[F1-SP] <<Feeding Your Enemy>> Finding a New Friend!

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID #189688
LD: 10 (Failure)

The feathers led her on a rather straight-forward and admittedly boring trail.  None of the other creatures had dared to show their mug and attack her, and so she had simply trotted along, a fist full of the feathers all pulling her in one direction, which she could see, as she approached, was coming up to be yet another cliffside for her to descend.  The young woman groaned as she saw it, even if she wasn't there yet and gave a small breath of annoyance, glancing around.  it seemed that there wasn't any other way down, either.  That meant she was going to have to climb yet again.

"I came to this floor to look for a familiar, not to practice my rock climbing," she fumed at nobody in particular, simply just venting out her annoyances with the system as a whole.  She wanted to get something from all of this, but so far all she was really getting was a workout.  She had climbed both up and down cliffsides here on the ninth floor, and it was getting steadily more difficult for her to be able to keep her sanity in doing it.  The heat combined with the lack of action was getting to her.

But all the same, she did have a job to do, and the feathers were pulling her along in the right direction.  Or so she'd hoped.  "Okay, okay, down the cliff," she muttered as the plumage pulled at her.  Finding some things in her inventory, she began to lash the feathers together.  It probably wouldn't hold in a fight, but it would at least allow her hands some freedom as she tied the remaining bits back onto her armor.  "There.  Now you're my birdy bloodhound," she cheered, grinning at the grouping of feathers, before she began to make her way down.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189689
LD: 9 (Failure)

Much like before, Astreya moved to kneel down upon the ground and set herself in a position to move to her stomach and begin to move downward from the cliffside.  She frowned slightly as she moved her feet a little, trying to find stable footholds.  It seemed like this cliff face wasn't nearly as kind as the last one- and she didn't have the ability to see where she was going either, which made this whole situation a lot more annoying for the young woman.  Still, she didn't want to just wait along and not get any progress made, and after a few more moments of searching, found some good footholds that seemed like they'd support her.  

She shifted, lowering herself down a bit further and managing to get her hand into one of the footholds before searching for another one with her now dangling foot.  The frown she wore deepened as she wasn't able to find much of anything to grab onto.  "Maybe I can use a rope?" she asked, mostly to see how the idea sounded out loud as opposed to rattling around in her head, and she paused to think if she had any rope with her, or if she was going to have to backtrack and find a village to buy some from a merchant.

It was as she was considering this that the hold she had with her hand suddenly cracked and gave way, and the young woman felt fear flash through her for a moment as the lack of any holds on the cliff face caused her to suddenly plummet down toward the ground.  She wasn't able to turn and look- or more accurately, she refused to.  She didn't want to know if she was about to plummet down into a pool of lava- seeing what was coming terrified her.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Treasure Chest Check:
ID: #189690
LD: 9 (Fail.  Neber eber)

Her life flashed before her eyes- and despite the potential dangers involved, she closed them tightly, letting the darkness wrap around her.  She didn't know if she was going to die here, or if there would be a merciful bit of luck awaiting her.  She didn't have to wait much longer, however, as she hit the ground after another few seconds, the pressure sensations lighting up all over her body, and she could see in her HUD that her health pool had been cut in half.  But she was alive.

The girl just sat there for a moment, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.  Had she seriously just been about to die and she had just... accepted it?  A hard swallow followed that thought, and she slowly brought herself up to her feet, a trepidation in her step now as she looked around, trying to see where she was.  "Okay, Ris.  Just... breathe, okay?" she spoke out loud, to herself, mind, to try and calm down a little bit after that.  She felt like she was still falling and the feel of her heart up in her throat was not helping things at the moment.

"Wait..." the girl spoke, her fear and terror momentarily forgotten as she realized that there were cliffs on all sides.  The surface in the middle wasn't molten, but it was very, very hot, and she realized with yet another sudden pang of fear that she was standing on top of a collapsed volcano- a caldera.  

