[Leela] Chapter 1: A Father's Plea

[Throndir]

Location: United States - Massachusetts - Boston - Boston Public Garden
Date: Year 2012 - April 3rd - 11:42 AM

"Alright Leela!" Your friend Amy called. She waved at you as she readied her camera pointed towards you. "It looks great! I told you this park was gorgeous."

Amy was a friend you had known for years. First getting to know her back in high school through a forum and internet community called Tellus Online. At first the two of you began friendship simply as roleplaying friends through the boards. You got along well with her, but the only problem was she lived in Boston. It wasn't like you could easily meet up, but that wasn't really anything either of you had considered.

Years later, the two of you finally made actual plans. Anime Boston 2012. That was the name of the convention near where she lived, taking place at Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Since both of you were into cosplaying, it was a perfect choice.

Now finally, it was just a couple days away from the convention. The convention center itself around 6 blocks away. You figured she and you would take some time to take some pictures before the start of the actual convention.

"This is the first shot among many! Make it count!"

Describe how you are posing for the picture! Or any other action.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Sitting down on the fancy park bench, the lolita dressed young woman situated her skirts before posing with the teacup and saucer props she had brought with her. "I hope we're able to photoshop the pictures well enough. Its so bright out here, I feel like I should be wearing a different style to fit the scenery."

[Throndir]

"It's fine! We can grab some food after, head back to the hotel, and come out again later tonight. Now, don't move. Let me take a couple." With that, you saw her starting to press on the camera's trigger.

"Leela?" She called out. Shock written on her face.

But no one responded.

"Leela!"

Location: New World
Date: Year 4901 AC - Ardson 25th - 15:21

Words flashed in your mind.

[okay]You have gained a new title『Summoned Hero』
You have gained『Quick Learner』
You have gained『Mana Sensitivity』
You have gained『Translate All』
You have gained『Personal Status』
You have gained『Summoned as Demon Hero』
You have gained a new title『Savior of Demons』
You have gained『Mimicry』
You have gained a new title『The Mirror』
You have gained a new title『The Lengthened Mirror』
You have gained a new title『The Efficient Mirror』
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You are now level 25. Spend your unallocated points.[/okay]You had no time to process what just happened. One moment you were about to have your picture taken. The next moment Amy was gone. Not only that, the entire park was gone - including the bench you had just been sitting on. You found yourself falling.

Roll Agility Saving Throw, DC 12 for success to prevent falling down ungraciously.

Before you could get your bearings, a large creature towered over you. He had rippling muscles. Thick arms bulging with strength. Wearing armor that looked like it was designed to inspire fear. Almost like some sort of video game. But most of all, you noticed he had a set of horns.

It spoke in a deep and rumbling voice. Yet, his words were something you would have never expected.

"Help me, please! I will give you whatever you want!"

Roll Perception

[Ella]

[info]Agility Saving Throw
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+11 : 7 + 11, total 18[/blockquote][/info]

[Ella]

Leela Steading

She posed as still as she could, waiting for the sound of the first couple of shots so she could change up her pose. But the sound never reached her ears. In the blink of an eye, everything around her disappeared into darkness. Words began flashing before her eyes as though she were looking at a screen. Summoned Hero title? Savior of Demons title? The Mirror title? What were these titles supposed to mean? And what were these other things that didn't say they were titles? Quick Learner, Mana Sensitivity, Translate All, Personal Status, Summoned as Demon Hero, Mimicry? They seemed like names of skills in a video game. And then level up kept flashing before her eyes until it suddenly said she was level 25. What had she done to suddenly be level 25? How was she supposed to spend "unallocated skill points".

"Amy?" Leela reached up to her head, thinking that maybe Amy or someone in the park was playing a trick on her with some sort of headset thing. She had heard of a virtual reality headset that a company was trying to crowdfund on Kickstarter so they could start making them to sell to the general public... Something Rift... Oculus Rift? Considering she did not feel the weight of anything on her head other than what she had placed there before they came to the park, she was not surprised to find nothing unusual on her head.

The farther she fell, the more red lighting she started to see throughout the darkness. Her fall did not feel like she would have expected it to. Leela did not feel like she had fallen off a cliff or tall building and was scrambling to right herself. She felt surprisingly graceful in her fall; as if once she landed, she would be able to just land on her feet and walk away.

As graciously as she fell and landed, Leela still had to steady herself as her body adjusted to being on land instead of falling through the air. She looked up as a shadow fell over her and jumped in fright at the sight of the shocking appearance of the figure before her. Her brain tried to process the figure male figure before her and could only come to one conclusion.

