Hear him roar, see him foam / But we're not coming home | Open Log

[beefaroni]

🧙 WHO: Asterios & You!
⚔️️ WHAT: Catch-All for August! TDM, Quests, and the bull trying to better himself.
🕒 WHEN: Throughout August.
🗺️ WHERE: Path between Celliwig and Camelot, Farmland, Lake, Library, all over Camelot.
⚠️ WARNINGS: Blood/Injury, will update if it goes further.



A Mandraconian Task

[ Asterios has Green Magic, so he's trying to, gently, pull up the mandrakes - maybe if he goes nice and slow, they won't have a reason to scream?

... Nope. They still come out screaming. So he pushes it back in the dirt. ]

... Mmm. Not good.

[ So he tries it again, slower this time. Still screams. Pushes it back in. This repeats a few more times with Asterios growing visibly more agitated. Finally, he slams a massive fist onto the ground, growling darkly, trying to keep his anger in check. It would be a bad time for the Berserker to go... well, Berserk, right now. And he knows that. But he wanted to help, dammit. ]

Rrrggh.... Makes no sense. Plants, do not scream. This plant screams. I do not understand.

Don't Treep, Man

[ After doing all he could with Green Magic, now it's time for Animal Magic. Asterios can be found here and there, gently herding animals back to the farm. But some animals are stubborn, and won't listen to some gentle commands. So he has no problem taking matters into his own hands... literally.

Throughout the day, he can spotted hoisting animals under his arms and carrying them back to the farm. The animals themselves seem to be too confused to protest. ]

It is time to go home. We will go home now.

[ Behold, the terrifying Minotaur, the devourer of men, women, and children, the nightmare of the labyrinth... surrounded by sheep as he carries the head ram in his arms. ]

Invasive Species

[ He'd really like not to kill any of the animals, if need be. It's not their fault they're following their instincts. So his first attempt is by bribing the Carcinuses back into the lake - they want food? He'll go to market and buy up as much as possible with what little gold he has. Then he'll have to the lake and make a neat little food trail.

But it's not a perfect plan, and some of the Carcinuses prefer the fresh kill. So Asterios gets his fair share of scorpion tail-stings and claw bites. Not that he holds it against them, casually just letting himself bleed. ]

No. Food is over there. Cannot eat here. Must go back.

Animal Mage Hunt

[ A few of the NPCS - er, that is, citizens of Avalon - have gotten the wrong idea of who the animal mage is. After all, Asterios already looks like a mash between human and animal, what with his horns and white "fur". So maybe he's the one who started this mess! It's possible you heard whispers from seedier parts of town, and hope you can warn him in time?

But some aren't patient enough to wait and plan. A small group , three or so, decided to team up to take down the massive animal mage. In the woods, they've already tied up his familiar - what looks like a cow with a unicorn horn - and seem to be trying to do the same to Asterios, with ropes, chains, whatever they think will hold him. It won't last long, with him pulling hard away from his would be captors. His anger is building up, which means bloodlust, which means Berserker mode is coming... but he also knows these are mere mortals, and he doesn't want to kill needlessly again... ]

Let me go! LET ME GO! LET! ME! GOOOOO!

[ For this prompt, you're allowed to play/handwave the NPC actions if you want! ]

Reading Rainbow

[ Being locked away in a maze with nothing to do but eat people for years doesn't really leave a lot of room for education. He doesn't believe he'd fit in at a school setting, so he's opting to try and learn from the local library. He doesn't want to be among people long... but, alas, he really has no idea where to start. He doesn't even understand more than half of these titles.

He pulls one book out at random, and struggles. ]

... It was... a dark... and stormy... night...?

Wildcard

[ Make your own prompt! Feel free to plot with me at melcat33 (plurk) or melcat#1997 (discord) ]

Comments

Animal Mage Hunt

[colchismagecraft]

[A dense, dark fog rushed through the area- aiming for the eyes of the captors. If they could be blinded temporarily with her magic, then that would give her time...!

And with that, the feared voice of the Witch of Betrayal could be heard.]

I suggest you release him, before I curse every last one of you.

[beefaroni]

[ The captors are definitely startled, some of them even crying out as they reach for their eyes. It's enough that Asterios gets one arm free, snapping the restraints... but he knows that voice. ]

Caster!

[colchismagecraft]

[Good, that was good. With a twist of her hand she tried to force the magic into them- Medea wanted to cause them pain, of course, but under the circumstances, a hexed paralysis would do the job.

It looked like he was able to get an arm free, good. She tried to get closer, keeping watch for any weapons she'd need to bind with magic.]

It's me, Berserker.

[Would he want them dead? Whatever the case, she'd already drawn Rule Breaker incase any came after her. And then she turned her attention back to the hunters: ]

...Come now, you don't want me to make this painful for you, do you? Let him go.

