortable.]

It's good to hear that. [She swallows, strengthening her voice again.] Back when I was young. The ones who went outside the wall got the least about of support. The government and civilians thought it was a lost cause...

[Then they'd become heroes in a matter of months.]

Your tone seems to imply they changed their minds eventually. Unless they were right...?

[Somehow, she doesn't think Mikasa would bring it up if the government was right though. That there isn't anything worthwhile out there.]

Was where you grew up a fortress like Aefenglom tries to be, then?

Not quite... [It was a strange thing to talk about. It wasn't a secret. They'd made a point of keeping no secrets. That had only changed a few years ago, before...]

They didn't change their minds. [There's a finality to that.] The nobility had been using...something that allowed them to manipulate memories. Anyone who got close to learning what was outside was killed or forgot. [She's knuckling down, working, giving a small grunt as she tugs at a stubborn rock out the way.]

Not quite. We had more than one wall, going outside of them would get you eaten. You wouldn't be able to live outside like you could here.

... So they were purposefully keeping people within and manipulating the facts of what happened outside? Interesting.

[Not unfamiliar, but interesting.] So what was beyond the walls - do you know?

[She nods.]

We found out they were hiding things. They lost the ability and were killed trying to regain it... Then we learnt they were hiding that we weren't the last of humanity.

[For the longest time they'd thought they were the only humans. Then no, there was others and they were hated by them.]

How curious. That sounds a bit more like where I am from, though their ignorance was... purposeful. They believed they were better than the rest of the world, and disliked outsiders, purposefully keeping to themselves within the city, as it was.

They thought they could survive with what little trade they could do, and the amount of Blood they produced. I learned quite recently that it was all that which mostly destroyed them. They didn't even need... mind controlling spells. All they needed was a religion.

It was purposeful where I'm from... They wanted to stay in power. Supposedly they were the only ones who could keep the peace. [They'd not wanted to help regain Wall...Maria...Mikasa hadn't thought about the names being the same, pausing to blink for a second at that.] They locked themselves in the center and left the people to die, or had them killed if they asked too much.

[Then she scoffs.] They had the help of a religion as well. The Church of the Walls.

No, I mean the townsfolk knew well what they were doing, and getting into. They went with it, anyway. There needn't have been any mind alteration - they were willing to go with it through simple propaganda and peer pressure. And a bit of religious influence.

It is unfortunate that such things are... depressingly similar to my world. Perhaps, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Oh...The people didn't know. We only learnt after we came back from an expedition they didn't expect us to return from. [Or something. They'd gotten back and within moments they'd had to hide away and the then commander was arrested and on trial for treason.]

What about here? [A glance.] They did more for those Rathmore people than I'd expect, but...

Here... [She frowns, pursing her lips together as she ponders the question.]

Here, I think they are far too soft. You're right - what they did for the Rathmores is more than what could have been expected otherwise. They tacitly allow the Monsters to be discriminated against, but don't outright hunt them as they used to. The Monsters here, however, are much different than the Beasts of my home. You do not give quarter to those creatures, lest you find yourself and everyone close to you eviscerated, possibly devoured in their crazed bloodlust.

But it is surprising they are otherwise so lenient. Danger surrounds them on all sides, with nothing but a wall and some magic to prevent the worst of it from taking to the heart of their civilization. Yet, a group of unproven strangers falls with regularity through mirrors into the middle of your city, and they... welcomed us? It is some wonder this place even yet stands. We all would have been cast out immediately, had it been Yharnam. Possibly been killed by the Church. They were very protective of the safety they thought they had... and all outsiders were threats.

Strangely, though... neither of the cities here seem to have been quite so wary. I wonder if all of them are going to be - if not outright welcoming, at least relatively lax about allowing outsiders within their borders.

That's how it would have been back home if someone arrived from the outside... Even after one's death, they took his son, who didn't know anything. [But she listens, nodding at the explanation.]

Yeah...It doesn't make sense that they'd be more welcoming to us than the ones from the slums. Though if there's another city that doesn't let outsiders in, they might be hiding completely.

