a big black dong in the sky [OPEN]
Ianto Dea Arduinna
Merchant

Age: 30 | Height: 6'0 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
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#1
it's not what it looks like
Okay. Okay so.

He'd met Roana. He knew that she was serious about the whole... people coming from Northaven and all other places and whatever and... it... yeah, okay. He had to believe her. She was there wasn't she? But still, Ianto had reserved his judgement for when he could see what she meant. He knew to stay the heck away from what lay within, as the winged folk called it, but it hadn't stopped him from sleuthing around the outskirts of the place before.

Only... this time, when he stepped out from the dense treeline at dawn - at the first dawn since whatever had happened within the Hollowed Ground had happened - there was a colossal dick in the sky.

"Well," Ianto said quietly, his pipe already between his lips as he fought to light it. "Fuck me, the captain was right." Suddenly he had the urge to get very drunk. Or to laugh giddily. Time for both, he supposed. Glancing over his shoulder for said captain, he called out to her.

"So this is really where you've been all this time?"
Roana Steadman
Soldier

Age: 35 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#2
ROANA
Glimpses of fate bring light to your despair
Realise hope isn't short of your grasp
Resurrect every dream that you've buried alive
And never succumb to the war that you fight
Roana stood behind her newfound friend and guide...her brother depending on who you asked (she had enough actual brothers anyways, what was one more?). But she did not respond right away. She stood agape, a hand lifted to cover her mouth, blue eyes wide and teary. There it was... the Spire... unobscured. "They did it..." she breathed, her voice barely more than a whisper. A few tears rolled down her cheeks as her hand fell, revealing the wide open-mouthed smile beneath. "They did it!! Yes, YES!!" she said, shouting and laughing at the end. She whooped and punched her fist in the air like the soldier she was, proud to see what they had accomplished. Freedom. They, not including herself, because she had not brought the barrier down herself after all. Though it had been her charge, it did not matter in the end.

Ronin had not died in vain. His wish had been seen through. That, in the end, was all that mattered.

The Hollowed Grounds...it looked like a scar, surrounded by the lush vibrant beauty of the forest around them. Blighted. Uninhabitable. Anyone who dared say any innocent person or creature somehow deserved to suffer in there could fight her. "Yes. And many of the native people too...but there are no Fae in there. All human or ascended." Roana said, damn near giddy. "We should go find people, they will need your help. My sister-in-law and sons are in there....Remi and Aoife and Ashetta and Vai..." she stopped and laughed a bit, shaking her head as she got ahead of herself.
Your world is coming apart
Remain steadfast
Messenger

Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
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#3
{Image: b2UIBDC.png}
ASHE

I'm meaner than
my demons
   She had to see it, she couldn’t just wait to get to where the barrier fell. Her bleeding heart hadn’t stopped racing since the moment 108 vanished with the Core, since she saw the world beyond. She didn’t even want to wait to be healed, she almost didn’t. She had wanted to race straight for the lush forest beyond, she wanted to see those storms up close… But when she had stumbled with her first few steps down the stairs of the spire, she conceded to Kalt’s point of you need to be fucking healed. Once her chest was no longer bleeding, she didn’t even bother to clean up and get changed - she headed out while Kalt went to retrieve Theea.

   It was on Percy that she raced for the outskirts, and it took all of her willpower not to send him careening into the dense forest ahead, to charge beyond where that gods forsaken barrier had been. She wouldn’t, not without Kalt with her, but she had to see it. And as she neared and beheld the vibrant life, there was…

   ”Roana?” Ashe called as she finally slowed the ram-horned unicorn. Before he even fully stopped, the assassin swung herself down to the ground, jogging forward to meet her and the man she was with. ”How did you get out here? The Spire, we -” It was then that she fully registered exactly who it was that stood with the former captain. She blinked in surprise at the sight of her once-coworker. ”Ianto?” Last time she’d actually spoken to him, she’d dragged the fox out from under her porch and he high-tailed it away from her.

I'm bigger than
these bones.
Ianto Dea Arduinna
Merchant

Age: 30 | Height: 6'0 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
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#4
it's not what it looks like
Ianto couldn't help but grin broadly as he watched the former captain emerge from the trees and take in the sight of the Hollowed Grounds, out from beneath its veil. He laughed with her as she celebrated, shaking his head slowly. "I still can't believe this place was here, behind that barrier all this time. It's..." Unreal, he wanted to say. It would be, if he hadn't seen a great deal weirder in his time in the Greatwood.