[beefaroni]

[ They try to writhe, mere mortals against powerful magics. Only one of them seems to have enough will power to draw out a blade, but even he is shaky, and seems to have more bark than bite. ]

Let 'him' go? Are you crazy? Look at that thing! The minute it's free, it'll kill us all now! We're doin' everyone a favor!

[ The longer he's restrained, the easier for his madness and bloodlust to seep in, this is true. As he tries to rip off the restraints on his legs, he snarls like a wild animal... ]

tw torture threats and death threats caster just stop

[colchismagecraft]

Would you rather I tortured every last on of you to death? You've seen the trees on the outskirts burned to the ground and the magic circles laced with blood? That was my doing.

[She had to get him out quickly. Medea wasn't fast, but she tried to close the distance all the same. If she could just stab at the arms holding those ropes-]

...When I kidnapped a man and let the network watch him suffer at my hand. Should I make you all my next victims?

never stop caster

[beefaroni]

[ Oh. Crap. That WAS her, wasn't it?! Most of the men seem eager to surrender now, dropping weapons and trying to scoot, if the paralysis will allow it.

But the original dumbass still has one more piece of snark left in him. ]

A monster defending a monster - no wonder you're on its side!

[ At that, Asterios has stopped trying to free himself. Instead, he SLAMS a hard fist to the ground, the earth nearly rattling. ]

[colchismagecraft]

You dare call him such a thing-

[No effort to defend herself of course. She was an awful, murderous evil witch, but her cousin was nothing like that-

As for the ones who were happy to run, she would release her magic. But as she she moved to try and stab said 'original dumbass', the slam made her stagger on her feet and she took a step back. Dammit, she wished she could still float.]

Leave. Or I'll make you suffer.

[beefaroni]

[ The man spits at the ground, but it's all the fight he had left in him. He's soon bolts as soon as he's able.

Asterios breathes hard but... his breath begins to slow, and he slowly falls to his knees. Anger is replaced by something else.

Maybe not sadness, but... resignation. ]

[colchismagecraft]

[...She'll just let a curse sink into that asshole as he bolts- one that would give him horrible nightmares when he tried to sleep later that night- before she carefully approached Asterios and rested a hand on his arm.]

...Are you alright? You're not injured, are you?

[beefaroni]

[ He doesn't reply right away, nor does he look at her. His eyes stay on the ground, distant, away. When he finally speaks, it's quiet. ]

... My familiar. Please... untie him.

[ All the while, the odd animal has been calm in its bindings. Perhaps it just had no idea what was going on, or had faith they would be saved. Either way, it lifts its head now, trying to move its head toward Caster in an affectionate nuzzle. ]

[colchismagecraft]

Yes, of course.

[She turned her attention to the familiar, next.]

...Stay still, alright? I'm going to cut these bindings off you.

[Poor thing- Medea gently pet the creature's nose, before setting about cutting through the ropes with Rule Breaker.]

[beefaroni]

[ It offers no resistance, and once freed, it moves to lovingly push its' head onto Asterios' arm. Asterios slowly pets its' back. ]

... Nothing... ever changes. No matter... where we are. I should not... have been summoned here.

[colchismagecraft]

[Good, it looked like the familiar was unhurt- she took the time to make sure he wasn't injured before settling by him again. She only wished she could have made those men suffer more for what they'd done...!]

I don't believe we have any say in who gets called and who doesn't- I should have killed those fools. It's what they deserved.

...I'm glad to have you here.

[She knew she was the worst at giving comfort, but she wanted to try.]

Reading Rainbow

[tantailizing]

[He's an infrequent visitor to the library, but when he does, he's less interested in the non-fiction and goes to the plays and fictional novels... though, with how fantastic Arthur's story was when he bothered to look at it, maybe it should be fantasy? Bah, genres sometimes...]

[Either way, while doing his book browsing, he notices a familiar minotaur reading a book.]

Hey, Berry. Whatcha reading there?

[beefaroni]

Berserker.

[ He corrects without looking up. He's not Berry, dammit. As for the question... ]

... I do not know. This book. Any of... these books.

[tantailizing]

I’m not surprised. It’s a library in another world, right? What’s the title on the cover?

[beefaroni]

[ He turns the book around to display the cover.

Extremely Common Phrases. ]

... Need to learn... more words.

[tantailizing]

Ooooh...

... You want some help?

[beefaroni]

...You can teach me... more words?

[tantailizing]

Yeah, of course I can. If I'd known you wanted to before, I would've offered sooner!

[beefaroni]

... What do you want. Repayment.

[ Nothing in this life is free. ]

[tantailizing]

Ah? Why would I want that? I'm offering because I want to help.

[beefaroni]

... Money? Food? My strength?

[ Nope, still doesn't get it. ]

[tantailizing]

[He shakes his head.]

I don't need that.

[beefaroni]

... What do you need?