avalononline | Text; Anonymous

Yeah. I tried to make some sense of them with cognitive magic, but it didn't get me too far.

Edited 2022-02-05 21:27 (UTC)

Well, there are plenty of banshees in the Land of Rot. Or, as the Irish call them, bean sídhe. Wailing women regarded as omens of death.

The selkies live along the shore just south of the Forest of the Fisher King.

A prick makes me think of a weapon. But, the line after it makes me wonder if we're also supposed to be looking for a body. Perhaps it refers to the Fisher King himself. He was brought there, and the faerie have been keeping the curse in check since then using the wards along the edges of the affected lands.

[Hopefully this means there is finally a way to undo the curse. If things remain as they are, it will probably come to be a greater problem. The wards keep breaking lately...]

I figured the banshees part, but rest of that is... interesting.

I wonder why we would need to go looking for these particular things. And now, of all times.

Either way, I will head towards the Land of Rot to investigate.

I can think of at least one reason why now. The incidents these last few months have caused the wards to fail on multiple occasions. Each time, undead have spilled over the edges of the Land of Rot and into inhabited lands.

I can't say for certain that it is the reason. But it's why I would consider such a move.

🎣👑❓

[Hello, Horus.]

Were you curious about the Fisher King? I can tell you the story.

Yes! Share ⏲⏩, 🐱‍👤‼

[Walter... does not have any idea what those symbols are supposed to convey. Where is the Rosetta Stone for these little pictures? Or a translation dictionary. A translation dictionary would be helpful right about now.]

A king in days of old, after your time and before mine, sought to engage in relations of a sexual nature with someone he should not, and as a result was punished with a curse that robbed both him and his lands of fertility. The wound he sustained made it so that he was not very mobile, and so he was said to have spent much of his recreational time fishing.

[ Walter being anonymous gives Horus pause in how he phrases things. Ah, is this a disguised person (🐱‍👤) he knows? At the very least, they know of him. ]

Your time is?

[ Hey, he needs it to place the timeline here!! ]

Sounds like a fool. If we approach, are we in danger?

[ :( He is supposed to have children someday?? ]

[A fool, yes. As is any man who allows himself to be led around by his own loins.]

I don't think the curse is immediately catching, but I wouldn't recommend stowing his body away unwarded in your room.

[He sounds mildly amused, and perhaps a little fond. Of course, it has occurred to him that Horus will return home and likely have children some day.]

As for my time... it's much later than yours. Much, much later. But we can talk about that some other time.

[ Oh it's Walter! That makes sense. Horus even perks up a little, voice immediately warmer as he speaks. ]

Has anyone given him proper funeral rights? Or just taken his leg and the cursed wound off and purified it?

[ Those are probably obvious questions, but sometimes people have different cultures with different strange beliefs that don't match Horus's sometimes, so he has to check. ]

Unfortunately I don't know the particulars of how he was interred in Avalon, but it's clear enough that the curse has spread its effects beyond the initial wound. I daresay his entire body would need to be purified.

[And possibly a large-scale ritual to heal the land. It's a nasty curse.]

Anubis would know how to handle such a person...

[ He sounds thoughtful, but a little annoyed. There's no easy solution, since Horus.. decidedly didn't want much to do with the dead, despite being a death mage and the son of the Underworld's king. ]

If he should ever appear here I would welcome his insight.

[As versed in the supernatural as Walter is for his young age, there is plenty more to learn.]

[ He laughs. ]

If he ever appears here, he'll be kicking himself for not being by my side for so long. I'll tell him he can make it up to me by taking your questions~

[ He loves how loyal Anubis is to him though, so that sounds like an affectionate comment. ]

Are you sure? I might end up keeping the poor fellow for an entire night.

[Or more. Letting an opportunity like that go to waste would be sinful.

Well, perhaps not sinful, considering the whole foreign god thing. But what a waste!]

I'll come with in that case and we can have a threeway sleepover.

[Three people to a room... he'll have to use one of the castle bedrooms for that. His own is much too small.]

In that case, you had better tell me what he likes to eat ahead of time. I detest being ill-prepared.

