Monster Contract

[Plague Raven]

Out-of-Character | Signups | In-character​

Village Elder's House, Rustic Town

"I thought these guys only developed two tails when they become Nekomata. Orin got her tails pretty early!"

Holding his Black Cat Orin towards the village Elder, Kirsch expressed himself.

"Ahahaha... you're the expert, aren't you? If Slimes can become Queen Slimes and Alraune Liliraune, all while staying the same stage, what's to say something minor like this isn't possible?"

"Mmmm... yeah, I guess you've got a- wait, how'd you know about that?"

"Because you have shared them with me."

"I don't know... Nekomata can walk just fine. Orin is... well... I don't know whether I should see if the problem wears off after evolution."

"You've grown very attached to your Lilim to care for them like that."

"Is that a bad thing?" Kirsch asks.

"That is up to you to decide, Kirsch, what do you think?"

With Orin being held by one arm and his free hand petting the top of his Pandora's Box Kaya, he thinks about it, his face a bit saddened.

"I don't think it is. My Lilim haven't done anything wrong to me. Some people believe they will eventually, but until that time comes, Orin and Kaya are the best company for a lad like myself."

"What would they say in response to that, I wonder? With Pawn-stage Lilim lacking the ability to speak the tongue of man, you might never know. Anyways, as much as I enjoy your conversations, don't you have a delivery job to do? I hear the distance is further than usual, and your current team's a bit bigger than the normal kind."

"AAAAAAHHHHH I'M LATE! THANKS ELDER! SEE YOU LATER!"

"Before you go, Kirsch, I noticed that you do not have a weapon of your own, or your own fighting ability."

"Well, I did learn some Barrier magic to protect myself," Kirsch responds.

