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[bluemooncove]

chinese hanfu

[bluemooncove]

"My name? Why, thank you fair madame for granting me the honor of giving it to you! For I am ..."

She gives a long pause for dramatic effect. A pause that is longer than really would have been necessary.

"Errant Knight of Beauty & Beast! The fool hidalgo! Among the most dashing of knights to not have any legends written about them! Perfect for an up and coming sculptor of legends if I do say so myself."

Now the second question gave the knight pause. They slumped back from it, almost as if a little frightened. Who would have thought an innocent question could sting so much?

"What is it I hope to achieve? Oh, uh, I hope to achieve becoming a hero! It really is as simple as that at the heart of it."

"...Excuse me?"

Yes, well, that was... quite the sentiment that this stranger just voiced to her. Certainly, she's gained fans with her performances in town, but to be so vocal and... forward. Not just with compliments, but with questions as well.

It takes her a moment to catch up, suffice to say. Her performances are often rather tiring, after all, with how perfectionistic she tends to be about them despite... well, as the other said, simply being done at a tavern.

Not that she especially minds playing at the venues that she does.

"Muse... Ah, I think I see. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but try slowing down for a second, won't you? You haven't even introduced yourself yet."

"Just what name is it that you're suggesting I immortalize my own with, hmm? And what is it you're looking to achieve?"

[bluemooncove]

Confession. The reason I haven't posted any of the "species guide' lore entries so far is because I accidentally wrote and formatted a third of it in my drafts but to the wrong blog. And now I have to reformat it onto the correct blog

[bluemooncove]

Okay so whenever I start doing "People of the setting" lore posts, humans will be the first species covered as I think it gives an easy and simple baseline.

[bluemooncove]

Send “They’re ’s a 10, but..” and fill in the rest to call out my muse!

[bluemooncove]

Well, there we go. I finished up this little story arc that was primarily meant to just give some world building of answering the question on the different ways to join the guild but wound up becoming a whole story arc. If you would like to read through the whole thing in order, I've got a link here that will show you all the posts in it in chronological order.

That was quite fun to write I had a great time developing Sass, Spruce, and Seeker

[bluemooncove]

It was the morning after their trials at the square. A small number, less than a dozen, of those who participated had received an invitation to one of the upper rooms of Blue Moon Cove. The bar where Sassafras and Spruce had first met with Pugilist. Given so few had been called upon, it seemed obvious that they were the ones to be accepted as apprentices. Still, there was a small aura of unease hanging in the air.

Spruce, Sassafras, and Seeker had mingled for a short time with their fellow hopefuls but soon found themselves pulled aside by Secretary. They had actually not been quite sure if she was a member of the guild when they did their paperwork. Her presence here seemed to indicate that they were.

"Here you three are! I'd been looking for you. We're having one small paperwork issue. You see, alongside your names you were meant to write down a provisional guild name. It's just that Sassafras and Spruce, the two of you seemed to have forgotten ... and Seeker you just wrote your name twice."

"Hmmmm? But I do seek things. So my guild name can be Seeker."

"Yeah, I didn't put something down intentionally. I was trying to avoid it while my abilities were being kept hidden. After our match, Phantom came and gave me an idea though. Duskwitch, helps to conceal the fact that I'm not using magic."

"Oh I uhhh ... I never came up with one. I thought I'd just be given it."

"You've been dreaming of this your whole life and you never thought of what they were going to call you? You were captain of your village guards, weren't you? How about Guardian."

"I'm not really much of a protector. ... How about ... How about Sentinel?"

"Ah, great, thank you all for sorting that out. A bit strange on Seeker's part but I suppose there's no rule against it. I'll get this to Meister Quartermaster now."

Secretary slipped across the room, handing a sheet of paper to Armor Knight. Armor Knight read it over, handed it back, then stepped to the room's center. Those hopefuls that had taken seats suddenly stood at attention.

"Thank you all for being here. I am proud to say that you have all been chosen for surpassing the expectations of the eight guild members that oversaw yesterday's events. Much of our membership is chosen from the crop of experienced veteran adventurers, however, every half a year a small number of hopefuls that show great potential are chosen to be apprentices of our guild. We take it upon ourselves to shape these blossoming heroes of the future into the best form that they can be.

