There was something about the Crescent Isles that made it perfect for committing crimes.

A type of ‘je ne sais quois’ in the air, some might call it. Others might say it was the smell of opportunity. If you asked Morrigan Moonweaver – Wizard of the Wastes, Champion of Zeinav, enchanter, diviner, storyteller, godslayer, creator of miracles and maker of elixirs most wonderful… but you already knew all of that – they would say that the recent political instability regarding the upheaval made for the perfect opportunity to make some coin.

… Listen, it was not entirely nefarious. The good people of the islands were concerned, uncertain. Weary. Hell, you could even call what Morrigan was doing here a community service! Some might even consider it a noble act befitting of a Knight of Galavance to give the good people something to look forward to in these turbulent times. And Morrigan was! A knight, that was. If one ignored the fact that they had lied to get that position, of course. What people did not know wouldn’t kill them, and Morrigan was determined to make a little money at during this endeavor.

“That’s right, now! Ladies and gentlemen, feel free to step right up for a river tour with the Wizard of the Wastes! You’re guaranteed to see delights, wonder, and merriment along the untamed waters… and guaranteed a safe and immersive experience! Five solars apiece! Step right up!”

They waved their hand in a grandiose gesture towards the wooden raft bobbing in the water in the stream behind them.

By their side, their apprentice; Ceres Celestia, the sorceress of the earth domain. Morrigan’s oldest charge, and the right woman for the job. The poor girl believed she was here to practice her skills and keep tourists safe from the river’s ‘threats’, which were really Morrigan’s own beasts given the simple task of spooking the thrill-seekers on the raft. It was an elaborate scheme, and one that Morrigan was quite proud of! And the best part was that, as local and tourist alike clambered to buy tickets for the river rapid ride, none would be the wiser.

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SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: River Tour
Participants: Two or more
Location: Crescent Isles
Post Requirements: 5 posts per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown
Description: The Crescent Isles are a beautiful, serene place to visit this time of the year, and one of the biggest attractions that draw tourist are its beautiful, twisting rivers that snake throughout the region and connect many of its bodies of water. It has become a favorite pastime of nobles and the rich to hire guides to take them down the river on a boat. Be a part of one of these river raft rides, either by acting as a guide for a visitor, or maybe going on a tour yourself! However, the trip is not going to be as calm and peaceful as expected. Rough rapids, rocky outcroppings, and unpredictable sea life look to bring disaster to your ride.

Bringing Minions
Ceres Celestia - Earth Domain Minion

Bringing Pets
Concorde – Scarecrow Squire
Junior – Black Bog Leech
Luna Rose – Mephit disguised as a rosy maple moth
Chiquitita – Songbird Griffon
Adult form Bubbles – adult drake

After being faced with the daily stresses that a detective can face, Raoul was looking for a chance to unwind and relax. He’d heard of some sort of tourist attraction going on the Crescent Isles as he passed through finishing up an assignment and hanging around a tavern. Though some were skeptical most were excited at the prospect of a cool summer river attraction. One of Raoul’s favorite pastimes was visiting entertainment places such as circuses, carnivals, and the like. Part of him enjoyed himself there spare for having to spend solars but it was nice being able to just see people happy and content. Oftentimes he’d feel overwhelmed and in great despair dealing with the most depraved and nefarious in his line of work. Seeing the darkest parts of humanity left him feeling scared for the future so visiting tourist attractions even if most of them were very tacky and silly provided him with great calm.



"Surely this ‘River Tour’ would be just another one of those, silly and nonsensical right?", he thought outloud.

Well after a bit he decided to head out towards it none the wiser about the people who were running it. That was until he heard the announcer’s voice hyping everyone for the attraction in store. It wasn’t the 5 solar price point of the attraction that alerted him to something being wrong, even though that was highway robbery. No, there was something about that voice that rang a bell, he had heard that voice before. He couldn’t exactly put his finger on it but hearing the announcer’s voice just irked him, something felt off about this.

