Forum Thread

The green boy hugged his knees close to his chest and looked about the kart, locking his fingers together and blinking slowly.

"Names." Beige spoke, clearly asking for names, but said the word a whole lot more like a statement than a question. Their gaze flickered between all the passengers, lingering on the discomforted looks on Okami, Blithe and Liza for an extra moment. The silence had left them curious, possibly, or they had alterier motives. Surely the clueless looking creature wouldn't have the knowledge to intentionally make them uncomfortable, right?

---

Okami hadn't even been paying attention to anyone then the girl who had started sharping her sword on the floor and the boy who had the weird drink. So when the small green boi asked for names, it almost spooked her. She supposed she was curious about the names of the others, if only slightly. But she didn't feel entirely comfortable giving her own. Names had meaning after all. Most of her tribe didn't have names. Then again, they didn't speak like she did....

The smell of fear slowly rising within the caravan was slowly making her sick. First the green boi, who looked shady and uncomfortable, then the fish-like girl who suddenly grabbed her wrist. Whatever.

"Okami." She said huskily, before returning to watching out the window.

"Oh, uh, I'm Liza! It's... nice to meet you." She forced a smile through the anxiety.
She began scraping harder with the chunk of wood until it snapped in two. Embarrassed, she looked at the floor. It seemed as though everything was going wrong today.

"How about you?" She looked up at the creature, eyes a shade of emerald green, slowly fading back to their original sapphire colour.

---

Beige didn't seem to shrink at all by Okami's standoff-ish demeanour, or the clear discomfort from Liza, so they just continued to watch the two of them, it's lips thin and sealed.

The undead boy simply tilted his head towards Okami, "Okami is wolf. Lone wolf. Emo," and then toward Liza, "Liza is... scared like fish," Then finally at the crowd, "Beige is Beige. Plain and normal." Weird. This one wasn't normal in any sense, let alone plain.

He took particular interest in looking towards Okami, seeing as Liza was flinching away. Maybe it had noticed the shyness in her positioning, her eyes fixed on the ground. But Okami, who wasn't looking inside the wagon at all... "Why no smile, Lady Wolf?" A nickname? Beige appeared to be bizarrely socially brave.

---

Small chat.

That was what they were having. It was barely interesting enough on any ordinary day, but today it was just enough to take his mind off the previous matter. Taking one final swing out of his flask, he decisively decided to save the rest of the wine for later.

After putting it back into his clock pocket, he leaned forward with his usual smile, once again entering the conversation with ease.

"Oooh nicknames? What about me Beige? Do I have one?" Alice looked at the mismatched child with eagerness. Nicknames are one of the simplest ways on getting closer with people, and it seems like this kid liked those.

---

The liveliness of the group was infectious to the point where even the silent ones felt compelled to speak up, how quaint. Blithe certainly felt the distrust levelled at fae, certainly a familiar feeling especially when travelling to more superstitious rural areas, but it never troubled fae much to be on the receiving end of such feelings. Besides, it was intriguing to watch everyone else put themselves forward, from the shy wolf to the almost childishly impressed dragonborn, there was quite an eclectic group all squished into a tiny wagon.

Propping a horned head against a blunted clawed hand, Blithe did muse that it was awfully ungentlefaely of faer to only drink in the atmosphere and not add to the merriment as well. What sort of performer only watched a show instead of being a part of it? Though to be quite honest, being just a part of the background was a novel and refreshing experience. If fae needed to step into the spotlight once again, fae would gladly let faer showmanship speak for faeself.

"Ah, but yer a queer one, young sir. We'd dare say plain 'n normal 's too a criminal underrating of yerself, hm? Mayhaps one 'o a kind, or even sui generis be better for such a darlin'. Nicknames do be for everyone, not jus' fer others." Faer rough speech juxtaposed against a lyrical voice was always quite dissonant for fae to hear but as long as the genuineness of faer words were conveyed.

---

Okami's eat twitched in annoyance, shifting the hood of her cloak ever so slightly. Was "Emo" some sort of insult? What did it mean?

She didn't appreciate the boy calling her a lone wolf either. To deny that fact would be lying though, and she did not like lying. So instead she muttered, "I am not lonely." Her throat hurt from talking more than she had lately, but she opted to ignore it. Damn, did everyone think or know she was part wolf? Although to be fair, Lady Wolf did sound nice...

