[Jean] Chapter 2: Something Old

[Throndir]

"Jean... H-how could you remain so calm w-when I was..." Eloise blushed again, ignoring your question. Turning red she focused on finding her own clothes from the various bags. Embarrassed, she began putting them on.

"Y-you're taking responsibility..." Eloise said, you recall her saying similar words the first time you had met her, but this time she was a lot more quiet about it. When she had enough clothing on, she patted both her cheeks with both of her hands.

"First Jean... Don't EVER speak of this again!" Eloise said, her features still flushed red.

"Secondly... I've never seen anything like that... slime girl. If that's what she is. There are slime creatures like her... but I've never heard of one taking human form... You can talk to her right? Can't she... umm... tell you?"

As she said this, she continued to find more clothing bundles, and had even begun going through other bags that weren't hers.

[pringerbeam]

     "I guess I can try.  It seems a few sticks short of a bundle if you know what I mean."  Turning to look at the slime girl, Jean shouted.  "Hey!"  Jean paused thinking for a moment, unsure if the thing has a grasp of what pronouns to respond to.  "Uh... You!  What are you?"  Jean whipped another wadded up shirt at the slime to keep it sated.

[Throndir]

"Me? I am... me!" The slime girl responded.

"Yum! You... food giver." The slime girl smiled happily as it took the bundles of clothing being fed to it. Eventually, its eating slowed, and it simply plopped on the ground satisfied - there were some leftover bits of clothing around her, but she didn't seem to want to eat anymore.

As if on cue, Eloise too, finished dressing up. This time around she was wearing what looked to be white clothing, with golden trims on it.

"I really don't like wearing these clothes..." Eloise stammered.

[pringerbeam]

     "Well...  I guess that settles things."  Sighed Jean as the slime responded, releasing the Weight Control that he had placed on the slime and letting his summoned tentacles return from whence they came.  "So what's going on here?  I'm guessing you didn't do all of this.  What brought you here?  And are clothes really all you sustain yourself with?  You've got to survive off more than that unless there's a bunch of people around here."  Jean really wasn't sure what was going to be accomplished by talking to the slime girl but he was giving it a shot anyways.  Not like there is anyone else that knows what happened here...  Oh, right...  Jean walked over to the body where his shirt and the book were.  He picked up the shirt and held it up in front of him, looking at the blood caked onto it.  "Here, something for the road."  He tossed the ruined shirt over to the slime girl.  He then picked up the book and turned back to Eloise and the horses, seeing her in her new outfit.  "Woah, those are some fancy threads.  You're not about to tell me you're also a lost princess that likes to go incognito are you?"  Jean looked around the scene, lost in thought trying to figure out their next course of action. 
     "So...  What do we do now?  No horses...  Any idea how we're going to get out of here?"  Jean looked down at the body he had found when they first arrived on the scene.  He remembered that there was something odd about the wound when he had first arrived and was looking to get some kind of understanding of what might have happened here.

Trying to investigate the body.  Not totally sure what might be called for here so I'll just throw out a few skills that might be applicable.

Perception

Rolled 1d20+4 : 15 + 4, total 19

Knowledge: Arcana

Rolled 1d20+10 : 3 + 10, total 13

Knowledge: Nature

Rolled 1d20+7 : 7 + 7, total 14

[Throndir]

Perception: 19
Examining the horses. You realized that these were gored completely. As if something long, sharp, and metallic pierced right through them. It wasn't just any metallic weapon, by the amount of damage that was done the body, whatever pierced it was thicker than even a lance.

"No~" The slime girl responded.

"Big metal thing!" The slime girl plopped noises. "Those... clothes? Yum! All... I... need!"

When you threw the cloth her way, she used one of the tentacles that made up her hair to catch it. The action itself caused her to smile, and she looked fascinatingly at the 'tentacle hair' and began waving it around in the air as if she was both playing with it and testing how they worked.

"Oh- umm... W-well... that is..." Eloise stammered.

"But umm.. nevermind about that... I'm not sure what could have killed the horses like this."

[pringerbeam]

     "There looks to be bits of metal in the wounds too so that lines up with our new acquaintance's story...  So I guess that rules out the demon from earlier.  It didn't seem to have any weapons on it..."  Jean paused a moment to let his thoughts coalesce.  "And I guess that also means that the demon from earlier wasn't alone...  Great..."  Letting out a deep breath, Jean let his arms fall to his sides.  Tapping his chin with the spine of the book, he continued to absentmindedly look over the scene. "So it's probably not safe to just stick around here...  I guess we have to walk.  How far is it to the nearest settlement?  Someplace we might be able to get horses."  He directed the question to Eloise.  "I'd like to stick around and figure out what's going on here and give your compatriots a proper burial but I don't think we have the time.  Whatever killed everyone here might come back and if it's bigger and stronger than the last demon we fought, I don't know how well we will manage.  Not to doubt our friend's abilities..."  He nods over to the slime girl. "But we're not really in fighting shape."

