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By Any Other Name

Scene details

Setting:
 Ivo's research into the history of the ruined aqueduct has made him curious about the mysterious and forgotten druids who supposedly helped construct it. He believes that he has identified the forest where they once dwelled before departing for Zerhem centuries ago and gathers a party to travel northwest and explore it, putting out a call among the Vanguards for any other adventurers willing and able to assist in exploring the dense woods.
 But he adds an unusual secondary objective: finding and acquiring a rare breed of wild rose. Though cultured Oradia is famous for its cultivated rose gardens, these are apparently descended from an exquisite wild varietal that only blooms once a year for a few days in Gransen forests, a brief window that happens to be now. Maybe it's a contingency plan for earning some money in the likelihood that they fail to find the druids' abandoned settlement. An explorer would have to be lucky indeed to stumble across something so long forgotten.
 Or very unlucky...

Log

With a small scraping sound barely audible over the birdsong and buzzing of insects, Ivo scratches a mark into a towering cedar. Stepping back, he looks over his shoulder at the rest of the party, smiling. The almost coy playfulness he usually evinces on adventures is offset by a barely-restrained genuine enthusiasm in his eyes.

"Shall we proceed, friends?"

The glade had seemed small as they had approached it from the east, leaving the river running north of Zerhem behind them and venturing into the grasslands of Granse toward this isolated copse of trees. But as soon as they reached it, the sheer density of the forest seemed overwhelming. Though lonely on the horizon, up close it teems with the smells and sounds of natural life, reminiscent of the Proliferation near Cosmopolis that the adventurers once forged through.

"None have ever found the lost shrine of the druids, or so the records in Zerhem state," Ivo proclaims as he proceeds, "so there are few to no clues on how to proceed, but I believe in us. The wild roses, however, are said to grow by a limpid pool. I would be surprised to find any pond that weren't also a breeding ground for insects, but let's keep our eyes peeled for that too. I-- huh? But that's--"

Ivo is staring blankly at a tree with a familiar mark in it. The party has hardly gone thirty paces during Ivo's soliloquy, in what seemed like a straight line, and it's barely been a minute.

"But," he blurts out in his bafflement, "Reize wasn't even leading the way!"

Ruidosa has come along on this adventure, and is holding her book to her chest as she normally does. Ivo wants to find the shrine of the druids, as she looks at the marking Ivo is making. "What are you do---oh.... OH... right... um..."

"It's in case we get lost, right?" she asks. Her mom never sought out druids, or according to the first half of the book she's read a hundred times over, so she has no information on this in her book. She'll take notes if they discover a way thou. But for now she's walking along with the group when...

They're at the same marking? She blinks and looks behind her, expecting to see themselves, but nope. She looks back to the tree.

"Um. Mom used to tell me. That if you find yourself in a loop, you need to twist your way of thinking..." she says quietly, as she taps her bottom lip...

There's a long pause before she asks the loaded question of: "Why would Reize leading change the outcome...?" she asks.

The young explorer and beginner Vanguard decided to join Ivo in the trip. Given that this was an official request in the bulletin board of the Vanguards, Reize opted to take it. There is a bit of an obligation to take these tasks and it would be good to explore unknown territory.

If they're lucky, they can find clues about the Star-crowned.

For now, Reize follows suit of Ivo as they travel westward, given their approach from the east. His eyes cannot help but stare in awe at the sight of the forest. In a way, it feels like home. Or at least, Reize feels like he knows his way around.

He starts examining the flora, giving a thoughtful look.

"....Wait, what does my leading have to do with this...?" He squints at Ivo.



  • Character: Faru
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Faruja Senra has shown - as seems to be his way - less outright fire for the whole thing, but the enthusiasm in Ivo's gaze has the rodent with a warm smile on his face. His aims are, like usual, first and foremost keeping this band of wonderful idiots from getting themselves killed. Some old rotting flowers from some cult of leaf-snorters is tertiary at best.

That said, his tail is twitching, a good sign that he's not as unaffected by the idea of adventuring as the paladin-rat would have others believe.

Of course they quickly encounter a problem. Faruja's brows tense, one ear flicks, and he sighs. "Miss Ruidosa, Squire Seatlan's appreciation for and adherence to minor matters such as geography, sense of direction, or the location of sudden cliff faces is questionable at best." It is said with /all/ of the affection for the young Vanguard.

