[FFD6]The Void (IC)

[Der_DWSage]

The Void is a shifting, formless place, constantly creating and destroying, renewing and renovating, destructive and debilitating. Little can be said about it that will stay true from day to day. In fact, the first sentence may be the only constant about it...

But the Void can be changed, just like anything else. And mages have found that the Void is actually rather...responsive to their call.

That's probably how Juxtaposition came to be. A sprawling metropolis of a place-with a population of roughly 400-it's also known by a variety of names. Junkyard is one of the more common ones, simply because it really was put together out of whatever scraps and bits people could find to create shelters, giving it a missmatched look no matter where you went. Even the 'Ivory Tower' that the Mage-General Hakaril resided at was actually a collage of wood, stone, metal, and bone all painted over with white. But it was home to many who were unlucky enough to be in the Void, and it helped that from day to day, the Junkyard didn't seem to change much.

At least, that's how the day started. But odd things were happening throughout the town as the day went on...

For one individual riding a truly unique cart without a Chocobo, it came in the form of a tiny, shambling robot that scampered off as soon as it was seen. A design that he hadn't seen since a lifetime ago, before he had lost so much...the notorious 0N10N K-NGT model, trying to disappear into the back alleys.

One young man sweeping the steps of a church would find that he was accosted by a small, green...fox? Thing. With a red gem in its forehead. The fox perched cutely on the step, refusing to move from its new roost...but it was watching him with rather disturbing focus.

One man would find he was being watched from the shadows rather easily-it was hard to hide from one who was always watchful for an opponent. But the unarmed man would find himself watched like a hawk...until he was finally seperated from the crowds, a man with a wicked-looking knife keeping an arm's distance away from him, saying, "Well well well...if it ain't a bright-eyes. Gimmer yer wallet bright-eyes, and mebbe I won't have to blind yer..." Mugging? -Here?- The guard never looked kindly on such activities of course, but there were few enough people that it rarely happened at all...

A blue-coated Lalafell would find that they were being watched as well, but by less intelligent eyes-he had just been to the local diner, had -just- ordered a Chocobo-steak sandwich, when he heard the cry, "EEE! MONSTER!" from the kitchen. Monsters...-usually- didn't turn up in the city, and certainly not in the houses people had made...

Whereas a different red-hatted Lalafell would be relaxing in the open library of the Ivory Tower, a tome almost as big as he is and filled to the brim with magical runes in almost indeicpherable writing open before him. The sounds would be...slight, at least at first. But soon after, they would become quite piercing, even if one couldn't understand them at first. And soon, they became all too clear... "You desire power, youngling? Power corrupts...what would you do, we wonder, if you had so much power that your mind simply overflowed with it...? One doubts you even know the Prophecy, while another doubts that you could comprehend it if you did know it..."

Who knows what fate will lead these wanderers, and if their fates shall intertwine with bystanders...or even if a bystander will catch them all up in his own threads. Let us see, shall we?

[BluesEclipse]

Upon hearing the voice, Alaric jumps up, head snapping wildly around. After a moment, the words spoken sink in, and after another moment to compose himself, he replies, "Power? I seek knowledge... though, depending on how you look at it, there might not be as much of a difference between the two. But power doesn't always corrupt... look at Mage-General Hakaril, for example... he's incredibly powerful, and has used that power to protect us." Waiting a moment for a response, the rest of the voice's words hit him, and he says, "...And what's this about a prophecy?"

[Der_DWSage]

"Oh-ho! The youngling does not flee! One is owed a favor by another...yes, yes, this is a good day for one. We know the prophecy, youngling. But the question is, can you comprehend? Can you weigh and measure it? One such as you...hmhmhm. Yes. One also likes that idea. One will tell you the prophecy, but not all of it. After all, people like to change prophecies. One will simply leave one word out, and not tell you where..."

The voice didn't seem to hear him even if he made a response-instead, his eyes would flash with a golden glow for a split second, a sensation filling his mind...one that was not altogether unpleasant. In fact...the more it filled him, the more he would realize it wasn't unpleasant at all. He was filled with emotion-joy, peace, rapture, kindness, quietness, all in quick succession.

The feeling of waking up after a peaceful rest with a good dream at the end.

The warmth that comes from going home, and getting a whiff of freshly made chocolate chip cookies made with love.

The powerful, tender feeling of meeting someone for the first time, and finding that they truly understand you.

The sensation of love incarnate.

Kindness from someone who wants nothing in return other than to know that they helped.

It took a while, but the emotions slowly died down to the point where they weren't overwhelming...and Alaric would find that while his mind had been clouded, someone had slipped him a sheet of paper. In his handwriting. With a pen still in his hand, though who knows from what source? And on the paper was a quickly written poem...


Once more the Dreamer awakens
From her life of love and joy.
Once more her Lover stirs,
Eager to see her ploy.

Once more the Dreamer frets,
Anger and Pain disturbing her so.
Once more her Lover fights,
Ne'er seeing her so low.

The Dreamer and Lover are two to a kind,
One is fake and the other blind.
But Dreamer and Lover are alone in this world,
And to evil, some would then bind.

The Dreamer will die, so it is said
When the last tear is shed.
The Lover will turn wrathful in despair
Their love and all life will turn to thin air.

Believe, don't believe, it's up to you
But some will say it's all too true.
One must find the Dreamer and Lover,
And ensure they are ----

The voice was quite polite as he read. Almost too quiet. And the sensations of love...yes, they were still there. A rather happy part of him said it'd always be there. But what exactly had it been...?

[BluesEclipse]

Reading the poem carefully, Alaric thinks to himself, "What... what just happened? And... this poem... this prophecy... what does it mean? The Dreamer and Lover..."

Standing up, Alaric heads over to the bookshelves, scanning the titles to see if there are any books regarding the subject. "If I can't find anything here," he muses to himself, "then perhaps Master Theris will know something about it. And if not... well, I always did want to meet the Sage in Kaipo. And if a Sage can't figure out something like this out, who can?"

[Codemus]

Strabo quickly brought the cart to a stop with a screech and a grinding of gears. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the alleyway that the construct disappeared into. "No... it couldn't be. Can it? Oh baby, I can't believe my luck!" Quickly throwing levers and stepping on petals, he gunned it after the little bot. "Hey, come back little guy!!"

[Ridai]

Caim stands there, his lean, just over six feet tall body wearing mostly dark, simple clothes, designed exclusively for utility. Most of the figure's colors are concetrated around the head area, with short, messy white hair, a yellow scarf covering his neck and lower face and the mentioned glowing green eyes staring at the man in front of him. And as he was taught by Her, he would not hold back against this lowlife for the danger he poses to the common people.

The young man shows little in the way of an expression or body language, having an almost supernatural stillness to him, as he draws his meager wallet and throws it over to the mugger. Although thoughts of victory jet through the mugger's mind, they dissipate quickly as he catches the object. It feels light, too light. And it is, as he recognizes when he checks, empty.

Yet when he looks up in anger, Caim seems to have disappeared. Looking around reveals little about his whereabouts, while the young man is closing in rapidly with increasing speed, ready to strike, from far above, like an eagle diving through the air down towards it's prey.

Incapacitation, no lasting injuries. Hand him over to the authorities afterwards. Caim's plan is simple, with no room for ambiguity. With luck, one hit will suffice, pinning the mugger to the ground and dispersing the dust around him.

What better way to start things off than with supernatural acrobatics and a kick to the solarplexus. Time to familiarize myself with the combat rules and use that Exalted/Scion experience for descriptive attacks.

Attack: [roll0], 11 damage

Wow, a 3. Guess this will one of my unlucky games. Hoping the best for the effects of the descriptive attack.

[Der_DWSage]

For Alaric
Alaric would find that he would find a -lot- of titles on dreams. There would even be a few titles on Defenders of Dreams. However, there seemed to be few that he could find that had anything to do with the prophecy itself. Still...he had a feeling in the back of his head. Like he was being...watched. Not a predatory watch, nor a fearful one. No...more like a mother watching her son take their first step. It was...calming and worrying all at the same time.

For Strabo
Strabo would find himself ducking into back alleys and listening for the constant 'Clank...clank...clank...ping...clank' sounds that the small robot made, leading him further away from people until all he could hear was the constant clanking of the tiny Knight. Finally he managed to corner it...it was adorable. It looked like a five year old with a toy sword and a pot helmet, and...actually, that sword was levelled at him now. Oh dear. And not far away, he heard a cry of 'Agh, my spleen!'

For Caim
Caim would find that his foe was a bit more capable than he'd given him credit for-the man actually rolled with the blow-though he shouted out, 'Agh, my spleen!' as he did-rolling back and ending up on his knees...then standing up and making that knife -gleam- in the dirty light of the alleyway, giving it that ever-sought sinister look, right before he laughed and hurled it at Caim...not that it did him much good, seeing as how it hit the wall behind him and nothing more.

(You'd forgotten to do an accuracy check-it's forgiven this time, but do remember it from now on.)

[Ridai]

Caim bends only just as much out of the way as is necessary, constantly fixing his eyes on the mugger. They circle each other for a short moment. Most people are not used to assailants able to move much more three-dimensionally and that is what Caim is going to exploit.

He darts forward, seemingly starting a direct attack, but instead he kicks dirt into the mugger's face. As the alleyway doesn't give much room to maneuver, Caim rapidly slides in a half-circle across the adjacent wall and over the other man, drawing an expanding line of dust through the air with his feet. Reversing his momentum in an instant as he touches the ground again, he somersaults towards the mugger's back, his right leg outstretched and the focal point of his entire momentum and body weight, serving the singular purpose of knocking out his enemy.

But that was the ACC roll. :smallfrown: There are no seperate damage rolls, damage is derived from the attack roll. The roll's result is the attack (hence the +7 and not +8), the damage afterwards has been edited in after I saw the result and calculated damage with it.

ACC: [roll0], 19 damage

[Der_DWSage]

Caim(*Rereads that section* ...Huh. So it is. My apologies! Then again, he hit both times anyway, so let the games continue...)

The Mugger was wary, that was true...but he was also nervous. The man hit like a truck, and not a small truck either! He licked his lips, his hands balling into fists and back out again as he tries to predict what Caim will do.

Unfortunately, a mugger with good reflexes and no knife is no match for a trained martial artist. He was caught off-guard by Caim's magnificent kick, and had the breath knocked out of him quite handily! He looked woozy, too...he can't take much more.

So when he picked up a cobblestone from his little trip and chucked it at Caim, it was a little bit unexpected...it actually clipped him in the arm, and definitely leaving a mark. The bandit was on his feet again, trying to keep steady after that assault...

[roll0][12 damage]

Miles Legraff
Juxtaposition was a veritable mecca of creativity and free spirit, a living, breathing place inside of a timeless void-and people were reminded of the timeless void bit every time they looked up at the sky, seeing the inky blackness that threatened to consume them. For right now, Miles would find himself on the way to deliver a package for an old lady that needed her (mechanical) leg looked at every so often, when he found himself getting cold, logical information from his artificial eye.