"Oh man.  This isn't good.  I need to find a way out of here," she whispered to herself, as if talking too loudly could cause the volcano beneath her to erupt.  "Damn it," she hissed again, beginning to move along the edge of it, staying as far away from the center as she could.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189691
LD: 20 (Success! +1 Material)

She felt the panic rising in the back of her throat as she moved, taking one step after the other around the furthest edge of the Caldera.  It was dangerous to be here, and she didn't really like to be where she was, but climbing wasn't going to work- there was way too much height she had to clear in order to get up top.  Instead, she began to continue on her way around the edge of the caldera, feeling like any moment now the interior of this thing was going to crack open like an egg yolk and she was going to be swimming in the lava.

There was a very strange disconnect between the fact that she was in a game, and she stood that, and the fact that if she were to die in this land, she would die in the real world too.  She'd always understood it, and had virtually lived it through seeing Zack be killed early on when they were playing.  It had scarred her for some time and only recently had she come out of her shell in the Town of Beginnings to check things out and try to make her way up to the front lines.  But the fact that she was in a position to be killed, right now, not by a monster but by a potential volcano eruption made her sick to her stomach.  

She paused in her movements as she saw a red, glowing flower emerging from one of the walls and a sad smile crossed her features that something pretty could grow i a place like this.  Even then, she'd started to know what she was looking for as she reached her hand out, getting the '1 Material' pop before it faded away.  At the end of the day this was still just a game world.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Familiar Finding Check (DC: 9)
ID# 189692
LD: 5 (Failure!  DC reduced to 6)

She moved across the edge a little slower now, the heat starting to get to her and make her a little dizzy from the heat and fumes both.  She hated how realistic this game was at times.  It was nice to see things when they were really wild and untamed, but there was also a difficulty in being able to separate the real world from the fantasy of the game.  And with the heat and fumes both getting to her, she had to remember that all of this was just programmed in to affect her through the nervegear.

But as she continued her way across, the young woman could see something in the distance- it looked like a cave.  That was going to be for the best if she could get over there to get out of here.  It might go down further and that was a terrifying thought, but at the moment, that was the only option she could think of to try.  As she brought her arm back down from the hilt of her blade- as it had been there practically since she'd fallen as some sort of security blanket, she realized the group of feathers tied to her wrist were pulling her that way as well.

Was it possible that she was able to find that blue bird she'd been tracking here?  Or was that not what she was about to find?  The last time it had drawn her toward a flock of the Pyre Vultures without any such thing... but if the feathers were all being pulled that way, that mean there was at least something in there.  That was better than nothing.  She nodded to herself, before beginning to make her way forward toward the cavern, drawing one step closer at a time.  "Just stay focused on the end goal here, Ris..." she spoke quietly to herself, trying to cheer herself onward.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189693
LD: 18 (Success!  +1 Material)

As the young woman came close to the cavern, she couldn't help but to smile as she saw another one of those reddish flowers growing from the wall.  She didn't really have a profession yet, and as such, she didn't know what gathering all of these were for... but she couldn't see a reason not to, and so she reached her hand out, getting the '1 Material' tag from Cardinal in her HUD before it faded away and she found herself just a short distance away from the cave, and even from where she stood, she could see the red glowing from within the cavern like she had before.

It was in those low, steady pulses that she'd seen before, which couldn't help but to excite her a little bit.  The fact that she was able to see the same thing here as she had before was a bit promising as far as what might be inside.  The young woman swallowed as she drew closer to the mouth of the cavern, not entirely sure what she'd see... but  much like before, she was able to see that same coordinated glow from the mouth of the cave inside.  She crept forward slowly, the hand on the hilt of her blade tightening.

She felt like she was going to spook the vultures at any minute now, and she just knew that one of them was going to come and attack her.  Another step forward into the cave caused a sudden dissonance in the reddish glows from the vulture's bodies, and a sudden 'skreee' from deep in the cave began to resonate as several more of the creatures began to respond in kind, creating a veritable storm of creatures shrieking and cackling in their anger and frustration at being invaded once more.  Rather than go back to the Caldera, Astreya darted inside the cave, ignoring the screeching around her as she went further within.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Battle Action: Astreya uses Lightning against Pyre Vulture!
ID: #189694
BD: 1 (Crit Fail!)
MD: 2 (Fail!)
 

