The Hanging Tree (Open mystery RP, all welcome)

[Ashram Drowsong]

"Interresting indeed"

 

Was the only thing a dark figure in a corner of the Inn was thinking, he was no man of big groups trampling around, yet he knew Sivamet, this was not the time to have a talk and share some time with her anyways, she didnt realize that he was here by now, he would not wait around, this situation made him, none the less, curious. And after all, he was not someone trusting in Skills of people he never met before, and Sivamet should have a shadow watching over her.

 

Was it Curiousity about this Adventure or something else that made him act, he wasnt sure for now, but the only thing that the others in the Inn may have heared now or seen, was the door closing with an shadow gone

[Ghunzyr]

"You said Hanging Tree correct?" Ghunzyr looked over to the man with some interest. "And you are to investigate this tree? Does this tree happen to hold the corpses of brides soon after a wedding?"

 

He pounded back the ale and left the mug on the counter quiverring as he stepped towards the gathered Mi'qote. "Sounds to me like ya may want some muscle with you on this investigation. I'd be happy ta help... for a small cut o' the reward of course." He smiled down at them and extended his hand. "Name's Ghunzyr."

[Sivamet]

The tall duskwight warrior stood adjusting her axe and turned to each man who had spoken. Her violet eyes shifted to the shadows where Ashram had stood and she narrowed them slightly shaking her head before returning her attention to the others.

 

To answer your question, yes. That is the mystery we investigate.

She reached and took Ghunzyr's hand Welcome. I am Siva and this is Div, Miyu, and Ana. You are more than welcome to join us if you do not mind following my orders. she made it a statement not a question as she smiled at Ghunzyr and shook his hand firmly.

 

Siva then turned her gaze toward Div and chuckled softly I am not like most as you see. I figure you either use your skills with me, or against me. And if against me I have numbers on my side. she laughed a bit Seriously however I can usually tell who to trust and who not to.

 

Now then as she addressed them all and turned walking toward the door assuming they were following We have work to do now lets get to it.

[UnbeknownstGhost]

Bob frowned slightly at the yes, then watched the rest of the exchanges with amusement. After she began to walk out Bob spoke in a gutteral voice, "Yesss, ve have vork to do..."

[Eternal Darkness]

Eternal followed the rest of the group, chuckling at the Hyur's forced accent. "You should try mine, you're rather good."

[Sivamet]

Siva smirked slightly before stepping back to walk near Miyu. You are to do the investigation and I wish to know each step you take. So what idea did you have at the inn?

 

Siva's violet gaze swept the forest for any lone wolves or Yarzon that may be wandering through the trees. Her head swiveled toward the shadow briefly quirking an eyebrow as she watching a shadow flick by.

 

 

I am really sick atm so forgive my short posts just trying to get this going again

 

[DAISHI]

((never start what you can't finish. I jumped into this thread because I thought it was awesome... and it still is. But work and school destroyed my ability to write. Apologies :cry: ))

[Miyu Asuka]

Miyu grabs Ana's hand and pulls her with her, following Siva heading towards her first real assignment.

 

She saw Siva approaching her and walking besides her with her usual quite warm smile on her face, which she could only just see as Siva was quite tall; "You are to do the investigation and I wish to know each step you take. So what idea did you have at the inn?"

 

Miyu thought for a bit before answering; "Seriously each step...? Well okay.. And I think it is quite simple, it sounds really much like an act of jealousy and vengeance. Like a man who was once married and his wife got killed the night after, most likely to the fault of one of the villagers or the community there. Now he somehow, which i don't know how... made the tree do exactly the same to the newly weds. I think it's quite an impressive way of using magic, if he used magic that is."

 

Miyu looked at Ana's face seeing a slightly scared look "Don't worry, I doubt anything will happen. And if it does we got three great guardians hehehe."

[UnbeknownstGhost]

"And a Pirate," Bob added.

[Ghunzyr]

Ghunzyr fell in step the group as they left, keeping a few steps behind so as not to crowd anyone. He seemed alert, looking around without stopping on one spot too long, as if scanning the area for something.

"So if I got this right, what you're tellin me is there's a tree that people are finding new brides hanging from, and no one knows why? I dunno if it's a simple case of jelousy. Sure that can be a good 'nuff motive, but we're talking bout some little village in the forest aren't we? From my experience, small towns aren't good at hidin secrets, less there be a good number o folks in on it. People love to gossip, cept when the nastiness could be tied to themselves."

He didn't seem to notice the small, low-hanging, branches that slapped against his helm as he walked.

