[SEASONAL EVENT] En Gourde!
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
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Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#1
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Jigano strode beside Edy, bemused at the direction his day had unexpectedly taken. He’d entered the tavern beneath the temple hoping to secure a job, and less than an hour – and two and a half shots of whiskey - later had left to hunt demonic gourds. How much of that was due to Caido’s usual chaos and how much of that was due to the very specific chaos that was young Edy he wasn’t yet sure, but the combination of the two was certainly proving volatile!

Their rambling trail had taken them from the relative civilization – if he used the word loosely – of the settlement to the fertile fields beyond. What better place to find ripe and restless vegetables, after all? Jigano had been trying to picture their unusual prey in his head all the while but each image seemed sillier than the last. Still, he walked with his rapier limbered at his side, the tapered sword elegantly simple in construction but crafted by a master smith, from its silvery swept basket-hilt to the tip of its well-maintained blade. There was a sense of emptiness about it, however, as if there had once been more to it. Someone as inclined toward sentiment as a bard might have said the heart had gone out of it, but its edges and tip still glittered with efficiently lethal beauty.

Their shadows stretched beside them, long and dark by the time they began their walk through a field half-cleared of some crop – grain, Jigano thought, by the yellow stalks that remained behind. ”What spices do you have here?” He’d just asked, thoughts once more firmly on how to prepare their eventual harvest. ”Cinnamon? Cloves? Nutmeg, at least?” Expensive but obtainable, at least on his world. Here, though, with the barrier preventing trade, he had no idea what to expect. Just as he didn’t expect the half dozen sinister squash to come rolling and bouncing out of the still-standing stalks of grain they were walking alongside, chittering with unholy glee as they attacked. From an unusually large cackling cucumber to a knee-high pumpkin with red eyes glowing fiercely in the approaching twilight they gnashed wicked teeth made of rind in eager anticipation of their vegetative vengeance – starting with Edy’s ankles, if they could reach them!
Edrei Launceleyn
the Rapacious


Age: 28 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 6 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 21 - Luck: 5 - Int:
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#2

Edy
fuck you <3

As they strode along, Edy happily filled the silence with all manner of nonsense: information about her upbringing, the curse that had been over her family, what an outcast she was compared to most the Launceleyns and so forth. She described just how terrible the society they had come from had been, how chaos and order reigned and how biases and sexual relationships had basically ruled all. All this though she said relatively free of judgement (except for the bit about her family; it didn't take a psychoanalyst to read the bitterness coating her words when it came to them). As for Northaven though? Well. That was then, and this was now. And this now was particularly interesting to the teenager: a mysterious stranger, menacing vegetables and a chance to make a new brand of alcohol? What more could she ask for?

"Mmmhmmm." Edy said with a shrug, cocking a brow towards Jigano. "Do I really strike you as the knowing about local spices type?" Batting her eyelashes at him Edy trilled a laugh before shrugging childishly again. "Bet we could just take some from Remi if it comes to that. He seems like the sharing type." Actually Edy didn't know that. All she knew of the alchemist was that he was nice (her least favourite character trait).

"Ooohhhhh no you don't." The teenager said, sweeping her arms outwards in what was clearly just a pantomime of magical use. As it was Edy's magic was entirely mental; no weird movements or incantations necessary. Still, as the vegetables neared the life seemed to entirely ebb out of them until they were little more than dried up husks. Cackling happily, Edy looked towards her pale-haired counterpart with a grin. "I mean, dead probably isn't so good for fermentation but I'll be fucked if I have to hobble around because of these freaks."