Astreya stumbled through the vultures before coming to an area that was a little wider in scope, and as soon as she glanced back over her shoulder to see if there were any of the creatures following her still.  Her eyes opened up in alarm as she saw several of them coming toward her, and the young woman pulled out her blade, beginning to activate the Sword Art she used at the start of every battle, her blade slinging this way and that several times as the creatures shot toward- and then past her- heading further down into the tunnel.

She panted slightly as her weapon stopped flailing around and she glanced around to see if there were any of the little creatures still left.  A cry came from the mouth of the cave as one remaining vulture seemed to take notice of her, and let out a cry, the creature confused as to where all of its brethren had gone, and deciding that Astreya was the cause.  Of course, the creature was correct as Astreya actually had been the reason the other vultures had all fled, leaving her alone now in the cavern against this one lone avian menace.

Of course, she had to admit that it was quite a bit cooler here in the caves, which was nice, but now she was in a narrow passage up against this creature, and she didn't have nearly enough room to swing her blade around like she normally did.  She'd just have to be careful when attacking so as to not hit the walls.  Then again, her opponent would have a lot less maneuverability in here as well, so she might have a better chance to knock it down quickly.  She shifted her stance as the creature let out another cry, waiting for it to attack first.

Astreya:
HP: 220 | EN: 38/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Lightning CD: 0/2

Pyre Vulture:
HP: 220 | DMG: 66

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Battle Action: Astreya uses SA: Straight @ Pyre Vulture 2!
ID: #189695
BD: 9 (Crit!  ((8+1)*5) = 45 Damage!
MD: 3 (Miss!)
 

It didn't take very long for the creature to give a sudden cry of irritation at the woman's lack of attacking it, and the creature rushed forward toward her, soaring through the air in the rather cramped quarters of the cavern that she'd found herself in.  It wasn't so small that it was tight, but if she swung her blade around too wildly, she was sure to hit something that would give her the 'Immortal Object' tag, which was mostly just annoying, more than anything.  The young woman's footsteps were quick on the ground, using the years of sports practice to help her pace as she darted quickly to one side, her blade following her.

She ducked out of the way of the creature's attack before she simply pulled her weapon back and then thrust the blade forward in to the Vulture's back, causing it to screech out in pain as the blow landed without the slightest issue.  She smirked as she saw the blow land before she darted back to her original position then, holding her weapon at the ready.  This fighting thing was really scary at first, but she was finding that she rather enjoyed the physical exertion of it all.  It was like being able to play sports again, and the young woman enjoyed getting to actually exert herself.

Of course, she knew that it wasn't actually doing much for her muscles in the real world and she might be wasting away, out there, but she had to trust in the doctors and other caretakers that they were doing everything needed to keep her, and everyone else, in this game alive and doing well.  She knew that this was just the next step in getting enough strength to be able to let everyone else out... and she'd do it, no matter what it took!

Astreya:
HP: 220 | EN: 34/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Lightning CD: 1/2
Straight CD: 0/1

Pyre Vulture:
HP: 175 | DMG: 66

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Battle Action: Astreya uses SA: Backrush @ Pyre Vulture 2!
ID: #189696
BD: 9 (Crit!  ((8+1)*8 = 72 Damage!)
MD: 6 (Hit!  66 - 30 = 36 Damage dealt!  18 Thorns damage taken!)
 

However, Astreya's mind got away from her, more than a bit, as she realized that she was suddenly staring the Pyre Vulture in the face as the superheated creature darted toward her, its claws outstretched.  Pressure came in on her face and upper body as the talons slashed at her, and the creature moved, flying right past her as it did so.  She cursed quietly under her breath, feeling the armor she wore mitigate some of the impact, but overall she still felt the pressure in full, and the girl snorted quietly as she shifted her stance following the attack from the pyre vulture.

She gripped her weapon and, with her back still facing the creature after it had shot past her, she whirled around, using the Sword Art's technique to inflict damage upon the vulture.  She knew that it was something she was becoming more accustomed to using the proper way, as there had been a time where she had turned her back on the foe in order to initiate the Back Rush, but she had started to see exactly where it would be the best option for her, rather than just forcing its use all of the time.

