[Leela] Chapter 3: Setting Out

[Throndir]

Sense Motive: 5
You couldn't get a feeling from Zavan on why he might have been troubled.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Although Zavan seemed to be struggling with his answer, the only real reason Leela had for doubting his words were the words of the demon horse. She decided to accept his answer for now. They could talk more about it later, probably whenever she decided to ask him how he became on of Ghorat's generals. Perhaps he had told everyone he was demon when he was actually a... drow. She could see him being a drow elf. If that was the case, it wasn't much different from her telling them all that she was a princess of America.

Leela was not sure where the random intense music had started to come from as Roadmarech gave his speech. She followed him out of the stables, thoroughly unamused with his speech and the random music. Everything he said seemed more like a pep-talk a leader would give to his subjects to bring up morale... if you were an evil being who wanted to encourage your subjects to be scary. Or something you would say in front of your enemies to encourage fear.

As the other demon horses appeared and Roadmarech continued to speak, Leela stared blankly in annoyance. Finally, the demon horse finished speaking.

Leela looked at Zavan.

"I changed my mind. We don't need horses. We're going to walk." She told him with a straight face.

"It was nice to meet you all, Azure Shadows. Sorry for wasting your time, but you can go back to your home plane now." She apologized to the herd of demon horses before turning to walk away.

[Throndir]

You have gained a new title 『4th Wall Breaker』

Roadmarech literally dropped his jaw. Zavan blinked a couple times.

"A-ah." For once Zavan was at a loss of what to say. "Very well Leela-sama." Zavan said recovering. "If Roshandan's castle's steeds are not to your taste then perhaps... perhaps... we may be able to find human horses..."

Roadmarech on the hand, his features moved from confusion, to anger, to confusion over and over.

"Wait just a minute!" The nightmare cried. "Are we not going to the humans to punish them for stealing the lord's daughter, Ashaki?"

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Not to her tastes? What were they thinking? From the beginning, she had told them that she hoped to peacefully resolve the issue and maybe even get the humans to want to trade with them so that they could have the delicious bread that had pretty much started the whole issue in the first place. Yet here they were thinking it was perfectly okay to send her out with flesh-eating horses. It was clear to her that demons did not even try to understand humans or how intimidated and afraid they might feel in the presence of something that clearly was proud that it caused nightmares.

"I would rather not sit around waiting for non-ethereal plane horses to be found. Unless you think the village of goblins might have some we could borrow." She doubted goblins would have horses or any sort of animals, though one could never know for sure. Her knowledge of goblins was that they were not very intelligent and usually stayed in groups to help survival rate. And that they liked to kill to get things they wanted. They likely were not farming creatures. Still, seeing as nothing else she had come across so far was what she had expected it to be here, she could hope.

Leela turned back to look at Roadmarech when he cried after her.

"I have a very important mission. I mission that I do not have all the facts for and so must handle things carefully. I do not know why the humans decided to kidnap Ashaki when she went to try to make peace with them about her father's actions. Maybe they think she is amazing and worship her. Maybe they intend to ransom her. Maybe they think that keeping her hostage will ensure that they will not be attacked again, because her life is at stake if we do retaliate. Whatever they intend to do, I do not intend to go in with guns blazing when there is a chance that things could be solved peacefully and in a way that could be beneficial to everyone involved." She explained as calmly as she could.

"It is clear to me that none of you have stopped to consider how the humans might be feeling about everything that has happened. So, tell me, what would you do if your worst nightmare suddenly showed up yelling at you in a loud and intimidating voice -possibly in another language that you did not understand- about food without making sure that you knew that it meant no harm to you and your families? I wasn't even there, but hearing it second-hand from Lord Ghorat himself, I can already tell that the humans were afraid for their lives from the start. When humans -especially uneducated humans- are afraid, their philosophy is to kill first, ask questions later. They might even have a hero of their own, and if they see a herd of flesh-eating demon horses coming their way, I'm sure the hero or whoever they have that can fight would come out to fight us instead of receiving me for negotiations."

"I want my mission to be a complete success. If all that I try to do to resolve things peacefully fails, then and only then will I allow more violent means dealing with them."

[Throndir]

Roadmarech was about to speak, but he realized he had no actual arguments for your reasonings.

"A-ah... unexpected way to solve the problem at hand... If it were any other demon general, they would have gathered their armies in retaliation... I assumed you were summoned for that purpose, as Lord Ghorat is not willing to do it himself."

"We can make our way to the goblin village if you wish, and from there, we can take you to the borders of Lord Ghorat's domain."