Warning:Mechanical creature sighted. Threat Level:Minor. Classification:0N10N K-NGT model android. Warning:Mechanical Creature being pursued.

It even made an outline of the robot as it fled down a dark alleyway, pursued by a man that had hopped out of a mechanical cart-a crude form of vehicle, but it seemed sturdy-and was chasing it down.

Thunder
Between jobs again. The last merchant had thanked him for a job well done, even though nothing had really happened, and given him a little money...but at least it was money. He'd also given him one last meal as a parting gift, seeing as how the armored man had gone to such lengths to be...well, -not- useless. But now he was left to wander the streets again, halberd propped up against his shoulder, wandering the crowds...when he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. No one was there to claim it when he looked, but he felt a breeze pass his lips...as if he was being kissed by the wind, gentle and soothing.

Not so soothing was to hear the words, Am to help me, yesplease? Am wanting find body...am wanting find Kyle... come from thin air, and no one react to it but him...

Ander-Skander
The cycle had started again. He had felt the yank of the timestream pull on him, create another alternate reality, another chance to fail. Another chance to be destroyed so utterly. Just like last time...he could still feel the Lich's eyes looking upon him, his body being devoured alive by the maggots that the undead being had summoned solely for him, the laughing, coughing heckling that he was subjected to as he watched his friends get devoured, one by one, creating yet another failure...

Easy. It was over now. He was back in Juxtaposition. Yes. He was back in the ol' Junkyard once more, and able to start anew. The memories of his failure were fading from the mind...and so were the memories of those that hadn't been important to the stream. The woman was still there. The necklace was still there. One or two of his comrades were there...the Paladin? Yes...and a martial artist with the brightest eyes he'd ever seen. So where was he now?

Oh yes. He was in a library. Or something similar, at least. The only other inhabitant was a young Lallafel wearing red and studiously perusing books of every type...no one else.

So why was it he heard a giggle from over his shoulder where no person was, and the words "Welcome to my Library, Aged One. But are you Aged, or are you Young? Or can you truly remember...? A mind so scattered, so fractured...the stresses of magic on a body and soul. How long until that body breaks apart from such stresses, I wonder...?"

...Had he finally gone insane?

[Lost Demiurge]

"SHUT UP!" Howls Ander-Skander, whirling around. "What would you know about it wit?"

The tiny figure whips his neck around to look at Alaric. "Not you. Sorry."

He plops to the ground, adjusting his plain clothes as he does so and checking an hourglass at his belt.

"Okay. Okay, another chance. Good. This works. This time I'll skip the pancake breakfast last."

[BluesEclipse]

Alaric blinks, watching the older Lalafell warily. Tilting his head, he examines the man closely, his hand inching towards the blade he carries. "Hmm... just who are you? You're a bit strange... even for a Time Mage..."

[Lost Demiurge]

Alaric blinks, watching the older Lalafell warily. Tilting his head, he examines the man closely, his hand inching towards the blade he carries. "Hmm... just who are you? You're a bit strange... even for a Time Mage..."

The figure, upon examination, is slightly smaller than Alaric and the proportions are a bit off. It's got a black nose, too. It blinks at Alaric, then sighs.

"Sorry. Long day." For some reason the phrase strikes him as funny, and he chuckles. He gives the hourglass a tap, and puts it away.

"I'm Ander-Skander. Call me Ander. What's your name frame?"

[BluesEclipse]

"Alaric..." Alaric replies, still scrutinizing Ander carefully. After a moment, he nods, moving his hand away from his sword. "So... what brings you here? Just researching something?"

[Lost Demiurge]

"Alaric..." Alaric replies, still scrutinizing Ander carefully. After a moment, he nods, moving his hand away from his sword. "So... what brings you here? Just researching something?"

"Maybe. We're in Junkyard tonight, right?"

Ander frowns and stands, and starts looking around the books. "This is actually new too. Let's see. I would've come to look for a book, but which one to read..."

He pulls a few out and random, and examines them.

[Bad Situation]

Damien stood passively, staring right back at the green-tinged fox. The beast should have known better than to have challenged Damien Sinclair himself to a staring contest. Legends would one day tell the tale of his daring exploits, his unflinching stare and remarkably good posture. It would be glorious. Men would burn with envy, women would throw themselves to his fee- Actually he wasn't quite comfortable with that thought.

By the time he had zoned back into reality the fox was still staring at him.

"A worthy foe indeed," he nodded grudgingly.

[Codemus]

Strabo threw his hands up in surrender. "Whoa whoa! Take it easy little guy! I just want to talk!" He hopped out of the cart and slowly started to approach the bot. "Can you talk? Ah, wha-AHH!" Echoes of somebody yelling startled Strabo, making him jump a step back and cover his head with his arms.

He peaked through his crossed arms, and noticing no immediate danger (other than maybe the bot), he let his arms drop. He cleared his throat in embracement. "Uh... sorry about that. I don't know what came over me."

Strabo again approached the bot and crouched down so he was eye level with it, out of sword range of course. "So... got a name?"

[Doggie_arf]

Miles had been in Juxtaposition for several weeks now, and he still knew little of what had caused the cataclysm that had thrown him into the Void. While the Junkyard was a haven for many souls, few of those had come from his homeworld - of those, even fewer had been alive, or sane.

He'd heard tales from the more lucid survivors - the world being reshaped, the Imperial capital melting like hot wax, towns devastated by rains of searing light - but half of them were implausible, and most of them contradicted each other. It was almost as if his entire world - or what was left of it - had gone completely, irrevocably insane. Not that he'd been in a much better state when he'd first arrived - barely alive in a twisted mechanical wreck, and raving about the Triad (and the world) being out of balance. The fact that he *had* survived, intact enough to make a life for himself in Juxtaposition, was probably cause enough for celebration.

The package nearly slips out of Miles' grasp, and he quickly shifts his grip, realizing that he'd let his mind wander. The changes to his body hadn't really enhanced the engineer's physical strength, and old Mistress Mari's "little deliveries" tended to be rather bulky and fragile. Well, he wasn't one to complain much, and the old lady needed someone to help, what with her artificial leg hindering her. Miles didn't had much experience with prostheses - his own ones notwithstanding - but perhaps, with one of the healers, he could try and craft a replac-

He stops walking as a stream of information suddenly flashes across his field of vision, his eyes briefly flashing red beneath the low brim of his hat. Turning around, he spots the small android in question - helpfully outlined and identified in his newfound, half-understood senses - fleeing into a nearby alleyway. He isn't the only one who has noticed, for another man has stopped and stared after the runaway robot, before literally steering his vehicle - a one-man mechanized cart, by the looks of it - in hot pursuit.

Staring after the two disparate figures in some confusion, Miles briefly debates on what to do. Mistress Mari would be waiting for her delivery, and she tended to show her dislike of tardiness with the sharp edge of her tongue. However, this had been the first time his altered vision had ever reacted in such a fashion. And the little robot (what in the submariner was an "0N10N K-NGT", anyway?) had somehow seemed almost........frightened.

That settled it - the old lady and her tongue could wait for a while. Adjusting his burden, he follows the pair into the alley.

[Der_DWSage]

Ander and Alaric
Ander's hands would pull out a few books completely at random, but he would feel a brief rush of...calm. Peace. That sheer, psyche-shattering pressure was gone, if just for a second, and he felt himself able to actually -relax- for a few scant moments before the sensation was gone...and he'd find that he'd pulled out some books without realizing it. Four of them, with the titles Dreamguard, Destiny of the Outer Lands, Lord Angius' Bedtime Tales for the Young Hume, and Prophecies From the Sage Lukah.

Alaric would easily notice the older Lallafel get a glazed look in his eye, if only for the few moments it took him to grab books...but more than that, now that he wasn't the one affected by it, he could -feel- the presence. Magic was afoot...strong magic. White magic by the feel of it, but still magic that was altering their perceptions.

Damien
The fox was staring intently...up until the time when it yawned cutely, curling up and placing its nose on its tail, and seeming to fall asleep on the spot. Adorable, really, but it was also rather in the way, and he still had sweeping to do...

His throughts would be a little broken when he saw a man rushing up to the spot, rather out of breath, dirty and unclean...but then, water was a preciously rare commodity in Juxtaposition, summoned up by mages when they could spare the power, still rationed rather sharply. Still, he saw the gleam of a knife in the dirty man's hand, and when the man said, "H-hey...! That's...let me take that off yer hands!" Maybe it was the way he said it, or maybe it was just the way he was holding that knife, but it was unlikely he had anything good in store for it. And here was Damien without his sword...then again, the broom might me good in a pinch...

Miles and Strabo
Miles would catch up to the two quickly enough-the cute little robot would actually take a swing at Strabo as he knelt down, but it's doubtful that the edge on that blade could actually pierce his coat. It was wary...and on the defensive. Finally, it stamped its foot down on a particular brick, causing it to shift to the side with a heavy scraping sound...and simply jumping into the hole that it had created. Both of the Engineers could swear they heard...machinery? Juxtaposition was rather low on machinery, and this would be the first either of -them- had heard of a factory here...it was hard enough getting parts for things in the first place, let alone mass-producing them!

And then Miles heard a faint ringing sound...
Unit 0N10N K-NGT wishes to interface with you. Do you wish to accept?

[BluesEclipse]

Alaric watches Ander as he pulls out the books, walking over to the table with the strange man. Looking at the books, he says, "Interesting selections..." Looking around, and seeing nobody else in the room, he says in a quieter tone, "Did... did you hear it, too? The voice?"

[Ridai]

Caim deflects the projectile with one hand, battering it aside and making the stone shatter against the wall. Caim is in the mugger's face again immediately, leaving no time to catch one's breath as he unleashes a barrage of strikes at the man that all seem to barely miss, supported by dizzying footwork and changes in attack angle and position. All of this is just an effort to mask the real attack as Caim's leg is suddenly behind the mugger's, trying to trip and grab him, slamming him into the ground as he loses his balance.

Your sheet of Caim is wrong. Due to the item bonus to Dexterity, his Dex rating went up, increasing his Evasion to 12 and ACC to 7. Thus, the mugger's attack missed.

Also, I forgot that I am effectively dual-wielding. Could we use part of how monsters handle two weapon fighting? Having to potentially make two posts per attack roll just to reroll one die seems slow and clunky while monsters just roll 3d6 and take the two best dice (p. 208). I'm NOT asking for adding the whole 3d6 to damage, just the accuracy part to speed up the gameplay, even if it is a small upgrade in power compared to the normal process. I'll roll attacks the usual way until a decision is made.

Acc: [roll0] (rerolled one die (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10928293&postcount=11), got a 2, for a total of 10), 11 damage

[Bad Situation]

Damien brandished the broom menacingly and said, "No fighting on holy ground sir." Of course, there was no telling what the ragged man would do so he added, "But if you make a move I'll be forced to cave your face in."

"In the name of the Light or something. Doesn't really matter I guess."

