A first time for everything [solo]

Vici entered on the edge of the shambles. Though she had not done as much research as she would have like to for the area, she at least knew that it was supposed to be a bit swampy and still home to a small variety of creatures. Not the wilderness she was used to but that wasn't going to be the end of the world for her. Taking out the map of the explorer who hired her, she started to make her way along the road to where she would need to trek into the mud of the almost forest.

It took her a little bit of time, but eventually she was able to make her way far enough into the woods where she couldn't easily make her way out before finally seeing the point where the explorer turned off the trail. It was a rather obvious place, likely a game trail for some medium-sized animal. It didn't appear as though it was a predator based off of its tracks. She gave some thought about whether or not she should go looking for the creature, but thought against it. She was here for a job and needed to prove to herself that she was worth her own corruption.

It wasn't the Scorpius that put her up to this. At least, not directly. She recalled back to the words that were spoken as she was contemplating how to best renounce her faith and join the ranks of the Eldritch.

"You'll need to make your way to an Eldritch port of call," Her recruiter always spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, something she enjoyed compared to the dodging way some of the gaiyans liked to speak. "I would recommend either Sinhaven or Deathrock Wharf. Personally, I'd suggest Sinhaven as you'll only be around other eldritch there." Vici nodded along, both then and now as the memory continued.

"Once there, register with the local branch of the adventurer's guild. You'll need to use them to make a decent living. Though the Rebel Scorpius can support you, we like our members to have some self-sufficiency." It all made sense to her then, and she was seeing why it was now. She didn't have the support of a family anymore, but that didn't matter, she was nearly to the spot she needed.

Coming across what seemed to be a clearing, she could see the fire pit where the explorer had set down for the night. Next to it was a tent that looked trampled as well as the rucksack that he had mentioned. Other than being knocked over though, it seemed completely undisturbed. Vici opened it to make sure some of the important things the explorer had listed were inside of it. With everything in that regards squared away, she closed it up, placed it inside the tent to ensure that it wasn't stolen, and then looked around for footprints. She had some zombies to hunt. Just before she did though, she heard a strange groaning and creaking sound. Whipping around, she thought that it may be what the explorer was afraid of. But she quickly realized it was only the movement of the treetops in the wind.

((Word Count: 532))

Once she had calmed down and internalized the meaning of the noise, she began to look around for tracks. Although the noise the explorer had mentioned was harmless, there had obviously been some disturbance of his campsite even after he had left. She quickly found the tracks of the explorer getting up and running away, but those weren't of any use to her. Eventually, she managed to find a pair of tracks trekking through the campsite. They seemed to both have a limp, and based on the indentations in the mud were somewhat slow walkers. Those must be the zombies she could kill.

Thankfully, a specific quantity of zombies wasn't given to her. He just asked for a few to be killed. She figure two that she had proof of walking through his campsite would be plenty. She began to follow the tracks deeper into the swampy woods. They seemed to slow down even more, and she picked up her pace. It shouldn't be long before she caught up to them.

It was about three hours later that she began to hear a groaning coming from ahead of her. That must be the zombies she was after. Thankfully, they walked so slowly she could catch up to them without burning too much time. Mudslinging her bow, she slowed her walk to make sure that it was just the two that she was tracking. As she did so, another memory returned to her, this time from Hoptus forest.

"You should always care for the creatures of the earth." A dryad, now faceless in her memory. "You never know what things they were doing before they came to be in their current state."

"But aren't some monsters inherently evil?" She had been an inquisitive soul back then, still learning about the world.

"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean to treat them unfairly either. Treat them with respect and they'll respect you back. However, you may still need to defend yourself."

Her memories flashed forward in time, through her archery lessons, the basics of self-defense for her. She had not been the best shot then, but swore to increase her power now. There wasn't going to be a lot of time though, she had two targets in front of her. These would potentially be the first time she would kill something. Not that she cared by now. The corruption she went through not only blackened her wings and gave her talons, but also blackened her heart. She no longer felt remorse for these zombies. They were creatures of evil and she was being told to defeat them. And so, she would make sure that they were defeated in their entirety.

Drawing back her bow as they came into sight, she took a quick stock of the situation. She was about 20 meters away from them. They hadn't spotted her, and she saw no tracks or other signs that would indicate that other zombies were around. She released her first arrow.

Slamming squarely into the back of the first zombie, they both turned to face her. Vici bit her lip, realizing that zombies weren't bound by the same rules as monsters and sentient races. They didn't rely on their hearts, even if she had managed to hit right where it should have been. Black blood oozed from her target as she drew back another arrow.

Her next shot whizzed through the air, this time catching the second zombie in the eye. Thanking her luck as it fell, she started to back away. The mud kept the zombie slow, so she was hoping to kite it as she continued to draw back arrows. They started flying past the zombie, one by one, none connecting in the one place where she needed to do so. But eventually, she stood her ground, realizing she had only two shots left in her quiver.

The zombie got closer, its growls bringing full bearing onto the Demonata before it. But, before it was in swiping range, Vici pulled back. She had to make this one count. Her hands were shaking, not wanting to commit to this act. The first felt like self defense, but now she could see the pain in the creature's eyes. For a moment, she could feel the blackness on her heart retreating. She steeled herself though, loosing her arrow, blackening her heart further, and finishing the zombie off with an arrow between the eyes.