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"Well I'm not a demon general. I am a summoned hero. And heroes don't go on a violent rampage when there are safer and possibly more lucrative alternatives." It was probably a good thing that she had been summoned instead of some demon or some demented human who thought it was fun to go around killing people to get their way. These demons did not even have a true army. She was sure if the humans gathered friends from other settlements nearby that they could muster up enough fighters to invade Roshandan if provoked enough to do so. Ghorat had said himself that he stayed out of the demon council's war with the humans, but if he had to, she was sure he would turn to them for help in dealing with human invaders. She was not sure what the demon council would do with a human hero should Ghorat be forced to ally with them, summoned by demons or not, and she did not want to find out. Even if they didn't care about her race, she did not want to be in the center of a war.

"Thank you for your offer. But I can only accept you and your... Azure Shadows taking us to the border if everyone can promise not to eat anything living without my permission first. If you cannot, then I can only accept your offer to take us to the goblin village." She had almost said to not eat any humans, but then realized humans might not be the only sentient creatures who these flesh-eating demon horses would eat.

[Throndir]

"Very well then... If that what the summoned hero desires... Humans on this world are a treat... But there are plenty of beasts in the ethereal. It is there that we hunt."

He then faced the rest of the nightmares.

"Return back home! The princess has willed it. I will personally take you to the border."

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"Thank you, Roadmarech." Look at both Roadmarech and Zavan, Leela continued. "It looks like we will be stopping by the goblin village first to see if they have steeds that are less intimidating to humans that we can borrow." Going to the goblin village did mean more time spent doing other things, but it was better to see if they had mounts than to simply walk the whole way. Leela would have to figure out a more definitive plan once they visited the goblins.

[Throndir]

"If it's going to Roadmarech himself that bring us to our destination... Then, I'll proceed on letting the imps know to pull out your carriage." Zavan nodded, and proceeded to head back to the castle, an imp appeared beside him at that moment, and he seemed to be giving her instructions.



Shortly after that, the new carriage was prepared, and Roadmarech strode over to have the vehicle attached to him.

The vehicle itself was large. Even the wheels of the carriage seemed like it was blown up to fit the size of someone like Roadmarech. However, once a ladder was lowered, and you managed to peer in, you realized that the carriage itself was meant for normal-sized people. Many of the imps were already seated, though, you noticed there were plenty of chairs hanging far along the wall in high places. That told you that the seats were made specifically for the imps, as only they could have easily teleported to reach there. There was another ladder too that went upwards, and it was there that Zavan lead you to.

At the very top of the main carriage, was a secondary carriage, which was more of a normal-sized one, but gave you the ability to look around. It was as if you were on the 3rd floor of a building.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

'My carriage?' Leela thought. She was unsure as to why he seemed to be emphasizing that it was hers. Zavan had said that they had horses and a carriage when they had talked the day before, but she had not expected that it would be given to her. Unless he meant that he was not riding with her?

"Thank you, Roadmarech, for pulling this carriage for us." She felt the need to thank the huge horse once again as he allowed himself to be hooked up to the extremely large carriage. She would probably thank him again when they stopped, or at least when they split at the border. Even regular horses were prideful creatures, and she was sure demon horses were even more so. She did feel a little bad about what she had done, but she had been so overwhelmed and upset with the situation that she could not have helped it. Besides, it had probably made such a huge impact on them all that it made them willing to hear out her explanation. And besides... once she successfully rescued Ghorat's daughter, perhaps she could make a contract with one of the Azure Shadows. A demon horse that could pop out of the ethereal plane into her plane would be extremely handy.

Although... Once she successfully rescued Ghorat's daughter, the demon lord had said he would give her whatever she wanted. She was not sure if it were possible to be sent back to her own world, but if there was a chance, she would most likely choose that. It had not even been a full two days in this place, but she was already feeling the tugging longing of seeing her sweet kitty and her family and the comforts of her bedroom. If she could not go back home, though... She needed to think of what she wanted. Whatever she asked for, it would have to be something big, because they had literally ripped her out of her happy life to a place that had no electricity, tasteless food, and depressing landscape.

Leela had not even bothered asking why the carriage was so huge. She had assumed that such a large horse would pull a large carriage. A regular-sized carriage would just look too comical. Still, she could not help but to mutter under her breath as she climbed to the top, "its like a moving house." And that was when she decided to call it Leela's Moving Castle.

"Wow, Zavan!" She exclaimed when she looked out at the scenery. It was pretty amazing being so high up on such a large vehicle. This was also her first time actually looking around at the outside world. Before, she had only peeked out the window briefly to see the sky, but she had so much on her mind that she had not really stopped to look at the scenery. "This view would be amazing if landscape wasn't so..." She trailed off, trying to think of the right word. Unusual? Dark? Depressing?