"I'd say that if one person is behind it, magic got to be involved somehow, an its all got to be for some big purpose, not just revenge. Seems more likely though that you got more than one killer on yer hands. One to grab the women and keep em quiet nuff so as not to alert folks, another to attach em to a rope while they're held down, and a third to make sure the 'ole event don't get interrupted. There may be more folks involved then just that, hard to say, but you got three folks at the least. Either way, though, neither option explains why folks are doing it. May want to learn more bout the tree itself. All this business could be part of some cult that's lookin to make these ladies a sacrifice o sorts to the tree, or somethin like that."

[UnbeknownstGhost]

Bob grunted, "Here is a nice little tip. Theorizing before knowing facts is not good for the brain, there are thousands of possibilities of what is going on. If you theorize about just a few, you begin to think that is what you are looking for. It can possibly hinder your investigation. Theory before facts is a no go."

[Eternal Darkness]

Eternal listens to the conversations at hand, thinking on the subject. Perhaps it was someone's plan for revenge, perhaps magic was involved, or perhaps it was none of the above.

 

"What if there is no rhyme or reason to these murders? It is uncommon, but not unheard of, that someone would simply to this for fun, as a game, of sorts." She paused for a moment, thinking more. "Or perhaps it could be linked to this Woodsin I've heard tell of." Her tail began to swish lightly behind her as she fell into a deeper thought. A sly grin crossed her face. "I cannot wait to get to the bottom of this one, curiosity is definitely taunting the cat."

[Sivamet]

Siva nodded her head slightly as she listened to each reasoning, clasping her hands behind her back as she walked in thought.

 

Well ok not every step you take Miyu but in terms of the investigation she chuckled softly

 

I have to agree this is not your basic case of jealousy. There is something more here than that, why else would this tree claim the lives of so many brand new young wives she shook her head, violet eyes darkening for a moment as she thought through the events described by Kailisto

 

I would say focus your investigation on the magical properties you can sense Miyu, I am thinking that is the key. I will ensure no harm comes to either of you while we do this investigation

[Ana Minake]

 

Sorry, I have been busy, and I never noticed that this went to more than one page.

 

 

Figuring that she should keep her mouth shut and not anger Siva, Ana remained quite dispite the tounge lashing she wanted to deal to some of the new comers. Alowing Miyu to lead her by hand, she scanned the surrounding area as they headed out to the tree. It's not like she didn't know the place, but she was fairly certain that something other than the tree was behind the deaths. After hearing the different theories as to what was behind the deaths, she turned to Siva and spoke softly so that even others in the group had a hard time hearing.

 

We could always stage a wedding. It wouldn't be the safest thing, but with the amount of people we could watch over both the couple and the... Her eyes darted as she saw a shadow sweep out of her peripheral vision. To no avail, she turned looking for what it could have been. Raising her free hand to her chin, she continued. Yes... We have enough people to at least see what is bringing the wives back to this tree.

[Sivamet]

Siva sighed softly and shook her head as she looked around the group then back to Ana.

 

No, that is not wise and to dangerous. I will not place anyone in that danger as we don't know what we face. Miyu...You are to be the one investigating. I need to know what if any ideas you have?

 

Siva glanced around on guard and continued to hold a thoughtful look on her face before relaying the message back to Kailisto over the Linkpearl.

 

Kailisto, I am waiting on Miyu to make a decision on how to begin this investigation. I've gathered a small lot to help with this however.

[Ashram Drowsong]

He was not using the road like they did, they fear the darkness in the woods, for him, there was no reason to fear it, instead he became one with the darkness, moving with with the shadows, quick and light steps, in his mind Ashrams Goal was to get to this Tree first, before they do, they can do theyre investigations, they can help the people and lift this curse or whatever is behind this mystery, the people can praise them as heros afterwards, Ashram did not care for that anyways.

 

Something was wrong with this place, this tree, Magic or some kind of curse, and even if people do this, they use some kind of mysterious powers, and none the less, people died on that tree, the tree was filled with some kind of energie, that was for sure by now, Ashrams mission was not to put an end to this, that was the job of Sivamet and theyre group of want to be heros, he knew he would get to that tree first, and he smirked lightly then, they would never know he was there. . .

[Miyu Asuka]

She walked alongside Siva while pulling Ana with her by hand, listening to the different theories and thoughts of the others.

 

"What if there is no rhyme or reason to these murders? It is uncommon, but not unheard of, that someone would simply to this for fun, as a game, of sorts." She heard Div say.

She thought only briefly. "There is a pattern to these deaths, they are all newly weds. And if there is a pattern there must be a reason as well. You don't just go off randomly killing wifes the day after they are married..."

 

Then she heard Ana's proposal and laughed softly. "Although I think that's a brilliant idea, it's way too dangerous as we don't know what this tree, or whoever or whatever is behind this can actually do."

