Outside 40: It's all downhill from here

[Gullara]

This place is just as it sounds. It's outside.
Want a change of scenery? Go outside.
Always wanted to visit the beach? Come outside.
Looking to have a climatic fight on clifftops? Attempt outside.
Secret meetings being held where there's no cameras? Try outside.
Want an ambush without nasty base defenses? Yep. Outside.

Any and all are welcome here. There are no NPCs unless you bring them in. The major exception is the creepy eyed squirrel. The creepy eyed squirrel does not interfere with anyone. The creepy eyed squirrel is everywhere outside. The creepy eyed squirrel is always watching. The creepy eyed squirrel never sleeps. The creepy eyed squirrel can not be damaged, manipulated, or killed by anyone. The creepy eyed squirrel will eat anyone's very being who attempts to do so. Anyone can god-mode the creepy eyed squirrel. You may pet the creepy eyed squirrel at your own risk.

Other NPCs currently include:
The menacing crabs. (https://drive.google.com/uc?id=0B5bKlQSiirV-UFFydVBFWGJEUEU) These intimidating creatures are usually found by the shore.
The non-existent duck. You'll miss every time you shoot at it.

There is very little you can't do outside. However, like always, please follow the forum rules and general rules of conduct. Private conversations can be held outside. If it seems like a private (secret) conversation, please respect that. Those having such a conversation should do their best to indicate it as such. Otherwise, other characters may stumble upon you. Those desiring to spy in on private conversations should first PM those holding the private conversation, more out of courtesy than anything else.

There are many areas outside, and people can be in multiple places outside. In order to keep areas outside separated so there's no confusion, consider bolding your outside location at the start of each of your posts, like so:



The Fields

Reinholdt sets up various targets and practices his sharpshooting. All these events recently has made him a bit rusty. To his left, he notes the creepy eyed squirrel. Giving him the heebie-jeebies, Reinholdt decides to head somewhere else.



The Cliffside

Calublufiok broods over his latest scheme as he flies over the cliffs. The creepy eyed squirrel is watching him again. He finds occasionally landing and telling the creepy eyed squirrel his plans helps him find holes in his plotting.



Note Reinholdt and Calublufiok do not interact because they are in different areas outside. They could interact, if Reinholdt moves to the cliffside. Of course, various things like telepathy help bypass this. Also, please note outside has no major buildings, though minor ones crop up from time to time.

And most importantly, enjoy outside. That's what this is all about. :smallsmile:

Outside now contains various Outside locations! Such as...
[Dead Pine Lake]
This lake lies in the middle of the forest. On the eastern shore, woodpeckers feast on the dead pines that give the lake its name. Sometimes one can find Lady Death here, the Aspect of Eve also known as The Grandmother, or Jedwiga.

(Please PM happyturtle if you wish to interact with Jedwiga.)

http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq40/happyturtle-avs/p243360-Delray_Beach_FL-Wetlands_sc.jpg

[The Islands]

An island cluster forms an archipelago along the coast. Some of the islands are settled, some not, but most are at least occasionally visited by the fishermen who work these waters.

[Gersemi's Island]

Now more commonly known as Melody's Island, since Gersemi has long ago retired.

Where once was a single hut with a few sheep, now stands a single hut, a barn, a few sheep, and a small tented community of orphans. Gersemi's loom still rests in one corner of the single hut.

Melody, like Gersemi before her, is a healer for the surrounding islands.

(Please PM Lex-Kat if you wish to interact with Melody.)

[Redbrick Falls]

A mountainous, cliffy region with a prominent waterfall. A large quarry once was worked in these cliffs. Now, only a few scattered villages and solitary dwellings remain.


[Norosa, Great City of the Elves]
A Lawful Evil city with an incredibly strong military and a very charismatic leader (Archmage Tyrion Lannister). It has a few CG resisters, but, otherwise, it is a city of peace and law, despite its evil nature.

[Brillian's Baneful Bestiary]
A secret series of caves where a mad scientist lives. A mad scientist who creates mutant attack creatures. These can be purchased for the right price.

[Auxiliary MagCave]

A relic from the days of the Age of Apocalypse, this abandoned cavern was once used by the infamous cyborg Magtok as a back-up laboratory and underground fortress, should Calublufiok have ever stormed the primary MagCave.


[The Katz Motel]
Located in the middle of Nowhere, our roadside motel is the only decent place for miles near the Taverna that has a bed. Run by a suave anthropomorphic cat, there is a strict No Dogs policy.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090705011306/courage/images/b/bc/Katz.png

A bellhop by the name of Bates is always ready to assist in carrying your luggage. Please ignore his constant mutterings about his mother. Other more unsavory employees can occasionally be found. Please try to avoid eye contact with them.

We at the Katz Motel wish to ensure you have a splendid stay. Any inconvenience due to randomly locking doors, giant spiders, secret passages, vampires, creepy paintings, and the occasional possession and subsequent exorcism are incredibly rare. Just look at our complaint cards! Not a single one mentions dying horribly in their sleep or becoming food for the monster in the basement.

And if you get bored, the owner will always be up for a game of sport, old boy.

((The Katz Motel is a horror filled place with the highest casualty rate of any motel in the Nexus area. Checking in is usually pretty easy and pleasant. Checking out is rare. Anyone can play the Motel and the NPCs within, free to invent their own horror. The NPCs within that can die usually only suffer death temporarily, the supernatural force causing the disturbances bringing them back to life for its own nefarious purposes. PCs get no benefit from this.))

[The Troll Cave]
A cave in a craggy hill. The undergrowth outside is trampled completely flat, and there's not much wildlife. There's a burned patch where a fire is sometimes there. Inside are a few large caves, linked by surprisingly smooth tunnels that look like something big has been regularly pushing through them.

[Blind Cat's Bluff]
A sheer cliff dropoff that travels straight down into the water, this is a favored point of people who commit suicide, romantics wanting to watch the sunset and anyone looking to get rid of evidence. The drop is pretty far and there are rocks at the bottom that spell almost certain doom, so watch your step.

[North Forest]
A magical forest with a mythical spring of beauty. A bit like the Weald, but not nearly as dangerous. For starters, you can find your way back out and the pixies aren't cannibals.

Frozen Forest & Hermitage
A large forest of tall trees and once very pretty flowers lies here. The entire forest has been completely frozen over, and a blizzard constantly storms and snows over the forest, but doesn't affect even an inch past the forest border. The forest is still very pretty; the flowers and mushrooms glittering under a frozen layer. The place is pretty safe, if you're used to constant snow and cold temperatures.


PM the thread maker if you wish to add locations to Outside.

[Ionbound]

"Go right ahead," Jakkal says, "The sooner hwee get me zome clothes, the bett-orr."

Alice grins and says, "Yes...I can see that...Unfortunately. Oh well. Come with me, please." And with that, she slithers off towards the Lotus Gardens.

[TechnoScrabble]

Alice grins and says, "Yes...I can see that...Unfortunately. Oh well. Come with me, please." And with that, she slithers off towards the Lotus Gardens.

"Eef By catch hyoo starink," Jakkal threatens, following Alice from a safe distance, "Hy hweel reep hyoor heyes out."

((To riverside!))

[McBish]

Melody's Island


Jezebelle smiles kindly at Magtok. "I'm sorry. I wish I could do something to make you feel more comfortable. she looks around, not knowing what else to say or do. Then she looks back to Happy. "Do you like the soup?"


Melody raises an eyebrow. That's the pincushion-thing, right? Never tried it before. You really think it'll work? she looks over to her broken arm. Hopefully that's not your plan for mending this. she says, a little amused.


[/SPOILER]

"It's good. Your soup is always good," Happy says. She looks at Melody. "Be careful with that acupuncher stuff. They make me pass out." Actually that was Happy's player. This was about 15 or so years ago that I had acupuncture. I never felt the needles, but about two minutes after they were put in, I fainted. The assistant caught me - they removed some of the needles, and had me lay down. The doctor says it was because I had very low chi, so that's why redirecting it with the needles had that effect.

I really don't know what I believe about all that, still. :smallconfused:

Derek smiles and nods used to that reaction. "Well my acupuncture is probably a little different then what you might be thinking of. Where I am from it is one of the more popular ways to focus healing magic. It takes a bit of time, but I would say we could have that bone fixed in an hour or so. Just so long as you aren't scared of needles.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[The Lost Temple]

Dena is in fact not touching the door. She didn't close it so if it's shut then she would have won the bet if Ithuriel had taken it! Damn non-gambling angels. I guess they only play dirty when cyborgs are around. She will have Violet scan it for magic however, the drone being able to detect both magic and traps. "Well, looks like you'd lost anyway but there is never wrong with a bit of gambling at the side. Might make you forget you can die any minute." The drow remarks with a smile as her magical golem scout drone scans the door.

Not only is Ithuriel not the gambling sort, she's also smart enough to spot a bad bet. Considering Dena has been here before, she'd have to be a fool to bet against Dena with regards to anything in this place.

"Well, maybe if you offered a reasonable bet for a less ludicrous amount of money. I'm an angel, I don't exactly have much use for money so I don't keep much of the stuff around." Ithuriel shrugs and keeps an eye on the path behind them while Dena investigates the door, "I have no fear of death anyway. You get used to it after the first time."

[Ionbound]

Lost and Found Temple

((Okay, disregard my previous posts. I misunderstood what was going on, and thought you guys were further along than you were...My fault for not reading your posts right.))

Violet's scan of the door reveals it has several enchanments built into it, radiating auras of Necromancy, Evocation, Abjuration, and Transmutation. There is nobody approaching the party from behind.

Frozen Forest

A young woman is out in the elements, wearing a parka and alone as far as she knows. She's writing in a journal:

Day 12: Still no rescue in sight. I'm beginning to feel a little warmer, though I'm not sure if it's the final stages of Hypothermia setting in, or if the snowstorm is actually beginning to lighten up. Either way, I still can't find the rest of the expedition...I hope they made it out of here...This is likely my last entry. If someone finds this, please...Get out of here...

[Shadowcaller]

Temple of lost and found

"Huh, so if you are immortal and don't need money, how are you supposed to be able to relate to mortals again? Seems kinda counterproductive in my opinion." Dena casually remarks as Violet scans. Once the scanning is complete the drow just nods. "Yep, it's trapped alright. Guess we have to use plan B to escape in case we need to." She turns to Ithuriel. "Can you... detect evil or something like that?" Paladins could so clearly an angel must be able to as well!

Frozen Forest

It will only get worse.
Cold as the grave they say and perhaps there is some truth in that saying now when she's literally sitting on the ground that in some mere moments indeed will be her grave.
Here she will experience her final moments, her final experiences before the cold claims her like so many else.
Since if she would take a closer look around she would see that her brothers and sisters in death are all waiting for her to close her eyes for one final time. Here they all will be together for eternity, locked in your final moments, huddling against trees, hugging themselves in a feeble attempt for warmth. But they all look happy now, all flashing white grins at the newcomer, welcoming her into their family.

And then it comes, the light. Her final moment. If she looks up she will see a shining figure stepping out of the woods as the temperature drastically lowers even more than should even be possible out in these frozen wastes. The figure, vaguely humanoid, spreads it's arms, welcoming her in an embrace. The embrace of death.

[Ionbound]

Frozen Forest

Delirious, the young woman looks up at the light, and then trudges slowly through the snow until she reaches it, embracing her fate and her death with open arms, a smile on her face as she finally is at peace.

Lost and Found Temple

The temple, for it's part, doesn't resist the scan, or do anything unusual in response.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Lost and Found Temple]

"Well, I wasn't immortal. When I first died, I became a vampire. And when I died as a vampire, I became an angel. So...in both cases I was spared from death against my will. I don't know exactly how immortal I am as an angel, but I would imagine that, being servant to a god, death isn't as final as it should be for me even now. I'm able to relate to mortals because I was one...at first at least." Funny old world, isn't it? She'd have much preferred to have had just the one death, but that's not what fate had in store for her.

"Do you know what the door is trapped with? Just because it's trapped doesn't mean it's not a way out any more. And I already detected evil. Surprise surprise, the whole place is evil, but there's a bunch of evil blips on the radar deeper underground, including one big one for what I presume is the head honcho. Unless there's someone up here with a way to escape detection, this floor is deserted."

[Shadowcaller]

[Lost and Found Temple]

"And when you die as an angel you become a werewolf? We probably can test that out in here." Dena replies. "But yeah, you're right. It's enchanted out of the wazoo though. Necromancy, evocation, transmutation... and I just barely know what those names mean. I'm no mage you know? Just rich enough to afford a lot of toys." She looks around. "However, the treasury should be near here. My goal here is to empty it, once we have done that we could just plant a bomb here and watch this place be blasted into bits and pieces."