"What is an Ascended?" Ianto asked. It was unfortunate that Roana wouldn't have time to properly answer the question now, and the fox missed the very important names she was giving him, but someone was approaching and his eyes snapped to them.

And when he realised who it was, a frown flickered over his face and he subtly adjusted his stance to... well, to put himself behind Roana. He wasn't a fighter, and whilst being out here alone had tempered his courage somewhat, Ashe still scared the shit out of him. "Ah," he said, somewhat awkwardly. "You are here."
Roana Steadman
Soldier

Age: 35 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#5
ROANA
Glimpses of fate bring light to your despair
Realise hope isn't short of your grasp
Resurrect every dream that you've buried alive
And never succumb to the war that you fight
"An abomination." Roana said quietly, finishing Ianto's sentence. "Just look at it compared to everything else...all because of a war that was never even finished." But it would have to be now. The Voice would be released. Certainly she would try to rise up again, as all those seeking power do. But maybe, just maybe, she could help bring this era of darkness to a close. Three-hundred years was more than long enough for any deities to come up with a more permanent solution to their problems. And if they hadn't...well. She had found a way out of the Spire. She would find a way to bring an end to this war too.

At his question she just laughed lightly and shook her head. Of course he had missed some of the things she said. "The bloodfiends that are made physically rather than reborn with magic." she said in reminder, just before she heard her name called out. Blue eyes scanned the space in front of them, and she smiled a little (for once) at who she saw.

"Hello, Ashetta." she said calmly, glancing at Ianto with a raised brow as he coward behind her. "As one does, I jumped through a portal in the basement. I thought it was the power source to the barrier but ended up on the other side of it instead." she explained, glancing between Ianto and here. "You two know each other I take it?"
Your world is coming apart
Remain steadfast
Messenger

Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
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#6
{Image: b2UIBDC.png}
ASHE

I'm meaner than
my demons
   She was more than a little amazed at the fox's presence - she hadn't thought to consider that other Northaveners might have arrived outside of the barrier. "Yeah... she answered him slowly, bracing a hand loosely on her hip. He had certainly known her from her days of murderous infamy, but how he knew her still was mystery. "You've been out here this whole time?"

   Ashe (also for once) smiled slightly at Roana , huffing a laugh and nodding. "Of course you did," she said, looking at the former captain with none of the usual wary animosity between them. "Because why not right?"

   She looked to Ianto, then out to the spectacular forest beyond. "We made it to the top, and the Voice was waiting." She turned her eyes back to the pair, deliberately skirting around thinking of what she had to do to get to there, the ultimate sacrifice that had almost been made. "She was trapped by this magic thing called the Core. There was an ascended that took hold of it and pulled it free, it obliterated them... but it worked." She flickered another half smile to Roana. They had both been determined to do this for Ronin, perhaps for different reasons, but... Fuck, she wondered how he'd react to know that they were being something like amicable with each other.

   With a look back to Ianto, let out a careful breath and quirked a brow at him. "We both worked for Warren," she explained, considering she didn't actually fucking know how Ianto had ever known to pair her face with the Assassin in Blue. "What's out here? Are there any others?"

I'm bigger than
these bones.
Ianto Dea Arduinna
Merchant

Age: 30 | Height: 6'0 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 15 - Luck: 10 - Int:
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#7
it's not what it looks like
"I have, yeah." Ianto nodded to Ashetta's question from his very safe position standing behind Roana. Unfortunately he would likely need to be told a third time about the Spire and the Voice and these new Bloodfiends, because the assassin's sudden appearance had stolen all of his attention. Frowning ever so slightly as she brought up Warren, he glanced to Roana as if wondering why she wasn't... y'know, arresting Ashe or whatever other captainy duties she might have.

"No others out here, not from Northaven. It's just been me, since I arrived in Leafchange. The forest belongs to the Fae, though." As Roana would well know, from her interactions with the winged folk so far. "What do you want?" It came out a touch sharply, but then he didn't want to have anything to do with Ashe given half a chance.
Roana Steadman
Soldier

Age: 35 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#8
ROANA
Glimpses of fate bring light to your despair
Realise hope isn't short of your grasp
Resurrect every dream that you've buried alive
And never succumb to the war that you fight
Roana glanced between Ashe and Ianto. Yep. There was some uncomfortable history here.

