The First Whisper [OPEN]

[Little Flower]

The place to eat is the pub. Unsuspecting patrons milled about and got drunk which makes it easier for me to hypnotize them. So that’s what I was doing. I waited for someone to look my way then coerce them to come closer until they are close enough to wrap them up and begin to digest them. Even better, most of them are fat and juicy merchants. Hahaha! Anyway, it was fourth day there and I had already eaten six patrons.

However, that singer had broken one of my hypnoses with her own hypnotic songs and cost me a meal. I shall get her for it, and possibly relieve James of his, shall I say, frustrations. Hahaha!

I contacted James and asked him to take me to the table where the singer had sat down with four others. I had also given him permission to speak freely save for any mention of my hypnoses. So that is what he did. He picked me up and took me over to the singers table and said, "Excuse my interruption, but do you mind if I sat here with my flower?"

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

I immediately recognized the flower that the little boy--who should not have been allowed in here in the first place--carried with him.

You don't spend most of your life studying dangerous plants and eventually become one yourself without being able to spot shit like this.

The weed was what is commonly referred to as an enrapture flower, or lure flower. Despite the many and varied color schemes they take, and there are certainly many, they are all of the same species. They have a tendency to lurk around, waiting for unsuspecting passersby in the deeper parts of the forests in Corone. Once something is unfortunate enough to cast it more than a curious glance, it hypnotizes its victim with the multicolored pattern of its petals before dragging them closer with lengths of vine. From there, the plant excrete an unpleasant mixture of chemicals that digests its prey.

However, it's a process that usually takes weeks upon agonizing weeks to complete. Hells, oftentimes the plant will lose interest in its dinner, and leave the poor sod a half-digested mess on the ground before disappearing for months on end, only to resurface with a fresh configuration of petals in a different part of the forest in search of another victim to half finish.

I had also heard tales of the plant assuming a sort of parasitic control over different beings, in order to increase its mobility and ease of finding prey.

I'm in no mood tonight for this kind of horseshit. An eldritch librarian, a Fallieni dancer, a bewitching songstress, two man-eating plants, and a whatever that other boy happens to be are sitting in a bar sounds like the start of a bad joke anyway.

I promptly stood up from my seat, startling Hype. With a snap of my fingers, three obsidian daggers popped into being and fell onto the surface of the table in front of the two women and the girlish boy who had already invaded my personal space.

"That flower is going to try and kill you," I said matter-of-factly, motioning towards the technicolor weed with a flick of my wrist. "Go ahead and cut it up it with these, give the boy a spanking for bringing it in here, and send him home to his parents."

Hype looked at me, then at the plant, at the singer, and back at me. Confusion flickered in her amber eyes.

I heard her jaw working as she formed a protest, but I grabbed her by the arm. "We're leaving, Hype."

Before she could fight back, I hauled her ass out the tavern door and into the night.

[Wander]

Before Melaina could respond to the boy's words and continue what just might prove to be a very interesting conversation, they were interrupted by a new arrival. She frowned at the strange introduction. Why would someone mention their flower? It would be like her asking if she could sit there with her cloak. The slight tingling in her head that had been brought on by the copious drink faded away as her natural wariness of people rose up. She had cast it aside when the briarheart dragged her here, but it came back easily. She was already tempted to retreat when the sudden rise of the table's initial occupant startled her. An obsidian dagger materialized on the table in front of her, Sage, and the foreign dancer, making her jerk back, startled. But the dagger's tip was facing away from her, not a threat, and then the woman began to speak.

"That flower is going to try and kill you."

Melaina stared at the woman's matter-of-fact tone, then glanced at the new arrival.

"Go ahead and cut it up it with these, give the boy a spanking for bringing it in here, and send him home to his parents."

Melaina's brain was clearly still affected by the alcohol, because the woman had grabbed the briarheart and dragged her through and out of the bar, and Melaina had only managed to pick up the obsidian dagger and stare at it. She lifted her head, turning to look for the girl, to ask a question - like what the hell - but she and the briarheart (Hyperion, her mind reminded her) were gone.

But the woman was back. Standing in the doorway, arms crossed in front of her, the silver-haired woman was staring at her. She lifted the sword - bloodier than it had been before - and pointed it at Melaina.

Her breath caught in her throat.

She glanced toward the flower but looked away before she could focus on it, a warning dancing in her mind to get away. It was such an insignificant thing, just a little plant, but this world was so much stranger than the seas she knew so well. She stood up from the table and turned to the mage in training.

"I'm gonna get out of here." She picked the obsidian dagger up from the table and studied it. "And I'm taking this with me." She pointed it at the boy and his flower. "I don't know this land's flowers from its weeds, so I'm going to be nice and not chop your flower up into bits and feed it to the local cattle." Her eyes narrowed into a glare and she let her Siren Song cloud her voice as she hissed, "Do not make me regret it."

