They had already been walking for a while before Serena had fully woken up. The stern morning light scolded her harshly for the previous nights deeds as herself and Ambika trudged up the wooded mountainside. Had last night truly happened as she remembered? Oniwanban, Dragons, Spirits of the forest, surely Miss Ambikas urgency on these clearly fabricated tales was significantly overblown.



Blearily, she blinked the last remainders of innocence and sleep out of her eyes. Truly, the last of the earthly sensations to return was unfortunately nausea, which she so luckily got to experience fully consciously. Serena paused the hike, casting a hand against a tree and dry heaving for an uncomfortable few moments.



“Why, oh why must the gods punish one so fair as I…” She mutters, before wiping her chin and flipping her hair back. “Surely we could have waited some time before pursuing, Miss Phairot… Do not the leisures of a countryside pilgrimage deserve their own urgency? What harm” pausing a moment to catch her breath, ”could a few kids galavanting around in some mine possible precipitate.” She pouted, before resuming the mind-numbing uphill slog.



They had been passing various spirit totems for about half an hour at this point, signaling their proximity to wherever these miscreants were hiding. Serena silently prayed only that the hike would soon be over.

Quest Name: In Darkest Depths

Participants: Two or more

Location: Crescent Isles

Post Requirements: 5 posts per person, 200 words per post

Reward: Ability to take on Part 3, +1 Renown

Description: Having successfully pinpointed the cause of the night time disturbances, you have been contracted again to investigate the mines themselves. It is believed that pockets of Lunar rebels have been using the nearby mines as a base of operations. Their motives are still ultimately unknown, but their presence has been increasing, as well as the level of disturbances they are causing. The mines are vast, and have been abandoned for many years, making it dangerous to venture into.



Venture into the mines, uncover the Rebels base of operations and take out any that may put up a fight. If any surrender or are captured, they are to be brought back to Chancellor Lao to be interrogated, we must know why they are involved in this conflict.

"And miss the opportunity to retrieve the unjustly fleeced sake for justice?" If Serena were of a more virtuous character, Ambika would not be stoking the flames of her vices in this manner. "We must strike while the iron is hot, before they scurry away and fade into the darkness. Or worse, they come to silence us."

Organisations tend to be unforgiving of failures that may jeopardize them, especially the types willing to sacrifice people by the dozens, if not hundreds, perhaps even thousands for their goals. That invariably meant the Lunar Rebels would be after their heads in the near future, hell, it might well be today that they have yet another skirmish. Scratch that. Ambika was preemptively taking the battle to them. Whatever plans they have in mind could not bode well for the people here, and it may well serve a larger purpose for all she knew. Florentio would have come up with a theory by now had he been present, and a twinge of loneliness struck at her heart for an instant before she refocused herself on the matter at hand. They were nearing the mine entrance, and of course there were Lunar Rebels dressed as Onibanwan Warriors patrolling around the entrance.

Imitating the sounds of people moving through foliage was simple enough[1]. One of them would move to the entrance, while the other investigated the noise. A wise choice, not that it would save them. Ambika would wait for the other to be a few steps away from the trap she laid, then throw a stone aimed at the head of the guard standing by the entrance, causing them to fall unconscious to the ground from the concussion. The other would turn around, and with their gait, step right onto the glass sphere[2] she'd used to make the sounds in the first place, and tumble down a relatively steep slope.

"Shall we?" Ambika picked up the intact glass sphere and gestured at the mine entrance.

---

[1]Minor Trickery on Glass Sphere

[2]Improvised Engineer: Glass Sphere (+ Crude Gunpowder + Flash Powder)

She winced at the stone striking the fellows head, shrinking with empathetic pain. To be fair, Serena had inflicted similar misery last night… she’d be taking up alot of space in the confessional once she returned to the Temple of the sun. All that could be done was to offer a quick prayer whilst they stepped over the unconscious before proceeding further inside. “I suppose…”



The tunnel was dark and humid, water dripping from overhead plunking on Serenas forehead just as she was getting used to it. Withdrawing the golden staff from her back, the priestess closed her eyes and allowed the holy light to activate. It was not like there was much to see, but it was better than the dim oil torches that dotted the tunnels every twenty or so feet.