Adventuring and heroism is a funny thing. In my many years I've come to understand that almost everyone thinks they're in the right. A hero and a villain are sides of the shame coin, but we do our best to uphold the virtues that our guild defines as right. There are undeniably esteemed heroes among our ranks and, as apprentices, you will gain the opportunity to become heroes of a new era.

It is with pride that I formally accept the following as apprentices into our guild:

Bokor

Duskwitch

Geoturge

Falconer

Pathfinder

Seeker

Sentinel

And Winter Witch."

Hearing these words the tension that hung over the room evaporated in an instant. It was replaced with a mixture of clapping and cheering from the new apprentices and the judges that attended the ceremony. As it started to die down, Armor Knight spoke again.

"Come, we can show you to the guild hall later. For now, lets do what adventurers do best and celebrate!"

「Seeker has joined the party」

「Duskwitch has joined the party」

「Sentinel has joined the party」

[bluemooncove]

That evening, as the moon neared it's highest point, those guild members who had overseen the hopefuls trials convened. The sparring matches had concluded hours ago, but time was taken to allow for any scheduled demonstrations of skill. Now that the day was at its end, it was time for the final decisions. An outside may have expected this to be an organized and simple affair. Lets take a quick glance and see how that holds up.

"Alright everyone. You've all had time to think so, as the Meister overseeing this ceremony, I call us to convene over guild acceptance."

"Oh we are? I do believe you already accepted someone without consulting any of us."

"It was extenuating circumstances and Seeker had proven herself well enough by that point."

"I would have but it's the principle of the matter!"

"I am a Meister, I have the ability to do so on my own."

"Those who use the power they're granted often find themselves without it before too long. Of course a peasant girl wouldn't have the experience to understand that."

"Thank you for your wisdom Necromancer. I understand you are quite experienced in losing power. Let us stop delaying with snide commentary and actually evaluated. Miss Secretary. the sign up sheets."

"Ah, yes, well. About that. There was some ... errr, errors that I failed to catch when the hopefuls were filling them out. You'll see here."

"So there is. Well, that's an issue we can work around. Unless anyone has something important they feel the need to say, we can just run down the list."

"Oh yes! Since Meister Quartermaster forced her candidate through, I demand she support my candidate. That Spruce girl."

"It's not the place of the most junior member of this council to make demands of me ... but I intended to support her anyways."

"I do too! Plus her friend Sassafras, you better have my back on this Phantom!"

"I've been searching for a good cryomancer for this guild for years, I demand Winter Witch be accepted!"

"That Pathfinder guy too. I did his skill demonstration, he's good and these days we don't tend to get that many men within our ranks. This will help to rectify that."

"Oh yeah, I'd been noticing that! Where are all the men anyways?"

"Isn't it obvious? Calling our business Beauty & Beast scares 'em off. Not that many men get described as beautiful or want it either. So they run off to the other guilds."

"Many kingdoms strongly favor male warriors. If they are quite skilled they can accept promotion, acclaim, and title. There's no point to joining an adventurer guild."

"Maybe the ones who normally make recruitment decisions prefer women."

"Guild Master Beauty scares them off!"

"Among many species females are more mobile while males stay in their own territory. As a guild such as ours sees travel all over the world is stands to reason that women would be the predominant members."

"Ladies, and Errant Knight, we are getting far too off track now. Please, lets just go down the list one at a time and share our opinions. Also please let everyone speak their share, Merchant hasn't had the chance to even say anything yet."

This went on for several hours.

[bluemooncove]

Sassafras stood near the center of the square. Seeker had been accepted without question and, from what she told her, Spruce was likely to be accepted to. Now it was her turn. Being chosen to battle a guild member was a good sign but she still needed to put on a good display.

The announcement had said her opponent would be Necromancer. It was strange, outside of one particular hopeful there had hardly been any magic involved in these demonstrations. Even from the guild matches that happened prior. Perhaps magic posed too great a risk of injury for training. It was similar to how she wasn't making use of her bow.

Just as she was pondering what someone that'd choose to go by Necromancer would be like, someone entered the square. Her eyes widened slightly in shock. The woman taking up position on the opposite side of the square was that friendly stranger from before.

"Miss Crow?"

