Beliefs

[ShadowValentine]

Ren seems to change gender in that first paragraph not in italics. Is Ren a guy or a girl?

[Ngjoko]

Ren is a girl, but she didn't want to accept or was trying to hide that truth from the public, so she became he.

[Zerrif]

Ngjoko basically got it right. REn is in truth a girl named Mimiko, but she pretends to be a guy in the social world, and she took the moniker of "Ren" when travelling with Gerik and crew.

Sorry for the confusion. You'll see why she does so.

EDIT: I found the her and changed it accordingly, so the whole first paragraph should now refer to Ren as a guy

[ShadowValentine]

But they know she's a girl.

[Zerrif]

But the world doesn't.

[Zerrif]

(Had an hour before work)

---

Every step seemed to echo as the party made their way down the stone passageway, each sound making Gerik's hair seem to stand on end. As much as every inch of him wanted to protest with the group delving on further into the dungeon, they had just arrived, and he knew that he had to be strong in order for everyone else to be strong.

"Everything okay, Ren?" He asked, calling back-- the Archer had been bringing up the rear of the group. As he turned around he found that there was no one there, and halted Muarim with a hand on the Merchant's shoulder. "Wait! Where's Ren? Ren?"

"Shut up, idiot!" Bascht scolded, clapping a hand over the Acolyte's mouth. "She disappeared the moment we started going down the stairs. Listen, there's something--"

"Coming!" Muarim shouted, as the two casters looked down the stairs. In the darkness there was a form coming straight up at them, and in a confined area such as the staircase, they weren't going to be at much of an advantage. It was wreathed in a billowy, black smoke-- not letting them see exactly what it was, other than just a pair of glowing eyes.

There was a roar, and then a volley of wind sickles, causing the group to split up and hug the wall. The blades of wind tore through the stairs, cutting the stone up as if it were paper. "We're almost at the bottom, once we're down there we'll have room to deal with this thing!" Bascht shouted, starting to cast a spell.

"You want room, you got it!" Muarim said, kicking off of the wall with his cart in hand. Despite the closed space, he somehow found the speed to rev himself in a spiral, the cart whirling madly around with him. "Caaart Revolution~!"

Gerik darted past the Mage, still casting, and focused attention on the Merchant. "Blessing! Increase Agility!" He chanted, the Merchant giving him a quick wink over his shoulder as he continued to press whatever was in the cloud of darkness back. ?Where is Ren? The extra fire would be so useful right now...? He thought to himself, before throwing himself against the wall again, narrowly avoiding another barrage of wind blades.

"Fire Bolt!" Came Bascht's booming voice, as the Acolyte continued to stay pressed against the wall, out of the way. He could feel the heat of every magical bolt fly past him, his hair almost singing. The clouded form leapt away from the direct strike, the fire bolts hitting the ground and leaving it charred. The entire group saw their chance, pushing out of the stairwell, into a wide open area.

To say that Geffen Dungeon was eerie was probably a euphemism for the actual atmosphere. With his first step off of the stairs, Gerik felt himself be chilled to the very core. He couldn't explain it other than feeling an immense feeling of dread, or fright, and he had nearly been rendered immobile if it hadn't been for the Mage shoving him out of the way.

"Where is it?" Bascht snarled, angrily. The three of them fanned out slightly, looking in all directions.

"Where is... anything?" Gerik asked. He looked back at Bascht. Reports of Geffen Dungeon usually indicated that the place was littered with various undead, Nightmares, bats, Jakks, as well as other dangers-- but around them was seemingly empty. Nothing but the eerie feeling, the unusual purple haze, and themselves.

"You know what they say, where there's silence, there's danger." Bascht mumbled. "Don't let your guards down."

The three of them slowly crept away from the stairs, when there was a rather high pitched laugh from above. "There!" Muarim pointed, as the black clouded... thing had apparently moved on top of a crumbling wall. "Who the hel--"

"Don't bother. I already know." Bascht said, as he stepped forward. "Enough is enough, quit playing games, Ren."

Gerik gave the Mage a rather astounded look. "What?" He looked up at the figure in disbelief, when there was a strum of a lute. The notes were played out slowly, the melody just as eerie and unnerving as the area around them.

"Ever since the fight we had in Byalan, I've been wondering why a brother and sister who were apparently just so close would turn on each other like that. It was a good ruse-- but your brother was never aiming to kill-- because you were there. The minute you were out of the picture he was fighting with all his might, but once Muarim got you back with the group he hesitated. That was the first clue."

The notes began to pick up in a crescendo, the stream of music growing more and more dissonant. The wind around them began to pick up again, and suddenly there was a clap of a hand against the lute-- stopping all music.

"I have no need to explain anything to you. All you need to know now is that you're in the way, and it's finally time to kill you." The voice was unmistakably Ren's although there was a more sinister undertone to it.

"Ren, please--! At least expla--"

"SHUT UP!" Ren shouted, before she strummed out an extremely dissonant chord. The black smoke around her flew out as a large blast of wind emanated around her, and Gerik suddenly clasped his hands over his ears at the horrible pitch. "Stop calling me that, like we're friends! You wouldn't understand the things that my brother and I have had to do!"

The group slowly adjusted to the ringing in their ears, although Gerik noticed that the horrible noise and the cacophony of echoing in the dungeon were throwing him off balance. ?I've got to do something... Ren... I know you're in there, just listen to us!?

"Frost Diver!" Bascht chanted, as he sent spears of ice towards Ren. she leapt off the wall, arcing above the group. In mid air, almost like it were some sort of devilish dance, she twisted and suddenly let a small handful of arrows fly loose out of a hidden quiver.

"Arrow Vulcan!" She shouted, catching each and every arrow in the strings of her lute, before she flung them at the group at such a speed, it seemed to cut the air yet again. She landed on the ground behind them, the arrows raining in right from above.

"Pneuma!" Gerik shouted, reacting instantly. The arrows dissolved in the green cloud that he had created just in time above them, before he spun around on his heels to stare at Ren. She was dressed now much like the travelling performers he'd seen so often. He spied the quiver tucked neatly in behind her clothes, and the outline of her lute seemed to be made with metal. "Ren..."

"Don't call me that! My name is Mimiko Ito, of the DBF. And my mission is this: You have one last chance at redemption. Join us, or I'll be forced to end this here, and now." She raised her lute above her head like it were some sort of deadly, weighted cudgel.

"Oh... it's ending." Muarim said, obviously ticked off. He stepped in front of the casters and held his axe in a similar fashion. "I don't know who the hell you are anymore, or what this is all about-- but if there's one thing I hate, it's people deceiving me by earning my friendship. It ends, alright, but not for us!"

Gerik's eyes widened in horror-- this was like some horrible dream, some macabre nightmare. "Wait!" He cried out, but the Merchant and the apparently-now-a-Clown had already started rushing at each other. "WAIT!"

[Ngjoko]

Oh, man. She's evil! What a twist!

[ShadowValentine]

A female Clown. Thought she was a Succubus or something for a moment there...

Wind sickles, eh? Sounds like Esma or that Wind spell of Ninjas.

Hmm...

[Ngjoko]

She's extremely crappy with bows, but she's extremely talented with a lute or musical instrument. Turns out that her arrow vulcan was so strong that it tore through rocks as if it's paper.

Gee, her brother wasn't so great of a threat compared to her now that she's actually a clown in archer clothes.

[Zerrif]

Actually... she has a Gale Bow. ;o