There was little that spurred Leandros into action faster than children in danger. He would help anyone in need, but children usually had far fewer resources when it came to surviving. So far he has only met one youngster who was capable of protecting themselves, but it would be silly to compare every kid to Astrid.

The fact that all of this was happening inside the Marsh Flats did not help his concern. He usually wasn't one to play into stereotypes, but it was hard to deny the nature of Marsh Flats. Strange things happened there more frequently than other regions it seemed.

The knight first finds a village outside of the Black Bog, lowering Haurach down into as gentle a landing as possible. It's impossible to not buffet some people in her descent, but they try their best. Almost as soon as the knight steps off the back of the drake, several adults begin to approach him.

"You must be here to help."

"Please my son..."

"That bi-"

He holds up a hand to stop the deluge of requests, "Of course, I am here to help and happy to do so, but it will be easier if I can hear from you individually and not all at once."

Leandros did his best to not sound condescending, but it was hard to hear three people at once. He needed their stories, but in a way he could actually process them. Thankfully, they were just happy to have help that they were willing to overlook any potential slight.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Come little ones
Participants: Two or more
Location: Marsh Flats
Post Requirements: 8 post per person, 250 words per post
Reward: +1 Mystical Archive Ticket, Choice of 1 Rare crafting material
Description: An unsettling amount of missing children have been reported missing from all over the Marsh flats, and even stranger rumors claim that the children are leaving on their own. Strange, trance like behavior is described before the children completely disappear. Something is drawing them into the dark swamps and officials want something done. Adventurers are being asked to come in and investigate, hopefully uncovering what is behind the strange disappearances. Your investigations lead you to the hovel of a Witch, one who has been entrancing local children and luring them to her lair. This witch has fowl intentions and must be dealt with before she can harm others. What exactly the witch intended to do is still unknown, but it seems to have some ties to the Moon Mother Coven, who has been silent for awhile.

Special Requirements:
The Witch will attempt to charm you multiple times in a play to turn allies against each other.

Mystical Archives tickets are awarded once per player, so you do not get multiple Archive tickets for doing this quest more than once with more than one character.

Visible creases formed along Ambika's face as she made her way into Marsh Flats yet again. Sure, her son had already made his point that she need not look for him, but he ought to know that his mother was at least half as stubborn as him. After all, his persistence in his endeavours had to come from somewhere.

This time, Ambika opted to search a location she had not previously: the Black Bog. Perhaps she was a fool for thinking the more dangerous areas in the world harboured a higher probability of finding him, but hope was a deadly drug and her supply was fast waning as grief continued to gnaw away at her old heart. Of course, she was not foolish enough to wander right into the bog without information, so she first made her way to a nearby village where she would notice several villagers surrounding a knight. The words overlaid one another and it was hard to parse what they were trying to relay, a telltale sign of panic overtaking rationality. There were two words that gave her an idea on what was up though. 'Child', 'missing'. She could not help but have her interest piqued. No parent should have to deal with not knowing how their child was doing. She doubted that Kishan would be caught up in whatever was going on given that he was very much an adult in human years, even if he will forever be a child in her eyes, but still. It was worth knowing, so she stayed and listened to what the people had to say.

"Our children..." The woman who seemed to be most in charge drew in a breath to collect herself. "We don't know why or how, but they...they've disappeared. They were playing new the edge of the bog....well within our sight though, but they kept wanderinig closer and closer....When we tried to call them home for supper they would not listen, they wandered further and further away seemingly ignoring us. I gathered some of the people to go find them, but they were already gone. No foot prints or anything left behind...just gone."

As she seems ready to break down again, Leandros offers a soft smile and a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "It is all right ma'am. I promise I will do everything in my power to return them to your arms."

He may be a recent father, but he can appreciate the heartache these families are feeling. He would be equally distraught if his daughter were to just disappear like this. No trace left behind would make it hard to track them, but he assumed whatever took them would be hard to find anyways.