The echoes of activity from further withing kept her on edge. The queer shadows dancing around each corner made it seem like every step they would take led only to treachery. “This is just about the opposite of what I’d like to be doing at the moment I hope you know.” She whispered, trying to ensure her disdain for the current situation was well known by miss Phairot. “What even is the plan once we are met with the opposition? Shall we drag each of them back down the mountain to the local constable?”
Vestige of Light Activation - Moonlight

Ambika had no real need for the Moonlight that now surrounded the two, but she could appreciate its application in the off-chance there were sight-concealing magics at play. Finding enemies without sight would invariably be an annoying affair even if she could manage.
"Too much trouble. One or two will suffice. Namely, the head of operations and/or the second-in-charge." Ambika whispered her reply, aware that she was making it easier than it sounded. "Besides, this mine has another entrance at the foot of the mountain. Less dragging required from there."
"And in case you were wondering why we opted for the entrance up top, convenience makes for more guards." Ambika added, to quell any exasperated complaints Serena surely harboured from learning about this factoid.

Soon, Ambika would put out a hand, signalling Serena to stop. They were approaching a large opening where the shadows were cutting off. At the same time, the clangs of metal striking solid matter began reverberating in the air. Keeping within the shadows as she moved forward, she would bear witness to a glimpse of shackled miners, undoubtedly forced to toil away by their captors. Taking note of the guard standing near the entrance, as well as the guard standing at the opposite side to watch for intruders, she returned to Serena and informed her of the situation.

"I can deal with the two guards near the entrance. The issue is what will undoubtedly come after. On my mark, prepare to move." Ambika loaded a Fear Tip bolt onto her crossbow and slid one of her glass spheres[1] onto her right palm. She then promptly took fire at the far guard, causing him to scream in abject fear, drawing the attention of the guard at the entrance, as well as a number more coming to check on him.

"The Watchers! They come for us!" The fearful guard screamed incoherently.
"What Watcher? You're not making any sense!" The guard who was at the entrance shook his ally, trying to snap him out of it.
Ambika would take this opportunity to throw her glass sphere at a natural rock formation sitting around what she perceived was the center of the space, and whispered, "_Go!" as she made a dash into the opening and quickly analyzed the area. It was an J-shaped opening, and the exit was on the far side of the corridor.

"This way," Ambika hissed as she loaded yet another crossbow bolt in preparation for another encounter as the smoke unfortunately did not stretch that far, even if the flashes did get to them momentarily.

---

[1]Improvisation Engineer: Glass Sphere + Smoke Powder + Flash Powder
[2]Quick Palm

Her protest was snuffed out before she could even make it. Damned be Miss Phairot for being so sharp, she thought, closing her almost open mouth to pout instead of complain. Lazily following behind as the bard led the way. What kind of fricken bard was she anyways!? Serena had born witness to more kneecaps being bolted than jaunty tunes being played. There would certainly be complaints made after this bout of madness was concluded.



Seriously, this woman fit right in amongst the Oniwanban they were fighting. Bombs of smoke and flash exploded into the area as Ambika scouted. All this running and crouching was NOT what Serena had signed up for, ESPECIALLY not after a like 2 mile hike up a mountain. She lazily raised her golden bejewelled staff and channeled holy power through it. A sparkly effect quickly gave the two of them the cover of invisibility.



Now, idly walked over to where Ambika was, using her staff to nudge the terrified man a bit aside so she could pass.



“It’s just through here right?” Serena said aloud, only confirming the feared mans suspicions of “Watchers” as he screamed in response. Ironically, this almost convinced the other guard, who exlaimed “Shit!”



The priestess opened the door without a care in the world, only interested in quickly returning to her vacation. A massive axe swung swiftly infront of her as the door opened inwardly, narrowly missing her nose by about a centimeter. A small loch of radiant red hair floated to the ground, it’s invisible blessing severed by the blade.

