OPEN PLOT LOG ★ THE CULT [LEFT BEHIND]

[hellshaped]

[closed] INTO THE WOODS. At Ramir's request, Hellboy has accompanied her into the jungle, looking for clues as to this rising cult of Ryba. It's dangerous stuff, cults, particularly when those cults have a penchant for sacrificial mutilation: missing villagers can only spell disaster for the recruits themselves down the line, so it's best to nip this in the bud as quickly as possible. Hellboy is worried about the missing half of their team, but until the storm dies down, there seems to be no better way to pass the time than walking around in creepy jungles looking for possible cannibals. THE RESCUE. After Hellboy's warning and the necessary preparations, it's time to rescue King and Ramir -- and as many captured Nalawi as you can. The camp is by one of the largest estuaries on Pu'ulai, camouflaged by native flora and hidden in the shadow of the volcano Nalalona. The cultists have removed King and Ramir's magitek jewellery, but the tracking beacons are still active, making it easier to find them than without. The well-hidden camp is creepy, filled with ramshackle tents and poorly-made effigies. There's a pool in the middle of it all, filled with brackish, murky water. Ramir, King, and a small number of terrified-looking Nalawi are all bound, kept on the far side of the camp. The cultists are all dressed in hooded black robes, doe and stag alike. They are all without their Gifts, but that does nothing to temper their ferocity at intruders into their camp. Despite their diminutive size, they know the forests better than any ALASTAIR recruit, and are suited to blitz attacks on any would-be rescuers; they may pop out of the underbrush in small, seemingly endless waves. They also have sharp hooves and the stags' horns are dangerous, capable of goring anyone who doesn't get out of the way of a charge. The cult is surprisingly large, so it may take some time to defeat them all. Whether you want to spare them or destroy them is up to you -- but it's clear that the cult has no plans for mercy whatsoever. EXPLORATION. Now that the cultists have been dispatched (one way or another), the camp is free to explore. If any cultists are captured for questioning, they'll speak in gibberish and violently lash out at anyone who comes too close. The only thing they'll say that makes any sense is that Ryba is hungry -- Ryba the devouring one has eaten all the lesser gods in the world long ago, and now she needs more. All around the camp are various effigies (poorly crafted from dried kelp), shark's teeth, and other junk of the sea. There are tents scattered around that may be explored; they are filled with mundane paraphernalia such as books, combs, and other trinkets of sentimental value. If one didn't look at the horrors outside the tents, it might be confused for a refugee camp. The pool in the middle of the camp is filled with black water and disembodied Nalawi eyes, its concentrated magical energy more potent than even the water out in the ocean. There is a single doe in it, floating face down, the latest sacrifice before the cultists were interrupted; not dressed in their black robes, she is one of the missing villagers who was not so lucky. If she is turned over, it can be seen that her eyes have been gouged out. The surviving kidnapped villagers are badly shaken up but have no answers as to what happened other than they were captured by what they refer to as a "death cult." Apart from some slight hunger and dehydration, none of them are injured. They're just glad to be alive, and ask to be escorted back to the Pu'ulai temple.

Comments

mostly open

[kikoku]

[Rescue]
[Law may be a doctor, but he certainly doesn't look it, swinging around a a needlessly long sword that the Nalawi cultists are having a little trouble with him, but they are nothing in not insanely determined and aggressive. A group of them are ganging up on him, and he seems to be getting tired out pretty quickly. Maybe he could use a hand?]

[Exploration A]
[Once the immediate dangers have passed, Law's immediately sheathing his sword and going into Doctor Mode. If you look at all injured, you might have a frowing pirate jogging over to you, looking not at all in the mood to help anyone but;]

Stay still, let me look at your injuries.

[Exploration B- closed to Olivia]
[Most of the cultists have been taken care of, either dispatched or captured. A couple though, are still lying around alive but incapacitated. Law may ostensibly be on injury patrol, but when he comes across one, he's pulling out his sword.

It's a little uncomfortable how young the Nalawi in question looks. They seem pretty terrified too, both of the legs seem twisted at odd angles, at least from what can bee seen beneath the cloack, so all they can do is try to crawl away as Law looms above, preparing to stab.]

[winces]

S-Stop!

[ her shriek seems to come from nowhere. in fact, it's rather hard to tell where olivia herself had come from, or for how long she'd been there, but there she is, standing no more than ten feet away with a hand outstretched. she looks distressed, but understandably so given the scene she'd just been about to witness. she doesn't hesitate to stumble forward and drop down to her knees just beside the fallen cultist, one hand held out towards law, whom she's looking at as if he'd grown a second head. ]

What are you doing? Are you crazy?