Glancing around to see if there were any more, she gave Jigano an expectant sort of stare, clearly expecting him to take charge.
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#3
Having no real concept of Northaven or the politics that had gone on there, Jigano found Edy’s rambling fascinating, and with only small questions and comments to urge her on he listened quite happily, taking what mental notes he could to try and arrange it into a more coherent whole later. Eventually things circled back to their original reason for taking a walk in the big, wide – if magically limited – world and Jigano snorted at Edy’s sass. ”You strike me as the type that’s full of surprises,” he shot back dryly, but with a grin to soften his own sharp tongue. ”And I’d rather not make the mistake of underestimating you!” Young, headstrong, and with very little sense of consequences as was common in teenagers of his experience, but he wasn’t prepared to write her off as stupid or ignorant. Having very skewed priorities, though? Oh, yes, he was coming to that conclusion fairly quickly.

”I thought you didn’t know him very we—“ Jigano didn’t get much chance to pursue that line of inquiry before the gourds attacked. Bringing his rapier up he prepared to repel ankle-biters, but Edy had it under control. With a nice little piece of showmanship he absently admired she flung out an arm and he expected their fruity foes to burn to tasty toasted crisps, but what happened instead had both brows rising nearly to his hairline. ”I expect you have no trouble ‘getting fucked’ regardless,” he murmured, the sly comment slipping past his usual filter in his surprise. ”Just what did you do to them?”

More cackling tickled the edges of his hearing, and a lower sound, more felt than heard and barely registering distracted him from making guesses. He met her expectant stare with a roll of his eyes and a grin, stepping forward. ”Yes, I suppose it is my turn next, isn’t it?” With a chuckle he poked one of the gourd husks experimentally, humming thoughtfully to himself as it collapsed to dust. He seemed preoccupied with the way the breeze stirred the black particles, standing at ease as a pair of burly swan gourds with wings of flame burst out of the grain, leaving a smoldering trail behind them as they hopped towards the slender man with all the ferocity of their namesakes.

They were a bit closer than he had anticipated, but what he lacked in strength the bard made up for by being quick on his feet. He spun, using the momentum of his turn to behead one of the gruesome gourds with a flicker of the silvery blade. He had to dodge the second, but as he twisted aside and sunk his rapier halfway into its sturdy body the sword became caught – and a third wave tumbled out of the shivering grain a little ways away, rolling and bouncing towards him and Edy with manic hunger in fiery eye holes. Try to keep a small pumpkin or two, ah, intact!” he called, engaging in a somewhat less graceful dance with the angrily honking swan gourd than he’d intended as they both tried to disengage his sword from its middle.
Edrei Launceleyn
the Rapacious


Age: 28 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 6 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 21 - Luck: 5 - Int:
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#4

Edy
fuck you <3

Edy grinned, always happy to be complimented. Unlike many her age who were desperately trying to find themselves, the Launceleyn girl was doing the exact opposite. Responsibilities and obligations? Prince(ss) charming and romantic overtures? Fuck that. Edy was just living day by day, and while it clearly showed in her often too-crass attitude and a poor understanding of time and place, it was also part of her charm, if one could call it that.

Flashing Jigano a 100 watt smile, Edy basked happily in the reference to her sexual prowess. It wasn't that she fancied herself quite the catch or anything, merely that she thought of sex as any other bodily need. You ate when you were hungry didn't you? And occasionally didn't you eat food you didn't necessarily love or wouldn't have again? Such was the teenagers views on sex. Though where she'd come from, the opposite couldn't have been more true of the majority. Indeed the head of the Launceleyn's had put Edy in a coma simply because the teenager asked if the woman was masturbating enough to keep herself healthy. Really, Edy had just been checking up on her well-being. It wasn't her fault Zariah was a prude.

"Oh...just a little tug on their life force." Edy purred with a wink. Watching as the two newest arrivals made their fiery way forward, Edy merely cocked a hip and watched expectantly for her counterpart to dispatch them. As he did, Edy's eyes widened with unfettered delight as he lithely swing his sword about in a movement that might as well have been a dance.

