Into the Wastes

Preceded byNone

The barren region known as The Wastes, having lain dormant for decades, is stirring again... along with its monstrous inhabitants. Would you dare set foot within its borders to save your homeland?

## Plot

In the kingdom of Falcon's Reach, there exist four provinces: Fairhaven, Lucan, Braile, and Lynne, surrounded by a vast, dangerous, and barren region known as The Wastes. Although relationships between the provinces are strained, they have remained peaceful for a great many years, but trouble has begun to stir in The Wastes near the western border, and the capital city fears that it will only continue to spread unless it is somehow put to a stop.

You and several other of the best researchers, trackers, and soldiers the kingdom has to offer are being sent on a scouting mission to the west in order to find and/or eliminate the terrors that threaten your homeland before it is swallowed up by The Wastes. Whether you choose to cooperate with your traveling companions is up to you, but be warned: you will not last long on your own.

## Story

### Part One

In part one, our characters rode a train from their respective provinces to the capital city, Hydris, and met the other members of their group for the first time. In part two, they boarded another train that would take them to Eriston, a village in Lucan that was near a "danger zone" where monsters from the Wastes were attacking places thought to be a safe distance away from the borders. The train came to an abrupt stop before it reached Eriston when a pack of Hellhounds attacked, dragging Elijah, the youngest of the group, off into the Wastes. Another creature from the Wastes, Kyuketsuki, attacked Roderick, who underwent some sort of mysterious change after the creature drank his blood and then forced Roderick to drink his. The Kyuketsuki disappeared and the pack of Hellhounds was subdued by a hooded stranger, who promised the group that he had a camp nearby where they would be safe. Aaaaand that's when I went to bed! ^^

### Part Two

In part three, our group was separated, with Roderick left on the train and Asbel staying behind and refusing to follow the hooded stranger known as Lucas. The group decided to make their way to the nearest town in the hopes of warning them of the approaching danger, but by the time they made it there, the village was already being attacked by a trio of Rocs. (Rocs usually travel alone, so it was kind of a big deal.) Roderick and Asbel, meanwhile, made it to the village even before the group did, taking shelter in one of the many houses that had been abandoned when the villagers decided it would be a good idea to hide in a nearby warehouse. The group is attempting to draw off and/or kill the Rocs attacking the village, and so far, they're doing pretty well, but they're also getting the tar beaten out of them. And that's our story so far!

Also in part three, our group once again split up once the Rocs were killed, when Roderick was dragged into the warehouse by the Kyuketsuki Bastien Fen and Asbel intruded on their conversation, and Lucas was lured into the Wastes by a Siren song, sending most of the remaining group running after him. Two new characters were also introduced! One of them being Westley, a wandering outlaw who ran into our group hoping for a little adventure and action, and a mysterious circus man who appears to be hunting down Roderick's sire, Bastien Fen, in the hopes of capturing him. Roderick ran off by himself and is planning on staying at the village's inn and then confronting his sire, and the rest of the group is just trying to figure out where everyone is and hopefully find something to eat before they have to hit the road again.

### Part Four

In part four, Westley joined our characters' motley crew and followed them out of the village, Lucas found his bow, although it was somewhat damaged, and the group set up camp for the night. They plan on heading to Hydris to bring back their disturbing findings to the king, but their more immediate goal is honestly just not being eaten alive and/or dragged into the marshes kicking and screaming by ugly beasties.

In other news, our group decided to split up, with Westley, Roderick, Alice, Poppy, and Elspeth heading over to the Vision Circus in the hopes of shedding some light on their apparent ability to capture and tame creatures of the Wastes, while Lucas, Danny, Asbel, Kit, and Chase continued on towards Hydris. They plan to regroup at the small town of Carrington if all goes well, so let's keep our fingers crossed! Also, if I didn't mention your character specifically when I listed who was going where, it's because you haven't posted since they split up and I don't know who your character decided to go with. Once you let me know which half of the group they're in, I'll gladly add them to the list.

### Part Five

In what might be the most eventful part of the rp so far, our group investigating the circus ran into some trouble when Westley participated in a disappearing act onstage and ended up trapped in a room with Mr. Shrew, Roderick went backstage in attempts to track the both of them down, and our other group that headed straight to Carrington was forced to travel into the marshes. And GUESS WHO SHOWED UP? Elijah. He's alive, he's a time traveler, and apparently he's evil now. Way to kick me in the feelings, Jake. Thanks buddy. Lucas' injury is worsening, and he barely escaped the marshes with his life, trying to catch up to the pack of Hellhounds Elijah had sent after the rest of the group. They fought off the Hellhounds, when the last few of them were suddenly called off by what appeared to be a Shade, sending them running off into the desert and leaving our group confused and more than a little freaked out.

Lucas' half of the group continued to Carrington, and Lucas' injury has taken a turn for the worse. Chase has also mysteriously escaped the marshes and shown up riding a Nightmare with a Hellhound at his side, and he's looking very different all of a sudden. Westley's half of the group has managed to stay intact, and they're also heading to Carrington, having lost sight of Mr. Shrew.

### Part Six

In the sixth part, everyone finally reached Carrington, Lucas finally saw a doctor and seems to be doing much better, Chase showed up and asked to rejoin the group, and so far, they plan on spending the night in Carrington so everyone can get rested up and leaving for Hydris in the morning. Chase left for the Wastes, but sent his "pet" Hellhound to Lucas' window disguised as him and gave the group a pretty ominous warning, Lucas in particular.

The next morning, Poppy treated herself to a little alcohol and ended up overdoing things a bit, walking in on Bastien and Roderick makin' out along with Kit and Alice, both of whom she almost literally dragged into the room. Asbel is starting to experience brief yet rather disturbing hallucinations/visions, and Poppy passed out in Danny's arms just as the group was about to leave. They're now heading to Hydris, and should be there before dark as long as nothing catastrophic happens. Heheheh... Yeah. What are the chances of that?

### Part Seven

In part seven, our group finally made it to Hydris, although Westley decided not to go into the castle with the others. As for his reasons why, we're not exactly sure yet, but there have been hints that it has everything to do with his noble blood. It's also been discovered that Chase is actually the King's son, and he made it into the throne room and spoke with the King before the others even made it into the castle.

Our characters also got into a rather heated discussion with the King, whose only plan to protect his city against the Wastes was to evacuate all the provinces' population into Hydris and try to shut it out. After some persuasion, he eventually agreed to let our group do whatever they thought necessary, but gave them only one month's time to do it. Poppy also suggested that they crash a masked ball that the King was holding, and the others agreed, deciding it might make a pleasant change of pace before they all ended up fighting for their lives again.

### Part Eight

In part eight, our characters headed to the masked ball, and things certainly started off with a bang... Heheheh... Yeah, sorry. A Caravaner named Dimitry showed up and stopped an assassination attempt on Alice's life, but also caused quite a commotion in the process with that hand-cannon he's carrying. Chase and Hiram, a recently introduced character who seems to have a thing for the color green, drew their weapons on him and told him to put his gun away, but their interference only seemed to aggravate the misunderstanding more.

When Poppy and Alice drew their weapons, however, Dimitry put his gun away and the ball continued as normally as could be expected. We were also introduced to two other characters: Xavier, a very nervous doctor who has been to the Wastes and is currently searching for a cure for the Sleeping Sickness, and Poppy's sister, Piper.

A new character was introduced!~ Ryouki/Tsubaki Sato, a drag queen who was invited to the masquerade ball our other characters are currently attending. As of yet, he hasn't found anyone to dance with. \*wink wink\* ;] Also, guess who decided to show up and bug Lucas? Elijah. They headed outside to have a "friendly chat", as Elijah put it, and he claims to have information that Lucas would find valuable. Asbel also left the ballroom to confront Chase about the visions he's been having, and Xavier agreed to join the group!

In other news, Dimitry and Xavier finally caught sight of each other, and it didn't end very well for either party. Dimitry let the cat out of the bag, and Alice found out about what Xavier was forced to do to the Caravaners. Lucas and Hiram are talking, and Hiram revealed to him that he's managed to develop a sonic emitter small enough to be carried in the palm of one's hand.

Okay, I think we all saw this coming. Xavier has officially completely lost his sh\*\*. Not only that, he tried to kill Alice. Thanks to a malfunctioning pistol, though, she managed to turn the tables and pin him to a wall with her sword at his throat. Also, Tsubaki met up with Chase and is getting a little too close to him for Asbel's comfort, as much as he'd hate to admit it. Alice managed to knock Xavier senseless with the hilt of her blade, and the guards carried him off just as Lucas arrived. Alice may have had a teeeeensy little breakdown. She also might have kissed Lucas. And I'm pretty sure Poppy saw the whole thing. So much for keeping secrets! :D

As the night wound down, the King gave his speech and bade his guests goodnight, and he finally cut his bodyguard, Erick, loose and let him join the party. Roderick and Poppy had a little too much to drink, Chase and Asbel had another vision, Tsubaki gave Asbel some friendly advice regarding Chase, and Dimitry and Hiram seem to have buried the hatchet and are now getting along pretty nicely!