"Better safe than sorry," the Elder hands him a dagger in a sheathe, "the cruel cannot solely rely on attack, and those who wish not to fight must strike back if the situational calls."

~~~~~
​

Gates, Rustic Town

"Heeeeey gang!"

Kirsch Blanche
Self-certified Lilim Researcher

Kirsch walks towards four others with Orin in hand and Kaya strapped on like a backpack, her keyhole watching his back. This was his team for the trip. He had met some before during trips made for two to three, but never four or more. The task for this team today was to head trough the path of the uncreatively names Alptraum Alps, named after the leader of the Imps. Also known as the Alp Alps or the Alpsquared, the area wasn't even appropriately named - its highest points were hills. The Alp Alps was a forest.

But the important thing they were briefed about previously was that the Alp Alps were how it was primarily Imp territory. Most of the time, Imps would leave upon evolving, but with so many of them, one is bound to be an outlier, but that should be easy to identify and avoid, seeing how Imps evolved into beings very different-looking from themselves. Imps were more mischief and less threat, among all things.

After that - their destination - Bronze Town, in which they will deliver their goods, and take the parcels and letters from bronze town back to Rustic Town.

But back to the task at hand.

"You all look pretty prepared."

He looks towards a floating fish belonging to Fujiyori. The Tomes that Contractors carried had additional spells imprinted into them - one of these spells was allowing aquatic Lilim to hover in the air like it were water.

The spell didn't trigger for the fox-snake hybrid that slung around Jarvan, however, since it was a species capable of dwelling on land.

"..."

A carrot-like silent critter peeked from behind the legs of Jakki.

@Xywel @Karasuhime @DominusSilvarum @wolfsujiyama @MythyDragonwolf @☢Utsuho☢ @Mischievous Mage @CandleLitRevelries @Joyful-Fabo​

 

[Xywel]

Jarvan Feran
Jovial Mercenary and Merc Captain​

"Of course I came prepared, m'boy! One would be a fool not to be, hahaha!" Thundered the deep, jovial voice of Jarvan, the well-build man making good use of his time for a final check of his gear and large backpack. He was clad in a well-maintained armour-set made up of both leather and metal parts, allowing him relatively free movement while also providing pretty good protection, a red overcoat covering the armour to give him a more casual look. A mean looking flail hung on his hip, the steel heads of the weapon glistening in the morning sun.
Looking up with a good-natured grin, Jarvan stood up from his crouching position, giving some attention to the cute little fox-snake draped snugly around his neck, scratching her softly underneath her chin and sprinkling some water over her. He knew he really shouldn't let her do that, that it would probably be troublesome for her to have this habit when she changed, but he really couldn't help it. Morsel just looked too dang cute in this form. Even though he was a scarred, disciplined and well-trained veteran, he wasn't below liking his cute stuff or just laughing at a funny story.
Kital was hovering nearby, doing her own thing as usual. Stubborn little thing. She was quite the confident one, hovering about and exploring a bit.

"Gotta admit though, Kirsch my boy, that you've gathered quite the group. I mean, damn. This many eople with two Lilim? Makes a man like me chuckle with glee, hehe. Should keep us quite safe from any brash Imps when we're travelling through the Alp Alps."
The merc chuckled while he looked around. He wasn't too worried about their journey, except maybe for the fact that there were quite a bit of young people coming along. Then again, over the years he'd learned not to judge a book by its cover, or in this case its age. More likely than not, they could hold their own in combat. Especially with him around.
'Aahh, I'm getting old, damn it.' He thought to himself, smiling. He wasn't even 30 yet, but he felt like an old man beside all these youths.

Looking around, he wasn't too fussed about the group they'd be travelling with, but he also had some concerns. At first glance, some of them seemed to be people he expected to have trouble dealing with. The more serious or problematic time of folks. Well, time would tell, he could be wrong. He just hoped there were some of them he could share a drink and a joke with.

"So, you're in charge of those whole shebang, aren't ye Kirsch?" He said, standing up, his grin lessening to a more businesslike smile. "So, tell us a bit what we're going to do and let's introduce ourselves a bit! Oh, and for y'all, I'm Jarvan Feran. Just Jarvan's fine, though. If you need any help with getting your bearings in combat, that's partly why I'm there. Feel free to have a little chat with me, I won't bite, haha."

Meanwhile, a three-legged crow was preening her feathers on Fujiyori's shoulder, not giving the others much mind.

Plumula

 

[Silverbird]

Kital
Sassy Matsuba - Jarvan's Lillim
​

True to her nature, from the moment they'd arrived Kital had been slowly drifting further and further from her master. Her red-gold scales shone brightly in the sunlight, and would have made a fine pair with Jarvan's red overcoat - had she still been hovering over by his side. As it was, she'd taken it upon herself to do a little research. They were certainly amongst an interesting group of Lilim; Kital had spent a few moments looking over each of them, particularly the other Matsuba, and a few moments more amusing herself by weaving back and forth to try and get a clear look at the carrot-like being hiding behind one of the human's legs. For now, though, her attention had been stolen away by the humans. Not by their conversation; she didn't really care about that. No, her interest was in their faces. Her random drifting stopped for a moment as she watched them carefully, puffing her fishy cheeks thoughtfully as she floated on the spot.

"Well, that settles it," She announced at last, knowing that Morsel was still in ear-shot. Her voice was perfectly legible to the other Lilim, but to the humans it sounded more-or-less like someone softly blowing bubbles underwater. "Our master is an old man."

