Wings of Wonder: NPC Interactions and Investigations

[voidtreckermods]

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WINGS OF WONDER: NPC LOG

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ARRIVAL ISLAND

EAST ISLAND

NORTH TRAIL - SOUTH TRAIL

NORTH ISLAND

SOUTH ISLAND

WEST ISLAND

Comments

SOUTH ISLAND: ENCOUNTER

[voidtreckernpcs]

"Come back here! No, not you! You leave my woolie alone!" yells a voice hidden by the tall blue stalks of wheat-like crops. Those plants rustle loudly as something barrels through with incredible speed. It's a purple cow-sheep looking creature, and following in its panicked wake is a young sali struggling to keep up with the animal.

Moments later, the field erupts into more cacophony as an older, red-eyed sali swings a sickle to clear a path. "I've found one of the intruders!"

Going to have a +1 in thread

[yondu]

In the blue stalks of corn there's a red-eyed blue man, and he steps back with his hands raised. Time to try and be diplomatic. Maybe? Had they run into other VoidTreckers yet? Is that what they mean by intruders? What was the kid yelling about?

Yondu keeps his distance as he steps back from the newest soul looking like they're fixin' to harvest the lot of them.

"Hold up, Hoss! We're just aimin' to talk."

They by far have the upper hand between the abilities they're displaying and the fact they have sickles. His only reliable weapon is the candy-red knife in his forearm scabbard (and it was an enchanted gift so even it's vaguely reduced in effectiveness). He's not making any motions for said weapon and he's determined to try and manage a conversation.

shows up as the plus one, hands over a beer to yondu

[weifinder]

Wei Wuxian, lagging a touch behind, comes to a stop as well. What in the world was happening? He has his flute tucked into his belt, visible at his hip, but he's not dressed to impress or frighten: a man with his hair half pulled up and back, no visible weapons, and a blue hoodie and decently clean cargo pants.

Bless that translation still works, or where would they be then?

"Not looking to invade anything, as it is. We'd love to talk, like my friend here says. To whomever you prefer, yes?"

No woolies, or locals, harmed in the process. (Or them, though Wei Wuxian's calculating what he'd need to do in order to handle a reach-enhancing weapon-attack, and how he'd disarm, if needed.)

[voidtreckernpcs]

The young sali skids to a halt and brandishes what looks to be a wooded walking staff a shepherd would use when Yondu appears with his red eyes. All the hair on the youth's body stand on end. Red eyes haven't meant anything good, but... the young sali doesn't do more beyond keeping the wooden walking staff between herself and everyone else for the moment. "You're here to talk? But..."

However, the message hasn't gotten through to the older sali with the red eyes. "There are more intruders over here!" The older sali reaches behind to pull a bow and arrow. With practiced ease, he shoots an arrow at the young sali. It only barely misses. "I won't let you hurt anyone else."

"I just herd woolie, which you've been scaring!" the younger sali glares as she looks to the older sali. "You and the others!"

The older sali readies another arrow.

[yondu]

Oh, okay. They're chasing the kid. And as he's gotten used to in the past few months, with his hands still raised he puts himself between him and the kid, his back to it. Which... you know, he's choosing to believe the kid's just a little herder and not a secret menace to society.

"We ain't hurt nobody. We just showed up. My name is Yondu."

It occurs to him then that, right, magic's been a little wonky. Putting on his bracer might not do him no good. He doesn't know if the magic on his coat stuck either- maybe the dragon scales are solid enough without magic to make it a little more durable, but he can't rely on the usual armaments.

So his eyes stay keenly, keenly on the arrow. He can catch one arrow if he has to. More than one? Only catchin' those with his torso.

[weifinder]

Wei Wuxian, for his part, has his flute out and in hand. Did it seem like much of a weapon? No, not truly, but then he doesn't wait for the second arrow to fly. Yondu has moved himself forward to defend the younger sali, and their confusion was a tipping point for Wei Wuxian to go into action.

"Yondu, cover them. This one's not listening."

He may be a half wreck of a cultivator, but that didn't make him less quick, or less strong. Just less capable of the qi expenditure that his compatriots could manage, meaning his is far more carefully portioned out.