The weapon slashed at the vulture with all of her strength behind it, and once more she managed to catch it in an unprotected spot, the avian beast giving a loud screech as she knocked it back toward the wall.  It hurtled toward the stone face and slammed into it, before bouncing off and crawling onto the ground for a moment, finding its footing.

"Man.  This is way easier than the first one.  You guys aren't very good in this cramped environment are ya?" Astreya asked, mostly to taunt the creature, but also because she was finding herself calming down a little, and the talking helped to soothe her frayed nerves.

Astreya:
HP: 184/200 | EN: 27/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Lightning CD: 2/2
Straight CD: 1/1
Backrush CD: 0/2

Pyre Vulture:
HP: 85 | DMG: 66

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Battle Action: Astreya uses SA: Lightning @ Pyre Vulture 2!
ID: #189697
BD: 4+3=7 (Hit! 8*7 = 56 Damage!  Stun!
MD: 9 (Stunned)
 

With her talk emboldening herself, the young woman settled into the most familiar and well-used of her sword arts, the weapon beginning to dance in her hands a bit as she looked on at the vulture.  It was definitely starting to look worse for wear, and she wasn't sure if it'd even get another chance to land a hit on her at this rate.

The young woman gave a small yell as she moved forward, causing the avian to startle slightly from the sudden loud noise.  Astreya used that to her advantage then as she continue to whirl the blade around, nearly missing it with the first shot before she followed through with several more slashes, each one not all that strong on its own, but working to knock the creature further and further away from herself, and open up more space between herself and it.

This was the same strategy she'd used against the Golem earlier, and just allowing the use of overwhelming force, one swing at a time, until it didn't have any ability to mount an offense back.  It wasn't exactly the most thought-provoking tanking move, but if she could keep the vulture from attacking her, then she'd have more time to launch an offense against it in the future.  It was one of the simplest ways of turning a good offense into a good defense.  Besides, with it having no real room to move within the cavern, that was making it easier for her to get around its strikes and then attack it with some of her own.  

She finished with the fourth and final strike, sending the bird careening backwards a bit before it hit the far wall, and the creature gave a low sound of frustration as it flapped its wings a few more times, trying to get back up into the air.  

Astreya:
HP: 186/200 | EN: 19/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Lightning CD: 0/2
Backrush CD: 1/2

Pyre Vulture:
HP: 29 | DMG: 66

Edited April 22, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Battle Action: Astreya uses SA: Straight @ Pyre Vulture 2!
ID: #189698
BD: 7 (Hit! 40 Damage!  Pyre Vulture Defeated!)
MD: 2 (Unneeded defeated) (+660 Col)

Pyre Vulture 2 Loot:
ID: #189699
CD: 4 (+440 Col)
LD: 7 (+2 Materials)
Uncommon Consumable (Unidentified)
 

But Astreya wasn't about to let the avian creature get back up into the air.  That was when it was at its most dangerous, even in this little cavern that they were in right now.  She grunted as she pulled her weapon back before she shot forward, aiming to pierce through the pyre vulture in a single last strike to finish it off.  She gave a small grunt of effort as she brought her weapon up against it, and the creature gave a shriek of pain as the attack struck it front and center, knocking it back against the far wall once more.  This time when the attack struck and the creature hit the wall, it exploded into the powder-like data that the others did, leading to Astreya heaving a small breath.

There wasn't much left behind- some Col, two materials and what looked like a small consumable of some kind.  "Man, I got way more off of those boars than I did here," she muttered under her breath, reaching up to scratch the back of her head for a moment before she looked around the rest of the cavern, seeing what she might be able to find as far as a way out.  

Unfortunately all there was to follow was the path that the other pyre vultures had taken down further into the cavern.  She assumed that was probably a way out, but she couldn't really determine one way or the other.  Turning back to where she'd entered from, the woman gave a low sigh of frustration as she reached up, scratching her head with her mailed fingertips.  "I guess rally onward," she muttered to herself as she slipped her weapon back into its holster and then began to follow the tunnel deeper into the cavern- hoping that she didn't run into anything big and scary.