---

Bringing Pets (2/2)

"Vindler" Eye Spy
"Basker" Eel Hound

Morrigan was quite pleased to see the interest their speech had drummed up. People were more than willing to fork over the five solars for such a fantastical attraction from a supposedly great figure. Sure, they had no idea who the Wizard of the Wastes actually was, but that was mob mentality for you. The fear of missing out on something that had the potential to be great made them more afraid when they saw others jumping on the wagon.

One person.

Sometimes, that was all one needed in a scam.

Emboldened as their basket grew laden with coin from curious thrill seekers, Morrigan felt a grin stretching their cheeks. Oh, how long it had been since they’d pulled a scheme they were proud of. In fact, it had been some time since they’d pulled much of a scheme at all. There was little satisfaction in it when Morrigan had found true excitement and entertainment - things to stimulate their mind - but you know the millennia-old saying, just once for old time’s sake? Morrigan saw opportunity here and couldn’t resist it. The crown’s resources being tied up in suppressing insurrection and the local government’s attempts at keeping everything in control meant there was really no one left to stop Morrigan, anyways.

“That’s right, you heard me correctly! Five solars a piece! Given the myriad of delights that await you on this tour, I’m practically giving away tickets for free! A grand tour from the Wizard of the Wastes - Morrigan Moonweaver, the grand champion of Zeinav! Enchanter, diviner, storyteller, godslayer, Sand Scorpion, Champion of Zeinav, creator of miracles and maker of elixirs most wonderful!”

No one, save the gentleman who’d joined the back of the crowd.

Ceres Celestia went around handing tickets to a few members towards the front of the crowd. The raft could hold about… four people total, five if you packed it. Morrigan could take at max three guests. As they started loading a few passengers to the raft, they caught something out of the corner of their eye. A familiar face. Someone they’d not expected to see here, of all places.

Oh, hell. This was about to get a whole lot messier.

Raoul just couldn’t get the thought that he had heard the person announcing before. Something about it just rubbed him the wrong way, whether it was their smarminess or smugness he wasn’t sure. He settled on the simple explanation that the dhampir probably heard them in some tavern or bar. His hypothesis was reasonable considering they were some sort of circus troupe. The dhampir couldn’t get a good look considering there was a large minotaur standing right in front of him blocking his vision. His mind calmed down, dropping his guard and thinking that was probably just it. He stood there, his body being protected from the sun by his headwear (1) just waiting for his ticket.

Tapping his feet idly he looked and the people in front had already been seated and ready to go. He was towards the back and would probably have to wait a bit before it was his turn. He glanced around to see if he saw anyone he knew there but unfortunately for him, he saw no one. Well that was before he spotted the girl handing out tickets, her scarlet cloak bringing him back to an unfortunate memory.

“Wait you’re the girl from back at the festival, Ceres wasn’t it?”, he’d exclaim feeling growing suspicious feeling emerge. 

---

 1. Veiled Sunhat

Ceres had no idea that Raoul’s appearance was a major red flag. She did recognize him, even though it had been a full year since their last vacation to the Crescent Isles, which had been a lot of fun… though she was really sad about the older man’s sick mother. Ceres still thought about him, sometimes.

“Master… Ralok!” The name took her a few seconds to remember, considering how long it had been. The name had almost slipped her mind, but the face had not. Morrigan had not forgotten the detective that came close to disrupting their operations, either. From the other side of the crowd, Morrigan had already spotted him chatting with Ceres, who was none the wiser to what this meant for them both.

Shit. This was bad. The last thing Morrigan needed was some nosy detective poking around their business again. They’d not even turned a profit for all the setup this scheme took! Morrigan ground their fangs together, a look of pained chagrin crossing their features before they smoothed it over with a smile. This was just fine. They could handle this. Morrigan was slippery and slimy enough to turn any twist of fate into an opportunity, and that was not about to change now. They took one more ticket from a passenger, nudging them onto the raft before stepping on themselves.

Meanwhile, Ceres was still making small talk with ‘Master Ralok’.

“How’s your mother doing?” The young witch asked, nervous. Mostly because she feared the answer would not be good, in which case… that was a major bummer. She was about to offer Raoul a ticket for free – maybe Master Moonweaver would be kind enough to give one to a friend! – when a sharp whistle caught her attention.