He darts forward, too fast for normal human speeds, looking to knock that bow sideways and work on incapacitating the adult on attack, not to kill.

[voidtreckernpcs]

The young sali is only menace to society when her normally docile woolie gets frightened and runs amuck. That is not the case now. Everything moves so fast. Yondu is before her. Wei Wuxian moves ahead. Despite having been chased earlier, the young sali shrieks when Wei Wuxian knocks the bow out of the older sali's hands. "Don't hurt him!"

Unfortunately, the younger's concern doesn't reach the older. He kicks away from Wei Wuxian and touches the ground. Vines with thorns erupt from the soil and dart towards all three of them.

[yondu]

Oh well, sure! Wuxian gets to fight. "Get back'!" he says to the kid, gesturing for him to go. We'll make some distance.

"He ain't gonna hurt nobody, I'll tell his partner to whoop him later if he does. What's wrong with 'em?" If there ever was a time he wished those plant abilities worked and at their fullest capacity, it's right now. But if he tries anything it'd just be extra wrong.

"Why are they after some of their own like that?"

[weifinder]

Wei Wuxian ducks down to nab the bow from where it falls, "No killing!" his call back to Yondu and the youth stuck in a difficult situation. "Which one? I've got three!"

Three Lan Zhans at present, a veritably chaotic grouping he has zero responsibility for.

He darts sideways into the taller grasses they've yet to stomp through as the ground turns into a field of questing vines with their thorns, trailed by at least some of those vines that thrash into grasses, narrowly missing him at one, no, two junctures.

He'd yelp, but there's no point, not when he needs to incapacitate this person to some extent, before the ones he keeps calling to join in on finding and "handling" the trespassers. His aim is to use speed and his physical agility to get around and through to knocking the attacker out; though he'll be vulnerable to any thorned vines in the moment of making contact. One hand on the neck of the sali and he can hope their pressure points are something similar to human, or else this is going to be a good old fashion knocking out.

Not to mention, a good old fashioned holding off a vine by borrowed bow, and scoring the cuts such an attack inevitably brings, unflinching, where he cannot evade them all.

[voidtreckernpcs]

The younger sali has no idea what Yondu (and then Wei Wuxian) is talking about and looks around expecting three more people to show up. None do. "I don't know. He started acting all funny when the storm came. Him and some of the others."

Wei Wuxian dodges the vines with his agile movements, taking only minor scrapes and cuts in the process. However, the attempted pressure point pinch to the neck merely makes the sali woozy. He stumbles a bit, causing his control over the vines to become sluggish. They are far easier to dodge now and creates an opportunity to subdue the older sali.

"What did he do to him?" the younger sali asks Yondu as she nervously tightens her grip on her staff.

[yondu]

"He hit his dizzy spots. Everybody got 'em." Yondu blurts out 'cause you know what, he's got no time to explain pressure points or nothin' like that, and he knows with kids you occasionally gotta jump aboard the proud vessel 'MakeShitUp' just to give them quick answers to troubling questions.

Now that he's sure the kid's gonna be alright he moves in to help, grabbing the older sali to try and wrangle its arms behind their back. He can't do much about the plants, but if they touch him he just pushes back with Grow the other damn way! thoughts.

"What about the red gem on 'em? They got one an' y'all others don't." Meaning maybe they should get it off him.

[weifinder]

Yondu is there, helping try to handle the older sali, and Wei Wuxian shifts his attention briefly to the younger. He ignores the small cuts and lacerations that made it to skin instead of hooking only cloth.

"The storm's responsible for bringing what's altering their minds, but isn't the direct cause. Has there been anything red falling?" Then he waves a hand, reaching to his side for rope. "Young Miss, I'm thinking we need to restrain this Uncle so we can bring him to... who is it, Enshala here? Can you bring us to Enshala?"

Tying up the older sali would be his plan while Yondu has his arms back, along with slapping a silencing talisman on his forehead: he has no idea if it'll work, with how energies are here, but applied directly to the man it might keep his voice from producing sound. Might. Otherwise, gags have always had a purpose, haven't they?

[voidtreckernpcs]

"No! No no no! Don't you touch his gem!" The young sali is ready to smack them over the head with her staff if they so much as poke the older sali's gem. She is on guard as they start to tie up the older sali, who struggles a little but can't really do much now that he's bound. He will glare angerly at them, however.