The knight asks a few follow up questions, but finding hard answers is well hard. Many report the same instance...children ignoring their parents and wandering towards the bog. It has gotten to a point that almost no children are seen in the town anymore, save for the few small faces peering above windowsills to marvel at the stranger. At the very least Leandros had a direction to go in, but that was it.

He puts a hand to Haurach's nose as the families begin to part, "I do not suppose you have any knowledge of tracking children."

The dragon huffs.

"If Gilder were here, this would be easier.....but I cannot worry about what is not, focus on what is."

Children wandering off on their own in a trance-like manner and just not coming back was a definitive nightmare for any parent. Ambika could feel her heart ache just imagining such a thing happening to any of her three children, though she could not pretend she would have been the most concerned for Cordelia should such a situation have unfolded. Her youngest could have died in the time she was unsupervised with her chronic condition.

Ambika considered if she should lend her services to the knight. He did not exactly seem equipped to find the children by himself, and while she did not particularly enjoy the prospect of working with other people all that much, two heads were normally better than one, especially someone who appeared to be a Knight of Duros. Even if she loathed the very existence of the Marsh Flats and all the natural hazards it entailed. She would not fail him, for the children's sake.

Biting the bullet, Ambika would approach the knight and give a bow.
"Ambika Shanti Phairot. Would you be interested in enlisting the aid of a retired hunter?" She introduced herself, leaving the pertinent words 'of man' unsaid, though she did have her fair share of monster hunting as well. "No parent should suffer the agony of missing children." Oh, Kishan, where are you?

"Leandros Aurthurian of Capitol Landing." He smiles softly and offers a gauntleted hand to shake. "It is a tragedy what is happening here, someone used to tracking would be helpful. Unfortunately my skills are a bit more...direct."

The knight laughs a bit and pats the jaw of Haurach. He was clearly well equipped and, one would hope, well trained for fighting. But a subtle art like tracking? That was not so much his strong suit.

"I would fear simply soaring over the forests with Haurach here would be both inefficent and likely to scare off whatever is the cause of this misery." Haurach chuffed behind him, confident in her abilities.

He will motion for Ambika to lead the way, preferring to walk and talk given the immediacy of the situation. Leandros also wasn't excited to be in the Marsh Flats, it offered a great host of issues. Logistically, it lacked a lot of infrastructure meaning it was hard to move through the area. Soft mud was never good for people in heavy armor, the weight could make it hard to find traction.

These were all minor things in his mind, little trials to put up with in an effort to do the greater good. That is what he would tell himself at least. Reminding himself of the purpose at hand made it easier to get through the unpleasant parts of adventuring work. As much as he loved helping, he was human after all.

"I am not familiar with any monsters that could lure children like this...I do not enjoy the idea someone might be doing this because that would mean a more odious intent behind this."

Ambika accepted Leandros' handshake, her trove of possibly useful factoids presenting her with two memories: one of Florentio's dossiers surrounding noble houses - an eccentric yet useful pastime of his - and the other, news about the establishment of the Oath Watchers. So, the guild master of the Oath Watchers was all the way here, in the flesh, investigating missing children in some godforsaken marsh in the middle of nowhere.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? A feminine voice echoed in Ambika's head. Message. She could never get used to the sensation of someone speaking right into her head without warning.
Your sudden message is no less suspicious. Ambika returned the sentiment, noting that whoever it was only chose to contact her after she had gotten the introductions out of the way.

Hah! A drake does not scare me. The voice was steeped in bravado, which Ambika would pretend to have not picked up on as she nodded at Leandros' statement. Always doubt everything, as one of her elders used to say.

Ambika headed towards the direction the children was last seen headed in as she listened to Leandros' briefing, keeping an eye out for whatever tracks could be found, hoping to the gods she were not dealing with someone versed in magical trickery. Too long of a blank that the skills required were eluding her grasp, unaware that there was another factor that would deny her the learned instincts. She would find some footsteps though - the marshes were resistant to change so long as they remained disturbed, and so that was the direction they would be headed, squarely towards the Black Bog.