“Ceres Celestia! Last boarding call, we are setting off now!”

“Oh!” She turned back to Raoul apologetically. “I have to go, but if you stick around I’ll see you when the tour is over!” She waved to him and skipped away, hopping onto the raft right as Morrigan pushed off, taking towards the river. Their departure was marked with a wicked smirk, shot at Raoul as they left. Either a pitiful better luck next time, detective, or a challenge to follow.

The choice was his.

Ceres being here could only mean that her mischievous maliceful master was probably close by. Considering the type of person he knew Morrigan Moonweaver to be, he could only assume that the person in charge of this whole attraction was another one of their scams. Usually, he wasn’t one to expect much of a person to expect a lot from ringleaders but considering this was Morrigan he was expecting much much less. And the fact that they were charging 5 whole solars for this was enough to be considered riverboat robbery.



He was taken out of his analysis as he heard her call him a strange name, “Ralok?”, he'd question before remembering that was the cover identity he used the last time they’d met.



“Oh yes, it’s me Ralok your old friend, it’s been a while since we last met. I hope you’re doing alright and thank you for asking about my mother. She’s still sick but kicking and trying her best. Where’s that boss of yours Ceres?”, he’d ask quickly, wanting to locate the mastermind of this operation.



However, Ceres didn’t even need to answer as Morrigan’s irksome voice cut through their conversation sending the poor girl into a rush dismissing herself and hopping into the raft.



“Don’t worry Ceres I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other a lot sooner than you’d think”, he’d call out turning his cold determined gaze directly at Morrignan Moonweaver’s devilish grin.



Not wanting to let them leave too far he opened his mouth and sprayed a thick spider silk web (1) towards the back of the riverboat to keep it from moving any further.

---

1. Web

Ceres did not get the chance to answer ‘Master Ralok’s’ question, but she did not need to. Within seconds it would be all too apparent as Morrigan pushed the boat off the pier, that the meeting between charlatan and detective last summer had not been their last.

Admittedly, this was more of a coincidence than anything, but still.

Morrigan grinned as Raoul telegraphed his movements like a painter created broad strokes against a canvas. Sloppy. He’d have to do better than that if he wanted Morrigan to face Justice. A task many before him had attempted, and none able to succeed. The charlatan was too ingrained in their convictions to bother with trivialities like the law now. In a flash of blackened silver and the smile of a wicked curved blade, Morrigan cut through the webbing like flimsy strings attached to a marionette.^[1] The raft gave a dangerous lurch before it was swept away by the river rapids, and the ride began in earnest.

Raoul’s prey, slipped through his fingers again.

But hark! What was that tied to the pier just a few feet away? Another boat, likely a spare that belonged to whatever magistrate oversaw these lands - just ready to be taken onto the waters?

If there was any time for Raoul to pursue his target, it was now.

---

1. Deflecting Slice (1/2)

The satisfied smirk of catching Morrigan’s boat in his web quickly vanished from the dhampir’s face as he saw the nefarious fellblood not looking pissed or mad instead having a grin even wider than his. Quickly he realized why as they simply sliced through the webbing with their blade letting their getaway vehicle jostle around for a moment before continuing on its path.

“Dammit, I should’ve seen that coming”, he’d curse under his breath glaring at the charlatan before glancing around wildly for anything to catch them. Thankfully he found a decent-sized boat nearby a drunken gnome fellow next groaning about how his noble master didn’t appreciate him enough.

“I’m commandeering this vehicle for the sake of defending all that is good and noble, I’m sorry friend”, he yelled as he jumped on board causing the boat to sway. Raoul would then untie it from the pier and use the two paddles onboard it to push off and begin his riverboat chase paddling as fast as he could trying to make up for the time wasted.

“Hahaha, now we’re talking”, he’d exclaim before yelling as loud as he could, “Watch out Morrigan Moonweaver I’ll catch up to you and end your reign of villainy here and now”.