Astreya:
HP: 188/200 | EN: 20/40 | DMG: 8 | MIT: 30 | Regen: 2 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18
Lightning CD: 1/2
Backrush CD: 2/2
Straight CD: 0/1

Edited April 25, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189807
LD: 7 (Fail)

The young girl gave a small 'tut' under her breath as she moved, walking through the darkness of the cavern.  It was a great a bit darker than she had envisioned when she'd first seen it.  But she knew that this was very much likely due to the fact that there weren't any of the Pyre Vulture in here, which were lighting the way with the flames that were inside of them.  So with all of them having fled and not available for lighting up the darkness, Astreya was virtually on her own.  She had her Glowstone that she'd picked up after that quest with Freyd that she'd done on the Second Floor, but she didn't want to use it here- especially if there wasn't anything to fight.

Instead she just continued to move along at a snail's pace, her sapphire eyes working to try and pierce through the darkness as best she could.  She was able to, barely, pick out which way was wall and which way led further into the cavern, and there was a faint fear that began to swell within her stomach that she wasn't actually going to be able to find her way out of here.  That it was going to be something where the exit to the cavern was up in the ceiling and that was the only reason the Pyre Vultures had been able to leave.

The young woman could feel her own pulse beginning to race before she stopped herself, forcing herself to breathe and to calm down.  "Just Concentrate, Ris.  Breathe in and out.  Focus," she murmured to herself, before finally starting to feel herself calming down the slightest bit.. Once she had, she forced another long inhale and exhale before looking to the distance.  "Okay.  Sword out.  Let's find our way deeper," she murmured quietly.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189808
LD: 3 (Failure)

As the girl continued to walk deeper down, the whole thing seemed to be getting cooler, if nothing else.  That was a welcome reprieve from the constant heat that had been bearing down on her since she'd entered the ninth floor.  However, she started to realize that part of the reason was because it was starting to descend deeper downward into the floor, which left her slightly concerned, given the fact that she was outside of the Caldera, which meant if they were doing downward, that there was a chance this could put them right into some lava.  

That thought was a little frightening, but all the same, she figured that if they were going to be heading down into lava that the brightness of the stuff would actually show where she was going- and that meant there wouldn't be any danger of her wandering blindly into it.  That seemed to give her some solace as she made her way lower into the cavern, the cool air also helping to embolden her a little bit.  Surely if this was descending down into a pit of lava, there was going to be a hell of a lot hotter than it was right now.

The cool air continued to reach her as the path wound around, and she actually wondered how the Pyre Vultures had navigated this long stretch of cavern.  It wasn't like they were bats and could see with echolocation or whatever.  But she also imagined the heat that their bodies gave off, and the light, was more than enough for them to be able to see by.  Or so she would guess, anyway.  If there was much more than that, she wasn't aware of it... but the Pyre Vultures seemed to nest mostly in the cliffsides, rather than in caves- she had to guess they'd at least have some way to see if they took up a spot in a cave.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189809
LD: 4 (Failure)

Astreya continued to let the elevation decrease as she walked, her eyes now adjusted to the darkness enough to be able to get a good gauge of what was going on... but there was a sudden concern as she continued to descend.  She was now fairly sure that things were getting... warmer.  And that didn't bode well.  There still wasn't any light or anything that was brimming up so she didn't think that it was anything like a pool of lava that she was about to walk down into.. but there was no doubt in her mind that things were starting to get quite warm.

And as she turned a corner, the path opened up a little bit, and she felt her breath catch in her throat as that happened.  The walls had been fairly close to her all the way down, and she'd been able to pick up on where she was going due to the closeness.  Her footsteps on the darkened hallway had been echoing close enough on the walls for her to know exactly where she was in relation to them, and she'd started to understand how a blind person could 'see' by use of sound, if nothing else.  

But the opening up of the area made her feel like she couldn't see again, and she struggled to move forward throughout it, before she realized that she actually could see, a little.  And there was light coming from up ahead.  She swallowed, but continued on forward.  She couldn't turn back now after everything she'd done and seen- she had to keep pressing forward.  There was a good chance that the Familiar she was after was up ahead, according to the Feathers she had still lashed to her wrist.  If that was the case... she couldn't stop- she had to keep going forward.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189810
LD: 2

The light continued to spill into the cavern, and the young woman merely followed it to its destination, allowing herself to try and relax a bit, knowing that she wasn't about to just dive into a pool of lava.  She saw the cave curve ahead to the right up ahead, and so she followed along with that, and as she turned, the cavern mouth opened up into the caldera once again.  But she realized as she came closer that this was... a lot closer to the base of it all.  She could practically feel the heat rising up off from the lava beneath the cooled surface, and she felt a lot more concerned about where she was, in relation to the burning embers below.