[Lost Demiurge]

Alaric watches Ander as he pulls out the books, walking over to the table with the strange man. Looking at the books, he says, "Interesting selections..." Looking around, and seeing nobody else in the room, he says in a quieter tone, "Did... did you hear it, too? The voice?"

Ander's eyes flick up at Alaric. They're older, more bloodshot, and wiser than they have any right to be. "Thanks! This will keep me busy for a while... Yeah I heard the voice. Not a friend of yours I suppose?"

[BluesEclipse]

Shaking his head, Alaric replies, "No... but... it did mention some... some prophecy. I wrote it down." Passing the written poem over, he takes the book of prophecies, and begins looking through it, hoping to find some information.

As he reads, he thinks to himself, "I don't know why... but I feel I can trust him with this. Maybe... maybe destiny has something in mind here?"

[Doggie_arf]

Rounding a corner, Miles spots the pair he had been chasing. The man had dismounted from his cart - crouching down, he appeared to be attempting to talk to the android. The little robot didn't seem like it wanted to cooperate, for it was backing away, holding up a tiny sword between itself and the man.

To the engineer's surprise, a small hole suddenly opens in the ground in front of the cornered robot, who wastes no time in jumping inside. Even from a few feet away, the sounds of machinery are unmistakable - there was some sort of factory or laboratory down that hole, and such facilities were pretty much non-existent here in Junktown.

Before Miles can react, an odd chime sounds in his ears, accompanied by a new message scrolling across his field of vision.

"Wait, what?", he mutters, one hand straying involuntarily to his ear. "Interface?"

[Codemus]

"GAH!" Strabo fell backwards onto his back, trying to dodge the blade. Sitting back up, he saw the little guy dissapear into a hole. Hearing machinery, he crawled over on his hands and knees to peer down into the hole. "Amazing! And here I thought there wasn't anything like this in... whatever this place is called." He stood back up, and crossed his arms. "Uh.. Justapo? No thats not right... Hmm. Oh well, I'm sure it'll come back to me." Strabo seemed completely oblivious to the world as he wracked his brain for the towns name.

[Gourtox]

Surprised that there was a voice, but no one to give a face to that voice. He tenses, ready for an attack, and quietly wispers, "Kyle? Who and where is this 'Kyle?' In fact who are you?"

OOC:
Sorry for not posting earlier. I didn't notice the IC was up.

[Lost Demiurge]

Ander sighs.

"Can't say I'm a fan of prophecy fallacy. They never tell you anything that'd let you change them. S'kind of like the gods going "Nyah nyah mortals! We know something you don't! But at least this one's fairly mild. Destiny... Heh."

He puts the books down on a table and starts flipping through them, keeping an eye on Alaric. "I know a bit about Destiny. I know what's to come. There's a fiend, liche... It's kill or be killed with him, and he'll need to be stopped. Popped! There's an amulet, a zodiac amulet that will turn up at some point. And there's a girl. There's always a girl. Maybe she's the dreamer in the prophecy this time. I don't know, joe."

He's sniffling all of a sudden, blinking his eyes. "I never know enough, and it's always JUST different enough..."

[BluesEclipse]

Looking up from the book, Alaric sighs, saying, "You say you know what's to come... what exactly do you mean by that? And what's this about a lich? And an amulet? I don't understand... but maybe if you tell me, we can figure out how to solve this problem of yours?"

[Lost Demiurge]

Looking up from the book, Alaric sighs, saying, "You say you know what's to come... what exactly do you mean by that? And what's this about a lich? And an amulet? I don't understand... but maybe if you tell me, we can figure out how to solve this problem of yours?"

Ander rubs his face, and shakes his head. "S'okay. I appreciate the offer, but... It's... Look at it this way. If you're one of the ones that fate decided to screw over, then we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the days to come and we'll have plenty of time to talk about it. If not, then you'll have an awesome life no strife. Sorry to be blunt, but it's complicated and we'll have time to sort it out later if that's the way it shakes out."

He ***** an eye up at the ceiling and around. "Was nice to feel peaceful for a bit, but I think maybe we should borrow the books we want and get out of here. That voice we both heard worries me a little-skittle."

[Der_DWSage]

Thunder
The voice tittered like birdsong for a moment in response to him, saying "Kyle is Kyle! Am droogie! And Heartscry am Heartscry! Am to be help find body, yesplease? Am wanting to guard dreams again. Am needing help...Kyle am could help! Am cleverest!"

After hearing it for a few moments, he could definitely determine it was female...and from the disturbed looks of people around him, some of them going for weapons of their own, he was the only one that could hear her...

Ander and Alaric
Ander would -almost- be ready to leave when they'd both hear the voice again, this time saying,"What is destiny but seeing the patterns, the ripples, the nuances of humanoid condition? After all, it wouldn't take much to predict that one of you is going to be deathly curious about the destiny...except now that I've mentioned it, you're more likely to resist, simply because I tried to steer you. Aren't humanoids -fun?-" The voice chuckled, seeming to become more...human, in ways. In fact, it actually sounded like a teenage boy...

"A game, a game, how about another game? I'll make this one even simpler, and the stakes even higher-if you two can both get to the door, relying on one another, then I'll tell you what you both want to know...about -your- destiny, constantly shifting, turning, skewing, maneuvering, and about -your- precious magic. Did you know it's possible to get magical ability by being infused with the blood of a magical being? Incredibly painful, and the being generally dies...but true. Aaaaaand I could direct you to one..."

Caim
The mugger went down easily with the last blow-he simply had no chance to get away, his face hitting the cobblestones (And one snagtooth breaking away from his mouth) and his eyes closing in painful slumber...he'd wake up with a bruised rib and a moderate concussion on the morrow, but nothing deadly, just like he'd promised. And all without getting hit himself.

Today was a good day! But...was it just him, or was there suddenly a -lot- more background noise than usual...? And voices. Friends of the mugger, perhaps?

(OOC)
Huh, so it is. I'll fix that as soon as I'm able-and using 3d6b2 is fine for your accuracy and damage rolls. And adding 1 XP for surviving your first combat without a scratch. If you go through his pockets, you'll find...the knife he was using and a completely normal pink bandanna.)

Miles
As soon as his arm came to his face, he would receive an interesting stream of data...at first appearing as an indecipherable series of 1's and 0's, but soon reshaping and shuffling themselves around into respectable words...well, almost.

0N10N-KNGT unit 35462 recognizes authority of superior being. 0N10N-KNGT unit 35462 requests assistance-parent unit is without function. Parent unit must function. Without parent unit, will. Slowly. Break down. Will you help? If so, 0N10N-KNGT unit 35462 will transmit map via uplink.

...His arm was truly amazing to get all -that- from a bunch of 1s and 0s.

Strabo
Strabo would see his newfound friend staring at his arm for a good few moments, realizing that in the dark and gloom, he -wasn't,- in fact, a normal person. In truth...it looked like he was some form of cyborg. Yes, that was it! Half man, half machine, and all of it was fascinating...now that he was looking for it, it was easy to tell. Especially the eye...one eye was completely normal, but the other...yes, there was peeled skin around it, indicating surgery. and his arm was most definitely not normal.

Damien
The man drew himself up to his full height of 5 feet and 6 inches, a bit underwhelming, but still demanding, "You young punk! I...ah, blast it. I'll get back to you later...nothing I can do for it if he wants to run off with a frickin' stray..." And with that, he simply sidled off. The fox was sitting up again, looking as prim as a picture...but he finally stood up, nipping at Damien's ankles to come with him. Away from the temple. How odd...

[BluesEclipse]

Alaric stands up, raising an eyebrow at the voice's rather... odd... idea of a game. "I think you may be right, Ander..." Gathering a couple of the books, and stowing them away, he begins to walk towards the door, his hand moving towards his sword... just in case. "That idea... of taking power from a magical being, and at the cost of its life, no less... I can't imagine what kind of person... or creature... would suggest such a thing."

[Gourtox]

He eases up and leans agaisnt a nearby wall. To his new mysterious friend he whispers, "Ok I'll help you. What is it you want me to do?" Even as he speaks he questions himself and reasoning ability. What am I getting myself into? Then his lips form a thin smile. Well whatever it is, it out to be fun.

[Codemus]

Strabo was shaken from his thoughts by a sound from behind him. Turning, he saw a figure standing in the alleyway. "Oh, hello. Is there something I can..." He started to approach the man as he spoke, but stopped and fell silent when he noticed some things about him.

He was stunned. Seeing the little bot was interesting, but this man... was simply astounding. He somehow incorporated machines in himself! He'd never even imagined that was possible. This opened up whole new worlds of possibilities!

Strabo ran over to the man and stood in front of him. "Sir, I must ask you. How did you come by those mechanical bits on your person? Did you build them? Who did the surgery? How is it powered? Do you have problems with temperature variances? How are they connected? Are they modular? What is the metal's composition? Do you still feel with them? Is the eye multi-spectrum? Does it contain a blink effect? " These questions were delivered at a rapid fire pace, almost frantic really.

[Bad Situation]

"I'm afraid I don't speak 'wild animal bites' perhaps you could calm down and let me breath," he says, resisting the urge to kick the adorably cute fox.

"Just let me get my sword okay? I would rather not beat a man to death with a broom thankyouverymuch."

Damien moved to retrieve his belongings from within the church, motioning for the fox to follow in case the man with the knife decided to show up again.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Some power-hungry jerk, probably. No shortage of those in the worlds." Ander follows Alaric, hourglass turning restlessly in his hands.

[KreenWarrior]

Blah, sorry, finals week and I've been distracted.

The young Lallafel looks up. "Monster? Where? Perhaps I can be of some assistance?" A monster meant potential for him to learn more Blue Magic, and if not, perhaps some treasure or payment in return for slaying it.

[Ridai]

Caim picks up the mugger and puts him over his shoulder, taking the knife with him. He momentarily looks around for more dangers, but not seeing any he starts moving towards the city guard, although a bit more quickly to not invite more trouble. Once there, he simply says "I want to report an attempted mugging.", hands the man and his knife over and leaves, unless there are important questions to be answered.

Didn't Caim start at 3 XP, according to your last PM, putting him at 4 now?

[Doggie_arf]

Miles recoils visibly as the man suddenly releases a rapid-fire stream of technical questions at his face. The package nearly slips from his grasp, but he manages to stabilize it one-handed.

"Wait, wait, wait, slow down, I can't hear what you're saying. And how the heck did you even se-oh." At this point, he realizes that his coat-sleeve has slipped when he reached for his ear, revealing the metal and wires underneath. Cursing, he rams his hat further down over his eyes, and drops his arm back to his side, before continuing.

"Damn button fell off - stuff round here doesn't last long........Look, I arrived here with those parts, and I have no idea how that happened." Actually, he had a relatively good idea, but he wasn't about to share it with some random stranger whom he'd just met. Especially not one who showed such........fanatic adulation; it was unnerving, to say the least.

"Anyway, that's not important now. Excuse me, there was some sort of message........" With that, he raises his free hand to his face again, not really noticing that this reveals his mechanical arm. Squinting out into the distance, he mutters something about "'Parent unit without function'? And what's this about transmitting a map?"

