Chang Geng (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kiss_it_better) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
isleofavalon2022-01-03 10:22 pm
kiss_it_better) wrote in isleofavalon2022-01-03 10:22 pm
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🧙 WHO: Li Min (Chang Geng) and others!
⚔️️ WHAT: January Quests + open prompts involving flying dinosaurs and steampunk tech
đź•’ WHEN: January
🗺️ WHERE: Around
⚠️ WARNINGS: Some violence and blood probably
i: Dinosaur saddling
[Today you may be treated to the sight of Li Min taking a dinosaur out into town. He had it by a lead though it was just a piece of rope tied loosely around the creature's neck. It perhaps might be a familiar except he also had a winged-antlered lion like creature following him. He could be found talking to some leather makers or armouries, asking about saddles or armour options, looking approachable and as mild-mannered as ever.]
ii: Perhaps A Muzzle is Needed
[Or maybe you were unfortunate enough to step too close for any reason. Unfortunate only because this brightly coloured creature turns to snap at you.]
Stop.
[The command is calm but firm and he gives the rope a gentle tug and that's all that's needed to rein it back.
Once he does he turns with a faint smile.]
I apologize. He's still getting used to being around others.
iii: Gravestone-Faced
[He's out around the edge of the Dusklight Forest, looking for corpses, naturally.
He stops near one to feel for a pulse at their neck, to check for breathing. Is that corpse you? Or are you wandering nearby?]
...this is troublesome indeed.
⚔️️ WHAT: January Quests + open prompts involving flying dinosaurs and steampunk tech
đź•’ WHEN: January
🗺️ WHERE: Around
⚠️ WARNINGS: Some violence and blood probably
i: Dinosaur saddling
[Today you may be treated to the sight of Li Min taking a dinosaur out into town. He had it by a lead though it was just a piece of rope tied loosely around the creature's neck. It perhaps might be a familiar except he also had a winged-antlered lion like creature following him. He could be found talking to some leather makers or armouries, asking about saddles or armour options, looking approachable and as mild-mannered as ever.]
ii: Perhaps A Muzzle is Needed
[Or maybe you were unfortunate enough to step too close for any reason. Unfortunate only because this brightly coloured creature turns to snap at you.]
Stop.
[The command is calm but firm and he gives the rope a gentle tug and that's all that's needed to rein it back.
Once he does he turns with a faint smile.]
I apologize. He's still getting used to being around others.
iii: Gravestone-Faced
[He's out around the edge of the Dusklight Forest, looking for corpses, naturally.
He stops near one to feel for a pulse at their neck, to check for breathing. Is that corpse you? Or are you wandering nearby?]
...this is troublesome indeed.
Knight Quest | Closed to Gu Yun
Still, they did say he could bring someone with him and this seemed exactly like the sort of thing that Gu Yun would want to do and would be good at doing.
He's spent a lot of time insisting on taking care of Gu Yun: surely the man would be glad to get out to do something.
He went ahead to get their mount saddled up.
Then he petted the creature on the neck.]
Be good today.
no subject
Chang Geng's healing magic notwithstanding, the abuse he'd subjected his body to, over the course of a lifetime, is not so easily reversed.
None of that is visible on his face, however. ]
Aren't I always?
[ He punctuates that remark with a shameless pat upon Chang Geng's royal buttocks. ]
no subject
It's a feet of self control not to accidentally grab the feathers of the archaeopteryx in surprise...but that would startle the creature and that would cause trouble.
There's a faint blush on his cheeks.]
Zi Xi, you...
[He doesn't even know what to say. So instead, he checks Gu Yun over, to make sure the man really was fine. He's not going to take such a thing for granted.]
no subject
All right, that's enough, you can cherish my beauty later.
[ He sweeps past Chang Geng and jumps up, landing lightly (with the aid of magic) on the blue bird's back. Who knows how the thing will react, but he'd rather be the one bucked off than Chang Geng. ]
no subject
Mm.