### Part Nine

In part nine... Danny decided not to leave with the group. This is what happens when I get attached to characters. \*sighs\* The night is still young, and the tables could always turn, but as things stand at the moment, it looks like the group has lost a member for now. ;\_;

Most of our characters woke up in an inn the night after the ball, and so far, it looks like Danny, Erick, Tsubaki, and Dimitry are the only ones who aren't hungover. Dimitry showed up at the inn where the group was staying and woke everyone up by bashing their doors in, Chase and Asbel's conditions seem to be gradually worsening, and those two are both dealing with extremely painful migraines at the moment. Dimitry informed everyone that he would be joining the group and acting as a guide through the Wastes, which Poppy was not happy about, and Hiram was also invited along for the ride by Lucas.

Also, Erick actually managed to land a date! He's currently in a cafe with Tsubaki, and remains completely oblivious to the fact that he is, in fact, male. What could POSSIBLY go wrong? :D The group plans on leaving after lunch to give everyone a chance to get over their hangovers as much as possible, and after that they'll be parting ways with Danny and heading out into the Wastes. In other news, Poppy and Dimitry bickered with each other for a while, and Poppy decided to head off on her own for a little quiet time.

Dimitry revealed that the source of his discomfort with Alice and Lucas' relationship was because of the fact that his own lover, Ara, was murdered by bandits just one year ago, and he didn't want Lucas and Alice to have to go through that same pain if something should happen to either of them. Asbel was also in considerable pain because of the strain his mental connection with the Shade was putting on him, and Chase tried to help by tapping into this connection and "switching places with him", but it was too much for Chase to handle for very long, and he eventually lost the connection.

Turns out, though, singing does wonders for dulling the magic of Shades, and Asbel is feeling much better now thanks to a little lullaby from Chase. Dimitry woke up, having experienced the worst vision/nightmare he's ever seen before, and has come to the conclusion that a creature of the Wastes known as a Banshee, one that hasn't been seen in hundreds of years but is feared by all Caravaners, has returned to the Wastes. Chase has also told Alice and Roderick about Asbel's condition, and they're currently unsure of whether Asbel, who is still asleep, will turn out to be a threat once his body is hijacked by the Shade.

Asbel woke up and Poppy, Lucas, Dimitry, and Hiram made their way back to the inn just after Chase took his leave. Poppy ran into Chase on his way out and threatened him, as she still doesn't trust him, and Chase is currently planning on watching the group from afar to avoid causing problems. Lucas explained the plan he thought up with Hiram's help, and that seems to be the one everyone has settled on. They plan to lure Elijah out by going into the Wastes, capturing him through whatever means necessary, and getting whatever info they can about his master out of him.

Dimitry also seems to know about Asbel's condition, but Lucas, Hiram, and Poppy are all still in the dark as far as we know. The group is just about to leave the inn, and Dimitry has just explained to the group that a species of Waste monsters known as "Banshees" have returned, and has also managed to start another argument with Poppy.

### Part Ten

In part ten, Lucas and Alice decided to leave Asbel behind for the good of the group, as he has now been deemed a threat. The Shade seems to have taken the reigns for now, and is currently talking with Chase. Roderick is heading back towards the group, and Lucas has just explained Asbel's situation to Hiram.

The group is now going to head the rest of the way towards the city walls on horseback, and they have been spotted by Erick and Tsubaki. Hiram is also going to have to ride with Roderick, it seems. What could possibly go wrong? >:] Chase and "Asbel" are going to follow the group from a distance, and Chase seems to have taken to calling Asbel (the Shade possessing him, to be more specific) Nowaki.

Chase and Nowaki have stopped at an inn, Erick and Tsubaki have officially joined the group, and Boraci is keeping an eye on them all from the trees nearby. He wants to prove himself useful to the group and persuade them to let him join, so he's signaling some of his buddies to stage an attack. It looks like he plans to save Poppy and present himself as a useful guide to the group. Elijah, it seems, has also found a use for Xavier, and it seems like he might actually break him out of prison. This will be especially bad news for Dimitry and Alice.

It has started snowing, and the group is still just within the city walls on their way out of Hydris. As they rode, Dimitry spotted a few traveling merchants and told Alice that they might have useful information, so the two of them rode just a little ways ahead of the group to ask them a few questions. Apparently, Caravaners in Lynne have been a little panicked due to rumors of Rocs flying in flocks of up to ten, and other monsters have begun to appear that hadn't been seen in years.

Chase and Nowaki, meanwhile, are still at the inn. Chase left for a while after a rather... "confusing" encounter with Nowaki, and sent Nitestone after the group in shadow form to keep tabs on them after catching sight of them from a distance. Nowaki fell asleep while he was away, and Chase just made it back to the inn. Chase fell asleep next to Nowaki, and then they both left the inn and got some horses to start after the group.

Boraci, meanwhile, sent some of his friends (a group of swamp bats) after the group to scare them senseless and herd them towards a Roc's nest. Boraci is flying ahead, most likely planning to step in at the last second and save the group. Dimitry jumped off of his horse and shot down several of the bats, snatching Hiram off of his horse and turning on the sonic emitter he was carrying. Alice noticed this and slowed down for the moment to keep an eye on them, but she and the other members of the group are currently fleeing on horseback.

Chase and Nowaki arrived as this happened, and they're staying fairly close to the group in case things get out of hand.

### Part Eleven

In part eleven, the swarm of swamp bats continued to herd the group until they reached a valley where the Rocs' next was located, and a huge flock of the giant birds descended upon the group as soon as they entered the area. Dimitry shot down quite a few of both the Rocs and the bats, but the rest of the swamp bats retreated as soon as they saw the Rocs. Boraci scared the Rocs away with a screech, and approached the group in a cloak that hid his face, introducing himself and explaining that the swarm of swamp bats had been tracking him for some time.

In the commotion, someone was pulled from their horse (although we're not sure who as of yet) by a Roc, which Dimitry shot down in order to give the person a chance to flee or fight back. Dimitry also knocked Alice from her horse with his rifle, since he figured everyone would fight more easily without their panicking horses to worry about, and she's currently on her own two feet with her sword drawn.

Boraci revealed his face to the group and explained his position as a sort of ambassador from the Wastes, as well as his desire to join the group. After Dimitry explained the Caravaners' history and what an asset they would be to the mission, Poppy suggested that they seek them out. She also suggested that Mr. Shrew would be a valuable source of information and that they should try to get some info from him, to which Alice reluctantly agreed.

Chase has also inadvertently let out some of his "Waste Aura", which Nowaki, being right next to him, immediately sensed. Chase's eyes turned red and he's emanating dark energy, although none of the members of the group nearby seem to have noticed. The group recently left for Vision Circus, Chase and Nowaki following close behind, and Roderick seems to have noticed the dark aura Chase is giving off.

Alice, Roderick, and Poppy had a disagreement on whether or not the encounter with Mr. Shrew should be handled using violence, with Roderick bent on putting Mr. Shrew in his place, and things eventually got heated enough for Roderick to take things into his own hands. He rode ahead of the group and asked for Bastien's help in taking Mr. Shrew down, and Alice and the others have picked up speed in the hopes of catching up to him.

Nowaki, meanwhile, is debating approaching the group for fear of the possibility that they might harm Chase if they find out the two of them (or three, counting Asbel) had been following them the entire time. The group reached the circus and Poppy rode slightly ahead of the group, most likely because she was the least suspicious-looking of the bunch, and met Olivia, a performer in the circus. (We finally get to meet her, yay!)

The others followed, and Dimitry seems to be more than a little uncomfortable with all the wards and spells that have been cast to keep people out of the small caravans the circus is using to travel. Meanwhile, Xavier and Elijah, while traveling through the Wastes, have just been overtaken by banshees, and Xavier has already lost his sanity. No word on Elijah's condition just yet.

Nowaki and Chase are following, having decided to stay back until the group leaves the circus, since Nowaki is getting some pretty uncomfortable vibes from the entire circus in general. Also, we're working on an antagonist in the "Let's Do Some Brainstorming!" discussion and things are getting pretty interesting, so feel free to drop in and give your two cents. ;] Alright, so since Jacob came back and we now have our Lucas and Elijah, we can also move on with the plans the sorceress had for the two of them.

Alice and the others spoke to Mr. Shrew, and he eventually revealed that the reason the Wastes have awakened again is because of a sorcerer he claimed to know fairly well, although he admitted he couldn't imagine why "he" would go after Elijah specifically and bring him to his side. Refusing to answer any more questions himself, he told Olivia to join the group and slipped her some sort of object, the identity of which we're not quite sure yet. After Mr. Shrew left the cart, Alice and the others followed only to see Lucas unconscious on the ground just outside.

