middaeg | You will hunt Beasts

Entry tags:

You will hunt Beasts

Who: Lady Maria

whomthebelltolls, a special guest appearance from a Doppelganger that is here for you, Good Hunter, and OPEN
When: Juril
Where: Aefenglom, Dorchacht, and the Northern Outpost
What: Juril Quest and General Open Log
Warnings: Maria handling the Doppelganger thing poorly.

[1: Suspicious Activity]

[The Haunted Mansion isn't exactly the most friendly, and inviting place. Even though the hedges and lawn and front garden are immaculately trimmed and maintained, there's still an unfriendly, foreboding feeling - purposefully - around the whole place.

So it's no wonder that the first time the cultists visit the front door, they're scared off and into the night by the seven foot tall, pale as a ghost monstrosity of a woman that answers. They barely get off a word about sin and repentance that makes her glower at them yet harder before they lose nerve, but it's enough for Maria to get a sense of what they're about.

They don't return to the Haunted Mansion, but that doesn't mean Maria couldn't find them... elsewhere. Actually, now that she knows what to look for - and that the City Guard has put up notices to be on the lookout for them - she sees them almost everywhere.

It's one evening that she's heading back home from a stint at Diplomatea that she sees them knocking at the doors of the Haven. Perhaps it is your characters'. Perhaps it's simply a friend, or neighbor's. Either way... Maria steps up to them.] ... These again. You! What business have you in this area?

[They turn, and startle, but they're not quite as chased off. Not yet, but soon they launch into proselytizing about purity and sin and redemption, and with every word about how unforgivable everyone is, and that none shall ever be free of sin, she gets visibly more agitated... until she teleports forward, grabbing the first cultist she sees on getting out of it, and lifting them by the front of their robes until they're eye level with her. She bares her fangs, lips curling up on the last statement-] And what know you of sin?

[This is bad. Either help the cultist - the poor youngster is just flapping his arms and squawking in a wordless way that makes his voice crack - or come scare them off with Maria!]

[2: Doppelgangers]

[a:]

[It... looks like Maria; the same height, the same pallid skin and fair hair, a similar manner of dress. It sounds like Maria, but somehow... even softer. There's a warmth to its voice that just... isn't quite there when Maria speaks, and maybe that's the first clue something is amiss.

It's sitting in one of the little parks near the city center, chatting - amicably - with a Monster couple that had decided to have a picnic nearby; a fluffy bison faun and a pit viper naga. They part with smiles, and laughs, and the not-quite Maria steps away to go sit under a tree nearby. She kneels, then sits, watching the world around her, humming a soft tune to herself as she watches. Soon enough, a stray cat wanders by, and it entices the cat over with a bit of food - likely given as a snack from the picnicking couple - and soon enough... there sits someone or something that looks like Maria - with a cat in its lap, humming softly to itself, watching the world go by with a warmth in her usually icy eyes.

Clearly, something is very wrong.]

[b:]

[This was bound to happen eventually. Ever since the doppelganger got out, Maria had been searching for it, and finally, she has found it. And it found her. And the reunion is a bit... awkward. Because Maria - the real one, with all the spite and ice in her eyes, and the curl of her lips baring one of her sharp upper canines - looks to be on the ropes. The doppelganger is approaching slowly - and there's an unnerving amount of boldness to the way it seems to utterly ignore Maria's clear discomfort.]

Of course not... [The doppelganger laughs, a clear difference between the Hunter it has pinned down with its movements, and then... it steps in, and embraces Maria. Arms wrap around her, it settles its head on her shoulder. Its voice is as soft as Maria's, but anyone close enough will be able to hear what it says-] I was created to love you. So of course I do, my Hunt-

Your-! [And that little indignant outburst is courtesy of Maria, who stands stiffly, handling the hug somewhat poorly. She seems to be too afraid to move quickly, now that she's in the grip of the doppelganger, though, like she's half afraid it's going to rip her into pieces where she stands. She scans the crowd, looking for a familiar face, and once she sees one - whether she actually knows the person or not, she knows the faces of most Mirrorbound, she motions a bit toward the thing gripping her.] You, come here!

[3: Branching Out!]

This should be the place... [The center of it, Maria thinks. Yarglweed, they called it. Watch out for the needles, they'd said, so Maria had brought her full Hunter gear, with all its thick leather. Clearing it out shouldn't be too bad with that, until she hears the growl from behind her. With a sigh, Maria turns. Right. It attracts animals, too.] ... It looks like the local beasts don't much appreciate our intrusion to their food supply.

[4: Don't Make Waves]

[... A lake. A lake, Maria can do. It's not so large that it makes her nervous, but it does look deep enough that she has trepidation in actually just diving into it. She doesn't have Alex here and... honestly, that's probably for the better at the moment, but that also means she's without an easy underwater breathing spell.

She toys with the hilt of her sword as she considers a plan of attack.] ... Are you a strong swimmer? I am not, but if we can lure it closer to the surface... I do practice lightning magic. [You know, after they clear the water.]

[5: Wildcard]

[Here is the open prompt for anything else! If you'd like other starters, I can put them below; you can also hit me up via PM, via Reslari or via Discord Reslari#9561 if you want anything else to do for the month that isn't the intro or quests!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Edelgard had paid attention to these little troublemakers, as well. It was hard to not notice the fliers left out, and she'd even been pestered by one particularly bold one in her own home. Something about being a purveyor of sin and vice by importing alcohol from Dorchacht, but she hadn't given them the opportunity to do more than that. She'd slammed the door in their faces and called the guard.

That said, she's decided to take a professional interest in them as the Guard had mentioned they wanted them gone. She'd been tracking this lad silently from a rooftop for a few blocks now, moving as a bat, hoping that would take her towards their central congregation area. Of course, Maria has to go and spoil that, but ever one to seize an opportunity, the Emperor moves forward. Mist swirls behind the youth, and a cold hand settles against his shoulder, preventing him from running.]

...Yes, I would like to hear this. Tell us, young man, what do you know of sin?

[And so he launches into the screed - that no one is without it, but that all sin must be purged. That they are around to spread the word to people to live more pious lives, and that this here, especially is a great sign of why the world has gone to ruin and what kinds of things should no longer be tolerated.

Maria merely shakes him once, his head snapping back and forth like a doll, and making him wince with the sudden motion of it.]

I don't know, Edelgard. It sounds like there is no way to be free of sin, but the only way to be rewarded is to be free of sin. What a pointless ideology.

[And what a particularly touchy subject for Maria.] Unless you can think of a way in which redemption may be fully achieved, when every action invites some sort of punishment.

[Really, if they can figure it out, Maria is personally invested in the entire idea.]

[Edelgard quietly lets the two of them talk, though she fully intends to stop Maria before she seriously injures the boy. He's a teenager, at best, and he's probably about to wet himself. A pair of vampires this close has to be unsettling.]

I'm curious to know that as well. Is there a way to redeem oneself, or is this merely a faith that only those born into it at the beginning can be fully embraced by?

[Religious exclusionism is something she's deeply concerned about, after all. She has a personal stake in ending it.]

[No, no, the youth tries to explain, in a strained voice. Everyone has sin! Even he and the others. The point is to live every day trying to excise it. That only the most pious of lives can be saved. That redemption and penance must start immediately.

Maria frowns yet deeper, a tension settling into her shoulders and arm. She might very well harm this one, and soon.]

And what sins could you possibly carry? [She growls this at the youth, as her grip tightens even more. There's a violence in the tension of her motions; it'a close to unwinding, explosively.

She's getting a bit off-topic, obviously, but this keeps rubbing a sore spot raw.]

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