[If Chang Geng weren't confident about riding this creature he would never have asked Gu Yun to ride along side him
It had taken some work but he'd tamed the creature enough that it didn't buck Gu Yun off, especially since the landing was quite light. Though the surprise did make the feathers on its neck puff out with a squawk. Chang Geng reached out to smooth a hand over its neck.
He couldn't help but smile though. Despite how Gu Yun acts, he is not as frivolous as he pretended. After thinking for a moment, wasn't Gu Yun's rush to get on their mount probably a show of concern?
The thought makes him feel warm and it shows in his expression, full of fondness.
He helps himself onto the saddle as well, sitting behind Gu Yun.]
Didn't we do something like this when we first arrived?
[But this time, he feels no awkwardness when he wraps his arms around Gu Yun's waist.]</SMALL?
no subject
I remember.
[ As much as his life ever allowed him to focus on a person, this young man has always filled his thoughts. The more he thinks about that time, however, he recalls how awkward it was. Chang Geng sitting behind him had been... stimulating. Back then, he'd been trying to conceal his feelings, despite longing for Chang Geng's touch.
He clears his throat. ]
We should get going.
[ He pats the side of the bird and clicks at it, nudging at its sides with his knees. The bird, after another series of irritated squawks, sets off running. Its long wings extend outward, and then with a few mighty flaps, launches into the sky. ]
no subject
Gu Yun didn't seem to want to talk about it but Chang Geng didn't share those same feelings. Now was clearly the time to be plaintive and spoiled. While they're on the way to fight something.]
I was so worried that you'd know of what I was thinking, how much I wanted to hold you like this.
1/2
no subject
Hm! Only knowing how to act spoiled...
[ Even as he says this, he looks over his shoulder, seeking to capture Chang Geng's lips in a kiss. However spoiled this kid might be, he's not going to waste any more time. ]
no subject
He was acting spoiled, but Gu Yun was the only person he wanted to be spoiled--and Gu Yun was willing to spoil him. So what was the problem, truly?
He sighed a little into the kiss, his arms tightening around Gu Yun's waist (but only a little. He didn't want to jostle any old injuries).]
Zi Xi, I want you.
no subject
He can feel arms tightening around his waist. What's Chang Geng going to do, try to disrobe him mid-flight? The person who licked his neck in the middle of a airship crash, what won't he do?
Their mount, meanwhile, cranes its neck around—perhaps feeling that something untoward is going on—gets an eyeful and starts squawking and bucking up and down in the air. Gu Yum abruptly jerks his head around, facing the beast, and calls out: ]
Calm down, calm down!
[ Exactly to whom he's saying this is unclear. ]
no subject
Horses are less intelligent.
[Is that a bad thing...? He doesn't pout but he does sound put out as he rests his chin on Gu Yun's shoulder.]
no subject
[ The creature soothed, Gu Yun steadies his breathing. He'd nearly got carried away just then. And if he'd nearly had his own fire kindled, what must Chang Geng be feeling right now? He really shouldn't initiate anything, unless he means to carry it through to the end right then and there.
Feeling a little guilty, he says: ]
All your desires, I'll satisfy them—after we get home, that is.
no subject
Do you promise?
no subject
[ He clears his throat. He'd spoken in poetic hyperbole just then, momentarily forgetting just how energetic Chang Geng's desires can get.
Still, he can't exactly back down, either, having said that much.. ]
As long as I'm able.
no subject
Even so, he knew he was still too greedy.]
As much as you'll allow.
[He seals that promise with a brief kiss to the shell of Gu Yun's ear and he won't take it further than that.
At least, flying like this it doesn't take them long to be close enough to see the village in the distance.]
I think the orcs are a little further north of the village itself.
no subject
Mm. Let’s land inside the village first, to see what their defenses are like.
[ Their gigantic mount banks in the sky, circling around the village, before landing in the middle of the town square. ]
no subject
[He doesn't command the creature to land: he had trained it on responding to reins enough that Gu Yun could land it himself.
Once they landed, it was easy to tell that the village was too quiet. No one was out and about even though the centre of town should be the heart of it, the busiest at this time of day. The only sign of the villagers were the faces that cautiously peered out from inside the homes, seen through the gap in the curtains drawn over most of the windows.