Frozen Forest

The question is if she even reaches it alive as the blood in her veins will literary freeze to ice before she comes near the shining being. Still, it comes to catch the frozen corpse before it falls to the ground, holding it like a lover until it's as cold as the ground underneath them. Then it discards it like an broken toy, leaving an frozen mummy out of what once had been a human being.
And with that it walks back into the forest again, taking it's hungering cold with it.

But perhaps she isn't ready to join the rest of the discarded toys just yet...

[Ionbound]

Lost Temple

((You guys can keep chatting. I'll check in if you do something, but poke me in the IRC if I miss something I need to respond to))

Frozen Forest

Indeed. She's not quite broken yet. Small lights begin to flicker around her body, first where the light touched her, then growing, surrounding her body until it becomes a raging inferno. Her legs dissolve into the light, now obviously to any observers as a fire. Her flesh, while still freezingly cold, softens, allowing her to move again. Finally, her eyes open, glowing with the same light as she asks the world, "Where...Where am I? What happened?" And then the memories flood back. The freezing cold, the light...death. But she's here now...And, off in the distance, there four points, points she now instinctually knows are heat sources. Another memory comes in: The Expedition. Maybe...Maybe they'd help her...She's so cold, still...So very, very cold.

[Arkhosia]

Frozen Forest

The tranquil pines, piercing the azure sky above the snowy plain from which they sprung, swayed slightly in the wind that blew throught the forest.
Which is strange, as these trees are tall and large, making ig difficult for mere wind to sway.
One who treks through this certain location may here a miscevious laughter slightly in the wind, just loud enough to notice but soft enough for one to think they imagined it.

[Arkhosia]

Wasteland

Across the wastes strides a woman with long dark brown hair in a ponytail, her vivid blue eyes surveying the land. Clad in a waist-length tan jacket with white leggings, a purple shirt, and brown boots, with a belt connected to a complex harness wrapping around her legs, chest, and feet, her 3d maneuver gear hanging from it.
Sophia looks around as she treks, wondering if the whole wasteland is this monotonous in scenery.

[Lost_Deep]

Wasteland

As she's walking, she may notice a change in the consistency of the dust. The surface seems to sag a bit, and there's more of a crunch underfoot than there was a few steps ago.

[Arkhosia]

Wasteland

As she's walking, she may notice a change in the consistency of the dust. The surface seems to sag a bit, and there's more of a crunch underfoot than there was a few steps ago.

Teenage(r in a) Wasteland

Sophia frowns, treading more lightly now as she walks, but otherwise not changing her actions.

[Lost_Deep]

Wasteland

As she goes forward, the ground sags more... and it's almost like an elastic sheet, really. Each step is punctuated with a crunch, as the surface tension is broken, and then the sheet sags. Is there an open area beneath the ground? for that matter, it's not acting like natural ground.

[Arkhosia]

Wasteland

As she goes forward, the ground sags more... and it's almost like an elastic sheet, really. Each step is punctuated with a crunch, as the surface tension is broken, and then the sheet sags. Is there an open area beneath the ground? for that matter, it's not acting like natural ground.

Sophia raises and eyebrow, steps back, and tosses a detached sword blade at the ground in front of her.

[Lost_Deep]

Wasteland

If that sword has a hilt, it will go into the ground up to the hilt. If it's just a blade, it will slide right through and keep going. She won't hear it hit anything, either.

[Arkhosia]

Wasteland

If that sword has a hilt, it will go into the ground up to the hilt. If it's just a blade, it will slide right through and keep going. She won't hear it hit anything, either.

Just a blade.
Sophia looks to see if there's any posts or similar nearby.
If not, she walks around the spot

[Morty]

[Hill]

In a large hill standing in the middle of a dark, thick wood, all animals appear to have been evicted. Instead, some dark, creeping shapes appear to have moved in. Currently, anyone who passes by there for some reason might spot a hunched, malformed figure perching on a tree overlooking the hill.

[Lost_Deep]

Wasteland

This area is really flat. As in, really flat. Too flat to be natural. In fact it's slightly bowl shaped, if she looks at it the right way.

As she continues toward the center of the bowl, the surface will get worse. It will start to be like every step is a step into deep snow, her feet sink so much.

[Arkhosia]

Wasteland

This area is really flat. As in, really flat. Too flat to be natural. In fact it's slightly bowl shaped, if she looks at it the right way.

As she continues toward the center of the bowl, the surface will get worse. It will start to be like every step is a step into deep snow, her feet sink so much.

Sophia struggles to keep moving, glancing around the landscape.
She fires a grappling hook from her 3DMG at a part of ground, the hook digging in likely, just in case

[Lost_Deep]

Wasteland

The hook digs in, and will be secure even if the medium is movable. It's not the best anchor, but it should work okay, right?

[Arkhosia]

Wasteland

The hook digs in, and will be secure even if the medium is movable. It's not the best anchor, but it should work okay, right?

Right...?
She then jumps on the center!
Sounds like a brilliant idea

[Lost_Deep]

Wasteland

There is a loud crunch as the tension is broken, and the surface sags. It then rebounds, as elastic is want to do, and it might even cause Sophia to be in the air for a short period of time.

It's a giant trampoline!

[Arkhosia]

Wasteland

There is a loud crunch as the tension is broken, and the surface sags. It then rebounds, as elastic is want to do, and it might even cause Sophia to be in the air for a short period of time.

It's a giant trampoline!

Sophia looks rather surprised!
She lets herself bounce a bit, taking the air time to survey te land around her.

[Lost_Deep]

Wasteland

It's boring out here! The bowl is fairly large, the size of a small town, and there is nothing notable in the bowl. No plants, no rocks, a bit of dirt and dust... how boring.

[Arkhosia]

Wasteland

It's boring out here! The bowl is fairly large, the size of a small town, and there is nothing notable in the bowl. No plants, no rocks, a bit of dirt and dust... how boring.

Sophia, upon landing, takes a sword and cuts through the center!

[Lost_Deep]

Wasteland

She cuts through the center, getting a good look at an age long past. Below her is a town, but not one like she's ever seen. The buildings are built into the walls of the hole underneath the surface. Light filters down from above, supplying Sophia a good view of this place. The largest building is below her, and appears to be a small castle.

[Arkhosia]

Wasteland

She cuts through the center, getting a good look at an age long past. Below her is a town, but not one like she's ever seen. The buildings are built into the walls of the hole underneath the surface. Light filters down from above, supplying Sophia a good view of this place. The largest building is below her, and appears to be a small castle.

Sophia slowly lowers herself down to the castle top, landing with grace and surveying the location.

[Solidarity]

[Hill]



In a large hill standing in the middle of a dark, thick wood, all animals appear to have been evicted. Instead, some dark, creeping shapes appear to have moved in. Currently, anyone who passes by there for some reason might spot a hunched, malformed figure perching on a tree overlooking the hill.

Walking as consistently as he had for the past few days had dulled his motivation. Suscipio opted to take a quick break before continuing onward. Finding a small rock next to a thickening wood brought him more than just rest, however. A familiar eerie feeling made his hair stand on end, though he didn't know why. Looking around, he realized the wildlife had thinned as the trees became more abundant. There were no sounds to accompany his small break; no noises he'd been accustomed to on his way here at all.

Alright. Take it easy. Something's wrong here, but is it dangerous? I know I wasn't followed. The trees look healthy and normal, though I can't see anywhere that looks like a potential ambush point. At least from the ground...

Looking up, Suscipio notices the silhouette of some...crouching...thing in the branches not too far from him up overlooking a hilltop. Immediately, Suscipio grips his weapons and tenses, but shoots a more inquisitive look the creature's way.

[Morty]

[Hill]

The creature perched on the tree has the vague appearance of a malformed bird. It's dark up there, and the thing seems to draw shadows towards it, obscuring it further. How much detail Suspicio can make out depends on how well he can see in the dark. His time-sight will have trouble recognizing the thing's age - it appears blurry and indistinct, as if it came from someplace there time holds little sway. In any event, the creature also takes note of him. It shifts and twitches slightly, and utters a high-pitched hiss that sounds like a warning.

[Lost_Deep]

Sophia slowly lowers herself down to the castle top, landing with grace and surveying the location.

The houses along the edges are scrunched and mutilated, it's like they were one normal houses and now are jammed together along the walls. The top of the castle is intact, but it looks like the bottom is slightly mangled. Paint has long since stripped away, but given the dry climate and the protective membrane above the wooden buildings are not rotted.

[Solidarity]

[Hill]



The creature perched on the tree has the vague appearance of a malformed bird. It's dark up there, and the thing seems to draw shadows towards it, obscuring it further. How much detail Suscipio can make out depends on how well he can see in the dark. In any event, the creature also takes note of him. It shifts and twitches slightly, and utters a high-pitched hiss that sounds like a warning.

Under further study, the creature appears to ruffle something similar to wings. It's a bit hard to make out in the dark, from what he can tell. His expression turns from inquisitive to stern as the creature lets loose a hiss loud enough to whiten Suscipio's knuckles. After a second, he reconsiders. He releases his grip on the katana and drops his demeanor to be a lot less threatening. Rubbing his pocket-watch he thinks of taking a glance. Deciding against that as well, he smirks for a quickest second. Instead he simply focuses on the creature, trying to determine it's age. The outlines of the creature seems to blur, making it slightly more difficult than normal. Doing so, Suscipio resumes sitting on his rock, just looking at his bird-like neighbor, saying nothing.

And what might this be?

[Morty]

[Hill]

The age of the bird-like creature can be vaguely pinpointed as rather young. It seems it was created relatively recently... but it may have existed in some other form before that. As Suspicio examines it, it makes more noise, this time managing to produce something coherent... it sounds a bit like "get away".

[Solidarity]

[Hill]



The age of the bird-like creature can be vaguely pinpointed as rather young. It seems it was created relatively recently... but it may have existed in some other form before that. As Suscipio examines it, it makes more noise, this time managing to produce something coherent... it sounds a bit like "get away".

The creature makes further sounds. At a couple particular ones, a frown forms on Suscipio's face.

Did it tell me to leave? It can speak, so it would seem. Some force is at work around it, hiding it's form, I'd think, but how? Curious beast.

His brow furrows in attempts to piece out what kind of magic or ability it might be using, seeing as it's new to him. He'd seen many different kinds of magic used to make people harder to see, but normally that either made them disappear completely or blend with their surroundings. This was new, and piqued Suscipio's interest. Now he had to learn about it. He calmly sat, took out his pocket-watch and focused for just a moment. With a very brief, very dim glow, it showed him the past of the hill and dense glade in which he now sat. In his mind, he looked to see when and how the creature got here, in this secluded and shadowy forest.

[Morty]

[Hill]

The creature seems to be a fae, if Suspicio is familiar with them. It seems to have come here recently, together with others of its kind, from some dark, deep not-quite-a-place. They chased away or killed the animals that lived here and prepared the inside of the hills as a lair for someone other than them, who will be coming along later.

[Solidarity]

[Hill]


The creature seems to be a fae, if Suspicio is familiar with them. It seems to have come here recently, together with others of its kind, from some dark, deep not-quite-a-place. They chased away or killed the animals that lived here and prepared the inside of the hills as a lair for someone other than them, who will be coming along later.

After the vision fades, Suscipio blinks a few times in disbelief. There were others. He didn't expect to find any faefolk here. The research he'd undergone didn't mention much about the elusive creatures. Books and stories only amount to so much anyway. What's more is that he'd only read that they're whimsical and normally difficult to predict; some form of wild magic always about them.

Intriguing.

Suddenly alert, he keeps an eye out for the others he'd seen in the vision. giving the treeline a more thorough scan.

They killed the other inhabitants, which means they're at least territorial. Curious to see how long they'll tolerate my presence. I wonder, are they mortal?

Suscipio looks again at the bird-like fae. He focuses his magic and a dim glow appears in his eyes. Tapping into the creature's natural pattern, he looks to see how long it has to live until its natural death, if such a thing would occur.

[Morty]

[Hill]

The lifespan of the bird-like Fae seems highly dependent on the will of its creator. Theoretically, it may persist indefinitely if its master wills it so and is strong enough to keep it existing. It's a lesser, subservient faerie creature. As Suspicio examines it, it gets anxious again. It chirps and squeaks, trying to communicate something, but this time cannot produce coherent words.

[Solidarity]

[Hill]



The lifespan of the bird-like Fae seems highly dependent on the will of its creator. Theoretically, it may persist indefinitely if its master wills it so and is strong enough to keep it existing. It's a lesser, subservient faerie creature. As Suspicio examines it, it gets anxious again. It chirps and squeaks, trying to communicate something, but this time cannot produce coherent words.