"Me neither. I would suggest it is more likely wrought by the hands of a person, if not more." Ambika replied, putting out her theory and watching out for how the unseen figure might respond to that.

For the moment, Leandros finds himself free of any sort of telepathic messages for better or worse. It meant he was relatively unaware they were already known, but it also meant he was not hindered heading towards the forest. Whether that's because the yet unknown witch thought Ambika was an easier target or just wanted to start the paranoia earlier, the two would have to find out.

"Keep watch here and make sure nothing happens while we are gone." He gives the final order to Haurach who straightens her posture in response.

He was not sure what kind of people could lead kids away in such a fashion, but it made more sense than any monster. Sirens and harpies are much more direct in their luring and the end result of such methods. Bodies would have been found if it was either of them.

The knight thinks back to his interaction with the strange squid-headed creature. Perhaps it could be one of them....though from what he remembers that creature was much more subtle in its methods. Luring kids away in broad daylight is far too brazen a scheme for them he thinks.

So, what is it?

As he ponders, strange little totems and idols start to appear in the Bog. These pieces are seemingly set up in odd and random places: tucked in bushes, dangling from trees, some just softly sinking into the mud. Leandros stops to look at one in the trees, a bramble of sticks with something held in the middle of the cage.

"Wards? Or just random baubles? I do not mean to seem paranoid, but I doubt anything in here is truly random at this point."

Ambika wished she knew what the clearly suspicious paraphernalia were supposed to represent, but alas, she could not know what she did not know. She only began her travels earnest a couple of months ago, even if for whatever reason and much to her consternation, her name seemed to already be gaining some level of notability.

You seem troubled. Shall I tell you what they are for? The feminine voice spoke temptations with a serving of mockery. Ambika had little desire to entertain that request, knowing better to willingly allow herself to touch something she likely should not even without any skill to discern the properties of magic at play. So she opted to simply ignore the jab and soldiered on, following whatever marks remained on the dirt and flattened grass.

Well, you should know better than to ignore me, old hag. Do me a favour and touch that idol dangling on that tree over there, will you? An intense compulsion would wash over Ambika, her stony counternance betraying not the enchantment she had been placed under. Her trained instincts would not let the mind or body be a plaything without a fight, however, and just as the fingers were about to come in contact with said carving, her danger sense would recall the correct solution to break free of the charm. And so it was that she slammed herself at the tree with her shoulder instead. The aches did not make her old body any more habitable, but it was preferable to whatever she would have ended up doing.

"Charming Grace." Ambika uttered simply. Her muse had long disappeared into the ether, leaving her incapable of breaking out of the charm without pain. Any and all music lost its lustre when she knew that she would never see her family smile ever again.

---

Minor wound to Ambika

Witch: Message

Witch: Charming Grace

"And you brave knight, who throws himself at danger at the slightest whim." The voice scratches at the inside of Leandros' head now.

It is the first time he has been made aware that some sort of other entity is at play in this forest. The realization is a bittersweet moment. Leandros can now confirm something is hiding in these woods, but it was hidden and able to reach them from a distance.

"The lion hunts the mouse, but it pays no mind to the thorns." The cackle bounces around his mind like a ball thrown at a wall.

He feels the compulsion pull at him as well before he closes his eyes and centers himself. The witch would find her messages rebuffed, unable to reach the knight.[1] He touched a hand to his chestplate where a triskelion symbol was etched. As he did, a warmth eminated from him eventually reaching Ambika. His traveling companion would find her own mind similarly shielded for the moment.[2]

"She has been foolish enough to announce her presence to us it seems. We should make haste to find her. I can protect our minds for a time, but it won't be long before she can reach out again."

Leandros brandished his halberd at this point. Wherever they were going, he was going to be ready to fight at a moment's notice. He would not let himself be caught unawares by whatever monstrosity was trying to influence them away from the task at hand.

