[Event] Casually Picking Pumpkins

Thane was quite content the moment he stepped into Magnolia. A big and popular city in Fiore, maybe even infamous, in a sense. On the way to the city he stopped to help a group of archaeologists, but the detour proved most fruitful. Even though he arrived to Magnolia later than he had anticipated, he gained a new Soulstone. It supported his theory that there were many different Soulstones out there. And most likely there was more than just a single crystal of each type. At least that was his hypothesis. He hadn't collected enough data or proof to be able to say that with utmost certainty.

The amount of people that filled the streets was rather high. Still, Thane towered over the countless heads and bodies. Being tall had at least some perks, to all of the negatives it brought with it. Once Thane ventured outside of his tribe, it suddenly became tough to acquire clothing for himself. It made him realise that only a fraction of people in the world were as tall as men of his kind. Custom tailored and crafted gear and clothing it had to be, then. Having to spend extra money on his outside made him appreciate and care for his gear that much more.

The man was looking around for a place where he could spend the night or perhaps nights, when he noticed a little thing. A flyer of sorts that seemed to repeat in a lot of places. Lampposts, walls, boards. The curiosity got the better of him, so the next one he saw, he went over to read what it said. It was a rather flashy flyer, asking for help with picking pumpkins for some sort of party. Manual labour. It seemed that the world was intent on him still being the one who lends people his strength, rather than intellect. With a little sigh Thane checked where the pumpkin patches were.

By the looks of it, there was a couple of pumpkin patches at the edge of the East Forest, right there, near Magnolia. Perfect. It didn't take him long to get to the forest. The way was shown well. The city most likely had plenty of tourism, making it necessary to mark the many different ways to popular spots. That was what Thane personally, thought, anyway. It was his first time in the city, so he couldn't make any assumptions. On the other hand, it was his first time there and he had no issues getting to his destination, so he was sure that it said something about the organisation within the city.

When he reached the edge of the forest, Thane noticed that where it used to be a raging flow of people, it was merely a trickle now. With the disappearance of the crowd, the man felt more at ease with making sudden movements. Gae Bolg that was strapped to his back could cause some unwanted collateral damage if he swung himself around too much.

It wasn't tough to spot the pumpkin patches. However, once Thane reached them, he realised, that there wasn't even a trickle of people. In fact, there was not a single soul, except him. A howl of cold wind blew around him, sending a shiver down his lengthy spine. The man shuddered at the sensation, but shook it off. The season was ripe for cold gusts of wind, although something was telling him that it wasn't any old ordinary gust of wind.

There was nobody tending the patches, but the pumpkins were fully grown, ready for harvest and a scarecrow, here and there. On one of the fences was a nailed paper. Thane approached it with caution and read what was written on it. The paper explained what needed to be done. Gingerly separate the grown produce from the main plant and then place it into a nearby box. Sounded simple enough. But the strange feeling did not fade as he crossed over the fence of the nearest patch.

Thane set aside his leather pouches and placed Gae Bolg on the ground. He stretched his back and got to work. The first pumpkin was soon relocated into the designated box. A little smile formed on Thane's face as he wrestled with the second pumpkin. Even though it was mundane work, he felt good that he was helping out. However, that smile soon faded.

What little rays of sunlight peered through the partially naked tree branches, disappeared. The change was sudden, making Thane lift his gaze up. He saw the sky darken and the feeling he had experienced not too long ago returned. As if right on cue, Thane was assaulted by a group of crows from the back. Six crows surrounded his head, clawing and pecking at anything he had exposed. The man groaned, but he was glad that he was clad in his gear that left very little spots for the birds to attack.

Thane had his head down, protecting himself with his arms, but he still felt the assault. He peeked out a little bit, to take a better look at the birds who went on a sudden offensive. They were flying around wildly, but it seemed like they were in some sort frenzy. As much as he didn't want to, Thane would have to put the crows down. With slow steps he made his way to Gae Bolg. This would require the help of his trusty lance.

Once his feet made contact with the metal, Thane quickly grabbed it and swung it around, hoping to disperse the birds a little and maybe even take out one or two of them. After the crows were disturbed by Thane's retaliation, one lifeless bird fell onto the ground. The Au Ra hoped for more, but beggars couldn't be choosers. The crows continued to swoop down on his head and Thane resorted to jumping over the fence, to make sure that he wouldn't mess up the ripe pumpkins. The birds followed him. However, in doing so, they lined themselves up for an attack. Thane drew upon the power of the Dragoon Soulstone that was embedded in the lance and let loose Geirskogul that pierced through the flock of birds. It didn't take them down, but they were severely wounded and weakened by the attack's effect. The crows that managed to reach Thane didn't hit nearly as hard as before and he finished off the remaining birds. Although, it was most likely incredibly amusing to see a grown man thrusting a lance high up into the air.

Thane was still holding onto Gae Bolg, as he slowly backed from the crow corpses he left behind. "What in the world..." The man mumbled under his breath as the remains of the birds started moving on their own. They gathered onto a single spot and in a gust of wind they formed an abomination. It looked like a bird that had been fused into a human-shaped body. Never before had Thane seen anything like the sight before him. His grip on Gae Bolg intensified, as he prepared for the next fight.