He had passed out shortly after speaking to an apparition of a woman who told him that he was vital to the mission's success, and that Elijah had the potential to destroy the world if he was not stopped. Chase went after Mr. Shrew and told Nowaki to stay behind, and he and Mr. Shrew are currently having a bit of a scuffle. Mr. Shrew his him pinned to the ground with his magic, and Nowaki/Asbel is preparing to make his entrance if the situation escalates any further.

Mr. Shrew finished his rather sobering conversation with Chase and left along with the circus, handing Olivia her luggage and leaving her with a group of armed strangers. (That would be our characters, by the way.) Hooray! Chase has also passed out after suffering a broken rib caused by the confrontation with Mr. Shrew, and Boraci had a momentary lapse of judgement that sent him after his blood.

Nowaki stepped in between them and caught a bit of Boraci's venom, but Boraci quickly backed down after Dimitry and Erick drew their weapons. Nowaki is trying to convince the others to let him and Chase join the group, and Dimitry seems fairly keen on this idea. Dimitry also gave Chase something that would help with the internal bleeding caused by his broken rib, although it's apparently going to cause some particularly painful side effects for the next few hours.

### Part Twelve

Alright, so in part twelve, the group is moving, Asbel, Chase, and Olivia are coming along for the ride, and Harley, I am SO SORRY that you missed Mr. Shrew. Seriously. Feel free to slap me when you get back. ;\_; Also, Boraci spit some anti-venom into Asbel/Nowaki's mouth, which -after he was done making faces at Boraci- he quite appreciated. He's feeling much better now. Erick doesn't really know what to think about the newcomers, especially Chase, and Lucas still seems very, very drained by his encounter with the ghostly woman back at the circus.

As for anyone who needs people's specific positions, since Roderick, Hiram, and Tsubaki's haven't been specified, keep in mind that there are two free horses available: Chase's, since he's being carried by Boraci, and Lucas's, since he's riding with Alice. Just thought I'd let you know. Olivia is riding with Poppy and Asbel is riding on his own. They all just left the circus, and they're heading further into the Wastes.

Soooo, Lucas fell asleep, then he woke up, then Chase had a dream about Selene, then he woke up, and then Boraci dumped his butt on the ground and he's riding with Nowaki now. Tabaraamon turned himself into a shadowy eagle, smaller than a Roc but still pretty friggin' big, and is a little ways ahead of the group's current position waiting for them to stumble across him.

Elijah's past self, meanwhile (as in the Elijah we first met at the train station - the one without the homicidal tendencies), woke up in the marshes with half his leg missing - a wound caused by the Hellhound attack in the first chapter. Apparently, he's completely unaware of how much time has passed, and to him, it's like he was just dragged into the marshes and then woke up alone.

Some strange presence healed his leg for him - or rather, reattached it, and he ran out of the marshes seeking help and found the group, and is now trying to wave them down. So, after a rather heated debate between the group on whether Elijah should be allowed back, Alice and Olivia convinced the others to let him come aboard on the condition that he be closely monitored and that they dump his butt back in the Wastes if he did anything suspicious.

Tabaraamon also made his appearance and seems to be getting along swimmingly with Dimitry, but he and Nowaki had a bit of an argument after Nowaki couldn't hold his tongue and made a snide remark, and in retaliation, Tabaraamon invaded Nowaki/Asbel's head and momentarily destroyed Nowaki's connection to Asbel, trapping the Shade in his body. In other words, as much as Nowaki hates to admit it, he's just about crapping his pants right now.

Elijah is still very confused, and Alice promised to answer any questions he had on the way and provide a better explanation once they were able to set up camp. Poppy is very irritated that her advice wasn't taken, and Lucas is still very suspicious of Elijah. The group was attacked by a group of ten Rocs sent out by a mysterious woman the group hasn't yet seen named Selene (Gee, I wonder who it could be!), and they seem to be handling themselves pretty well. In fact, I think the majority of the Rocs have already been either killed or grounded.

During the fight, Selene showed up and taunted Chase, activating some sort of dormant venom in the wound on his back caused by one of the Rocs. He passed out from the pain, but Selene also retreated shortly afterwards when she realized the fun was over. Not before knocking Alice to the ground and poking fun at her, though. Because why not? :D Dimitry decided to cook some of the Roc, and he, Alice, and Boraci carried some of it to a cluster of "blessed stones", as Dimitry put it, and it looks like that's where they'll be staying the night.

Chase is also awake, and he immediately noticed that Nowaki had abandoned Asbel for the moment and given him control of his own limbs again, which I'm sure he appreciated. It also seems that Selene has figured out where the real Nowaki is, so I'm thinking he might be in trouble sometime in the near future, and Poppy is having a conversation with Dimitry about his new shadowy friend, Tabaraamon.

### Part Thirteen

In the thirteenth chapter, Lucas took Alice aside and told her about his encounter with the ghostly woman who told him to kill Elijah and enchanted his sword with the power to do so, explaining that she told him that Elijah would end the world as they knew it if he wasn't destroyed, but Alice still has her heart set on leaving Elijah alive, even if he has to leave the group. Still, she has started having doubts, and she approached Poppy to ask her about it after talking to Lucas, who doesn't seem to be taking her stubbornness very well at all.

Boraci is off to the side with Dimitry, Chase, and Asbel, and he mentioned that he not only possesses venom that can harm people, but a different kind of hallucinogenic venom that can make people see their desires in the first person they happen to lay eyes on after the stuff takes effect.

He also plans to use it on Alice as a prank... I honestly can't see that ending well. Erick and Tsubaki had a little heart-to-heart chat, and Erick has made it fairly clear that he has finally caught on to Tsubaki's secret. Poppy is busy examining some samples from the Wastes under her microscope, and Nowaki is still somewhere farther into the Wastes on his own. Boraci followed through with his plan to drug Alice with his venom, and the mayhem has officially begun.

Tabaraamon was the first to fall victim to her flirting, but the drug hadn't quite taken full effect yet and things stayed fairly tame. And then he left, and the only person left nearby was Poppy. Yeah. Before things could get too out of hand between Poppy and Alice, Boraci grabbed Erick and dropped him in front of her, and she ended up kissing him. A lot. Chase interfered, leaving Erick very confused, and Asbel also stepped in. He revealed that Alice's behavior wasn't her fault, and Poppy quickly caught on.

Chase read Alice's mind and saw that she was hallucinating, but Dimitry also ended up getting kissed when Tabaraamon dropped him in front of her. He spat acid into her mouth, and the start it gave her seemed to jar her to her senses somewhat. So... she's kinda freaking out right now, and Asbel is in big trouble. After threatening Boraci for a moment but ultimately letting him off the hook, Alice left to talk about Elijah with Poppy, and Erick went back to Tsubaki to finish their conversation.

Roderick caught up with Mr. Shrew, but Bastien was nowhere to be found when he got there. Before he could get any answers, Mr. Shrew transported him to just outside the campsite in a bright flash of light, and Roderick looks pretty pissed. Nowaki, meanwhile, has been found by the group of Shades and Nightmares that Selene sent after him, and for the moment, he's trying to talk his way out of it.

Tabaraamon intercepted his connection with Asbel and entered his mind, the shock knocking Asbel senseless and causing his debilitating migraine to return, and offered to permanently remove him from his body so that he would become part of Asbel's consciousness and they would be able to freely switch places whenever they wished. Nowaki, understanding that this would likely be more than Asbel's mind could handle, declined. For now.

Chase also felt the shock of Tabaraamon's intrusion, and he's currently in a lot of pain, which Selene seems to find hilarious. Also, Elijah's arm caught fire. Yeah. It mysteriously started on his arm, but left no burn marks. Instead, there was a large, swirling tattoo that ran over almost his entire arm and up to his chest; he recognized it as a symbol for gods. Lucas, who heard the commotion and ran out of his tent to investigate, recognized the tattoo from the evil Elijah back in the marshes and pointed it out to Alice, telling her they needed to make a final decision.

Alice asked Lucas for a little more time and told him to have a talk with Elijah, since he was obviously confused, but before they could come to a definite conclusion, Olivia ran back to camp and told Poppy that the light from Mr. Shrew's spell had attracted some unwanted attention from Waste creatures nearby. The runes on the boulders around them would act as wards, but Alice didn't trust them to keep everyone safe, and rather than trying to wait the attack out in plain sight, she decided to get everyone ready to flee.

Dimitry also enchanted his dagger with blood magic, something forbidden and feared even among Caravaners, and Tabaraamon is afraid of what this might lead to. Dimitry, on the other hand, seems perfectly comfortable with it. It is meant to make his weapon more powerful, but the effects on Dimitry might be severe. He also told the group that he lied about the Caravan being twenty miles into the Wastes, and that they're now actually close enough to be signaled if Dimitry fires his flare gun.