Frowning once again, the glow from his eyes diminish and Suscipio rubs the bridge of his nose as the light recoil hits. From what he could gather, the beast seemed...channeled.

Some energy gives life to this creature through a duration; its mark in time is blurred. Not quite immortal, but more like spawned and kept.

The fae makes further sounds.

Perhaps whatever created it might not be too far away. Would that make this creature a sentry of sorts? It'd explain why I haven't seen any others quite yet. It scouts the area from above and alerts the rest. Hm. It did speak. Isn't it likely that it can understand speech as well?

"Good day. Care to tell me where exactly I might be intruding, or why you need me gone?" Suscipio called out.

[Morty]

[Hill]

The thing flutters its wings. As it spreads them, the body between them is revealed to be skinny, hunched over and somewhat more human-like than you'd expect from a bird. Its head is still indistinct, but it is now visible that it's rather big in comparison to the torso. The Fae produces more sounds, this time managing to make itself understood a bit.

"Danger! No place f' mortals! Bad! Bad!"

[Solidarity]

[Hill]



The thing flutters its wings. As it spreads them, the body between them is revealed to be skinny, hunched over and somewhat more human-like than you'd expect from a bird. Its head is still indistinct, but it is now visible that it's rather big in comparison to the torso. The Fae produces more sounds, this time managing to make itself understood a bit.

"Danger! No place f' mortals! Bad! Bad!"

Suscipio scratches the back of his head wearing a puzzled look as the Fae elicits more noise.

"Dangerous how? Bad how? Does your master wish me gone from here?"

[Morty]

[Hill]

"Master... not know... you here!" The Fae screeches. "Master big and bad! He find you here... you trouble!"

[Solidarity]

[Hill]


"Master... not know... you here!" The Fae screeches. "Master big and bad! He find you here... you trouble!"

The puzzled expression transcends to that of concern.

Is this creature warning me? Why? If it were under service of something sinister, why would it warn me from harm? Is the creature not also as sinister as its master?

"I see. You wouldn't be here against your will, would you? If you tell me a bit about your master, I will gather my things and take my leave directly."

If it would warn me, then it either wishes to refrain from the effort of combat, or it wishes I would not get harmed. Hopefully the latter, that I might get a bit more information before moving on. On the off chance it's being held here, I could use the information to better any chances of freeing it.

[Morty]

[Hill]

The fae twitches and shifts slightly on the branch.

"No will. I go where master wills. Master is King. King in Rags. Terrible."

[Lex-Kat]

Melody's Island


"It's good. Your soup is always good," Happy says. She looks at Melody. "Be careful with that acupuncher stuff. They make me pass out." Actually that was Happy's player. This was about 15 or so years ago that I had acupuncture. I never felt the needles, but about two minutes after they were put in, I fainted. The assistant caught me - they removed some of the needles, and had me lay down. The doctor says it was because I had very low chi, so that's why redirecting it with the needles had that effect.

I really don't know what I believe about all that, still. :smallconfused:

Derek smiles and nods, use to that reaction. "Well my acupuncture is probably a little different then what you might be thinking of. Where I am from it is one of the more popular ways to focus healing magic. It takes a bit of time, but I would say we could have that bone fixed in an hour or so. Just so long as you aren't scared of needles.

Melody reaches out with her good arm to touch Derek. I'm not scared of needles. Besides, not too much choice, right? she says with a smile.

With the sun getting low in the sky, three figures come down near the cottage. I will let them describe themselves. One is an unconscious young girl, about 15 or so. Another is a pink kitty, who as soon as he drops the other two off, he flies away, quite posibly to never be seen in the Nexus again ((:smallfrown:)). The third, I will allow her to describe herself ((unless she too is leaving the Nexus. :smalleek::smallfrown:)).

((For the adventures on Grandpa's Secret Island, QuickTopic (http://www.quicktopic.com/50/H/Big9uVEh5rJ).))

[Solidarity]

[Hill]



The fae twitches and shifts slightly on the branch.

"No will. I go where master wills. Master is King. King in Rags. Terrible."


As I thought. It's just under orders. A conjured beast of sorts.

Suscipio closes his eyes for a brief moment and gets up.

"Thank you, kind fae. Bid your master well for me in that case. I'm not too sure if you eat normally, but if so, here." he says, rummaging through his equipment.

Out from a small bag Suscipio pulls a wrapped hunk of venison, and lays it on the ground in front of him. He then appears to etch something into the stone he'd sat on, and turns back toward the fae.

"As we agreed then." With a smirk, he gathers the last of his things, about-faces and walks off.

King in Rags, eh? Very interesting.

[Hattish Thing]

The Frozen Forest:

The place was cold. Bitter cold. Unfriendly. Not a place for a person to be at, especially at night. Especially not alone... Dark things were buried here, and terrible deeds were done within the depths of the forest. It was a night of specters, spirits, and things that go bump. The stars shined down upon the forest, but their light was dampened by the thick, dead trees. A man and his partner wander the cold forest, taking in the cold air and shivering with each breath. Shoyler had been informed of some horrid beast of undeath and fire. A terrible creature that could steal the warmth out of a man with a single touch of the skin. The monster supposedly lurked here, in the depths of the cold, dead forest. Shoyler walks forward, his heavy armor covered by a long fur trench coat, his body protected from the bitter cold. Unfortunately, this didn't stop the weather from being incredibly uncomfortable. He walks with his hammer on his back, a lantern in hand.

Deep in the forest, things stir.... Watching the pair of vampire hunters walk about, on the hunt. Always watching, never acting.

Shoyler speaks out to his partner, his words somewhat slurred by the cold and raspy wind. Guh... I don't like it here...

[Aric Kale]

The Frozen Forest

The Mourning Hoplite fits in perfectly with the setting, especially with his fireproof hawthorn golem trudging along behind him. The Athenian vampire hunter shivers in the cold, a thick coat not unlike Shoyler's covering his black armor. I agree entirely, let us kill this creature and be on our way...
In addition to his golem, Zander has been reoutfitted with two xiphos, one of steel and the other silver. He was ready to slay the undead...

[Ionbound]

[Frozen Forest]

The pair of hunters might see a bright light in the distance, and, if they are very sharp of hearing, they'll be able to hear a cry of, "...Hello?! I...I think I can see someone! Can...Can you please help me!? Meanwhile, the outside temperature has dropped significantly, and, more alarmingly, the cold seems to be penetrating through the hunters' layers.

[Hattish Thing]

The Frozen Forest

The Mourning Hoplite fits in perfectly with the setting, especially with his fireproof hawthorn golem trudging along behind him. The Athenian vampire hunter shivers in the cold, a thick coat not unlike Shoyler's covering his black armor. I agree entirely, let us kill this creature and be on our way...
In addition to his golem, Zander has been reoutfitted with two xiphos, one of steel and the other silver. He was ready to slay the undead...


[Frozen Forest]

The pair of hunters might see a bright light in the distance, and, if they are very sharp of hearing, they'll be able to hear a cry of, "...Hello?! I...I think I can see someone! Can...Can you please help me!? Meanwhile, the outside temperature has dropped significantly, and, more alarmingly, the cold seems to be penetrating through the hunters' layers.

Shoyler strides forward, the snow building up to his boots as he walks, more than a little bit grumpy. He didn't want to be here. For someone so used to hunting for undead in strange and exotic places, he never did get used to the bitter bite of cold. As soon as he got back home, he was going to take the longest bath.... The head of his warhammer had even began frosting over! He speaks again, his gruff voice somewhat inaudible. The wind was extremely loud.

Problem is that I don't even know exactly where the thing is. Supposedly there's some sort of temple in here where the thing drags it's victims. A vampire prefers their victim's living during draining. Tastes better, usually, or something. Soooo. Chances are, if we find a building somewhere in this hellish place, we'll find the monster.

But... Beware. Vampire's are tricky bastards...

Then, some sort of yelling can be heard! Unfortunately, due to the distance of the cries and the loudness of the wind, Shoyler misses most of what the voice says. Something about help. Someone seemed to be asking for help! Shoyler, however, is not amused. ...Did you hear that? That's no human being, I'm sure of it. No one would head into this place of their own free will. Perhaps it's a trick. Some kind of trap to lure us in. Hmm. we should probably go towards the lights, just in case. I don't want some innocent, if foolish camper's blood on my hands. Stupid campers. Probably some idiot teenagers coming out here. Or people trying to film a ghost or something.

Shoyler will then grumble, and continue to trudge forward to the light, taking out his heavy crossbow as he moves close.

[Recaiden]

[Silver Keep]

Or maybe they're simply more inclined to appreciate dramatic gestures from people who aren't unknown, possibly dangerous and on fire.
"I'd rather believe you're a liar, than be eaten by a dragon." The guard shoots back, applying the sharp grasp of probability that comes with staring down unpleasant death."But put that down, His spear turns to point at the strange gun on Ashna's hip, "and any other weapons, and we'll have you inside. Figure out what all this is about."

Crossbows bristle from the walls now, and more steely footsteps sound down the way. The options narrow, one way or another.

That would be, well, reasonable of them. They're probably living in the time before this place was part of the Nexus. The traveler bets that dragons are about as strange as it gets here. Ashna nods, and takes her hands away the trigger of the gun, lowering it, re-engaging the safety, and strapping it away.
"Very well." She raises a hand, waiting for him to open the way in.
"When I will have come to this keep, it is the stronghold of a band of criminals. I had hoped to pass through it in a time when it was in better hands."

[Earl of Purple]

Outside the Village of Peacefield

A massive, flaming rock is descending from the sky at quite a pace. The inhabitants of Peacefield, used to fighting off marauding beasts, confused bandits and many other threats that wander in from neighbouring realities, see this and flee to their basements and a small tower in the centre of their town that serves as a small defensive position. These precautions would be pointless if the massive meteor hits the village, but it's better than nothing. And it seems to be destined to land about a mile to the south.

When it does land, the shockwave destroys several large fields, flattening and burning the crops, fences, hedges and in one case cattle. The stout stone cottages of Peacefield withstand the blast mostly untouched; the Temple to Meridia has had all its windows broken, and the houses nearest the blast no longer have any roofs, but that's it.

The cautious villagers emerge from their hiding places and assess the damage, turning south to see the meteor itself. Only, it isn't a meteor, it seems. Instead, it resembles a massive skull made of a mysterious black substance. It has left a large crater, yet the vast skull isn't in the crater. It seems to have bounced, only without coming down- it's floating, two storeys above the fields, and gazing balefully upon the community of Peacefield with its vast, empty eyesockets. The skull is about four storeys high, proportioned much the same as a human's skull on a massive scale, and a motorcycle could fit in the eye socket.

[Aric Kale]

[Frozen Forest]

The pair of hunters might see a bright light in the distance, and, if they are very sharp of hearing, they'll be able to hear a cry of, "...Hello?! I...I think I can see someone! Can...Can you please help me!? Meanwhile, the outside temperature has dropped significantly, and, more alarmingly, the cold seems to be penetrating through the hunters' layers.


Shoyler strides forward, the snow building up to his boots as he walks, more than a little bit grumpy. He didn't want to be here. For someone so used to hunting for undead in strange and exotic places, he never did get used to the bitter bite of cold. As soon as he got back home, he was going to take the longest bath.... The head of his warhammer had even began frosting over! He speaks again, his gruff voice somewhat inaudible. The wind was extremely loud.

Problem is that I don't even know exactly where the thing is. Supposedly there's some sort of temple in here where the thing drags it's victims. A vampire prefers their victim's living during draining. Tastes better, usually, or something. Soooo. Chances are, if we find a building somewhere in this hellish place, we'll find the monster.

But... Beware. Vampire's are tricky bastards...

Then, some sort of yelling can be heard! Unfortunately, due to the distance of the cries and the loudness of the wind, Shoyler misses most of what the voice says. Something about help. Someone seemed to be asking for help! Shoyler, however, is not amused. ...Did you hear that? That's no human being, I'm sure of it. No one would head into this place of their own free will. Perhaps it's a trick. Some kind of trap to lure us in. Hmm. we should probably go towards the lights, just in case. I don't want some innocent, if foolish camper's blood on my hands. Stupid campers. Probably some idiot teenagers coming out here. Or people trying to film a ghost or something.

Shoyler will then grumble, and continue to trudge forward to the light, taking out his heavy crossbow as he moves close.

Frozen Forest

The hoplite doesn't bother responding to his comrade, instead gesturing for his golem to scout ahead. This cold is unnatural, even for an icy wasteland such as this. Stay warm, lest the frost bite through thy fingers... He breathes into his gloves, rubbing them together vigorously. I would not be surprised if the noise was caused by our prey...let us wait while Hawthorn investigates. The short wooden construct trundles on ahead, looking for signs of life...or unlife...