She began to fantasize about being a dutchess or princess of some sort and forgot all about Beige's question.

"You already know it little guy but just so that everyone else knows, me name is Chester! If y'all ever need any help out there, don't be afraid to call me name hahah!"
Chester laughed, his cheeks being rather red already as he put down his bottle of grape juice.
"Anyways folks, any of y'all planning on winning the festival? Trying to earn yourselves the favour of the gods or are you here just for the vibe of it all?
I used to always say that I was going here to win it all and how big old god Arlen up there would acknowledge me and grant me a domain of me own, I'm afraid it's a bit late for an old man like myself to keep on going after this dream but Im sure atleast one of ye will have the skills and charms for the job!"
The way he spoke towards this group of strangers he just met a couple hours ago at most and has only just traded some words with seemed disproportionately warm and confident, his voice held a gentle care that would have you believe he has known you people since forever ago.
He turned around to face you all and let out a warm, wide smile as he shouted "Cheers to y'all, praying for everyone's success" as grabbed and downed whatever remained in his bottle.

---

Beige almost smiled as Chester spoken, before shaking their head in one single smooth motion. "Don't think so... sounds like... stress..." They scratched at their face stitches his head mostly still and fixed slightly downwards as he conjured some thoughts. Looked like hard work.

Beige lifted his head. "Alice... is Gold... uhm... Alice can be... Wickerman. Like the..." Their eyebrow furrowed, drawing deep creases in their face. It was clear he was thinking about the fable Rumpelstiltskin, thinking about the golden straw from that story and describing it as wicker. Or were they considering the Wicker man, and its discussions of human sacrifice in the name of religion? Nonetheless, it seemed like he was surprisingly well read, just not that articulate.

Shaken from their thoughts, it remembered to answer to Blithe, ears twitching as it comprehended faer's thick accent, before dropping their gaze. It wasn't sure how to reply to those kind words. Beige had trouble replying to Chester's positivity prior, to which they would simply feel weird tingles across his skin and a tug at his lips. And it happened again with Blithe's words. In another time, his cheeks may have warmed, or his palms turned marginally sweaty. He felt his body remain cold, and stayed quiet.

---

Liza looked up, surprised. There would be a prize? She had not been aware of this. Suddenly, she was filled with
D E T E R M I N A T I O N.

"Um, pardon me but... what's this about a prize? How do I win?"

A favour of the Gods, if they existed, would be useful in more ways than one. Especially trying to communicate with lost one's, if it were to be possible. Whatever it was, she had to win

---

Chester looked confused for a second as he turned his gaze towards Liza, being caugjr completely off guard by her lack of knowledge about the festival.

"Oh? You seriously don't know lass? I thought by this point most people know what the gist of this whole festival was but I guess with it's ever expanding influence the very concept might have just recently grazed your respective community..."
He looked down and twirled his moustache a little before looking back up with a warm smile on his face.
"Very well then! Allow me to recap! Where we are headed right now is the heart of the festival! There lays a huge tower with three thrones carefully placed on the top of it so that our three gods can comfortably spectate the festivities comfortably from all the way up there and be able to keep an eye out for everyones journeys! albeit we are fairly sure that they don't really need this vantage point to keep track of any of us but whatever" he very loudly cleared his throat before continuing.

"This festival is all about celebrating their blessings towards us, in a way thanking them for their help each and every year. Well after you partake in all the fun festivities of the capital, you know some nice little events, carnival food and the like, a big horn willl eventually echo, marking the official start of the main event, THE ADVENTURE! This is the important part! Any questions before we get to that?"
He says as he looks around to make sure everyone is listening and not lost,

---

Oops, did fae accidentally scare the poor darling? In a way, how Beige reacted to the situation was rather cute and Blithe had to sniffle a titter behind tightly pressed lips. Young ones were simply just so fun to poke and prod at sometimes but fae would refrain for now, the only relationship they had was one of strangers after all.

But really, did they have to keep talking about gods? Those stuffy beings praised for their callus indifference to the populace knew seemed to be all that anyone wanted to think about as the festival drew closer and closer. For fae, it was prime time for money to be made and Blithe wondered what set fae apart from Chester so much. Of course, all the circus had to do was roll into town and their revenue would automatically go up but this was not some arbitrary blessing, it was the product of the troupe's hard work and dedication to their crafts. Some would dedicate their performances to the gods, more often than not directly invoking one by name, but in the end it was not the gods that so graciously bestowed upon the common folk an income. Those "nice little events" often were the accumulation of a years worth of dedication and hard work on the artist's part. For Chester, fae assumed it was similar as the high fare for the ride might suggest yet the kindly elder seemed all to happy to share his own godly aspirations with strangers.