 

She saw Siva looking at her; "You are to be the one investigating. I need to know what if any ideas you have?"

She thought for a bit and then answered; "First of all I'm gonna see if it really is magic related, you can feel such magic quite clearly most of the times. Then I'm gonna check whether this tree is just a tool of someone, or something else, or whether the tree is doing this by itself, which is highly unlikely."

She had a quite scared look on her face but tried to hide it. "I think we should either evacuate or guard the inhabitants of this village. If the tree is indeed just a tool, it means there is a much more powerful... thing behind it. And I doubt that that will just keep the killing at newly-weds. Anyway, magic always leaves traces certainly this kind. We can most likely figure out the source of this with quite some ease. Whether we can stop it... Well, I can only tell once we actually arrive there..."

 

She simply kept walking along Siva and turned quickly to Ana, giving her a very small wink, trying to tell her not to be so scared, although she did barely noticed the grip of Ana's hand was much more loose than her own.

[Sivamet]

Siva walked quietly and thoughtfully along side Miyu as she spoke. The small quiver in the Miqo'te's voice almost made her smile, but she kept her face without emotion and nodded. It was good she was frightened, she should be as this was something unknown and magic was indeed unpredictible.

 

Very well she said quietly as they arrived at the outskirts of the small village. Siva turned her head in the direction of the hill the Tree sat upon and gazed at it for a long moment as she held up her hand signalling for all who were with them to stop.

 

Then you shall have your chance to prove yourself now Miyu, before the sun sets Siva nodded in direction of the hill before turning to the others

 

We are not here to be heroes, we are here to solve a mystery so please, take care in all you do my friends. She motioned with her head at Miyu and walked toward the old tree stopping and allowing the girl to do what was needed.

 

While Miyu performed whatever ritual was needed, Siva relayed once again to Kailisto via the Linkpearl of their arrival and what Miyu had suggested.

[Kima wolf]

There was a feeling of strangeness in the air as the group arrived in the village. The people milled about their daily lives, children and husbands doing chores, merchants and buyers selling and bartering goods, the usual things which take place in a small village. But there was one difference, the area around this âtreeâ is completely barren, only the tree is alive there, and it seems to be thriving with its full branches, even in the winter time, and thick, strong trunk.

 

When Miyu would begin her investigation she'd notice there was nothing strange or out of the ordinary about the tree as far as magic goes but it has a dark, eerie, almost sinister feeling about it, as if it is watching, like a predator. But other than that it seems fairly normal, as normal as a tree could be in the Twelvewood. But it was missing something which everything had in this forest, an elemental. It had none whatsoever.

 

âSo, you must be the group sent by the Lady Kailisto,â A shaky, elderly voice said. It belonged to a elderly hyur woman with graying hair and a hunched over back. She walked with a cane and had two very large Highland Hyurs with her at her side.

 

âI told the young welp we did not need her help, we could figure it out ourselves, but be that as it may you're here.. Welcome to our village. I am the village shaman Keah.â She said with a slight bow. She narrowed her eyes at Miyu and slammed the edge of her cane down on the ground.

 

âYou, you have the look of a babe who just first stepped out of the forest. If you don't know what yer doin get away before it has its next victim...â she said with a sinister smile to Miyu.

 

âWhy she'd send a novice and a gaggle of damned mercenaries is beyond me..â she grumbled and watched Miyu closely.

 

âIgnore her, she's jus a bit cranky!â A voice said from the distance. It was another hyur, he had long black hair and a smile that melted hearts. To the experienced eye he also had the air of a adventurer about him.

 

âName's Darius, and I plan to prove to these people it's a myth, me an me wife, a soldier in her own right will get married here, right under this tree tomorrow! Then i'll claim the reward...â He said with a smirk.

 

The old woman frowned and slammed her cane down again. âBah, another fool for the tree, your wife's blood will feed the land along with the others.â

[Ashram Drowsong]

Ashram smiled, he was satisfied indeed, he watched Sivamets Group approaching, he nearly ran out of time, but managed to do it, quickly he moved with the shadows again, he knew how to do it, The Tree was indeed special, people had died on this tree, even, if someone else used the tree, now the tree was tainted with Evil, tool or not, Ashram did what he wanted to do. Maybe they would see the place he cut open the Tree to extract its Tree gum, an entire bottle, he took his time to take some of the tainted trees Seeds, to put them into the bottle as well, wonderful, healthy and strong seeds indeed, filled with the trees essence "before" any cleansing would be done, and some of the trees Roots, he made sure to cut some of the strong roots, then he had no time anymore. It was done, now they can do as they want, clean the place from evil and, if there are someone behind this, kill or catch him or her or well, it, a part of the curse and its power is given to its seeds, Ashram knew exactly of the benefits to examine these tainted Seeds and the tree gum and the Roots.

