The Case of the Missing Cooki--er, Children

[celestial_wizard]

WHO: Various Interested Parties (i.e. Anyone! Newbies, Oldbies, Applebees -- )
WHAT: The Mystery of the Missing Children!
WHEN: in...abouuuuuut... RIGHT NOW
WHERE: Fayren Woodlands and Fayren Farmlands mostly


Whoever you are, wherever you are, if you're in Genessia City or Fayren today, you may find yourself being accosted by an elderly woman in her late sixties. Her wrinkly sun baked skin is dotted with freckles, a long white braid over one shoulder with stray wisps of hair coming loose. Her posture was stooped and she walked with a slow hobble, muttering to herself and trying to get the attention of anyone who would stop.

"Sir.. Sir have you seen this girl?"

"Madame, have you seen this boy?"

"Oh poor me... poor me..."

"Wherever could they have gotten to..?"

- whenever she drew near enough to someone or if they slowed down to listen, she grabbed for their arm with a surprisingly strong grip, and spoke in a voice that was raspy.

"Such a sad fate...such poor children. Please, won't you hear me out?"

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The woman gave her name as Wuada Tuis and she solemnly informed anyone who listened to her, that several charges under her care had seemingly disappeared overnight. She and her cousin Ai Xudanon have been searching for the children (a total of six missing little ones in all) who may have been kidnapped somewhere between the farmlands and the forests in Fayren. Unfortunately they can't travel there as it is perilous for such elderly souls and won't such fine, strapping young creatures help them out kindly please. A reward of course, is offered.

[ OOC: OKAY. I'm going to be setting up multiple threads so HOLD YER HORSES <3; you can talk with the old lady, go straight on to investigate places, sit back and eat cheese or other. I encourage threadjacking because who doesn't like new CR? Also as a side note even if you didn't respond to the OOC post you can participate. The more the merrier :3 I lied. You can't really sit back and eat cheese. ]

Comments

[scarletrequip]

Ryner's disappointment at the efficacy of the lightning attack was shared by Erza. She'd eliminated far less of the threat than she'd hoped and now even more were swarming from the woods toward them. Erza contemplated Requipping her Flame Empress or Morning Star armors; each of those provided the kind of destructive force to deal with this many enemies. The thought faded almost immediately when, like Ryner, she considered the immeasurable damage to the surrounding forest. No, for now her present armor would have to suffice.

"Right."

At Ferris' warning Erza fell in behind the pair. She noted that they each kept a level head despite the circumstances which suggested they weren't entirely unfamiliar with this sort of thing. The man even seemed to be searching for a weakness using magic; a form of Archive perhaps? She would have asked but she needed to focus on the battle for now.

[peerlessbeauty]

A hivemind was a pretty good guess. Some of the critters started to draw back to cut off any form of escape, clacking and rattling behind them. While ahead, a screech like the tearing of rusted metal announced the prescence of a massive creature that looked similar to the smaller ones.. nearly fifteen feet high, the majority of the creature's body was like a scorpions, from the four legs to the barbed tail, its carapace in a scarlet and black pattern.

From the waist up, the body is.. human, an armored shell cover her waist and upper torso. Where a woman would normally have a pair of arms, this thing had both the grasping pedipalps of the scorpion where her arms shoulder be, her head the most 'human' part of her. Until she spoke, where her lower jaw split in a hideous grinning rictus, her eyes gleaming red as blood.

Her claws clicked dangerously as she swayed for balance, glowering down at the gathered, "WHO DARES TO hurt my CHILDREN??" The final word a thunderous screech, painful to hear.

She's looking at YOU Erza. Well actually everyone, but mostly Erza. It's the red hair. As for Ryner, several of those smaller bittie scorpions are starting to make for his feet, intent on stinging at his ankles.

[kingofsleep]

"Oh great. Something big's coming, you two!" Ryner warned, taking his eye off the chittering insects for a moment before his instincts told him he had to move out of the way to not be stung.

"Close but you were too late. Analysis of the creature's equation completed. Release!" he swiped his hand in the direction of the swarm on the floor and a flash of light erupted from his hand. Whether the power touched the creatures they shrieked and tried to scuttle away only to dissolve into sand regardless.

He winced and grit his teeth when he heard that loud shriek and turned a pointed glare to the mother of these things.

"You should've taught them better manners if you didn't want them to get picked on."

[scarletrequip]

The arrival of the larger, more grotesque creature was a surprise but Erza stood her ground beneath the monster's glare. She smirked at Ryner's remark.

"That's my line."

They had to break away from here and the best way seemed through the mother scorpion. Lightning crackled from the tip of Erza's spear, licking at the ground and air before discharging in a wave toward the creature!

[peerlessbeauty]

The scorpion beast let out a screech at the death of the tiny scorpi-bebes that get wiped out - turning to little more than sand. Few if any manage to survive the attack, in fact. She lifts her hands to her mouth with a sob barely held in check. "You are all monsters!" Pot, kettle black? "You intrude upon our nest, slaughter my children and you DARE have the audacity to criticize me on their UPBRINGING?" She snarls, stomping forward and her tail snapping forward to stab down at Ryner. "FILTHY MURDERING HUMANS."

And what's this, lightning? She's overbalanced after attacking Ryner, unable to retract her tail and dodge it in time. This leaves the thick, sickening smell of roasting scorpion meat as bits of her body start to char, her body twisting and writhing under the electrical attack. To add insult to injury, Ferris follows up Erza's attack by not giving the beast a chance to recover, her blade swinging through to cleave off the tail. Hopefully Ryner was able to dodge the scorpion's attack!