### Part Fourteen

In part fourteen, the group is hightailing it away from the campsite, all except for Asbel and Chase, and Roderick has rejoined with the group. So far, they seem to be doing a good job of outrunning the Waste creatures. Dimitry fired his flare signal that brought the Caravaner airship to them, and everyone but Asbel, Chase, and Boraci made it up the ladder. Boraci, noticing the other two lagging behind, went back for them. The tip of one of his wings was burned by one of the airship's bullets in the process, but he managed to get both Asbel and Chase back to the airship before anyone was harmed further.

Chase's eyes have turned red and he's in a state of shock, having sensed that Nowaki is being captured by Selene's minions, and Nowaki is trying to get him to calm down, but Boraci and Asbel seem to be the only others who know what's causing him to act this way. Dimitry arranged for the group to be allowed to stay on the ship, and he says he'll go over the rules of the ship once they've been given their rooms so that none of them do anything to get themselves thrown overboard.

Aaaaand in today's news, Tsubaki kissed Erick (a lot), Chase came to his senses, Nowaki is officially screwed, and Dimitry led everyone to the quarters they would all share, a room full of hammocks with the girls sleeping on one side and the guys sleeping on the other. Elijah is having a little motion sickness, but he seems to have fallen asleep. Hiram is also very interested in the workings of the ship and its weaponry, and has been shadowing Dimitry to learn more about it. As everyone settled into their hammocks, Lucas left the room and motioned for Alice to follow, and when she did, he kissed her and gave her a hug. Daawww. ^u^

Tsubaki is also out of drag at the moment, and Erick is currently unarmed with his short swords underneath the hammock he's in, but Alice has kept her sword at her side just in case.

### Part Fifteen

In part fifteen, we're starting off the next morning, and everyone is still in the process of waking up. Dimitry plans to get clearance from the other Caravaners so that the group will be allowed to wander (somewhat) freely, but for now, they're locked in their room. The Caravaners brought them some food, water, and coffee, and Dimitry is still waiting to get them clearance. Elijah finally woke up, having had a disturbing nightmare about his future, and Lucas noticed how startled he was and drew his sword on him as soon as he got up.

Alice is trying to figure out what exactly is going on/get Lucas to put his word away, and the others are just enjoying the peace and quiet while it lasts. Roderick is craving blood, but hopefully he'll be able to hold out until they're able to leave the Caravan. A few guards led Dimitry, Lucas, and Alice to the overseer, Jessica, and questioned Lucas and Alice separately on why they shouldn't be considered a threat.

Dimitry explained to Lucas how Jessica's father was caught trying to take more than his share of gold when they found almost six tons of it in a cave, and how he executed him by impaling him on a spear. Dimitry led Lucas and Alice back to the others and told them it would be a maximum of thirty minutes before they found out how far cleared they all were. Nowaki, meanwhile is being escorted from his cell by a new character named Mitsune, a Karasu.

Jessica, the overseer, summoned Alice and Tabaraamon to see if they knew anything about what happened to change Dimitry a year ago, but so far, Alice is being somewhat tight-lipped about it, while Tabaraamon hasn't said a word. Asbel is talking to Boraci and explained what got him into his current situation with the Shade, Roderick has been giving Erick a little friendly advice, Tsubaki just completely "de-dragged", and Roderick loaned him a pair of his trousers to wear for the time being.

While Erick, Tsubaki, and Asbel were talking, Alice and Dimitry were discussing the group's level of clearance on the ship. Dimitry is currently showing them around the areas they're allowed to be in so that they know what is and isn't off limits. I'm thinking Hiram is going to like this. They're currently on the merchant deck.

Dimitry bought some medical supplies, since Poppy was worried about them not having enough, and he also headed to the off-limits part of the deck to get some advice on blood magic - more specifically, the enchantment on his knife. Jessica was also informed that a flock of Karasu were following them and opened fire on them.

### Part Sixteen

In part sixteen, Chase seems to be having trouble with a migraine, and Asbel has his suspicions on its cause that he'd rather not consider, and Selene has finally met with Nowaki, informing him that she has a little "favor" to ask of him. Chase's behavior raised the suspicions of Dimitry and Tabaraamon, along with the nearby Caravaner guards, and Tabaraamon currently has Chase by the throat. Asbel came close to drawing his knife on Dimitry, but Alice convinced him to back off before he did anything too stupid.

About twenty guards currently have the group in their sights, and Dimitry has threatened to have Tabaraamon destroy Chase's connection with Nowaki and Asbel. This is not going to end well... The ship has gone into a full-out battle with the Karasu, and the ship is about to go on lock-down. Dimitry realized this and led everyone back to the room, pistol whipping Chase, picking him up, and dropping him back in the room like a sack of potatoes.

Dimitry left the room when Poppy and Asbel told him off about the incident, and Alice and Poppy are currently trying to figure out what to do about Chase and Boraci, whose burn has reopened. Poppy checked Chase as best she could for any injuries aside from the obvious, and everything seems as normal as can be expected. Boraci is still doing his best to keep his emotions and craving for blood under control, but the effort is taking its toll on him.

Dimitry made his way to the bridge to speak with Jessica to find her mortally wounded, a piece of shrapnel embedded in her side. She lost consciousness and stopped breathing, and he used the blood magic in his knife to give her a blood transfusion of sorts, then used a sealant to close the wound after he removed the shrapnel. He's now doing his best to get her to start breathing again.

So, the group continued started a fight over the Caravaners, with Tabaraamon having lied about Dimitry's motives for saving Chase and helping the group, and Dimitry overheard and told them all to get off the ship if they couldn't deal with the Caravaners' ways and keep their mouths shut. Alice tried to convince everyone to stay, fearing everything would fall apart if they left, but eventually decided to go with them when that proved futile.

Elijah has also officially become evil again, and he has admitted to being the one who killed Lucas' parents. Apparently, he was actually after Lucas, but since he happened to be away at the time, his plan failed. Alice has told Elijah that he can either snap out of it and try to gain the group's trust back, or she and the others can finish him off then and there. Alice tried to convince Dimitry to come with the group, but he explained that, because of Jessica's injuries and the damage to the ship caused by the Karasu, he needed to stay. Aside from that, he didn't exactly feel welcome among the group.

He gave Alice a one-use flare gun to signal a Caravaner airship in case they run into trouble, assuring her that they would help the group if they could. Boraci, meanwhile, finally lost it. Unable to control his craving for blood any longer, he went after Asbel, who set off a smoke bomb in the hopes of disorienting Boraci long enough for him to make an escape. It didn't work, of course, and Boraci has already hit Asbel with a solid dose of venom and carried him off.

Olivia had an idea to snatch one of Poppy's opium darts and try to use it on Boraci, having already used one on Elijah in case he tried to use this opportunity to catch everyone off guard. Unfortunately, she hasn't had the chance yet, as she and the other members of the group lost sight of Boraci and Asbel when the smoke bomb went off. Boraci has now flown away with Asbel, heading towards a cliff with him, and Elijah went after Lucas. Alice heard the commotion and rushed back to help Lucas, and the two of them are now both trying to fight Elijah off.

Alice knows she can't kill Elijah on her own, so she's just trying to knock him off balance or injure him long enough to give Lucas a chance to use the enchanted sword. Olivia is still after Asbel, trying to come up with a plan to get him back, and Asbel is trying to convince Boraci to turn back because of his wing. He's also... not really in his right mind at the moment. The venom put him in a stupor, and he's having trouble keeping his thoughts straight.

Dimitry fired a shot from the ship aimed at Elijah's leg that hit him, but bounced off of him and hit Lucas' shoulder, badly wounding him. He tossed Alice the glowing sword, and she managed to drive it through Elijah's chest, effectively "killing" him. Roderick couldn't hold back his hunger any longer after this and went after Lucas, drinking from the wound in his shoulder for a few seconds before Tsubaki, Erick, and Alice managed to convince him to stop.

He then tried drinking from his own supply of blood to calm himself down, but it didn't seem to do any good. Tsubaki sounded like he was starting to offer to let Roderick drink his blood, but Erick cut him off. Then, just as he started to offer, he was cut off by Chase, who offered his own blood. Lucas is now conscious, and Hiram went to go find Poppy and get the medical supplies from her, planning to use the sealant to stop the bleeding in his shoulder.
Asbel, meanwhile, was bitten by Boraci after being taken to a cliff some ways away from the others. In a last ditch effort to bring Boraci to his senses, he drew a knife from his coat and managed to hit Boraci's arm. He snapped out of his frenzy, and as a result, went through something of a transformation. Drinking Asbel's blood allowed him to become more human, and as a result, Boraci is now indebted to him for the rest of his life, whether either of them likes it or not. Asbel asked him to take him back to the others, so we'll see how that works out.

