Viola
*The journey from the lonesome village plagued by unusually aggressive flora has finished and they have made it to the source... The forest. Some say the intelligence that the vines are exhibiting are because of a villainous necromancer, some say it's because of a magical tree. No one is really sure why, that's why the party of 4 (maybe 5 if Frank is coming along) was sent to investigate.*

*The forest and by extension the village had always had trouble with the flora, but nothing to this degree. It's been making business hard, at some point the village may be forced to be abandoned.*
Dominique
Gabriel plodded along the trail into the forest with his companions. A wolf with a collar of blue feathers shadowed him the entire way there. "Is this the place?" He looks around, trying to see if he can spot any of the strange vines they were sent to investigate. He commands his wolf to stay alert as he himself starts to sniff the air out of habit. He isn't quite sure what the assassin vine itself would smell like, but he'd hoped he could smell if anything was off nearby.

`Gabriel cast Spirit Wolf for 15 Mana, leaving him with 125 Mana capped at the same amount. He also activates his Hunter's Nose perk.`
Arthur
*Katachan would glare about the forest with a bit of a odd glitter in her eyes while she kept her mace over a sling against her back.* "I believe so! But how could a place like this possibly have such problems? It seems so quiet." *The oriate examined some of the plants of the area on their way through and did consider that the situation did prove some danger to them. Regardless, they kept a bright mood while looking about the forest for any signs of what could be causing the issues there.*

"Hm, maybe I shouldn't be such an optimistic... Last time I did that I got sand tossed on me and that took such a terribly long time to get out of my armor and hair." *Her jackal like ears would lightly flicker at the thought of the last battle and it left a bitter taste in her mouth at that point. She would then turn her attention to her new comrades with a gleeful smile and waved toward them then lightly brush the wolf as it went by with her hand.*
Sabrina
*Hitoshi is skulking throughout the forest, loosely following the group as he acts as a potential ambusher. He won't utilise any of his spells **Just** Yet... Bit of a waste, that.

He scours the area around him with absolute paranoia. He was always taught by his old clan leader to assume the worst.*

**Hitoshi utilises Level 5 Blurry and Silent.**
Kanesha
*Mevis would be surprised by how many people were coming to investigate these vines. They must have been a bigger threat then he thought they were. He was still rather sulky about the last quest, but decided to maintain his mental health to move on past that and instead focus on the future. Mevis' next plan of action was to earn as much gold as possible by doing small quests like this to perhaps bail out Arthur's bounty. He would prep his arms and legs with air reinforcement and attempt to follow Hitoshi's lead by activating his weaker stealth skills*

``Air Reinforcement cast, 10 mana cap reduced 110/110 mana remaining.``
**Mevis utilises Level 2 Blurry and Silent**
William
Kohm shrugged as he overheard Katachan's musings. "Well, the sand is not as much of a problem as tripping over one of the buggers- as one who has been covered by sand more than the times I've tripped over an assassin vine, which fortunately was once in an oasis of all places, I can attest to that."

Having said his piece, he starting observing the surroundings intently as well. While he was not so keen in sense unlike some others in his party, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Viola
*The parties paranoia and observations do infact help with the locating of enemies. They note that there are rustling in the bushes and trees unlike those of normal critters such as rabbits or fox's. It should be assumed that these rustles are the result of the assassin's vines that the mayor has told you about. He also told you that they have learnt to hurl rocks fast enough to seriously injure people, but that shouldn't matter until you get deeper into the forest.*

**2 assassin's vines are located near Hitoshi and Mevis who are trailing slightly behind the others.**
**3 vines are near the main group, which are Kohm, Katachan, and Gabriel.**
Dominique
"I'm more worried they'd throw rocks at us out of nowhere, really." Gabriel's wolf's ears would perk at the rustling and it would let out a low growl. Gabriel would stop and cautiously reach for his dagger in case any of the vines decide to attack them. He hasn't trained with the crossbow enough to feel confident in using it against these creatures that, in his mind, basically look like a bunch of sentient vines. "Are we surrounded?" With his other hand, he would start tracing bright blue sigils in midair. A second wolf, this one wearing a collar of red feathers, would emerge once the magic circle was completed.

`Gabriel cast Spirit Wolf for 15 Mana, leaving him with 110 Mana capped at the same amount. He also activates his Blurry and Silent perk.`
Arthur
*Katachan would approach one of Gabriel's wolves that had peeked it's interest at the rustling of the bush. The oriate seemed rather protective of the summoning as she took out her mace and stood nearby to the beast to shield it if something were to happen.* "Who knows, but if we are I believe we can easily get through it." *She adjusted the mace a bit more and held it at a guard stance meant more for defense then lunging a swing out.*
Sabrina
*Hitoshi takes a similar approach, continuing to stick to a quiet, slow attack plan. It isn't worth getting himself killed over some stupid vines.