Raising her fingers to let fire gently plume from them, the teenager stopped as she was instructed to keep the gourds in tact. Running her tongue across her teeth Edy considered this instruction. Back in Northaven she'd been a destructionist. She blew shit up. She did not keep things intact. Twitching her lips, Edy tried to formulate a plan. Spinning a ring of fire to force the gourds together (and to keep them from rushing forward), she glanced over her shoulder. "Fancy helping a girl out?" She called with a bright grin. The sword should be long enough to reach over the flames and behead the gourds. Assuming they were smart enough not to charge through her fiery blockade.
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#5
Oh, he dearly wanted to pursue that line of inquiry – tugging on life force? But wasn’t she a fire kineticist? Alas, the gourds had other plans, and Edy was waiting for him to step up. He might have been just a little rusty, he had to admit to himself as the second slice didn’t go quite as planned. He’d always preferred to rely on his spells over his sword – if the rapier was out, something had gone very, very wrong – but at one point he’d been fairly good with it. Of course, that was when the blade itself had still held a few enchantments to help him along, and he’d regularly faced foes that could laugh off his magic and needed a more personal touch. The sword was simple metal now, and he was feeling its weight and lack of mystical keenness with fresh appreciation for the youth he’d been at the start of his adventures, barely scraping by…

Luckily his new friend was distracted by the third wave, and Jigano took the opportunity to plant a foot against the honking, flame-winged gourd’s side and push it off his blade. It floundered, hacked half-through, and before it could come around for a second go he chopped its head off as well.

Not so difficult with a dipper gourd or one of the long-necked squashes, but he doubted the larger pumpkins were going to be impressed with a little skewering. Unfortunately, he wasn’t given the choice to find an alternative. Edy flashed her devil-may-care grin and he realized belatedly that she’d rounded up their attackers in a ring of fire. A whistle of appreciation escaped as he walked over to her side, admiring her control – and noting, amidst the four new fruits, a nice-sized little pie pumpkin that would have been quite lovely if it hadn’t had a maniacal leer carved into it, and glowing eyes that seared his soul.

”It would be my honor, lovely Edy,” he proclaimed with a bow and a flourish of his blade. As he rose, a grin on his own face, he twisted to cut down a particularly determined butternut squash that tried to breach the wall. He grunted as the blade hit the hard rind, but this time he was better prepared, and followed through with enough force to free the rapier and whip it back to behead the gooseneck gourd beside it. The low rumbling noise he’d heard earlier seemed to be getting louder, but he was too preoccupied to pay it much attention at the moment. The grain beside them was waving energetically now, though the breeze didn’t seem strong enough to warrant such frenzy.

Regardless, he reached over the wall of fire again to spear the chittering acorn squash on the end of his sword, then lifted it – with no small difficulty - to present it to Edy as it screeched and twisted angrily, impaled by the blade and momentarily harmless as it was caught in place. ”A gift,” he declared gallantly, trying not to show the strain of holding it aloft at such a distance from himself. ”For the finest bartender I’ve met in this crazy place!”
Edrei Launceleyn
the Rapacious


Age: 28 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 6 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 21 - Luck: 5 - Int:
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Posts: 991 | Total: 16,193
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#6

Edy
fuck you <3

Had Edy ever been called lovely? Never in her recollection, and especially after speaking with Bastien who'd eliminated an entire crop of names as Edy wasn't nice enough to wear them, she found herself wondering if Jigano was mocking her somehow. Well, even if he was, she hardly cared. They were eviscerating vegetables caged in a ring of fire, in a world where hardly anything made sense. As if Edy was going to waste time ruminating on her strange new friend's(?) linguistic choices.

Fluttering her eyelashes, the teenager grinned at Jigano and offered him a small bow. "Why I never." She cackled, feigning some sort of attempt at modesty before glancing at the vegetable. "Shush you." Edy tittered at the groaning gourd. She had eyes only for its gnashing teeth and so didn't notice any potential strain on Jigano's face or limbs. Dolling her magic out in a much smaller quantity this time, Edy sucked enough life out of the impaled vegetable to kill it, but not completely squash it (pardon the pun).