Well, then again Blithe was always an odd one out.

Perhaps that's why the gods never once turned their gaze at faer

---

"Is that so."

Alice leans back against the wooden seat of the crampy yet homey carriage with a raised eyebrow. It seems like it was starting to grow on him. Perhaps it was due to his fellow seatmates and their enthusiastic gazed towards this 'so called adventure' or their curiosity towards their 'so called gods'. While he didn't believe in any of those bs and was only here to check things out, he must admit that their eagerness did rub off on him a little.

However the more Chester, their lovely coach yapped upon the gods, and wanting to be the lucky one to get their blessing, the more Alice felt his nerves twitch. He resisted the urge to scoff, after all it would be rude to do so. However, If the gods were really so merciful, they wouldn't have nonchalantly watch their people fight for them and die.

Throughout his years as a fraud priest, many people has come to him in hopes of receiving any advice, help or literally anything from the gods they so have believed in. Alice humored them, he lied to them, believing that what he said could at least provide them with hope to continue on. He advised them with genuine guidance rather than some ceremonial bull crap. Whether it would be how to cure their child, or how to get his business going. Many creatures, not just human believed that their own hard work was thanks to the gods, and were blind to their own talents.

However, they fail to realize that the gods treated humans and other creatures just like how they treated ants. With curiosity and no more. They wouldn't bother themselves with the matters of over world beings. After all, why would we care if some ants fought and died?

Cause the gods sure didn't even blink an eye when war was waged on for years, and millions has died. So why would they care now?

---

"Yes Lad!"
Chester enthusiastically agreed, by all means Chester despite his enthusiasm wasn't quite alone in the stance and favour he showed the gods, if anything the vast majority of the world held the same opinion as him.

For most mortals, the story as they know it is how early during the existence to this planet, of this very realm, the old gods that once spread their power amongst these lands, shaping it into what it now is had decided to up and leave the moment they lost interest. The remaining three gods of the world, Fiorella, Arlen and Lyric, seemed to see the value in the rapidly evolving species that we know as humans (which eventually split off into various little sub races over the years) and decided to help nurture their potential.

Almost every year then festival happens as a way to help pay our respect to them, a traditional that your average Joe is more than happy to maintain.

"Well once the horn is heard, that's when the real adventure starts! There aren't any rules to it really, people just set off into their respective adventure every year, all to win the favour of the gods.
The reasoning behind this whole thing lies in how at the very heart of the festival, this is both our way to pay respect and show the fruit of our labor, the embodiment of the talent they nurtured by letting our finest go out there and show off the potential these gods saw in our people all those years ago...
However most people have their eyes on the goal, which I personally think is the wrong way to go about but whatever...*he whined*
The festival only ends once the gods are satisfied, this will be declared through the same horn that marked the start of the festival ringing once again, to show the gods made their call.
Each festival, each of the three gods chooses the adventurer who peaked their interest the most, in turn blessing them once more with power beyond what we could ever hope to have as well as a domain of our own. In a way it's like a tiny Ascension into godhood, around these parts they call these folks "minor gods", I think that's a good way to put it! Each god giving you a place that technically acts as a subsection of their own domain so a lot of people try to specifically emphasize the traits that appeal to whoever god you crave the power of. Is everyone still with me?"
The old man asked, knowing he was talking a bit too much in rapid succession and in a slightly slurred speech pattern

---

"I see..." She stood up abruptly and slammed the tip of her katana into the wooden floor, leaving a small crack. She may not believe completely in the Gods, but just in case..."Well then, it seems this may be worth going to after all." She pointed her weapon at each of the passengers, leaving it longer on the strange wolf girl. Any hint of anxiousness or fear had been replaced with determination and competitiveness

"Which one of you will be partaking in this show?" she asked with a grin. If she was going up against any of them, she had to learn about her opponents, strengths and weaknesses.

