the power of friendship.

[adelicateflame]

The Caves of the Arimoi are an extensive network of caverns, winding through the earth. Who maintains the torches which light each passage with a dim and flickering luminescence? Who placed here these treasure chest, filled with artifacts both ancient and obscure? What is it even doing here, as it is clearly not part of the Queen's domain? Nobody knows, or at least nobody is answering. But here it is nonetheless, and it is both ancient and strangely beautiful.

You are not alone in these caves, however. Echidna's children lurk, jealously guarding treasures and preying on unprepared explorers. Here a woman with the lower boidy of a dragon lurks, vicious teeth dripping with venom. There, a formless, shapeshiting mass strikes out with its terrible barbed whip. There, hydras and chimaerae patrol, and in some places the beautiful woman you stumble across may not be what she seems...

How are you supposed to make nice with creatures like these? That's up to you to figure out.

[ooc: A more detailed description of the Caves and Monsters can be found on the setting page. We will be tagging into threads with NPC monsters, if you have a specific monster you would like to encounter please leave a note in your thread.]

Comments

Agrias and Ovelia

[ofnovalue]

"It seems diplomacy is the order of the day. Do not draw your sword unless we are attacked directly, Agrias. If we can win this without bloodshed, it will be for the best..."

The monarch drew in a deep breath, letting it out in a long sigh before stepping into the caverns. Who knew what challenges awaited them? She could only hope for the best... But hope was a thing that had failed her before.

[immovable]

Agrias nods to her liege, keeping a relaxed hand on the hilt of her sheathed blade, keeping control of it at all times lest someone come by and try to snatch it from her and use it against them, ready to grip down hard at a moment's notice. Her eyes scan the cave slowly; it reminded her so much of the countless dungeons her and the crew back in Ivalice would go spelunking in for levels and Gil.

"At your command always, milady." she said, voice as strong as her posture. "Do not wander too far ahead now, devils and beasts are not the only perils when exploring."

Agrias followed in tow, keeping her ears and eyes clear and tuned in to everything.

[adelicateflame]

Their attentiveness soon comes in handy; not far from the entrance, a lion roars. A chimera hides in the shadows, only its lion head visible. It does not move toward them, but is obviously on guard. It is loyally following its mother's orders to not immediately attack--it is giving them a chance.

Kuja

[histrionic]

Kuja has no fear of monsters. Why should she? She is a monster herself, and one of no small power. Not only is she immune to poison, but her skin is all but invulnerable. She was barely injured by the strongest attack of the King of Dragons himself. She cannot easily be damaged, and even if she could be, she would not care. She no longer cares what becomes of her.

The dragons of Terra were her friends, and she has some dominion over beasts. Even those creatures living here bow to her will and find her speech fair. Will she find some solace among her fellow monsters? Likely not, as they are as unlike her as any of the Gardens' residents, yet she makes her way into the caverns nonetheless. Her hands kindle a small magic, a light in the darkness. It's not that she needs it, but she finds the colors fair as they play over her fingers.

[[ooc: if someone else wants to meet up with her, feel free to tag in; otherwise she's just going by herself.]]

[adelicateflame]

Kuja's experience with dragons may come in handy as a Dracaena peers out from behind a cave wall. Only her top half, her female half, is visible--but no mistake can be made when she bares her enormous, hundreds of teeth. It's a warning. These residents were never kind to her siblings when they first invaded her cave.

[histrionic]

"Hello, my dear." The teeth do not trouble her. There is no death here, and if there were, she would seek it out, not shy away. She smiles, then offers a bow in greeting. It is interest that has brought her here rather than a desire to serve the Queen. She is no one's servant. "A pleasure. My name is Kuja."

The light flickering in her hand is merely colorful, harmless, and it dims as she bows, though it still gleams upon the gold and silver of her raiment. She holds no weapon.

[mnementomori]

Xion is outside a cave entrance...huddled on the ground with her arms wrapped around her knees. She wants to help, she promised she would, but she can't help remembering her own horrible transformation. What if no one will listen? What if she can't be forgiven?

[manymasked]

Minako, on her way to explore the caves herself, notices Xion and stops short, bending down to talk to the other girl.

"Are you all right? What happened?"

[mnementomori]

She starts a little, looking up. Though her hood is covering most of her face, there are tear tracks visible on her cheeks.

"I--I'm okay...nothing...I didn't even go in yet." Her soft voice is a mumble. She rubs at her face hastily. "I just--I'm fine. I'm really fine."

[fionna_time]

She was alone again, but Fionna was used to it by now. he would always be going on adventures, even with no cake, and she would still make sure that she got some stuff to put in her tree fort for it.

But of course she was armed. There was no way she would go and do something like this without making sure she had her weapons ready and able to stop a monster in its place. But a new place was a new place, and she would be sure to have stories for Cake when this was over!

[gentlecuteside]

Amamiya was as prepared as always, katana resting on her hip within its sheath. She was...perhaps not the best ambassador to these monsters, given that she'd likely respond to being attacked with deadly force. Still, she was curious about these caves, and whatever secret they held...and she wasn't about to let Fionna go in alone.

"Be careful," she said as a general warning. "These caves are supposed to be full of monsters."

[fionna_time]

"I fight monsters a lot where I'm from, so I'm not scared," was Fionna's initial response, and there was a certain little glow she felt knowing, at least, that she would be fighting monsters with someone she knew and cared about.

