Hijikata Toshirou (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mayoninofukucho) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
isleofavalon2022-04-10 11:50 pm
mayoninofukucho) wrote in isleofavalon2022-04-10 11:50 pm
Entry tags:
April Adventures
WHO: Hijikata and... YOU?
WHAT: Moving to summer quarters, fighting skeletons, investigating the Forest of the Fisherking and the Unnamed Marshes, and questing!
WHEN: Throughout the first half-ish of April
WHERE: Camelot City, Forest of the Fisherking, Unnamed Marshes, Red Springs
WARNINGS: Nudity and probably battle violence in Prompt 3B!
1) Back at the Campsite
[Once again it's time for CameCon... and once again Hijikata doesn't attend. He'd rather not tempt his suppressed inner otaku to come out once more! Besides he has other things to do. With winter finally completely over he decided to move back into the camp by the lakeside just east of Camelot City. It's less cosy and sturdy than the hut he's been spending the cold half of the year in, but it'll save him and his ghost subordinates the frequent totem travels between the two locations.
It's rainy and muddy, but he doesn't let that keep him from getting the camp ready for use. There's a lot to be done, and having to do it in his sun protection gear - a double-layered, high-collared black outfit and a dark-tinted visored helmet, plus gloves and boots - doesn't make it easier, but eventually he gets the place in a shape where it can be inhabited again. Riou, who originally set up the camp and lived there until he was sent back to his homeworld, could surely have done it better, but Hijikata is content.
As night falls his ghostly subordinates awaken from the tinted bottles and other small containers he wedged into branch forks and bushes - the area isn't quite forested, but the camp is somewhat hidden by foliage regardless - and assemble around their commander, who by now changed into his usual uniform and pinned his knight sigil to his chest.]
Are you guys happy to be back here?
Yes, but the rain is falling through us!
[There's laughter in the group, and Hijikata snorts a little.]
I'll see what I can do about it. Maybe I can get us one of those party tent things. I already had to reinforce my own tent too.
[He essentially put a smaller two-person tent he bought for expeditions early on last year up inside the larger campsite tent to improve the sun protection, but he'll still need to keep himself covered from head to toe during the daytime hours... this giant hogweed potion really is taking a toll on his quality of life.]
Anyway, today the Sword Lily Division stays here to train, and the White Eggplant Division has patrol duty. Everybody knows their assignment?
[Should anyone be taking an evening walk in the area around the camp they may accidentally walk into the OtoMAX perimeter alarms he set up - strategically placed music-note-shaped little systems that will play a magically amplified song (Hijikata programmed in the Wellerman sea shanty he learned from Venti, which gained enough local popularity to make it to the radio covered by a semi-famous bard) that'll knock any intruder on their butt via sound waves.]
2) Trickle Down
A ⦿ Springtime for Skeletons
[Upon hearing the reports of the Lands of Rot recovering into fertile grounds Hijikata can't help but see a pattern. First the cursed and haunted Forest of the Felled, now this... yet life returned to both areas at a questionable cost. The spectres that haunted the forest were largely devoured by the ancient stone giant, gone without hope for salvation and an afterlife, and the disappearance of the Fisherking's corpse was decidedly not in anybody's plans either.
He has half a mind to visit the Lands of Rot himself when news reach Camelot of a good number of skeletons being on the march there, so naturally he stays to defend the city. As the undead approach he's right there in the melee, again in his helmeted sun protection outfit, but with his knight cloak more visibly identifying his allegiance at least. Finally he gets to put his boosted elemental magic to the test in a real battle after the various magical malheurs that beset the outworlder population over the last months! He makes the soil break open and swallow the bony warriors, throws them against each other with wind magic so forcefully that it breaks them apart... so far he hasn't had to use his swords. He smirks with excitement.]
About time we got full control of our magic back! I've missed this.
B ⦿ The Battle of the Fisherking's Forest
[As soon as the skeleton problem is mostly taken care of the next call for help reaches Camelot: the Archivist from the Forest of the Fisherking tells of invasive species wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem. Hijikata never liked the place, having bad memories of mortifying questions from the gnome at the entrance to the archive and of the deadly animal- and plant life deeper in the forest, but he ventures out to investigate nonetheless.