Oh, Morrigan did so savor the stupefied expression of the good detective the second their blade sliced through tender magics like butter. How long they’d allowed themselves to simmer in envy over the feats that others could perform so effortlessly; yet they’d never stopped to savor how satisfying it was to drag others down to their level. That which the pompous white-haired detective took for granted, made his life easier, stripped away from him in an instant.

If I can’t have it, nobody can.

They’d like to see him try and chase after Morrigan after that.

They leaned back in their seat, a sleazy grin on their lips. “That takes care of that.”

Something tapped on their shoulder, then, and Morrigan was reminded that they had passengers aboard. “Um… is this part of the tour?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, totally.” They waved a hand and got glitter all over his face. “Just sit back and enjoy the show!” At the same time, the detective shouted his anger to the heavens, causing the passengers in the boat to whisper amongst themselves excitedly, each convincing themselves that this had to be part of the act. A show and a chase scene! How exciting.

Only Ceres looked troubled at what Raoul had to say.

She leaned closer to Morrigan, clutching her staff. “Master Moonweaver? That’s a nice guy, what’s he talking about? Villainy?”

Morrigan winked at her, utterly unbothered with the fact that they flirted with the prospect of having their lies unveiled. Ceres still believed them to be a powerful mage, after all, in all her naïveté. And she still believed that Raoul was just the ins man with the sickly mother. “That’s this tour’s little surprise, dear Ceres Celestia! He’s in on the act! Why don’t you play along and shoot a little bit of your magic at him? It’s all just for fun and games.”

“Hm… okay, if you say so!” She perked back up, waving her staff in the air at Raoul’s boat. Pure arcane heat simmered in the air before hurtling straight towards Raoul’s boat. Well, she tried to aim it a little bit away from him, but her aim was always a little shaky.^[1] She didn’t want to hurt him in what she believed was good clean fun, but she did want to slow his boat down a little bit.

At the same time, a bird-like beast perched on Morrigan’s finger. With a sly smirk, they whispered something quiet in the bird’s ear and sent the songbird Griffon over to Raoul’s boat. The Griffon did not attack; rather, it perched on the ledge of the raft and chirped, in a perfect facsimile of Morrigan’s voice, “Catch me if you can, o’ great detective!”^[2]

---

1. Firebolt - Ceres Celestia
2. Chiquitita- Songbird Griffon

Raoul paddled along as fast as he could go Morrigan’s tour boat barely in the distance, so far he’d been able to close the gap significantly in a short time. He sure was tired though breathing heavily and his arms feeling tired but it was all worth it to see Morrigan’s smug face about to be caught. It was surely simple; he just had to board the ship, let everyone know what was going on, and apprehend the purple fellblood. He was barely able to pick up on what Morrigan told Ceres only hearing the words act and shoot.

“Wait..what’s going on, why does she have her staff in the air? Ceres can’t possibly be trying to attack me, can’t she?”, he thought, a feeling of panic beginning to climb up his stomach.

“NO…NO…NO WHAT IN GINMA’s NAME ARE YOU DOING?”, he yelled seeing the mote of flames fly off from her staff and aimed towards his boat. Quickly thinking he steered the boat towards the left thankfully moving enough to not get engulfed in flames. However, he wasn’t able to completely avoid the shoot, the side of the boat getting burnt and a hole appearing at its side. Water began sinking in fast and the appearance of a songbird griffin carrying Morrigan’s taunting words was not making the situation any better.

He composed himself for a moment, “Thank you, can you carry this message? Morrigan Moonweaver when I get my hands on you, I’m going to put you in manacles and you’re going to see the inside of a jail cell for the rest of your miserable despicable life. I solemnly swear it from the bottom of my heart”.

Not wanting to be a captain who fell with their ship even if the ship was a small paddling boat, Raoul narrows his eyes at Morrigan, rage building in his heart. He grabbed the edges of his black cape and flapped his arms, emulating the flight of a bat (1) and taking towards the skies. He flapped as fast as he could, maintaining flight and zooming straight towards the boat.