"Not quite. I am Necromancer of Beauty & Beast, The Haunt of Bresk. In this match I will be your opponent. As a handicap I will not make use of any of my familiars, nor any minions."

It almost looked like Miss Cr- ... Necromancer was uncomfortable. The concerned expression on her face and the way she awkwardly fiddled with her staff. It reminded Sassafras of when her sister would get in trouble back at home.

"Also, given the advantages of magic, I will allow you to make the first move."

If that was to be the case, she would be sure to take advantage of the opportunity. This was a powerful opponent, no need to rush into things. She took a series of sidesteps, slowly circling Necromancer. As she did so, her opponent turned to face her. Seemed getting the first strike didn't mean I'm going to hold still. A damn shame, she really had been hoping to get behind her. With each circle the distance between them closed. 5 meters. 4 meters. 3. 2. Just a little closer know and she in spear range!

With her last steps she ceased to circle, only stepping forward. Necromancer had continued to turn. This was her chance, the woman had exposed her side to her. She shoved the training spear forward only for it to meet with Necromancer's staff knocking it aside.

"Damn! I wanted to think I had you!"

Necromancer swung her staff out. Sassafras dodged back sweeping up a small cloud of sand as she barely got out of the way. That thing's length was almost as long as her spear. She hadn't even cast any spells yet and Sassafras was already on the back foot.

"I wanted you to think you had me too."

With the tip of the staff still facing toward Sassafras, Necromancer began gesturing with her other hand. She muttered something under her breath

"hnyty"

As a black bolt of energy shot from its tip. It flew towards her spear but Sassafras managed to lunge out of the way. The sand that it struck dissolved into what seemed to be dust. Necromancer spun after her, keeping her staff trained upon the spear. More gesturing as two more blasts followed after the first! Sassafras stayed on her feet, weaving between the two as she began to charge her opponent.

Necromancer did not let up in her spell slinging. The shorter the distance between them, the more difficult it became to avoid the blasts. Finally one struck the neck of the spear. Sassafras watched as the wood withered away before the first foot snapped off beneath its own weight. Now she had nothing more than a particularly long stick.

"Eh, the tip was already wood anyways. Doesn't change that much, now does it?"

Rather than stop to mourn the spear, she kept with the momentum of her charge. Her spear shaft managed to catch Necromancer's shoulder as the pair slammed into one another. They both toppled over into the sand and dust of the spell. It was then that something odd happened. Necromancer began to cough and rather intensely at that. A bit of concern sparked in Sassafras's mind but they had the medical wizards on standby if this would be a real problem. So, thinking fast, she ceased this moment of weakness to grab Necromancer's staff while they were still down and hurl it as far away as she could.

"Damn thi-"

Her words were interrupted by a flurry of coughing.

"Cursed dust allergy. The sand is too much for me! I yield!"

Sassafras was still partially on top of her but that sounded like a victory to the girl. With as much grace as she could muster, Sassafras rolled herself off and climbed to her feet. She turned around to face the other guild members, trying to gauge the reaction on their faces. As she did the incredibly tall Necromancer rose to her feet behind her. Suddenly she found herself grabbed from behind and twirling around.

"Adventurer girl! You did it! You won! I'm so proud of you!"

It took Sassafras a moment to realize why she was off the ground and what was happening. By the time the other's words sunk in she had already been pulled into as tight of a hug as the beanpole of a woman could muster.

"Huh? I did!? You're right, I guess I did! I won my match! Now they've gotta let me in!"

[bluemooncove]

It was time for their matches against guild members. Between the three, Seeker was to be the one to go first. That was until that had happened. Now it fell upon Spruce to be the first. She did not need to win, only to impress, but nonetheless she'd become quite nervous. Sassafras was the one who actually knew things about the guild, she had no frame of reference for what she was getting into.

On the outskirts of the square a pair of medical mages stood by. They had been here for the entire tournament so far but had not proven particularly needed. The equipment used in these battles had been wooden training weapons or blunted. Barring a few exceptions. At worst these matches had led to some nasty bruises. Though now that the guild was involved the pair seemed far more alert. It made Spruce nervous.

When she looked back to the sparring grounds she realized a woman was already standing there. She assumed this was her opponent but something seemed strange. Sassafras had made it sound like this guild was made up of experienced and elite adventurers. This girl looked like she was hardly older than they were. A year at best. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Spruce stepped forward into the square. The sand was hot on her feet. As beautiful as MokuMoku was, the temperature was far different from home. Her new home was going to take getting used to. As she reached her place the other woman began laughing.