Anyone who runs into him there will again find a mysterious helmeted figure (and miss out on the sight of his Magic Mask, which will hopefully protect him from the dangerous spores and took on a black colour with a golden rectangle design on either side). He's currently observing a pair of cattails that seem to be destroying a thick climbing plant growing up a moss-covered tree.]
As if there hadn't been enough monsters in these woods... what the hell brought this on?
C ⦿ The Unnamed Marshes (forsilvergarden)
[As it becomes clear that the intruders in the Fisherking's Forest are all natives to the Unnamed Marshes the loosely organised expedition naturally moves north to investigate what happened there. Given the recent events it seems pretty clear to Hijikata what (or rather: who) caused this great migration, and he hopes to capture the culprit sooner rather than later. However that doesn't appear to be an easy task: the swamps are a hazy, foggy maze.
When he meets Rinea in the eerily lifeless marshlands he immediately feels obligated to escort her, so before long they're on a raft together, slowly gliding through thick fog while animal(?) calls and other noises that sound positively prehistoric waft over from the unseen shores. Hijikata honestly isn't surely which direction they came from anymore, but his helmet hides the frown on his face. He's about to suggest turning around when he spots a faint light, like from a lantern, ghosting across the dark water.]
...
Lady Rinea, do you see that too?
[He's on high alert. He's heard stories of will'o'wisps leading people to their deaths in the swamps, and also of gases causing hallucinations... that's about the last thing they need right now.]
3) Quests
A ⦿ Garrrrr! Goyles (forrustyhoney)
[It's always something in Camelot City. Having seen the quest asking for help with the overly mischievous gargoyles Hijikata liaised with fellow knight Jean, and they soon devised a plan to tackle the matter. Jean worked during the daytime, collected information from eyewitnesses, compiled descriptions of the gargoyles in question, and mapped known gargoyle locations throughout the city; Hijikata worked at night, compared gargoyle movements with Jean's map (to exclude stationary protective gargoyles from their target group), spoke with as many gargoyles as he could, and narrowed the perpetrators' identities down as much as possible.
Soon they have enough information to know which gargoyles are the troublemakers and where they'll be able to find them the coming night. Time to go over the plan one more! Half of Hijikata's ghost subordinates will also come along - Jean may not be able to see them, but they'll play an important role, depending on how things go.]
Alright, we're giving those stone assholes one chance to book it out of here. I heard they can't be harmed at night, but this warhammer from the armoury better impress them, 'cause if they don't play along I'll seriously smash the bastards come morning. I don't see why we should arrange a transport to cart them off to some ruin or whatnot, especially since there's a good chance they'd come back for revenge if we did that.
B ⦿ The Missing Mindful (forgroundzeroes)
[After successfully partnering up with Rei to take out the I.C.E. robots blocking the mountain path to the Unnamed Marshes a couple of months ago Hijikata contacts him again to investigate the Realm of Restoration & Relaxation in the Red Springs Resort. It's been the last known location of multiple missing people, and Hijikata is goddamn sure that that isn't a coincidence - however espionage isn't his strong suit, so he's glad for any help.
He and Rei check in individually, given that apparently the missing individuals all visited the establishment on their own, with the plan to "coincidentally hit off" once inside... only as soon as Hijikata enters the doors to the spa proper his sun protection suit, helmet and all, plus his swords and his bag full of magical items disappear. Luckily he isn't in an area with windows but an ~atmospheric~ lounge with mood lighting, but he screams nonetheless.]
What the--!! Shit! I'm-- my clothes..!!
[Yeah, he isn't taking this well.]
[OOC: If you'd like any additional prompts please hit me up on my plotting post! Also here are Hijikata's permissions.]
WHAT: Moving to summer quarters, fighting skeletons, investigating the Forest of the Fisherking and the Unnamed Marshes, and questing!