Evidently, he's reading - or listening to - something that the frantic looking guy on the cart can't see (or hear).

[Codemus]

Strabo almost visibly deflated when the strange man told him that. "Oh, okay. Sorry to bother you." He started to turn away, but stopped before he did. "You are... communicating with something? Using machines? This is a day of wonders surely!"

He wanted to ask questions, but the man probably didn’t know anything so he held them back. Instead, Strabo just stared at the mans mechanical limbs. He was trying to commit as much of it to memory. “So, what’s your name mister?

[Der_DWSage]

Ander and Alaric
The two of them would manage to get to the door...or so it would seem. When they tried to actually exit the open doorway, they'd find their noses bumping against open air. It was...disturbingly solid.

So. Definitely magic. The only question was, what kind of barrier was it? And all the while, the man was starting to sing in a mildly mocking voice...he seemed to be cracking up a bit, too. Well, even more than usual.


"Am I the shover, or am I fate?
The two Mages, have I garnered their hate?
Am I the shover, or am I fate?
If they think they're the first, they're simply too late!

They think I'm mad, or simply cruel
To do these things to them.
They think I'm mad, or simply cruel
not seeing the hidden gem.

They don't see the point of the game,
They think I'm just a pain!
They don't see the point of the game,
They think I'm just insane...

But all things have a hidden meaning,
even our meeting today.
But all things have a hidden meaning,
and soon you'll join the foray...

The Dreamer and the Lover,
Forever together, now split,
the Dreamer and the Lover,
forever...together...and...split?"

The singing stopped for a moment, the last line making him suddenly hesitant. He's silent for a moment before saying, "Thaaaat's right. I'm split. Split, fractured, shattered...I don't matter at all, gentlemen. Oh...but the girl...yes...the girl...I think I know who it is. And if it's not, no harm done...and in the Red...you wear...yes, you look like a warrior, and I see the shape of your mind. You want to be a hero. I...yes. I have a damsel in distress, don't I...?" He was starting to ramble to himself now, but at least he seemed to have pulled himself together...they could even see a shimmer in the air, probably denoting where he was...

(Ander)
Events like this have not happened in the past timelines. The red-coated Lallafel, being trapped in a library by a...spirit? Some kind of spirit, and this prophecy...this is all new, but who knows? It might just lead back into events that happened before. Still, it's unusual-things usually don't change until he's a little further in. Usually he'd be meeting that Paladin at the steps of his church by now...

Strabo
The quick admonishment of the man was annoying, it was sure...but then again, he probably had his reasons. This entire thing was fascinating...and to make it even better, there was another sound underneath the machinery. It wasn't quite all there, but...then again...it -was.- A song? Almost like birdsong, sliding in underneath the cover of metal hitting metal, but there nonetheless. He could make out just the tracest portion of it, and it was glorious. It was...sweet. Gentle. He felt like he'd just received a warm hug from his mother, the innate sense that everything would be alright...

Miles
0N10n K-NGT Unit 4^&%...comm%^nic*n bre(k';g up. Signal Boosted. Not time. Transmitting map. Save Parent Unit. If Parent Unit shut down, then Jux-

Signal lost. Reason:Loss of signal.

It wasn't a -complete- loss. In the corner of his field of vision, if he looked hard, he could see a map...well...a floorplan, anyway. Most of one. It seems that the file had been cut off in mid-send, and whatever it was hadn't made it completely through. But...

If he looked closely, he could see another thing, hidden inside the map. A crude...drawing? Of a blue figure. As if drawn by a loving child. He'd find his mechanical arm reaching out for it before he realized it...but the factory below him, it felt wrong. Like it was a place of torture, not of mere machinery. And yet...his arm reached for the picture of the blue figure again, weakly, despite that it had no physical form.

Thunder
"Um...oh! Am to be knowing! Am to be needing Bluecloth help! Bluecloth people am to help Heartscry before, am sure to am help now! Bluecloth am hide in alleyway, Heartscry am would sing to them, am muchmany wonderfuls!" She began to hum, caught up in the memory...but the Dragoon's sharp senses-and the fact that the guy almost bumped into him-revealed an interesting sight. A simply-garbed man walked past him, carrying an unconscious man over his shoulders...someone with a blue piece of cloth hanging from his pocket. Coincidence? He was headed towards a guard post, (A simple brick building with, perhaps, three rooms-really just a place for guardsmen to hang out and be found) with the two men at the entrance stopping him-probably just curious how he got himself an unconscious buddy. After a few moments, a third man came out of the guard post as well.

Caim
Caim would find it easy enough to carry the man out-he probably weighed a hundred pounds if he was soaking wet. And wearing sponges. He got a few funny looks-especially from one heavily-armored man with a spear-but he was able to get to the guardpost without incident. When he got there, he was stopped at the entrance by two guards-one of them a bit chubby, the other as lean and sleek as a tiger, both of them with a pistol at their sides. The chubby one spoke up first, saying "Oi! Mugging? I hate to put it to you like this lad, but...well, do you have witnesses? You don't look cut up...and if it's your word against his, he might just be walking the streets tomorrow."

The skinnier one nods, leaning against the wall as he adds, "S'true. Used to be that people would get assaulted, and the assaulter would claim the assaulted was attacking them. Lotta people were unhappy with that. So...Hakaril 'imself said that people had to have witnesses, or some kind of proof they were mugged. Most we can do is lock him up for a night, for his safety."

A third guard poked his head out, this one wearing a different uniform-while the other two were wearing slightly rusty chainmail, this one was wearing a thick leather and cloth outfit, and he wore something shiny on his collar. "Sorry, I was listening from inside. You can make a statement if you like, and if he gets brought in again, it'll prove a pattern of miscond...hm? Hello, what's this...?" He walked over to the unconscious man, tugging something out of his pocket that had been half-exposed. "...Might be a member of Bluebeard's gang. Bloody Moogle...want to earn some money? I'll pay out of my own pocket to find out for sure..."

(OOC)You know, at some point, I really need to doublecheck all those character sheets. I'll probably do it tomorrow. Yes, you have 4 XP, not 3.

Damien
A former cutpurse he might be, but few things could beat the sharp senses of an old man who'd given a young man chores to do. He'd find his path inside was cut off by the old priest, bent over his walking can and smiling. "Ah, Damien! Finish your chores alrea-well hello there, little guy! Aw, you're so sweet..." The last was spoken to the fox, who was rubbing his face against the elder man's ankles. The priest chuckled, bending over to stroke his head and back, the fox seeming to melt into his hands. "Now where did you find this little guy, Damien? If I'm not mistaken, this is a Jadebreed...common enough where I come from, but certainly a rarity here. He must have an owner...he's too docile to be wild. Paw!" The fox put a paw in the older man's outstretched hand obediently, though he withdrew it after a second. "...Definitely trained. They're said to be related to Carbuncle's children, you know...fascinating creatures. Whether they're related to the Esper or not, they can actually -smell- magic."

Leorin
The serving girl who had rushed out of the back gave him a bit of an odd look, sizing up the tiny man...all while the other patrons rushed out of the restaurant themselves. Still, whatever was going through her mind found him to be decent enough, and she pointed at the kitchen. "Something came in through the back way...some kind of big plant...goblin...thing! I don't know, I'm no, no monsterologist! All I know is that the cook tried to fight it off with a butcher knife, and it laid him out flat in a single blow! And Jason's a -big- man!" And with that, she took off herself, heading outside with speed.

The eatery was emptied in short order...except for one man. An Elvaan with a pistol on his hip, a beret on his head, and thick leather jacket covering his torso was still sipping his tea peacefully.

[Gourtox]

Thunder approached the men in front of the guard post. "Hello there," he says to the guards. "Woah. He takes a step back as if he was reeling from the sight of the uncouncious man. "What happened to your friend?"

[Ridai]

Caim nods at the two guards. "I have no evidence beyond my word."

He looks towards the third one, his body otherwise motionless, following the actions with his glowing green eyes. He doesn't care about the reward, but doesn't decline it either. The guard offered it and doesn't seem to absolutely need the sum, so there is no shame in accepting it. "My purpose is to protect and serve, so I'll help if it makes this place safer. What has this gang done in the past and what do you want me to do?"

As another newcomer adresses Caim, the young man responds while barely turning towards him. "Attempted mugging."

[Bad Situation]

Damien stood blankfaced at the old man. The escape from chore detail had not gone as well as he had hoped it would. Now, the only option was to come clean and hope that the priest wasn't in the mood for a good drubbing.

"My friend here wants me to accompany him to places unknown. As your student, I feel as if it is my duty to see him off safely.

Moving quickly, he attempted to dart past the priest, "Now if you'll excuse me I need to get my things."

[Codemus]

Strabo didn't wait long for a reply. He turned and quickly walked back over to the hole the 0N10N K-NGT had went down and looked down in it again. He thought over his course of action for a bit, then decided what he would do.

Strabo stood up, screwed up the courage, and jumped into the hole. "AAAAAAHHH!" He didn't like heights.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Hey, easy..." Says Ander. Then he whispers to Alaric. "I'll try to chase him your way. Pretend not to notice him until you're ready to grab him."

Ander starts to wander around the stacks, seemingly searching for a door... And circling the shimmer in the air at the same time.

"Yeah, the girl. You think you know who she is, whiz? Sure, please tell us. You sound stuck as we are, maybe worse. Got my sympathy... I know what it's like to be broken. Still..."

At this point he's worked his way mostly around, and starts moving toward the sparkle in the air, straight toward it, hourglass in one hand and sands shaking. "I don't like being taunted. It's unwanted."

[BluesEclipse]

As Ander circles around the shimmering figure, Alaric shifts position slightly, half-turning towards the door, looking at it with the best quizzical expresion he can muster. With the hand facing the figure, he reaches into his pouch, rummaging through the dusty substance within as though looking for something. His other hand, hidden from the invisible man's line of sight, reaches for his sword. And upon hearing Ander's shout, he draws his hand from the pouch and flings the handful of chalk dust towards the figure, while at the same time drawing his sword with his other hand.

/OOC
The chalk dust, of course, comes from my Pouch of Answers.

[Gourtox]

"An attempting muggin, eh? what do you plan to do with this would be criminal?" He bent over looking into the face of the uncouncious man.

[Doggie_arf]

Miles struggles to understand the........sending by the machine, the old lady's errand and the other man all but forgotten for the moment. The map image was incomplete, but he felt that it would be enough to find his way around. What was strange was the feelings of adoration for the blue figure - the Parent Unit? - on the map, so much at odds with the sensations of pain and torture coming from the factory itself.

Realizing that he has stretched his hand out, grasping at the air where the map had appeared in his vision, he shakes his head vigorously to clear it, muttering darkly to himself. "As if speaking to machines wasn't bad enough - now I'm feeling emotions from them. I must be going mad afte-"

Looking up, he is just in time to see the odd stranger disappearing down the hole into the factory, screaming his head off as he descends into the depths. Miles stares incredulously at the hole for a few seconds - he certainly hadn't expected this to happen. "........Right. If I'm mad, he's definitely off his rocker, jumping down into the unknown like that."