"Wow! You scared me for a second, but your cosplay is amazing!"

"Help me, please! I will give you whatever you want!"

"Uhm... I don't know where we are or how you got me here, but I'm pretty sure I could call this a kidnapping even if you do need help... So... Why don't we go back to the park and my friend and then my friend and I can help you find someone who can help you with your problem?" As Leela spoke, she examined the figure before her a little closer and then tried to look around where they were while still keeping him in her peripheral vision. She did not dare reach her hand into her purse or try to get her backpack, since he might try to take her phone away or think she was trying to reach for a weapon. If he did not think to take her phone, then she had a chance at contacting help. And she still wasn't sure what was going on with all those words flashing before her about titles and skills and leveling up and allocating skill points.





[info]Perception
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+1 : 13 + 1, total 14[/blockquote][/info]

[Throndir]

[info]Perception: 14
The more you looked around the  weirder it was for you. It was like being inside a gothic castle. The floors, walls, and ceiling were all made out of stone slabs and bricks. The floors were adorned with arrays of fine red rugs. The walls held burning torches held up every few feet with gargoyle statues. The room itself was round and circular, with only one exit in and out of the room. The area was more of an alcove than an actual room, as no door separated it from the hallway beyond the only exit. Around you was a set of glowing red symbols. Though you noticed that as time passed, the glow began to slowly dim.

Behind him, standing patiently looked to be a dark-skinned man with white hair wearing a suit.[/info]

"Cosp.. lay?" The large man in cosplay spoke. Mouthing the unfamilar word. A moment later his eyes brow furrowed.

"I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN HUMA- I mean... that is... great hero." The large man stammered as he avoided looking into your eyes. He seemed to gulp, then quickly he prostrated himself down on the ground.

"S-sire!" The white-haired man behind him began. But the large man paid him no heed.

"Please help me." The giant asked once again meekly.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

'A circle of glowing symbols? Oh no...' Right there before her stood a scary looking large "man" and behind him was another "cosplaying man". And as cool as this room would be for a photoshoot, Leela was starting to think that the men might not be cosplayers, but possibly members of a creepy cult. The big man was asking her for help, but what if that was all only part of some weird ceremony before they murdered her where she stood?

Her suspicions only intensified when the large "man" did not seem to even know what cosplay was. Only a total weirdo would dress up like he was and not know what cosplay was. Even people who didn't quite know what cosplay was but dressed up for Halloween could at least guess the general idea of what she was talking about, especially if they were dressed up. When he started to yell about not understanding what she meant and began to call her human instead of girl before correcting himself to call her a great hero, her own brows furrowed. Perhaps he and his partner in crime were so delusional that they believed they were not human? Or perhaps... She had just been summoned by these creepy non-human guys.

Leela stood there looking between the dark-skinned man who seemed to be a servant of some sort to the large man and the large man who had suddenly prostrated himself in front of her after stammering out his previous words and avoiding her gaze. His actions seemed as though he was afraid of her, when it should be the other way around. To make things more confusing, he was still begging for her to help him.

The young woman stood there in the circle of slowly dimming red symbols, looking at the prostrated man and trying to process everything in her head. On the one hand, they could be crazy kidnapping occultists. If this were true, however, they would have had to somehow knock her out and take her away without getting caught in the busy park - unless she was missing memories. But she did not wake up sitting or lying down, she did not feel groggy or in pain in any way, and - even after the falling sensation she had - her clothes, hair, accessories, purse, and bag all seemed untouched and in perfect order. Finally reaching her hand into her purse, she could feel the shape of her phone and other objects she had placed there, so they had not even gone through her things.

On the other hand, they could have somehow actually summoned her to the place she now stood. That "somehow" would most likely have to do with the circle of glowing symbols that had shone so brightly when she first landed. And if they really had summoned her, then she most likely was not on Earth anymore and the strange words that flashed before her eyes might actually be some sort of magical thing that all people in this world probably had.

The only other thing she could think of was that she was either dreaming an extremely vivid dream/nightmare or she had died and for some reason Satan or some other demon was asking for her help. The last one, she dismissed. Satan asking for help seemed way too far-fetched. Not to mention... Accepting that would mean she had died somehow. But just in case she was dreaming... She crossed her arms and pinched herself, hoping she was doing as good of a job at hiding the pain she had caused herself from the servant. If they were calling her a great hero and begging for her help, they probably should not see her showing any sign of weakness.

