isleofavalon | November Catch-All

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November Catch-All | SEMI-OPEN

🧙 WHO: Darin Altway & You!
⚔️️ WHAT: November Missions and DRAGON QUEST
🕒 WHEN: November
🗺️ WHERE: All over!
⚠️ WARNINGS: Shenanigans likely! (And some Blood Magic usage)

-FLAPPY VEG-

[Darin had seen a lot of things in his life and even more since he'd come to Avalon. However, all of that worldly experience was nothing compared to what laid before him.]

[A flock of flying vegetables. Butterflying lettuce, to be exact. Flopping through the sky over this somewhat open field. It would look majestic if it didn't actually look so stupid and weird.]

[Regardless, Darin took a job to protect these majestic(?) creatures from harm and he aimed to do just that. But he couldn't just stand out in the open, otherwise poachers would never approach. Luckily, Darin has a plan.]

[He's constructed camouflage of regular butter lettuce for himself and whoever has the misfortune of joining him so that he and everyone else just looks like enormous lettuce people.]

[The perfect disguise.]

[It might also persuade particularly dim poachers that lettuce people might even be more of a delicacy. Either way, Darin is all in on this.]

Alright, eyes sharp. No one's harming any of these little guys as long as I'm around...

-DRAGON QUEST- CLOSED TO PARTY

[When word was spreading that the dragon that had razed Celliwig was out and about again, Darin was doing his best to gather as much info as he could on the down low. Anti-dragon sentiment was likely high, so if he was going to try and find the dragon, he had to really carefully put feelers out there to find people who were sympathetic to his cause.]

[It took some time, but luckily, Darin was able to get a competent group together. Each agreed that they were not going to attack the dragon unless reasoning with it was truly a lost cause. With that pact agreed upon, the band made their way to the Lotus Pod Mountain.]

-WILDCARD-

(OOC: Got something else you want to do? Just drop it here or message me here or on

bitterbearface if you want hash it out or see if it's okay!)

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[Darin was already on guard for any other hunting parties that might have found their way into the mines and the Lotus Pod Mountain. Using his blood magic, he was sending feelers out, trying to find the pulses or the life forces of any other small groups of people.]

[He was rather amazed at how far he could sense thanks to the composition of the mountain. Maybe they actually stood a chance of finding the dragon before anyone else.]

Everything seems clear to me. No sensing anyone or anything else...

How far do you think these mines go?

They look pretty deep.

[Keith wasn't thrilled, but he was okay with beating up anyone who got in their way instead of the dragon for now. Not that he was going to remotely attempt at taking on a dragon by himself, but, even in his grumpy mindset at the moment, he was willing to let someone else try talking the creature into leaving the area or something first. So, he would just be something akin to a bodyguard for now, and that suited him just fine.]

It looks pretty dark up ahead.

[One of the things Keith had noticed since arriving was that his ability to see in the dark was a bit curbed, which made him think that his normal ability to see was partially increased by his Galra side. Thanks to Avalon essentially nullifying any non-human traits, he'd found a few things he used to take for granted having been debuffed slightly. Some of his senses, his endurance... the animal mage hunts had shown him just how durable he was back home compared to here. He was starting to slowly get used to it, but that didn't mean it wasn't still frustrating on some level.

He squinted a bit, wondering if it wouldn't be a bad idea to transform into an animal that might have better sight in low light. Though he did still have his familiar and Kosmo, and they were pretty good at seeing in the dark, as well as hearing soft noises and sniffing things out.]

[Barbara isn't sure how she feels about doing this. The dragon treated Celliwig as though it were no more than an errant wasps' nest. She doesn't expect anyone to forgive it that. But the thought of just allowing it to be hunted down and murdered in its den... that does not sit well with her. In the heat of the moment, in its rage, it had refused to listen. But might it be better another time?

She tries to ignore the unsettling appearance of the mountainside and just focus on what Darin's senses can tell them. She has her spear, and she has her flame magic.]

Can make fire to hold. But try to go quiet first.

[No sense in doing something that might make the dragon see them as intruders to kill.]

[Darin nods to Barbara.] A torch might be a good idea deeper in, but we want to keep the flame small. Any bright light just shortens our own range of sight and even with my blood magic sense, I need to see where I'm going.

[Darin takes point but stops a few steps deep into the mines.]

Listen...before we get too deep...

I don't really know what to expect in there. I want to help the dragon because I honestly believe hurting it is just...I dunno. We're here to save all of the worlds, right? I wouldn't feel right if doing that meant taking the life of something that has more of a right to be here than we do. We're strangers in this guy's world...

But if at any point it looks like things are gonna go south...you guys get out of there. You need to get word back to Camelot that it can't be reasoned with and they need to prepare.

[Darin doesn't voice what he's going to be left doing. They all know they'll have to buy time if the dragon attacks.]

Just...thanks for taking a gamble on this. On me, I guess.