The abomination gave out a loud, ghastly shriek that made Thane wince. The creature took the opportunity to strike at the Au Ra, who did not dodge or block in time and received a sizeable laceration on his right shoulder. He would have to mend the sleeve, later. The man grit his teeth as he went on the offensive. Thanks to the lance he kept the creature at bay, while managing to sink in a few hits with Gae Bolg's tip. Still, the abomination got close enough to Thane once more and lashed out. Thane's hands moved upwards, but not fast enough to completely deflect the attack. Instead he only redirected it - from what was meant for the injury he received already to his right cheek. Thankfully, the scales on his face protected him a bit, but the damage had been done. The man side stepped the next attack of the abomination and landed two more thrusts into its side. With a shriek it fell apart, back into the remains from which it fused.

Thane let out a sigh, thinking that the rise of the dead bird bodies was the end of the surprise assault. However, the selfsame feeling hit him again, making him frantically turn around, trying to find the source. All he found was a thin veil of mist that was slowly rolling in, covering the ground. Despite that, he did not feel any more at ease. With his back to the pumpkin patches, he didn't notice one of the scarecrows come to life. If it wasn't for its harrowing cackle it let out, Thane would've gotten sliced nearly in half by its sloppy swing. The man turned around and as soon as he noticed the scythe going for him, he jumped backwards and thrust forward, the length of the lance being more than enough to cover the distance. Thane knew he damaged the thing, but it didn't seem to mind at all. It continued to laugh maniacally, as it slowly moved forward and kept swinging the scythe ahead of it at full force. It almost seemed like it was possessed, not just simply enchanted to do a task. Thanks to the length of Gae Bolg, however, Thane managed to keep the scary scarecrow away enough, while taking every opportunity to strike. This tactic, although effective at methodically putting down the scarecrow, made the Au Ra have to constantly go backwards to ensure that the distance was kept. By the time he finished off the animated potato sack, he was surrounded by the mist he had noticed earlier.

The pumpkin patches were no longer visible. Thane was confident that all he had to do was just walk forward and he would end up where he came from. Or would he..? His grip on the lance loosened up a bit, forcing himself to relax. The adrenaline was still running strong, but he already felt bits of tiredness tugging on him. The constant hopping around felt draining. Thane slowly lowered the lance and loudly exhaled. It was only then when the mist around him started to shift and twist, grow thicker and thicker. From the depths of the mist he heard a low, sinister chuckle that chilled Thane to his very core. The brief moment of relaxation was gone as quickly as he let himself into it.

From the way that Thane was going to go, a figure out of the mist emerged, preceded by a glow. The figure turned out to be a robed, wraith-like being with a pumpkin for a head and a lantern on a chain in one of its hands. It chuckled and gathered darkness in its free hand, letting it loose at Thane. When he saw it gather the darkness, he quickly prepared himself to dodge to a side. The blast missed, as the dodge worked. But the dodge itself was rather sloppy, making Thane lose balance for a moment. But that moment was enough for the wraith to close the distance. Thane grit his teeth and charged Gae Bolg, letting out the energy in a line that pierced through the being that was rearing its claw. Geirskogul lightly damaged it and sapped it of its strength, so once the claw made contact with his upper right shoulder. Thankfully it didn't hurt as much as he expected, which he could most likely attribute to Geirskogul. However, shortly after he felt strangely nauseous and sick. Poison. And he had no way to get rid of it.

Thane felt the poison slowly sapping his life away and he grew increasingly worried. There was no way that he would fall here, to this pumpkin thing, would he? The man grit his teeth, as he sloppily thrust Gae Bolg into the being twice. The first hit landed, but the second one was dodged by the wraith that floated to the side, dodging the forward thrust. It chuckled and slammed the ground, letting out a blast of darkness. The shockwave threw Thane off his feet, as he felt his strength wane. Just as he was getting back up, the wraith closed the bit of distance again. It lowly cackled and Thane used that moment to concentrate his strength and plunge Gae Bolg into where he thought the wraith's chest was. They said that the wing-like attachments on the Gae Bolg were specifically there to get through dragon scales. Thane was hoping that they would help with ripping the creature apart. Once the lance was in, the wraith seemed surprised, the rearing of its claw was halted as it looked downwards, onto itself. "Get out of my way." The Au Ra growled, as he swung his arms to the side, the lance he was holding onto followed the movement. There was only a large rip in the wraith's side left. It let out a loud shriek of anger and possibly pain, as Thane drew upon the Dragoon Soulstone. A blue spectral dragon head appeared above the lance and he slammed it down onto the ground. The blast damaged the wraith, earning an another earful of a shriek. And yet, the creature was still standing.

The Au Ra grit his teeth, his face becoming the visage of fury. He had enough. Despite the gnawing exhaustion and the poison still being pumped through his veins and burning his insides, he thrust his trusted lance up into the already ravaged spot in its body. It was already very damaged, so it wouldn't need that much more effort to finally put it down. The wraith made a feeble attempt at clawing at Thane, but there was little to no strength behind the blow. The lance pierced through the shadowy insides and Thane swung his arms to the other side, effectively ripping the wraith of the mist in half. It was the final nail in its proverbial coffin as it dissolved into the mist from which it came with a cackle. Only a pumpkin and an empty lantern were left behind.

Thane's whole body started to shake from exertion. He stuck Gae Bolg into the ground and leaned against it. Eventually his knees gave out and he slid down the length of the lance, until he was crouching. The poison finally stopped burning, but he felt incredibly drained, almost as if he had just participated in one of the annual tournaments that his tribe held to see who was the strongest. The mist slowly dispersed, as if it was never even there. Only the pumpkin, lantern and countless black feathers served as proof of something foul happening in that place.