[open] Catch-All

[icastsword]

🧙 WHO: Griffin O'Callahan and YOU
⚔️️ WHAT: Quests & Tasks
🕒 WHEN: The month of September
🗺️ WHERE: Camelot & the Land of Rot
⚠️ WARNINGS: Theatrical dismemberment & mostly fake blood; Undead creatures, destruction of remains

Questboard Task: Shear Determination

The tiny sheep are enchanting. Griffin is not at all put off by the fact that they belch fire, being fairly fire-resistant himself. He turns to his sheep-shearing buddy (that's YOU!) with a big derpy smile. He is genuinely pleased to be here, and looking forward to the work.

"Do you want me to hang on to them while you shear, or the other way around?"

Griffin is built like a man who could easily restrain a normal-sized sheep, so these miniature woolies should pose no issue. He's also built like a man who could headbutt a normal-sized sheep, because he's got the rack for that particular activity, too.

The rack in this instance refers to his horns, but his pecs are also pretty spectacular.

What do you do?

Questboard Task: Cult Classic

CW: theatrical dismemberment and (mostly) fake blood

It's evening, the sun has gone down, and Griffin is meandering his way back to the inn. He's taking his time and checking out a new little side-street he hasn't gone down before. There are some neat-looking little shops lining the walk, and he's taking his time checking out the window displays as he passes by. He's been on the lookout for hats. Not for himself, but for Daisy. He and his parents had put together quite a nice collection of cute hats for his pet tarantula back home, and none of them have turned up in Avalon. Now that he's settling in and got a bit of an income, he's on the lookout to build her a new collection here.

Since he's paying more attention to the windows than to what's in front of him, it's not really a surprise when he bumps into someone dressed head to foot in black armor.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't watching --"

"None shall pass." The be-armored individual interrupts him, and he blinks when he notices how cheap the armor appears.

"Er, sorry?" Griffin is confused.

"NONE shall pass." The line is repeated with more emphasis. Griffin tilts his head to one side as he considers this, before shrugging.

"Oh, well, if you say so. I don't want to cause any trouble." It's a little annoying, but he turns around and begins to go back the way he came. He'll just pop back out into the main street and use his usual route back to the inn.

There is silence from the figure for several long moments as Griffin retreats, ostensibly as they process what has just happened. They were clearly expecting a different reaction, and now they have to skip half their lines.

"Oh I see, running away, eh? You yellow bastard!"

Griffin has been called some unpleasant names in the past, but "yellow" is a new one on him. He pauses for long enough to turn back to look at the figure, and (Dex Save: 18+3) just manages to avoid being hit by what looks like a flung mannequin limb covered in cheap black armor.

"Er, no? What? What is happening?"

The Black Knight now appears to be missing their entire right arm and is spurting an impressive amount of (probably) fake blood from their disarmed shoulder. When Griffin turns back to face them, they charge. "Have at you!!"

This lad is not familiar enough with Earthly pop culture to recognize what is happening. Someone please help him.

September Prompt: ⦿ The Fighting Badass

CW: Undead creatures, destruction of remains

Griffin isn't particularly bothered by undead, so wading into the Land of Rot for a little daytime zombie-farming hadn't been a big deal. All told, the undead around here are pretty slow and dull, so knocking a few animated skeletons apart and gathering up their scattered bones hadn't exactly been backbreaking work. He generally gets a better workout manning the forge. So he's still feeling plenty energetic upon settling down to camp for the night, which is why he offers to stand watch.

Things are pretty peaceful until just a bit after midnight, when the quiet is broken by a poorly-stifled yelp of surprise from your friendly neighborhood tiefling.

"Ow! Hey, knock it off." He's trying his best to be quiet, but the sensation of teeth chomping down near the tip of his tail catches him off guard. Griffin whips said tail around in front of himself for the purpose of removing the animated skull that's latched on there. It's been undead for long enough that nearly all of its sinew has rotted away, so there's very little strength behind the chewing. It's just an uncomfortable sensation Griffin would prefer to cease. Prying the skull from his tail takes no time at all, mostly because the motion completely dislodges the thing's jaw. It drops away and clatters to the ground.