WHEN: Throughout the first half-ish of April
WHERE: Camelot City, Forest of the Fisherking, Unnamed Marshes, Red Springs
WARNINGS: Nudity and probably battle violence in Prompt 3B!
1) Back at the Campsite
[Once again it's time for CameCon... and once again Hijikata doesn't attend. He'd rather not tempt his suppressed inner otaku to come out once more! Besides he has other things to do. With winter finally completely over he decided to move back into the camp by the lakeside just east of Camelot City. It's less cosy and sturdy than the hut he's been spending the cold half of the year in, but it'll save him and his ghost subordinates the frequent totem travels between the two locations.
It's rainy and muddy, but he doesn't let that keep him from getting the camp ready for use. There's a lot to be done, and having to do it in his sun protection gear - a double-layered, high-collared black outfit and a dark-tinted visored helmet, plus gloves and boots - doesn't make it easier, but eventually he gets the place in a shape where it can be inhabited again. Riou, who originally set up the camp and lived there until he was sent back to his homeworld, could surely have done it better, but Hijikata is content.
As night falls his ghostly subordinates awaken from the tinted bottles and other small containers he wedged into branch forks and bushes - the area isn't quite forested, but the camp is somewhat hidden by foliage regardless - and assemble around their commander, who by now changed into his usual uniform and pinned his knight sigil to his chest.]
Are you guys happy to be back here?
Yes, but the rain is falling through us!
[There's laughter in the group, and Hijikata snorts a little.]
I'll see what I can do about it. Maybe I can get us one of those party tent things. I already had to reinforce my own tent too.
[He essentially put a smaller two-person tent he bought for expeditions early on last year up inside the larger campsite tent to improve the sun protection, but he'll still need to keep himself covered from head to toe during the daytime hours... this giant hogweed potion really is taking a toll on his quality of life.]
Anyway, today the Sword Lily Division stays here to train, and the White Eggplant Division has patrol duty. Everybody knows their assignment?
[Should anyone be taking an evening walk in the area around the camp they may accidentally walk into the OtoMAX perimeter alarms he set up - strategically placed music-note-shaped little systems that will play a magically amplified song (Hijikata programmed in the Wellerman sea shanty he learned from Venti, which gained enough local popularity to make it to the radio covered by a semi-famous bard) that'll knock any intruder on their butt via sound waves.]
2) Trickle Down
A ⦿ Springtime for Skeletons
[Upon hearing the reports of the Lands of Rot recovering into fertile grounds Hijikata can't help but see a pattern. First the cursed and haunted Forest of the Felled, now this... yet life returned to both areas at a questionable cost. The spectres that haunted the forest were largely devoured by the ancient stone giant, gone without hope for salvation and an afterlife, and the disappearance of the Fisherking's corpse was decidedly not in anybody's plans either.
He has half a mind to visit the Lands of Rot himself when news reach Camelot of a good number of skeletons being on the march there, so naturally he stays to defend the city. As the undead approach he's right there in the melee, again in his helmeted sun protection outfit, but with his knight cloak more visibly identifying his allegiance at least. Finally he gets to put his boosted elemental magic to the test in a real battle after the various magical malheurs that beset the outworlder population over the last months! He makes the soil break open and swallow the bony warriors, throws them against each other with wind magic so forcefully that it breaks them apart... so far he hasn't had to use his swords. He smirks with excitement.]
About time we got full control of our magic back! I've missed this.
B ⦿ The Battle of the Fisherking's Forest
[As soon as the skeleton problem is mostly taken care of the next call for help reaches Camelot: the Archivist from the Forest of the Fisherking tells of invasive species wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem. Hijikata never liked the place, having bad memories of mortifying questions from the gnome at the entrance to the archive and of the deadly animal- and plant life deeper in the forest, but he ventures out to investigate nonetheless.
Anyone who runs into him there will again find a mysterious helmeted figure (and miss out on the sight of his Magic Mask, which will hopefully protect him from the dangerous spores and took on a black colour with a golden rectangle design on either side). He's currently observing a pair of cattails that seem to be destroying a thick climbing plant growing up a moss-covered tree.]
As if there hadn't been enough monsters in these woods... what the hell brought this on?