---

1. Flight-Vampire's Cape (1/3)

“DON’T WORRY MASTER RALOK! I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT’S GOING ON!” Ceres Celestia replied with what might have been interpreted as a conspiratorial wink. Of course, she had no idea what exactly was going on, but she got points for doing her best. Besides, she hadn’t hit the boat on purpose. Raoul swerved, and his quick thinking saved him from most of the damage. Unfortunately, Ceres Celestia had failed to account for the fact that wood and fire got along like a house on fire… you know, because houses were often made out of wood.

Anyways.

His boat had caught on fire, enough to wear a hole within the side. Anyone who’d spent five minutes on the ocean in a seafaring vessel knew that once you took water into your boat, there was no coming back. Morrigan snickered to themselves, turning back ahead to the rapids that lie ahead. With one move they maneuvered the paddle and pulled the raft into a left turn, narrowly avoiding a few craggy rocks jutting from turbulent waters. A few passengers screamed.

It was then Chiquitita returned, perching on the side of the boat with a peep. Morrigan ran a finger over her down and grinned. “Well? Everything good with our mutual friend?”

Chirquitita opened her mouth and replied in a voice that was not Morrigan’s own, ”Thank you, can you carry this message? Morrigan Moonweaver when I get my hands on you, I’m going to put you in manacles and you’re going to see the inside of a jail cell for the rest of your miserable despicable life. I solemnly swear it from the bottom of my heart.”

The fellblood snickered. “Ha! I’d like to see him try.”

Something tugged at his sash; Morrigan turned and found Ceres Celestia tugging at the fabric, pointing out at the waters. “Master Moonweaver, something’s happening…!”

“Hmm?”

It was then they turned around and GINMA’S EQUINE BEHIND WHAT WAS THAT.

At first it resembled a bat out of hell; at second glance it was actually a very angry man and detective, barreling right towards them at great speeds.

… Oh, fuck.

Well, it seemed the detective had learned some tricks since last they met.

“… My, this tour is getting interesting now, isn’t it?”^[1]

They could not stop him from boarding the vessel, but they could reach into their pocket and throw glitter right in his face to throw him off-kilter.^[2]

---

1. Sworn Enemy – Raoul
2. Pocket Sand

“CERES PLEASE FEEL FREE TO TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT’S GOING ON BECAUSE I THINK WE BOTH HAVE VERY DIFFERENT IDEAS”, Raoul would yell as he flew through the sky.

“Wait oh no no no”, the dhampir would cry out quickly moving his makeshift wings to the left, narrowly making the hard left turn and nearly avoiding smashing into the craggy rocks.

Raoul breathed a sigh of relief and his hatred of the fellblood grew even more as he saw some of the people get spooked. He’d lost a considerable amount of distance but still, he had to catch up so the winged dhampir increased his flapping. The dhampir was narrowly approaching the boat he could see the people all focused on him with one even whispering, “Oh my god I love this show, I hope they do this again. The attention to detail and realism makes it so entertaining and life-like”.

He locked his eyes on Morrigan heading straight towards them and intending to crash into them. As he got closer and closer before he could hit them his eyes were engulfed with glitter causing him to miss them and crash into the floor a few feet away.

“GODDAMIT, AGH MY EYES MY EYES I CAN’T SEE. YOU ABSOLUTE FIEND WHY DO YOU DO THIS”, he’d cry out in absolute agony, stumbling to get up and trying to get the colorful hazard out of his eyes with his left hand. He quickly pulled out his obsidian and glass whip with his right, not feeling safe enough to be unarmed around Morrigan.

Ceres opened her mouth to reply, when – hmm. Well, could she even say? They were doing a show, and if Ceres said it out loud it would probably ruin the experience for the people who’d played good money to be here on this tour. And the last thing she wanted was to disappoint Master Moonweaver by ruining all their hard work.

But that was okay! If Master Ralok was in on the show, then this had to be part of the act, right? He must be playing the part of a confused adversary! Man, he was really good at acting!

“DON’T WORRY, I HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR!”

She gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up that was in no way diminished by the fact that Raoul had suddenly taken to the air and launched himself at her master. She still thought it was all part of the show, after all.