"Oh, shoot. Ugh," He leans over to retrieve the jaw with his free hand, and just happens to glance up to see he hadn't been as quiet as he'd hoped. His red eyes have no iris or pupil, but do have the tapetum lucidum membrane that reflects light and causes the unsettling appearance of glowing in the dark. So there's just a behorned, glowing-eyed demon lad with a skull in one hand and a jaw in the other grimacing apologetically in your direction, now.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

OOC: Prose or [brackets] is fine, I'll match your format. HMU at gundamkiwi if you'd like to chat, ask questions, or plot!

Comments

Shear Determination

[bakudan_bambino]

[Gokudera has never actually met Griffin before, or seen him in person. Despite the conversation they'd had over the network, there wasn't anything about it to give away that this person looks... anything like how they look.

Not bad, not anything he would assume, though.

The bomber just blinks at the question and then gives a small determined huff.]

You shear. I'll hold it steady.

[Honestly because he has no idea how to shear a sheep, and also...he won't get over his aversion to fire if he just avoids it altogether. Plus, if he's doing an awful job, they can switch. There is more than one sheep, after all.]

[icastsword]

[And that is why Griffin prefers text to video. :)]

[If asked he wouldn't lie - he'd definitely prefer to hold the sheep, just because they look so soft and snuggly, but he bets shearing is good, too. It'll be an excuse to pet the sheep while he gives it a nice cooling haircut!]

Sure! Sounds good.

[Do they already have a sheep? Let's assume there's already a sheep. It's so small and wooly and cute Griffin can't resist giving it a pat while Gokudera gets situated. It 'baaaas' adorably.]

[bakudan_bambino]

[Gokudera isn't going to stare or be rude, but he may not be as conversational as he was on the network. The anonymity of text is a comfort he understands. But... he's a bit of a jerk. If he knew this was the same guy he spoke to pleasantly on the network, he may be kind. Here, though... well, it's whatever.

Not that he's going to intentionally make anything difficult for Griffin, since he cares far more about this sheep than any person out here (with the exception of his boss who isn't even around at the moment).]

Have you sheared any of them yet, or is this the first one?

[They aren't the only people shearing these sheep, after all. Gokudera isn't in a rush to grab this animal, just watching this strange looking person patting it. He moves to stand closer and scratch gently around the sheep's ears.]

You ever been sheared before...?

[No animal magic here, he's just... talking to a sheep.]

[icastsword]

[He's used to the stares at this point, to be honest. Though he's not really paying attention to them NOW, because nearly all of his attention is on the sheep.]

Not yet! This'll be my first one.

[The sheep bleats again. Is it answering Gokudera, or is it baa'ing just to be baa'ing? Who can say? Griffin sure can't. He's just here for the cute sheep and also the filthy lucre, because he has a spider hat collection to rebuild. Also eating and clothing himself is nice, and he's got to pay extra to have trousers tailored with an opening for a tail.]

Let me know when you're ready.

[bakudan_bambino]

[It's hard not to pay attention to the sheep when they're so cute. Gokudera moves to put a hand against the back of the creature's head, uncertain whether or not it will need much holding, or if this is really a two-person job.]

Please be still for us, but if you get wiggly, that's okay too.

[He pets it and smiles and then looks over at Griffin, giving a nod.]

Go ahead.

[The wool doesn't look too matted, so he hopes this will be an easier task than it looks.]

Sheer Determination

[admiralchiss]

Thrawn has no experience in shearing sheep, since he wasn't raised in a country setting, and indeed, has spent most of his life on spaceships. He read a book and watched a video before agreeing to this quest, so he has an idea of what to do, and is confident that he can shear without harming the sheep.

He regards Griffin for a moment. These sheep are small, and should pose no problem for someone of his built to restrain. And since they sheep are small, then Thrawn it shouldn't take very long to get their wool off. They can also swap out duties if Griffin gets tired of holding them.

Holding up the clippers, Thrawn replies, "I will shear them."

[icastsword]

Griffin also has no experience shearing sheep, but it doesn't look hard. Like most things, there's undoubtedly a trick to it, and learning that trick is just a matter of practice.

But he's not shearing for right now, he's restraining, which is totally fine by him. "Got it!" He responds to his partner's declaration with a wide grin, before turning his attention to the mini sheep in their charge.