C ⦿ The Unnamed Marshes (for
silvergarden) [As it becomes clear that the intruders in the Fisherking's Forest are all natives to the Unnamed Marshes the loosely organised expedition naturally moves north to investigate what happened there. Given the recent events it seems pretty clear to Hijikata what (or rather: who) caused this great migration, and he hopes to capture the culprit sooner rather than later. However that doesn't appear to be an easy task: the swamps are a hazy, foggy maze.
When he meets Rinea in the eerily lifeless marshlands he immediately feels obligated to escort her, so before long they're on a raft together, slowly gliding through thick fog while animal(?) calls and other noises that sound positively prehistoric waft over from the unseen shores. Hijikata honestly isn't surely which direction they came from anymore, but his helmet hides the frown on his face. He's about to suggest turning around when he spots a faint light, like from a lantern, ghosting across the dark water.]
...
Lady Rinea, do you see that too?
[He's on high alert. He's heard stories of will'o'wisps leading people to their deaths in the swamps, and also of gases causing hallucinations... that's about the last thing they need right now.]
3) Quests
A ⦿ Garrrrr! Goyles (for
rustyhoney)[It's always something in Camelot City. Having seen the quest asking for help with the overly mischievous gargoyles Hijikata liaised with fellow knight Jean, and they soon devised a plan to tackle the matter. Jean worked during the daytime, collected information from eyewitnesses, compiled descriptions of the gargoyles in question, and mapped known gargoyle locations throughout the city; Hijikata worked at night, compared gargoyle movements with Jean's map (to exclude stationary protective gargoyles from their target group), spoke with as many gargoyles as he could, and narrowed the perpetrators' identities down as much as possible.
Soon they have enough information to know which gargoyles are the troublemakers and where they'll be able to find them the coming night. Time to go over the plan one more! Half of Hijikata's ghost subordinates will also come along - Jean may not be able to see them, but they'll play an important role, depending on how things go.]
Alright, we're giving those stone assholes one chance to book it out of here. I heard they can't be harmed at night, but this warhammer from the armoury better impress them, 'cause if they don't play along I'll seriously smash the bastards come morning. I don't see why we should arrange a transport to cart them off to some ruin or whatnot, especially since there's a good chance they'd come back for revenge if we did that.
B ⦿ The Missing Mindful (for
groundzeroes)[After successfully partnering up with Rei to take out the I.C.E. robots blocking the mountain path to the Unnamed Marshes a couple of months ago Hijikata contacts him again to investigate the Realm of Restoration & Relaxation in the Red Springs Resort. It's been the last known location of multiple missing people, and Hijikata is goddamn sure that that isn't a coincidence - however espionage isn't his strong suit, so he's glad for any help.
He and Rei check in individually, given that apparently the missing individuals all visited the establishment on their own, with the plan to "coincidentally hit off" once inside... only as soon as Hijikata enters the doors to the spa proper his sun protection suit, helmet and all, plus his swords and his bag full of magical items disappear. Luckily he isn't in an area with windows but an ~atmospheric~ lounge with mood lighting, but he screams nonetheless.]
What the--!! Shit! I'm-- my clothes..!!
[Yeah, he isn't taking this well.]
[OOC: If you'd like any additional prompts please hit me up on my plotting post! Also here are Hijikata's permissions.]
no subject
Before he delves further into what options there may be for them to deal with the giant he briefly turns to his subordinates.]
I don't recall giving you guys the night off - White Eggplant Division, move out! You know your assignments! Sword Lily Division, get on with the training!
[Some of the ghosts complain a little, having found this all very relevant to their interests, but once Hijikata assures them that he'll keep them in the loop and let them know if they can do anything to help they do disperse. His expression loses its frown as he looks after them.]
...
Some of them lost loved ones to that giant. Nearly all of them were taken by it themselves, and I pulled them back out with exorcisms. That's why they stay and help me protect Camelot now.