"If there's a weak spot in the stone or something... I could just slip right through and burn right up," she spoke aloud, the young woman mostly just trying to voice her own concerns to see just what she could do.  Relax.  Focus.  Concentrate.  She could hear her father's words whispering in her ear as she moved onward, and she realized that with the Caldera as it was, there was likely very little chance of anything breaking and moving to fall down into the lava that was beneath them.

It was far more likely that things were solid... and she'd just need to be careful of any weak spots in the rocks that lay atop the Caldera.  "Okay.  Let's just... take this one step at a time," she spoke quietly to herself.  "It can't be that bad, right?  Just right on top of the caldera.  That's... totally safe," she murmured to herself as she began to put weight down on her steps, one after the other, trying to gauge what was safe, and what wasn't, for her to step upon as she made her way through the Caldera itself.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189811
LD: 1 (Failure)

 

The danger of this while situation, of course, was the fact that she was standing on a rocky layer that existed just above what she presumed to be magma underneath.  Or maybe it was lava.  She knew that they were both technically the same, but science had never been her strong suit, which made it difficult for her to tell exactly what was beneath her.  But the ground itself was not.. solid.  Or rather, it was, but it felt like a number of large platforms that were all suspended on top of a jelly.  She could feel the ground shifting beneath her feet as she moved, and the heels on her plated boots didn't exactly make it any easier to find traction.

"Okay.  I think I'm in the middle of this one," she murmured to herself, given by how little it shifted as she moved.  She tiptoed forward toward one side, beginning to feel it start to dip a little, before she made her way back, frowning.  That was a dangerous thing she was about to make her way across on.  Maybe if there was an easier way to get across- she wasn't really sure- but that was a little dangerous for her to cross this.

The young woman's gaze flickered over to the other side, seeing if there was somewhere that she could go.  But all the heat rising up from the caldera itself made the air hazy and wavy, and impossible to see through.  "This is the last time I'm ever coming to the Ninth Floor.  This place sucks," she muttered to herself, mostly just to try and keep herself centered.  She was frightened, of course, but this would at least let her be able to pretend like everything was all right.  Swallowing, she continued forward, taking things one slow and steady step at a time.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189812
LD: 5 (Failure)

Still, she couldn't just sit here.  The only other option she had was to go alllll the way back to where she'd come from, and she was certain that the creature she was going to tame as her familiar was nearby.  She didn't know it for any level of fact... but there was a definitive certainty in her mind that this was going to happen.  It was like trusting her gut, as it were, with the game and what was happening within it.  The Gypsy woman had directed her here, to this floor, as a determination that this was where she was going to find what she was after.

Astreya had taken that to mean that, as an NPC, the woman was just sending her on a quest to get the one thing that was linked to her character.  Like there were different sorts of Familiars that were just based on who the player was, and the Gypsy was able to determine that, sending the player in that direction to do what needed to be done.  And so she had followed what the Gypsy woman had said, and almost immediately, Astreya had found that strange, bluish Pyre Vulture which she had tracked down a few times now.

The last time was as it was fleeing from the cavern and she'd gotten a good sight of it... and had seen then that it was able to create cold in the same way that the rest of these creatures created heat.  She wondered if it was just a rare spawn or something?  It seemed to have the entire flock of Pyre Vultures following it around, which was dangerous... but so far Astreya had avoided getting attacked by the entire swarm of them all at once.  A few here and there weren't a big deal, as she'd found.  She just needed to play it a bit defensively.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189813
LD: 18 (Success! +1 Material)

She began to move forward, feeling out her way as she went, each step leading her to test the ground beneath it and avoiding any that seemed to sink in too far.  Doing so would be dangerous- perhaps fatally so- if she missed a step and was send into the lava drink.  Instead, she began to keep to her very slow, very ponderous approach to testing each step before she made it.  It was nerve wracking, and she felt like she was on high alert the entire time, her nerves stretched out to the max at their breaking point as she continued her steps onward.