Sighing, the half-machine engineer of dubious sanity places the package on the other man's cart, before lowering himself down the hole, trying to ignore the "evil" emanating from the factory below. The errand would have to wait.

(OOC: While we're on the subject of character sheets, Miles is supposed to have 5 VIT and 7 DEX (as per the sheet submitted by PM), not the other way round. His HP, ACC, EVA and skills reflect the correct ability scores - his weapon damage, however, doesn't.)

[Ridai]

Caim doesn't answer the stranger as he considers the current situation to be sufficiently self-explanatory.

[Der_DWSage]

Ander and Alaric
The chalk dust seemed to cover...something...at least for a few moments. In a perfect world, the dust would have perfectly outlined him-however, at least they had an idea of where his chest was with that. He started to giggle, no outward signs of realizing he'd been dusted.


Together forever, broken together,
that's what happened to us!
Together forever, broken together,
someone broke our trust!

I was split into just six,
And she was taken, true!
I was split into just six,
No longer true to blue!

Now I've gone mad, yes truly mad,
trying to keep my grip on reality!
Now I've gone mad, yes truly mad,
to be split is to lose your sanity!

The two of you are caught in the middle
of things beyond your ken!
The two of you are caught in the middle
with any help I can lend!

He was...actually crying now. And the library seemed like it was shifting, losing parts of itself, bookcases disappearing and reappearing and melding with each other and breaking apart, but through it all, at least the chalk dust in the air didn't leave. But the library seemed to be reforming into a...factory? In front of their eyes. At least a portion of one. And in a tall tube made of paper from various books, they could see something through a hole.

A woman with gossamer wings like that of a beetle, blue skinned and fair, undeniably beautiful...like a china doll that was never meant to be touched. She was simply sitting there, and the 'voice' was crying...

Thunder and Caim
The unconscious man was still, well, unconscious...but he was now smiling in his sleep. The leather-and-cloth guard nodded to Caim and Thunder, saying, "We've had a thugging problem lately, is the thing. We've been trying to keep it contained, keep it down, but...well, it seems like there's two crooks for every guard, and with us having to prove they're scum, it's been murder trying to keep them from stealing everything that isn't nailed down...and then stealing the nails to boot. If you're of a mind to help-civic duty and all that, and also the fact that I'll pay you 250 gil for a few minutes work-I could really use y-eh?"

He was cut off by a sound in the air...it sounded like birdsong, but it was far too -pure- to be birdsong. It seemed to speak directly to the spirit, to the soul, every rise in the lilting notes making the three guards smile, and every drop making them sigh...and if Caim and Thunder didn't catch themselves, they'd find they were doing it too!

It took a little while for one of the guards-Chubby-to ask, "Where's that coming from...?"

Engineer Duo, Miles and Strabo
Fortunately for them, the hole was only a good six feet down-tall enough for the little knight, but they would almost touch the celing just walking. The factory that they'd leapt into was...almost offensive to the senses. The scent of oil was overwhelming, the cacophony of metal pounding on metal amazing, and it was poorly lit, to boot. After a few moments their eyes would adjust to the dim light, but it was still tough going...

For as far as they could see, there were catwalks splitting every which way, and more machinery below, beside, and above them. Hooks, cranes, esoteric limbs and parts...for right now though, there were two major directions they could take. Did they go to the right, towards a T-shaped intersection and the source of many of the sounds, or would they go to the left, where the scent and the sounds seemed less...invasive? The little Knight was nowhere to be seen...

Damien
The old man considered it for a second, and looked to be on the verge of denying him what he wanted...when the fox nipped at the old man, and looked at him expectantly.

"...Well. He seems intelligent enough. Perhaps I should let you go..." He sighed heavily, petting the fox's head for a moment...and finally nodding.

When Damien tried to slip past, the priest spoke to his retreating back. "Alright. You can go-but you still have chores when you come back, understood?"

[Ridai]

Caim grabs the unconscious thug with one hand and shoves him towards the chubby guard before turning to the leather-armored one. "Civic duty is enough for me." He turns around and raises his head, trying to locate where the sound is coming from, beginning to move around to see when it gets stronger or weaker. A quick gesture to follow towards the other man who doesn't seem to be affected, and Caim begins to follow it more actively, using his vertical mobility too, be it jumps or running on various surfaces, if he needs to.

[Doggie_arf]

Miles doesn't have to drop far before his feet touch ground - judging from the low ceiling, the place wasn't built to human scale. Assuming that it had been built - anything could be possible here within the Void.

As soon as he touches down, his eyes begin to glow a faint red as his enhanced vision quickly adjusts to the faint lighting. He briefly considers chewing out the other man for jumping down like that - they could've dropped straight into grinding machinery, for all he knew - before deciding against it. After all, he'd jumped into the hole too, and was in no real place to chastise anyone for doing so.

Straightening up as much as possible, the engineer takes in his surroundings. Oil, gears, mechanical limbs clanking and turning, the place seemed to weigh down on everything within, a sense of wrongness emanating from the entire factory.

Grimacing, Miles attempts to get his bearings based on the incomplete map, at the same time trying to sense if there was anything approaching, be it the little robot or something else entirely........

Awareness: [roll0]

[Codemus]

Strabo looked around in awe of the machines. He turned when he heard the other man jump down behind him. "Can you belive it? There is no telling how long this has been here! It's the find of a lifetime! Haha!" Drawn to explore the place, Strabo left the man behind at the intersection. He walked hunched over to avoid hitting his head on anything.

Strabo will go to the right, to see what all that noise was about.

[Bad Situation]

A quick 'thank you' emerged from Damien's lips as he rushed past the priest and into his room. Almost not believing his luck, his belongings were handled roughly, half expecting his caretaker to change his mind should he tarry any further.

"I'll be back before dinner!" he manages to shout on his way out.

[Lost Demiurge]

Ander stops.

"I think I see. I think I know... That killing a magical being, that process you talked about. Someone did it to you. And someone's going to do it to her."

His eyes harden, and his voice is grim.

"NOT IF I CAN HELP IT! Alright. Point us in the right direction, voice. Shadow. Whatever you were or are, right now you're her lifeline, and we're the cavalry. Give us a starting point. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO LATE!"

Now he's on top of a pile of books, clambering towards the hole.

"NOT SO LONG AS ONE PERSON'S LEFT TO TRY, GUY!"

[BluesEclipse]

Alaric looks sympathetically at the shimmering in the air, and nods resolutely. "Right... we can help you. We can help her..." Moving towards the hole, he says, "I don't know just who would do something like that... who would be so... so twisted... so sick, as to tear apart another being's very soul for power. But I won't let it stand." Looking towards the girl, he moves one hand towards his sword, a determined gleam in his eyes. "No matter what it takes... I won't allow this to continue."

Following Ander, he smiles grimly. "Let's go, old man!"

[Der_DWSage]

Ander and Alaric
The voice was sobbing uncontrollably now. Then they'd feel a tug to the side, and the library would simply...vanish. They were completely in a factory, though not quite the one they were in before. It was loud, unfortunately so, screaming machinery pounding in the ears of the two small men.

Fortunately, they weren't so deprived of their senses that they didn't notice a few things aside from the loudness of the machinery and the darkness of the factory. For one thing, they were both wearing simple silver pendants that glowed with a soft blue light...and for another, two men were there as well. One of them was a Hume, wearing a sidearm and looking a little too...frantic as he explored the place, while the other was more cautious, wearing clothing that covered most of his body, but there was something about his eyes that was visible even in the dark. And through it all, they heard the faintest notes of a song...If you wish to be more current on the situation, read through Strabo and Miles' spoilers as well.

Damien
The old man hadn't quite agreed -yet,- but Damien was gone before he could even think of something to argue with. Instead, the green fox kept yipping quietly to get him to hurry...and by the time they ran off, the elder Priest just sighed and shook his head. After all, it was simply youthful exuberance...nothing to dull -that- but time, and then it would be a sad occurance.

Once he'd left the temple, the fox seemed to be leading him to the Main Plaza, where the markets generally met...

Miles and Strabo
The factory was only getting louder the further they travelled, machinery pounding on metal, gears grinding, the scent of oil and rust flooding their nostrils...much of it seemed rusted and worn from wear and tear, but it was workable. Likely a less-fastidious engineering team had the mentality of 'If it ain't broke, don't maintain it.' The path seemed a bit worn...but when Miles concentrated, he could make out the dim lights of machines-and people-somewhere further down. Likely past a wall, since he was only able to make out blurs with his enhanced eyes.

Of course, it would probably throw them completely off guard when two small Lallafels would materialize in front of them, one of them dressed like the typical Red Mage and complete with a sword at his side and a feathered cap on his head. The other one looked like he hadn't slept in quite some time, simply tired as all get out and looked like he was much older than he truly was. Both of them seemed to be incredibly determined...about something. And both were sporting a gently glowing pendant...and both of them use the faintest notes of a song just under the noise of machinery, in the direction they were going anyway... For more information on the situation, feel free to read Ander and Alaric's spoilers.

Caim and Thunder
The singing continued, soft and quiet, and Caim's rushing around would make him realize...the noise seemed to be coming from the man that wasn't a guard. Or more specifically, a point above and behind him, as if from something floating in the air. But if he batted at it, he'd find his hands hit nothing...just a voice. A pleasant, calming voice that offered peace and serenity, but still just a voice.

[Gourtox]

"Heartscry, why are you singing?" he whispers quietly to the singing voice.

[BluesEclipse]

Looking around rapidly at the sudden change of scenery, Alaric's gaze rests upon the two newcomers. "Just who are you? And what are you doing here?" he says, even as he strains his ears to try and find the source of the music.

[Der_DWSage]

Thunder and Caim
"Am happyful! Am...not to be sure why, but am to be joyousness!" The three guards seemed a little bit surprised at the voice as they stirred out of their dreamy states, the one with less armor even reaching for a weapon...

But the thug that Caim had brought in earlier was groaning aloud, even asking, "Wait...Heartscry? Baby Blue? What...what're you doing here? Thought you went off with...whassisname..." before he slipped off to unconsciousness again.

The song started again, a gentle hum in the background of the little guardpost, invigorating and reflective...but she broke it for a moment to say, "Am not to be knowing where Kyle is...but man am sleepyful. Am wish could give sweetdream, but am needing body for...."

[Gourtox]

"Hey uh sir, How would you like to take that uncouncious man and go for a walk with me? Oh my name is Thunder by the way." he says to the man who is not a guard.