[Despite knowing that he did what he could, leveraging his familiar's full mana reserves and the spirit guardian he had been hosting, he still feels haunted by his inability to save more souls back then.]
no subject
It's bound to happen again. [She shook her head.] I had no difficulties at all getting information about that giant. How long till a vile one hears of it and foolishly decides to think of it as an opportunity? [ ] Mortals are wont to invite their own destruction.
[ And after a lengthy pause: ]
But for now... I-I suppose I ought to thank you on behalf of the dead for the assistance you have provided.
[ For a goddess to thank a human was something rare, but she wasn't about to be like Ishtar and not acknowledge when others are deserving of praise. ]
no subject
Nothing to thank me for.
[He ponders for a moment.]
I think it'd be worthwhile to reach out to Merlin on this. He's the most powerful mage this side of Camelot, so maybe he can give us guidance on what type of magic would be most effective in destroying the giant. Do you want to speak with him, or should I?
[Sure, they could both roll up at the mage's door, but they do have quite different ideas of how to lead a discussion... (
also logistics!)no subject
[ A very weird and special wizard, that one. Though pretty much everyone universally picked on him, he had brought flowers to her underworld for a brief amount of time. That alone earned him a lot of positive in her book. ]
I shall be the one to speak with him. Even if they are different individuals, it stands to reason fundamental traits might be shared between the two. It should give me an edge when dealing with him.
[ Well... That wasn't really taking into accounts her abysmal social skills. But that should be cancelled out by her prior knowledge of Merlin, right? ]
no subject
[That makes him crack a tiny grin. Is "her" Merlin also an Instagram addict, he wonders? Well, no matter, he's quite glad that she's taking the lead on this, because he has a short fuse and might just get undiplomatic with the smooth-talking mage.]
You can tell him you've got a death-slash-elemental mage for backup so far, plus anyone else you know you can count in. I'm sure I could mobilise some of the other knights, too.
[That's his invitation for her to keep him in the loop. The idea of getting that looming stone monster gone from the Forest of the Felled's landscape is becoming more and more appealing.]
no subject
Yes. I wouldn't call him a friend, but we worked together to save humanity.
[ And he had filled her Underworld with flowers, even if only for the purpose of defeating Tiamat. She wasn't about to forget that... The sight of her usually gloomy and desolate underworld being filled with flowers was one of her happiest memories.
She wondered if this Merlin could teach her how to do it on her own... But she'd ask only if she had the time and opportunity once the matter of the giant settled. ]
You could...? That-that would be great! I wasn't sure how to approach most people about this...
no subject
Hm-m. I know at least a couple who'd surely come along if their magic could be applied, and I'm confident I could get some more on board with this. So let me know what Merlin says. My AOL username is also 'hijikata'.
[He'll leave it up to her whether she'll call or text him or just catch him in person again - but first Merlin needs to have time for her in his schedule, of course.]
Are you going to be okay?
[Right now, he means. It's night, and they're a good bit outside the city! He'll escort her back there if she wants him to. But if she intends to search for more lost souls he isn't going to stop her.]
no subject
[ She looked away with great embarrassment as she said that. It was noticeable she didn't have her communication device with her... And she totally would, but the shop said something about how the warranty expired past the fifth broken phone in a month. She's pretty sure they made this rule specifically because of her, but alas, she has no way to prove it!
Being a goddess is hard. ]
I will be, yes. [She nodded.] I-I realize your first impression of me may have been disastrous, but I am still a goddess. My existence precedes even that of humanity and none who defied me ever claimed victory. There is no reason to fear for me.
[ Sure, she was awkward as all heck and a total social disaster... But she was still a fearsome and dreaded goddess! Even if she didn't have the charisma to back her claims, everything she had said was true. ]
no subject
Alright, I won't worry then, goddess of death.
[At least her username will be easy to remember!]
If you're ever in peril in Camelot at night, call on the Yuureisengumi.
[A nod, and he'll turn to his subordinates and oversee their training while leaving Ereshkigal to her soul rescue efforts. How come, he wonders, that he never took notice of those slowly perishing souls? Do they hide away from living beings? Did he not look closely enough? Maybe he's been too focused on the dangers posed by the living, despite everything.]