### Part Seventeen

In part seventeen, Dimitry and the other Caravaners saw a black flare go off, something meant to signal that another caravan had actually managed to find their lost citadel, and they're currently pursuing it. Roderick drank some of Chase's blood, and that seems to have sated his hunger for now. He seems to have become a little envious of Tsubaki and Erick, though, now that Bastien has disappeared.

Chase noticed that he seemed unhappy and tried to figure out what was wrong, but Roderick assured him that he was just thinking. Selene told Nowaki to take over Asbel and wreak some havoc, so he waited until Boraci had flown Asbel back to the group and then tried to take him over again. Oddly enough, Asbel was able to fight him off. Nowaki told Selene he's going to keep trying, and if he can't do it by the end of the day, he'll be able to do it while Asbel is asleep without him even noticing.

Poppy and Hiram came back with the medical supplies, and Poppy suggested that they split it all evenly in case they get separated and someone gets injured. Olivia came back after losing sight of Boraci and Asbel, looking rather disheveled, and she seems to have figured out what happened to them already after seeing them. Poppy told Boraci and Asbel that they need to explain what happened while they were gone, and Asbel is currently telling his side of the story. Soon after, Selene helped Nowaki to forcibly take over Asbel, so he's now holding the reigns, as it were.

He patched up Boraci's arm and wing with some sealant and bandages, and he's now trying to figure out exactly what he's going to do to the group to keep Selene from harming Chase. Speaking of Chase, he was worried about Roderick, so they decided to go for a walk, and something with Roderick seemed a little strange. Once they were alone, Chase tried to comfort Roderick, who, in return, kissed him. On the mouth. Apparently, that was also Chase's first kiss, so good for him!

We've officially found out that Roderick was not in control of his actions when he kissed Chase, though, and Roderick doesn't seem to have any idea who made him do it yet. Lucas is also all patched up now, and he's immensely relieved not to have to worry about Elijah anymore, especially since he found out that he was also responsible for his parents' deaths. Mr. Shrew seems to have made an appearance again as well, and is currently having a talk with Selene away from the group, wherever Selene actually is.

We've also learned that the reason Roderick was acting strange was because it was actually Bastien controlling Roderick, having stolen control of his body after his own was apparently destroyed. So now Roderick and Bastien are sharing the same body... That's going to be interesting. Also, Dimitry caught someone harassing Jessica and told him to back off, and when he refused, Dimitry stabbed him in the chest with his blood blade. He was seen using blood magic, which prompted the Caravaners to attempt to capture him.

Dimitry managed to escape, steal a small airship, bail out of said airship, and use a parachute to make a perfect landing in the Wastes right in front of the group. So... Dimitry's back! The group continued talking with one another. Nowaki is plotting in silence, Dimitry and Hiram had gone off on their own to discuss the group's plans and the citadel, and Erick, Tsubaki, and the former Bastien, now "Sayaka" (Roderick's real name that he's neglected until now) were talking.

It seems that the others in the group all overheard their conversation, and are now all aware that Bastien/Sayaka is in command of Roderick's body, at least for the time being. He seems to have lost all his memories as well, and aside from his rather "overly friendly" nature, he has been behaving himself.

### Part Eighteen

In chapter eighteen, Tabaraamon asked Dimitry what he had done with his blood blade, and when Dimitry told him how he had used it to safe Jessica's life, Tabaraamon seemed to come to some sort of revelation. He told Dimitry that he is a "blood born", and that although using his knife to drain the blood of his foes will make him stronger, he will soon become dependent on it. Even worse is the fact that because of the transfer of blood that took place between Dimitry and Jessica, she will too.

If Dimitry doesn't use the blade to absorb enough blood, they'll both die. Just after that, he mentioned some sort of ritual taking place, and gashes and cuts began to appear all over Dimitry's body all of them leaking black blood. Tabaraamon has assured the others that he'll be okay, but he's obviously in a great deal of pain. Jessica, meanwhile, who had given Dimitry up for dead after seeing his airship explode and crash, has just been attacked, presumably by the same people performing the ritual Tabaraamon was referring to.

Dimitry had a vision that someone branded his chest with a symbol, and when he came to his senses, the brand had become a scar on his chest, already fully healed. Jessica, who seems to be otherwise unharmed, awoke with a similar mark on her collarbone. Dimitry's wounds disappeared, leaving only a pool of blood where he had fallen - his clothes don't even have blood on them. He did, however, lose all of his extra senses: his acid glands, his ability to communicate with sand worms, and his ability to sense energy.

The group continued talking, a tikbalang showed itself near the group, seemingly curious, and Olivia approached it. It seemed to take a liking to her, but Mr. Shrew contacted her and told her to stop playing around and get back to the others before she was left behind. She walked back to the group, and Chase made his way over to Sayaka, and seems to have fallen asleep on his shoulder. The group just started moving, and Olivia has a speech planned for when they decide to set up camp.

Alice went around and divided the medical supplies between the members of the group that needed it, and shortly after, they started moving again. For real this time. Shortly after that, they were attacked by sand worms, and the group is currently running for their lives towards the marshes, since sand worms are known to hate water.

Dimitry managed to take one down, but it doesn't look like any of the others are going to get the chance. Also, it seems the group has attracted the attention of another, less threatening inhabitant of the Wastes: a Grinning Ghost named Anya. She seems rather fascinated by the group, but is reluctant to approach them for fear of being sent away. Hiram, in an attempt to actually kill another of the sand worms, set off a pouch full of gunpowder by shooting it just as a worm charged at him, and basically blew it to pieces.

Dimitry had warned him not to, telling him that if he did, it would send an even more fearsome predator after them, but needless to say, he didn't listen. Sure enough, a three-hundred foot sand worm called a "quake" came after them and chased them into the marshes, and now they fear that if they leave, it will come straight after them. Nowaki and Dimitry also noticed some of the tint white spores that cause sleeping sickness scattered on the ground of the marsh, but both have elected to keep quiet about it.

Anya is still following the group from a safe distance, and Chase is now awake and walking on his own.

### Part Nineteen

In chapter nineteen, Chase noticed Anya when she got a little too close to the group, and she showed herself, but she still seems reluctant to come any closer to the group or let on that she was following them. Sayaka speaks Cryllic, luckily for the rest of the group, and is trying to figure out why she was following them. So far, though, all he's managed to get is her name. They talked for a while longer, and Alice asked Anya a few more questions. Anya mentioned that not only was she looking for a family, but for a "potential murder victim" named Jack Lidewij.

Before anyone could ask her to elaborate, a group of very large men led by a man named Audun attacked the group out of nowhere. Sort of. Apparently, they were just practicing. No one was hurt, but Anya was very upset by the interruption. Audun noticed Lucas's wounds and told him that he and the others in the group should come back to his camp, and everyone decided to follow him.

Dimitry was reluctant, and he's currently holding onto a grenade in case anyone tries anything, and Alice is trying to explain the urgency of their situation to Audun, and is also reluctant to follow him. Anya eventually gave up on trying to get the group's attention and left, but Tsubaki seems to have a feeling that she'll be back. Audun led the group to a lake with a small island in the center of it where they had set up camp. He led Lucas into his tent and gave him medicine for his shoulder, and told the rest of the group to just relax and maybe get to know the others in the camp a little better.

Alice, still more than a little wary of Audun and his men, told Erick to stay close to Audun's tent while he was treating Lucas's shoulder, and he's currently near the tent talking to Anya, who reappeared as the group was heading for the lake and followed them to the camp. Nowaki, Poppy, and Boraci are all on their own, not talking to anyone, and Olivia seems to have disappeared. Ryouki, Sayaka, Alice, and Hiram are around a campfire with some of Audun's men, and have introduced themselves to a man named Bronor, who seems pretty trustworthy.

Audun finished treating Lucas and brought him back out to the others by the campfire, and Alice explained to him the group's reason for being out in the Wastes as well as their recent lead. Olivia also came back, but it seems something... strange happened while she was away from the group. She wasn't quite acting like herself, but when she got back to the group, she seemed to be acting perfectly normal.

Just as Audun explained to Alice that he and his men had come to help Falcon's Reach - more specifically, her group, Selene sent a pack of mutated Hellhounds after the group. They're larger than normal Hellhounds, and seem quite a bit more intelligent as well. They surrounded the island, but Audun's eighty men are doing an excellent job of fighting them off so far. The sirens have begun to sing, successfully luring a few of Audun's men into the water to drown. Lucas forgot to plug his ears with the wax Audun handed out, and Audun had to tie him to a tree to keep him from being lured into the water as well.

Anya, it turns out, is extremely sensitive to the sirens' songs, and they seem to be causing her intense pain. She started screaming, the songs harming her to the point where her ears actually bled, and the resonance seemed to drive the nearby Hellhounds back. Alice and most of the other group members have retreated to a spot between the camp and the battle between Audun's men and the Hellhounds, and Alice's plan is to hold their ground and defend the camp if the line breaks, hoping that the Hellhounds will either be defeated or will retreat before that happens.