...I remember when I arrived. Someone told me the locals here were nice to us because we'd been forced here. [She pauses, chirping. But she wasn't one to mince her words, even if she takes a moment to think about it.] I don't think it's that. But I think they'd rather not risk us starting a fight.

[She hated all this thinking and tactics. But that's what made sense to her. Keep the ones that were always monsters or witches happy.]

I would have thought they would at least arrest or otherwise detain us until they could assess our potential threat. They did no such thing, they simply let us have free reign of their city from the moment go - even clearing out that section of the residential district we now call the Haven. They displaced their own citizenry... I am not sure why they could not have simply put us all up in the barracks and let us find housing on our own, but there is that.

In fact, I don't think anyone would have blamed them overly much if they had, at least at first, taken a moment to keep us in one area and question us. If anyone else thinks the authorities of their worlds wouldn't do the same, I think they're either naive or mad.

[Maria wrinkles her nose.] But still, I suppose we'll find out if all the cities here hold to their... irresponsible kindness.

That'd make sense...[She frowns. Puffing the roots of the plant she was unpotting, they adjust quicker that way.] I didn't know they'd moved everyone. I thought that area had been attacked so the people moved? [It'd make sense that they'd willingly leave and shove the mystery arrivals there then. But if that wasn't the case, it got suspicious.]

...It sounds like they know more about why we're here than they're letting on. Or they're just stupid. [They wouldn't question them if they knew why there were here. But that makes another thought occurred to her.] Hey, were you with the first group that arrived?

Yes, I was. I've been here from the start, and seen every group of new arrivals come... and occasionally go, though I've no idea where they return to.

[Logic says "home", but Maria kind of hopes that isn't the case. The last thing she wants to do is somehow be sent home while still being alive. If nothing else, she hopes she gets to stay dead when she gets sent back.]

What happened when you first got here? Was the mirror hall like it is now or have they changed it? [Maria's comment about where people returned to made her want to bring up her doubts on them going home, or everything with their memories. But at the same time, that was beating a dead horse. She'd complained about it before. For now she'd focus on the Learning.]

It was the same. It was dustier and less used, though. [She thinks they only show up every so often to induct new Witches into the ranks there.] A poor youngster found us and went running through the halls, squalling for Nerissa and Mhairi. We were promptly met by them, seated on some chairs where they intake all of the new folks, and had to have quite the thinking session as to what was going to happen with an influx population of outsiders. They put us up in temporary housing in the Coven until they could clear out more worthwhile places for us to live.

After that, they got better at the onboarding process, I believe.

I'm not sure if they've gotten better, another mirrowbound tried to stab me as soon as I got out my mirror. [But that was all she had on that] I wonder what they used it for... It's strange that they had all the mirrors but didn't know they could do that.

Yes, well, I was quite close to killing Mhairi when I arrived, so it is not going to be perfect, I don't think.

[Nowadays, she's more or less chill with the turnskin.]

They used to use it as part of a rite of graduation of the Witches from their Coven, as I understand it. They would tie themselves to the mirrors, as a source of magic. It would make sense they didn't then know those mirrors connected to, perhaps, other worlds beyond their own.

...What did she do? [Or was Maria just another murder happy person? Mikasa didn't know anymore.]

Wouldn't that mean that they didn't have magic before? [She's frowning. Because if that's the case then what did that mean for the bonds, if witches needed them to cycle their magic.]

Nothing. Where I come from, if something is as far transformed as she is, it is no longer human, can no longer be reasoned with, cannot be reversed out of its transformation, and must be killed. [So, basically, Hunter knee-jerk reaction.]

You mean the people? All people have a latent spark of magic, I believe, in this world. I'm not sure how it works with the mirrors, and it has been some time since I have looked into it, but I recall that being mentioned. The Coven library may be more use than I.

[She hums, then huffs through her nose.] Yeah...Back home people were the same, but with outsiders. No transformations needed.

[She herself had been on the wrong side of a canon before. Way back when Eren first transformed. They'd attempted to talk, before calling them all liars. So...The approach was about equal.]

Right...I'll look when we're back in the city.

[And with that she's going to focus on work. Mind filled with questions.]

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DRAGON'S TREE QUEST, PT III (OPEN)

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