[Throndir]

"Jean, I know you had a couple hours of sleep, but I'm still running out of fumes... If we can't give them a proper burial... Let me atleast get their mage crescents off of them. It's a simple token that signifies who they are, and accomplishments they've done. Their families would appreciate it." Eloise said.

Random Perception requested.

"Food giver! Look!" The slime girl said. You saw her hair move then, and she made her hair tentacles wrap around herself in a provocative matter. The slime girl herself started to squirm around, and introduce a slight pink flush to her cheeks, as if she was blushing.

"Umm... Is it... making fun of me?" Eloise said crossly, though she had again started to blush slightly.

[pringerbeam]

Percption

Rolled 1d20+4 : 17 + 4, total 21

[Throndir]

Perception: 21You were not able to sense anything out of the ordinary.

"Ms... Slime!" Eloise called out as she threw her a yellow piece of clothing.

"That's my raincoat. It's made out of a different material than the other fabrics we've been feeding you..."

[pringerbeam]

     Jean watched Eloise give the raincoat to the slime girl as a brisk wind swept through the area which caused his skin to pucker.  He once again became aware of his own lack of clothing.  "Hey, I don't suppose there are any spare clothes in there that might fit me?  I'm not one for taking stuff from the dead but I didn't really come into this world prepared for temperate weather."  Jean looked around.  The clothes of the dead were mostly bloodstained or ruined.  "What do the crests look like?  We can make this quick hopefully if we work together."

[Throndir]

Feel free to assume there's adventurer clothes nearby. If anything there would be mage robes. Though the guards would have had armor of some sort.

"There's plenty... Many of the others brought spare clothes with them... But umm... taking them off of them... Well, it will be the hero's benefit."

"The crests are generally worn as medallions... But there are a few who incorporate them into bracelets."

The slime creature took the thrown raincoat, and, after seeing Eloise put on her clothes, she began attempting the same. After it managed to fit in it, she spun around smiling and making happy plopping sounds.

Another random Perception requested

[pringerbeam]

Perception

Rolled 1d20+4 : 5 + 4, total 9

[Throndir]

"We could... perhaps use the catacombs again to rest in." Eloise began going to the bodies of the dead guards and mages, and began unhooking or unclasping any of the medallions or bracelets that they had on them.

There are 12 bodies altogether. Between the two of you, it should take 13 rounds altogether, including a round to grab one of the bags to store it in. Roll a Perception for each round you gather. If something hits, I'll pause the scene then.

As you began to work, the slime girl seemed to follow you around about 5 ft. to 10 ft. away at times, though her features were more out of curiosity than anything else.

"She is kinda cute... I just can't believe it ate-" Eloise blushed as she waved the thoughts away.

[pringerbeam]

     "I'm not sure that's a good idea."  Said Jean as he began to go through the dead.  "I'm guessing that the demons already know that we're here.  For all we know that last demon we fought was just a scout and there is still the question of what did all this."  Jean looked at the crests he had gathered, evidence of a lurking danger he did not want to face.  "Staying here would only risk us being trapped in the catacombs and having to fight our way out against even greater odds.  Of course, then there is the question of if the demons would anticipate us fleeing straight for the academy.  Going straight there might only walk us into a trap..."  Jean had no idea how far they would have to travel or how dangerous the way might be bet he felt an instinct within him, to hide would be to trap themselves, to fight would risk their lives against an unknown foe.  The course that made itself clear in his mind was to keep moving, then they might stand a chance against a demonic foe forced to spread their lines thin to catch a fleeing prey.  "I think it's better to risk it traveling.  Perhaps there is a more circuitous route we could take to best evade the demons?"

Wall of Rolls (Perception)

Rolled 1d20+4 : 8 + 4, total 12

Rolled 1d20+4 : 12 + 4, total 16

Rolled 1d20+4 : 13 + 4, total 17

Rolled 1d20+4 : 6 + 4, total 10

Rolled 1d20+4 : 10 + 4, total 14

Rolled 1d20+4 : 6 + 4, total 10

Rolled 1d20+4 : 5 + 4, total 9

Rolled 1d20+4 : 7 + 4, total 11

Rolled 1d20+4 : 14 + 4, total 18

Rolled 1d20+4 : 6 + 4, total 10

Rolled 1d20+4 : 15 + 4, total 19

Rolled 1d20+4 : 8 + 4, total 12

Rolled 1d20+4 : 2 + 4, total 6

[Throndir]

"The demon either snuck past our lines to the south... But more than likely it had come from the east, at the borders of our neighboring country, the Xalaster Orthodoxy. I've heard they've been having troubles with demon incursions on their front... And their southern borders are likely not as well-patrolled." Eloise explained her conjecture.

"We could make our way westwards...There should be a village there that had recently been included into our country. From there, we could make our way south, towards the Academy."



Between you and Eloise, you had managed to gather 8 of the 12 medallions. However, as you made your way to the 9th one, that's when you heard what sounded like a faint deep thumping sound coming from the distance. It was faint, but it seems like the sound was getting closer and closer.