"That said, and until mine own lessons in cartography are drilled into your mind Reize, this isn't your fault. Nor Ivo's for that matter. Bad feeling. A moment, you all. Back in a yart." HUP! Those beastman legs rocket this ratling through canopy with a contemptuous slice of lance and pump of knees, the male getting impressive hang-time as only his nigh-extinct race can. Sharp eyes and ears look out as he gets the lay of the land from on high.

"Th-that's right!" Ivo recovers his composure somewhat at Ruidosa's query. Given the opportunity to explain something, he's able to feel right at home even in this confounding situation. "Or that was the idea..." He hesitates as he reflects on the vampire girl's words. "Twist my way of thinking..."

He decides that he can't admit he has no idea what that means for fear that Ruidosa will make note of it, thereby eventually lowering his Love Interest Points with the lovely Lady La Crima.

"Your mother is a wise and beautiful woman," he murmurs. "I must contemplate this advice." It's not clear what her being beautiful has anything to do with it. While Ivo ponders, Reize, examining the nearby flora, has his eye caught by the pleasant pale pink flowers of a common nettle, and there espies a striking unidentified beetle with a very impressive horn and an almost iridescent shell. It lazily takes flight and begins buzzing into the undergrowth.

He is interrupted by the almost twinned query of the two younger adventurers. Ivo grins as Faruja responds and, having had time to recover from his accidental admission, chimes in.

"With Reize in charge, the unexpected always occurs!"

Euphemisms are a diplomat's stock in trade.

As Faruja effortlessly clears the canopy with his beastkin cheat code, he is able to take in the gorgeous view of the vivacious forest from above. The density of that canopy means that much of the forest is obscured to view, but there, further to the west, is a gap in the trees indicating the presence of a body of water. Distance-wise, it is not far, but as to if there is a ready path straight there, it's hard to say.

"Hmmm..."

Doing his best not to be one-upped, Ivo, below, strokes his chin, furrowing and quirking his brow, making the expression of someone thinking in the hopes that thoughts will come. He murmurs to himself at a barely audible volume.

"Twist my way of thinking... hah, I can hardly think at all over all this chirping and buzzing... is nature always so noisy?... noise?" He blinks. "Could we navigate not by sight... but sound?..."

Ruidosa eyes Ivo, and Faru's answers about Reize as she looks over to her similarly aged traveling companion and says. "Is that true? Do you get lost often? I'll have to... make a note of that..." she says, opening her book, producing her quill pen and quickly jotting something down. She then closes the book and frowns a little.

"It seems someone wants to keep people out, regardless. Unless this is a natural phenomena. There has to be a ... key. right?" she asks Ivo, who then mentions sound.

Her eyes peek around. "It was always noisy in the swamp. Crickets and bugs and lots and lots of mosquitos are good deterrents to keep normal folk away. So I'd say 'yes'. But..."

"I'll just follow for now. I wouldn't know what to listen for." she says. "Unless it's. Noise in general." she adds.

Reize is getting a beating courtesy of Faruja here! Reize physically deflates as he feels an arrow shooting him in the heart from each comment about his sense of directions! Indignantly, Reize furrows his eyebrows. "Oooi!" He squints at Faruja, "Name the one time that I got us lost?"

Bubbles come up as there is flash back to First Flight...

~ Within the deep, thick, crystalized jungle of death.... Reize and Lily got separated from everyone. Twice. To be fair, the second time was not their fault.~

~...Insert the trap door that Reize touched when they were in the venerable, stone-carved Panacea Temple. ~

~ Insert the time that in the futuristic, steel-plated building of Aediograd, Reize activated a switch and got him and Lily separated... ~



"I said one time!" Reize snaps! As Ruidosa asks about the rumors being true, his face becomes heavy as sweat profusely runs down his face, "I... I just have a few issues now and then..." His pride is taking a beating here! In fact, seeing Ruidosa jot that down in her notebook with a frown has the boy deflate.

Sigh. Strike one for the adventurer's pride!

Nevertheless, Reize watches the beetle.. and follows after it.

Be one with the beautiful looking beetle. Follow the beetle.

....Hope everyone kept an eye on Reize, because if not...

There may be a Reize dotted line where he previously was at.



  • Character: Faru
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Sailing high in the air, gravity finally releasing its' grip for a few precious seconds, Faruja indulges in that feeling of being free. A breath of the lovely air in way almost wholly unique to his kind, the beastkin finds tears falling down his cheeks unbidden. Oh, how he missed his home, his kind. Truly, he loves those he finds himself beside, he loves the Church, but there is something deeply /missing/ inside of him. Can he fill it with the love of his friends, with being able to teach am ambitious young man, by safeguarding people he cares for?