Once she's sure they are not going to attempt to do anything with his gem (for fear of scrappy young sali head bonking), she'll be more willing to listen to their ideas again.

"You know about our Forever Ones?" Her brows furrow. The Forever One could help. They must be able to. "Okay. Follow me."

Ryo + Jingyi

[fivemilesdeep]

His Sense has been a little haywire this mission, but it's still impossible to miss the sali coming towards them - the first at a clip that passes them by completely on the heels of one of the herd animals, and the second stopped and armed.

This is not better, and despite not being alone, Ryo doesn't feel great about it. He holds up his hands in a position of surrender. "We're here to help." It would probably help if he said how, wouldn't it. "I'm a healer - if you have injured people, I can help them."

[jingyeets]

Jingyi slides himself slightly in front of Ryo, more because one wants to be in the better position to defend if he must, and also because there's a lot of moving parts. The younger looking person, the woolie, whatever the heck that really was, and the angrier, older adult, who was looking least friendly out of them all.

Which was saying something, given Jingyi was frowning.

"We don't want to fight anyone. We're trying to understand what's going on here." His gaze flicks toward the younger sali, briefly, before it's back on the older one. Unlike Ryo, his hands are not up; he's keeping his body posture relaxed, sword in grip, sheathed, held low at his side.

[voidtreckernpcs]

The younger sali might have run past them initially, but once she sees these new intruders, she pivots on a hoof and faces them with her wooden staff at the ready. She's tense, but her posture remains defensive for now. "What do you mean you're here to help?"

The older sali doesn't respond in kind. He pulls out the bow slung on his back and notches an arrow. "Everyone, I found even more intruders over here!"

"Not again..." says the younger sali. "Stop chasing my woolie and me! Hey!" The sali jumps as she dodges the arrow.

The older sali aims another arrow in the direction of Jingy and Ryo.

[fivemilesdeep]

Oh, he hates this. Whatever the older sali's issue is, he doesn't seem to be listening to anything anyone else has to say - he's just attacking. It's shades of home, in the worst way possible.

But Ryo isn't helpless here. He draws a knife from his satchel - because the wind won't respond to him here, but that doesn't mean he can't defend himself - and moves to put himself between the older sali and the younger one, glancing over his shoulder at her. "If there's a safe way out of here, take it." He's inclined to believe the child being attacked over the adult doing the attacking; hopefully that belief is well-placed and she's not about to stab him in the back.

His gaze flickers back to Jingyi, then at the older sali. Hopefully Jingyi is ready to fight, because it's looking like they'll need to. Hopefully they can handle whatever the older sali throws at them. Hopefully.

[jingyeets]

"How long have they been attacking like this?"

Sword drawn, Jingyi stays where he is in front, shifting again to be able to cover Ryo while leaving him a line of attack open. The question is aimed for the youth here, dodging arrows like someone who possibly does so for fun, or is being aimed at by someone not actually attempting to hit them.

Guess which one Jingyi's been guilty of in the past.

He waits, but also: drat. He's going to have to talk at the guy holding them at arrowpoint.

"Sir! Attacking one of your own as an intruder seems a little short on good will, huh? Stop shooting!"

He doubts he's going to be listened, but the point is he said it.

[voidtreckernpcs]

The younger sali sees the knife and sword and screams grabbing Ryo's wrist. "No! Don't hurt him!" She'll be easy to shake off if he chooses too. The sali is a young shepherd and not a fighter. "Everything was fine before all you outsiders came!"

The older sali lets loose the arrow towards Jingyi since the further back intruders he sees have started fighting amongst themselves. There is no interest in talking and no sign that any of the younger's words have reached him.

[fivemilesdeep]

Well, she hadn't stabbed him in the back. That much is good, at least. Everything else, not so much.

He tenses when she grabs him, but he doesn't shake her off. She's afraid, and the last thing he wants to do is make it worse, but with the situation the way it is, there's not exactly room to be gentle. "If everything was fine, we wouldn't be here," he says, tone level but urgent. He gestures at the older sali. "He's chasing you, attacking us, and not listening to anyone. Unless you know how to stop him, we have to at least defend ourselves. I don't want you getting hurt either."