---

1. Lion's Will
2. Blessing of the Mind

Ambika nodded at Leandros, her shoulder still aching from her self-inflicted agony. A gentle, familiar sensation would wrap around her, reminding her of the myriad blessings Florentio would often use in their adventures of days past. Why did she have to see vestiges of him everywhere she went? Those thoughts did not belong, no, she had more pressing matters to attend to.

As Ambika continued to take the lead, she began to wonder if there was also physical misdirection involved, and decided to stop for a moment, gather herself, and scan her surroundings proper. Taking stock of the footsteps, it would take but a moment for her to notice one footstep over another that did not align that pointed to the side of the direction the two had been heading towards. Looking along that direction, the old soul would just barely notice the silhouette of the house with her keen eyesight.[1]

"There. A house." That was all Ambika managed to say before the marsh beneath them erupted with pumpkin vines and tall wheat stalks[2], obscuring each other from view, even if she could still sense where Leandros stood.

"Do not mow the plants! They will only redouble!" She warned the knight, hoping that he heard him as she took a moment to charge her legs, jump up beyond the stalks and toss a smoke grenade[3] beyond the harvest field, safely escaping their enemy's attempt to buy time, though now she too was covered in obscuring smoke, and there was still no sign of whomever cast the spell.

---

[1]Sharpshooter - Far Sight

[2]Witch: Harvest of Plenty

[3]Oniwanban Shadow - Evasive Grenade Arts

Leandros would heed the warning if he could, but there was little he had in the way of evasive manuevers. The knight moved in a straight line metaphorically and literally. He flourishes his halberd and swings in a wide, powerful arc. The blade flares to life in a mix heat and light leaving the stumps of the vines cauterized and burned.[1] It stops the immediate vines from sprouting again, but the mass of the forest still bears down on them.

He would hold his halberd in front and cradle it like a lance before charging forward at high speed.[2] It allows him to cut past the vines and punch a hole through any vines that attempt to stop him. Once clear of the thicket he keeps his momentum going towards the house. He is not stopping until he hits the target.

"I will take the door! Watch any ex-!" As he calls out, the ground starts to rumble and tremble.[3]

It is enough to stop Leandros' charge as he has to catch his balance. Soon after the air starts to ripple before the Witch's voices cracks like thunder. While she has yet to show herself, she certainly is enjoying taunting the adventurers.

"You may have gotten this far, but I will not give up my meals so easily! Let's see how you handle my minions!" The voice cackles as magic grows overhead.

Magic energy crackles and rips across the air above them. What seems like a tear in reality begins to form as something approaches from the other side.

---

1. Blessing of the Hallowed
2. Rushing Charge
3. Witch uses Rumbling Tremors

The floor rumbled and trembled, but her trained instincts would not fail in keeping her feet steadily planted to the ground[1]. The Witch's voice echoing all around the area made it impossible to discern her location, however. Oh, how easy would it have been for her to nail down her prey had she the capacity to detect magic once more, but alas, one secret or another would ensure that eluded her grasp still.

Then, crackles appeared in the air and from the rip in reality did a Giant Spider, a Displacer Beast and a Rune Bear fall. Ambika immediately decided the Displacer Beast was her first priority due to the element of unpredictability it brought to the battlefield, and unfolded her shuriken[2] she had between her back and her instrument case and threw it in an arc that would miss the Rune Bear and fly straight for the Displacer Beast... That, of course, blinked away at the final instant and the Giant Spider would instead receive the brunt of the curved blade. She knew that would happen, and that was why she loaded her crossbow with a bolt affixed with obsidian bits[3] and shot that at the furthest blade from the arachnid's body, sending a burst of shrapnel that all but shotgunned the eight-legged creature, causing it to collapse to the ground. One down, two to go.

---

[1]Cats Grace

[2]Improvisation Engineer: The Unfolding Shuriken (+ Spidersilk Wire)

[3]Obsidian Arrow x1

"Continue forward to the house, the beasts I can handle." Leandros steadied his footing and held his shield in place.