[Ionbound]

Frozen Forest

The hoplite doesn't bother responding to his comrade, instead gesturing for his golem to scout ahead. This cold is unnatural, even for an icy wasteland such as this. Stay warm, lest the frost bite through thy fingers... He breathes into his gloves, rubbing them together vigorously. I would not be surprised if the noise was caused by our prey...let us wait while Hawthorn investigates. The short wooden construct trundles on ahead, looking for signs of life...or unlife...

The wooden construct trundles off into the woods. If it is programmed to come back if it enters a situation that would threaten it's existence, it returns, and will tell the hoplite that the closer it got to the light, the lower the temperature got until it could go no further. However, it did manage to get a look at it, and says that there was the upper torso of a young woman wearing winter gear floating in a corona of orange light.

If there is no self-preservation programming, however, it simply never returns.

Meanwhile, the light grows closer, and the temperature drops even further.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Lost and Found Temple]

"And when you die as an angel you become a werewolf? We probably can test that out in here." Dena replies. "But yeah, you're right. It's enchanted out of the wazoo though. Necromancy, evocation, transmutation... and I just barely know what those names mean. I'm no mage you know? Just rich enough to afford a lot of toys." She looks around. "However, the treasury should be near here. My goal here is to empty it, once we have done that we could just plant a bomb here and watch this place be blasted into bits and pieces."



"I get the feeling something as, ah, mundane as a bomb probably won't be enough to deal with this place. You know how it is, the bad guy never goes down that easily." Well, at least she can't imagine it being that simple what with the super-enchanted door and spooky magic voice and all.

Seems like they could really have done with some powerful magic-y person to try and disenchant some of this stuff.

"Looting the place and running and hoping for the best is...well, I'd almost be willing to bet money on something going wrong. Almost." The angel smirks, "So can that toy of yours see if they've got any fancy magical fields or something covering the whole temple? Oh, and I want a share of anything we loot from this place, of course."

[Shadowcaller]

[Lost and Found Temple]

"What? It always work on horror movies, well unless there is a sequel of course." Though you really shouldn't base your plans on horror movies. "And things always go worg, you can't bet money on things that are guaranteed to happen, sister. But to answer your question, it can in fact detect there are no fields in here that prevent us from teleporting out. Which is why it's my plan B. If that changes, you have a plan C? Always good to have more plans." Dena will now turn around and look for the treasure room which should be located nearby here judging by her last visit. Violet go first, scanning for traps and enchantments. "Keep scanning for demons by the way, don't want them to get a jump on us." Dena retrieves a 11 foot pole from her pocket (yes, really) as they go, you'd never know when it could get in handy.

[Ionbound]

[Lost Temple]

Violet flies along the tunnel unmolested, though she is able to detect high amounts of ambient magic, and, if Dena is paying close attention or if she has the programming for it, several mechanical traps. Once she reaches the treasury, however, Elereshur is waiting there for her, grinning, and extends a clawed finger at the drone unleashing a blast of energy at the drone that will likely destroy her if she doesn't manage to avoid it.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Lost Temple]

"Oh? You can't bet on things that are guaranteed to happen? Like, say, the exits getting sealed behind us?" Ithuriel chuckles and shakes her head, following on after Dena.

Plan C...plan C. Ithuriel isn't sure what exactly plan A is. Is plan A just hoping that the doors will be open for them when they run out? If there's no way out through the actual exits, and they get locked off from teleporting out, what other options do they have?

"Hmm. Yes. Yes I do have a plan C, if it comes to that. And don't worry, I'm not going to turn my demon scanner off." Though it can't pick up on anything as specific as the type of beings being scanned, Ithuriel is keeping her good/evil radar up. Which means she'll probably have memorised exactly what shade of good/evil grey Dena is by the end of this, but...also probably means she'll pick up on the presence of Elereshur from a fair way off.

[Hattish Thing]

Frozen Forest

The hoplite doesn't bother responding to his comrade, instead gesturing for his golem to scout ahead. This cold is unnatural, even for an icy wasteland such as this. Stay warm, lest the frost bite through thy fingers... He breathes into his gloves, rubbing them together vigorously. I would not be surprised if the noise was caused by our prey...let us wait while Hawthorn investigates. The short wooden construct trundles on ahead, looking for signs of life...or unlife...


The wooden construct trundles off into the woods. If it is programmed to come back if it enters a situation that would threaten it's existence, it returns, and will tell the hoplite that the closer it got to the light, the lower the temperature got until it could go no further. However, it did manage to get a look at it, and says that there was the upper torso of a young woman wearing winter gear floating in a corona of orange light.

If there is no self-preservation programming, however, it simply never returns.

Meanwhile, the light grows closer, and the temperature drops even further.

Shoyler continues walking forward, his crossbow aimed straight ahead, ever vigilant. Catching the veteran vampire hunter off guard was quite the feat! As he moves forward, he'll begin to shiver more and more, obviously becoming quite uncomfortable. This wasn't ideal hunting weather. They could get caught in a blizzard or something horrible. He didn't like it. This was dangerous. However, as the golem moves farther and farther ahead, he does pause, holding his heavy crossbow with one muscular hand as he spoke to his hunting partner.

You're right... This isn't normal. I've endured cold... But this is more. This is unnatural, as you said. Let me see here if there's something I can do...

He sniffles a little, snowflakes all over his beard and eyebrows, before casting "Endure Elements" on himself and The Mourning Hoplite. This spell ought to briefly cover the pair in a warm yellow light, before fading away. Once the light has vanished, the pair might find themselves incredibly comfortable. Even warm. There we go... That did the trick. Your golem okay?

[UncleWolf]

Skyport of The Mountain

35,000ft..

"Devil down below! Port side! Ready harpoons!" A muffled cry says, barely piercing the icy cold gale that rocks the ship Fortune's Wrath. "Comeoncomeoncomeon....FIRE!!!" Captain Blood shouts to his crew, finishing his line connecting him to his ship's mast before racing over to the edge, peering over to see a giant scaled beast wailing below them, unable to twist out of the harpoon lines and net that had been cast. Sky Devils were particularly nasty pieces of work with inch thick scales, a foot of insulating and valuable blubber, dagger long teeth, and a massive bladder full o hydrogen that the whale-shaped creatures used to stay aloft. Looking at the good catch, the Captain smiled behind his breathing mask, but his mirth didn't last.

"Captain! She's getting heavier! Someone's hit the bladder and the gas is escaping!" His Helmsman, Richardsdotter, shouts as she tears off her breathing mask. "We need to cut her loose! Especially this close to the mountains and before a bolt of lightning sets it off and we all go to hell!" After brushing her red hair aside she puts her breathing mask back on and continues to work the controls, trying to keep them from sinking too fast in the clouds. Cursing under his breath, Blood leans over to a speaking tube before tearing off his own mask to shout through the howling winds. "Blood to Drives! Can't we get anymore power?" "No sir! We've already gotten the Arcana Drives stressed to the point of arcing and to make matters worse the Spell Cannon have gotten ornery! Three of my best are working on calming them down!"

Accepting his fortune for what it was, the Captain sighed before nodding to himself. "All hands! Cut harpoons! Cut net! And hold on to your lifelines! If any of you blaggards fall to your death, I swear in my mother the Iron Matron herself that I'll kill you before you hit the ground!" Following his own orders, the Captain could feel the ship lurch several times as ropes were cut and the net let loose. With it done he turns back to the speaking tube. "Drives, Helmsman, bring us down gently. Let's try to salvage what we can. A partial hold is better than none."

Splatter Site

"As many of these things we've butchered, you'd think we'd get used to that smell." Bosun Titanus complains, using his pitchfork to scrape a large piece of bloody blubber off the craggy side of the mountain and into the hold of Fortune's Wrath. "Could be worse..." His partner begins to say, only to be stopped by the Bosun slamming a handful of blubber into his face. "Don't you dare finish that thought."

Blood, watching it all, chuckles as he paces along the sharp rocks before frowning when he sees the glint of something shiny. "Richardsdotter! Get over here!" He commands before skipping down several dozen feet to find himself face to face with a shining mirror embedded in the side of the mountain. Seeing his own reflection in it he can't help but stare, reaching out for the metallic surface. When his helmsman arrives she gives an appreciative whistle. " Cap'n, these mountains ain't supposed to have any sort of mineral deposits, so if this is one, we've hit the jackpot. Dunno what sort of mineral is this shiny in raw form. Absolutely beautiful though." She admits.

Blood smiles to himself and reaches up to stroke his goatee. "Let's grab some blasting charges. Whatever it is, I think our luck is finally starting to turn." He says with a grin, setting his arm around his Helmsman's shoulders and guiding her away. With their backs turned, they both miss when the mirrored surface slides upward, revealing a 10ft tall solid white eye.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lost Temple]

Violet flies along the tunnel unmolested, though she is able to detect high amounts of ambient magic, and, if Dena is paying close attention or if she has the programming for it, several mechanical traps. Once she reaches the treasury, however, Elereshur is waiting there for her, grinning, and extends a clawed finger at the drone unleashing a blast of energy at the drone that will likely destroy her if she doesn't manage to avoid it.


[Lost Temple]

"Oh? You can't bet on things that are guaranteed to happen? Like, say, the exits getting sealed behind us?" Ithuriel chuckles and shakes her head, following on after Dena.

Plan C...plan C. Ithuriel isn't sure what exactly plan A is. Is plan A just hoping that the doors will be open for them when they run out? If there's no way out through the actual exits, and they get locked off from teleporting out, what other options do they have?

"Hmm. Yes. Yes I do have a plan C, if it comes to that. And don't worry, I'm not going to turn my demon scanner off." Though it can't pick up on anything as specific as the type of beings being scanned, Ithuriel is keeping her good/evil radar up. Which means she'll probably have memorised exactly what shade of good/evil grey Dena is by the end of this, but...also probably means she'll pick up on the presence of Elereshur from a fair way off.

[Lost Temple]

"Plan A was to simply run out when the door was open." Dena explains. "Anyway, let's focus on what Violet see shall we?"
But If Ithuriel does warn Dena, Violet will spot the demon earlier and be able to dodge the blast of energy and then suddenly disappear in a flash, recalling back to it's owner. "Huh, that was close. Is that the only demon guarding the treasure? Since then we might actually have a chance as long we stay away from traps."

[Aric Kale]

Frozen Forest - Full of Location Tags...

The Mourning Hoplite nods gratefully to the Cleric's bubble of protection from this frosty hell. As for the golem, it simply walks until it sees the vampire and turns back. No survival instincts, just following orders...
When it returns, Hawthorn and the Athenian use their own form of silent communication using finger movements to relate something's up ahead.
We should proceed with utmost caution, he says, gripping his blade even tighter.

[Recaiden]

Outside the Village of Peacefield

A massive, flaming rock is descending from the sky at quite a pace. The inhabitants of Peacefield, used to fighting off marauding beasts, confused bandits and many other threats that wander in from neighbouring realities, see this and flee to their basements and a small tower in the centre of their town that serves as a small defensive position. These precautions would be pointless if the massive meteor hits the village, but it's better than nothing. And it seems to be destined to land about a mile to the south.

When it does land, the shockwave destroys several large fields, flattening and burning the crops, fences, hedges and in one case cattle. The stout stone cottages of Peacefield withstand the blast mostly untouched; the Temple to Meridia has had all its windows broken, and the houses nearest the blast no longer have any roofs, but that's it.

The cautious villagers emerge from their hiding places and assess the damage, turning south to see the meteor itself. Only, it isn't a meteor, it seems. Instead, it resembles a massive skull made of a mysterious black substance. It has left a large crater, yet the vast skull isn't in the crater. It seems to have bounced, only without coming down- it's floating, two storeys above the fields, and gazing balefully upon the community of Peacefield with its vast, empty eyesockets. The skull is about four storeys high, proportioned much the same as a human's skull on a massive scale, and a motorcycle could fit in the eye socket.

The descent of the meteor-skull has been watched from far-off telescopes, and a poorly-paid intern sent out with a camera to investigate it. But that will take time before they even arrive.

In the more immediate present, a young woman has appeared in a field (a peacefield?) that was leveled by the shockwave. She's pale, half-transparent, and standing just above the ground, walking stick resting lazily in one hand, looking up at the skull. This seems just the opposite of the last job, where everything was magical brainwashing smiley-faces. This could be a lot more exciting. She picks her way closer, aiming to get under the skull, avoiding the places where crop-plants are still burning.