"Yahoo! Kept me waiting, huh? I am Phantom, Le Loup IV of Beauty & Beast. I hope you're not as slow on the battlefield. As you are just a hopeful I'll be holding back. Simply appearing before you in the open is handicap enough, but I'll also be limited myself to only these."

Phantom tossed a pair of wooden daggers into the air. As they came down she caught them swiftly enough to use momentum to twirl each around her fingers.

"I call this style Mort par a Thousand Splinters. Do try to keep up."

"Spruce. I've heard of Le Loup Blanc before, his legend echoes even in Jara, it's a true honor to spar with his great granddaughter."

She gave a polite bow. For the first time, Spruce felt convinced by Sassafras's insistence this guild was a big deal.

"That's nice but flattery ain't going to get you anywhere lady."

No signal had been given to start the match but Phantom suddenly rushed forward. Spruce hadn't even returned to a standing position. It took a moment to even realize what had happened. By that time Phantom had already cleared half of the distance between them. Her foot scrambled back, trying to get into a fighting stance. Phantom was too fast, she was right there.

Instinct acted faster than thought. Her arm swung upward as her mind focused. A stream of hot psychic energy followed behind her hand, meeting with one of Phantom's blades and causing it to catch fire. Phantom acted just as swiftly, tossing the wooden blade into the sand where it's burn sputtered out.

The crowd gasped in shock and then began to cheer! It seemed they mistook her esper abilities for magic. They were all rather inexperienced, that wasn't too surprising, but this guild should be more educated on the differences. Her gaze shot to Phantom. A look of dawning realization appeared on the woman's face, followed by a wry smile.

"Now this is getting interesting! Didn't think someone would hold back in the starting rounds. You got me!"

The excitement was heavy in her voice as she sprung forward. She made a swing with her remaining dagger. Spruce blocked it with her forearm. If that hadn't been wood it would have left a nasty cut. Her other arm grabbed at Phantom's collar, pulling her closer. Spruce gritted her teeth, this worked a lot better against the training foes with the big spears than someone with tiny knives.

"Oh come on, still going for the grappler bit? The cat's out of the bag now, miss magician."

Phantom used her own free hand to pull herself closer to Spruce. Once they were face to face she whispered:

"It's not like any of them know what magic does and doesn't look like, so go all out. I'll improve your performance."

She struck Spruce's chest with her wooden dagger hard enough to make her let go. Phantom leaped back about 6 inches.

"If this weren't wood, that'd have been fatal but it is so lets keep going. Like I said, one thousand splinters!"

Phantom paused just long enough to let Spruce regain her footing, for the first time this entire battle. Spruce took a deep breath, her opponent was right they wouldn't realize what ability she was using. This time as Phantom charged it was met with a blast of psionic energy bursting towards her. Phantom juked downwards, letting it graze over her shoulder, but it had thrown her off balance just long enough for Spruce to to rush her in return. Her shoulder met with Phantom's chest and knocked her to the ground.

Phantom caught herself with one hand. Pivoting, she spun to sweep Spruce's legs out from under her with her own. Spruce fell back into the sand as Phantom leapt back to her own feet. She swung her wooden dagger down hard. Spruce rolled to the side then unleashed more mental energy. It struck Phantom's hand and sent her dagger skidding away.

"Good shot but that shit kind of stung. It's way hotter than I was expecting but no burns. Weird, huh?"

Spruce had rose to her feet but Phantom stayed down. Hands upon the ground. Spruce looked at her in confusion. Was this meant to mean it was over? Phantom had lost both of her training daggers. Nobody had announced anything but it also didn't feel right to kick her when she isn't even trying to get up. Suddenly Phantom turned towards her, as she did so she hurled a pile of sand gathered up from the ground at Spruce.

Spruce acted without thinking again, creating a wall of psionic energy to protect her. Except her opponent had anticipated that. In the instant the sand met with the wall the heat seared parts of it into flecks of glass. Spruce found herself buffeted by a barrage of tiny shrapnel.