She glanced at the foreign dancer, realizing that the girl hadn't translated her warning into whatever language she spoke, and she had no idea what language it even was. Some things were universal. With her empty hand, she pointed at the boy with his flower, then drew a line across her throat in the clear "you're dead" hand signal. Then she turned back to Sage. "It was actually nice to meet you," she said, sounding startled at herself for admitting it. "Perhaps I'll see you again. Good luck in your mage training."

She looked up at the doorway again. The woman was still there, silver of hair and bloody of sword. She stepped to the side and waved a hand at the door in obvious invitation.

Melaina moved toward it, hoping she was actually walking away from the danger and not into it.

[Sage]

The appearance of the boy and his plant startled Sage, the sudden abruptness and the tone of the boy’s voice put the mage in training completely on edge. One look at the boy showed no clear distinctive features, nothing to tell him apart from the rest of a crowd save for the fact the he was carrying a plotted plant… of all things.

“Can I sit here with my flower? Would someone actually ask something like that?” Warning bells rang in his head, feeling a sense of looming danger that hovered over the table like an oppressive fog. His sense of dread hit an all-time high when the table’s original occupant was on her feet in the next instant and placed three daggers on the table along with a warning.

“The plant wants to kill us?” The question rang with curiosity his attention drifting from the woman taking her leave to the potted plant that the stranger had placed on the table. His eyes wondered up the stem, to the colourful red and blue petals, it was so unique in its colouring that everything about the flower seemed to want to draw his attention to the centre. The sensation was eerily familiar a feeling he had just only recently been acquainted with no less.

“Another glamour spell?” Sage tore his eyes away from the petals with a deep breath, worried about what would have happened if he had looked directly into the centre of the flower, and turned his attention back to the stranger with a lost look in their eye for an example. Sage suppressed a gag when he saw how completely enthralled to the flower he appeared to be.

The Fae was the next to get up from the table, seething with disgust as she gave the boy a warning. Not that he blamed her. The thought of sitting at a table talking to an enthralled boy whose little flower wanted them dead was very unnerving. Not one to want to dine with the devil either, Sage pushed his chair back and away from the plant as well, taking the second of the obsidian daggers with him.

Melaina said her farewells to Sage in what he believed to be her most open and honest tone she had used for him since they met. “Yeah, I hope to see you around as well. And make sure to be careful where you sing that song of yours aright?” he said watching her leave, unsure if she heard him.

With a deep breath to compose his nerves, Sage looked at the enthralled boy and the pot the plant was residing in. He could not just leave with the plant left out in the open in the middle of a tavern. If the plant was as dangerous as that woman had believed, and if what he was beginning to suspect was true… all the more the pity that he did not know any fire spells.

There were … Rumours of plants with hypnotising effects like this one, and none of them were pleasant to think of, cordyceps was rather nasty, but was limited to mostly ants and insects. However, this flower gave him the impression of a Venus fly trap, its glamour spell was too similar to the Fae and its brightly coloured petals were an excellent lure even without that. “And it wants us dead, what in the world does it feed on, people?”

“Oh you have got to be … No, shutting this down”

“Hi, I think your plant needs a little more light don’t you agree” It was not even a question and in the next instant, Sage was already holding out his palm with a spell on his lips ‘Lux’ and creating an ethereal orb of light. It was such an easy spell to cast, and one that was simple to control, the orb gently left his palm and floated over to the flower and covered it whole.

There was no damage to be done, nothing offensive save for the fact that it would be akin to staring inches away from a bright source of light, Sage left the orb of light a command to stay exactly where it was in front of the flower and safely obscure anyone’s view of it, secure in the knowledge that the spell would last a very long time. But the use of a spell within the tavern did not go unnoticed either, patrons and the barkeep all halted their banter and talk to stare at the magical source of light and then to the boy who had cast it. Sage stood up out of his chair and pointed to the potted plant at the table with the dagger.

“Everyone!” He called out with a frown. “There is a dangerous plant on this table, It has enthralled that boy and if you look into its centre then you will be caught in its effect as well.”

[Arthropleura]

Three had escaped, including the one I was after. Two had been plants, unappetizing creatures. The older of the two creatures warned the others at the table of my intentions. My target just seemed to be skittish around my boy. The next one to act was the mage. He actually had the nerve to put a bright light in front of my flower. And then he warned the entire tavern of my dangerous ability. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t leave nor would he have a chance to turn around. I lashed out at him as well as at the female that was also at the table. I would get two meals tonight, as well as revenge for ruining my life trick.

[Capoeirista]

Alina could not quite grasp the situation. She picked up one of the strange dark daggers that her savior conjured, because the others had done so. What a strange gift, she thought, examining the blade’s lethal edge. She sipped her ale as three of the table’s occupants stood and left. Where are they going? Should I follow? She stood up, but the plant the strange boy had brought to the table occupied her attention. It seemed rather beautiful, and interesting, and…

The spell broke as the soft-cheeked boy placed a ball of light over the central flower. Alina shook her head and downed the last of her ale in a single drought. She placed the empty mug down on the table and was about to sit when the plant suddenly lashed out with its long vines.