 

His silver eyes watched them in the distant from the shadows of the village buildings, he heared Siva speaking to Kailisto via the Linkpearl, he made sure the voices in the pearl are just a whisper, yes, Kailisto, he remembered what she told him, he smirked and decided to stay for a bit, maybe there was more to gather in this village before sivamets group would cleanse all the evil and tainted objects.

 

Slowly he turned then, he got all he could from the Tree, now he was thinking, a Tainted tree, death poeople, unholy indeed, but he did not hear at all that the priest of the villages church did try anything to help, after all, every village has a church with a priest who tries to protect his herd, for now that would be the place Ashram would go to, and do some searching, maybe the holy place holds some unholy things indeed.

He smiled lightly as he saw a young woman, trying to pickpocket people entering the Inn. He offered her some coin, and talked to her, surely the group of adventurers would draw attention, the villagers for sure would come to see what they do, the girl agreed to go too and observe what sivamets group is doing, the girl would do as he told her, to be his ears and eyes for now, he gave her one of his own Linkpearls, special made for situations like this, useful indeed, with the promise of coin he left the girl, to investigate the church and the priests quarters there, he knew he could trust the girl, he saw it in her eyes, she gave her word and would do as he told her.

[Kima wolf]

sorry, wrong post))

[Sivamet]

Siva looked around as the old woman greeted them and her eyes landed on Ashram. He thought he wasn't seen, but forgot she had grown up in the forest and knew what to look for. Her eyes narrowed and hardened as she watched him cut into the tree taking its essence, roots, and pieces for his keeping. She watched him bribe the girl and memorized the girl's look before a small smirk formed on her face. She made sure he knew she watched, and knew catching his eye contact and allowing him to see the knowledge on her face.

 

Her hand closed around the Linkpearl she spoke to Kailisto on before turning away deliberately to hear the old woman say âWhy she'd send a novice and a gaggle of damned mercenaries is beyond me..â Siva just smiled at the old woman and turned her gaze as Darius approached them quirking a brow at his arrogance.

 

Crossing her arms she managed to whisper to Kailisto over the linkpearl We have an issue before just laughing softly

 

You are one for words and bravado Darius. you who do not fear the curse of the tree? and just what does your lovely young warrior wife feel eh? Siva asked in a quiet tone stepping forward. She looked at the two hyur who accompanied the old woman before nodding to her with wary respectfulness

[Ana Minake]

After taking in Siva's disapproval of her plan, she turned back to the tree and twitched her nose at the scent of someone familiar that didn't travel here with the group. She shrugged her shoulders and listened to Miyu's explanation. She smiled back to the innocent wink and turned back to the tree as she felt the younger Miquo'te's grip tighten around her own. She closed her eyes and took a calming breath before she turned and whispered into Miyu's ear,

"Calm down sweetie. Everything will turn out fine. Also... Ashram is somewhere near here. He might be working for AETHER."

 

After hearing the dashing male's proposal to earn the reward, a sly grin played across her lips. "This might make my plan valid."

[Eternal Darkness]

Oh my, you must forgive me; this one slipped away from me. You may have gotten a little too far ahead for me to insert myself back into this one, but I'll see if I can figure something out. Apologies, again.

[Miyu Asuka]

Miyu let Ana's hand go and approached the tree and looked up, It's quite a big tree.She lays her hand on the bark and closed her eyes, concentrating.

After a minute or so, she shivered slightly and turned to Sivamet with a somewhat confused look on her face. "As far as I know it's just a normal tree... Although... hmm. I can't explain it. But it's not the tree itself that does anything."

 

She heard the Old Hyur woman speak and staggered slightly. Watching and hearing her talk yet she said nothing in return and got a bit closer to Siva.

âYou, you have the look of a babe who just first stepped out of the forest. If you don't know what yer doin get away before it has its next victim...â

 

Miyu looked slightly annoyed but shrugged it off.

She saw the young man with the long black hair and charming smile step forward; âName's Darius, and I plan to prove to these people it's a myth, me an me wife, a soldier in her own right will get married here, right under this tree tomorrow! Then i'll claim the reward...â

 

Miyu finally said something again; "I don't think that's such a good idea. The tree might not be the cause, but something else is... Please postpone the marriage. For the good of your fiancée"

 

She looked quite worried and felt annoyed that she did not yet know what exactly caused all of this. But she did found it suspicious that one Hyur would go through with the marriage anyway, almost as he wanted to happen...