Melancholy thoughts are banish as he deftly touches down, and he regards the others seriously.

"A break in the treelines to the west. Hard to say much more. Mayhaps I could make my way over there with several creative leaps, yet that isn't assured, and bluntly many predators make their homes within them. The wiser and more difficult course is best in this situation." The scout-adin tells the party with a mild shrug and mumbled prayer of acceptance of problems.

Completely ignoring Reize's grumblings, he nods to Rui. "My unfortunately cursed dear, perhaps you've the sight for complex magicks as well? My senses are great for the physical, not so much for the rest..." Pause. Pauuuuse.

"Where, by Aijanu's pants, is Reize?" There's an edge of exasperation in his voice as he reaches out to poke at the Vanguard-shaped outline of white airchalk that once contained a young man.

ooc Lmao Aijanu's pants

"A key?" Ivo is roused from his contemplative reverie by Ruidosa's insight. "Yes... yes, let's assume that's the case," he affirms. "It seems safe to presume that either the druids contrived this phenomenon or made use of it and were able to navigate the forest safely themselves. Our best bet would thus be to determine somehow what *they* did." He sighs softly. "But there's so little record of the who the druids were or what they did or believed. They worshipped Faleh in his various natural incarnations... the chronicle emphasized the symbol of a white stag, but... I haven't seen any large animals since we arrived."

He then nods.

"Yes, what *should* we listen for? All I can hear are birds and insects. I couldn't say where the druids located their shrine, but as for the roses, if they're near a pond, then--" He blinks. "--like I said-- it'd probably be a breeding ground for insects--" Then he brightens. "Reize! Let's follow the sound of insec-- Reize?"

Uh oh.

"That took longer than I expected," Ivo, looking at the figurative dotted outline where Reize once was, quips as Faruja descends. "Well scouted, my friend." He smiles at the beastkin lancer, only to hesitate briefly, noticing that Faruja's eyes seem somewhat reddened. Perhaps it was the winds above, or-- he'll ask later. "The ferns are still swaying there. Shall we follow our fearless leader? He seems, incidentally, to have gone in the correct-ish direction. Westward, ho!" Setting aside his aversion to getting himself dirty, the Cosmopolitan gamely gets on his hands and knees to crawl through the undergrowth, following in the wake of his more agile friend. "Watch your-- ow--" He bumps his head on a low-hanging branch anyway. "--your head."

Reize, following the beetle's meandering path, is able to admire it more closely as he goes. Its horn really is quite something: a single protrusion that branches out like a pair of antlers emerging from its head. Its shell is a rich loamy brown but shines like an oil slick, and when it catches the light just so, it appears bright white, blinding like snow in the sun.

Eventually the adventurers manage to emerge into a clearing and see the pond before them just where Faruja located it, its waters reflecting the canopy that rings it. The sound of insects is indeed intense here. As the beetle drifts around the shore of the pond, Ivo, clambering back to his feet and dusting off his knees, sniffs the air. "Smells oddly sweet here, yes?" He glances around hopefully. "Anyone see any roses?" There are none immediately visible, but there do seem to be quite a few insects of all sorts in something of a tizzy, darting to and fro.

Ivo's gaze follows the busy bugs back toward the tangle of vegetation whence they emerged before his expression suddenly freezes, eyes widening.

"Those... aren't roses..."

Two giant towering pitcher plants loom above the adventurers, surrounded by insects lured to their doom by the nectar within. It seems that our heroes blithely wandered between them to reach the pond. The very moment that Ivo notices them, vines can be heard and seen wriggling through the earth near the water.

"Ruidosa, Reize, watch out!"

Perhaps sensing the vibrations of the party's passing, the giant carnivorous plants reach out for the smaller adventurers, attempting to seize them and drag vampire and explorer toward separate awaiting maws!

Ruidosa looks to where Reize ''was'' and she looks around suddenly. "Huh?" she asks as she tries to sniff him out. This doesn't work very well, given the various other smells and scents around but then they get to the a small pond as she eyes the water... before she looks down at the surface as she eyes Reize chasing a beetle all the way to....

Oh, two giant carnivorous plants. That are now sliding viney tendrils at them.

Ruidosa is grabbed by one by the leg before she can do much thou, before she ''squeaks!'' out almost like a bat would and starts flailing. "A..aah!" she lets loose. "Help!" she calls out. She points a finger at the plant, and something like a spark comes from her finger tip, but it fizzles as she can't concentrate enough in her current predicament. She's gonna need help. ;_;

As beetles goes, Reize follows

Chittering along, step-by-step

Clickity-Clack, Snap snap.