"Great...traps."

-Blessing of the Shadowed Night





If your Vestige of Light is in effect, you can activate this blessing, cloaking yourself and any ally within the Aura. For the next two posts, any ally inside your aura will become invisible, unable to be seen or detected by nonmagical means. Invisible allies can move around and cast spells, but using any offensive action or attack will end the invisibility on the person who made the attack.

Ambika fought hard to resist the urge to facepalm at the sheer ludicrousness of the sight that unfolded in front of her. Giant swinging axes? What was this, a maniacal noble's underground labyrinth dungeon!? Sigh. She supposed the threat itself was entirely real, if woefully ineffective to anyone who paid even the slightest attention to their surroundings. It did also normally mean there was something valuable beyond this point, so she took a good look at the hallway to find any deactivation switches. Regardless of how she felt about Serena personally, she was a powerful priestess in her own right and Ambika did effectively drag her into this with the lure of sake.

While Ambika does manage to find the deactivation switch, it was on the far end of the hallway and the axes were swinging in alternative directions for maximum coverage. Likely designed to outright disallow any form of passage through here. As she turned around back to the opening to see if there were anything useful, her eyes would land on a smoke grenade[1] that hung at the back waist of one of the guards who stood near the entrance, panicking and thankfully lacking the sense to swing wildly at the doors. Time to see if she still had it in her.

The invisibility spell cast by Serena meant that it was not much of an issue to just walk up to the guard, not that Ambika would be foolish enough to assume it would keep her safe - the gods tended to frown upon illicit activity, as her elders used to say - so she would carefully skulk her way to the back of her target. Once she was within reach, Ambika would swipe the grenade from his back and use the momentum to hurl the grenade right inside the hallway, causing it to explode when it hit the sharp, pointy end of one of the inner axes.

Before the guard could notice the sudden shift in weight, Ambika was already inside the smoke and pressed hard on that deactivation switch. The axes would slow and stop after a few seconds. Not wanting to dally further in case the guards decided to panic and haphazardly use their arsenal, Ambika would attempt to grab Serena's arm and bring her to the other side of the hallway for her safety.

---

[1]Oniwanban Shadow: Evasive Grenade Arts

The Oniwanban acquired black powder long ago and have chosen to mix it with phosphorous to create their penultimate support item - The smoke grenade. They usually carry quite a few on their personages and they can use it in a number of ways, but none is so great as their rapid movement technique. After using a smoke grenade you can move to any point you were aware of within the smoke instantaneously. The cloud of smoke is heavy and will remain for the next two post, only able to be blown away by Master or higher Wind spells.

You have three uses of Evasive Grenade Arts per thread, with each Grenade filling a medium sized sphere.

Serena was patting her invisible face quite thoroughly to ensure her nose was still present when more chaos erupted from out of nowhere. The guard muttering “What the…” before a smoke bomb exploded and the axes stopped swinging.



“Thats what I’m saying!” Serena replied, an invisible woman to the incredulous guard, shortly before being yoinked through the doorway. The guard remained where he had been, confusedly swinging his arms to try and find whoever had just said that, only to be met by nothing but air. “Holy shit, are there actually spirits here?!”



“Owww youre hurting meee” She whined as they dashed down the hall towards a well lit door with voices coming from behind. Her urge to point it out was significantly suppressed by the sudden jog before they were already there. She stood with arms crossed outside of the oaken doorway, before curiosity overwhelmed and she had to peek through the iron bars.



Within, there was about three funky lil rebels, one of which wore a ridiculous looking tall pointy hat. In front of them was a table, on which was a map she could not see from here, however it was what was behind them that truly caught her attention. Wine casks! Omigawd she was so thirsty after that hike/run… she was still invisible…. She could probably sneak a drink… The door creaked open slowly.

Ambika ignored Serena's protests - she was well aware that her grip was an unpleasant one, but justified it under the presumption that the hurt that would have been piled on her if it were anyone else in the vicinity would be much worse at the minimum.