---

There was a pair of hollow clatters as Blithe immediately lifted faer hands up in the air though nothing seemed to have dropped onto the floor, gazing at the blade turned against the wagon without anything but a calm smile. Fae certainly was no stranger to being threatened with sharpened steel, the perils of being a travelling circus meant that such encounters were a dime a dozen, yet Blithe knew that this was simply an overzealous show of passion from a young warrior who had been given the briefest sample of a sweetest honey that could only come from godly promises. Cloying in the smallest tastes yet overwhelming once anything more than a mouthful was given.

And so fae simply defaulted to what fae did best. Talk.

"Oi lass, yer one mighty spitfire, eh? Best draw that armament back 'n her sheath lest she dull under shame o' threaten' those she be protectin' now. We ain't no fighter here, jus' common folk lookn' out fer family. Don' got much time for grand ol' adventures, not w'th aching bones n' a pack of chilln' underfoot."

It was quite obvious just by looking at fae that Blithe certainly had no physical combat prowess. Billowing robes were impractical in any confrontation as opposed to the practical combat orientated gear that Liza herself bore. In fact, in the complete opposite, Blithe's clothes seemed to conceal more than protect, only offering brief peeks at lilac skin. To that point, from a glance, fae would bet good money that only the dragonborn, aside from the undine who was most vocal about her pursuits, was any sort of adventurer.

---

As Liza stabbed the floor you could see the old man quickly begin to fumble around, this wagon really isn't made to sustain any more injuries than it already had.
"AY! Easy on wagon lass! Don't want her fallin' apart on me!
Sit down and stop threatenin' the rest of em or you are getting the boot!"
You can see the old man quickly change his tune into a significantly more stern one as he gave a light tap to his horse before turning back towards the fish lady. Despite his frail looking appearance he still stood rather tool and seemed to have a little bit of bulk but not enough to really make him raising his sleeve up too intimidating.
"I personally ain't a big fan of intimidating and threatening other folk, especially if they are my passengers. So do me a favour and save this energy for after you leave my ride."
Even for those less attuned with magic, they could tell that Chester had clearly had a good control over his power set, although not to visible at this moment, a bit of magic seemed to almost leak out of his right fist, little sparks emminating from it.
He then turned towards Blithe along with the rest with his previous warm smile "My sincerest apologies for the disturbance, hope this won't impact your day too negatively:)"

---

With barely having enough time to come to terms with his situation before being sent out on this trip – a trip he never consented to, even! – it was really underestimating Sable's feelings right now to say that he was feeling irritated.

The people around him, all sorts of characters for sure, quiet and noisy, half-dead or brimming with life, all of them were just about the most annoying bunch to Sable in that moment. (His logic told him that perhaps he was the blame for this opinion, not engaging in their conversations, but he quickly shoved this logic to the side.)

He picked up small bits of conversation, yes, nicknames, talks about Gods, but none that he had interest in participating in. Really, the only thing Sable wanted to participate in was going home.

Well. Perhaps that wasn't such a difficult wish to grant. Perking his ears and scouting out the supposed 'wagon guy', he asked Chester directly, "Can I get off?"

Oceiros was still comfortably sitting on the floor, taking in as much information as he could about the people he was travelling with as well as anything about the festival. His back was forever grateful for him choosing the ground and not the elevated side most others were sitting.

A sudden noise that seemed to come right behind him startled him, though he quickly realized what it was a moment later. Using both his hands, Oceiros rotated himself and turned to face Liza. Just as he had surmised, he was a few inches away from the tip of her blade.

"Now, now... I think it's pretty obvious who will be participating, is it not? Unless someone hopped on the wrong wagon even if they paid such a hefty amount for it, all of us are going to participate in the festival." He slowly looked around, trying to see if anyone would disagree with that statement.

"That aside, don't you think you'd have better chances working with us, or... some of us, at least? You'd best not underestimate the amount of people who take place in this, right, Mr. Chester?"

Not mention of teamwork was mentioned while they were travelling but it was definitely possible for them, especially given how one of them had participated before.

"How does that sound?" Oceiros turned back to Liza, offering her a handshake.

Beige's gaze was fixated on Liza for the most of the interaction, their greasy locks falling loosely over their head and neck, bouncing with every stone the road encountered. There was something that it couldn't seem to understand with the fish lady, and the question was slowly eating at him, especially was time went on and the ground dealt with her... attitude.

"Miss Fish," Beige started, the undead boy looking at her with misty, empty eyes. "If you didn't know about the festival and the gift of the Gods, why are you travelling with us?"

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