The red-gold Matsuba rocked her body back and forth on the spot for a moment, then rolled side-over-side as she drifted lazily back towards Morsel and her Contractor. As she came slowly to a spot, she looked over to her serpentine companion. "We've got quite the group here," she noted. "Think it means we should expect trouble?"

 

[Joyful-Fabo]

Kaya
Introspective Pandora's Box - Kirsh's Lilim
​

Kaya was only nominally paying attention as her master's pacing made her bounce a bit, it was pleasant though it shook her contents a bit. While yes one 'eye' was out one keyhole the other was turned inwards, as her partitions were shuffling and re-shuffling, trying new arrangments as they moved. She felt satisfied as her master's valuables, tools and items were squared away, kept away from the parcels, and her own collection of 'treasures'. She had them efficiently stored, she always seemed to have just enough space for what was required of her despite not being a box of holding. She was a chest of ornate designs and decent size, and despite carrying a lot Kirsh would feel only a fraction of it as she hovered while strapped to him. She heard the others as they approached. She was still at his back but that was fine, she could wait to be introduced. Besides, new people could be intimidating to her. The Matsuba caught her eye from the corner of her keyhole, such nice scales, she wondered if it wouldn't be too crass to ask for a couple for her 'colorful scales' collection, after being cleaned and sanitized, of course, slimy scales made her wood cringe.

"Hey, pardon, Miss Orin, I was wondering how does everybody look? Is it a good group? any ruffians?" She asks to the more outspoken Lilim of the two of them, in hushed, polite wooden clicks unintelligible to humans.​

 

[CandleLitRevelries]

Morsel was coiled protectively around her master, her claws resting on his left shoulder. She stared hard at each creature in turn, her head constantly moving as she searched for danger. Being around so many humans and Lilim made her uncomfortable. It was a lot to keep track of. Her gaze fell especially hard on the dark-haired contractor with a three-legged raven on his shoulder. Her claws dug into her master’s shoulder slightly, her eyes narrowing with thought. Something about that one.
Her ear flicked in the direction of Kital, but her tail twitching was her only reply. Only her master scratching under her chin pulled her gaze from the group, something like a chirp bubbling in her throat: a soft exclamation. She slithered around her master, coming to a rest on his opposite shoulder. She focused now on keeping lookout behind him, her ears twitching back slightly to show she was still listening to their conversation, though she wasn’t particularly invested in it. Not unless someone posed a threat to her master or to Kital.

 

[GrinningGentleman]

Jengu
Skull Spider - Rose's Lilim​

In the bushes, never far away, skittered four silent, boney legs, protruding from the center of a skull, jaw always partly open. Empty eye sockets stared at the group, gathered around in the clearing, but of course not being the source of the creature's vision. Small little beady eyes, instead, stared out from incisions in the skulls upper jaw, doing the observations. The little creature wasn't very fond of groups, preferring it's past isolation. Things weren't too bad, of course. Its Contractor was around! She would help it get stronger. Yes, that was a fact, the skittery little creature knew it! It just had to behave, and Rose would make it strong.

Jengu was by no means a disloyal Lilim. While she often strayed away from her Contractor, she never wandered far, and always returned. Especially when called. As quick as her little skittery legs could carry her, and sometimes faster, causing her to stumble and fumble about when having to stop in a sudden. She always did her best to please Rose, but might not always succeed, given her playful nature, and Rose's, more or less, no-nonsense attitude. But Jengu tried. She really did...

Except when she crept around in bushes, sneaking up on unsuspecting 'prey'. Silent, as if nothing moved at all, she crept out from the bushes near Jakki, and come to a halt. None of her Lilim seemed to've noticed her, so her little skittery legs carried her, unseen by the pray itself, but perhaps not by some of the other Lilim, like the overbearingly fancy snaky-Fox creature on the brutish man's shoulders. She was surely going to be no-fun, Jengu had no doubt! Would probably ruin some of Jengu's little ambushes, she would...

In a leap, Jengu aimed for Jakki's shorts, and attempted to scramble it's way up the young woman's shirt, stopping at her chest, the empty eye-sockets staring up at her. The skull snapped back with a rather uncomfortable snapping, revealing the fuzzy creature inside, it's many eyes glaring at Jakki in terrifying unison.

@MythyDragonwolf

 

[Xywel]

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Jarvan Feran
Jovial Mercenary and Merc Captain​

"There there, Morsel. It's alright." Jarvan said, smiling at the slithering creature as he felt the claws dig lightly into his shoulder, squeezing the leather plates present there. In turn, he looked at Kital, the cheerful Matsuba as chipper as ever by the looks of it. Of course, he couldn't understand them, but fortunately body language was somewhat universal.
The mercenary chuckled at Kital' curious and cheeky attitude. That was going to become quite the sassy one, he expected. Not that there was something wrong with that. A little bit of independence and sass never hurt anyone. He was curious however how she would interact with the somewhat more reserved Morsel. He stretched out his hand to Kital to give her a caress, a pat and a chuckle if she'd allowed him to.

'Well, guess I have to keep my wits about me.' He thought to himself, his eyes scanning the group once more. It was unfortunate that he didn't know the group all that well, something he regretted dearly. Jarvan highly valued comradery amongst fellow warriors and travellers, even more so since this whole Lillim business kicked itself into high gear. In a way, he saw both Morsel and Kital as comrades in arms rather than mere pets or tools. As far as he was concerned, he relied on them and they could rely on him in return. A bit cheesy perhaps, but hey, that was just the kind of merc he was. Trust amongst warriors was key, after all.

