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 Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 10:38 am
This Quest is for Xilarn who is striving to become a Spearman.
 OOC
||. The quest prompt must be answered with a 2000 word reply (can be more).
||. Respond to the prompt given with an adventure of your own creation as long as it meets the requirements of the specific tasks.
||. NPCs may be used as long as they advance the quest in an interesting manner.
||. You cannot include any playable characters other than the quest taker.
||. Your responses will be graded with a Pass or Fail. Those who fail will have to continue with assistance from the staff.
||. Questions about quests can be asked here.
IC
The child Xilarn has picked up will not stop crying. Either he's screaming, throwing temper tantrums, sobbing his heart out, or puking because of the stress and crying fits. He will not respond to Xilarn's attempt to take care of his, throwing away the food, not allowing any baths or changing of clothes and always demanding to have his mother back.
Something had to be done and soon; this child would not be able to survive out here; especially since the cries of a hunting Sermal could be heard. A wailing child would only attract the dangerous feline, and the child's refusal to eat or drink meant he was becoming malnourished and dehydrated.
Quest Tasks
||. The quest should start with Xilarn trying to bathe, change the filthy clothes, or feed the child and his rejecting him every time.
||. He will need to come up with a plan to get him to eat or drink at the very least before two more days pass; otherwise the child will die.
||. A sermal will attack during the night; it has followed the sound of the boy's tantrums. A Sermal is very dangerous and the fight should not be an easy one.
||. Quest should end with Xilarn gaining at least some acceptance.
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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 5:34 pm
P A R T x O N E x S O L O
Muddy Lad "Do you come with a name?" Xilarn asked stiffly, clay-colored orbs firmly pinned on the small, gaunt, fair-skinned and -haired child that stood before him. The thing- 'he', Xil denoted adamantly, shook like a leaf in the wind, expression tense and body seeming like it wanted to cave in upon himself. Xil expected he was once a fairly hefty child, with above-average bones and a mat of blond hair and blue eyes- clearly Wind. But he'd likely spent several days alone, out in the inhospitable Sauti environment, giving him a shaggier, more greyed appearance. There was no answer to his query, only a muted whine, so Xilarn carried on with his task. He crouched low, down to eye-level with the child, and dabbed lightly at his face with a wet cloth.
To be perfectly honest, Xilarn had no idea where the kid had come from. It- he wasn't particularly old, no more than four or five years at the most. So the Fire clansman suspected it had some form of speaking capability. He certainly wasn't a mute, considering how vocal he'd been on initial encounter... He hadn't been happy to see another person, that much was for sure, and he refused to give Xilarn any inkling as to why he was alone and starving and bruised all to bits. But what with no one else being around, and the child clearly being filthy and malnourished... Leaving him alone would've been a death sentence. And Xilarn couldn't have that.
Despite the child's desires.
Xil huffed and recoiled sharply as the boy's hand shot up, smacking his arm away from Xilarn's attempts to wash his face. It wasn't a particularly powerful or off-putting swing, but it surprised him nonetheless. The Oban leaned back a bit, desperately wanting to accommodate the child's frazzled nerves while still being of some use to him. "You must know I'm not trying to hurt you," Xilarn informed the boy in a clipped tone. "I only want to do what's best for you, but-"
"I want my momma."
An actual sentence, not howled or bawled at him. Progress. "I understand," Xilarn hummed slowly, reaching out to lightly clasp the boy's shoulder (and hopefully prevent any more swatting). "Perhaps you could tell me about her. Do you know where she is? What does she look like? Do you have other family?" He questioned softly, reaching once more to wipe at the child's face.
But this seemed to be an unpleasant train of thoughts for the youngster, and he immediately began to squirm out of Xil's grasp. He pushed at the larger male's arm, breath coming out as short, sharp whines as he struggled to get away. "Let- Let go of me!" He demanded before slipping beneath Xil's grasp, stumbling briefly to the ground, and then pelting away for all his was worth.
Xilarn's expression pinched as he struggled to find some purchase against the child's small struggling frame, but after a brief grapple, the boy was fleeing off once more. He was weak. He staggered at every step, and Xilarn almost felt bad when he caught up to the child, collected the screeching toddler in his arms, and carried him away. He'd been leery about moving him too far from where he'd found him, but... If he was going to attempt to flee before Xilarn could help him, it seemed like a better idea to get him to his home; familiar territory and assistance in keeping him contained. Though he couldn't help but feel a worried stab every time the Wind boy pushed and yowled at him.x
x
Results: Xil resigns to taking a screeching toddler to his home.