She shrugged a bit with a small smile at Ashetta's comment. The least she could do was remain positive to try and negate some of the bad vibes that this interaction had going for it. "Well ya know, every time I try and martyr myself for the good of the people Death can't seem to make it happen. One of these days its bound to be beam of energy and not a portal." Roana joked. She didn't exactly take her own mortality lightly, nor was she rushing to die; but at a certain point you have enough near death experiences that the thought of death simply stops being terrifying. The former captain crossed her arms and listed quietly as Ashetta described the events that led up to the fall of the barrier. "You all did good then." she said with an approving smile. She hadn't cared that she didn't bring the barrier down herself, just that it happened. "Did the voice say anything?" Roana asked, wanting to know what she might have missed.

At Ianto's mention of the Fae she nodded. "Yes, the Fae are not to be taken lightly either. They seem rather distrusting, and if it wasn't for Ianto I would definitely be dead by their hands. We should make sure to warn the people here." she said more seriously to Ashetta. "The woods are treacherous too. Ianto here knows how to get through them, and as we begin to try make sense of things, I have offered him my protection since he is literally our only guide." She said, giving him a small smile. With it made clear that Roana would protect Ianto, perhaps he would feel more comfortable.
Your world is coming apart
Remain steadfast
Messenger

Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
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#9
{Image: b2UIBDC.png}
ASHE

I'm meaner than
my demons
   Ashe frowned at Ianto's sharp tone, narrowing her eyes. She wanted to tell him she had no intention of hurting him - or anyone else that didn't deserve it - again. That life was long behind her, but with Roana here... well, she had kind of gone out of her way to convince the ex-captain that she was no murderer once upon a time. On paper it had gotten by, but she wasn't entirely sure the woman believed it.

   Before she could answer Ianto, Roana began again. Ashe managed another smile at her words, eyes glinting as she nodded. "We've had enough martyrs," she commented, and even with her smile her tone was somber. "So quit it." Didn't matter how well she and Roana got along, Ashe had no desire to see her die.

   Her brows rose as they explained the perils of the forest - the Fae, how hard it was to navigate. Percy plod up behind her then, releasing a low and soft nicker as his head dropped over her shoulder with his ears pinned forward. Golden eyes surveyed the people he'd never met with curiosity, but the forest beyond even moreso. "Fae.. like from storybooks back home?" Unicorns, dragons, faeries, gods - if everything wasn't so real, so terrible and wonderful and wild, she might think they all had been plopped into one of those stories.

   She took a deep breath with one hand stroking Percy's cheek, looking beyond the pair and out into that deep and wild forest, resisting the powerful tug forward. "We should head towards the settlement," she said, looking back to them. Her eyes lingered on Ianto for a moment, she promised herself she'd find some way to get him to actually talk to her, to figure out how he knew to fear the sight of her... and how to make him less afraid. "There are people who no doubt think you're both dead and would appreciate knowing otherwise."

I'm bigger than
these bones.
Ianto Dea Arduinna
Merchant

Age: 30 | Height: 6'0 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 15 - Luck: 10 - Int:
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#10
it's not what it looks like
Ianto had no problem lingering behind Roana, appreciative for the confirmation that she would offer protection should he need it. Still, he couldn't help but seem bemused by the easy conversation between captain and assassin, and the fox buried his hands in his pockets so they could speak freely. He arched an eyebrow at the sight of a fucking unicorn, though admittedly it was hardly the strangest thing he had seen since he'd been dropped into the woods.

Oh, but then Ashe was talking about all of them heading into the Hollowed Grounds, and Ianto had already noped out in his mind before she finished her sentence. With a roguish little bow, he shook his head in polite decline. Helping Roana was one thing, and perhaps if it hadn't been the Assassin in Blue offering to accompany them, he'd have considered it.

Unfortunately, it was. And he was having no part of it. "You ought to go back," he murmured to Roana. "Get your bearings. My place is here in the forest. If you need me, just come out and call me, okay?" He made no explanation about just how that would work, but... well, nothing entirely made sense here, did it?


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