The reasoning behind following the beetle was not for pure admiration, as pretty as it was. Given the fauna, it is more than likely that the beetle would lead to a path that may land them to rare flora that matches its own taste. Given Reize's small stature (compared to Ivo and Faruja), he makes it past the low-hanging branch with no issues.

There is a glint of its shell, given that light. "...Okay, we should be close to the flora."

However, there is a frown as Reize senses the sweet smell. ...

.... is too familiar!

The boy's hands reach out towards his sides to draw his crystal boomerangs boomerangs in response of a triggering memory reflecting a not too distant adventure.

And that is where Reize's eeys widen as he sees the towering pitcher plants. "Deja vu... except there's two of them." He frowns, immediately taking the iniative to meet with the vines half-way. Instead of letting himself grabbed, he swings the crystalized weapon to smack against the vines.



His eyes snap wide, "Rui!" He immediately lunges out her way, gaining a burst of speed to send him off like a bullet towards her path. He swipes at the tendrils ensnaring the girl to free her. "Yaaaah!"



  • Character: Faru
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Siiiigh. Reize. Oh /Reize/. He was trying to /not/ blame Reize this time, but oh dear is he getting a headache. CRACK. There's his skull going into a branch. ...The branch shatters under hard knightly forehead. Frown.

"...Weak." He glares at the tree, as if judging it for its' lack of toughness.

Scowl. "Those are quite possibly the most ugly flowers I have ever seen. Ser Ivo, I do believe you are a failure as a botanist my friend!"

The rodent gives the plant trying to drag off poor Rui an absolute /snarl/ better associated with a lion than the rat he resembles. "By the Holy One you shall NOT have this vampire! She is HIS to judge, not to make your lunch you overgrown weed! Taste divine judgement knave!" He raises his lance, the tip of it glows, and then /points/!

The sky lights up with holy light, and then the conflagration of cleansing fury begins to fall like the hand of a deity. It is.../uncomfortably/ close to Rui, but he's clearly trying to keep her out of the blast zone.

Ivo is briefly caught by surprise not by the ambush but by Reize's alacrity in responding to it. The boy's experience adventuring thus far seems to have paid off, the Cosmopolitan thinks, grinning lopsidedly a little despite the perilous situation.

The crystal boomerang smacks at the vines fiercely, the plant initially tightening its hold on the vampire girl -- squeeze! -- before, when the vines begin to fray from the damage, relaxing and withdrawing to protect itself. The magitech fencer, having reached for Hauteclare's hilt, pauses as he sees that Reize's attack seems effective and, moreover, that Faruja is preparing a fearsome attack indeed. Oh, boy. Looking a little alarmed, Ivo instead reaches into his cloak, withdrawing the elemental amplifier.

"I may not be much of a botanist," he concedes, "but I know one thing about these plants: they can't chase us! Reize, get her out of there, quick--!"

As the searing light descends from the sky, blasting through the canopy with a shower of verdant leaves and searing through the remains of the vines, insects scattering with a frantic buzz as the now-smoldering plants curl in on themselves in a defensive reflex, Ivo activates the amplifier. Targeting the ground before the plants, the earth stirs, its soil rich with life-giving aether, and a pillar of stone bursts forth, forming a makeshift shield to absorb the brunt of Faruja's collateral damage. It'll crumble within moments, but it may help the two kids get out of there.

"Follow that beetle!"

Ivo's voice sounds almost amused as he sounds the retreat, in a manner of speaking. There's no need to battle these plants any further once the party moves out of range, after all. And that shining beetle, seemingly blissfully unaware of any battle, is slowly circling the pond, in just the direction that they would want to go to get away from this vile vegetation.

"I can see why Reize pursued," he says more or less to himself as he hightails it away from the fight. "It looks like a variant of a stag beetle, but I've never seen one quite like it." Pausing for breath some distance away, he suddenly startles, looking toward the bug minding its own business again. "...*Stag* beetle?"

In another universe, Ruidoa falls gracefully into Reize's arms. She blushes. He blushes. She's princess carried away and they follow the beetle to the land of the druids....!

In this universe Ruidosa basically, falls on top of Reize and starts swearing curse words in Gransian as they fall into a pile and having to shield herself from holy attacks near her- but not on top of her thankfully, with help from Ivo there.