He dismounted with practised ease and a frown.]
...it doesn't appear to be much in the way of active defenses.
[Just hiding.]
Gravestone-Faced | Closed to Walter
And, after the last living being that had escaped from a prison had caused the sort of trouble that led to so much destruction, Chang Geng felt it was better to recapture whatever this creature was.]
If we could find one of the corpses do you suppose your familiar could track the culprit?
no subject
[His Black Dog has a keen sense of smell.]
If their souls are still around, I should be able to speak with them, too. We can gather information that way.
no subject
[And if what they find isn't a corpse then that would work too. Meanwhile his familiar was standing close-by, clearly not happy about what she's smelling in the air. Pixiu do not tolerate evil creatures, after all.]
But first, we will need to find a corpse.
no subject
Depending on how long this monster has been hunting, that may turn out to be the easiest part of the task.
[It could also tell them a great deal. For example, why does the creature leave corpses behind? Does it not feed on flesh? And if not flesh, what does it sustain itself with?]
no subject
Given that it's serious enough to warrant someone putting up a quest...I'm sure the body count won't be insignificant.
[So it's time to set off and, sure enough, it won't be very long until they come across their first body. Though Chang Geng wanted to ascertain if it was more apt to call it a corpse, he first stopped to sense if there was any blood around them.]
I can't sense anything nearby with blood.
[For now anyway. They should still proceed with caution...but he trusts that Walter already understands that.]
no subject
So even the animals of the forest have fled.
[Walter glances around, standing well out of body's easy reach as he looks away from it -- a habit picked up from hunting the undead.
He doesn't see a soul... Did they get eaten? Did they flee?
When the answer does not readily present itself, he turns his attention to the body on the ground.]
Are there any noticeable injuries?
no subject
[He stepped closer, trusting Walter to have his back but also knowing they can't know anything without taking any risks. Still, he draws a quick cut on his palm before he does so, in case it is needed.
Then he crouches down to examine the body.]
...there doesn't appear to be any injuries at all.
[Though this body was most definitely dead....which is worrying.]
no subject
[Death magic and corpses tends to result in reanimated corpses.]
So our target is likely capable of either cognitive or dark magic.
[He steps forward, crouching down, seeing if there are any clues on the body to glean where the person may have been or what they might have come in contact with. There seems to be a bit of mud in an odd location on their clothing (who wipes their dirty hands down their front?), but everything else seems oddly in order... like whoever this person was just crumpled on the spot.
His familiar's nose, meanwhile, twitches, catching a scent Walter's human nose cannot detect.
Gelert, very interested in the body, pushes forward underneath Walter's arm.]
no subject
[Which leaves some sort of green magic. They've narrowed it down but they have more questions than answers...which leaves it a dangerous situation.
Still, they couldn't just leave this half done, without having accomplished anything.
He notices Gelert's reaction though and that's helpful.]
It seems there may be something.
no subject
Surely there was. Chang Geng would not likely have brought it up if that were not the case.
Still, he steps aside, allowing Gelert room to inspect the body as the Black Dog desires. The familiar instantly zeroes in on the mud, sniffing, then letting out a low rumble of a growl.]
Looks like you're right.
no subject
But that is a discussion for another day. He waits to see what the familiar discovers, but already he's drawing his knife.]
Indeed...and whatever it is, it's probably not just another corpse.
Yelling Yetis | Closed to Xiao
He has never been the sort to run into this sort of thing on his own. So he went to go find help.]
I can't say I have ever seen a yeti. Do you suppose they change coats like rabbits during the warmer months?
[Also, is there a market for yeti fur?]
Yelling Yetis | Closed to May
So he only rented one, waiting with it at the agreed upon spot at the edge of the city to wait. The horse is grazing on the grass and, sitting at his side is his familiar, a pixiu. Though he's not from Xing, Great Liang's clothes are similar enough in style that it's familiar. Though he's not entirely against the style of clothing here he still goes with what's familiar most of the time.]