Words This Step: 598
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 12:20 pm
P A R T x T W O x S O L O
Wildcard There was an immediately tense and eerie still as Xilarn pushed open the door to his cabin and set the child on the floor. The Wind boy had fought him the entire way, screeching, yowling, battering, and bawling like a captive animal, the noise ringing out and echoing across the flat land like a warning bell. Naturally, he locked himself and the child in as quickly as possible. As the door clicked shut, Xil caught a glimpse of a fluffy brown tail slinking off toward a backroom, as far away from the sounds as could be managed. Gadot did not have a great many experiences with children, and it turned out that he wasn't necessarily thrilled by them. Probably for the best.
On the other hand, Naeght manged to seem both less tolerant and more imposing. He sat near the end of the room; tall, straight, dignified, with his wings folded down and tail splayed to the side. It was several more moments until the Wind child even noticed the still figure of the raptrix. But when he did, he quieted immediately. His posture stiffened to that of a statue, mouth clamping immediately shut as the two stared at each other.
It earned him silence, and this seemed like a positive thing, but Xilarn frankly had no idea how the large beast responded to much of anything, let alone children. Naeght seemed perpetually annoyed and much more aggressive than his smaller counterpart. It wouldn't do for the raptrix to turn violent against a child. And it was clear enough that the boy was immensely terrified by him. As easy as it would've been to promise 'he won't hurt you,' it also sounded like a lie. The Oban strode across the room, collected a handful of fur at the nape of Naeght's neck, and tugged him.
The raptrix let out a warning grunt, but followed after Xilarn as willingly as one would expect. The boy scuttled toward a wall as they moved past, and in only a few short strides, Naeght was safely removed from the room. The kid continued to stare at the door for several long minutes, watching, waiting for some reappearance. And when it didn't happen immediately, whimpers ensued.
The rest of the day was truly a battle. Xil expected the boy would feel better after a bath, a meal, and being tucked into clean sheets.
But that was not the case. Xilarn would've had more luck getting a massive mammu into a tub of water. The boy resisted any of Xil's attempts to so much as touch him, let alone strip or bath him. And it didn't take much fight before Xil decided he seemed like a genuinely terrible person for wanting to rinse the filth and dirt off the Wind child. They skipped the bath, with Xil settling for dabbing water onto the boy's arms and face and ever-so-slightly dampening his hair.
Food seemed easier. The kid resisted it so long as Xilarn was watching, but if he backed off, gave the lad some space, and turned away, the boy seemed slightly more willing to at least eat. This would surely put him in a better mood; make him more amicable to the idea of answering questions that would get him home, hopefully appease his screaming tantrums. Maybe make him see that Xilarn was trying to help him?
That hope was as quickly dashed as any other. The child could hardly keep anything down for more than a few minutes at a time. Being the youngest in his own family, he knew next to nothing of childcare. Stress, sickness, unfamiliarity with what he was eating? Never mind that the vomiting didn't help his mood. The lad regressed into dry, pitiful sobbing, tucked himself into a corner of the room, and stayed there.
He was going to die.
It terrified Xil more than just about anything else in this world. That some poor child had been abandoned and was going to die in his care. When Xilarn knelt at his side, the Wind boy shuddered, choked, swatted at him, and tucked his face away. Xil touched his arm, drawing out another whimper. "I just want to give you some herbs to help you sleep," the Oban prompted. "I think it will make you feel better, and-"
"I don't want them," the boy mewled, shrugging away from Xil's touch.
"I'm sure you don't," Xil muttered, forcing patience into his tone. "But it would upset your mother to see you like this. Do you want her to be upset?"
He kicked out at Xil with all the strength he could muster, turning a blotched, tear-stained face on the Oban. His words came out patchy, panted on heaved breaths. "They said- Mother- wasn't coming back." He ripped away from Xil, clawing his way several inches across the floor and bundling himself up again. "The crazy Alkiki-" He took several harsh breaths and twisted to press his nose to the floor. "They got 'er."
Xilarn stilled. 'Crazy Alkidike?' The extremists? They had gathered close to Sauti, hadn't they? There was no telling for what reason the kid's mother had been caught up in the fight. Innocent bystander? Protecting her home? Her family? But if what he was saying was accurate... "I'm sorry," Xilarn murmured. "It's a tough thing to go through. You've every right to be distressed." The Wind lad turned narrowed eyes on him. "But unless you intend to join her so soon, you need to let me help you. The sooner you get to functioning normally, the sooner you can grieve properly, and the sooner you can do things that will make your mother proud."
"You dunno what my momma wanted," the boy snapped back, though Xil took the shift he made to sit up as a positive sign.
"Maybe not," Xilarn agreed. "But if you do, that's all that matters."x
x
Results: We've arrived on speaking terms, if little else.