[BladeofObliviom]

(I had a feeling I was forgetting something!)


[Ebon Citadel]

Sebastian actually chuckles at that, reaching over to take back his sketchbook. The emerald beetle crawls out of his sleeve again, moving down to it's masters fingertips to stare at it's own likeness.

"I was drawing this when the summoning... happened, I suppose. The thought came into my head and I'd created the little fellow before I thought to wonder why. It was a like, well, a second nature to me." If there's any saving grace, it's that he's deadpan enough one could, by great force of will, pretend that wasn't meant as a pun at all. Just an unfortunate choice of words.

"I've tried drawing other things. There's an odd impulse, I'd call it in an itch in the back of my skull. But I can't seem to make them come to life." His smile curls downwards with evident frustration. "I had hoped you could tell me why. Or at least what I'm supposed to be doing with this."

And asking a mass murderer for direction might not be his first choice, but it's not like any of this came with a book of instructions...


[Ebon Citadel]

Cyrus takes another sip of tea, taking a moment to stare at the drawing alongside its subject. He supposes he deserved that response, given the pun he'd made only a few seconds before.

"Well, I might have an answer to some of your questions. If you're having trouble making things work, it might not be you. It might just be that you don't have enough mana to draw upon. Now that I think about it, you looked fairly drained after summoning that beetle of yours. Are you drawing on your own life force as a source of green mana? Because that's not actually very good for you. In fact, it's the kind of thing that makes people die early deaths with chronic use, planeswalker lifespan boost notwithstanding."

A chuckle. How inappropriate for the situation.

"Like I said, consider relaxing in forests a bit more often. Get a feel for the world around you. I'm told the hunting grounds are flowing with Green, though they're a bit on the dangerous side. As for purpose, that's up to you. Magic is power, just like everything else. Green magic has two sides, split between community and ferocity. Whether you choose to bind yourself into preserving the nature of the world or to express yourself as civilization won't allow or simply to deny nature and do what you wish, it is ultimately your decision."

Was...was that actual, helpful advice from Cyrus? What's the world coming to?

[Earl of Purple]

Outside Peacefield

The crops were pale blue flowers that exuded an aura of calm around them, soothing extreme emotions and promoting positive ones, to create an area where violence is less likely. Not impossible, mind, but killing in anger is all but impossible, and where the flowers have scorched and died the effect has quickly abated.

Under the skull the ground is made of glass, the sandy soil vitrified and compacted. It's hot, but cooling quickly and there's nothing burning atop it. Looking up, the bottom of the skull is smooth and hard-looking, with no visible gaps or entryways into the massive construct.

[Ionbound]

Lost Temple

There are a few other evil-peaks around the demon Violet saw, though it's unclear if they're other demons or just cursed artifacts.

Frozen Forest

Well, unfortunately for out intrepid duo, Endure Elements is not going to do them a whole lot of good, as this is a magical cold effect, rather than an effect of the environment. So, the temperature proceeds to drop, unmitigated by the spell. By now, it's pretty easy to hear the voice of a young woman calling, Please! I know you're there! Please, just tell me...What is happening to me?!

[Hattish Thing]

Frozen Forest - Full of Location Tags...

The Mourning Hoplite nods gratefully to the Cleric's bubble of protection from this frosty hell. As for the golem, it simply walks until it sees the vampire and turns back. No survival instincts, just following orders...
When it returns, Hawthorn and the Athenian use their own form of silent communication using finger movements to relate something's up ahead.
We should proceed with utmost caution, he says, gripping his blade even tighter.

It appears the spell heats up the pair for about thirty seconds before fizzling out into nothingness, the bitter cold once again wrapping the hunter's in it's frosty maw. At last the two got to enjoy about half a minute of bliss. When the spell goes out, Shoyler sighs and explains. Must be magical... It takes quite a bit of power to overbear my spells. The monster must be close.

A little bit later, his fears are confirmed as his partner relays the information Hawthorn provided. Shoyler will begin to cast a few more quick spells, meant to boost the group's morale and combat skills. They'd need all the protection they could get. He'll cast Bless, Divine Favor, and Magic vestment, spells meant to enhance combat ability and to infuse the target's armor with holy magical potency. The group should be a bit better protected and stronger now.



Frozen Forest

Well, unfortunately for out intrepid duo, Endure Elements is not going to do them a whole lot of good, as this is a magical cold effect, rather than an effect of the environment. So, the temperature proceeds to drop, unmitigated by the spell. By now, it's pretty easy to hear the voice of a young woman calling, Please! I know you're there! Please, just tell me...What is happening to me?!

Shoyler was about to cast another spell before the screams disturb his casting. He'll begin to rush forward now, grunting out advice to the Mourning Hoplite as he loads his specialized heavy crossbow. Whatever that scream is, don't trust it. I've no doubt the voice be nothing more than a trap. Don't let your guard down here... He'll move forward, most likely coming across the voice eventually.

[Recaiden]

Outside Peacefield

The crops were pale blue flowers that exuded an aura of calm around them, soothing extreme emotions and promoting positive ones, to create an area where violence is less likely. Not impossible, mind, but killing in anger is all but impossible, and where the flowers have scorched and died the effect has quickly abated.

Under the skull the ground is made of glass, the sandy soil vitrified and compacted. It's hot, but cooling quickly and there's nothing burning atop it. Looking up, the bottom of the skull is smooth and hard-looking, with no visible gaps or entryways into the massive construct.

Well, that's very important. The girl takes some time to try and find intact living peaceflowers. If she could dig up one to transplant it away, well, that would make this investigation worthwhile all on its own.

[Aric Kale]

Frozen Forest

D-d-damn it! I was hoping for some...warmth. He shivers, gripping his xiphos all he tighter, his body entirely affected by Shoyler's magic. At the old Cleric's warning, he charges forward with his eyes wide open, ready to fight. The golem moves with surprising haste, easily keeping pace with the two men as it bares its sharp fingers. For Captain Dekaros! He cries upon sighting the firevamp.

[Ionbound]

Frozen Forest

The men will note that as they get closer to the being, she'll shout, "Wait! Please! Don't hurt me!" and that the closer they get, the more dangerously low the temperature will get, at levels of tens of degrees per foot as the get close. If they don't turn back, they'll begin to feel their blood thicken and begin to freeze in their veins, while the golem, if it continues it's charge, will have it's joints freeze up, and, at very close range, will have it's very structure rupture as the residual water in the wood that comprises it freeze and expand.

[The Bushranger]

Melody's Island



With the sun getting low in the sky, three figures come down near the cottage. I will let them describe themselves. One is an unconscious young girl, about 15 or so. Another is a pink kitty, who as soon as he drops the other two off, he flies away, quite posibly to never be seen in the Nexus again ((:smallfrown:)). The third, I will allow her to describe herself ((unless she too is leaving the Nexus. :smalleek::smallfrown:)).

((For the adventures on Grandpa's Secret Island, QuickTopic (http://www.quicktopic.com/50/H/Big9uVEh5rJ).))

The third is Quinn, the brunette paladin dropping to her knees as she's dropped off, Estia in her arms. She gasps, her face strained as she slumps fowards into the sand.

She's wearing a rather ripped-up floral one-piece swimsuit.

[happyturtle]

Melody's Island


Melody's Island



The third is Quinn, the brunette paladin dropping to her knees as she's dropped off, Estia in her arms. She gasps, her face strained as she slumps fowards into the sand.

She's wearing a rather ripped-up floral one-piece swimsuit.

Happy finishes the soup in a quick gulp, then runs out to meet Estia and Quinn.

[Lord Magtok]

Melody's Island

Magtok follows Happy, keeping rather close for someone who totally, definitely, absolutely isn't dating Melody's mom. He's also doing a remarkably good job of not looking at Quinn, which is also peculiar, seeing as he's obviously, clearly, unquestionably, positively not dating anyone present, and there's little reason to fear being hit upside the head if he was caught ogling. Nope, totally no dating of Melody's mother going on here, why would you even think that?

"So that one's Estia, then. And the other, Quinn. Hrm." Quite a weird, undignified way to make an entrance. Looks like Quinn had every intention of going tanning, until a land shark mauled her or something.

[Earl of Purple]

Outside Peacefield

There's a few outside the crater, getting steadily scarcer the closer to the impact point. It's possible, but requires the girl to either gather them on the way to the vitrified crater beneath the floating skull or leaving to gather them.

[Hattish Thing]

Frozen Forest

D-d-damn it! I was hoping for some...warmth. He shivers, gripping his xiphos all he tighter, his body entirely affected by Shoyler's magic. At the old Cleric's warning, he charges forward with his eyes wide open, ready to fight. The golem moves with surprising haste, easily keeping pace with the two men as it bares its sharp fingers. For Captain Dekaros! He cries upon sighting the firevamp.


Frozen Forest

The men will note that as they get closer to the being, she'll shout, "Wait! Please! Don't hurt me!" and that the closer they get, the more dangerously low the temperature will get, at levels of tens of degrees per foot as the get close. If they don't turn back, they'll begin to feel their blood thicken and begin to freeze in their veins, while the golem, if it continues it's charge, will have it's joints freeze up, and, at very close range, will have it's very structure rupture as the residual water in the wood that comprises it freeze and expand.

Shoyler stays a fair distance away from the creature, sensing powerful dark magic radiating from her. He knew better than to approach. However, he doesn't bother calling out to her. When it really came down to it, an undead with powers this strong couldn't possibly be turned or cured. It'd be like attempting to turn a lich. It doesn't tend to work out. Instead... the hunter instantly aims the crossbow at the supposedly newly turned vampire thing and fires. The bolts are silvered and magical, meant to paralyze any undead. Three bolts are shot out in one turn, the special nature of the crossbow allowing mutliple shots. All three of the bolts are aimed to the chest, meaning to instantly kill the vampire.

Shoyler took no chances when it came to hunting.

[Recaiden]

Outside Peacefield

There's a few outside the crater, getting steadily scarcer the closer to the impact point. It's possible, but requires the girl to either gather them on the way to the vitrified crater beneath the floating skull or leaving to gather them.

She'll take the time on the way to the crater, briefly flickering out of vision with the flowers and then reappearing without them.

Now, to the matter of entering the skull. The girl backs out from immediately underneath it, such that she can have a running start, and solidifies, becoming as opaque as anyone and settling down onto the ground. A little uncertainly, taking a moment to get her balance. Running towards the skull, planting her stave like an overly stiff vaulting pole, and leaping up. As she leaves the ground, she taps her thumb against the ring on her left hand and discorporates again, keeping her momentum but slipping free of gravity. She's aiming to hit the skull at about its mouth, hoping that even if that is closed and solid, it will be textured enough to catch on to.

[Earl of Purple]

Outside Peacefield

All that effort might not be necessary- the lower jaw is lowering as the mouth opens, and a rope ladder descends.

Inside the skull's mouth is a dark chamber, with four figures clad in dark purple jumpsuits with kevlar breastplates over the top preparing to climb down. Each has a heavy weapon slung over their back- a flamethrower, a minigun, a rocket launcher and a large cutting saw. The first one to start climbing down is the one with the cutting saw. All four figures are wearing helmets that completely cover their faces, but if the girl can detect such all four figures are dead.

[Recaiden]

[Peaceskull]

Not easily detectable. What she would be able to ascertain is whether they have feelings and emotions, hopes and dreams. As for necessity, she's going to stay with it, as the jump method allows her to stay incorporeal and hopefully safe from all the weapons that she can see, as she hovers near the rope ladder
"Who are you?"

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

They have a crude sentience which expands to the emotions of anger, rage and hatred, but little further. They don't respond to the girl, but if they can see her the minigun-wielding figure will try to shoot her. If they can't, the flamethrower-equipped humanoid will unleash a stream of flames in the direction the voice seems to come from.

Whatever they're here for, it's not something peaceful.

[Aric Kale]

Frozen Forest

The men will note that as they get closer to the being, she'll shout, "Wait! Please! Don't hurt me!" and that the closer they get, the more dangerously low the temperature will get, at levels of tens of degrees per foot as the get close. If they don't turn back, they'll begin to feel their blood thicken and begin to freeze in their veins, while the golem, if it continues it's charge, will have it's joints freeze up, and, at very close range, will have it's very structure rupture as the residual water in the wood that comprises it freeze and expand.


Shoyler stays a fair distance away from the creature, sensing powerful dark magic radiating from her. He knew better than to approach. However, he doesn't bother calling out to her. When it really came down to it, an undead with powers this strong couldn't possibly be turned or cured. It'd be like attempting to turn a lich. It doesn't tend to work out. Instead... the hunter instantly aims the crossbow at the supposedly newly turned vampire thing and fires. The bolts are silvered and magical, meant to paralyze any undead. Three bolts are shot out in one turn, the special nature of the crossbow allowing mutliple shots. All three of the bolts are aimed to the chest, meaning to instantly kill the vampire.