[kikoku]

[It's so sudden, it actually gets Law to stop and turn his head to look at Olivia, though he doesn't move his sword from where it's raised above the frightened Nalawi's head.]

What does it look like? More than enough of the cultists have already been captured to get information out of. There's no need to keep the rest alive.
[All said in a tired tone that suggests he thinks Olivia is the one being unreasonable here.]

[winces]

[ there is a moment of pure silence in which olivia just stares at law, as if he'd said something absurd.

and then she is shaking her head, moving so that she is right between them both, arms still splayed out. ]

What kind of thinking is that? Look at him — he's just a child.

[kikoku]

[Law is giving Olivia the same exactly look right back when she steps in between him and the cultist.]

A child that was trying to kill us and the rest of their own people, Olivia-ya. Being a child isn't a free pass to commit atrocities.
[He does at least lower his sword, only so that he doesn't accidentally hurt Olivia. For now.]

[winces]

It's — terrible, what they've done, [ she agrees, slowly, quietly. she feels a bit of her resolve flounder under his sharp stare, his steady words, but she knows if she backs down now, she'll never forgive herself later. ]

But they're desperate. Their world is falling to ruin and they don't know why. And we can't blame children for the sins of their elders — all they know is what they've been told.

Please, just — put the sword away. Capture them, imprison them — anything but more death.

[kikoku]

[For a long, tense moment, Law does nothing but glare at Olivia, and it seems like he isn't going to back down. But then he sighs and sheathes his sword.]

Fine.
[He turns away, seemingly annoyed.]

I'm leaving it to you to round them up with the rest of the captured cultists, then.

[winces]

[ it's with a shallow release of breath that olivia wills herself to relax. she can tell that it might not be the wisest decision, but that doesn't mean it isn't the right decision.

slowly, carefully, she turns around to address the frightened nalawi, his doe-eyes wide and darting between them. cautiously she holds out a hand towards him, her lips pressed into a smile. ]

It's alright... We're not going to hurt you, I promise...

[ she is patient, and extremely still, as the young nalawi slowly begins to relax as well. however, just as he is about to reach for her hand, there comes a sudden sound from the nearby brushes and, spooked, the young nalawi reacts in the only way he knows how —

ramming his head suddenly, using the weapons nature has given him, jamming one of those sharp antlers right up against her side. olivia cries out in pain and surprise, but before she can offer any further words of comfort for the nalawi he takes off, scrambling for the woods. ]

[kikoku]

[God damnit, Olivia. Law immediately lurches forward to grab her by the shoulders to turn her around. You might expect an "I told you so," with his attitude a second ago but no, his sour face has an undercurrent of concern. He glances up around the clearing for a moment, before leading Olivia to a tree away from the dwindling action.]

Here, sit down. Focus on your breathing.
[His attention is already shifting to the wound to assess the damage. Dr. Trafalgar is on the fucking clock.]

[winces]

[ it hurt to even breathe, but she struggles to keep calm despite the amount of blood streaming out of her wound. she's got her hand pressed down into it, a feeble attempt to remember all that he and sieglinde had taught her — but the more she sucks in a shaky breath, the more her panic starts to mount.

her free hand has reached for him, clutching at the fabric of his jacket. ]

I-It wasn't his fault, [ she says between breaths, ] he got s-scared — it wasn't his fault—

Rescue

[perma_banned]

[Law wasn't alone in his endeavors. Ban, brushing soot from his shoulders, left the part of camp that had suddenly risen up in flame. He was sneering, throwing sharp, heavy kicks and punches into cultists that sent them skidding through the dirt and into things, knocking everything apart as if he were excavating. Ban looked as if he were moving with an incredible amount of grace despite the heaviness of his swings. He was overly flexible and poised despite his height and lazy posture.

Even so, he was sluggish compared to the norm.]

Hell, there's a lot of these clowns~! We may not wiiiin!

[kikoku]

[Law of course has no idea he's not at the top of his form. He's still doing a lot better than Law. He's pretty strong himself, of course, but his fighting style heavily involves the use of his devil fruit techniques, and he can barely use any of those at the moment.

So, given his base temperament, he's not really in the mood for Ban's attitude.]

Don't say stupid things like that. Didn't you tell me that you're immortal?
[As he swings his sword to lop a leg off of a cultist that was gunning for his head.]

[perma_banned]

What's that gotta do with winning or losing~?

[Another Nalawi came rushing at Law from the side. He must have seen how broad Law's swings could get and decided to change rushing at him where the swing was weakest.