((Word Count: 738))

Once the second zombie had dropped to the ground, Vici looked at it in horror, realizing what she had done. Sure these were evil creatures, but she had just gone against something she had sworn not to do. Sure, she had renounced that oath before she even made it to Sinhaven, before she had even left Ilyanor. But, it hit harder now that she had actually violated it. She was not just an eldritch in name, she had committed the act of an eldritch.

She didn't have the time to think on this though, as she wanted to make sure more zombies didn't come. Making her way back towards the explorer's camp, she took a look at the resources available here. She and brought some tinder for the other quest she would need, but wanted a few more resources. She found them in the fire pit. There was still some charcoal and some partially burnt firewood residing within it. Adding those to her own satchel, she grabbed the rucksack from the tent and began to make her way back to the path.

It wasn't long before she had made her way to the path, it was rather quick to retrace her footsteps. Of course though, it was starting to get later in the day. Even with her speed at tracking and movement in a wooded area like this, she knew it would be a close call if she was outside the forest before night fell. Her fate was sealed though as she noticed someone coming up the path. It was a boy, probably no older than 15, jogging his way up, trying to wave her down. She flagged  her pace to let the boy talk.

"Oh thank the lords I found you. I wasn't sure if anyone would be here. My master got our cart stuck in the mud. He doesn't want to step out for fear of getting dirty and sent me to find someone to help push the cart out. Would you please help us?"

Vici was initially skeptical of the boy, but figured it was in the same direction, so no harm in it. She nodded, much to the boy's excitement, and they started to make their way down the road once more. It was a couple more hours before she was able to see the cart just up the road. Sure enough, it was stuck in the mud, the horse tied to a tree and pawing restlessly with a man at the reins sitting with his arms crossed.

"Ah! Finally you find someone. Here I was thinking you had just run away from me entirely."

"N-no sir, I would never do that at all. I got you that help, just like you asked."

"Good, now why don't the two of you push." The man seemed to adjust his seating, almost pouting it seemed.

Rolling her eyes, Vici took a position at the back of the carriage as she waited for the boy to re-tether the horse. Once they were ready, she dug her feet in and began to lift and push the cart out of the mud. It didn't take too long, as it had barely been entrenched. And once it was securely back onto the solid road, Vici came up to the front. "I'd like you to submit this as a completed request to the adventurer's guild." Remembering the words she was told to speak to anyone she had helped along the way. Another recommendation from her recruiter. "You won't be charged for it, but a small fee will be paid to me and it gets more quests on my record. Thank you." Without taking the merchant's answer, she went and started making her own way down the road.

It wasn't too long before the cart passed her. Taking a quick glance, she could tell that the merchant wasn't terribly happy about the situation, but at least the boy looked at her with a little bit of pride. Perhaps he could grow up to be better than she was.

(Word Count: 674))

Vici didn't have too much time to think about another person's future. She needed to keep her eyes open for the last quest she was here for. It had been a little random in all honesty. She was in the market getting herself some food for the journey when an older woman with horns had asked if she could spare some time to listen. She began to tell a tale about a strange creature called wipsies, who would guide people either to their demise or their salvation, dependent on how good that person was.

Vici didn't really take much stock in the tale, but the woman seemed convinced so she listened. At the end of the tale, the crone thanked Vici for her time, telling her that she had looked a bit like her daughter who had left for the adventuring life. She also asked if Vici could find a wipsie, tell her if the stories were true or not. Requesting it be filed at the adventurer's guild, she accepted it as she was making her way out to where they supposedly lived anyways.

It wasn't long before she seemed to hear a faint chiming sound, almost as though they were wanting her to find them. She spotted a glow, just off the trail, and she started to track after them. She was careful to make sure that she was on the correct paths, and eventually ended up spotting it. It glowed a bright orange, flitting about in a circle. It seemed that this was almost a little shrine it had built for itself out of the few flowers that grew in these woods.

Taking out some of the charcoal, Vici set it in the center of the little ring the wipsie had made for itself. It quickly dived down onto it, devouring the charcoal happily. Looking up towards the fallen angel, it seemed expectant for more.

"There's plenty more, and I can keep feeding you if you wish to stay with me." Vici gave a smile as she placed another piece of charcoal down, this time outside of the ring. With it happily taking that one as well, she offered it a large stick. It grabbed it, and seemed to be slowly munching on that as well. Vici gestured for the wipsie to follow her, and it did, happy to go along with the person who fed her. Perhaps the training that she had with caring for the beasts of Hoptus forest wasn't so bad after all. And here she had feared she would be severing her connection to animals.

"Hmm, I think we should give you a name little wipsie, don't you think?" The creature seemed to chime back at the woman. "Well, what about Ceno." It bounced up and down happily, accepting the name. "Ceno it is then. Why don't we take you to your new home." With that, she made her way back to the path. It took her a bit of time to find it, but the wipsie seemed familiar with the swamp and helped with guiding the girl towards the path. Once on it, she was able to make her way to the edge before she realized she needed to camp. She could make her way back in the morning, for now though, she was going to rest with her new friend.

((Word Count: 558))

Thread Summary
Total Word Count: 2502
Vici Word Count: 2502

Quests
Declared: 4x Novice Quests
Word Count Required: 2000
Excess: 502
Rewards: 100 EXP, 40 REP, 2000 VG

Monsters
Killed: Zombie x2
Loot: None
Kill Bonus: 20 exp

Tamed: Wipsie

Vici's Total Rewards
EXP: 120
REP: 40 * 1.5 (Adventurer's Guild bonus) = 60
VG: 2000
Tames: Wipsie