Shoyler took no chances when it came to hunting.

Hawthorn gets about twenty feet away from the vampire before freezing solid. It doesn't explode, however, due to it's magical enhancements. Still, this gives Shoyler and Zander a good idea of the safe zone that they can approach. For now, the hoplite will have to hang back, though he hastily lops off some branches and works on crafting throwing spears with a knife.

Shoyler, we must finish this quickly, lest we freeze solid!
Naturally, he's hanging back, just outside of "the freeze zone."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Lost Temple]

"It kind of seems too good to be true, doesn't it?" Ithuriel frowns, not convinced it's going to be anywhere near that easy, "There's something else nearby, but I can't tell what. Could just be some nasty evil doodads in the treasure room. I'm not much good at disabling traps and the like. Do you have a way to clear the path for us? If there is just the one demon there, we'd better take a shot at it now before more of them come along."

[Shadowcaller]

[Lost Temple]

"Or the treasure is the trap. Evil demon gold anyone?" Dena suggests without looking away from the path ahead. "These guys are nasty though, apparently they can see through invisibility and illusions, are immune to poison and very resistant to all kinds of damage. So most of my misdirection tricks aren't going to be very useful. I bet holy power does a number on them though, which is why I brought you plus a number of these..." The drow smirks and pulls out this (http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110125053836/mafiawars/images/e/e0/Huge_item_holyhandgrenade_01.png) from one of her many pockets.

Now is the question, what does the room the demon stood in look like, could Dena sneak closer to it without immediately being spotted?

[Ionbound]

Lost Temple

Well, from what Violet saw, the demon turns to blast her, and the door was behind the throne. So, if she was sitting down, it would be quite easy to sneak in...But she did notice Violet, so she knows you're there.

Frozen Forest

The young woman shouts "Wait! Please, stop! Why won't you help me?" as the silver bolts narrowly whiz past her, grazing her sides, but doing no serious damage. She also continues proceeding towards Shoyler, likely putting him in the freeze zone. Which, needless to say, he's going to have to evacuate if he values his non-iced over state.

[Recaiden]

Peacefield Skull

They have a crude sentience which expands to the emotions of anger, rage and hatred, but little further. They don't respond to the girl, but if they can see her the minigun-wielding figure will try to shoot her. If they can't, the flamethrower-equipped humanoid will unleash a stream of flames in the direction the voice seems to come from.

Whatever they're here for, it's not something peaceful.

Disappointing, and yet oddly thrilling. A fight, and this part against people who pose little threat.
At least that's what the girl thinks as the bullets pass through her, not causing the slightest damage or trouble. The flamethrower, on the other hand, is something to dodge. She floats quickly to the ladder itself, trying to put one of the thing's allies between her and it as she climbs.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

The missile launcher guy and the minigun guy start hauling the ladder up as the cutting saw guy climbs backup. Their landing site is compromised, and until they have pacified the girl they won't disembark.

The flamethrower guy will try to get another burst of flame off at the ghost-girl, but doesn't want to incinerate his companion or the ladder, so if either of those is in his range of fire he won't shoot.

[Lex-Kat]

Melody's Island


The third is Quinn, the brunette paladin dropping to her knees as she's dropped off, Estia in her arms. She gasps, her face strained as she slumps fowards into the sand.

She's wearing a rather ripped-up floral one-piece swimsuit.

Happy finishes the soup in a quick gulp, then runs out to meet Estia and Quinn.

Magtok follows Happy, keeping rather close for someone who totally, definitely, absolutely isn't dating Melody's mom. He's also doing a remarkably good job of not looking at Quinn, which is also peculiar, seeing as he's obviously, clearly, unquestionably, positively not dating anyone present, and there's little reason to fear being hit upside the head if he was caught ogling. Nope, totally no dating of Melody's mother going on here, why would you even think that?

"So that one's Estia, then. And the other, Quinn. Hrm." Quite a weird, undignified way to make an entrance. Looks like Quinn had every intention of going tanning, until a land shark mauled her or something.
Jezebelle, not noticing the arrivals quite as quickly as Happy, turns to see where everyone, aside from Derek and Melody, is running off to. Then she sees Reinholdt flying off, leaving two people behind, and she knows one of them is Estia. Estia! she cries out, and is right behind the cyborg.

Happy, as likely the first to arrive, might notice that Estia looks a bit older. No, that'd be an understatement. When last Happy saw Estia, she was around 9 or so. Definitely not a teenager. The girl in Quinn's care is definitely in her early to mid teens.

((And just to restate it, the sun is going down. So it's getting darker.))

[DoomITP]

The Beach

Lee appears with a brief flash of light and heat on the sandy shore. He blinks rapidly, trying to adjust to the sudden change of light.

It's been a while...

[Beans]

The Beach

Lee appears with a brief flash of light and heat on the sandy shore. He blinks rapidly, trying to adjust to the sudden change of light.

It's been a while...
He is being watched.
Secretly.

From behind a huge-ass sandcastle.
So not secretly at all, especially given Margaret's black coat standing out against blue sky and pale sand.

But she's... mostly behind the sandcastle.

[DoomITP]

Lee looks at the sand castle curiously and walks towards it. He appears to have not noticed Margaret yet.

[Beans]

Lee looks at the sand castle curiously and walks towards it. He appears to have not noticed Margaret yet.


Once he gets within range... she lunges!
And puts her hand all up on his face.
[B]'M THINKIN' 'BOUT SPIDERS.

[DoomITP]

Lee's blue eyes flash blue but quickly die down once he realizes he isn't being attacked.

Who're you?

Lee asks, keeping his arms down at his sides to avoid startling her.

[Beans]

Lee's blue eyes flash blue but quickly die down once he realizes he isn't being attacked.

Who're you?

Lee asks, keeping his arms down at his sides to avoid startling her.


[B]'M Margaret, 'n 'm thinkin' 'bout spiders.
...
So... 're y'feelin'... poisony? Dyin'?

Her hand stays where it is, all up ons his face. She doesn't seem to have attacked in fear or anything, just... like... she did it.

[DoomITP]

Lee shakes his head.

I'm Lee and no I don't. Was I supposed to be?

[Beans]

Lee shakes his head.

I'm Lee and no I don't. Was I supposed to be?


She sighs, removing her hand. [B]Yeah... maybe I shoulda hit harder? 'r... pokier?
She tries to poke him.
And think about spiders.

[DoomITP]

Lee shakes his head.

Maybe it's trying to tell you something. Like that you shouldn't try to poison me.

[Beans]

Lee shakes his head.

Maybe it's trying to tell you something. Like that you shouldn't try to poison me.

[B]But 's f'r educaaaaaation.
She pokes him, apparently thinking as hard as possible about spiders.

[Recaiden]

Peacefield Skull


The missile launcher guy and the minigun guy start hauling the ladder up as the cutting saw guy climbs backup. Their landing site is compromised, and until they have pacified the girl they won't disembark.

The flamethrower guy will try to get another burst of flame off at the ghost-girl, but doesn't want to incinerate his companion or the ladder, so if either of those is in his range of fire he won't shoot.

The ladder is in fact in the way, seeing as the girl is sort of holding on to it. She's not really holding on to it, since she's insubstantial, but as long as it doesn't get yanked more than her height (4'10") away all at once, she can use it to levitate up, as she's currently doing. The ghost girl waits, to see if they continue pulling the ladder up and let her get close enough to jump at the flame-thrower guy.

[DoomITP]

Education can wait.

Lee says, flatly.

[Beans]

Education can wait.

Lee says, flatly.


She sighs. [B]But knowledge 'n spiders! Both at the same time!
She punches the sand castle and... it collapses into a rough but recognizable sand-spider sculpture.
KUMO SHIKOU KEN.

[DoomITP]

Beach

That's... Actually very impressive.

Lee says as he inspects the sculpture.

[Beans]

Beach

That's... Actually very impressive.

Lee says as he inspects the sculpture.

Bet if I thought real good 'bout spiders it'd move.
'N bite.

She pokes at him again, and if it hits he may feel a sensation like a spider on his skin for a second.

[DoomITP]

Lee shivers involuntarily from the weird creepy crawly feeling on his skin.

I'd prefer it if you didn't do that again.

[The Bushranger]

Melody's Island


Happy finishes the soup in a quick gulp, then runs out to meet Estia and Quinn.


Magtok follows Happy, keeping rather close for someone who totally, definitely, absolutely isn't dating Melody's mom. He's also doing a remarkably good job of not looking at Quinn, which is also peculiar, seeing as he's obviously, clearly, unquestionably, positively not dating anyone present, and there's little reason to fear being hit upside the head if he was caught ogling. Nope, totally no dating of Melody's mother going on here, why would you even think that?

"So that one's Estia, then. And the other, Quinn. Hrm." Quite a weird, undignified way to make an entrance. Looks like Quinn had every intention of going tanning, until a land shark mauled her or something.


Jezebelle, not noticing the arrivals quite as quickly as Happy, turns to see where everyone, aside from Derek and Melody, is running off to. Then she sees Reinholdt flying off, leaving two people behind, and she knows one of them is Estia. Estia! she cries out, and is right behind the cyborg.

Happy, as likely the first to arrive, might notice that Estia looks a bit older. No, that'd be an understatement. When last Happy saw Estia, she was around 9 or so. Definitely not a teenager. The girl in Quinn's care is definitely in her early to mid teens.

((And just to restate it, the sun is going down. So it's getting darker.))

Quinn doesn't look up as the others approach. The brunette is leaning fowards on the beach, having had enough presence of mind to set Estia down next to her before almost slumping over onto her hands and knees, shudders passing through her (well-toned, Magtok won't notice) figure.

From the sound of it, she's crying.

[happyturtle]

Melody's Island

Happy thinks Quinn crying must be related to Estia's ageing and hopes that Quinn and Estia haven't been away from their families for years. Please let it be some sort of shapeshifting morphological something or other. It'd be too heartbreaking otherwise.

But since she has the sense not to get between mother and daughter, she tries to scoop Quinn into a hug and hold her.

I can't speak for Magtok, but my guess is that he doesn't perv over crying women. :smalltongue:

[Lord Magtok]

Melody's Island

He wasn't perving before Quinn broke into sobs, he's definitely not going to start now. :smallyuk:

What Magtok does do, is awkwardly shuffle aside and stay out of everyone's way. With Melody away and Happy occupied, everyone else here is a stranger, caught in some sort of emotional reunion or something.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

As soon as power cutter guy is up and off the ladder, they dump the entire thing and fire wildly in the ghost girl's direction with flamethrower and minigun. They've got other rope ladders, so it's no loss, and it can't be used to board them. Cutting saw guy revs his cutting saw though they doubt it'll be much use.

[Beans]

Lee shivers involuntarily from the weird creepy crawly feeling on his skin.

I'd prefer it if you didn't do that again.

She sighs. [B]Oh, alright... jus' don' have many people to test on.

[Lex-Kat]

Melody's Island


Quinn doesn't look up as the others approach. The brunette is leaning forwards on the beach, having had enough presence of mind to set Estia down next to her before almost slumping over onto her hands and knees, shudders passing through her (well-toned, Magtok won't notice) figure.

From the sound of it, she's crying.

Happy thinks Quinn crying must be related to Estia's ageing and hopes that Quinn and Estia haven't been away from their families for years. Please let it be some sort of shapeshifting morphological something or other. It'd be too heartbreaking otherwise.

But since she has the sense not to get between mother and daughter, she tries to scoop Quinn into a hug and hold her.

I can't speak for Magtok, but my guess is that he doesn't perv over crying women. :smalltongue:

He wasn't perving before Quinn broke into sobs, he's definitely not going to start now. :smallyuk:

What Magtok does do, is awkwardly shuffle aside and stay out of everyone's way. With Melody away and Happy occupied, everyone else here is a stranger, caught in some sort of emotional reunion or something.
((Magtok, you... you non-perv! :smalltongue:))

Quinn might feel as if she's aged a couple years. (Completely up to her player. :smallsmile:)

Jezebelle stops a few feet short of Estia and Quinn. "E-Estia?" she asks questioningly, not sure if she's seeing right. "Baby?"

Estia's eye flutter open, looking around. "Momma?"

And that's enough for the mother. She dives the last few steps, embracing the the young girl and crying. "What happened to you?"

​But Estia's too busy crying to immediately answer.