"Who wants to go first?" He's no animal mage, he's just talking to the sheep like an ordinary animal lover. Obviously there is no response or volunteer from the flock, so after a moment, he just picks one. Moving carefully to avoid startling the lucky sheep, he lifts it up and sets it gently on the table supplied for that purpose. It's kind of like a dog-grooming setup, only it's for small sheep instead of canines. His chosen sheep rolls its eyes a little wildly as its lifted, but settles fairly quickly once it has its feet under it again, and stares out over the rest of the flock from its new vantage point.

Griffin keeps both hands on either side of the little sheep's jaw, giving it ear scratches but also prepared to hold its head still if needed. "Okay! Ready when you are," he addresses Thrawn with another smile.

[admiralchiss]

Thrawn patiently waits for Griffin to obtain a sheep and get it ready for shearing. These animals are interesting; he's seen ones like them on various worlds in his own galaxy, and some of them were even used for the same purpose of providing raw textile materials.

"Then let us proceed," Taking the shears in hand, Thrawn places a hand on the sheep's hide and gets to work. He radiates confidence as he shears, not hesitating for a moment, while still being careful not to accidentally nick the animal. Thrawn has to admit, it's oddly satisfying to clip and peel away the wool.

Once he's finished, he gathers the wool into a small pile. "There we are. Shall we do another?"

[icastsword]

"Heck yeah, let's do another!"

That whole thing from start to finish had been very chill. The sheep had seemed pretty unbothered once the trimming had begun, which had allowed Griffin plenty of time to give it all the pats. What a good sheep. He carefully and gently lifts the little guy up off the table and sets it on its feet back on the ground. It wanders off with a mild "baaa" and a flick of its tail.

"Okay, who's next?" This question is addressed to the sheep, and once again goes unanswered. So he picks the nearest one, gives it a few calming pats just like the first, and begins to carefully lift it upward.

This sheep is not as chill as its predecessor. As soon as its feet leave the ground it rolls its eyes and flails wildly in Griffin's arms, bleating madly. In a comical whirlwind of limbs - both Griffin's and the sheep's - there is an intense struggle for several long seconds before Griffin just manages to set the flailing creature down on the table without dropping it. The second it feels solid ground under it, it bleats once again, and belches a plume of flame.

Right at Griffin, who just takes it, point blank, in the face.

When the flame clears away, he blinks several times. He looks a little singed, but other than that appears to be unhurt.

[admiralchiss]

Thrawn actually came prepared for something like that, after he read that these sheep breathe fire. He calmly reaches for his bag and takes out a small fire extinguisher that he brought, as well as a first-aid kit, only to pause when he sees that the fire is already out and Griffin is only a little singed.

"You are unhurt. Interesting," He puts the first-aid kit away, and the fire extinguisher. Even if Griffin seems immune to fire damage, the sheep could still potentially set the grass aflame. If he has to, he can use light magic to create airtight bubbles around any fires that start. He gets to work shearing the sheep.

Cult Classic!

[sereneadherent]

Marianne is also unfamiliar with Earthly pop culture, and regards the scene progressing in front of her with ever-increasing confusion and alarm. Whoever this black-clad person is, it's clear they're not quite in their right mind. She's seen (and healed) enough carnage on the battlefield to discern that the liquid spewing from the would-be knight isn't blood, but that doesn't make her feel any better given their behavior.

Once he flings an arm (?!) at the other person and begins charging, Marianne steps in to intervene. Without even thinking about it, she grabs the poor other man's arm and yanks to try and pull him out of the way of the charge. For her trouble, she gets splattered with fake blood and huffed at by the attacker, who she currently ignores.

"Are you all right?"

Re: Cult Classic!

[icastsword]

The "knight"s armor looks cheaply made, but the sword being brandished looks...well, also cheap, in keeping with the armor, but also sharp. So it's definitely a good thing a well-meaning stranger yanks him out of the charging loony's path.

They're both spattered with the spurting "blood" as Griffin's attacker lunges right by them. Griffin looks first at his rescuer, down at his ruined clothes, and back up again to the "knight." His assailant has stumbled a bit and is in the process of turning back, which gives Griffin plenty of time to square up and prepare for another charge.

"I'm fine? Just. Very, very confused." And also a little annoyed that this weird rando has stained his brand new clothing. "Are you okay?" As he asks this, he deliberately moves so that he's fully between his attacker and the person who pulled him to safety.

