Bastian Fan-Boards

"May as well. if we wind up coming across Synthorn along the way, we'll ask around." And so, Ella went off.

The girls eventually found the path to Esylum. As they ventured in deeper, the tunnel became warmer and warmer, drying them off. Eventually, they entered...two towns, split down the middle. The sign reads <Esylum| |Synthorn>

On the left was a town with gothic structure, a place that vampires would not feel out of place with tall stone arches and overgrown vines. The girls can see that the Hornkins are dressed in Victorian dresses and suits.

On the right is another town, but this one seems to have steaming pipes and wires to supply a multitude of neon signs and moving parts. The girls can see that the Hornkins here are not wearing masks and are more dressed in stylish leather.

"You did say Elysium, April," Ella said. "And we got it. Let's head over there first, then backtrack to Synthorn, shall we?"

((Esylum, Ella..!))

"if we can" April hummed taking a peak at Synthorn before heading over to Elsylum

(06-22-2023, 07:54 AM)bond56 Wrote: [ -> ]"if we can" April hummed taking a peak at Synthorn before heading over to Elsylum

"Hey Hannah," Ella said, "If I may ask, we've been through a lot in this mountain so far. How does it all feel..?"

Esylum felt like an old town, which takes pride in its hand-crafted heritage. Aside from wooden puppet shows and potions of mystical origins, some of the Hornkin chat over tea...

"Another part of Esylum was sold off to that Synthorn Initiative. I swear, those neophytes have no respect for tradition."

"Indeed. But with the integrity of this mountain already at its limits, they're using the new source of energy as an excuse to take this town over."

"I do not like it. If they do not preserve the rituals and history of the Hornkin, then what can we call ourselves?"

"Hmm... They seem a little out of place chronologically..." Ella mumbled. "I wonder what year they think it is..." And so, Ella decided to use the easiest question to ask when trying to see what year it was. She picked a random Hornkin and shouted, "Hey, who is the current president of the United States?"

"... they live underground how would they know who the president is let alone what United States is." April shook her head, sighing as she chose to stay put and listen to the conversation, though upon hearing the familiar name of the other town, also sounding familiar to something Devonn mention when he bound her in the sack thing, she perked up, her curiosity getting the better of her she approached the hornkin having tea.

"so the two towns are competing? or at the very least Esylum is being taken over by Synthorn .... does that mean there will be two town captains here?" she asked curiously.

The Hornkin looked at Ella with disgust...before realizing she was a Human and not a Synthon neophyte. Then they looked at her with disgust before deciding that answering her question would make her less disgusting by pulsing her with soul magic. "When a human comes in and gets captured, any information extracted from them is distributed in a manifesto. Based on your memories...it has been 20 years since the last humans fell."

"As for the Town Captain, the current captaincy was granted to Lady Diamont...who founded Synthorn." The Hornkin explained to April. "By law, the Town Captain can appoint a co-captain after the initial selection, and so she selected Lady Elizabeth, who acts on behalf of Esylum."

"I wonder what our souls are?" April hummed watching the hornkins magic work, before shaking her head to get herself to focus. "can you point us to the Synthorn Initiative, then?"

"20 years? Really now?" Ella shook the feeling off before rubbing her head, saying, "Hmm, I should really get used to that."

"The Initiative would be in Synthorn." The Hornkin pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing.

"right, right sorry, then can you point out the section they are buying?" April suppressed a groan, wondering if she should have gone with Ella's idea and head straight to Synthorn.

"Of course it would," Ella replied. Ella thought it over and, knowing that these guys would not be very appreciative of anything related to Synthorn or the initiative. Therefore, she decided to ask the one question that she thinks would best satisfy these guys. "If it interests any of you guys, care to show us some of your culture?"

While it's not easy to determine where and when the next acquisition could be, the Hornkin speculates that the sellers tend to be young.

As for the culture, the girls can see that they are artisans of woodcraft and practitioners of Wiccan-like arts. This was topped into the night when the Hornkin gathered for a Soul Dance. As this sounds, this was like a ballroom dance without partners while their soul magic gathered into the sky and wove around each other. It could best be described as a dance of stars.

"Perhaps the best way we can get on their good side is to engage in their practices," Ella said. While the singing princess cutie normally isn't a practitioner of questionable arts, she felt that engaging in their practices may be the best way to get on their good side. Plus she may be able to get Elizabeth's attention by partaking in the Soul Dance. Of course a human trying out soul magic would be an oddity, but just the ability to do so might allow her to stand somewhat of a chance against the Queen when it comes time to deal with her. To Dawn, this would be no issue, but Ella is not exactly an OP teleporting wizard.

And so, Ella decided to walk around town, as if to see what to go for before the Soul Dance later on.

"thank you for answering our questions, I hope you have a good day and enjoy your tea" April thanks the two Hornkins, nodding appreciatively for all their help.

"it would be ideal to deal with one first, least we have to deal with them together, but there is also the possibility of alerting Diamont." she hummed as she followed Ella in exploring the town.

The Soul Dance already happened that night and due to how taxing the dance is, the next one would take place in a few days. Speaking of which, the girls found the Half-and-Half Inn, which hung a sign with a cow and cat but was conveniently located between the two towns.

Inside, the girls could see two hornkins with long black hair, one in a Victorian dress and the other without a mask, arguing politely at a table.

"With these new weapons, we can defeat any humans that get in our way, Liz."

"And it's only with our soul and magic that we can proudly claim our victory." The one in the Victorian dress sighed. "Can you at least preserve our heritage, Claire?"

"I'll build a museum."

Ella approached the two ladies and said... "Why not both?"

((Psst, Magitech is literally both magic and technology combined. See Final Fantasy VI..!))

The Hornkins aimed their hand and gun at Ella before realizing they would have attacked her at the same time, putting their weapons and magic away.

"I do not believe you have heard our argument." The Victorian Hornkin muttered. "When our ancestors were banished to this mountain, it was only by their soul magic that they were able to carve out living spaces for themselves and eventually for us."

"True, but soul magic doesn't help with getting out of this mountain, and it's gotten to the point that there's no more place to carve." The maskless Hornkin pointed out. "It's time that something different has to be done, and the new technology we're making will help break through the mountain."

"Yet you have not proven that." The Victorian Hornkin stood up. "We will finish this discussion another time. Let us hope there are no future...conflicts."

The maskless Hornkin shook her head as the fancy Hornkin left. "It's like talking to a brick wall..."