[Codemus]

Strabo, absorbed in his surroundings as he was, only noticed the two lallafels after one of them spoke. Startled, Strabo jumped a little but recovered quickly. "GAH-Uh, *cough* sorry. You gave me a good scare. Sorry, didn't mean to... intrude. We just sorta found a way into here, and just started looking around. I take it you two work here? Weird, you don't seem like the engineering type. The place could use some work, the condition in some areas is deteriorating. I could help with that, I’d love to see more of the place. Oh, right, sorry. I'm Strabo Brigantes, traveling engineer. And my companion here is... somebody. I haven't actually had time to introduce myself to him, sorry about that. We've been a little busy. You didn't happen to see a small bot run by here did you? Maybe about your height, swinging a sword around, you know bot things.” He spoke almost breathlessly, and the whole time he was more fixated on the surrounding machinery than the two lallafels in front of him

[Lost Demiurge]

"We don't work here." Says Ander, scrutinizing Strabo. "We're on a rescue mission, since there's a girl in danger, stranger. Are you two good men? If so, then let's go. Time's wasting and I should know."

[BluesEclipse]

Nodding at Ander's words, Alaric elaborates, "Like he said, there's a girl - a magical creature of some sort - trapped in this place. Whoever set this up is forcibly taking the magic from others... and we're trying to stop them." Turning away from the two men, Alaric draws his sword. "As for you're robot, we haven't seen anything like that - but I think this is a bit more important. Since you're an engineer, you can probably help us... will you?" He glances back over his shoulder at Strabo and his companion questioningly, anxiety evident on his face.

[Bad Situation]

The human body was simply not made for chasing after small woodland creatures. Least of all magical woodland creatures. "I'm grateful that you got me out of chores but could you at least tell me where we're going?" Damien managed to puff about.

He feels silly the second the thought passes through his lips. He may have had a reputation for being weird, but talking to wild animals certainly brought the rumors to new levels.

[Ridai]

The appearance of a disembodied voice is surprising, but apparently not a sign of danger. Caim simply asks "Why," making no effort to comply or let the mugger be taken away until he has an answer.

[Doggie_arf]

Miles had lived long enough in the Void to be accustomed to Lallafels - after all, Juxtaposition was a haven for the natives of many worlds, races and creeds. The sudden appearance of two of them in the middle of the walkway wasn't something he'd expected to happen, however - how had they gotten there, anyway? Did those glowing pendants have something to do with their........transportation?

The rescue mission the younger one spoke of was even more alarming. A trapped magical creature? Could it be that this factory was powered by MagiTek? Had the factory's owners' - whoever they were - discovered the technology themselves, or had it come from elsewhere? Perhaps that explained the sensations of wrongness that pervaded the factory - he'd have to find out more. Picking his words carefully - the older Lallafel looked like he'd literally blast through anything and anyone standing in his way, he addresses Strabo and the two newcomers.

"My name is Miles LeGraff, and I know something of this........draining of magic that you mentioned." Which was true, if not exactly accurate. "You are correct about the importance of finding the girl - I might be able to help with that. We must be careful, however; I believe that there are other people working within this factory at present, and they may not take too kindly to our intrusion." The engineer looks around as he finishes his sentence, the dim lighting seemingly enhancing the dull red nightvision-glow of his eyes.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Alright. Good." Ander calms down. "I'm Ander. This is Alaric. Lead on, then Miles, you look like the best equipped to navigate the space of this place."

[Doggie_arf]

Miles blinks in surprise at Ander's response. Well, his mechanical "eye" flickers at the same time that his normal eye opens and closes, so one could probably call that blinking. Anyway, semantics aside, he hadn't expected the aged Lallafel to calm down that quickly, considering how........driven Ander had been just seconds ago.

"........I might be able to find a way." After all, there was that incomplete map he'd "received" (and was still trying to make sense of). "But before we continue, Ander, perhaps you and Alaric could tell me what this........magical creature looks like. It'd be easier if we knew what to look out for."

[BluesEclipse]

Nodding at Miles, Alaric says, "The woman we saw has blue skin... and insect-like wings. She's actually rather beautiful." Looking at the others there, he says, "As for others here... if they get in our way, we'll deal with them."

[Doggie_arf]

"Hmm........the little robot's map had a blue figure marked on it. The two could be related - you might be able to find your - er, how to pronounce this - 'Onion Knight' later, Strabo."

Realizing that this might be somewhat confusing, Miles decides to clarify for everyone's sake, especially for Ander and Alaric. "I........can talk to machines. More like, some machines are able to 'speak' to me, after a fashion. The little robot that Strabo here mentioned 'sent' a rough map of the factory into my head, somehow, and I think that it shows where the Esper - the magical creature - can be found. Call it crazy - I'm still not quite sure how it works. But it's probably our best bet right now."

"I'll try to find us the most direct path there. Parts of the map aren't complete, though - if that fails, we'll head towards where the people and machinery are. From what I can tell, the two of you are very willing to make them talk." As the engineer says this, he calls up the map again in his mind's eye, attempting to find the fastest route from their location to that of the blue Esper.

Trying to move things along on my side. Hope I'm not stealing the show too much - my posts here have tended to be extremely long.

[BluesEclipse]

"Let's go, then!" Alaric says, smiling briefly at Miles.

[Gourtox]

"Why? Well I have a feeling that there are things we should dicuss. They are most interesting subjects." He says with implicating that they are things best discussed in private.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Esper..." Ander's frowning. Then he grimaces, and covers his eyes. "This one? Gods, no. Probably not, feels different. Hope the clown doesn't show.

He looks back up and flashes a wan smile. "Sorry. Just talking to myself. Lead on, Miles."

No, it's fine! I don't mind long responses.

[Codemus]

Strabo looked sad briefly, but he shrugged and smiled. "I can always try and find it later. Besides, things are starting to get really intresting." As they walked, he would turn to the others with a confused look on his face. "So what is an Esper? It sounds like nothing I've ever seen before."

[Ridai]

"...Very well. If I hear nothing of redeeming value, I will return him to the guard," Caim states calmly with no sign of emotion, whether positive or negative, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. Just as he expects the other to fulfill the unspoken promise of non-hostility, unless he wants to force matching retaliation.

[Gourtox]

"There is something extremely strange going on around here. That singing as I'm sure you've noticed isn't normal. Its something called Heartscry and whoever that guy is knows who or what that is. The voice is trying to get me to help, but I need that guy to make a decision and since you are the one who brought him I figured you wouldn't just let me take him. So what do you say, do you want to help me find out what is going on?" He whispers to Caim quiet enough that the guards can't hear.

[Ridai]

"Then he will serve this purpose and be returned to the authorities later, unless a sufficient justification for his actions is provided." Caim lowers his voice a bit, but this is mostly because of the proximity of Thunder, not because he does not want to be heard by anyone else but him.

[Der_DWSage]

Factory Expedition Group
The machinery continued to roar around them, the place continued to be dark, and the entire thing felt...wrong somehow. Like this was worse than a normal factory, that this was a place of death and something worse than death. It was difficult enough to hear each other talking, but at least it was sure to mask their approach.

However, all of them would notice that there were numerous large bipedal robots inactive on the walls. Just one of them looked big enough to hold all four of them inside, or alternatively, fill them with enough holes to make them into swiss cheese.

Miles' eyes were able to get a lock on the humanoids that were nearby-they must have been through only a single wall. That meant that as soon as they found a door, they'd find company. Miles' map was faulty all the way through-according to it, this room was actually outside, and they'd walked through three walls to get to the room.

Caim and Thunder
The guards were a bit suspicious, especially the one in leather, but they let the two have their conversation. Heartscry kept crooning, but it was chiefly in the ear of their unconscious 'friend.'

Damien
The little fox was leading the poor man through the marketplace, ducking and weaving back and forth, almost losing him...except whenever he thought Damien was too far behind, the little guy would perch on his hindquarters and wait patiently for him.

Eventually, Damien would come to a guard shack...and inside of it he would he would hear singing. Beautiful, unearthly crooning, like that of an angel...

And to interrupt it, he heard a dark whisper next to his ear that had no physical body to go with it. "You'll be staying from there for a moment, young hero. I can't go in there with her, not even with a memory of her, and we need to speak yet. There's more going on than you could possibly imagine, and as it happens, you seem to be just the kind of person fate likes to screw with and make into a pivot point. Now, will you listen to me, or are you wanting to forge ahead blindly? I won't hold it against you if you don't trust me, naturally, but you might want to listen and decide the truth for yourself."

[Bad Situation]

Right. Magical voices didn't happen every day, this was probably important. Watching to make sure the fox was still in sight, he responded, "I don't make a habit of speaking to ominous disembodied voices, but I suppose I'm willing to make an exception just this once, on account of it never happening before."

[Der_DWSage]

Damien
"Hah. Innocence becomes you. Alright young one...hm. Where to start, that's the question. First of all, could you go to a nearby alleyway or something? You don't want to look crazy while I talk to you."

The fox was actually back at Damien's feet, sniffing at the air curiously...seems he detected something Damien didn't. And whether the boy found somewhere private or not, the voice would keep speaking.

"First of all, I guess you should know that I'm a traveller, like anyone else that ends up in the rift. Er, sorry. Void. I...used to be somethi...someone that would keep Nightmares at bay. And I don't mean I just ensured you got a good night's sleep, I mean I kept Nightmares from manifesting in a person's body and coming -through- that body. It's happened before, it's not pretty. And if you don't work to prevent it, something very similar is going to happen here. Have you ever heard of something called The Word Made Flesh?"

The more the voice spoke, the more it betrayed some of its nature...it wasn't quite high enough to be a woman, but it could be a teenaged boy, or perhaps even a pre-teen! It also had an...edge to it. Something that a teenager simply shouldn't have. It was hard to place...but the fox had leapt onto Damien's shoulder, and was cutely curled up against his neck. It was surprisingly light...

[Doggie_arf]

How nice. A map sent all the way to his head, and it had to be garbled beyond all repair. Either the map had been corrupted due to the partial sending by the little 'Onion Knight', or the map had been accurate, and it was the factory itself that had been changed by the Void.

The latter scenario raised another possibility - could this factory have been part of the Research Facility back home? But the hulking, inactive robots on the walls didn't resemble anything Miles had remembered seeing before, experimental or otherwise. Either way, he'd have to find out what this place was doing right beneath the Junkyard, and what it was being used for.

"Unfortunately, the map doesn't seem to make much sense. However, I think we are quite close to where the people I mentioned earlier were - we just need to find a way in........"

[Lost Demiurge]

How nice. A map sent all the way to his head, and it had to be garbled beyond all repair. Either the map had been corrupted due to the partial sending by the little 'Onion Knight', or the map had been accurate, and it was the factory itself that had been changed by the Void.

The latter scenario raised another possibility - could this factory have been part of the Research Facility back home? But the hulking, inactive robots on the walls didn't resemble anything Miles had remembered seeing before, experimental or otherwise. Either way, he'd have to find out what this place was doing right beneath the Junkyard, and what it was being used for.

"Unfortunately, the map doesn't seem to make much sense. However, I think we are quite close to where the people I mentioned earlier were - we just need to find a way in........"

"If we can't find a door then point me to a thin wall." Says Ander. "Entropy and I go drinking on Tuesdays." His smile is supposed to show that he's joking. It's more like a grimace.