She stands up... he's Reize up if he needs the help getting up and just starts to get away from the awful monstrous plants.

"I HATE GIANT PLANTS!" she yells angrily, as she continues to say strong language in that other tongue.

One can attribute to Reize's experience for his alertness.

... One can also attribute to that the Heart of the Jungle, to this day, still gives Reize nightmares. The plant creature that calculatedly separated him and Lily from the others... The darkness, the fact of a living plant leading them of what was a maw of doom. Even worse... they were outmatched until Ivo, Priel, and Faruja were able to jump in near the end of it.

...If it wasn't for them, that would had been their last trip.

These, in comparison, are not as threatening.

However, that is put on hold, as Ruidosa falls into the boy's arms... who then collapses with her atop him. Unfortunately, that drop was not graceful. Even worse was hearing various words that are rather incomprehensible to him.

After they do get up, Reize manages to take Ruidosa's hands as she help him up, and then he nods at Ivo. "Right!" Luckily, the pillar of stone helps with their protection against the vine creatures.



Reize follows suit of the shining beetle. "Whew."



  • Character: Faru
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

Faruja proudly watches his handiwork, the rodent limbering an arm. That felt good! A glance to Rui, and Reize, and he sighs in relief since the two are safe for now. One ear twitches.

"/Lady Ruidosa/! Language!!!! Show a touch of class my dear!" No he doesn't know the exact language, but he's been around enough foul mouthed adventurers to be able to pick out tone very well. He has /adult voice/ going on.

"Are you both alright?" Reize gets a light blast of healing magic just in case, though he's certain to not do that with Rui.

Back in formation! "That was good work with the beetle, Reize. Unconventional. But good work." A note of pride in his voice. See? He might browbeat you but he still /believes/ in you!

"I assume your mother doesn't like them either?" Ivo says cheerily, completely unfazed by Ruidosa's outrage as they collectively retreat. "Of course, if she does..." He glances back thoughtfully.

It's not worth it, man.

"If we can count on the chief for anything, it's defying convention," he follows up Faruja's praise with some sounding suspiciously fainter, his eyes following that beetle still. "Say, have you noticed how that shell catches the light? You don't suppose that the 'white stag' is--"

He stops short. The beetle has settled onto a shrub tucked behind a small hillock, in a space where the sun breaks through the clustered trees, bathing a cluster of blossoms in lifegiving light.

"There they are! The wild roses!"

Ivo stares in honest amazement at their success. Wild roses, though sweet-smelling and a valuable addition to herbal concoctions, lack the complex layered appearance of their cultivated cousins. These appear to be an unusual hybrid, a missing link between the wild and the domestic, their broad petals twice-layered and painted the hues of sunset, fading red to orange to yellow. The beetle alights upon one rare bloom, said to open only for a few days each year, and after a moment of stillness, begins to flicker its wings.

An odd buzzing sound emerges, faint at first, then somehow intensifying. Before the adventurers' very eyes, the pondside brush nearby begins to stir and then part, a path appearing before them. And there, tucked deep within the tranquil shadows of this long undisturbed idyll, may be seen the remains of a shrine, vivid white and red, standing out amidst the surrounding green.

"We found the key," Ivo breathes, "and the lock."

Ruidosa huffs dramatically. "I don't know if any plants tried to eat her before!" she says to Ivo as she watches the beetle curiously... before she opens her book to a new page and starts to sketch it... though she can't really convey it's beauty, she can sketch but she isn't an artist. She does right 'follow stag beetle' in the book as a note and starts writing other bites. 'I dislike pitcher plants that try to eat me.'

She looks left...and right, and blushes and writes 'that cute boy- see page 'Reize' aaved me from it, with the paladin and the knight covering him and attacking aswell.' she writes.

Still, she looks up ahead at the shrine as she looks to Ivo...

"Um. We're these the roses you we're looking for?" she asks as she sketches one a moment and gently leans forward and taps the petals of one carefully.

"Um..."

"Should we pick one...?" she asks.

"I'm alright," Reize answers the a paladin. The affirmation from Faruja is met with a smile, "Thank you, Faruja!" He does look thoughtful a moment later, "I couldn't help but notice how rare the beetle looks. Given the rarity of its appearance, I figured it would lead us to the rare flora within this forest."

There is a frown, running a hand over his forehead as sweat runs across his face, "...Unfortunately, that sweet scent triggered a memory." Ugh, that thing. No matter how long, that one was definitely a thing of nightmares.