The same you would prepare for me is fine. He won't be familiar with most of this food's cuisine, either.

[ Horus barely knew anything when he got here because all the available foods were so different from home.. ]

If you insist.

[If only there were some bloody cookbook on ancient Egyptian cuisine... Oh well. Trial and error it is.]

I'm heading out now. I'll catch up with you later.

Fare well, friend!

Fisher King?

[Ah, wait...!]

He's the one who cursed the forest, right?
Something like that?

Sorry... I haven't dreamt about many poems, myself.
Can you remember any part of it?

[Shoto... Walter can readily imagine the other boy wanting to come. He'd been wanting to work on his fighting capabilities... and really, there's little else better to put one's skills and stamina to the test.]

I beckon thee to wither's tree,
Where widows often cry,
A poisoned place of death's embrace
North selkie's weary eye.
You seek the prick whose corpse makes rot,
And rot begot those life forgot,
Fore the questing beast slips by.

[As he had heard the words and had not seen them written out, he does not quite get the formatting of the last line correct, and remains unaware of any discrepancy that might change "Fore" to indicate a time rather than a physical position.]

Those words have been stuck in my head since I woke up. And as the story goes, he was struck with the curse. The curse spread from him to surrounding lands. He was brought here, where his curse likewise spread to both the forest and the Land of Rot beside it. The Land of Rot became barren, while the forest adapted, becoming far more dangerous. Even the trees will consume you there if you do not watch yourself, and it has tricks to make you drop your guard.

[Naturally! If he knew who was speaking, he'd be scrambling for items, slipping on boots to find wherever he is. His stillness chokes him.

He's oblivious. For now, he's wondering, deeply imaginative once he's told much of anything. His mind's whirring.]

So they're directions?

[Two locations... Both awful. Both times he'd been.]

It's like a map.
I think you're supposed to find that corpse, first. A real one.
I'd start with that forest, then.

[Questing beasts, was it? It's almost beckoning.]

Are you planning on heading out there?
It's just as you said; those plants could eat anything.

[Or anyone.]

Do you have the equipment for a journey into the forest? You handled the Land of Rot well enough, but the plants deep in the forest release something into the air that acts like a hypnotic drug. It renders whoever breathes it in docile to the forest's inhabitants, but hostile to anyone who tries to remove them from the forest.

[Spoken like Aizawa...

He knows. He's smiling, briefly.]

I only know about those mushrooms now. They can work with my Healing, but I don't have anything more than that.
I've always fought my way, wherever it is.
It's why I've never gone alone before.

You're not planning on going alone, right?

As comfortable as I am going in alone, searching both lands on my own would take far too long.

Would you like to come?

[Both...?]

You're searching both now?

I'm gonna say this every time. Just tell me where to meet.
I already promised.
I don't doubt you could handle that, but there's no way in Hell I'd sit and wait here.

[Knowingly? No chance.]

No, I don't imagine you would.

[It's a quality Walter definitely appreciates.]

The forest first, then. We can report on the location of the body once we find it. Moving it outside the protection of the wards recklessly isn't something I would advise, lest the curse spread to yet-untouched lands. We'll need a secure means of transport and we need to be certain that wherever it is brought can actually contain it.

[No carrying something that has been such trouble around by one's bare hands without a thought in the world. That would just be asking for something bad to happen.]

[This is beyond taboo. He's slipping his gauntlets on, taking his weapons down. They'll be cursed, he thinks.

He doesn't care.]

So we're scouting for now?
You've really thought this through, I guess...

[Leave it to Walter.]

I don't know if I care what the point is. ...Bringing a corpse up.
I only care about watching your back right now; so that's all I've understood this time.

[Protect this person: one objective, one thing to grasp. Clear his threats out.]

I'll go for that fungus, first thing. Just don't get far until I use it; I'm only fighting you on the training grounds. You're a real pain in the back when you're serious, and you're still a lot faster.

[He'll keep them sane.]

I wouldn't leave you either way, though.
When can we leave?

[The single-minded devotion to keeping him safe might have been charming if it wasn't also concerning. Walter will have to be careful in briefing and directing Shoto.]