[Doggie_arf]

"They're just past this wall over here. How thick the wall is, I'm not too sure." Miles pauses for a moment, looking thoughtfully at the offending wall. "Even if you can't blast straight through, it might be weakened enough for us to ram through it........wish we had some explosives - it'd make our lives a lot easier here."

[Lost Demiurge]

“Alright. Let’s see here….”Pulling out the hourglass and remembering what he had of his all-too-meager training, Ander glares at the wall.
Using my time mage trick of making items age rapidly. I’ll leave the rolling to you, senor gm, until I manage to sit down and read the darn book...

[Bad Situation]

Damien caught the slip up, this 'something' was dangerous. Though, dangerous to who he could not say. He didn't know what 'The Word Made of Flesh' was but the way every letter was capitalized intrigued him. Of course, he would first need to clear something up... "Is-is that some sort of pornographic literary work? If so I apologize for my ignorance, the high priest would never allow something like that in our halls."

[Codemus]

Strabo, who had up till now been lost in his own world examining the large mechanical constructs they had been passing, clapped his hands and gave a shout. "Juxtaposition! Haha!" He then clamped a hand over his mouth in embarrassment and looked over to the others. "Sorry, I just now remembered the name of the city. It's been bugging me."

[Der_DWSage]

Factory Expedition Team
Ander's trick actually works better than one might think-the section of wall that he glares at seems to rust under his steely gaze, the rust spreading as it turns from reddish-brown to brown to black...but who knew how thick it went? (-5 MP to Ander, wall's toughness has been reduced by 4 at that point.)

Damien
The voice actually laughed at that, honest and raucous as he did so! Damien could almost imagine he saw a black figure holding his gut in mid-air...but it was a trick of the light. Wasn't it? Of course it was.

"Ah, youth. Never lose that innocence, please. It'd make my better half very happy. No, it's not a porn magazine. It's an artrifact. Even I'm not too sure about what it is, but...the thoughts I'd heard were pretty strong about getting it. Because it was one of the things that could influence the Crystals...you know about the crystals, right? Even the Void has them. Only they're not fire, earth, wind, and water...they're something else altogether. I've only found two of them myself, but I know that Love and Life are in their number...I'm not even sure if there's only four of them."

[BluesEclipse]

Nodding at Ander's handiwork, Alaric steps up, rummaging through his pouch. Pulling out a set of dynamite sticks, taped together, he smiles, and says,"My turn, now." Affixing the dynamite to the wall, he motions everyone back. Once everyone is at a reasonable distance, he snaps his fingers, using magic to create a small spark and set off the explosive.

Pouch of Answers used to create explosives. General magic used to ignite it - going by the rule about being able to create basic effects without needing specific spells.
Attempt to Break Wall(Not sure what all modifiers are added to this, other than SPR): [roll0] + 3

[Bad Situation]

"And what would you have me do exactly?" It made him wonder, did disembodied voices really talk this much? If so he would make it a point to avoid them in the future. But for now he would humor the voice, his disembodied voice was being rather polite, it would be rude to disregard him. Her. Damien settled on an 'It'. Small mercies.

"And why are you keeping me from entering the shack?"

[Gourtox]

"Heartscry, what do you need us to do?"

[Der_DWSage]

Factory Expedition Team
The wall was busted through with style thanks to that magic pouch...but there was a downside to getting through that way.

Namely, there was a bunch of people in there, and they were either fleeing for their lives or drawing weapons. It was hard to make out -too- much in the ruckus, but a few things could be heard...such as 'I'm too young to die!' and 'I'm out of here!' and 'Protect the Esper!'

Oh dear. At least it was better lit in there...they could clearly see their opponents. There were three men in some kind of uniform, each of them drawing pistols and staying back, using the general clutter of the room to their advantage. And there were...six men in labcoats or overalls that were simply fleeing the room in a different direction.
Combat is starting, folks. Everyone will be at -2 to accuracy for the first round as their eyes adjust to the light. The soldiers are at a Long Range currently, and shooting at them while they're behind cover will incur a cumulative -2 penalty. There are other effects that people may find out if they get tricky enough, though....plenty of scrap lying around, and some people could easily find something explosive, or something that'll move with a good jolt...

Damien
"Nothing too much. Be aware of them, keep that information in the back of your mind. I just don't think you should get swept in something without a -little- information. And I'm stopping you from going in there because being around that woman causes physical pain to me. She's...pure." That last word had a hint of wistfulness to it. Actually, it was more than a hint. It was practically a lovelorn sigh. Regardless, it was there. "But nevermind that. Just know that, if you don't fight it too hard, you're going to get swept up in an adventure that...well, I'll be honest. You could end up saving all of the Rift. Void. Whatever you call it. Keep an eye out for the Word Made Flesh. You won't find it unless you know about it and don't seek it out. Now take care...and be careful, alright? The world needs more innocence. It doesn't need another dead kid.

It was hard to tell...but whatever the voice was, it was probably gone now. Even the little fox let out a whine.

Caim and Thunder
It would take a little while for Heartscry to respond, as she wanted to finish humming her quiet tune to the mugger...but eventually it stopped and that chirping, chipper voice started up again.

"Am not really to be knowing...am want find Kyle, but am not to be knowing where start! Am to help find Kyle? Am to help find body? Am muchmany sorrowfuls, having voice without body...am to be knowing how Kyle am feel..."

[Ridai]

Caim's expression shifts slightly, showing what is likely his equivalent of a questioning look at Thunder, since he starts a conversation with the being in the middle of the street despite trying to be discreet (if very shadily so) before. "I fail to see why you urged me to secrecy before. We can question the mugger here."

[Doggie_arf]

"Impressive," Miles mutters, staring at the largish hole that had been formed. He'd expected explosives or a blast of arcane force from one of the mages, but corroding the wall first? That was sheer genius.

As the dust settles, however, the engineer begins to wonder if blasting their way in had been a good idea. The brightly-lit room beyond had a fair number of people within - most were fleeing, but three of them had drawn pistols and taken cover amidst the machinery and strewn wreckage.

Ducking behind one of the inactive robots, Miles draws his own sidearm as he scans the newly-revealed room carefully. He wasn't about to backtrack and find another route with that erroneous map in his head - which meant finding a way to take these soldiers down before any reinforcements could come to support them........

Miles will spend some time looking at the revealed room beyond, trying to find something that can get rid of the troops effectively. Possible examples include the aforementioned explosive stuff (possibly) strewn around the room, or even some machinery with weak supports that could be used to pin/crush at least one of the soldiers. Bonus points if it restricts the fleeing scientists, too.

Awareness: [roll0]

[BluesEclipse]

Alaric smiles and draws his sword, stepping through the hole in the wall and ducking behind some of the rubble in the room. Noting the position of his foes, he begins chanting, drawing on magical energies to strike at the foes.

Instant Action: Move to Medium Range
Slow Action: Cast Meteorite: 3xSPR(9) = 27 + [roll0] non-elemental damage to enemy group.

[Bad Situation]

"Right. Save the world, forget about the Word and try not to scam on your girl. Don't worry mysterious voice, I can handle this."

As he reached the door, Damien realized that no, he could not handle this. Already grimacing, he opened the door, expecting the worst.

[Lost Demiurge]

Ander dives for cover.

"Monsters! You won't kill her!"

[Codemus]

Strabo dove to one side of the breach and hid in cover. "Wait, guys! I'm sure we can talk things through with them. There is no reason to draw weapons! Well... we did kind of blow up one of their walls, but we can make up for that." He'd rather not have anyone be harmed if he could help it. Killling monsters was one thing, but harming people was something Strabo couldn't bring himself to do without great cause.

Also going defensive.

[Gourtox]

Thunder

He walks over to uncouncious man and slaps him lightly a few times on the face. "Hey wake up. I've got some questions for you." The man's eyelids flutter and he awakens. "Oh, what do you want?" "What is Heartscry? And what does it want? I'm not sure about you, but personally I find her a little hard to understand."

[Der_DWSage]

(A triumphant comeback post!)

Factory Expedition Crew

The soldiers were no fools-they knew better than to engage a larger force with both magic and the element of surprise on their side. That's why one of them was scampering with the six scientists to cover them, and the other two weren't actually firing at the group even as they pleaded for truce...or in some cases, chanted spells.

One shot went for a large glass tube at the side of the room, an odd green steam spraying out from it, while another shot went for the chanting Lallafel, though that one went mercifully wide. They stayed behind their hiding spots for now...which would provide -some- cover even from the spell that was being thrown at them. Not to say they came out unscathed-both remaining soldiers showed some signs of pretty heavy bruising from the comets that were called down upon them from nowhere.

However, Miles would notice a few important things. That green steam seems to be corroding the items around it at a surprising rate, but it'll take it several rounds to fill the room. On the wall to the right are several switches...one of which says 'Conveyer Belt.' And guess where that conveyer belt ends...? With a little maneuvering, he could almost certainly make his way there in a round, and dump the debris on top of them without firing a shot. Alternatively, there's another one of those green containers -right- to the side of him. Even he wasn't sure what exactly was in those containers, though...

(It'll be a DC 7 Dexterity check to get to the conveyer belt switch without tripping, as there's a -lot- of debris around. Or to hit the tube accurately enough to puncture it, accuracy 7-it's a curved surface. Alaric, their cover gave them 25% damage reduction from your spell, simply because the meteorite itself hit the debris instead of them. However, you also destroyed their cover, so feel free to fire at will!)

Caim and Gourtox
Well, Gourtox -thought- he heard the thug say that. It very well could've just been his mumbling. Though he woke up, he still seemed to be incredibly groggy, barely able to make out words.

"Heartscry? Y'h...gra' gal...sings ter us..." For a moment he seemed to doze off again, though he snorted awake before one could even raise a hand to him. "'Aven't seen 'er since...new boss took over..."

And with that, a newcomer came in the door-someone in pretty heavy armor, and a sword to boot, but at least it had what looked to be a holy symbol emblazoned on the front-and his companion, a little green fox, hopped on top of the sleepy thug and curled up on his head. It was absolutely adorable, especially the fact that it was nuzzling his hair while he tried to look on top of his head in confusion. The newcomer would be standing stock-still in the doorway for a good moment, long enough for them to notice he was there, but otherwise unaware of -them- for a while. His gaze suggested he was somewhere a million miles away...

(Gourtox-a warning. Trying to take control of the DM's NPCs are a no-no. Dun try it again.)

Damien
Damien would walk into the little guard post...and he would be stunned at what he found inside. Oh, there was the normal three man post there, in addition to a man in heavy armor and a man who held himself with an air of peace, but...there was so much purity there. No wonder the voice had said he couldn't follow-Damien couldn't even recall what it'd been like to be in his presence earlier!

He felt like he'd walked into a warm country cottage, cookies baking in the oven as his armor fell off of him, clattering to his sides as he became dressed in more simple, comfortable clothing. All around him was the sincere feeling of peace, the image starting to become more real to him as he heard a song pervading around him...

Only it -wasn't- a song.

It was so much more.