"I guess you wanted to do some exploring too?" She grinned. "I always did hope you'd come with me on one of these adventures!"

Kris and Akiha

[ported]

"You should be careful Akiha!"

Not that Akiha needed such advice. But Kris wanted to be extra careful to make sure that Akiha stayed safe. It wouldn't do if Kris dragged her here only to get hurt. Kris' reasons for coming were just as selfish, seeing as she thought that exploring places like this meant loads of loot. And loads of loot meant more money. She had to beat everyone to it!

[ritsu_kouyou]

"Shut up, idiot. You're going to draw attention to us," Akiha snapped back as she bent down to tug the end of her skirt free from the rocks it had gotten caught on. She wasn't dressed for 'adventuring' and she was already fed up with this whole thing.

"This is the stupidest idea ever," she muttered.

Akiha's plan had been to let the do-gooders of the Garden explore this and talk about it on the Vine while she and the Condesce discussed it from the safety of their own homes as neither of them actually cared about this 'Mother of Monsters'. But, noooooooooooooooo, Kris had decided to go 'adventuring'.

[ported]

"That's the whole point!"

She turned around and grabbed Akiha's hand. If she wasn't prepared, Kris would help her along.

"The more you kill, the more powerful you get."

[undefines]

For Nue, at least, making nice with monsters seemed like a simple enough task. After all, defanged as she was, she was still a youkai. With that being the case, surely connecting with Echidna's children would be doable? She floated along near the roof of the cave, her wings spread more broadly than normal in an attempt to draw more attention to her inhuman attributes as she scanned the area for a decently receptive-looking target.

[adelicateflame]

The floating immediately caused attention to be brought to Nue--by a mania. It flew to her in the shape of a young girl. But once a torch picked up her image, the mania's bloody illusion was an instant tell.

It made no move to attack, but merely tilted its head. It was curious.

[undefines]

"Hello! I guess you're one of the ones that lives in this place?" She tilted her head right back and drifted a tiny bit closer, her movements slow and almost exaggeratedly unaggressive. "I haven't been here for as long as some other girls, I guess, so I don't really know everything that has happened in the past, but... From what I can gather, I guess the humans here have been cruel to you in the past? With the way humans are, it seems like a safe bet."

[dragoninstalled]

Sol has taken a slightly different approach to dealing with the situation. She knows she's far from the best at diplomacy, so in the absence of people skills she has decided to try to bribe her way into the monsters' goodwill. One trip to the wild places later, and she has a chest of her own. It's filled with jewelry and trinkets. Hopefully, she'll be lucky enough that at least a few of the monsters are into hoarding.

It's hard to say, seeing as her expression is about as sober as is appropriate for this situation, but something about her demeanor seems a little...off as she makes her way through the caves. Somehow, she doesn't seem to be as surly and antisocial as normal. Maybe she's just making an effort to do this befriending thing right?

[ ooc: Sol currently is under the effect of a wildcard and will be behaving...much more nicely that normal. ]

[adelicateflame]

An empusa has sniffed its way to Sol, and when it comes into sight, it smiles to her. It's a beautiful smile, fitting with its illusion of a woman.

It would very much like a snack, and Sol looks delicious. Echidna had warned the monsters to not attack on sight, but this one seemed to be uncaring.

[reverentresistance]

Ky isn't at all certain about the whole idea of befriending monsters, but she supposes that she has to at least try. That seemed clear enough, and Ky's willing to apply her natural stubbornness to a rather different task than what she usually does.

Her sword is sheathed, for now, but her hand is on the hilt -- she's wary but trying hard not to provoke anything, as she enters the caves.

[adelicateflame]

It's very quiet in the caves, which is fairly normal when one is just entering. However, it can also be called too quiet. All that can be heard is the course of a stream somewhere deep inside.

And the sound of skittering in the nearby darkness.

Jessica + Gal / Jessica + Japan / Jessica + p. much anyone who adheres to the buddy system

[notvitiligo]

Jessica is so not a spelunker. (Jessica is so not anything that requires a lot of physical activity.) However, she's hesitating at the threshold for another reason: given what she's heard about the cave ladies, she doesn't want to go barging in rudely. Even if she weren't generally polite, that'd just mess up the whole reason for being there.

So, she shines her flashlight into the depths, and calls out: "Hello? We were told we should come to do some, um, diplomacy. Does anyone mind if we go in?"

To her caving-buddy, she adds, "I really hope this doesn't get messy."

[fuzei]

Japan doesn't like the word "messy" for a whole host of reasons, to the point where her only immediate reaction is to hold her hands closer to her chest, also clutching a flashlight, and nod.

She looks around as well, following the flashlight's beam. It's not that she's scared, mind you! She's not at all scared. She's just... cautious. That's right. Cautious. It's only prudent in this situation. When she speaks, her voice is lowered slightly.

"I hope so as well. I am... not certain what to expect."

[hopelessdreamer]

Gal puts a hand on her shoulder, trying to be reassuring.

"If it does, don't worry, I'll protect you." She'd brought her sword just in case, and though she's aware being armed isn't the best goodwill gesture, she'd rather risk it than be caught without it.

She's used to dealing with monsters. But fighting them, not talking to them. She's pretty out of her league here.