Hiram spotted something much larger than a siren moving under the surface of the water, and just as he was able to warn the group about it, the kraken reared its ugly head, grabbing anything and anyone within reach. It took four of Audun's men, but everyone else has started to retreat to a cave Dimitry spotted earlier. Upon entering, he saw that the inside walls were covered with ancient Caravaner runes.

Everyone made it into the cave unharmed, and Dimitry used some charges to blast the door to the tunnel open, as it seemed to have been permanently sealed shut. They're about to head further into the tunnel.

### Part Twenty

In chapter twenty, the group headed deeper into the tunnel, and Dimitry disarmed the first trap they encountered: a tripwire that sent two giant ax blades down from the ceiling. Tabaraamon pointed out that the tunnel was used as an escape route built before "the fall", and will most likely lead into the Sea of the Lost and into an old fortress.

Sayaka is getting thirsty, and probably has about three hours at most until he can't control himself anymore, and Dimitry seems to have reached the same predicament. The voice in his head is trying to talk him into draining someone during the night once they set up camp and blaming it on Sayaka/Roderick or Boraci.

Chase is also very unsettled by the tunnel itself, and Nowaki is trying to keep him calm. As they walked through the tunnel, Nowaki also ran into a bit of a problem. He's spent too long in Asbel's body, and the side effects are starting to become more apparent. His nose started bleeding, and Asbel is beginning to speak with him less and less. Boraci is also considering confronting Nowaki about his plans to betray the group, since he seems to have similar plans of his own.

The group continued until they reached a room with a cage in the center, the inside of which was filled with inward-facing spikes, and Dimitry suggested that they set up camp there for the time being and do a bit of planning before they continue forward. Tabaraamon also found Shadowed One remains in the cage in the center of the room, and GUESS WHO SHOWED UP.

Yes, it's that Indiana Jones cameo we were talking about in the OoC chat! And since it's so close to Halloween and we have a sick sense of humor here at the Into the Wastes RP, we decided to make him a skeleton! Huzzah! So, we talked to Rick for a while, and Alice informed him that the way out of the tunnels is nearby, and has recently been unblocked, which seemed to make him very happy. Dimitry passed out some jerky and cheese to the group, since a lot of them didn't get to eat anything back at the camp.

Sayaka was getting hungry, so Alice volunteered to give some of her blood, and when Lucas found out, he was not happy. Audun just mentioned a new threat to watch out for as well, and it seems the group might not be able to stay in the room for a rest after all. The Mare, as Dimitry put it, is basically like a banshee that attacks you while you're sleeping and can't be fought off - while one is awake, that is. The Mare lives in the dream world, and can only cross over when someone falls asleep by intruding into their dreams.

By doing this, she is able to cause night terrors, extremely realistic hallucinations of the person's greatest fears and worst memories, and finally consume their life force while they are weakened by terror, killing the victim. Since she cannot be seen or heard, the only way to tell if she is close is by one sign: when she is near, people around her will start to become drowsy. It will become progressively harder and harder to keep them awake. Bronor has already fallen asleep, and Lucas is starting to become sleepy as well.

Hiram is suggesting that they leave the room as soon as possible so that no one else is killed, and it seems that Bronor is already beyond saving. Audun informed the group that once someone has already fallen under a Mare's power, they can't be woken up. Dimitry had the idea that he could somehow use the blood magic in his knife to actually consume the Mare, but in doing so, he would also kill Bronor.

Seeing no other choice, Dimitry drained Bronor with his blood blade to spare him the horrors of being attacked by a Mare. In doing so, he also sated the blade's hunger for blood for the moment. Lucas and Alice made up and have come to an understanding, and Nowaki and Chase were talking about their pasts to keep each other awake. Tabaraamon heard Nowaki mention the Sea of the Lost, and how it was practically made for Shades, and decided to join in the conversation as well.

Tabaraamon and Nowaki were talking about the underground cities of Shades scattered around the Sea of the Lost, when one of Audun's men, Lourin, suddenly began to act strangely. He approached Audun and told him he could "feel something inside of him" before his eyes became clouded with a smoky blackness and he collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. When he stilled and opened his eyes again, they were completely pitch-black, and he had been possessed by a Mare.

It has now started to assault the group with visions of their worst fears one by one, starting with Dimitry, who fired two shots at two of the group members when he mistook them for Ara and Natasha. One went straight through Tabaraamon and into the tunnel the way the group came, and the other flew just over Alice's head, ricocheting off of the stone behind her and hitting Dimitry in the lower leg. Alice started applying sealant to his leg, but when she saw the Lourin fix its sights on Erick, her focus completely broke. Dimitry is still hallucinating, having momentarily passed out, and is trying to sit up.

Erick is now hallucinating as well, the faces of the group replaced by those of his dead family and friends, and has fallen to his knees and gone completely silent in shock. Audun, Lucas, and Alice are all trying to think of some way to stop the Mare, but Audun said that he had never seen this happen before, and he doesn't know what to do.

### Part Twenty-First

In the twenty-first chapter, Anya approached Erick and asked if he was alright, and he seems to have come to his senses. The situation with the Mare, however, has gotten much worse. Chase tried to reason with her, and the Mare momentarily possessed him, but then caught sight of Lucas and took him over instead. He fell unconscious, and Nowaki asked Alice to let him follow through with his original plan: defeat the Mare from within Lucas's mind. Alice reluctantly agreed, and during that time, the Mare somehow made the room pitch dark, and all light sources like flares couldn't get rid of the darkness; no one could see their hands in front of their faces. Nowaki confronted the Mare, trying to negotiate for Lucas's life, but the Mare couldn't be reasoned with.

Nowaki fought the Mare, revealing his true form to her and Lucas in the process, and quickly gained the upper hand. She scratched his eyes, which were made of a glass-like substance that actually couldbe damaged, and due to the nature of the space they were in and the fact that they weren't in their physical forms, it caused Nowaki extreme pain. He threw the Mare to the ground, and using Asbel's dagger, he ended her life. Lucas awoke, screaming at the top of his lungs, with the Mare's agony embedded in his mind, and had to endure it for more than half an hour before it finally passed. Nowaki is unharmed, but still feels the injury to his eyes inflicted by the Mare. Now that the Mare is dead, the room is brighter again and her presence has gone, and Lucas has once again fallen unconscious.

The group has decided to stay where they are for now to let everyone get some rest. Sayaka also noticed Rick's sudden disappearance, and after a bit of searching, they saw that he had been killed by the Mare without them even noticing, which took quite an emotional toll on Anya. After an extremely trying day, the group is settling down for the night, with Audun and his men keeping watch.

The group has woken up, and Olivia gave her long-awaited speech, pointing out the fatal flaws in Alice's leadership as well as the group's general lack of cooperation. As the group moved on, each person was asked to introduce themselves. When Sayaka and Poppy started bickering over Sayaka's attack on the train at the start of the survey mission, Dimitry's patience wore down and he snapped at them, telling them to stop talking to people who irritated them so they wouldn't end up fighting all the time.

Tabaraamon also threatened to put a sword through the next person who complained, and he and Dimitry both got a severe scolding from Alice for that after the latter retaliated. Tabaraamon then disappeared, and Erick decided to have a bit of a heart-to-heart with Dimitry and give him some friendly advice. They chatted for a while, we found out that Ryouki and Bastien were briefly in a relationship together, and Anya and Olivia are now having a chat as well. Nowaki allowed Asbel to take over for a while while they were doing introductions so his cover wouldn't be blown, and Asbel seems happy to be able to interact with the others again.

### Part Twenty-Two

In part 22, the group talked some more for a while before running into yet another trap. Fun times! Shortly after Alice noticed rows of grooves in the floor running from wall to wall as far down the tunnel as she could see, a rumbling and scraping sound overhead alerted the group to danger just before a thick wall fell from the ceiling and nearly crushed Asbel, fitting neatly into a groove in the floor he had been standing on. The group ran and Chase was injured by something in the floor that sprayed his eyes and seemed to burn them, but Asbel made sure he made it out of the trap otherwise unscathed. Lucas, on the other hand, wasn't as fortunate. As he was running, the leftover impression of the Mare's death in his mind caused him so much pain that he could no longer run, and a falling wall separated him from the rest of the group.