[Earl of Purple]

Daemonwood- Shrine to Galthalagos

Deep in this dark and gloomy forest is a stone altar, a single block of basalt stained brown with dried blood. Chains and shackles are bolted to the altar, along with a crude mechanism to tighten them, and resting atop the largest bloodstain is a dagger with a wavy-edged blade. Behind the altar is a pair of standing stones, topped with a capstone to make a henge. The henge, when active, is the only known entrance to the prison-plane where Galthalagos, Demon Lord of Torture and Anthropaphagy.

[Ionbound]

[Demon Shrine]

Elereshur is here, in her natural form, possibly accompanied by Babette and leading seven slaves by their collars. She chains one of them to the altar, smiles, and says, "Ah...This place brings back memories...Well, then, let's get cracking." If Babette this there, she then continues, "Do you want to do the honors, or shall I?"

((Beans is going to show up when the Portal opens. Your turn, Earl.))

[Earl of Purple]

Daemonwood Shrine to Galthalagos

"Last time I was here, I was on that altar, Mistress. I'd like to do it, if you don't mind." She picks the dagger up and strokes the bound slave's body with the tip, gently running it down their side. If Elereshur asks, she will hand it over graciously and await the feast afterwards.

[Ionbound]

Daemonwood Shrine to Galthalagos

Elereshur smiles and says, "I wouldn't dream of stopping you, my dear. Kill them all."

[DoomITP]

She sighs. [B]Oh, alright... jus' don' have many people to test on.

Well maybe we can find you something else... But I'd prefer not to die in the process.

[Earl of Purple]

Daemonwood Shrine

Babette grins, and starts to chant as she plunges the blade into the slave's torso. The blood flows away and falls towards the stone henge, pooling between the stones of its frame. When the slave has died, she cuts out their heart and throws it at the portal, causing a flash of light and motioning for the next slave. She won't move the last corpse, just unshackle them and chain the new slave atop the cooling body of the last as she repeats the process.

[Beans]

Well maybe we can find you something else... But I'd prefer not to die in the process.


[B]Prolly won' die.
... Prolly.

[Ionbound]

Daemonwood Shrine

Adele smiles as the last slave is slaughtered, and says, "Excellent, Babette. Go ahead and dig in." She then turns to the portal and calls out, "Let my Lord, Galthalagos, Prince of Torture and Anthropaphagy, be freed from his prison!"

[DoomITP]

[B]Prolly won' die.
... Prolly.

Beach

That probably is the problem. Maybe you should take a break from practicing?

[Beans]

Daemonwood Shrine

Adele smiles as the last slave is slaughtered, and says, "Excellent, Babette. Go ahead and dig in." She then turns to the portal and calls out, "Let my Lord, Galthalagos, Prince of Torture and Anthropaphagy, be freed from his prison!"
And out comes...
Not that guy! (http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q106/Beans-tastic/g7035.png)
Please don't tell me you wanted to summon a pit fiend, I get that all too oft---oh, did I arrive in time for dinner? She clicks, tail swishing curiously. She's carrying a little notepad.
Cute!
---

Beach
That probably is the problem. Maybe you should take a break from practicing?
She sighs. Maybe... eh, I guess.

[DoomITP]

Lee nods.

Are you hungry?

[Earl of Purple]

Daemonwood Shrine

Babette starts to eat the bodies of the sacrificial victims, quickly getting into a flesh-frenzy over the sheer amount of meat available. She won't notice much until she's finished or something tries to stop her from eating.

She's a fourteen year old girl, with blonde hair, blue-black eyes and pale skin, wearing a simple, sleeveless cotton dress. Blood is spattered around her mouth, down her front and up her arms to her elbow.

[Ionbound]

[Daemonwood Shrine]

Elereshur frowns at the demon who is decidedly not Galthalagos, and asks, "Well, that depends. Your are decidedly not my Lord, so why are you here? If you're helpful to me, I might be inclined to share in our feast...If my cute underling doesn't eat it all first. So, then. What are you?"

[Beans]

[Daemonwood Shrine]
The daemon smiles. Oh, you're right---she is terribly cute. Messy, though... anyway, my name is Liache, I am a Demersal caste Execuloth, and I may be able to help.
Depending on what your intentions are.
She tucks her notebook into her suitcoat, chittering.
----

She shakes her head. [B]Not really...

[Ionbound]

[Daemonwood Shrine]

Elereshur nods, and replies, "She is a bit messy. Useful, though, especially for clean-up. Now, for my intentions. My lord and creator, the Demon Lord Galthalagos, is currently trapped in what I speculate to be an extra-dimensional prison. I want to free him. Think you can help with that?"

[DoomITP]

Is there anything else you want to do?

Lee asks, tilting his head.

[Beans]

[Daemonwood Shrine]

Elereshur nods, and replies, "She is a bit messy. Useful, though, especially for clean-up. Now, for my intentions. My lord and creator, the Demon Lord Galthalagos, is currently trapped in what I speculate to be an extra-dimensional prison. I want to free him. Think you can help with that?"
Mmm... give me a look at the paperwork---and there is paperwork somewhere, even if it's runes inscribed on the shell of a giant star-turtle---and I'll see if I can call in some favors...
She seems quite interested in one of the bodies.

-------------

Is there anything else you want to do?

Lee asks, tilting his head.
She shrugs, looking around awkwardly.

[Ionbound]

Mmm... give me a look at the paperwork---and there is paperwork somewhere, even if it's runes inscribed on the shell of a giant star-turtle---and I'll see if I can call in some favors...
She seems quite interested in one of the bodies.

Elereshur replies with a thin smiles, "Hmm...I have a sneaking suspicion that this was an unlawful imprisonment by those classic do-gooder types. And hence, so paperwork. But, perhaps, it exists, though who knows where." She sighs, and continues, "Well, in any event, you have already been helpful, and I trust that you will look into this, so please, join us in this most excellent feast."

With that, she digs into the bodies alongside Babette, working herself into her own flesh frenzy, wildly feasting upon the corpses.

[DoomITP]

Beach

Feel like swimming?

[Beans]

Elereshur replies with a thin smiles, "Hmm...I have a sneaking suspicion that this was an unlawful imprisonment by those classic do-gooder types. And hence, so paperwork. But, perhaps, it exists, though who knows where." She sighs, and continues, "Well, in any event, you have already been helpful, and I trust that you will look into this, so please, join us in this most excellent feast."

With that, she digs into the bodies alongside Babette, working herself into her own flesh frenzy, wildly feasting upon the corpses.

The unlawful imprisonments generate the most paperwork, my dear, precisely because they are unlawful. It's usually my people who get stuck doing the documents for those.
She selects her corpse, tapping it with a finger as the body transforms into a series of pasties, meat pies, and turnovers.
She starts with steak and kidney pie.
Always start with steak and kidney pie.

[McBish]

Melody's Island



Melody reaches out with her good arm to touch Derek. I'm not scared of needles. Besides, not too much choice, right? she says with a smile.

With the sun getting low in the sky, three figures come down near the cottage. I will let them describe themselves. One is an unconscious young girl, about 15 or so. Another is a pink kitty, who as soon as he drops the other two off, he flies away, quite posibly to never be seen in the Nexus again ((:smallfrown:)). The third, I will allow her to describe herself ((unless she too is leaving the Nexus. :smalleek::smallfrown:)).

((For the adventures on Grandpa's Secret Island, QuickTopic (http://www.quicktopic.com/50/H/Big9uVEh5rJ).))

Derek smiles back. "Don't worry you are in good hands." With that said he will start to get ready to try and heal the injuries that remain. This will involve carefully rolling Melody onto her stomach and some cutting of her clothes. He will promise to mend them later.

Assuming that he can get that far the next part will seem a bit more magical. He pulls out several dozen long needles, a bowl made of obsidian, and a vial of milky white liquid. He pours the liquid in the bowl and soaks the needles in them. He holds the bowl in both his hands and whispers a quite prayer in a strange language. The whole bowl glows for a few seconds bringing a happy smile to Derek's face. Sometimes his prayers aren't answered being so far from home. This obviously isn't one of those times.

Then it is very similar to acupuncture. Those half a dozen of needles will be stuck all around her back and other injuries. There should be no pain. As a matter of fact it should start to feel very relaxing. It will probably take about 15 minutes or so for him to get all the needles in place. Then he will have her sit for another 15 minutes. Plenty of time for the others to have things happening.



Jezebelle, not noticing the arrivals quite as quickly as Happy, turns to see where everyone, aside from Derek and Melody, is running off to. Then she sees Reinholdt flying off, leaving two people behind, and she knows one of them is Estia. Estia! she cries out, and is right behind the cyborg.

Happy, as likely the first to arrive, might notice that Estia looks a bit older. No, that'd be an understatement. When last Happy saw Estia, she was around 9 or so. Definitely not a teenager. The girl in Quinn's care is definitely in her early to mid teens.

((And just to restate it, the sun is going down. So it's getting darker.))

[The Bushranger]

Melody's Island


Happy thinks Quinn crying must be related to Estia's ageing and hopes that Quinn and Estia haven't been away from their families for years. Please let it be some sort of shapeshifting morphological something or other. It'd be too heartbreaking otherwise.

But since she has the sense not to get between mother and daughter, she tries to scoop Quinn into a hug and hold her.

I can't speak for Magtok, but my guess is that he doesn't perv over crying women. :smalltongue:


He wasn't perving before Quinn broke into sobs, he's definitely not going to start now. :smallyuk:

What Magtok does do, is awkwardly shuffle aside and stay out of everyone's way. With Melody away and Happy occupied, everyone else here is a stranger, caught in some sort of emotional reunion or something.


((Magtok, you... you non-perv! :smalltongue:))

Quinn might feel as if she's aged a couple years. (Completely up to her player. :smallsmile:)

Jezebelle stops a few feet short of Estia and Quinn. "E-Estia?" she asks questioningly, not sure if she's seeing right. "Baby?"

Estia's eye flutter open, looking around. "Momma?"

And that's enough for the mother. She dives the last few steps, embracing the the young girl and crying. "What happened to you?"

​But Estia's too busy crying to immediately answer.

Quinn might or might not have aged! Schrodinger's Aging!
...as it is, though, the embrace Happy gives is leaned into, the brunette shuddering.
And murmuring something that sounds like everybody hates me.

...seems Grandpa's little psychic attack cut deep. :smalleek:

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Lost Temple]

"Or the treasure is the trap. Evil demon gold anyone?" Dena suggests without looking away from the path ahead. "These guys are nasty though, apparently they can see through invisibility and illusions, are immune to poison and very resistant to all kinds of damage. So most of my misdirection tricks aren't going to be very useful. I bet holy power does a number on them though, which is why I brought you plus a number of these..." The drow smirks and pulls out this (http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110125053836/mafiawars/images/e/e0/Huge_item_holyhandgrenade_01.png) from one of her many pockets.

Now is the question, what does the room the demon stood in look like, could Dena sneak closer to it without immediately being spotted?

"I have no idea what those are, but I'll assume they're supposed to be very effective against demons. If we sneak in nice and close, I should be able to confirm there's just the one demon in there. Then maybe we can rush it or use one of those things you're holding, or something like that."

Assuming Dena agrees with the plan, Ithuriel will slowly work her way towards the room, stopping a little short of the entrance, trying to get a fix on the evil auras and their sources.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lost Temple]

"Good, try to distract them while I lob this thing over the throne. You'll see soon enough what it does, I need three seconds before I throw it though. The demon should be behind the throne but warn me if it isn't" Dena then sneaks along the wall, listening to sounds, until she come to the corner in the corridor from where she can see the throne, assuming of course she doesn't hear a demon around the corner. Using a hand-mirror (what kind of adventurer doesn't have a mirror?) she looks around the corner. If it's clear of demons I assume Ithuriel sneaks forward. If the angel distracts the demon somehow and assuming she doesn't warn Dena, the rogue quickly starts to count to three in her head, no more, no less, and thrown the item over the throne and into the room where it after the sound of latin chanting will explode in a great burst of holy energy.

For reference, the room looks like this (http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg254/Seweron/ThroneRoom_zps48b4ed04.png) from what I have gathered from FD's description of it. The black square is the throne and the red diamond shape is supposed to be the demon. Dena and Ithruiel are the pentagon and the triangel.

[Recaiden]

Peacefield Skull


As soon as power cutter guy is up and off the ladder, they dump the entire thing and fire wildly in the ghost girl's direction with flamethrower and minigun. They've got other rope ladders, so it's no loss, and it can't be used to board them. Cutting saw guy revs his cutting saw though they doubt it'll be much use.

That's a 'no' then. The ghost girl falls with the ladder, darting here and there to avoid the flames, and racing under the skull when she gets near enough to the ground.