What comes into fruitation is watching the beetle settling on the shrub that reveals the wild roses. His eyes widen in awe, followed by a smile. "We did it!" He is quite excited.

For Reize, it is not just the fact that they found what they were looking for, but there is a reaffirmation to his pride as a hunter. After all, Reize grew up and lived his life in a forest hamlet. He should be mostly familiar with the fauna and flora more than anyone.

Forests are his favored terrain, after all.

Now this is more of his lane. There is great interest as the idyll reveals the remains of the shrine. Reize takes a few steps forward, no longer interested in the rose that Ivo sought. Instead, the shrine his captivated his attention enough for him to explore ahead.



  • Character: Faru
  • 1 year, 9 months ago

It really /did/ work! Druids may be inscrutible, but Reize's knack for the odd and - seemingly - clever has Faruja beaming. And Reize confirms it, too. The boy knows his stuff, clearly. Newfound respect is in his gaze, and he favors the young Vanguard with an approving nod.

"Remind me to take a course in insectology the next time we stop in a place of learning." He wiggles his nose, then eyes Ruidora. "Perhaps you could impart your knowledge to our darkling friend, hmm?"

Is Faruja...plotting? Maybe. Rarely does deviousness shine in his eyes, but /oh/ the paladin is getting ideas. He'll have to collaborate with Ivo soon.

Right, there's bugs and keys. And weird druid shrines. Luckily he isn't smashing them just yet.

Faruja is down to work though, offering out a bag, and looking to Ivo briefly. "My friend? Anything to worry about? I trust these things shall not rott away my fur nor poison me?" Claws snippity-slice as he prepares to start some gardening!

"Well," Ivo quietly half-replies to Ruidosa, "I wouldn't blame them if they did." Hush, man, she's just a girl. As always, he shamelessly leans as subtly as he can to try to peer over her shoulder and read what she's writing, looking quite amused indeed. Imagine a shot of Ruidosa busily writing, book mostly shielding her from view, with him sloooowly sliding into frame at an angle behind her.

He will then try to be mysteriously back where he was and appearing innocent by the time she addresses him.

"Yes, let's!" he enthuses to Ruidosa, and then to Faruja: "Nothing but thorns." He grins. "But you wouldn't let a few thorns stand between you and beauty, would you, Ser Senra?" Look who's talking. "We needn't take them all, but they won't bloom for long, and it's not as though others will come to admire them here. Let's gather a bunch for your mother and take a few for pressing and drying, too." As long as enough are left for the plant to reproduce and insects to feed, it should be fine. "Great work, Reize. This is thanks to you. We got lost out of getting lost. It seems," he asides to Faruja, "his talent can provide double-negatives of a sort."

They're always so supportive.

"We don't know what we'll find within, but we know for certain that defensive magics are at work here and we know how to open the path," he supplies. "Why don't we take the 'key' with us, gather and deliver the roses, confirm the presence of the shrine to the Vanguards, and return equipped to deal with magical tricks and traps?" He knows Reize will likely be disappointed, but Ruidosa is rather new to adventuring and, even if she's unharmed, that was a direct threat on her person they faced. "Here we go. We'll feed you... uh, whatever you eat," he says as, while Faruja gathers the roses, Ivo gently plucks the beetle from a blossom and slips it into a glass tube. It looks rather like the ones sticking out of the zombies from the catacombs -- it seems he grabbed a few useful odds and ends after all.

> Ivo has acquired a Crowned Beetle (*****)!

> Beetledex has been unlocked in the Journal submenu.

> 1 out of 347,982 beetle varieties acquired.

For some reason, the Cosmopolitan shivers.

"Strange," he mutters. "I just had the odd sense that my ultimate weapon is very, very hard to acquire."

"There are a few things familiar to me, I grew up in a hunting village, after all." He gives a thoughtful look, "The forest that we had didn't have man-eating flora, though... But there were numerous of fauna that can be quite dangerous."

He wanders closer to the temple, not hearing Ivo or Faruja. His eyes have been gazing up at the shrine with awe. His hand reaches out to touch the building. He feels...

Adventure.

This is an unexplored place.

The well of excitement ignites like a fire, until he hears something about 'confirm the presence of the shrine and return equipped'.

Ugh. Deflating...

Reize hangs his head low, already knowing that they will have to retreat. With a heavy sigh, the boy looks over towards the group. "A good idea..." He bears a smile, "We'll report back and visit the manor." He approaches Ruidosa to take her, "I'm sure your mother and sister would be delighted to hear your tale of adventure."