Ban reached over with one hand and gestured to him. The Nalawi's spear vanished--leaving the cultist gaping in confusion as it realized it was unarmed. Well--he gaped as long as he could before the backswing of Law's sword caught him in the throat. Even if it wasn't the strongest part of the arc, the Nalawi had been made defenseless by Ban's magic. Ban had been carrying the stolen spear, pilfered by Snatch. Weakened as he was, Ban could still use it effectively enough against someone whose momentum put them at a disadvantage.]

'Surviving' isn't the condition for victory.

[Suffice to say--Ban was obviously not the type to fight honorably.]

[kikoku]

[Wow, look who's showing off. Law could do that too, if he wanted!!

No, seriously, not to be outdone, he's muttering to himself as he picks a stick up off the ground. And a moment later, that stick is another Nalawi spear, and a cultist is taking a swipe at Ban's other side with... A stick.]

See, that struck me as exactly what the condition for victory is in any fight. Please, enlighten me.
[He says with a heavy tone of sarcasm.]

[perma_banned]

[Ban leveled the cultist a stony gaze as he was struck with a stick. He noticed the spear had been swapped when Law used some sort of spell, but the conditions for the magic itself weren't entirely clear. He just switched their places. At a glance, that was all it was to him.

His hand swung aside in an open handed slap which sent the cultist across the camp and through a wall of a hut. Ban wasn't smiling as he usually did.]

There's no real explanation for it, but-- [He offered Law a shrug.]

How often d'ya survive a fight and feel like you've really won?

[kikoku]

[Switching their places is in fact all it was. Law grimaces, but it's unclear if it's because of the still attacking Nalawi or the answer Ban has given him. Probably it's both.]

I hadn't taken you for the deep thinking type. [Pausing to take out another cultist.] If I survive that means I can keep pursuing my goal. That seems victory enough.

[perma_banned]

I used to think like that.

[There was a gong-like sound as Ban hammered one of the cultist's head into a cold cooking pot. They went down like a sack of seeds and Ban stepped over to them to grab a poker from the cooled ashes beneath.

He spun it once along his fingers. Hard iron would do.]

Life gets boring as hell when all you do is survive, though. Don't you think I'd know that much?

Rescuueee

[sekimorinashi]

[ Honestly, Tsukuyo doesn't really know what she's doing. It's not a feeling she enjoys, because she's used to knowing what she's doing, to an extent. Now, aside from knowing they need to rescue people ... She doesn't know how to fight in a jungle, she doesn't what these occultists really are, and she has basically no idea about what's going on on these islands in the first place.

But people need rescuing. So here she is. And she tries her best to use the trees, but that only gets her so far when the deer know the jungle better.

At least a group of them gathering up on someone with a really long sword is quite visible. She crouches on a branch, takes a drag of her pipe, and then grabs some kunai and sends them raining down on the deer. ]

[kikoku]

[Law barely flinches at the unexpected attack, and after taking out one straggling cultist with his sword, he looks up at the trees, trying to find the source of the kunai.

You'd expect gratitude, but no, he's glowering. He's got the sort of face where that could easily be his resting expression, but given what he then says to the treetops in general;]

I could have handled them fine on my own.
[What a jerk.]

[sekimorinashi]

[ Oh, is he one of those.

She jumps down from the branch swiftly, and takes her pipe from between her lips, folding the other arm across her chest. Unfazed. He can be as annoyed as he likes. ]

I'm sure you coulda, but I was right there. Should I've just left ya?

[kikoku]

[If you mean difficult and unfriendly tsunderes, then yes, he is one of those.]

... You could have focused your efforts on other enemies not in my immediate vicinity. There's plenty of them running around.
[There honestly aren't, they've actually fallen into a lull with that group taken down.]

[sekimorinashi]

Oh, it was nothin', ya don't gotta go on about how grateful you are for my help. Don't stress.

[ Here's a cloud of smoke drifting straight for your face, Law. Why are men so ungrateful? ]

[kikoku]

[Law doesn't bother correcting her because he knows sarcasm when he hears it, as a seasoned practitioner of it himself. Instead he just glowers through the smoke, though even his Cool Guy Demeanor can't prevent him from coughing slightly in the face of it.]

Who even are you.
[Said flatly, like her presence is actively inconveniencing him.]

[sekimorinashi]

[ What a guy. ]

Tsukuyo. Pleased t'make yer acquaintance, Stuck-up-san.

[kikoku]

My name is Trafalgar Law. [Flatly, apparenlty not going to correct her verbal jab.]

You can go back to whatever you were doing up there.