Observing the three Lunar Rebels in the room, Ambika presumed the one with the tall, pointy hat was probably the leader of the operations here, though she kept her mind open - could be a fluke, after all. The other two appeared to be fellow overseers - one appeared to be a spellcaster of some sort, while the other looked much like a ninja. The tall, pointy-hatted fellow had a spiked metal club on their back, suggesting someone inclined towards brute strength. An argument seemed to be unfolding within.
"We're not getting enough ore! What are you all doing?" The pointy hat dude yelled.
"It seems they're not motivated enough," the mage answered in a deadpan tone.
"Maybe you could go break some bones, leader." the ninja snarked while placing their hand on their kusarigama.
"Y-you two are under my command so long as we're here!" The pointy hat dude shouted with a shake in his voice. "You go break some bones!" He demanded unconvincingly.
"How about... no." The mage's quarterstaff began glowing, threatening to unload on the pointy hat dude who now seemed so much smaller.
"I'll go! I'll go! Please don't punish me!" The pointy hat dude left the room from what appeared to be a secret exit. Perhaps they had a hidden path leading to the J-shaped space they were at moments ago. Would explain the axe-trapped corridor.

That's one less enemy to deal with for now, at least. Ambika was sorely tempted to just blow up the wine casks, but she could not risk destroying the map on the table so that was not an option. And well, her alcoholic companion did come for them in the first place and she wasn't about to make an enemy out of her here. Gotta do this the hard way then. Eyeing the ninja, she would notice that they had their arsenal just placed out in the open on their hips and thighs. Amateur. Checking that Serena's magic was still effective, she snuck her way to the back of the ninja, swiping a scroll[1] and another smoke grenade.
"There's someone-" the ninja's words would be cut off by an abrupt kinetic blast that sent them and the mage flying towards the wall, with the ninja crashing onto the mage after the latter hit the wall. The noises did not go unnoticed, however, as a loud shout from the 'leader' could be heard echoing from whatever hallway he was travelling on.
"What in Lunala's going on!?"

With that, Serena's spell evaporated into nothing. The time for subtlety was over. Ambika readied her crossbow for a fight. They had to drag at least one of these three out, after all.

---

[1]Concussion Scroll
This scroll or seal tag can be placed and used remotely or used directly by the Oniwanban Shadow. When used or activated it releases a forward facing explosion of massive kinetic force that deals heavy blunt and fire damage on contact.

Serena leaned back up against the wall, pouting slightly as the door subtly opened beside her. The soft pad of easy footsteps told her Ambika was up to something… should she follow? A loud boom told her it was too late, the enchantment dissapeared while the pair reappeared as dust and soot billowed out from the doorway.



“MY PRECIOUS” Serena wailed, dashing in to the room to ensure the safety of the secret sake casks. She was about halfway through the room before the body of the ninja was thrown quite violently towards her. There was no time to duck, he crashed into the priest and together they tumbled onto the floor. It was not an attack from the ninja, as he was just as dazed as she. Speak not, a menacing presence grew from the back of the room.



The mage had a painted cloth dangling before his face, but the sheer anger and indignation was still apparent from his posture.



“INSOLENT FOOLS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SOCIETY YOU’VE INTERRUPTED.” He shouted as the quarterstaff glowed once more, and erupted in a violent burst of dark energy. Serena could only react on instinct, diving in front of Ambika and igniting her sceptre once more. Black smoky tendrils wrap around a short-lived barrier of light that encompasses Ambika, and blasting the rest of the room with incredible force. Several of the casks shatter, while the table with the map is knocked over. A lone candle rolls around the middle of the room, threatening to ignite them all. Serena takes a full hit of the Death Wave as her roll terminates at the far wall, having grabbed something off the table in the process.


A single tear rolls down Serenas cheek as she clasps what truly mattered to her all along. The last remaining bottle of 9887 Cherry Blossom Divine Sake she had risked her life to protect. Also Ambika was there.