Turning her head over her shoulder, she too heard the rustling in the grainy curtain of wheat behind. While the teenager would have been more than happy to set the entire field ablaze and simply be done with it, even she knew that such short-sighted thinking probably wasn't smart. "How many of these do we need for our little brew? " The teenager asked, pulling the no-longer flailing gourd off of the sword and holding it beneath her arm. "Because I think things are going to get festive in a minute."
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#7
Edy might not have been a delicate flower of noble ladyhood, but from what he’d gathered of her earlier rambling she hadn’t come from the best place, and was still caught in the web of rebellion she’d spun to protect her sense of self and (questionable) sanity. Compliments were simple gifts to give, and Jigano meant both of his sincerely, if delivered with a teasing lilt that he hoped might make them easier to accept. He had failed at playing counsellor in his past, a world and a lifetime ago, and the scars those failures left still bled sometimes, so he was unwilling to try and step in for a girl he’d just met. But if he could bring a smile to her face, well… what was the harm?

Except to his poor biceps and shoulders, of course, as he did his best to make his chivalrous gesture look elegant and hide the strain. The shriveling of the gourd as its life force was lightly siphoned away was a decided relief, though, and watching it happen was an excellent distraction until she plucked her new paperweight from his blade and he let his arm drop to his side to let the blood flow resume its proper course. ”I suppose while we’re experimenting, just one or two. That one should do nicely,” he nodded at the remaining pumpkin as it yipped and bounced in fruity fury within its fiery fence, glaring at the two humans just beyond its reach.

”I’m not sure how much more seasonal cheer I can take,” he admitted with a wry grin, peering down at their captive and shaking his sword arm out as he calculated how hard he’d have to hit it to split it in twain. Perhaps he should have saved the acorn squash as well, but the cackling cucurbit had been such a perfect match to the cackling girl he was glad he’d gifted it instead. ”Hang on, I’ll just finish this one up and we can head back…”

Famous last words, spoken as he lifted the blade over the ring of fire and prepared to bring it down on their prey.


The ground shuddered beneath them, and Jigano had to shift his feet quickly to keep his balance, his stroke going wide. The small pumpkin’s chittering took on a gleeful pitch, eyes blazing bright as the stalks of grain didn’t so much part as flatten ahead of the rolling bulk of the diminutive gourd’s great grand-pumpkin. Orange and massive, with a gnashing mouth big enough to take off a leg and keep coming, the newcomer easily reached Edy’s ribs in height. It didn’t so much cackle as rumble a pitch more like thunder, low and deep and echoing in mortal chests as it lumbered towards the girl – and the small pumpkin she still held captive in her ring of fire.
Edrei Launceleyn
the Rapacious


Age: 28 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 6 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 21 - Luck: 5 - Int:
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#8

Edy
fuck you <3

"Mmmmhmmmmm Edy agreed with an exaggerated yawn. As much as the teenager liked exploding things (it was more or less what she'd been known for back in Northaven. That, and relentlessly making sure her family masturbated enough to keep themselves healthy.), opponents who didn't fight back also didn't hold her attention for long. As it was, Edy was more eager to somehow try and outdo Remi than she was to keep obfuscating the vegetable's attempts at aggression.

Turning in slow motion as the waves of grain bent to allow forth the mother fucking grandpappy of all pumpkins, like Jigano, Edy realized she should watch just what she put out into the universe. Apparently it was listening today.

Spinning Edrei looked at the pumpkin's blazing eyes before drawing herself up to her full height. It might not have been that intimidating given that pumpkins probably weren't in the habit of slouching or standing up straight, but it boosted Edy's own confidence and helped to get her in the right frame of mind.

"Oh I don't think so." She sneered at the gnashing teeth. "I'm a Launceleyn, and you're just the ending for a fairytale that didn't make the cut." Her words were a snarl, and writ clear on her features was the precarious mixture of teenager piss and vinegar and the harsh and hostile training she'd received as a child.