Words This Step: 982
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 9:28 am
P A R T x T H R E E x S O L O
Crash Into the Sea It was a surprise enough when the boy, still unnamed, actually allowed Xilarn to feed him the herbs that would allegedly give him rest and help him feel better. Less of a surprise when much of it returned several minutes later. But within the hour, the blond Wind kiddo was resting. 'Sleeping' seemed like to hopeful a term for the grumbling, distressed half-dazed state he was in, and because of this, Xil opted not to leave his side.
There were points in the waning hours where the child would sit up, choke, whine, heave, and flop back over; exhausted. Xilarn really had no reason to hope that this was improvement, but he did nonetheless. And it was in some span of minutes or hours or... however long, that Xil found himself dozing off as well.
It wasn't the child that woke him.
From outside came the sounds of scuffling; grunts, growls, thuds. It was on a particularly loud 'Yip!' and whimper that Xilarn bolted up, alert. The sounds were muted and foggy is his disillusioned state, but once his mind was more awake, he became distinctly aware of Naeght's sounds. He expected Gadot had found his way outside, and perhaps the two were up to their usual antics, but the other noises didn't sound like the brown raptrix. They were foreign, unfamiliar, and when Naeght barked, it sounded... hurt.
Xil rose, collecting his spear as he moved toward the door. Before he made it, there was a loud, bark-like howl, and a thud. The door shook. Everything went quiet. Xilarn swallowed as he reached for the handle. "Naeght," he grunted in inquiry, voice stiff and low. No response. No scuttling, no whining, no barking or whimpering. Only silence. He tugged open the door.
And there was Naeght, laying on his side, breathing shallowly, pressed to the wooden frame of the door. Briefly and without raising his head, his gaze traveled to Xil. His paws twitched, he grunted, and then came a warning yowl as a flash of dark fur pelted at him. Xilarn yelped as he was shoved backward by some heavy force. He was distinctly aware of teeth snapping at him, held at bay only by his forearm pressing into the creature's throat. Claws raked at his shoulder and pinned him to the floor, keeping him from doing too much to throw the attacker off.
'Feline,' he decided as the shape of its eyes came fully into his view for but a moment. He notched his head back, desperate to get it just a little more away, at least enough that he could get a foot or an arm beneath it for better leverage or so that he could reach for enough to grab his spear.
It was a muted whimper and a cough that drew the cat's attention enough for Xilarn to wedge his knee beneath it and kick it to the side. It snarled, hissed, and then looked in the Wind boy's direct. Easy prey. Weak target. The same scent it'd followed here for what should have been a quick meal. He gave Xil a warning snap as he rolled away from the beast, fumbling briefly for his weapon as it prowled away from him.
He couldn't even accurately identify the creature. Sauti had been his home for the past several months, but he'd never crossed paths with anything like this before. And to be fair, it didn't seem to have much interest in him, anyway. Xilarn grabbed his weapon, lurched forward, and crashed his weight into the creature's side, knocking it off course and away from his boy. It spat at him, annoyed, hungry, and mean.
Xilarn took the second of reprieve to shimmy between the cat and the child, and then it leaped, sending him thudding back into the wall as he jabbed for its chest with his weapon. It let out a garbled yowl, teeth tearing for his neck, claws scraping at his chest and stomach. And everything it touched turned to fire.
When Naeght reappeared, he sank his teeth into the cat's back, drawing down and dragging backwards on it. Xil's still-embedded spear sliced upwards, and with an extra added crunch of teeth, the cat was still.
Hesitantly, fearfully, Xilarn patted himself down. There was definitely wet everywhere. His fingers traced over scratched and set them ablaze. Some were deep. Teeth punctures around his collarbone held a particular fear for him, but otherwise... Everything seemed to be in place. So he turned clay-colored orbs immediately to the boy.
"Kid?" he asked softly. The Wind lad raised his head, his gaze darting from the bloodied form of the feline up to Xilarn's chest, then face, over to Naeght. "Are you hurt?" Xilarn demanded as he crouched next to him, taking the boy's arm and touching searching fingers to his face.
With a short huff, the boy retracted his limb, nudging himself away from Xil. "N-no..." He murmured stiffly. His blue eyes darted back to the Oban, weary but clearer than they had been the day before. "It's Akiyal."
Xilarn blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"That's my name. It's Akiyal."
Xil inhaled slowly, relaxing slightly, despite the still-raging scratches searing over his skin. The boy didn't seem injured. He seemed cooperative, if not completely healed. he spoke in sentences. Wasn't whining or baulking. And that was more than he'd started with. With a nod, Xilarn extended his hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Akiyal."x
x
Results: We're not perfect, but we're better off than when we started.
Words This Step: 909
Total Words: 2489
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 9:29 am
Finally ready for review. =w=
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 3:45 am
Class Quest Result
Pass!
Xilarn has passed and received a rank of Spearman!
Congratulations Xilarn!
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