Gods, he hopes Jingyi has his half of things well enough in hand.

[jingyeets]

The sword cuts down as he dances out of the way, slicing the arrow in half, momentum from the redirect leaving one side buried in the trampled grasses underfoot.

"Ryo! Ask if they can get us to the Forever One here—if this man's not listening, maybe pouring energy into the Forever One can help!"

Meanwhile he doesn't glance back to the struggle behind, putting faith into the ineptitude of someone dodging arrows and the likelihood that Ryo knew what he was doing in an exceedingly precise way with that knife. He keeps his attention on the man with the bow, and listens for if they do end up taking off at a run—if this younger sali is even willing to work with them, given her complaints out of fear and confusion.

[voidtreckernpcs]

The younger sali nearly stomps on Ryo's foot as she tries to disarm Ryo by tugging on his wrist. (She's not doing a very good job of it.) "We didn't ask for outsiders to attack us or help us." All she wanted to do was her new job of keeping her woolie safe, and she has no idea where it has run off to in all this chaos. Now this outsider she has never seen before is acting like he knows everything and is threatening the other sali. "I was doing just fine not hurting anyone. We don't hurt each other."

Jingyi will have little trouble dodging or slicing the remaining arrows. Still, he may have to switch tactics as the older sali places a hand to the ground once he's out of ammo. Thorny vines burst from the ground, aiming to whip and restrain Jingyi.

The younger sali stops her struggle with Ryo at Jingyi's words. "H-How do outsiders know of the Forever One?"

[fivemilesdeep]

She's going to have to try a lot harder - he's been through much worse. I was doing just fine not hurting anyone; we don't hurt each other sinks deep, and for a moment he has to bite back his words, because the first thing to come to mind won't help: that not hurting anyone doesn't mean they won't hurt you; and that the other sali is doing a pretty bad job of not hurting anyone else.

(There is still a frightened, angry child in him, and that's not going to help here.)

Trying to think of something to say goes nowhere, and his attention snaps back to the battle as the older sali's attack changes, summoning vines the way he's seen Persephone do. He tears his wrist from the shepherd's grasp and hurls his knife, not at the attacking sali but at the vines themselves, hoping to sever at least one of them and give Jingyi some room to maneuver.

But Jingyi says the right words - something important - and Ryo remembers the conversation over the SCAs earlier and snaps the pieces into place. Jingyi's right - that might be the key. "I spoke with one earlier, on the center island. They asked me to bring them crystals." To help another voidtrecker - another 'outsider' - but that's beside the point. "There's one on this island, right? Can you take me?"

cw: injury, nondebilitating

[jingyeets]

"Are you kidding me?! No one said anyone had plant magic!" That said, Jingyi was playing dodging, slicing games, learning firsthand if any vines could sprout two new vine ends once severed, and making a distressed sound (of annoyance) when one vine with all its thorns slaps against his side and tears into his sarong.

"Oh come on, I just got this! I only have one outfit, can't you leave it alone!?"

All as he continued fighting against the vines, cutting them down where he could, dodging when too many came, and otherwise trying to buy Ryo and the young sali time.

Though a delayed thought rattles through his head, and he says, "Your Forever One might clear this guy's head! If we let him chase us there—"

Is not his best plan, but he yelps as another thin vine whips at him and scores across his arm with its pronounced thorns, Jingyi moving with it's momentum and catching around it with his arm, switching his sword to his offhand to bring it up and slice through the plant matter with a smooth motion. The thorns are lodged enough in his arm he doesn't get a chance to immediately tear it off him before he's fending off another two vines in tandem, slamming a third aside with his tail, which the vines seem to slide off his scales and only catch in the blue fur of his mane and tailtuft.

[voidtreckernpcs]

"There's more than just him..." the young sali murmurs. Then she steels herself. The Forever One might know what to do. About the sali acting really weird and these outsiders.

"You'll have to keep up with me!" She bounds in the direction of the shelter housing the Forever One on this island.

The older sali is distracted by the escaping young sali. This gives Jingyi an opportunity to break free and follow the young sali or attempt to subdue the older sali while Ryo gives chase.