His eyes jolted towards the Skull Spider that suddenly jumped on Jakki's shorts and scrambles up, his head tilting curiously as he watched on how the skull-looking arachnid stared at the woman.
Jarvan's grin widened again. Well, well, a Lillim with humour? This party might be better that he had expected.
"That's quite the cheeky one, isn't she? I like her already." He sniggered while he nodded to Jengu, folding his arms as he looked around to see if the rest of his companions would introduce themselves.

 

[wolfsujiyama]

Rose Blossom

Rose was becoming impatient in waiting for the one who called the entire group to show up. However the moment she was about to leave, she suddenly heard a voice calling out to them, when she glared in Kirsch's direction as he arrived as she says, "I was just about to leave... your lucky you showed up, otherwise I would have left by now." Her eyes narrowed at him, a small sliver of aura barely stretched across her body with a slight glow, but not enough to activate the ability, just enough to show her irritation. She then glanced over towards a man who seemed to speak his mind as he commented how many people Kirsch was able to gather for this little expedition they were about to do as she scoffs and says, "I wouldn't have even came if he wasn't the one to have invited me." He looks around at all the others as she narrows her eyes at each and everyone as if studying them. Then she hears the talkative man introduce himself as she then says, "My name is my own, I don't need to introduce myself. It's not like we'll ever see each other again after this." Rose then glances over towards Jengu and noticed her crawling up one of the other contractors in an attempt to try and scare her, suddenly Rose's aura spiked and surrounded her body almost like flames of a fire as she glared at Jengu as if to tell her to stop messing around.

Hasuno Kitomi(Clan)

Hasuno floated around near Fujiyori as she seemed to be swimming through the air in a rather hyper like attitude as she was practically swimming circles around Fujiyori. She seemed happy as her circles started to close in closer to his legs, until she had finally touched one of his legs and started to practically rub herself against his leg as she seemed to have a smile. Hasuno would make several bubble sounds as she says, "I don't care what anyone says, this human is cute!" Hasuno was obtained by Fujiyori rather recently as she was bought off the black market for a rather cheep price, in fact she was bought cheaper than normal, which would normally be suspicious, but the seller never gave a real reason why she was sold so cheap. Hasuno continued to rub herself against Fujiyori as she says, "He's even cuter than the last one who owned me." She then started to make strange bubble sounds that almost sounded like giggles...

 

[DominusSilvarum]

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Arriving on time, Fujiyori would be waiting with the others, his arms crossed as he rested against the gates of Rustic. He was geared very simplistically. No heavy weaponry or armor, he did however to the naked eye have a backpack and a hunting knife additional to his garb. His outfit is quite special, woven with steel threads between the fabric to provide an extra layer of defense without jeopardizing his speed, a black tank top, and form-fitting black pants. He makes an effort to be a bit of a distance from the others, if approached however he wouldn't show hostilities, however. Currently, he is tapping his finger on his arm, slightly annoyed that this new employer was late, the job paid decently and he was interested in seeing the Alps anyway so he agreed.

He pays no real mind to the Lilim he has out, letting them "stretch their legs" so to speak after being inside the tome for that long. The bird seemed rather quiet, he liked the bird, the fish, however, was hyperactive, he didn't care too much for the fish. He lets it swirl around his legs and blows its bubbles. Seeing his employer he simply listens for the moment, hearing the information about the extra spells he nods, he figured as much when the fish wasn't dead on the ground at this point, but reasons are nice. "When do we leave?" He says simply, wanting to get the work done as soon as possible. His squad for this looks prepared enough, hopefully, they can carry their own. The female with them seemed to have a quick temper, noting that for later but seeing what looked to be flames around her was interesting. The man however looked to be fairly well equipped, he seemed energetic like the fish, he didn't care too much for him.

 

[Plague Raven]

Carrot looked upon the Skull Spider being up to its old tricks. The little Mandrake jumped and tugged at the Skull Spider's cranium-like abdomen, clinging on as it climbed Jakki. She repeatedly shook her carrot-like body, hoping for the shaking to cause Jengu to let go.

"I don't think I want to know the first thing you'd do if you ever grew hands..." Carrot speaks the tongue of monsters, directed towards Jengu.

"You don't have to be like that," Kirsch says to Rose, "besides, we need a way to identify you."

"I think most of the details were covered last briefing so I'll cover the key details again," Kirsch reads, "our destination is Bronze Town, located Northeast of here. The safest and shortest path that we can take is the Alp Alps, but that is Imp territory. At the entrance of the Alp Alps we can expect some aggressive Pawn-stage Lilim, but after that it's mostly Imps - less threat and more annoyance for most. Try not to kill any unless absolutely neccessary, because if you kill one, all the others will swarm you. We can't afford that kind of threat.

Wonder if we'll meet their leader Alptraum. No one knows much about her except she leads all the Imps there. If there's anyone who can command Imps to not annoy us, it's her."

Turning to Fujiyori, he adds, "ready when everyone is. Is everyone ready?"

@Xywel @Karasuhime @DominusSilvarum @wolfsujiyama @MythyDragonwolf @☢Utsuho☢ @Mischievous Mage @CandleLitRevelries @Joyful-Fabo

 

[Xywel]

"Something to call you would be quite handy, yes. Or any of you, for that matter." Jarvan replied, nodding approvingly at Kirsch. Good, the boy was shaping up to be quite the dependable fellow, despite his young age. Great. He'd have to have a chat with the lad while they travelled.