Turning away from Jigano and the baby-squash entirely now, Edy flung the ring of fire towards the scene-stealing pumpkin. Her fire ringed its girth and began to insidiously invade its gaping maw and eyes. At the same time her Lifedrain magic similarly reached out, blackened the ground beneath her and tugging at the lifeforce within the grinning gourd.
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#9
No one expected the Squashly Inquisition, least of all Jigano. But all it took was one look to assess that this was an opponent he had no way to combat in his current state. His companion, on the other hand…

She seemed to relish the challenge. It was the first time he’d seen the girl take something seriously since they’d met, and he took a moment to appreciate her confidence and ferocity she displayed in the face of a terrifying foe. This was a pumpkin that could break bones or worse – but Edy faced it without flinching.

He might have admired her longer, but the ring of fire that had been corralling their prey shifted abruptly, singing the little gourdling and forcing Jigano to dance to the side to avoid a similar treatment. That, at least, he could do something about. Staying focused on their goal he turned his dodge into a spin, once more relying on momentum to add strength to his blow. The little pumpkin let out a final shriek as it was cleaved (mostly) in two, and the light went out of its eyes and it fell apart at the bard’s feet, nothing more exciting than lightly roasted ingredients.

Its grandpumpkin was, unfortunately, a bit more resilient. The fire slowed it, but it had far too much momentum – and far too little control – to stop its forward lunge. It bellowed in rage as its small fellow was extinguished, and even as the withering of Edy’s life magic began to drain some of its vitality and mass it continued its mad charge towards her and Jigano – flaming, dying, but determined to take one or both of them out with it.
Edrei Launceleyn
the Rapacious


Age: 28 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 6 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 21 - Luck: 5 - Int:
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#10

Edy
fuck you <3

Edy be nimble, Edy be quick: Edy dodge this pumpkin-prick!  

Throwing her body to the right, Edy landed and rolled with all the grace and dexterity of a carnival performer—complete with a dazzling smile. Pulling herself out of the roll (and hopefully finding herself more or less behind the pumpkin), Edy would refocus her fiery efforts from this vantage point. Though her endurance was running low (not something she'd cop to often), magically-speaking she didn't have a ton left in her. Never one to show weakness if she could avoid it (#launceleyntrainingcamp), the rapid blinking of her eyes and slight heaving of her chest despite the lack of physical exertion was evidence enough.

"You're miss the stop portion of stop, drop, and roll, asshole." She sneered slightly breathlessly as fire cascaded anew over the pumpkin.
Jigano Silversmith
the Sage
Provost of the Loreseekers Soul Shepherd
Portal Guardian
Age: 36 | Height: 6'2" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 30 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 38 - Luck: 42 - Int:
ISUMA - Mythical - Griffin (Venomous)
Played by: Cirago Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,914 | Total: 7,219
MP: 10170
#11
Edy was fantastic, rolling out of the way in a tumble made for the stage. Jigano might have applauded, but he had his own hands full rescuing the halves of his slain pumpkin. Rather than roll he scooped and lunged out of the Great Pumpkin's way, juggling sword and prey deftly.

He didn't need to do much more - the oversized squash had momentum on its side but not much in the way of steering. Its bellow of rage was impressive but harmless as Edy's fire and death magics sapped its strength and crisped its flesh from within. By the time it managed to halt and tried to reverse course it was sunken and audibly sizzling, it's roars reduced to hollow wails. It managed a few pitiful feet back in her direction before, with a whoosh of flame and smoke, it collapsed under its own weight, deflating as the life drain weakened the walls of its rind past the point of no return.

Jigano looked on with a bemused sort of disbelief at what had just occurred, but after a few moments - to let both Edy and himself catch their breath - he hefted their prize and saluted his companion before sheathing his blade. "I don't know about you, but after that... I could use a drink! Meet you back at the bar?"


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