Without a destination in mind, she just kept moving forward.  She didn't have any other option, really, and just hoped that there was somewhere else to go.  She realized, as she was walking, that it was entirely possible that the Pyre Vultures had just come out here and then flown up.  They tended to use the heat rising from the ground as their lift, and here in the caldera there was a lot of heat.  That would allow them to be propelled right upward... but she paused then as she looked to the bunch of feathers that were still tied to her wrist, before she exhaled quietly.  They were still pulling her along forward, which was her only direction.

As she moved, her eyes widened slightly as she saw what appeared to be an opening in the rocky wall.  Another cave.  That could be her way out- or at the very least, the way to her Familiar!  If she needed to, she could backtrack all the way back and get out that way- except she had fallen in to begin with.  Damn.  "Okay.  No backtracking.  Let's just keep going forward- that's the only thing that I can still do," she whispered to herself, before blinking at another one of those fiery blossoms here in the caldera.  With a touch, she received the '1 Material' message.  "Well there's one bit of good news," she murmured.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Gathering Check:
ID: #189814
LD: 5 (Failure)

 

The cave was still on the distant side of the caldera, but thankfully, she was getting a better understanding at what to do and how to walk on these rocky platforms.  The learning curve had been sharp, but she was rather adept at identifying things like this when she needed to be, and had managed to tell by color and even by texture (of what she could see through the haze, of course) what the chances were of the ground being stable.  And so her speed began to steadily increase as she went across, and before too much longer, she could see the cavern close to her.

The feathers were all pulling her in that direction and so the young woman swallowed, deciding to trust her own instincts and the weird feathers that she'd collected that all seemed to pull her toward the other Pyre Vultures.  She shifted forward, keeping herself steady and before too much longer, she'd reached the mouth of the cave.  "All right.  Astreya one, Caldera zero," she spoke under her breath as she looked back over her shoulder at the wild path that she'd just crossed before shaking her head slightly.  That had been way too crazy.

"Well, at least that's over," she spoke as she turned back toward the cave and lifted her wrist a bit, the collection of feathers now pointing her directly toward the cave entrance.  "All right.  Let's see how this goes..." she breathed quietly under her breath before she began to move further inside.  There were a few Pyre Vultures, and their movements allowed her to see just enough to get further inside.  There wasn't the full flock here that had been previous, and she wondered if some of them actually had left up through the top of the caldera.  Hopefully that meant that blue one would be easy to track down in here... and pin down.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Familiar Check:
ID: #189815
LD: 12 (Success!  Finally!)

The lack of Pyre Vultures was both concerning as well as relieving- she didn't need to try and fight off a whole horde of them if they were going to swarm her or anything of the sort.  They stayed mostly away from her, sticking to the nests that were formed in the cavern walls out of the way of the heat of the caldera.  Still, with them being Pyre Vultures, she would have assumed that they were going to be a bit more welcome to the fire and heat... but so far from what she could tell, they weren't interested at all in the caldera itself.

She moved past them, her plated boots clicking on the stone floor of the cave as she stepped, earning a few looks from the creatures that lay within, but these ones were either too tired or too old to care, or maybe just Cardinal had decided to stop screwing with her and finally allow her to meet up with her Familiar.  

Deeper within, Astreya could feel the temperature starting to drop, slightly, and it didn't take very long for her to find the source of it.  The faint blue light that glowed within the depths of the cave was certainly something belonging to the Frost Vulture, as she'd dubbed it.  Stepping forward, the young woman made her way around a corner, before seeing the creature sitting on a nest set into one of the walls.

There weren't any of the other Vultures around, leaving it with just her and the singular creature that she'd been tracking since she'd got here into the cavern.  Swallowing slightly, she approached it, the creature not really noticing (or caring) that she was in here until she was just a short distance away.  At this time, the creature's head snapped up, and the Frost Vulture watched her curiously, actually having some frost building on the nest where it sat.  "Hey...you," she murmured quietly.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Astreya