[Small fires would be fine, and Keith considered that for a moment.]

Kosmo and I can handle the dark, too. He's got good vision for it, and I'm an animal mage. I could find out from him what he sees, or could just transform if one of you have cognitive magic for me to communicate to you with.

[But then... that speech. Keith frowned and crossed his arms.]

No. [That was it. Just no.] Not leaving you behind to face the dragon alone if things get bad. [Idiot... Darin was talking to Allura's friend here. If anyone was getting back to Camelot, Keith was going to make sure Darin did. Allura deserved to have Darin get back safely.]

[Sorry, Keith. Darin's going to protest even though it's likely he's going to be outvoted.]

All I'm saying that as a healer and a blood mage, I stand the best chance at holding the line! Besides, you both know I have the trump card of my familiar fusion spell. I don't want to use it but if things come down to it, at least I've got that.

[He sighs and turns back to the mine shaft they're walking down.]

Barbara, if you can get us a small torch going...I don't think the dragon came this way but the shaft appears to be opening up into a larger complex. We might be able to find tracks or traces...

[Keith frowned, his arms crossed.]

You also have someone waiting for you back in town.

[And, yeah... Keith knew Allura understood the point of sacrifice, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to find a way to make sure she didn't have to lose any more important people in her life. The two of them both had too much loss already.

But, he was going to leave it at that for now. No point in arguing right now. He could always just cast an ice spell or something on Darin later if he had to.]

[Sorry, what? The look Barbara gives Darin is eloquence itself, in all the ways she is not. That all started all right, but the end... nope. Nope nope. You cannot call yourself "human friend" and then tell people to abandon you, that's not how friendship works.]

Start together. End together. [She brings her fist up and snaps it open, igniting the flame he asked for. Then she looks at Keith, glad that he's on the same page as she is about this, and gives him a little nod. Between him and her, they can stop Darin if he decides to do something self-sacrificial.

Then she edges cautiously into the larger passages. The smell of dragon, one she is intimately familiar with, is present--in little gusts and fits. Maybe it's through a passage, maybe it's a fissure one inch wide, but there is some connection to where the dragon is or was.]

Smell dragon. A little.

Edited 2021-11-16 20:08 (UTC)

Alright, alright. I'll drop it. [For now.]

[Luckily, Barbara picking up the scent of the dragon was an excellent change of topic and a welcome one. It meant that the dragon had been through here at least.]

Alright...let's head deeper.

[Darin takes point, reaching out with his blood magic senses. There was definitely something here but...it was deep. And with the mines being the way they were, there likely wasn't a direct route.]

I'm starting to sense something a little bit now too. We should probably mark the walls in a way to know which way we came; arrows pointing the way back. In my experience, mines can easily turn into a labyrinth if you don't have a map...

Pointing the way back... okay.

[Keith let it go because Darin let it go, but he knew now to be prepared for potential Martyr Syndrome TM.

He pulled his bayard and slashed an arrow into the cave wall, pointing in the direction they'd come from.]

[Since Keith is taking care of the walls, Barbara concentrates on advancing further into the caverns. They're definitely widening out, and she has a sense that some of these openings are natural rather than made by mining.

A dragon is big. A dragon can't go through small tunnels. She lifts her head and sniffs the air, trying to gauge the amount of space ahead of them, and then turns down another tunnel.]

Bigger space this way.

[Keith nodded, indicating for her to lead the way. He moved along with her, his wolf and kotka following along as well. The wolf sniffed at the air, grumbling slightly as he did.]

I'm not sure how this is going to work, but I trust your judgment.

[Not to mention, wouldn't the lettuce go bad after a while, unlike actual flying vegetables? But to be fair, he also made himself look like a bunny in order to capture one so maybe it'll work again?]

I could also send my familiar out to investigate if you feel that would help.

[Said familiar is a hummingbird with a super long purple tail, who zips around them to demonstrate its speed.]

['Trusting his judgment was your first mistake.]

[But Darin perks up at the mention of a familiar.]

Yeah! If your familiar can get around fairly undetected, it might help to give us a better idea of what's out here besides us.

[Clearly, but they're rolling with this plan so might as well see it through.]

I'm not sure about undetected since it has a very lovely tail. But it is fast and would be hard to hit. What do you think?

[The hummingbird familiar hovers in front of the two of them and then zips off in the distance.]

Apparently its willing to help. So what should we do in the meantime?

[Darin considers the offer.]

While your familiar scouts the perimeter, we should make sure that there aren't any butterfly lettuce stragglers. Small, weak ones that could be left behind would be easy pickings for poachers...

Okay, sounds like a plan.

[He explains to his familiar what he'd like it to do. It nods its tiny head and zips away to scout around.]

So in the mean time, we just try to find any of them that look weak and...do we help them? I'm not sure how far we should go.

Listen... Darin...

[Her tone sounds uncharacteristically flat, as if she wants to get upset but is consciously stopping herself.]