Keeping her arms crossed, Leela decided to see how things would play out. Whether they were crazy occultists who had done an amazing job kidnapping her, had summoned her with a magic circle, or something else, she was getting nowhere just standing around here.

"I think you have some explaining to do first." She finally responded to the prostrated man, deciding to make use of the superiority he had given her by his actions. "You can't just go around summoning me willy-nilly just because you need help and then not even explain to me where we are, who you are, and what you want. Especially since I can still call all of this kidnapping."

[Throndir]

"Forgive me, hero." The giant grumbled. "My name is LORD GHORAT ROSHANDAN AL VALORJA! HEAR MY NAME AND QUELL IN FEA-"

He coughed.

"That is uhh... dwell... in... here. Yes.. Dwell here in my castle and the region of Roshandan. I beg of you great hero to help me against the vile humans who threaten me.... and.. a-and-" The large man started to sob.

"A-and my..." the large man sniffled. "M-my daughter was just trying to help. She was taken!" You swear there was a pool of tears where his head touched the floor.

But his sadness soon turned into anger as you noticed his knuckles clench.

"Normally, I would HAVE DESTROYED THE HUMANS WHO DARE-"

He cleared this throat and took a deep breathe.

"Ahem. Would have solved the problem myself... but my daughter prohibited me from doing so. I am not to walk on human lands again, or take any more lives. Such things causes my daughter grief you see. I wouldn't be a very good father if I made my only daughter cry." His voice was full of somberness and melancholy. But his tone of voice sharply clashed with the fact that his forehead still touched the ground, a pool of tears, and the giant still continued to prostrate himself in front of you.

"I beg of you great hero! Please help me, I will get you whatever you want!"

[Ella]

Leela Steading

From his words and the way he acted, Leela was starting to think that he was not used to this kind of thing. She had never heard of Roshandan, though his name and the name of the region he claimed they were in all sounded to like Arabic names. Actually now that she thought about it... He did not seem to be speaking English, but she somehow understood everything he was saying and he was able to understand her. Whatever technology they used here to translate was go- And then it hit her. "You have gained『Translate All』" "You have gained『Summoned as Demon Hero』" "You have gained a new title『Savior of Demons』"

'Oh. My. Gosh.' It hit her like whirlpool, the appearances of the two males in the room, the random words flashing before her eyes as she fell, the strange circle with glowing symbols that she still stood in. All of the information was circling around in her head and she could feel the dread of drowning under it all sink into her heart. She had been summoned by DEMONS. Demons who for some reason thought that summoning a human girl to take care of their problem with humans that they had probably terrorized and killed at a moment's whim was a brilliant choice of action. Did they not realize that while humans were destructive to their home, the planet Earth, and pretty good at killing endangered species, humans were not actually very strong? Its not like they had magic or special powers. ... Unless... "You have gained『Mana Sensitivity』" "You have gained『Mimicry』"  ... She had gained special powers upon entering their realm.

With that idea in mind, Leela continued act superior in the situation. She was still scared deep inside, but she was also pretty miffed about the interruption of her photoshoot and vacation. Not to mention, she feared that if she showed weakness, these demons might see that and hurt her instead. They did seem to hate humans after all.

"Okay, so... Let me get this straight." She said as she tried to piece together everything in her head. "You are a... demon lord? who hates humans, but kidnapped me -a human- via magic summoning to help you rescue your daughter, who was kidnapped by humans?" The young woman could tell that he was having a hard time handling the situation. He must normally be the "top dog" and always get his way. That is, until his daughter entered his life; and when she entered his life, she probably became the most important thing in the world to him or he would not be fretting so much about being a good father. Yet somehow, Leela, who was only really good with crafty things and retaining information long enough to pass tests in school, had become his only option. Even though she enjoyed playing games, she was just a casual gamer, so planning tactics and whatnot was not something she was confident in.

[Throndir]

"I DID NOT USED TO HATE THEM!" The giant continued to prostrate before the hero, but a vein on his neck popped, it took him a second to calm down.

"When Ashaki and I were brought to this world, we wanted nothing to do with the demon council's war!" Ghorat proclaimed. "I left them alone, and they left me alone! The humans did too. No one's foolish enough to enter the domain of Roshandan after all. But my daughter, Ashaki, loved to explore..."