Alice tried to go back for him, but Erick convinced her to stay with the others for now so they could find a way to free Lucas once they were somewhere safe. Ryouki was injured by a shard of falling rock as it hit his shoulder, and Erick put some sealant on the wound once they were both to safety, but he's still in pain. Asbel and Chase barely escaped the falling walls, but they both made it out in one piece. The section of tunnel they're in now overlooks a far-away glade that gives off a strange, pleasant aroma. (see Lotus Eaters in the Info discussion http://figment.com/groups/18238-Into-The-Wastes-RP/discussions/92084?page=5 )

Some of Audun's men made it through, but Audun is still nowhere to be seen, along with Poppy and Olivia. Shortly after, the group was faced with another problem: an eerie, groaning, guttural voice from somewhere in the distance asking "Wheeeere's the Blaaaaasmiiiiith?!" And I was laughing my ass off the entire time. Harley, you are a freaking genius. For those of you who need a bit of context, here you go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsJO-ZSqcjw Have fun with that. Sayaka told everyone to be as silent as possible, and to move towards the glade as quickly and quietly as possible. The group moved to the glade, escaping the wrath of the extremely loud and Markiplier-y ghost, where Anya met one of the Lotus Eaters in the form of an old friend of hers named Petra, who she used to have feelings for.

Petra made quite a first impression on the group by kissing Anya seconds after seeing her without a word of explanation, and then offered to lead the group to safety so that they could rest. Alice, not wanting to leave Audun, Lucas, Poppy, and Olivia behind, initially refused, more than a little suspicious. She wanted the group to stay behind and find a way to free them, but Sayaka offered to go instead after telling Alice that this was the only way to move forward, but warning her not to "eat the flowers." He left to find the others, and we haven't heard from him since. As for Poppy, she used some chemicals and special bullets in her gun to blast her way through the walls that trapped her, finding a terrified Olivia along the way. Lucas escaped through a trap door he accidentally found in the floor of the section of tunnel he had been trapped in.

When he fell through, he found that it dropped him into a sparkling pool of water in a cave under the tunnel. Poppy and Olivia made it to this trap door, and Poppy lowered Olivia down on a rope to get a better look at the cavern below. She spotted Lucas just as he was dragged under the water by some sort of monster, and Audun, who had also gotten trapped/lost, arrived just in the nick of time to dive in and save him. Just then, Audun spotted hundreds of giant spider-like creatures coming from the cracks in the ceiling of the cavern, moving towards the trap door, and Poppy and Olivia were forced to jump into the water to escape them.

The Fair Folk where the rest of the group is have been very hospitable, and Petra led them to their quarters where they can rest, tend to Ryouki and Chase's injuries, and hopefully wait for Sayaka and the others to get back. Since the Fair Folk can take the form of a person's desires, not only is Anya seeing Petra, but Erick noticed some familiar faces from Lynne as well. Once everyone was settled in, Petra left with Anya and Erick asked to help take care of Ryouki's injured shoulder, only to discover that the wound had completely healed. A little boy calling himself Uriel then introduced himself and explained to them that the atmosphere of the glade has healing properties, as well as the food and water.

The lotus flowers, however, were said to be even more powerful. According to Uriel, eating one of the lotus flowers would grant one immortality. Hiram is still very wary of the Fair folk, and Alice isn't quite sure what to think of them. Asbel overheard Uriel talking to Erick and Ryouki and thought that maybe Chase's sight would be healed by the glade, but before he had a chance to ask, a resident of the glade approached him and struck up a conversation. Asbel can't place his finger on the young man's name or identity, but he definitely seems to know him from somewhere.

Petra and Anya returned to call the group to dine with the Fair folk, and their leader, Oberon, introduced himself when they arrived there.

### Part Twenty-Three

Aaalright, so I'd firstly like to apologize for the lack of updates here. It would have made things much easier in the long run, but I totally let it get away from me. My bad! So, picking up from where we last left our heroes and being a little more to-the-point about it, since I've got half a year's worth of rp posts to sift through...

The group had to make a rather hasty escape from the glade when it was discovered that the fair folk intended to keep them there forever, and they fled back out into the tunnels with Oberon and his people in hot pursuit. The moment they left the glade, every wound that it had magically healed opened up again, putting Anya in an excruciating amount of pain due to past wounds suffered in life when she had cancer. The group found out that the fair folk are unable to leave the glade, so once they were able to escape, they decided to go back to look for the people they'd lost along the way. Reunited with everyone but Poppy and Olivia and not knowing how to get them back, the group moved on from the tunnels. They found themselves in a frigid, snowy climate with the walls of Rojya visible in the distance.

Before they left, Lucas revealed that, while trapped in the lower tunnels, he had seen someone who appeared to be some sort of powerful spirit or goddess, and she gave Lucas a star that could grant someone anything from their past that they might have misplaced or forgotten. The group passed it around, asking for armor, supplies, etc., while Anya made a wish she chose not to divulge to the group. Bastien never got a chance to use it, as the star's light was too much for him to handle. While the group was busy preparing to leave, still passing the star around, he left for the walls of Rojya, meaning to find a body of his own so that Roderick wouldn't end up disappearing. He chose a guard named Klaus, and he's still residing in that body.

He made his way back to the group and they met halfway, outside the tunnels. Meanwhile, Selene was using her own secret weapon to slow the group's progress: the queen/czarina of Rojya, Genya Andreyevich who possessed power over ice and snow. She had agreed to help Selene in exchange for the guaranteed safety of her kingdom. She was treated as a prisoner, locked away and forced to summon a blizzard to slow the group's progress. The protagonists pushed on, eventually settling down in a small cave and setting up camp. When the goddess had given Lucas the star, she had told him that if he didn't somehow return it to the heavens by that nightfall, he would be cursed. Shortly after they made camp, he decided to try to return it, as it was getting late, and Alice went with him.

They successfully returned the star and went back to camp, when their sleep was interrupted by the appearance of a monster: the Bakunawa. (I wasn't sure if it would be alright with you if we used this, and I'm so sorry if it wasn't. They were in the sea of the lost and we just weren't sure what to do. ^^') They fought and eventually beat it, but Lucas was knocked unconscious during the fight and Dimitry was buried in the sand and snow. He was eventually found and survived the ordeal with only seconds to spare, and he suffered a few broken ribs in the process.

The small cave had been completely destroyed in the attack from the Bakunawa, so the team was forced to keep moving. They kept walking, and as they did, Boraci and Nowaki had a bit of a mind-to-mind heart-to-heart, communicating by thought about their respective missions to betray the group. Boraci, experiencing more and more human emotions and even physically becoming slightly more human, was having second thoughts, while Nowaki still fully intended to carry out his side of the deal with Selene.

He summoned a pack of hellhounds to stand in their way, not attacking but forming a barrier to delay the group and snap at anyone who came too close. Just as this happened, a creature called the pesta appeared, along with her undead servants. Sometime during the beginning of the fight, Alice may also have accidentally shot Boraci in the shoulder. Maybe. I told you she was a terrible shot. XD

Pesta spirited Hiram away and left the others to deal with the undead and the hounds, who were now attacking after being provoked by the group. The undead creatures wounded the group by inflicting upon them wounds that they had inflicted upon people or creatures they had defeated sometime or another in the past, only having to touch them to do serious damage. In the mayhem of the attack, one of the undead creatures managed to behead and kill Roderick. Bastien/Klaus felt a sensation like his soul had been torn in two and saw that Roderick, his fledgling, had been killed, and not even Anya could calm him down.

Overtaken by the smell of blood soaking the entire area, with Audun, Dimitry, Boraci, Ryouki and Erick wounded and several of Audun's men dead, he went into a frenzy, going after Ryouki and Erick, who were closest to him. Nowaki, still controlling Asbel, stepped up once the fighting was over and offered his own blood to sate Klaus's hunger so that Erick, already struggling to stay on his feet, wouldn't have the chance to offer. Once the fight was over, almost everyone was wounded, though some more seriously than others, and Audun had lost many of his men. Nowaki, his job finally finished, left Asbel and returned his attention to his physical form still inside the citadel.

The group left Klaus, Anya, Asbel, and Chase behind to cremate Roderick and give him a proper burial, and afterwards, they caught up with the others. Shortly afterwards, they reached the city housing the Caravaners' citadel, now a battlefield split between minions of the Wastes and Caravaner airships. The group fought their way through the chaos, heading for the observatory, where they thought Selene might be hiding, and on their way there, they ran into Hiram, now possessed by some unknown and malevolent force. He began attacking Audun and Lucas, and when Alice tried to talk sense into him, the force controlling him revealed that Hiram was his enemy, and that for some reason, whenever he managed to kill Hiram, he would always come back somehow. He also said that the only way to kill Hiram for good was to get the person he loved most to carry out the murder, and that person was Alice.

Hiram managed to regain control of himself just long enough to give Alice hope that he might somehow be able to fight off the controlling force, but unfortunately, this didn't last. He shot Audun in the chest and Lucas in the leg before Alice finally subdued him, prying the guns from his hands and pleading with him to come to his senses, before Lucas pushed her aside and stabbed Hiram in the chest before passing out from blood loss. Dimitry, who only saw part of the the event from a distance and thought that Alice and Lucas had betrayed Hiram and Audun, put a gun to Lucas's head and a knife to Alice's throat before she was able to explain what had happened. Dimitry was genuinely sad to hear of Hiram's fate but pressed on all the same, and Audun was lucky enough to have survived the gunshot, still able to walk and fight on his own.