-Blessing of Protection



If your Vestige of Light is in effect, you can activate this blessing, buffing up the defensive abilities of allies within your Vestige's Aura. For the next three posts any spell or ability you use to heal an ally will be increased, healing all minor and major wounds from them, regardless of the spell's level. Additionally, if any ally enters the Aura while this Blessing is active, they will instantly gain one Physical and one Magical hit prevention. (cannot obtain more than once)

1 HP to Ambika
1 Major wound to Serena

Death Wave
You shoot a wave of dark energy out from your body in all directions. These wave only goes up to a medium distance, but pushes out from your body in all directions. The wave of darkness deals damage as well as pushes each person struck backwards to the edge of the range. It will knock each living creature to the edge scorching them with the dark energy.

-Deals dark damage-

Ambika had not the time to fully process the chaos that just unfurled in front of her, only that there was a candle that needed snuffing. Fast. A quick stomp at the flame would see that extinguished before it resulted in any combustion, though now the airs positively reeked of alcohol. To make things worse, the 'leader' charged in and pulled a double strike[1] with their wakizashi blades on her, one luckily intercepted by Serena's blessing, but the other would leave a pretty significant gash on her arm. Combine that with a now heavily injured Serena, she decided it was probably time to retreat.

Hurling the smoke grenade[2] she previously nicked towards the floor without hesitation, the greys would swiftly fill the entire room as Ambika deftly grabbed the map, carried Serena on her shoulders and for good measure, used the smoke to conjure a tendril[3] to hurl the ninja ahead towards a third exit in the room. Coming back the way they came from was too risky, even if wherever they were headed might herald new threats. After leaving the room, she would hurl an explosive glass sphere[4] as far inward as possible while lowering them both to prevent the upward flames from consuming them both. That should hopefully buy her some time as she tried to get Serena to walk on her own again. The old body certainly was not built to carry two people at once.

---

-1 Physical Hit Protections to Ambika (Blessing of Protection)

1 minor wound to Ambika

[1]Oniwanban Footsoldier: Multi-Attack

[2]Evasive Grenade Arts

[3]Advanced Smoke Arts

[4]Improvisation Engineer: Glass Sphere + Crude Gunpowder + Flash Powder

Pain shot through her gut as she was hoisted and boisted onto Ambika’s shoulder. It was enough jostling running down the hall to almost drop her new prized possession. Halls of smoky rock passages passed by in the cavernous maze as they ran, each corridor looking just as samey as the last. Serena summoned a bit of strength to trace out a sigil. From it, a strand of light erupts from her palm and wraps around the wounded ninja.

Shouts and commotion could be heard from behind their flight, the rebels had come to their senses, and were chasing them down. She could see the light of torches illuminating passages they had only just run through. Time was shortly running out.

“Ambika, pass me the map!” She said weakly, the pain from her stomach constricting how much air she could move. It was a new spell, not exactly stable, and not exactly what it was made for, but it could work in just this pinch. Finding a corner off the main passage they could hide for a few seconds, Serena unfolded it on the floor. The shouts and lights grew closer as two outstretched hands summoned a large sigil above the map, and activated.

“I don’t know if this will work right, but no time like the present!” She said, yoinking the dragged ninja by the thread and tossing him onto the map. A ripple came across the paper like a stone being tossed in a pond, and the man was through. The magic worked at least, let’s hope the destination was right. "YOLO!" With a wince of pain and an awkward smile, she dove headfirst into the map of Chancellor Laos Palace, the other end entirely unknowable.

Binding Light

Light 35S



You fire out a beam of pure light, illuminating the immediate area. This beam of light is thin and travels in a straight line up to a medium distance away. If this beam of light strikes someone it will wrap around them like a vine, restricting their movement. This light will bind them for their next post, preventing them from moving away. They can still manipulate their hands to a degree.


Signature Spell

Painting Portal

Space Domain Crafted



Once per thread you may channel the magic of the ethereal through an image of a location. This can be a painting or a drawing, as long as it is recognizable as a real location in Charon by the caster. This turns the image into a gateway, which can be passed through to arrive where the painting depicts. This portal only goes one way and up to three people can pass through it to the other side before the connection disappears.