[sereneadherent]

Marianne nods. "Yes, I'm fine." After a pause, she looks down at her skirts and frowns. This outfit's probably ruined. "Just covered in what looks like colored water."

It seems that the only person present at the moment who isn't okay is their attacker, who charges in with a cry (something about them being pansies?). Marianne finds herself wishing she were armed so that she could parry the man's swinging. She would be at a disadvantage in a battle of strength, since she's without the magic afforded by her Crest, but given the way he's flailing with the weapon she would more than make up for it by actually knowing how to wield a sword.

For lack of better options, Marianne dodges. She doesn't see what her fellow victim of this strangeness does, but... is it her, or has their attacker's other arm just fallen off with the same comical spurting of colored water?

[icastsword]

"I really hope this stuff doesn't stain."

He's not sure what the woman behind him is going to do, if anything, so his first concern is naturally preventing her from getting hurt. That narrows down the number of actions he can take against this charging weirdo while still keeping her safe. If things get really hairy he can draw his sword, but for the moment he's not interested in actually hurting this guy. They kind of reminds Griffin of some of the theater kids he knew back in his high school days: annoying, but ultimately (probably) harmless.

He's prepared to dodge the flailing sword that accompanies his assailant's charge, but for some reason...their arm just falls off, mid-charge. Either they don't notice, or they notice but don't care, and continues to run toward Griffin, so Griffin does what he does best, and hits the guy. Whatever cheap material the "knight's" helmet is made of crumples pretty spectacularly under his fist. The blow to the face clearly knocks the "knight" off balance, so Griffin follows up by shoulder checking them. He knocks them to the ground, where both armless shoulders proceed to spurt fake blood with the pressure of a busted fire hydrant, and quickly begin to create twin puddles on either side of his stunned assailant. It would be comical if it weren't so danged messy, and also now his boots are in very real danger of getting stained, as well. What a stupid day.

In the interest of preventing the weirdo from getting up again, Griffin kneels on their chest, applying most but not all of his not-inconsiderable weight directly to their attacker's poorly-armored sternum. The person in the armor wheezes something about how "The black knight always triumphs!", but he's not really paying attention.

"Hey, um," he calls over his shoulder to the young lady. "I'm pretty new here. Do you know if there's a law enforcement organization of some kind we could call to take care of this?"

[sereneadherent]

Marianne watches all of this unfold and comes to the same conclusion. This is a very stupid day. At least the "knight's" theatrics are ultimately their undoing, creating a circumstance in which they cannot get off the ground once knocked over. She thinks, briefly, of the Death Knight and is grateful that this is a pathetic approximation instead of the real thing.

"Yes, I believe there is. Hold on." Marianne digs her phone out and starts working on looking up the phone number for the city police. "I'm sorry that this is your introduction to Camelot. It's usually much nicer and safer here."

With that, she finds the number and puts in a call. The dispatcher on the other line is very nice, and promises that someone will be by to pick the knight up. "Someone's on their way. Do you need help holding him down?"

the fighting badass!

[fellsound]

It's a simple enough task, on paper. Not exactly the kind of work Century Egg is normally asked to do, but not that different either. The hard part isn't the undead, nor the wriggling, still living pieces of it that they have to haul back, but one far more mundane thing:

Hunger.

Hunger is a new sensation, or at least a forgotten one. Back on Tierra, he wouldn't have to eat for anything but his own pleasure. Food Souls have never needed to worry about that. But here? Here, Century Egg isn't a Food Soul. And so he's spent the last few hours ignoring the grumbling of his stomach, sitting otherwise silently near the watch post, barely blinking until a commotion turns his head.

Huh. But wait...

"I wasn't asleep." The glowing points of light in the dark are a blessing, if anything, and Century Egg's own dull, red eyes seem to focus all too intently on those specks of light. Brighter than stars, not as harsh as the flames he saw when Cordyceps found him.

They're... nice.

[icastsword]

He blinks in surprise when Century Egg says he wasn't asleep. "Oh. How come? Not used to camping out?"

He bonks the animated skull in his hand with its jaw - not hard enough to crack either of the bones, but hard enough to disrupt the necromantic energy animating said bones. The skull and jaw stop wiggling, as he's effectively knocked it back to zero HP. Now he can stash them back in the bone bag with the rest of the collected undead parts. They should have at least a few more hours of peace before some other zombie bits start to act up again.