I can appreciate using camouflage to blend in. Really, I can. But...

[She holds up her arms, showing off the sleeves of stitched-together lettuce leaves, layered in a pattern like scales or feathers. As a result, it looks like she has big, green, awkwardly-shaped wings. To say nothing of the rest of the bizarre lettuce suit.]

Don't you think this is going to draw more attention to us?!

Absolutely!

I mean, why go after the small fry when they've got a potentially rare catch right here!

[He gestures at her despite looking equally ridiculous.]

The Queen Butterflying Lettuce!

[Do these things even have a queen? Like bees? Would poachers know?]

Look, all I'm saying is, given the choice between those? [He points to the flying lettuce.] and you...[He points to her...]

...No contest.

[At the mention of 'queen', she furrows her brow deeper. Is this some kind of attempt to appeal to her royal heritage? Because it's not working. She doesn't want to be the monarch of produce. And besides that...]

There is no possible way anyone is going to think that I'm one of these creatures! If anything, I look like I've dressed in a pile of their corpses!

You didn't even try to hide the form of my body! [She gestures at herself, and the costume that's contouring suspiciously to fit her very humanoid curves.]

...Why the hell would I do that?

[With how upset she is, she's flailing her limbs a bit more than usual, in a way that doesn't seem particularly helpful in trying to stay hidden. She's also having some difficulty keeping her volume to a whisper.]

Because that is the entire point of being in disguise! No one is supposed to know who's underneath this costume!

...Would you prefer a mask then?

I'm pretty sure I can repurpose some of the leaves to make you a mask...

[He's already figuring out where he can pluck them from.]

The face isn't even close to the biggest problem! It's these heads of lettuce!

[And she directs his attention to her body again, particularly the two oversized domes on her chest. They look silly, both for their bowl-like roundness and how needlessly large they are.]

These are as conspicuous as they come!

Look! Poachers are going to be looking for the biggest heads of lettuce they can find! It's tactics!

If you want to take it off, then fine, but I'm telling you it'll work!

Not these ones! They're going to look for ones that are flying around!

[She pauses, realizing that Darin might hear that and take it as the real heart of the problem, and concoct a solution for it...]

[So, she steps closer, and pokes him in the chest. (With her finger, not with her silly chest ornaments.)]

And if you're getting any ideas right now, I want you to tell me before you try them out. Understood?

...Hrm.

...Okay, you raise a point. They're not doing us any good there.

[He reaches to take them off in hopes of repurposing them but stops.]

You're...wearing something under this...

...Right?

Yes, but... [She sighs.] Not much. My armor didn't fit underneath it &mndash; if I had realized we would be sneaking around this much, I might have opted for my jumpsuit instead.

[Which raises the question, what does Allura wear under the paladin armor?]

So, as silly as these are... please don't try anything that would make them fly right off of me.

[That is a very good question. One that Darin was very interested in the answer in but did not know how to breach the topic.]

You know, next time you can just tell me you don't want to wear it.

[Instead, he cranes his head to notice several of the butterfly lettuce circling towards the ground near them. Maybe their disguises are working and they sense they're friends!]

...You know, come to think of it, what do you think these things eat? They can't be carnivorous...

I didn't suspect that it would turn out like this! By the time I realized what I would be wearing, it was already on!

[But she follows his line of sight and sees the same creature. And she kneels, trying to get a better look at it without approaching. She has a lot of questions about how this creature works, and its diet is only one of them.]

It does still look like a plant. Could it possibly feed off the same things?

...Do you mean the same things as plants?

Or 'same things' as in...lettuce.

Because those are two incredibly different things and one of them is incredibly relevant right now.

[There's a lot of these butterflying lettuce, aren't there.]

[She looks up at them, confused and with growing concern.]

... I meant as plants. Most of them absorb things like light and water, right? So if these are close enough to plants...

[But if that's the case, why are there so many?]

Perhaps... perhaps they just tend to swarm together...

What kind of plant do you know of actively swarms together...

[He's...going to stand up and maybe back away.]

I mean, there is one planet where the vegetables will float out of the ground, and—

[And then the lettuce cloud starts closing in, and quickly.]

Oh quiznak, they're coming this way! Run!!

[Allura's quick to turn around, ready to sprint in the other direction, only to see even more of the airborne produce. They're surrounded!]

We can't fight them! We signed up to protect them from poachers! We can't poach them ourselves!!

I know that! But...!!

[She turns to him, and it's not clear if she's demanding an answer or thinking out loud:] Then what are we supposed to do?! Do we have some way to distract them?!

... ... ...

I mean...

[Oh, she knows that look.]

Do we have some other way?

Look...they don't look vicious. I'll keep them distracted and you...

Well, you should probably find some way to ditch the camouflage or they'll just follow you...

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November Catch-All | SEMI-OPEN

DRAGON QUEST - CLOSED TO THE PARTY-

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Flappy veg

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FLAPPY VEG

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