The young woman though... She was... Gods, rude didn't even began to describe it. Leaving without your employer and a decent description of the job at hand? Well, at least she did have a sort of presence around her that indicated she could take care of herself. So that at least was hopeful. He did raise an eyebrow at the corona of a flamelike aura suddenly surrounded the young lady. It didn't phase him much, but that was quite the interesting ability to have.
The man though. Not one of many words, or many cares for that matter. He kept himself separate but was polite enough, even though he also refused to introduce himself. Tickling his two Lillim a bit, he shook his head. At least he still had these two. Them be good beans.

He nodded, listening silently when Kirsch explained the danger that the imps posed, that they shouldn't kill any unless they wanted to get swamped. And that was as bad an idea as he ever heard one. And the boy knew it. Great.
"Ready when you are, chief!" The merc replied, making one last check to see if he had taken everything he needed. "Bronze Town it is!"

-----------------------------------------------------

Plumula finally took notice of Hasuno, stopping her cleaning to look down at the bubbly fish with somewhat of a doubtful look. "He might be cute, but we don't know how mean he is, Hasuno." She said, her voice a soft and gentle squaking for every non Lillim. Like Hasuno, she'd been bought off the black market as well, but had a much more careful and suspicious disposition.
"Let's first see how he is when we're travelling, okay? You can bubble all over him when we're sure he's a good cutey!"

 

[☢Utsuho☢]

Orin the two-tailed black cat

For most has been asleep through most of Kirsch's talk with the elder and his travels to meet up with other groups. Orin was an oddity even for lilims standards. After hatching Orin has always had two tails, as such this has been a hindered on her. The tails threw off how she walked due to the extra tail messing with her balance.

After waking up Orin let yawning meow as she began to stretch her body. "Huh?" her lilim voice came as meows to any human the heard her. Orin took a moment to look at the group as requested by Kaya. "Well the humans seem alright two men and two women, one of them is middle-aged I think. A lot Lilim pawns though, a few of them look taste. The head with legs might be something we have to keep an eye on." she replied as Orin return into her original position in Kirsch's arm, but she messed almost fell off if she hadn't wrapped her legs around his arm. "Master help!" she clung on to him digging her claws into his arm.

 

[CandleLitRevelries]

Morsel whipped her head back at the small commotion, her ears flat against her head. Her eyes narrowed on the bony little creature and the carrot clinging to it. Morsel had seen it skittering about, but assumed she was returning to her master. She would have to take care such an ambush never befell her own master. He might not take such things seriously, but that’s because seriousness was her job. Her ears twitched while pressed down for a moment before raising to their normal alertness.
Her gaze fell on the unfamiliar Matsuba and the three-legged crow, then to their master, then back again. Her tail thumped slightly against her master’s shoulder, her ears wiggling forward and back. Something Kital knew to be a sign she was interested in something. Morsel only ever seemed to be interested in potential danger, especially since she took up her post on their master’s shoulders.
Again her gaze was torn away as her master stroked her. She gave a soft hiss, not particularly threatening and she didn’t show her teeth. I’m working it seemed to say. She slithered around him and returned to his left shoulder. Morsel scanned the area again, ensuring no new threats had appeared.
“We’ll talk when we’re not being listened to,” her voice was low and calm, though to humans it sounded like a quiet growl. She didn’t look at Kital, but the message was intended for her.

 

[MyttyDW]

Jakki shifted the pack she carried into a better position on her back and looked around at the team that had been assembled. She was the only female human here, but she really didn't mind. As well she had the largest travelling pack out of all of them, but she was used to that even more! Not many people prepared the way she did - but then, not many people had the reasons to prepare as she did.

Either way, her musings were interrupted by the feeling of something crawling up her chest. She looked down and saw the skullspider travelling up her body, with one of her contracted Lilim - Carrot - clinging onto it. "Oh, well hello there~" she chuckled, reaching to pick it off her once they locked eyes. Though once she picked it up - or tried to, at least - she looked around at the rest of the humans and smiled.

"Name's Jakki, explorer extraordinaire! This here is Carrot - the mandrake I mean, not the skull spider - and Illy is... somewhere around here." she started looking around her feet. "Where did you go, you chaos hound?"

 

[GrinningGentleman]

Illy
Chaos Hound - Jakki Neru's Lilim
​

Pad, pad, pad... The sound of a paw, tapping gently on top of a poor, large insect, trying desperately to get away from the curious, black Fox, yellow eyes wide and playful. It's head tilted, watching the insect topple over, as it's paw nudged it again, ears wiggling slightly. In the process, it heard it's name being called, immediately being snapped out of it's trance-like state of curiosity, looking over it's shoulder in a snap. Quickly, it spun around on its paws, almost slipping in the lose dirt, rushing back through the bushes it had come through, leaping over next to Jakki, with an eager little cry.

"i'm here! Illy... Illy here. Who's that?" Illy questioned, stopping in front of Jakki, stepping from side to side, curious, and worried eyes gazing at the boney Spider, hanging from Jakki's hands. It's black tail whipped from side to side, little cries and complaining yelps coming from her, until the yellow eyes focused on one of Jengu's dangling, boney legs. Illy stood up slightly on her hind paws, eyes growing wide as she focused on the bones, dangling above her.


