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.

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.]]

[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.

[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.

[ofnovalue]

Ovelia visibly flinched at the sound, having never come across such a beast on her own. It was certainly a sight to behold...

"Fear not, fair creature. We are here to seek treaty. We do not know these caverns, however... Would it, perhaps, serve you to provide us escort?"

... She certainly hoped it could understand.

[immovable]

At once, Agrias' grip tightened on her hilt, her face frowning as she made eye contact with the creature. It was not unlike what she had fought back home, but still disheartening to see all the same. However, she remembered her command, trusting in Ovelia to see this through. If she knew anyone who could talk a beast down without a convenient job change, it would be her.

However, should it make even the slightest hint of a move on her, she would cut it. There's no way she would risk losing her, especially to a common beast.

"Be careful now, milady. We know not what it is capable of. I can only pray your assessment of it rings true." keeping her eyes locked on it, quite curious as to how it would act.

[adelicateflame]

For a long while, it merely stared. It was assessing them as well. Its eyes often moved to Agrias' sheathed sword, as if trying to figure out if they were going to attack. When they do not move to hurt it, however, it turned around. Though the serpent's head was keeping its eyes on them, glaring, the chimera's slow movement were as if it was allowing them to follow.

[ofnovalue]

So far, so good... With a swallow and a nod, Ovelia began to follow the creature.

"Tis but one success in many trials I fear we've still yet to face..."

[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?

[immovable]

The knight blinked a bit, genuinely surprised. Ovelia, you weren't secretly leveling your Mediator class, were you? No, you'd have a cool cap if you were, and you are decidedly hatless. Agrias loosens her grip again and follows; stranger things have happened, but still. She keeps her eyes peeled as she walks on.

"Not bad at all, milady. You certainly are worthy of your regal title. It is quite telling though when beast would deign to listen to you more than nobles, though. Such is the world, I suppose."

[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."

[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.

[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!

[manymasked]

Minako isn't buying that for a minute, but she's not going to pry too much, at least not yet.

"Do you need a hand up?" She straightens up, offering a hand to Xion.

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."

[ritsu_kouyou]

The sudden pull from Kris made Akiha stumble and she had to grab the magician with her other hand to keep from falling. Then, once she had her feet, she jerked herself free from Kris' grip.

"If you get eaten by a monster during this stupidity, I'll be very angry with you." She glared. "And that notion of killing making you more powerful is preposterous."

[ported]

"I've probably been doing this longer than you." She said that rather sullenly, not in reaction to what Akiha said to her but in reaction to Akiha pulling away from her hand.

"And I'm right. It does make you more powerful."

[ritsu_kouyou]

"I'm sure you have considering this is the second time I've ever gone 'adventuring', as you put it."

The other time being when they went into the Hollow to find the Healer. That turned out to be pointless except for the pearls Akiha had ended up with. She had a few with her, just in case, but doubted she'd need them.

"Why are you acting like I kicked you anyways?"

[ported]

"Because..."

She almost would prefer if Akiha figured it out herself. Even then, she was pretty sure Akiha would need to be guided to an answer so she decided to wait and see while they continued inside the cave.

[ritsu_kouyou]

That wasn't helping any. It made Akiha think, which meant she focused on the words and not the action. Didn't Kris see that her threat of being angry if Kris got eaten was an indication of affection? Akiha wasn't good at expressing herself sometimes and she'd already told Kris that the magician wasn't allowed to leave her. And that included being eaten by monsters.

"Because what? I said I didn't want you eaten. Isn't that enough?"

Emotions, why must they be so complicated?

[mnementomori]

"Th...thanks." She takes it gratefully, feeling her face burning. She can't be troubling people with her own worries at a time like this! The Gardens are in trouble.

"Hey...Minako...were you here when the caves first appeared. Do you remember it...?"