Earlier Seeker had tried something similar on her opponent. The issue was that she simply charged forward, it had been too predictable. Amid the sand, the psionic barrier, and the glass Spruce had lost sight of her foe. Suddenly she felt a rough force hit her as she was suddenly tackled to the ground by her left side. She hit the sand, yet again, with a thud as Phantom pinned her. Phantom did not actually seem particularly strong, under normal circumstances Spruce probably could've shoved her off but everything that'd just happened left her rather exhausted.

"I'm going to go ahead and call things now, but you've done great! Definitely getting a vote for membership from me and I can guarantee at least two others so you're a shoo-in."

The woman got up and walked away from the square to the cheer of the crowd. As Spruce finally rose to her own feet she was already face to face with Sassafras.

"That was amazing! You used your powers so well, it was incredible!"

"... Yeah."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

[bluemooncove]

"Hey Lis how long have you been writing the Spruce vs Phantom drabble?"

[Cold sweat]

[bluemooncove]

I meant to post this here

Tomorrow I have boardgame plans but I will also hopefully finish up writing the last of the drabbles of this arc.

-Spruce's demonstration match against Phantom

-Sassafras's demonstration match against Necro

-And Seeker/Sassafras/Spruce becoming guild members and receiving their guild names. With them also formally becoming muses then.

... the only issue is that while Spruce and Seeker have their guild names picked out I haven't come up with one for sassafras.

[bluemooncove]

"Yes oba-san Necromancer? Why is it that you called for me?"

"What?"

...

"No, I was talking about a different phantom, Phantom."

"Also stop calling me things I don't understand."

[bluemooncove]

"So that phantom of a thousand faces we've been hearing about decided to show himself. Well, how about that?"

[bluemooncove]

"Sorry for intruding into the tournament like that, Miss Knight. I saw her file, and... I couldn't help but to feel directly responsible for what happened to her, so I had to confront her myself."

Rirune! Carmilla. You know. Helping herself with drinks. High alcohol ones.

"... In what I do just to substain myself, these kind of things are unavoidable, but... I still couldn't help but feel crushed throughout the whole thing."

"... Sorry, I know you want a drink, yet you're seeing me rant like this. What would you like?"

She leans against the bar. What just happened had been messy. When she warned Rirune that someone was looking for him, she had not expected that to be his response. Yet, she couldn't exactly fault him. Armor Knight did not know the entire situation, but from what she saw he seemed to be trying to motivate her to move beyond vengeance. Given how she had seen anger consume many a guild member, it was a good message.

"Think you need it more than me, Carm. But. well, if you're offering. I couldn't pass up strawberry kompot. Always used to love them back home."

As Rirune prepares the drink, she starts to monologue.

"From what I hear? You were only acting in the people's best interests when you faced her father. Yet, reality is, everything we do, even when it's for the right reason? It all has an impact. Like a cue ball striking the colors in billiard. The initial hit bounces around and hits the other balls. Sometimes you see it coming but sometimes you don't.

I can't count the amount of times I've been hired to save a village from bandits. Every time, protecting those people has been the right thing, but those bandits each have lives too. Maybe one only turned to banditry 'cause his sister needed expensive medicine. Now that I've put a stop to their crimes, she ain't going to get it. The others? Who knows who was counting on all of them. Hell my ... well it's tough to say friend but my ally Crusader got by as a bandit for quite some time. That means I know being a bandit doesn't mean someone can't become a good hero. But I still have to stop them, because whatever impact it may have, they're still hurting people.

But the impacts I can't see, they still happen. In every direction. Sometimes it's a bit higher concept. I get rid of the monster in the cave that was hindering trade. The village can get much needed resources now but also now miners can work in the cave. Working there they unleash the thing far more dangerous deep down. Whole village? Gone! Wouldn't have happened if the monster was still there. That one was just hypothetical, but I've seen a lot of things like that."

She pauses just long enough to take a swig of the drink she's been handed. It's a deep swing. By the time she finished the mug is empty.

"Some people like, my junior in the guild, Necromancer try to reduce this impact as much as possible. She tries to keep everything as still and in place as she can. I don't agree with this idea. I think we have to do what we think is right and take the impacts as they come. Working in this guild I've realized everybody has their own ideas of good and evil. What I think is good, others see as bad. We can only hope to follow our own justice and pray in the end that those who came after look back on it as right.