It was charity, it was goodwill, it was the pervading sense of -goodness- that no human could accurately share or convey, even if they felt it deep down inside. It was bliss. The song seemed to channel every good feeling in the world into a single note, and then convey the notes in a way that even the worst of villains would cry tears of joy for. It was something that could hardly be felt, simply experienced.

And then it faded, and he would realize he was still in the guard post. But there was an addition to the three guards, the thug being questioned, and what looked to be a mercenary and another man. There was a flying woman, wings like a ladybug's behind her flitting so quickly that they looked like they were made of the thinnest gossamer, radiating a peaceful blue light that simply seemed...right. She giggled when she saw him, waving playfully before she started rubbing the green fox that had perched on the thug's head sometime between his entrance and his returning to reality.

[Lost Demiurge]

Ander Skander pops his head up for a second, takes stock, then pops it down again, narrowly missing getting shot. He glances over to Alaric.

"Got a plan?" He hisses, between ducking shots.

As he asks, his eyes alight on a small spherical bit of scrap, about the size of a Hume fist. He gathers it up, and grins. Just in case...

[Bad Situation]

He had to play it smooth. They probably weren't happy with a stranger barging in like that. Thankfully he had a plan. He always had a plan.

"Hello. I am here to solicit donations for the local church."

They weren't particularly great plans, but hey nothing he could do about it.

"But you know, now that I am here," he began nervously, "maybe I could stick around. Watch you guys do your work. I'm very curious about...whatever it is you guards do around here?"

Things were going off to a good start, he could tell.

[BluesEclipse]

Looking back at Ander, Alaric nods. "A plan? Something like that..." Shifting his sword slightly, the young Lalafell darts out towards the two soldiers, leaping at one of them and bringing his sword down with all of his strength.

Instant Action: Move to Short Range
Standard Action: Melee Attack[roll0] - +4 Accuracy, +7 Damage.

[Doggie_arf]

Raising his head to scan the room, Miles scowls as he notes the corrosive steam spewing across the room at high pressure. Ducking back down, he replies to Ander's question, talking quickly.

"If I can get to those controls by the wall, I might be able to trap them in debris. But I'll need you and Strabo to cover me while I'm moving." Alaric was already providing an up-close-and-personal distraction, but Miles didn't want to risk having someone shooting past the younger Lallafel at him while he was on the move. "Best if we take them down quickly - if that gas fills the room, we'll be stuck here."

Not really waiting for a reply, the engineer is already rising to his feet as he finishes his last sentence, dashing out from behind cover. Keeping his head down to present a lower profile, he moves towards the conveyor belt controls, scrambling over the loose debris as quickly as possible.

Dexterity Check to get to Control Panel: [roll0]

[Ridai]

"I don't go to church and I'm no guard." Since he won't get anything more out of the mugger, Caim just lifts him from his shoulder and hands him to the guards. Since a girl singer and a new boss were mentioned, this could either be related to a new owner of a tavern or seedier versions of that kind of establishment or a new crime boss, so he tries to remember any changes in that regard within Juxtaposition he might have heard about in the recent past.

[Codemus]

Strabo sighed and steeled himself. "Okay, you can do this. Just be careful where you aim." He wasn't talking to anyone in particular, just babbling away to himself.

He drew his sidearm and peeked around the corner of his cover. Aiming, he fired a few shots hopefully safely over the heads of the enemy. He just wanted them to keep their heads down, not fill them full of holes.

Missing on purpose. If for some reason I flub it and actualy hit one of them: [roll0]

[Lost Demiurge]

Cover him? With what?

Ander scowled at his hourglass. Then he sighed. The sigh turned to a "huh!", as he remembered the sphere of scrap that he'd picked up.

Popping his head up again, he shouted "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

Then he tossed the sphere towards the soldiers.

There, that ought to keep their heads down...

[Der_DWSage]

Factory Expedition Team
Their combined efforts actually did quite well-the warning shot made most of the scientists duck in the other direction...just long enough for the junk to be dumped in front of the door, and on top of the wounded soldiers. They seemed to still be alive, if stunned...though with Alaric in melee with them, and off-balance from the soldier's timely dodge, he simply couldn't get out of the way in time. A pity really-the little guy was crushed underneath it.

However, one of the scientists and one of the soldiers had managed to escape in all the commotion, though the rest of the unarmed workers were simply holding up their hands in surrender. They seemed pretty nervous, to boot...

Damien, Gourtox, Caim
The soldiers seemed eerily calm for everything that was going on, and they most definitely didn't hear the voice that said, "Am to be going to find Kyle now, yesplease? Am to be getting tired..." Damien could see her blinking a few times, her wings starting to flit more slowly...and Caim would feel a gentle pressure on his back, like he was wearing an scarf, while Damien would see her snugly leaning against his back, her arms draped over his chest. Adorable, really. But Caim could recall nothing all that unusual about new arrivals or changes to ownership...but it wasn't really his kind of place anyhow.

What they -would- notice, as they were outside the guard's post, was a young female rabbit-type Viera running at high speed from another armored guard. If they watched after he ran off, they'd notice that he had 'Gards R Losrs' shaved into the back of his hair, quite a feat considering the lack of space. And from the amount of cursing he was doing at his fleeing charge, it wasn't hard to figure out who the culprit was.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Aw no, Joe..." Ander runs toward the rubble, and starts digging at it. "Alaric! Are you alive?"

[Ridai]

Caim seems like an emotionless being, glowing eyes showing something unnatural. Still, he places a hand on Heartscry's, much more gently so than onlookers expect. "It is my duty to help, ma'am," Caim states matter-of-factly, but with a certain softness to his deep voice. He gets out of her hug, but only to move to offer support to her more actively if needed, up to the point of carrying her if necessary.

Caim turns to the guards. "Do you know anyone named Kyle in Juxtaposition? A list of names would suffice, more is appreciated."

What does Heartscry actually look like?

[Doggie_arf]

Staggering the last few steps to the controls, Miles grins savagely as he triggers the conveyor belt, the protesting machinery unloading its cargo of dirt and debris on the hapless soldiers. The engineer's expression quickly changes to a frown, however, as he realizes what else has been buried by the rubble.

Biting off a curse, he dashes over to his "handiwork" and begins scrabbling at the pile of broken stone and metal, lending what strength he has to help free the younger Lallafel.

[BluesEclipse]

Groaning slightly due to the weight of the debris, Alaric shifts a bit, trying to see just how much mobility he has. Hearing Ander's muffled cries, he calls out, "I'm fine! I think..." Now, if I can figure out a way to move this... he thinks to himself as he tries to reach for his pouch.

Dex Check: [roll0] +1

[Bad Situation]

Damien returned the glowing eyed man's emotionless expression with one of his own. "So if the two of you are not guards what are the both of you doing here?" The winged girl was probably who the voice was referring to.

Which reminded him of his initial task. Honesty was always the best policy, the old man had taught him that much. So he was going to be honest.

"Hey, I know this is going to sound silly but a voice in my head told me that I was meant for great things. Pivotal to this plot to save the world I have to aid her with whatever she needs done."

It was only after his spiel that he noticed how crazy he was sounding.

"I usually don't hold much stock in these voices, but in my defense this particular voice was very convincing."

Much better.

[Ridai]

"Civil courage, in my case," Caim dryly states as an answer, as the rest should be obvious. He listens to the man talk some more, hearing his desire to help surrounded by superfluous words. "Help find Kyle."

[Gourtox]

Thunder
"Heartscry is why I'm here. She must have thought I knew this Kyle or something."
He shrugged nonchalantly as he waited for some sort of response from the guards.

[Lost Demiurge]

Ander sags in relief, then turns toward the captives, shaking his hourglass menacingly.

"Alright, wights. Where's the Esper!?"

[Bad Situation]

"I'm sure I could be of much more use if you told me who this Kyle is?"

[Ridai]

Caim shrugs. "They know." He points at the sleeping mugger.

Because of the long delay I forgot that the gang the mugger belongs to knows Heartscry and possibly Kyle.

[Der_DWSage]

Factory Expedition Team
The combined forces of Engineers and the Lalafell pulling out a crowbar to assist in their efforts was enough to get him out of the rubble-though they would notice the man that Alaric had sliced was having some difficulty, what with the fact that he was still bleeding from the wound.

The scientists, on the other hand, aren't quite sure what to make of the diminutive figure shaking the hourglass at them. While they -did- see him launch giant rocks at the soldiers...well...he was just so -cute.- It was hard to be intimidated, especially since all of them seemed to be middle-aged Humes that were twice his height, and more than likely eight times his weight. Ten times, in the case of the most heavy-set of them. Finally one of them speaks up and says, "Um. What do you mean by wight? All of us are quite alive, I assure you. But if you're referring to the specimen, she's being kept under close observation in the lower levels. That singing you hear is being broadcast wherever we can...sadly, it doesn't reach this room. Um. Now may I ask a question? Who are you all, and why are you barging in on a scientific facility?"

Thug Round-up Crew (IE, Gourtox, Caim, Damien)
The three guards and their crook seemed to be dozing again...and Damien could see the shimmering blue woman singing in their ears, giggling as she did. It wasn't until they started talking about Kyle again that she flitted back to them, hovering over Caim's head as the three heard her say, "Kyle is Kyle! Is smartest one there is! Last time am see am was in dreamworld! Am to be giving sweetdream, and then...um...am hard to say. Am split? Yes. Both Heartscry and Kyle am split. Kyle am try protect Heartscry, am split muchmany ways." Her spiel done, she flitted over to the green fox, scritching it on the chin.

To Gourtox and Caim, they would only hear the voice, and see the fox purr-growling at something as it raised its chin, as if it was acting snooty and above its station.

[Bad Situation]

Heartscry, that was her name then. That is, if she was speaking in the third person, which he suspected was the case. She unnerved him, as most women did, but her presence seemed to exude a sort of serenity. Welcome change as far as he was concerned. Nodding his head slightly, he began.

"Damien would very much like to help. Just point Damien where he needs to go and he'll get the job done."

Perhaps it would make her more comfortable if he spoke as she did. Beckoning softly he attempted to call the green fox to his side.

[Lost Demiurge]

"Okay. First off that whole "wights" bit is part of my accent. Don't get bent."

"Second off, HORRIBLE things are going to happen if that Esper should die. What the frag are you doing to her and why? Tell us rapidly, and don't you dare lie!"

[Doggie_arf]

"It might be best if you cooperated with us," Miles adds as he stands up from the pile of rubble. "Unless I miss my guess, " - and here, the engineer turns his head slightly towards the hissing glass tube that had been damaged in the short battle - "this room is going to be filled with corrosive gas in about a minute or so." Hopefully, the escaping greenish haze would be threat enough that they wouldn't decide to stick around and argue.

[Lost Demiurge]

Mid-glare, Ander looks back and realizes that Alaric's still buried.

"Hold still, Alaric!" He commands, waving the hourglass over the rubble.

Entropy takes all things... And if I limit the spell to the first few feet, that ought to do it without aging my new companion...