Jengu's eyes blinked a few times, as the human greeted her with a smile, picking her off of her chest, the sticky tips of her boney legs pulling a bit at the fabrics of her shirt. The dangly legs dropped by her sides for a moment, a cracking sigh escaping her. She'd chosen a horrible victim. Not scared. Not fun... Her legs started wiggling more desperately, trying to wrickle her way lose, while her two front legs tried to get the nosy little Mandrake off of it's skull.
"Off... Off! Let go of Jengu! Human not fun. Lilim pesky!" Jengu complained, as a wave of fear rushed over the Skull Spider itself, originating from her Mistress, calling her back like the whip of a Slaver. "Jengu must go, Lilim let g... Arh!" Jengu's voice, to humans, sounded like cracking and grinding bones, until it hissed aggressively, like a caple of compressed air was punctured, when the playful Chaos Hound had finally hopped up, biting onto one of the boney legs, dangling desperately from the Skull.

"Let, go! Let, go!" Jengu hissed in frustration, one of it's free legs stomping on top of Illy's head, as it growled and eagerly huffed, body wiggling from the boney leg it'd caught.
After a few stomps, Illy finally let go, and Jengu yanked at Jakki's hands more severely, trying to get lose. If she managed, she'd take a few quick stomps towards Illy, forward legs raised threateningly at the Chaos Hound, as it hissed. Illy yelped, hopping behind one of Jakki's legs, stroking it's black fur against her Contracter's ankles.
"Sorry! Illy sorry. Not supposed to bite bones?" She muttered in confusion, the Skull SPider huffing as it started marching towards her Contractor.

"Dumb puppies... Angry vegetables. Not frightened humans..." Jengu muttered in complaints, boney crackles as she made it's way towards Rose. On it's way, it turned towards Jarvan, continuing sideways as it's front legs raised and gestured lively.
"Regular commedians! Cheeky!? Funny! 'Cuse It's a skull! No cheeks, yes? Hah, hah!" Jengu complained, it's front legs pointing at the hollows where cheeks should've been on the skull, before it started crawling it's way up Rose's leg, if it was allowed. "Very funny... Fat, leathery man should've seen Jengu's skull when she found it... Plenty of cheeks then! Humans not last though... Humans not last." Jengu muttered to herself, trying to make her way to Rose's shoulder, hoping to sit itself there, legs attaching to her clothes like straps, the skull soon looking like nothing more than a shoulder pad.

Illy remained at Jakki's feet, a low whimper coming from her, from time to time, clearly thinking she'd done something bad, trying to make herself scarce, looking up her Contractor for comfort, little paw gently thumping the humans foot.

 

[Silverbird]

Unlike her companion, Morsel, Kital was more than happy to accept the affection on offer, unknown Lilims and strange humans be damned. She cheerfully nudged against Jarvan's offered hand to let him know the attention was welcome, and even lifted her head to give him easier access to her more sensitive underside. Her eyes fluttered closed as she enjoyed his idle tickling, a pleased smile on her fishy face...

...but she couldn't miss the soft thud of Morsel's tail. The red-gold Matsuba opened one regretful eye, which flicked from her master's shoulder to the group who'd caught Morsel's attention, and then slowly trailed across the group once more. Her gaze landed on one of the humans, the girl who seemed lit with some kind of inner fire, and without quite knowing why, Kital felt herself shiver. There was something unsettling about that one. Maybe Morsel was right to be on guard, after all. Kital opened her other eye, gave her contractor's hand another little nudge, and then wiggled through the air, just slightly, out of his reach.

In response to Morsel's statement, Kital made a small blubbing noise - acknowledgement that she'd heard and understood, but not really a word in itself - and then turned towards the rest of the group, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling inside her. "Well," She said, "I guess that if we're all travelling together, I should try and make fr..."

She didn't quite manage to finish that thought before she was interrupted by the hissing of a Skull Spider, the yelping of a Chaos Hound, and the general commotion of the two colliding. Kital watched as the spider stormed past, turning her head mutely as she followed its path; and then the Matsuba's sides began to shake. She flailed her fins helplessly, and glanced back at Morsel with a pained look on her face.

"I hadn't even thought of that," she wheezed, weakly, as she tried to suppress a fit of bubbly giggles. The spider seemed genuinely upset, and she had a feeling it wouldn't appreciate her amusement, but she was finding it very difficult to keep a straight face.

 

[Mischievous Mage]

Myra
Slime (Pawn) - Rose's Lilim
​

There was something in the bushes, not far from where skull spider had emerged. There was something there, moving gently and causing the bush to rustle slightly. Something was in there, unwilling to make itself known. At a quick glance, one would only see a hint of pink and yellow, a small flower of sorts, hidden within the bushes. But upon closer inspection, someone could see the small green slime hiding from the scary humans, the small flower apparently being some sort of hat.

Myra had always been a bit scared of things that were bigger than her, especially humans. There was one human, however, she wasn't that scared of; Her mistress Rose. Sure, she could be scary at times, but she wasn't as scary to Myra as other humans were! And she had another Lilim; a weird-looking spider thingy named Jengu.

But both of them were a short distance away right now, and there were plenty of other humans and Lilim around! There was a cat... a carrot, and some other things the slime didn't recognize; she wasn't the smartest Lilim after all. She was, however, 'smart' enough to know that she didn't want to be left behind or forced to hop after the group once they left...

So she decided to face her fears. Mustering all the bravery she had, the slime hopped out of the bushes, then hopped as fast as it could towards Rose, landing at her feet and staring up at her mistress with her black 'eyes' for a few moments, before hopping up and down a bit, as though hoping to be picked up so she could take her place on her mistress' other shoulder.

 

[wolfsujiyama]

Rose Blossom