I ... uh ... I hope this doesn't come across as a lecture. I know I've talked a lot, but I think you're quite wise. It's only that even the wisest of us can always still learn something new by hearing someone else's perspective."

[bluemooncove]

Like a newborn kit? Oh he was going to pay for that. Well, he would have if it weren't for the fact that the strike of his wand through her off balance. Blinded by her rage she'd already failed plan how to regain her footing after the lunge and the strike to the back of the neck only worsened it. Seeker toppled over into the sand.

Her skin felt uncomfortably dry now. She flipped onto her back as Rirune continued to lecture at her. By the time she'd returned to her feet he had already disappeared into nothingness. Not wanting to miss her revenge, she swung wildly in the air around her. Seeker wanted to believe he'd just turned invisible but her chemical receptors made it clear he'd disappeared.

She collapses to her knees. A mix of anger and sadness in her heart as she gritted her teeth trying to hold back tears. The adrenaline pulsing through her body caused a tingly burning sensation in her back. He was right there in front of her! He was right there and now she'd probably never see him again! It turned her thoughts bitter. It felt as if nothing could calm her but then ... a pair of arms wrapped around her and a gentle voice spoke.

"You really gave it your all Seeker! Not only did you fight hard but you found the guy you were looking for! Didn't even need the guild's resources to find him. He might've got away this time, but once we're all in the guild we'll find him together."

"But ... I didn't beat him."

There was a hand on her shoulder. She gazed upwards to see another friend smiling down at her.

"It's what Sassafras said. Next time we'll all be together. Sass never gives up, so we'll find him eventually."

It was then that the tears Seeker had held back began to leak. Her friends remained at her side. Sassafras hugging her tightly and Spruce simply staying close. It was as this happened that the event's host took to her pulpit again.

"Well that went ... a way. Given the unforeseen circumstances of what has occurred and the emotional impact it has had upon this hopeful, we will be cancelling her match against a guild member. Typically we do not reveal these decisions until the conclusion of the event, but I shall also state that we will be accepting Lady Seeker into our guild. I only reveal this as I do not wish for her to worry her exclusion from the next sparring matches will result in a penalty."

"Seeker! This is incredible! You did it! You got in!"

Somehow, though it seemed near impossible, the hug that she was giving managed to get even tighter.

"Oxygen..."

Observing her movements, the witch watched her grab some sand, and with that, a cloud in front of him.

He would be taken aback if she came to him fron the side, but the front was a bit too...

"... predictable. How direct, just like a newborn kit."

It was a taunt, yes. There was no pacifying her at this point, so the only thing he could do was to get into her skin.

Sidestepping, the boy guided Seeker along the path she attempted to jab, followed by an attempt of hitting her on the back of her neck with his wand.

He made sure to keep his distance from her as he spoke, dancing around the arena.

"And then what? Watch me rot in prison? With no goal left in your life but continuous vengence? You have alot of growing up in your life to do, girl."

He said all there is to say to her. He has to pacify her in some shape or form, but... continuing this fight would only continue to hurt her... or worse, the audience watching the arena.

"You will get your vengence on my blood, but today will not be that time. Learn, Seeker. Explore what lies beyond the ocean. Learn about your father... and of yourself. Find people to support you, and only then, when you are ready, that I will come for you again."

His voice was cold. Uncaring. The tone of a murderer who has killed many like it was a daily job to him.

Turning his back away from her, the boy disappeared into thin air. A magic illusion which turns himself invinsible, away from the public eye.

He said his piece. The only thing left... was for Seeker to pick up the pieces.

Perhaps she would find companions and people to be around with in Beauty & Beast. That was his intention, anyway. To find companions to be with... to find for a goal on something more than just vengence.

... He may not show it, but the boy is breaking apart inside.

[bluemooncove]

"Yes, I've seen her traveling the island searching for her quarry. If she proves her mettle, I don't expect any problems in the long run. The elders of our guild are excellent at helping to shape one's growth, guide them down a cooler path. My concern is how she will act in the short term."

"Probably for the best you do, I can feel it, one of the hopefuls is obsessed with revenge. I'm not going to point out which one, you probably have an idea already. But the feeling sticks out like a sore thumb. So much anger and hatred, I question if that person will be fine in the long run?"