The dancer’s quick reflexes saved her from any harm. She ducked low beneath the plant’s appendages, snaring one of Sage’s ankles and pulling the boy off his feet to keep him out of harm’s way. As she straightened slightly she weaved to the left and slashed twice at the plant’s base with her obsidian dagger, aiming to completely sever its central stalk.

“Bad magic. Follow!” Alina clasped Sage’s hand and scurried out of the tavern, dragging him behind her. They stumbled outside into the crisp night, the Fallieni woman looking about for any sign of her departed acquaintances. Her horse was still hobbled to a nearby railing. The sleek sand-colored mare snuffled as her rider approached, flicking her tail and perking up her ears.

“Moonstrider,” she said the horse’s name partially to introduce her to Sage, and partially just to enjoy the sound. She stroked the long, muscular neck as she unwound the reins from the post.

[Sage]

“What was that?” Sage’s mind sang in confusion, did that plant really try to attack him with a vine. He didn’t think the plant had that kind of capability, the hypnosis was already excellent to make the plant stand out as a predator among other flora, but sentience along with prehensile vines made it something else entirely.

“And me and my big mouth!” he thought bitterly, he was not wrong to want to warn the patrons, if that plant is half as dangerous as it appeared to be then they needed to be told, to be warned. And that was what he did, He let the dancer pull him away from the bar, away from the danger satisfied that those people now had a fighting chance, that ball of light would ensure that it could not hypnotise anyone for a good long time.

“Yeah, bad magic” he agreed, and began to follow the woman earnestly away from the tavern, towards a horse that perked at her approach. Hers, he realised and looked back over his shoulder, half expecting a vined monstrosity to follow after them. He saw nothing, and heard little save the sound of something wooden in the tavern being smashed.

“Time to go” he said with a shuddering breath, partially because of the cold wind that blew across them, and also for his nerves failing him. “Time to really go”

His attention was then brought back to the woman who had saved him from that, whatever that was, as she introduced him to her horse. Moonstrider she called it affectionately, and the mare responded in kind, leaning in to the affection she was being shown. It was rather heart-warming, and under any other circumstances, he’d be gushing over how cute they appeared. The two did wonders to calm him, but he could not forget what was behind them.

“I … She is beautiful” he said honestly, the mare truly was a beautiful creature. It stood tall and proud with powerful limbs rippling as it moved closer to Alina, a cheeky nip at her hair. Was she offering to give him a ride away from here, he did not want to assume but he would be grateful all the same. Getting him out of the tavern was already more than he could have hoped for, but getting away from this town where, that flower was.

He was not sure he would live to see the morning sun if he did not leave the town. He felt embarrassed, again he had somehow blundered into danger and again he needed to be saved. But his shame was outweighed by how grateful he felt at that moment.

“Thank you, for saving me!”

[Capoeirista]

Alina watched the soft-cheeked boy fade into the darkness and then climbed up into Moonstrider’s saddle. The mare gave a soft whicker and tossed her sandy mane.

“I was making new friends,” the dancer giggled in Fallieni. She put one soft-booted foot in a stirrup and levered her lithe body into the saddle. Sitting astride the horse felt as natural as breathing. She relaxed for a moment, remembering all the times she had straddled a horse in the arid deserts of Fallien. The cool, moist night air kept her grounded on Corone, though.

She heeled her steed’s sides and set the mare to a gentle trot along the road. Loose thatch flapped on the tavern’s roof, and the same breeze teased the dancer’s long dark hair.

This is a strange land, with many strange people and customs, Alina told herself as she rode, it was a lucky occurrence to find friends over ale. I should not have let them all away. They might have had much to teach me of this place…

As she rounded a corner Alina spotted the familiar figure of the diminutive singer, making her way towards the nearby fringe of the forest. Alina did not fancy the forest overmuch; she was used to open plains and rolling dunes, not the thickly interlocked trees and plants native to Corone. Besides, as she had recently learned, plants could be quite dangerous.

The Fallieni dancer heeled her horse to a canter until she caught up with the tiny performer. She leaned down from the saddle, extending an open hand toward the woman.

“Ride?” She said.

[Philomel]

Judgement Name: The First Whisper
No Judgement

Rewards:

Sage
565 EXP
25 GP

Capoeirista
515 EXP
25 GP

Wander
440 EXP
16 GP

Arthropleura
75 EXP
11 GP

BlackAndBlueEyes
1015 EXP
66 GP

Little Flower
75 EXP
11 GP

Rewards are edited to include the following:

"Obsidian Dagger (iron-strength) given by Melany (BlackAndBlueEyes) to Melaina (Wander), Sage (Sage), and Alina (Capoeirista)."

Obsidian dagger awarded to: Wander, Sage and Capoeirista. Based on a iron dagger, with no magical ability.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

All rewards added!