"She brought back this amazing thing! It was called 'bread'. And when we had a bite... it was absolutely the most flavorful thing both she and I have ever tasted in our lives. I SAW HOW THE FOOD MADE MY DAUGHTER FEEL HAPPY!" Ghorat's loud voice echoed loudly in the chamber.

"I wanted to surprise her... I wanted to bring her all sorts of treats and goodies! I AM A GOOD FATHER. I AM GREAT FATHER." Ghorat repeated again, as if trying to convince himself that he was.

"So when she was sleeping. I and a couple of my retainers went into the human lands to the west, and when I reached a village, I asked them for food! I WAS VERY CALM! But the humans WOULD NOT LISTEN! They rushed at me with weapons and magic. They killed some of my retainers. I tried not to be angry... BUT THEY WERE NOT VERY KIND! I cast magic to freeze them on the spot, but they couldn't even take that!"

Ghorat's breathing become more intensified. He attempted to calm himself down again, and continued his retelling.

"How could I have known humans were so weak?" His voice was somber now. "When Ashaki was a wee little child, we used to throw fireballs at each other... O-oh Ashaki..." His voice trembled as he recalled the memory.

"When I told her what I had done, she got mad at me. She told me never to do that again. Ashaki had told me before that humans were very weak, but I thought she was joking. I promised her then, and to secure the promise I had binding magic cast on me to prevent myself on touching human lands again..."

"Many of my retainers did not like this. The lesser demons fled for other lords. The monsters they owned, they brought with them. Only a few support me now. Zavan over there is the last of my generals." You notice the silver-haired man in the back bow his head.

"And when they left, the humans came again... this time with one of their 'Heroes'. They continued to invade my lands, kill more of those I protect under my care, and destroy what I've worked to build. Ashaki couldn't stand it anymore, and she told me she was going to talk to them... I fear the worst."

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Leela continued to stand there watching the giant demon lord, wondering how long he was going to stay prostrated during this conversation. Perhaps he would stay that way until she agreed to help him. But Leela was not ready to agree until she knew exactly what she was getting into. Not to mention, was she even able to return back to her home world from here?

As she listened to the first part of his story, she tried to summarize what he had already told her and combine it with what he was starting to tell her. So far, it appeared that this Gorat guy seemed to prefer to stick to just maintaining status quo with this area that he controlled, Rossandan, and refused to enter into conflict with other groups that he did not control.  He also seemed to prevent others from attempting to start conflict with him by making sure people feared entering Rossandan. So far, he did not actually seem like a bad guy at all. But then his daughter ruined it by exploring outside of their boundaries and meeting humans.

When he got to the part of about bread, Leela unconsciously put her head in one hand in disappointment. They thought bread was the most flavorful thing they had ever tasted? What did they eat normally that didn't have as much flavor as bread?! Sawdust? Even with home made nut bread or sweet pastry breads, she could not call bread the most flavorful food she ever tasted. Did they not even know about herbs and spices?

His sudden yelling about his daughter feeling happy brought her attention back to what he was talking about. If her head was not already in her left hand, she would have face palmed at this demon lord's stupidity. Of course the humans would attack him instead of reason with him! He was big and scary looking, the retainers were probably just as scary looking, and she had the feeling that his "very calm" was about the same as this entire conversation had been since the first words he spoke. His diplomacy skills seemed to be, at best, zero.

"You threw fireballs at your daughter?!" She could not help but blurt out in shock at his words. She realized after the words had escaped her that demons might be able to handle the extreme heat or even be immune to fire. Still, though! What a dangerous thing to do with a child.

After her little outburst, Leela listened to the rest of his story in silence and with her arms crossed. When it was all said and done, what it all boiled down to was that his daughter going to talk to the humans or being kidnapped by them or whatever was going on with that was not his only issue. She was most likely going to get stuck with solving this issue with the humans as well if she agreed to help. And if she did not agree to help, if it were possible for her to return home, they probably would not tell her or help her do so.

Gorat said that the humans had summoned a "hero" of their own when they came to destroy Rossandan. If that were the case, maybe this other hero was from her own world and she would be able to get their help, either in solving the issue or finding a way back home.

"Okay, fine. I will help you. But before I go off on this quest to save your daughter, we're going to need to sit down and discuss a few things. I am not going to go in unprepared." She might not be good at tactics and other things that her gamer friends seemed to be much better at, but she still liked to at least try to have a plan of action. Especially if she was doing something that she did not do very often or had never done before. "Also. I would like to see your kitchen and food pantry."