Even as Morrigan threw glitter in his eyes and he swore out the fellblood in what sounded more like a guttural, infernal cry than true words, Ceres Celestia still thought it was all part of the show. She clapped her hands together as he armed himself.

“Wow, how will Master Moonweaver ever take care of the wicked fiend who’s boarded our boat?” She asked the audience, voice only a touch shaky. She wasn’t the best public speaker, but Master Moonweaver hadn’t taught her nothing! Besides, she was having fun watching them pretend to go at one another!

“Like this!” Morrigan responded without missing a beat. In the seconds it took Raoul to attempt to recover, they smoothly reached over and tapped him on the nose. “Boop!”

Raoul might feel the sensation of corruption wash over him; as if their touch was as poisonous as their words, bringing woe wherever it went.^[1] Just being in their presence almost made magic feel… fuzzy.

They turned their attention to the weapon in his hand, clicking their tongue. Were all detectives fond of such barbarous tactics? “Resorting to a weapon? Really, great detective? There’s no need for violence. Why don’t you just sit down, rest, and enjoy the show?”

The last words were spoken with no small amount of humor, though Raoul might be pressed to figure out why - though it might become readily apparent as the charlatan uncorked a vial of sparkly substance and threw it right in Raoul’s face.^[2]

---

1. Arcane Restriction
2. Sleep Poison

Raoul hurried to try to clean his eyes off the pocket glitter using his right hand to get it off while keeping a close grip on his weapon with his other hand. After a few moments he thankfully managed to regain his vision although his right hand was now covered in glitter instead.

He scoffed, “Ceres my friend I think we both have very different ideas of what’s going on here. I don’t know what lies this idiotic malignant bastard has told you but it sto-”, the dhampir would try to explain before getting booped in the noose.

The dhampir detective yelled, “Why you get your thieving hands off me”, before his anger grew suddenly he felt a large drop in his energy, “Oh no I don’t feel so good”, feeling a sense of dizziness and corruption cover him. He glared at the fellblood as he coughed, "You slimy bastard what the hell did you do to me?".

Hearing the sound of a bottle cork ring out but the dhampir on high alert and seeing something be thrown at him quickly made him snap into action. He snapped his fingers and his form dissipated into mist (1) avoiding getting hit by their potion. Raoul despised having to use his vampiric abilities but considering he was dealing with one such a dangerous and deceitful individual he had no other choice.

Raoul reformed right in front of Morrigan looking them dead in the eyes as his irises flashed a bright crimson red hoping to end this once and for all (2).

---

1. Demon of the Mist (Curse: Vampire) 1/1
2. Powerful Presence (Curse: Vampire)

Well - by Ceres’s estimation - Master Ralok was on the boat now, so she could probably get away with telling him what was really going on, right? He… actually, now that she thought about it, he seemed pretty confused. She leaned in, cupping her small hands over her face, and whispered, “The show, silly! You know, the show! Can’t break character.”

At the same time the boat took a sharp turn and tipped dangerously, and the lurching motion knocked Morrigan off their feet and incidentally, out of the way of any attack Raoul might have made. The devil loved his own, after all.

But Raoul had disappeared entirely.

In his place was smoke, far deeper and more ancient than any curse Morrigan could conjure. He reforged himself from the mist, a demon of the night. Ah, a pesky thing. Morrigan couldn’t particularly do anything against a vampiric affliction the same way they could magic. And as Raoul’s eyes glowed a deep crimson, he seemed to be gambling on that same thing.

But Morrigan wouldn’t be swayed by infernal persuasions so easily.^[1]

“Oh, dear, you’re really going to have to try harder than that if you want to vanquish me.” They asserted, as confident as sin. Pulling themselves to their feet, the fellblood affixed a confident bravado to their tone, “Do you see that, ladies and gentlemen? We’ve encountered an infernal river spirit! Stand back, as I exorcise this foul being!”

With, uh… something.

Morrigan reached into their bag, hoping something useful would come from it at least.^[2]

---

1. Formulae Cleansing
2. Jackie’s Bag of Tricks
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