He does loosen up a bit though, ready to get aggressive if need be. He looks to Mevis. If that boy got hurt or even killed, Hitoshi isn't sure he'd ever forgive himself.*
William
"Personally, I'm tempted to use fire to just blast them out of the shrubbery, but causing a forest fire would give us bigger problems to deal with. I do think we have enough people to deal with them, though we should be wary."

Stating that, Kohm stood his ground, placing the shaft of his spear perpendicular to the ground with his left hand while his right was raised to the air, ready to weave runes at a moment's notice.
Kanesha
*Mevis would hear his team mates speaking, but would not respond, recalling what happened in the chapel due to his lack of stealth. This time around he was trying especially hard to stay quiet to prevent the same mistake. He couldn't exactly see where Hitoshi was, but given how long the two have been traveling together he had a pretty good idea of his positioning. He would keep his eyes focused on his surroundings for any sudden movements, with his legs prepped to leap and defend Hitoshi. He made a promise after all, and he intended to keep it for as long as he lived*
Viola
*Mevis and Hitoshi would get a slightly obsructed sighting of the 2 vines that are both in front of them, but it doesn't seem as if they have noticed them, at least not Hitoshi. If they were quick and strong enough, they could kill them before the vines ever noticed them.*
*The others however weren't as lucky, whilst they were able to spot them, 1 being behind them and the other 2 in the front. These vines however did notice the main group, but unlike Mevis' and Hitoshi's circumstances, they are in a clearing with very little shrubbery. Fire magic wouldn't cause that much damage if you weren't reckless.*
*The one in the back of the main group goes in for the swing at Kohm, whilst the front ones both attack the other 2, one attacking Gabriel and the other attacking Katachan.*
**Mevis and Hitoshi spotted 2 vines (Sneaky Vine1 and Sneaky Vine2), vines haven't spotted them.**
**The main group has spotted the vines and the vines spotted them.**
**Vine (now know as Front Vine1) attacks Kohm.**
**Vine (Now known as Front Vine2) attacks Gabriel.**
**Vine (Now known as Back Vine) attacks Katachan.**
Sabrina
*Hitoshi slowly sneaks up to the assassin's vine and then thrusts at its core with his Naginata.

Assuming it connects... Easy kill. If Mevis doesn't take on the other vine, he does it.*
Arthur
*Katachan knew she wouldn't be quick enough to stop the vine with just a simple block. Thus, she would instead voluntarily grasp onto the vine's striking portion if she was quick enough to embrace it with her arm and held onto it tightly while moving forward in pain as she used it to trace to it's original. If successful she would bring the entirety of her mace down onto it with extreme force in one head on smash.*
Dominique
Gabriel would attempt to block the strike, raising the shield on his arm to intercept the attack. Unfortunately he might be a split second too late and the vine's strike would hit him. If the blow did land, Gabriel would likely be knocked off his feet and onto the ground. At the same time, he would command both of his wolves to start attacking and biting at the vine that struck him.
Kanesha
*Mevis would notice the two vines, and look over to where he suspected Hitoshi was and give a nod. As it was seen from the previous encounters, it would seem leaving Mevis to do the support work and having Hitoshi deliver the killing blow seemed to be the best combo. Mevis was also quicker and physically stronger than Hitoshi, when he wasn't using his abilities at least, so Mevis decided to take the initiative and attempt to grab the main body of the vines and pull/hold them in place so they can be easily cut through by Hitoshi*
William
Seeing the vines come into the opening and abandoning their previous positions, Kohm sighed in relief as he realised that the environment was now to his favour, with considerably less ignitable vegetation in the way of any fire he could muster.

Quickly drawing a few runes in the air, a massive fireball hurled towards the assassin vine aiming for him, which would undoubtedly roast were it to hit.
```Firestorm (15 Mana) used, 135/150 Mana```
Viola
*Mevis' and Hitoshi's companionship and teamwork was superb, with Mevis holding the vine in place and Hitoshi's meddling skills, Hitoshi was able to cut the vine into pieces. They should be able to deal with the other one in a real quick jiffy, so their combat is over, but not the other.*
*The main groups combat has been commenced! Before the vines could reach Kohm, he incinerated it with a fireball! Gabriel was quick enough to hold up his shield and the vines attack got deflected, the wolves ate it up for breakfast! Finally, Katachan's bravery has paid off and he was able to smash it, though not without damaging the core, which released a gas.*
**Sneaky Vine1 dies, 2nd one soon to die as well, 1's core has survived.**
**Front Vine1 has been roasted, leaving behind no loot except it's cooked vines, maybe it has a good taste?**
**Back Vine has died, but nauseating gas has been released that causes a temporary nausea to Katacha, for maybe a couple minutes.**
**Front Vine2 has been defeated by Gabriel's wolves, the core has not been damaged!**