If you have your basic supplies ready, we can leave in just a few minutes. I'm going to pack some extra food so we don't have to stop our search to forage or fish.

[He's strange that way, isn't he? It doesn't occur to him, honestly, that he ought to preserve himself. Fortunately, the other's just as much capable, isn't taking advantage of him in any one way or the other. He's certain and stubborn, and there's shockingly little reluctance to make himself a weapon. He jumps at everything still; seeks out troubles at every opportunity.

He means to deflect them.]

I'm on my way, then.

[He's more than ready. He'll wait at the forest's edge: standing out, head impossible to miss in evenly shortcake-colors. Blue flames signaling.]

[It's true there's no mistaking that appearance. Shoto's appearance is a striking one, standing out readily in the darkness.

Much like his flames; they immediately draw Walter's attention when he approaches, coming from the direction of the Archivist's, to which he has a recipe for totems. They're a different colour than before.]

You turned your fire blue.

[Walter remembers him talking about it, last they spoke; how his fire wasn't blue yet. It looks like he's progressed.]

[He'd been listening before?]

Ah. [Affirming. His smile's shy.] I guess it's too obvious... It's only happened just recently. Lighting these takes a lot out of me, but this flame's the strongest spell I've got. Blue's as hot as I can go with these.

[Torches and lanterns. He'll be both where he's called to be.]

We could burn our way through anything now. [All blooming confidence. He's sure about this.] I'll light the way when you're ready.

Edited 2022-03-04 23:54 (UTC)

[We could burn our way through anything. Now that is the sort of thing Walter likes to hear. He smiles, assured, and starts back into the forest.]

Let's go get those mushrooms you need.

[First step: eliminate any threat posed by the spores deeper in the forest. Second step: search for the Fisher King.

Everything in its proper order.]

Right. ["Foraging" first. His blues shift gold next, and flames in palm consume shadow by way of illuminating candle's light. And, before much longer, he's spying a much-too-hidden, holo-shimmering patch of black mushrooms. Heart leaping first—sinking immediately when he realizes what's next on the menu. He takes a quick breath, peering sourly back at Walter with fingers clenched tightly.] I- think I've found them...

[Ah. No... he has. He must be bold and unafraid, and not show reluctance. For Walter's sake. He's resigned to this "task" now.]

Here goes, I guess.

[His nose creases. Before he thinks to reconsider, plucking the fattest growths first, his lowering eyes screwing shut when he stuffs his mouth full finally. He bites clean through.] ...Augh. [Gross. Completely gross. But already, feeling his eating's effects as warmth, glow, diffused light-source seeping out of him when he swallows another mouthful. Disgusting. He smiles up, weakly.]

We should be fine like this.

[At least it'd last them? His hand's up, beckoning, motioning hurriedly to the other boy.]

Give me your shoulder. [...before he's sick.] It's not that different from my healing before.

[Noticing Shoto's reaction, Walter can only surmise that the other boy isn't a great fan of mushrooms. Or perhaps these ones just taste particularly foul.

Nevertheless, when asked for his shoulder, Walter steps closer, allowing him to use it as he feels necessary.]

Should I be eating them, too?

[He's been pretty reliant on his mask for his ventures into the forest, but an extra layer of protection surely couldn't hurt.]

[Absolutely not. He shakes his head.]

You wouldn't wanna do that. ...I think it's better mixed with Healing spells, so you don't need to do anything.

[Trying to spare him... they're very bitter.] I only need to make a transfer. [He can handle this much of it. But he stands again, finally, placing hand to his shoulder, lending light as mixed magics, colors as spells through his palm and passing as warmth to the other boy. Dyed from the mushrooms. Glowing shield-and-light barrier.

It doesn't take much. He's pressed his armor spells into it.]

You should feel a little stronger, at least. Might be more than spores to worry about...

[Brushing right past him; he'd rather fight than keep eating now.]

Text; Anonymous

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Question! How tall is Walter, about?

About 5'5"/165cm. No official height, but he's definitely shorter than Shoto at that age.

Oh! I wasn't sure if Shoto looks up or down. Thank you!