[Throndir]

"Thank you so much! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Ghorat finally raised his head, his eyes were actually still full of tears.

"THESE ARE TEARS OF JOY!" Ghorat explained, his eyes wide, pointing to them. "It is a rare sight to produce tears of joys from a demon lord such as I! Usually they are TEARS OF DESTRUCTION AND DEATH. FEEL HONORED HUM-"

He cleared his throat.

"Sorry... there was something caught in my throat." He stammered, but he genuinely smiled happily as he grinned.

"Of course great hero. What is the hero's name? I wouldn't want to keep calling you what you are, for you are a guest of Roshandan castle, rather than a retainer! We shall proceed to the GREAT HALL OF MISERY for our discussion on your preparations. Or if you'd like, we can head to the KITCHEN OF ALL DARK THINGS." His voice reverberated throughout his castle.

"It's on the way, you see."

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"If they're so rare, maybe you should bottle them up. Maybe they can make a powerful potion." She said jokingly. Leela was not sure if potions were a thing here, but if video games and fantasy books taught her anything, random specific stuff like "a demon lord's tears of joy" could possibly be a quest item for making something powerful.

"I am Princess Leela Steading of the great country of America." The young woman curtsied as she introduced herself. She decided that if they didn't even know who they had summoned, she might as well make use of it. If it turned out that she was now stuck in this other world, her status here as some great hero might not last forever. If they believed her to be a princess as well as a summoned hero, then that might put and keep her on equal footing with whatever rulers she might have to deal with and be useful for her quest. Besides, she was dressed well enough with her Lolita dress to look like a princess -although possibly more like a lesser princess than a crown princess- and she had always wanted to be one growing up. "You may call me Leela-sama for short."

Oh how Leela wished she had earplugs in her purse or backpack to make his shouting more bearable. Instead, she fought to stop herself from covering her ears. A fight that she was sure to fail if he kept speaking so loudly. She could already feel the beginnings of a headache coming on from all his random shouting throughout their conversation.

"Let's visit the kitchen first. I get the feeling that what I find there will add to the list of things that need to be taken care of." Leela dreaded her first meal in this strange new world if the demons here did not even know how to make bread, one of the most basic of foods that had been around as far back as the Bible days in her world.

[Throndir]

[okay]You have gained a new title『Princess』
You have gained +1 CHA[/okay]

"ZAVAN!" Ghorat yelled for his retainer.

"Yes sire!" The silver-haired man came up to Ghorat then, and out of no where he pulled out a vial. Carefully both he and Ghorat proceeded to attempt to extract some of his tears into the vial.

"Sire, if you keep moving, it won't go in!" He said as he vainly attempted to put a drop of his tears into the vial's small opening. "It's not big enough!"

"I CAN'T HELP BUT MOVE. I HAVE SO MUCH EMOTION. EXCITEMENT." Ghorat proclaimed.

"My lord, help me get on top of you." Replied back, having trouble with the ordeal.

"ZAVAN BE GENTLE!" Ghorat said as the silver-haired man climbed up on his shoulders.

Normally what you just heard would have caused anyone to blush if they weren't given context. But to yours eyes, seeing two grown men attempt to put a tear in a vial. It looked just absolutely silly.

When they finally finished, you had introduced yourself. Zavan himself holding a vial full of liquid.

"Our great hero is a princess as well! Uhmericka." Ghorat said fumbling on the name of your country.

To your surprise it was Zavan who spoke next.

"That explains your exquisite beauty, my lady." He said. "That is... Lady Sama."

Once you had suggested to move for the kitchen. Zavan bowed low. "Then my lord and lady, let us move to the kitchen..."

"OF ALL DARK THINGS, Zavan. OF ALL DARK THINGS." Ghorat finished.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Again Leela found herself holding her head in one hand as the scene before went from them merely taking her joke seriously to a conversation that could have been worded much, much differently. 'Note to self: I am surrounded by idiots. Must try to remember that from now on.'

"Leela-sama works fine, Zavan. 'Sama' itself basically means lord or lady." Her inner self squealed with glee that they believed her introduction as well as from the compliment. She ignored Gorat's attempt at pronouncing her home country. With how much she was dreading the food in this place and how stupid these two demons seemed to be, she could at least take satisfaction in being treated like a princess.

With Zavan's encouragement of moving to the kitchen, Leela followed silently, going over in her head what was needed to make bread so that she could maybe send the demon's people out to search for ingredients within their territory.