Rose glances over towards Kirsch as he explains the mission the group was assigned and then looks to her and pushes for her name and then closes her eyes obviously annoyed as she then says, "Fine... Just call me Kira..." She then glaces over toward Jengu and says, "Get your bony butt over here and behave for now... you can play later." She allowed Jengu to crawl her way up her dress and sit on her shoulder as she then wonders where Myra was as she looks towards the others and then back to Kirsch as he explains not to kill any Imps and then says, "If we're not allowed to kill them, then knocking them out should be safe right?" She puts a fist to one of her hands and cracks her knuckles as she gives an dark grin. She then glances down noticing Myra at her feet hopping up and down as she smiles and says, "There you are." She bends down and picks Myra up as she places her on her other shoulder. Rose was wearing what appeared to be a dress for the rich and wealthy, but strangely enough it seemed to be customized for battle as she had two swords on each side of her waist and then glances over towards the others with her natural angry look and said, "If we're all ready let get going already, I didn't come here to just stand around and chat." Rose was starting to get even more impatient than she was when she was waiting on Kirsch.

Hasuno Kitomi(Clan)

Hasuno has no care for the human conversations as she hears Plumula scold her a bit as she then thinks for a moment and then looks up towards her and says, "That may be true, but his real test will be when either my family or one of the clans eventually find me...." She knew both her family and one of the many enemy Lilim clans that are after her and her family are on the hunt for her. Well at least two enemy clans are on the hunt for her, while her family is searching for her, but not knowing when they will show up is hard to say, especially since the other clans are also after her family. She seems to have a sad look on her face and then glances up towards Plumula and says, "I wonder how he will react when they eventually find me." She then swims away from Fujiyori's leg and just starts to circle him once more. Her attention was then diverted over towards the Skull Spider and a Chaos Hound as she noticed the Skull Spider was in somewhat of a pickled until she finally got freed and said, "I wonder what all that was about?" Then noticed a slime creature quickly rushing over to the same girl the skull spider crawled over to and started hopping up and down until the girl noticed her...

 

[Plague Raven]

"Ah! Ah! And that is why I need to remember to wear sleeves," Kirsch winced in pain as his pet cat clawed into him. He uses his other hand to lift and hold Orin in his grasp, before placing her on the ground. "You OK there, Orin?" he says while trying to stretch for a bit.

While Jakki picked the Skull Spider off, Carrot jumped onto her shoulder, waving at everyone.

"Hi hi!"

She watches as her partner Illy gets the Skull Spider off Jakki's body before whimpering.

"I think you deserve a seat on the shoulder, pal."

Kirsch glances towards Carrot, before taking something out - headgear that mainly covered ears. "Take these. These are normally Winter Gear, but they're useful in filtering sound. Among Pawn-stage Lilim, a Mandrake has some of the most devastating power - but while it affects anything in our way, it'll affect us too.

As for your Lilim, I don't have fitting sizes for everyone, so make sure you return them back into the Tomes for the temporary moment when it happens.

Well, looks like we're all in agreement."

@Xywel @Karasuhime @DominusSilvarum @wolfsujiyama @MythyDragonwolf @☢Utsuho☢ @Mischievous Mage @CandleLitRevelries @Joyful-Fabo @GrinningGentleman​

 

[DominusSilvarum]

[I follow Rose, you skipped me lol]

 

[DominusSilvarum]

Hearing the explanation he steps forward, his arms uncrossing as they now go to his pockets. "I'm ready when you all are." He begins walking towards his employer. His voice a tad louder so the rest of the group can hear him should they care enough. "Name's Fujiyori." He says nothing else. Once he gets closer, however, his left shoulder reveals a symbol that seems to be burned into his flesh, blank ink covering the burn marks. Should his Lilim follow him he pays them little mind, hearing the bird begin to chirp a bit and the fish blub however it seems like they're communicating. He heard rumors that they can eventually learn to speak but he contemplates how long that might take, as of now it's like talking to a household pet and hoping it understands not to use the bathroom inside, thankfully these two haven't had that problem. His demeanor is rather apathetic, seeming more interested in getting the job done than actually being here. He walks towards the gate and with the group, should they begin their travels.

 

[Plague Raven]

And so everyone was ready to head off, past the gates and walking through a grassy route before the entrance of the forest could be reached.

"Well, if there's one thing about Imps you should know about, it's not actually about Imps themselves bu-"

A sphere of darkness whizzed past the group. Before them were a batch of feral Pawn-stage Lilim, namely Evil Eyes, Black Cats and Slimes (Pawn). The former two were rather aggressive, while the latter were minding their own businesses.

"Looks like the only thing standing between us and the path is this. I think we all know what to do. Orin, Kaya, you two ready?"

Kirsch swiftly takes him Tome out as the power of pure magic allows its pages to flip wildly, and upon accessing a certain page, the information of his Lilim - their species name, skills and abilities - appeared on it. His Lilim would feel a surge of magic going through them, strengthening them from their relaxed states.

@Xywel @Karasuhime @DominusSilvarum @wolfsujiyama @MythyDragonwolf @☢Utsuho☢ @Mischievous Mage @CandleLitRevelries @Joyful-Fabo @GrinningGentleman​

 

[Xywel]

See more

Jarvan Feran
Jovial Mercenary and Merc Captain
​

"Okay okay Morsel, I get ya. Won't disturb you any more. Maybe." Jarvan chuckled at the Lillim on his shoulder basically told him off. He was happy though that Kital seemed to like the affection though, even rolling over to make it easier for him to reach her belly. Heh, spoiled little thing. He really shouldn't, but he just couldn't help himself.