[fellsound]

"No."

It's actually very familiar to him, honestly. But sleep has been hard to come by since the Mausoleum. Even after Cordyceps and Chishui Moth Tea rescued him and brought him to their side, he can't manage it easily.

The worries persist. What will happen if he closes his eyes? Will he wake up to darkness again? To the weight of shackles and the absence of sound?

But, more mundanely, his stomach aches and grumbles, loud enough that it can probably be heard. Sensations he's only ever been familiar with because he's heard humans speak about them, loud and suddenly all too real since coming here to Avalon.

"I'm... hungry."

That's what it is.

[icastsword]

"What? Oh, man, why didn't you say something before? I brought plenty to eat!" Griffin absolutely just heard his companion's stomach rumble, even from that short distance, and immediately begins digging in his pack for the rations he packed. "Are there any nuts you don't eat? I've got this trail mix." He holds up a bag containing said mix. "I've also got some jerky, I think it's..." he squints briefly at said jerky in an effort to identify it. "Beef or venison, if you have a preference. And some apples, and dried apricots!"

He pulls each item he lists out of his pack as he lists them, and once they're all gathered, offers the whole lot over without any ceremony whatsoever. "Should I build up the fire a little bit?" He can see just fine in the low light, but he knows not everyone can, so it might be helpful to his companion while he's eating.

[fellsound]

Say something? That's difficult at best for Century Egg. Mostly because;

"... Didn't know." When you live centuries without actually needing to eat, you have problems actually identifying the sensation when it starts to hit. He blinks as all the food is pulled out and handed to him, and stares at it for a good minute. He's best off eating something that provides sustenance for the longest amount of time so...

Venison jerky it is. Or. Well, one of the jerkies. He can't be fully sure which.

"I see better, in the dark." Which is true. Not well, but better than by light. But the dark is—

let's just say he's grateful for the glow this man's eyes give off.

shear determination!

[starshower]

[Having zero experience with sheep, or a lot of animals in general, Tifa did ask herself earlier why she would take a job that involved shaving some fire-breathing sheep, but when it came down to it, she assumed it was easy money. The sheep look harmless enough considering their size—she could fit one into her hands if she really wanted to—so she's a touch more enthusiastic about it than when she got here. It helps that the person she's been paired up with has some enthusiasm to make up for it, and it's become infectious in a way.

With one of the sheep grazing nearby, she flips the shears between her fingers, but her head tilts, expression cautious.]

You don't think that'll make it even more anxious?

[She's just being careful!]

[icastsword]

Hmm...

[He turns his gaze thoughtfully back out over the milling sheep at his partner's question, before looking back to her.]

Probably not? I mean, they're probably used to it, I would guess.

[He doesn't know a lot about sheep (much of anything, really), but he is aware that they need to be sheared regularly, so this should be routine for at least the older ones.]

[starshower]

[Tifa follows his gaze out to the rest of the sheep being sheared, some of whom are calm while others decide that they're better off running away as fast as their tiny legs can take them or breathing small bursts of fire at whatever they can find... including the hands of the people trying to shear them.

But she trusts his judgement just as well as her own, so if he thinks he can handle it...]

Here. [She rummages into her pocket and tugs out a small bag of clovers.] This should help.

[Already, there's another that wanders close at the crinkle of the bag, bleating happily as soon as she unzips it. Tifa smiles down at the sheep, then up at Griffin.]

You wanna hold him then?

[icastsword]

[Griffin was already pretty much guaranteed to have a good day, because he loves cute animals and the whole point of this job is to handle as many cute animals as possible. Even so, he lights up like a little kid on Christmas when Tifa asks if he'd like to hold the sheep. Would he ever!]

Yeah! I'll hang on to him. Can I give him some clover?

[starshower]

[Tifa's smile pulls wider. He doesn't even have to ask!!!]

Hold out your hand.

[The sheep's little feet tap against the ground with what she assumes is excitement, and as soon as she tries to sprinkle some little leaves into Griffin's hand, it'll slide right up between them, twitching its nose at him. Terrifying as they can be with their fire-breathing tendencies, they are unarguably adorable...

Still, she has to waggle a finger at it.]

Hey! Be patient!