The rune bear was the first to charge forward, but would find its momentum stopped at the shield like a wave crashing upon the rocks.^[1] Leandros holds the weight of the bear aloft^[2] and stabs foward with the spear end of his halberd. The fire and light enchantments leave a burning wound as it falls back.

At that moment, the displacer beast blinks back into existence. A tail lashes out, but glances off a pauldron of the knight.^[3] He shifts to swing in a wide arc, but it blinks out again. A tricky creature indeed, but the Lion was set to prove he is the king of the jungle for a reason. Raw power and shifty speed, this would be a handful. He was grateful Ambika could quickly dispatch the spider, one less creature to worry about.

Leandros exhales and sets himself again, an ethereal armor starting to shimmer and cover his own.[4] He faces the rune bear again, point forward, but the shield remains off to the side. He had to cover his peripherals for whenever the displacer beast decided to come back.

"Fell creatures will not find such easy prey here. You can slip past them faster than I can...Keep yourself steeled and I will join you in time." He hoped the commotion of the fight would draw the bulk of the witch's attention. Leandros wasn't foolish enough to think the witch would completely forget, but Ambika was going to have a better time finding the gaps in attention than he would.

---

1. Immovable Bastion
2. Lion's Strength Tattoo
3. High Quality Armor 2/3 HP left
4. Ancestral Fervor

Ambika heard Leandros' instructions loud and clear, giving no more than a quick nod that he might well have missed as she sprinted as quick as she could towards the house, trusting the Guild Master of the Oath Watchers to be capable enough to live up to his reputation. Though of course, the Displacer Beast had no intention on letting Ambika reach the house, flailing its myriad tails from Ambika's side as it blinked back into existence. Taking a deep breath, she let herself be surrounded by thickest smoke[1] as the tails lashed out, gaining a clear sense of the trajectories of the tails and successfully avoiding them without issue. No other signs of life to speak of though. Where was the blasted source of their woes?

Within the veils of smoke, Ambika would make good use of her retrained skills she had learned in her youth to form a throwing spear out of the self-generated particles of soot[2] while walking as quickly as she could while remaining silent[3], trying her best to keep her location within the smoke itself as vague as possible. She did not feel comfortable with any close-quarters combat both because she was aged and her muscles were not what it used to be, and that knowing the Displacer Beast's preferred tactics involved their tails, it wouldn't come close enough unless it absolutely had to. With the area surrounded in smoke as it is, she doubted the creature would make any risky moves. But if it did, she would be ready for it.

---

[1]Smoke Field

[2]Advanced Smoke Arts

[3]Passive: Silent Step

"YOU WILL KEEP YOUR ATTENTION ON ME YOU COWARDLY BEAST." Leandros bellowed across the battlefield and forcefully grabbed the attention of the displacer beast.^[1]

These may be the thralls of the witch, but she wasn't the only one with a forceful personality. The knight had his own ways to keep things in his favor and strangely enough forcing things to fight him worked in his favor. It was much easier to protect your allies when you do not need to worry about them being attacked.

With a dissonant growl, the displacer beast turns to stalk towards the knight. Its form constantly flickers and shifts making it hard to determine exactly where it is going to strike from, especially given that it can teleport. It does not help that on top of that he has the bear lumbering near him as well. The witch has trained these well given that they fight with beastial strength but an unnervingly human intellect.

Focus on the displacer beast, the bear is injured and straightforward in its approach. If it proves to difficult to confront, then let it become its own undoing. Leandros steadies his stance again holding his shield close. The shimmering of his armor seems to coalesce as he waits.

In an instant, the displacer beasts teleports in for an attack but seemingly disappears in a flash of light. The moment its claws seemed to find purchase on Leandros that shimmering exploded outwards.^[2] The displacer beast rolled along the ground with a whimper before a much louder death cry escaped it, Leandros plunging his halberd downward into its chest.

---

1. Challenging Mark
2. Forceful Rebuke