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter right now." She turned to Zavan. "How long will it take to get to the goblin village?"

[Throndir]

"It shouldn't be too long." Zavan said as he sat comfortably in his spot with you at the top of the carriage. Abi popped her head from below.

"Leelasama! Leelasama! Leelasama! Leelasama!" Abi kept saying again and again, as she continued to giggle. Finally, when it was just about to get annoying she finished what she was saying. "We're going on a road trip together!" She then poofed into the chair beside you.

With that you felt the carriage move, at first it was bumpy, then all of a sudden it was absolutely smooth. You suddenly picked up speed then, going much much faster than you thought a regular horse could go. You could still hear Roadmarech's footsteps galloping onwards, but you no longer heard the sound ot the wheels hitting rocks and stones. The view also looked like you were higher than when you first started. Roadmarech was flying.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

As he had not given her how long it would be in hours, Leela decided that meant it would be a short enough trip that she should not bother asking about that lesson or bring up her abilities just yet.

"Yes, we are." The young woman patted Abi's head when the imp poofed next to her. Then, she turned to look out at the scenery. It would be good for her to at least look about for landmarks to learn the lay of the land.

"I don't think we can quite call this a 'road' trip." She said when she realized that they were no longer on land. She was not even sure if she was surprised or not that the demon horse could fly. After everything she had been through and done since the moment she had arrived, she wasn't sure what unexpected things could actually surprise her.

[Throndir]

The journey to the goblin village will take just under 3 hours. Feel free to state any actions if needed. You can attempt to do the Training rules, but since its only 3 hours, you'll have to attempt Expedited. You can do a normal 4, if you choose to slow down the ride.

"It's fun! But in a carriage! This is fun! Big horse is big! Look! I see far! Do you like to ride? It's flying!" Abi said joyfully as she kept peeping over the window, then sitting herself back down beside you, through her eyes never leaving the view of the outside.



Location: Domain of Roshandan - Goblin Village
Date: Day 2 - Time: 1 PM

In the distance you see what looks to a village. The houses were small, and they didn't look very well made at all. The inhabitants themselves were short creatures with green skin, wearing rags.

The moment they saw the large flying horse and the carriage however, all the goblins kneeled. At that same moment, a red-haired man strode to the kneeling goblins. As Roadmarech landed, and slowed, the red-haired man raised a hand in greeting.

"Yo!"

"Welcome to the goblin village #1 Lord Ghor-" He paused, as he saw you in the carriage with an eyebrow raised questioningly.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Leela smiled at Abi's enthusiasm about the trip and being in a flying carriage. It was like the imp had never done anything like this before. Perhaps she had not. It was hard to tell when it came to the imps. They were very easily excitable. The rest of the imps in the lower part of the carriage were probably jumping all around in their excitement.

"In my world, we fly in large metal... birds. The ones who invented them call them airplanes. I do not really like flying in airplanes, but it is pretty cool flying in a carriage pulled by a giant fiery horse." She responded to Abi's question.

Spoiler

Leela will do expedited training on the way there.

[close]

~~~~~~~~~~

While the imps' appearance and personalities had been very different from what Leela had been expecting, the goblins looked the same as she had expected them to. Their village was also much like she had expected, small and looking like it could be destroyed easily. She watched as they all began to kneel down at the sight of the carriage.

"Who is that?" She asked Zavan when she noticed the red-haired man walk towards the goblins. From what she could remember, the only people she had yet to meet were the goblins and the... Keeper? But she had imagined the Keeper stayed in the castle, since he was supposed to guard the vaults.

Spoiler

Leela is not ignoring his greeting, she is asking this before they land.

[close]

[Throndir]

"The Goblin Master, a demon general, the ifrit, named Efrit Burut..." Zavan narrowed his eyes.

"Once named Efrit Burut al Valorja. But now goes by Efrit Burut al Akashin..." Zavan moved quickly, and he was suddenly in between you and the red-haired man, Efrit.

"Whoa. Whoa Zavan." Efrit said as he shrugged. "Let's just say it was a change of heart. Apparently the demon lord of the Akashin tribes has a distaste for goblins... And I couldn't bring these cute ones over." Efrit said explaining, motioning to the goblins. The goblins did not look very cute though.

"Came to check on the village that decided to stay with Lord Ghorat... But the other 1,000 goblins should be re-settling their villages as we speak. Once I was done here... I was actually planning to go to the big guy himself. Imagine my surprise seeing Roadmarech."

"But more importantly Zavan... Who's that fine lady behind you?" He grinned as he shot you a glance.