They made it away from the fighting and into the actual city, climbing up to the rooftops and continuing toward the observatory. Meanwhile, Nowaki had fled the citadel in search of the group, only meaning to keep an eye on them, when he found that Chase had left the group and made his way to the citadel. The two of them teamed up, when Selene's servants attacked them, putting a pair of shackles on Nowaki that turned him into a human and then kidnapping Chase. Nowaki, knowing he could do nothing to rescue Chase as a human, sought the group's help. He made it to the city and called for them, and Boraci heard him and flew to his position.

Nowaki explained himself and Boraci gave him a ride back to the others, where Asbel promptly lost his mind, pulled a knife, tackled Nowaki, and probably would have gouged his eyes out had Boraci not advised otherwise. Nowaki assured them that he knew where Selene was and would lead them to her in exchange for their help rescuing Chase, and they reluctantly obliged. He told them that Selene was actually hiding beneath the citadel and they retraced their steps heading for the citadel's entrance. They fought their way there, made it inside, then headed for the hidden entrance that would lead them to Selene. Meanwhile, Czarina Andreyevich's powers were running out, and the guards were growing impatient. She collapsed from exhaustion, and as one of the guards threatened to "take advantage" of her, Selene arrived to check up on things and caused them to stop in their tracks.

Shortly after she left, a team of Caravaners arrived and rescued the Czarina. The team met up with them as they made their way to the base of the citadel, and Dimitry persuaded them to leave four of their people with the group (Cima, Victor, Raytheon, and Marta). The czarina came along as well, hoping to aid the group as well as exact her revenge against Selene. After navigating their way through several traps and enemies, they found Chase, who had been mercilessly whipped and chained to a wall, and freed him. Selene sent some of her most powerful minions to stop the group, and during the fight, Dimitry sort of lost it. He gutted a monster and ripped out its heart, and after the battle was over, it came back to bite him when he slipped on the gore and ended up with a monster spike through his leg.

Cima, who very scarcely spoke but was revealed to be an old friend of Dimitry's, walked him outside to dress the wound. Nowaki managed to find a way to rid himself of the shackles during the fight, and once he was back to his old shade self, helped the group fight off the beasts. Lucas' condition was worsening and he seemed to have fallen ill, but he refused to tell anyone. Alice had placed him, Asbel, and Audun on guard duty outside the room while they saved Chase, but since Asbel had ended up joining the fight against her orders, Lucas was left alone with Audun.

He told him that the wound in his leg had become infected and that he had contracted an illness originating from the wastes itself, and that there was no cure. Alice, noticing Lucas' worsening state and Audun's rattled appearance, confronted Audun outside and demanded answers. He relayed the information, and Alice returned to the room and sat down next to Lucas, shocked and in denial. She asked Nowaki if he knew anything about the disease, and once he said no, she finally decided that the group needed to keep moving.

Nowaki offered to carry Chase and the group left, this time aiming to find Selene. Eventually, they did, once she finally came to meet them. Lucas' time was up, however; he collapsed and passed on shortly after Selene appeared. Selene had sent some of her minions after the group, beings of living shadow, and after Chase pointed out that they feared the light of the torches dotting the hall, Alice ordered everyone to chase the shadows behind the group and lay the torches down like a barrier to keep the shadows at bay. Right now, though, she's pretty lost, the czarina was sent into a rage by Selene's arrogance, and Dimitry has pretty much lost it.

He set one of the shadows on fire and laughed aloud at Lucas and Alice, remembering how he warned them about romantic entanglement in the Wastes, but after Erick confronted him about his reaction, he seemed to come back to his senses. The czarina has since calmed down, and Boraci has noticed a genuinely emotional reaction in him to Lucas' death.

Lucas met his father in the afterlife(?) who told him that he still had a place and a purpose in the world of the living and that he would have to return, but also that they would meet again someday. Meanwhile, back with the rest of the group, Lucas' body suddenly disappeared into particles, leaving not a trace he'd been there. Poppy and Danny were teleported mere feet from the group, presumably by Mr. Shrew, and after a brief explanation from Alice and a welcome from most of the others, they more or less adjusted to the situation and rejoined the group within the circle of torches. Danny is, understandably, pretty freaked out by this turn of events.

Dimitry is still struggling with the madness caused by the blood blade, but for the moment, he's keeping it together. He and the other Caravaners have stopped firing their guns at Selene, since it's obviously not doing any good, and Alice has ordered that everyone keep their distance from Selene until they have a better idea of what they're up against. She plans to wait until Selene makes a move and build a plan from there, trying to find some sort of weakness based on her response to their threats and attacks. She's been shooting a lot of nasty glares at Selene, but other than that, she and the others have kept their distance and stuck to defense rather than offense.

Poppy has tried her best to come up with a weakness of Selene's that they might be able to exploit, but so far, she hasn't had any luck. Nowaki has been trying ceaselessly to enter or at least influence Selene's mind, hoping to either briefly gain control of her or, at the very least, slow her reflexes. He has also been summoning countless hellhounds to their location to help them but few are even making it inside the citadel, and those that have haven't reached the group yet. Anya's rampage against the shadows seems finished for the moment after Klaus calmed her down, and Dimitry tossed Poppy his last stick of dynamite in the hopes she might be able to put it to good use.

The fight with Selene has begun. Her most prominent attack is a projectile and involves a black crystalline substance like solid shadow that, when the fragment comes into contact with someone's skin, takes hold like an infection and begins to grow in size until the offending shard is removed. Dimitry and the other Caravaners have been using firepower to chip away at Selene's defenses. Anya and the czarina have combined their respective abilities to create an icy Howl directed at Selene while Nowaki is continuing his attempts to slow Selene down by infiltrating her thoughts. She has, however, used her powers to basically nail him to the wall by his shoulder, and the fragment there is growing in size and spreading throughout his body despite Alice's attempts to free him by trying to break the crystal.

Boraci's wing was hit by a shard which is beginning to rapidly spread, and he has let loose a powerful shriek in an attempt to help the group. In the last, riskiest attack, Anya and the czarina are continuing their combined ice/Howl attack and Dimitry has called for the other Caravaners to hold their fire, allowing him to go after Selene with the cursed dagger, which may be the only thing that can kill her. Whether or not he will succeed has yet to be seen.

Boraci has been almost completely engulfed by crystal and Asbel's attempts to free him have proven completely futile, but after Nowaki tried to contact him mentally, Boraci regained focus when he heard part of his plea to try to move and came up with an idea that might free him. In a last ditch effort, he used his venom to try to burn through the crystal, which seems to slowly be wearing it down, but Boraci's consciousness is still hanging by a thread and he's very severely injured.

Dimitry has attacked Selene with the cursed dagger, broken her magic shield, and actually pierced her skin, though she's still trying to keep the dagger's powers at bay with her own. Dimitry has also been wounded by several shards of metal shrapnel that came from Alice's sword when Selene retaliated against her by using her magic to shatter the weapon's blade; a few pieces hit his upper body along with his arms and legs but his armor appears to have stopped them from hitting any organs. The pieces hit Dimitry, the wall behind Alice, and some pieces were embedded in the armor in Alice's arm. One piece of metal slashed her shoulder as it flew back, and Alice was thrown back against the wall by the force of the blast and briefly lost consciousness.

Danny saw this and ran over to her, and Poppy followed after him, but the halls began to shake, dropping rubble from the ceiling that nearly hit Poppy and made it hard to see, and she was attacked by one of the many Grinning Ghosts that began to swarm the group and knocked to the ground. She reached for her opium darts and tried to kick the creature away from her, and Alice came to her aid when she regained her senses and used what was left of her sword to stab the Ghost in the back. Meanwhile, Ryouki, Klaus, Anya, and Erick are all busy fighting off the Grinning Ghosts that have appeared around the group.

## Characters

* Elijah Ward
* Chase Frost
* Alice Beckett
* Erick Bailee
* Ryouki Sato
* Poppy Roque
* Dimitry Popov
* Lucas Oswald
* Hiram Wood
* Asbel Sutherlin
* Anya Bodrov
* Klaus Grisha
* Olivia
* Nowaki
* Boraci
* Tabaraamon
* Genya Andreyevich
* Jessica Stuart
* Mister Shrew
* Henry Cadden
* Roderick Kirigiri
* Xavier Howerdson
* Audun Sigurd
* Danor Arkaitz
* Cima
* Grigory
* Gaev
* Bronor
* Mitsune

## Trivia

* The original banner was taken from the movie *Howl's Moving Castle*, which featured Sophie's hat shop.
* The silhouette in the banner represents the main antagonist, Selene.