There was one thing that did bother him slightly though. Both his Lillim triggered on the girl with the questionable inner fire. Hhhmmm, guess he should keep him Lillim's instinct into account. There weren't often wrong.

Smiling, he watched at Kital gave his hand a last little nudge before floating off, probably to socialize... Just as hell seemed to break lose. The Skull Spider, trying to scare somebody, didn't quite make the impact it was hoping for by the looks of it, Jakki not really seeming all that phased by it, instead picking it up... And introducing herself! Jarvan couldn't believe his ears. She introduced herself! He really should treat her to a drink later on. His own thoughts made him smile, his expression changing into a more worried one for the moment.
The scene was rather funny though, he had to admit, but this wasn't really the best start for a cooperative and cohesive unit. Then again, maybe he was thinking a bit in soldier terms.
Hearing Rose order the poor skull thing around though kind of made him twitch, but it wasn't his place to reprimand somebody about their usage and treatment of their contracted Lillim.
And oh my... the girl actually introduced herself. Rudely and bratty, but still. Progress!

Seeing Kital roll over, seemingly trying to hide something that looked a suspicious lot like laughter, Jarvan uttered a chuckle himself before clearing his throat and shielding Kital from the Skull Spider's gaze. A little bit of help to make friends later, perhaps.
But there were a loooot of Lillim around. Everybody had two. Maybe this company wasn't all that bad to travel with. Only one way to know for sure, though.

Ah, they were leaving. Finally! Jarvan nodded to Kirsch as he divided the eargear. "Thanks. I'll make sure to use them properly. And roger that. Go ahead, boss, lead the way!" Grinning, he put his eargear around his neck for ease of use. Now, time to go! And as a bonus, the man had introduced himself too. There was hope.

Plumula made a small sound that seemed to indicate care and worry as she stopped preening her feathers and looked down to her fishy teammate. "I think you're family will react just fine, Hasuno. And if you meet somebody that doesn't I'll make sure to help. And maybe our new master can help too! It'll be fine."
The Yatagarasu looked at the Skull Spider and the Hound, tilting her head just a bit. "I don't know... seems like they don't like each other very much. I do hope we can get along a bit better..." Her voice died away a bit, the bird shyly retreating a little bit as they headed off.

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Morsel on his shoulder and Kital undoubtedly somewhere nearby, Jarvan was listening close to what Kirsch had to say, but just as he was going to tell something about the Imps ahead, he had to dodge out of the way of a black sphere. ATTACK! Immediately, the mercenary dropped down and drew his book, swiftly unleashing both his Lillim's power before pulling out his own weapon.

"Alright! Now this is more like it! Morsel, Kital, ready yourselves! We got ourselves a little brawl! See if you can knock them out for now, no lethal just yet."

As he sank into a combat stance, he breathed in deeply, invoking his own magic to strengthen his muscles. Jarvan's shoulders and arms began to twitch and bulge slightly, the power behind his blows now significantly increased. He looked at his two Lillim and to his own companions.

"I'll keep some of the Black Cats busy with Morsel and Kital, make sure they won't be able to drop onto the back line. If somebody can take care of the Evil Eyes and help me after, that'd be great."

He got ready to engage the enemy, spinning his flail slowly to start up building some momentum for his first strike. If one of those Pawns would get close enough to pose a melee threat, it would get a face full of iron flail, spiced up with a small sprinkling of physical enhancement magic.

 

[Joyful-Fabo]

"Ah, that is good to hear" Clicked Kaya with relief at Orin's assessment, and was barely amused when the klutz almost fell off the master's hand, less amused was about her hurting Kirsch. "Try to mind yourself when you're on him, that's the third time this week" she warns, politely, there was nearly 0 threat behind her statement. When the request to move out was given she gave a couple of affirmative clicks to her master. Along the way, he did remember to hand out the headgear. She had them set apart from the rest so it wouldn't mess with the rest of her partitions and categories. She still couldn't resist and reorganized to account for the new space. She only hoped that her Master would be fast enough on the recall and she wouldn't have to crack her wood again due to that sort of potent scream.

She was still at the back so she didn't quite see the lilim blocking the path. She felt the magic of the tome flowing through her. She released herself from the straps and floated over to hover beside her master "Ready!" She clicked dutifully "Orin, I'll lock one of them to get you an opening." She said as she zeroed in on a belligerent Evil Eye "Be still please" She clicked as her lid opened a crack, ghostly chains shooting out to [Lock] them up, trying to give Orin or anybody else a chance to strike them.

 

[CandleLitRevelries]

Morsel turned her head to briefly meet her master’s gaze. She gave a small yip, “Liar.” But she was quickly distracted by the skull spider’s noisy fuming.
Morsel watched Jengu make her trek back to her master, the hair along her spine standing on end. She gave a yawn, flashing her fangs at the creature as she sidestepped by. She resumed her careful watch once Jengu was positioned on her master’s shoulder.
———————————
As they left the city gate, Morsel’s ears moved like little sonars, searching for any sign of trouble. She caught a glimpse of the Evil Eyes only seconds before the Sphere of Darkness was hurled their way.
Morsel coiled stiffly on Jarvan’s shoulder as the black orb whizzed by. She pressed her ears against her head as a familiar power warmed her body. She gave a harsh cry, louder than it would seem her body could make, that sounded vaguely like a woman’s guttural scream, “Surrender while you still can!” Her master needed only name their target for Morsel to begin gurgling softly and shoot a [Water Jet] at the closest enemy Black Cat.