[happyturtle]

Melody's Island

Oh crap. Happy hasn't got a clue how to fix something like this. She shoots Magtok a "Help me!" look. :smalleek:

[Earl of Purple]

Demonwood- Shrine to Galthalagos, Lord of Barbs

The henge, incidentally, has a network of tiny, hairline cracks running through the surface of the stones by the way. Should have mentioned it sooner.

Babette's too busy eating to make much comment, though she stays away from the processed foods and prefers the flesh in its natural state. She'd honestly prefer it to be alive and screaming, but that can't be helped.

Peacefield Skull

The skull's jaw closes and its eyesockets and nasal cavity light up as it starts to swivel, looking for the ghost girl or any other threats. There's a 6-pound automatic cannon mounted in each eyesocket and a large rocket launcher in the nose cavity. They're designed mostly to destroy heavy armour emplacements or armoured vehicles, and aren't very good at hitting small, mobile targets.

[Ionbound]

Daemonwood Shrine

After a few minutes of frenzied feasting, Elereshur leaves Babette to the rest, and then looks up at Leiche and says, "Alright, then. Please, get back to me if you find something. I live in Southside, in an apartment block...Ask for Adele."

[Beans]

Daemonwood Shrine

After a few minutes of frenzied feasting, Elereshur leaves Babette to the rest, and then looks up at Leiche and says, "Alright, then. Please, get back to me if you find something. I live in Southside, in an apartment block...Ask for Adele."
Liache (eating with, naturally, bone utensils) nods, smiling. Expect me soon, dear. Er, does your little one need any looking after, or will she be alright by herself if you leave? She glances at Babette.

[Ionbound]

Daemonwood Shrine

Elereshur nods to Liache and says, while completely soaked in blood and completely not caring, "Alright...As for Babette, I wouldn't leave her. Don't worry."

[Earl of Purple]

Daemonwood Shrine

Babette will finish soon, there's likely not much left after three people have been feasting, two of them not caring to be clean. She'll leave her flesh-frenzy and look around, blood covering her all over and soaking her clothes through. "Oh, uh, sorry. Um, I'm not sure what came over me, but... Hello, I'm Babette." She rips a last strip of flesh from some ribs and puts it into her mouth.

[Beans]

[Daemonwood Buffet]
Liache cannot contain herself, letting out a little chitter of delight.
Oh, aren't you just the cutest? Lovely to meet you, dear, my name's Liache.

[Ionbound]

[Daemonwood Shrine]

Elereshur smiles at this like an approving parent, but says nothing, happy to let Babette and Lieche chatter without her interference. Instead, she turns her attention to inspecting the henge, trying to find out more about it.

[Earl of Purple]

Daemonwood Shrine

Babette blushes, though there's enough blood on her face that it's very hard to tell. "Um, thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you, too."

The henge is made of basalt blocks, the two supporting stones six feet tall and the capstone five foot long, making a gap six feet tall and three wide. They're very solid, and are devoid of all marks and ornamentation. The cracks spiderwebbing its entire structure are very thin, and shallow, and seem purely superficial.

[Beans]

[Daemonwood Shrine]
She giggles, grinning with sharp little teeth. On a bone plate, she's scratching something with her secondary hands.
Where'd she pick you up?

[Recaiden]

Peacefield Skull


The skull's jaw closes and its eyesockets and nasal cavity light up as it starts to swivel, looking for the ghost girl or any other threats. There's a 6-pound automatic cannon mounted in each eyesocket and a large rocket launcher in the nose cavity. They're designed mostly to destroy heavy armour emplacements or armoured vehicles, and aren't very good at hitting small, mobile targets.

The ghostly girl heads towards the center of the skull, trying to keep under it, laughing softly at the cannon fire. But when the first rocket crashes down, her eyes widen, and she sets off running in a weaving path towards Peacefield itself.

[Lord Magtok]

Melody's Island

Oh crap. Happy hasn't got a clue how to fix something like this. She shoots Magtok a "Help me!" look. :smalleek:

Magtok holds up a finger, as he quickly whips out a phone and calls-

...

GLoG's Tobias. Or more precisely, GLoG's Med Lab, but it amounts to the same thing. This should be more help than anything Magtok himself could do.

"Hi, is this Tobias? It's Magtok, I'm on Melody's Island. Your wife is...I don't want to say it's a mental breakdown, in case it's not anything that intense, but she needs someone and your name is the first that came to mind."

[FireFox]

[Melody's Island]

There is silence on the other end, as Toby tries to figure things out. Before Magtok can wonder if the line is actually connected, however, he clears his throat and speaks up. Look around and find a plant. Describe it. What kind is it? What makes it physically and visibly distinct from other nearby plants? ... And what is the island's compass bearing from GLoG?

[Hattish Thing]

Frozen Forest

The young woman shouts "Wait! Please, stop! Why won't you help me?" as the silver bolts narrowly whiz past her, grazing her sides, but doing no serious damage. She also continues proceeding towards Shoyler, likely putting him in the freeze zone. Which, needless to say, he's going to have to evacuate if he values his non-iced over state.

Somehow Shoyler missed the shot. Most likely due to the damned ice storm above. The snow was flurrying all over the place, obstructing his view. Normally a shot from this distance would be like shooting fish in a very cold barrel to his well trained eye. However, a well-trained eye is of no use when your eye's mostly frozen over... As the newly turned vampire shouts at him and moves closer, Shoyler shouts back, firing three more shots at her as he rushes backwards quickly. However, it looks like Shoyler won't be able to avoid her for too long. The snow was thick and he wasn't very fast. She'd catch up in a few turns. I can't help you! If I can't approach you, I can't get rid of your curse! You're dangerous! I'm sorry... The three new bolts speed her way, this time aiming for her lower body. He couldn't have the monster get any closer to him, lest the icy jaw of her magic grip him.

[Aric Kale]

Frozen Forest

Hawthorn is making a lovely ice sculpture right now, as he's covered in ice and snow in a manner that's almost comical. In fact, Zander would laugh if his lips weren't threatening to freeze together...
Oi! Beastie! Look over here! He yells out a challenge right after he throws a makeshift javelin at the firevamp. He doesn't really expect it to work, but it might distract her enough that Shoyler's arrows could finally hit.

[Ionbound]

[Frozen Forest]

Kanya stops moving forwards as she ducks the makeshift javelin and Shoyer's bolts pass through where her legs would be of they weren't a miasma of incandescent plasma-ish. She says, afraid and confused, "Why are you trying to hurt me?"

[Lost Temple]

Oh, now that's just no fair. Luckily for our demonic bosses, Ithuriel will be able to detect three major hotspots of evil, one of which blinks out as the Holy Hand Grenade detonates behind the throne...But the other two are right next to the entrance, and are revealed to be Elereshur and Thariel. Elereshur fires a bolt of the same red energy she fired at Violet at Ithuriel, though it's much bigger and looks to cause some serious damage to the angel is she's hit, while Thariel creates a wall of fire behind where she can sense Ithuriel's Aura of good.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

The skull follows, floating ominously behind the ghost-girl as its cannon continue to fire at her. They're attempting to lead their shots to improve their accuracy, but they still aren't very accurate.

The holdfast, a stout stone keep in the centre of Peacefield, is launching its own rockets at the skull, though they're far cruder- more like Chinese fire-arrows than anything more modern. Five hit the skull and explode, doing little -if any- damage; the return fire, however, blasts a gaping hole in the holdfast's crenellations, the roof and the upper floor. No more fire-arrows are launched from the keep.

[Ionbound]

[Daemonwood Shrine]

Elereshur sits back, considering her findings, and allows the pair to continue their chatter without interruption.

((Go ahead and skip me...Elereshur doesn't have a whole lot to say here, unless someone questions her.))

[Earl of Purple]

Daemonwood Shrine

"I was chained to the altar and sacrificed to open the portal when Elereshur was thrown through. Afterwards, the cavity where my heart was filled with a ghoulstone." A ghoulstone is an amethyst crystal empowered with necromantic energy. It acts as a beacon, summoning undead nearer, unless it's used to directly reanimate one corpse as a ghast that keeps their original shape- mostly. And she can reanimate others in the same way, to create more ghasts that don't look dead.

[Lord Magtok]

[Melody's Island]

There is silence on the other end, as Toby tries to figure things out. Before Magtok can wonder if the line is actually connected, however, he clears his throat and speaks up. Look around and find a plant. Describe it. What kind is it? What makes it physically and visibly distinct from other nearby plants? ... And what is the island's compass bearing from GLoG?

"Alright, hold on. Okay, so it's blue, with this yellow thing in the middle. It has five...no, six petal things on the flower, and-Oh **** this, hold on. MagComputer says it's Thelymitra crinita. It's about two feet away from some crabgrass. Thelymitra crinita, also known as Blue Lady Orchid. Melody has a goofy sense of humor. Oh, right, and compass direction, southeast." Magtok squats down next to the flower, before suddenly shooting up and backing away nervously. He's just genre-savvy enough to realize staying there and looking at the flower was going to get him accidentally kicked in the face.

[Morcleon]

Deep Forest

Walking along the barely existent path, Sonozaki Yuki looks around the forest. He stops, then bends down to pick another wendin mushroom. They are quite useful for a lot of his medicines.

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

Walking along the barely existent path, Sonozaki Yuki looks around the forest. He stops, then bends down to pick another wendin mushroom. They are quite useful for a lot of his medicines.

Yuki may notice the trees lining path ahead have slash marks about a decimeter deep through them in various places, and an odd blade that looks like it came from a boxcutter for a giant on the ground, dulled.

[Morcleon]

Yuki may notice the trees lining path ahead have slash marks about a decimeter deep through them in various places, and an odd blade that looks like it came from a boxcutter for a giant on the ground, dulled.

Deep Forest

Frowning, Yuki picks up the blade and examines it. He then starts following the slashed trees deeper into the forest, looking and listening carefully for anything out of the ordinary.

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

Frowning, Yuki picks up the blade and examines it. He then starts following the slashed trees deeper into the forest, looking and listening carefully for anything out of the ordinary.

He may hear a sound of a blade slicing through wood in the distance, and a grunt of effort.
The blade looks to be long enough for use as a sword blade, with an odd, small part at the end with holes in it.

[Morcleon]

Deep Forest

Yuki turns to face the sound, tracing it until he finds the source. "Hello?"

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

Yuki turns to face the sound, tracing it until he finds the source. "Hello?"

He will find a woman (see avatar) in a green cloak over her uniform, swinging from grappling hooks attached to boxlike objects on the sides of her waist with extra blades of the same type Yuki found in the box objects with gas tanks on the top, a small device on the back of her waist. In each hand she wields two swords with the same type of blade on each of them.
She lands with expert skill in front of Yuki.
Hello, nice to meet you.

[Morcleon]

He will find a woman (see avatar) in a green cloak over her uniform, swinging from grappling hooks attached to boxlike objects on the sides of her waist with extra blades of the same type Yuki found in the box objects with gas tanks on the top, a small device on the back of her waist. In each hand she wields two swords with the same type of blade on each of them.
She lands with expert skill in front of Yuki.
Hello, nice to meet you.

Deep Forest

Yuki holds out the blade to her, raising an eyebrow. "The pleasure is mine. Is this yours? I saw the slashes on the trees earlier."

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

Yuki holds out the blade to her, raising an eyebrow. "The pleasure is mine. Is this yours? I saw the slashes on the trees earlier."

Sophia nods, and takes the blade, before tossing it at a tree.
It bounces off, leaving naught but a scratch.
The blade is no longer of any use. It's too dull to cut through anything.

[Beans]

Daemonwood Shrine

"I was chained to the altar and sacrificed to open the portal when Elereshur was thrown through. Afterwards, the cavity where my heart was filled with a ghoulstone." A ghoulstone is an amethyst crystal empowered with necromantic energy. It acts as a beacon, summoning undead nearer, unless it's used to directly reanimate one corpse as a ghast that keeps their original shape- mostly. And she can reanimate others in the same way, to create more ghasts that don't look dead.

Liache nods, smiling. Ah, I see, dear---that's certainly an interesting way to do it.

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods, and takes the blade, before tossing it at a tree.
It bounces off, leaving naught but a scratch.
The blade is no longer of any use. It's too dull to cut through anything.

Deep Forest

"Well, constantly slamming your blades into trees tends to do that to them," Yuki quips, smiling faintly. He takes a closer look at Sophia's odd equipment. "That explains the extra blades though. So what's your equipment for?"

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

"Well, constantly slamming your blades into trees tends to do that to them," Yuki quips, smiling faintly. He takes a closer look at Sophia's odd equipment. "That explains the extra blades though. So what's your equipment for?"

Sophia chuckles
Slaying titans. Their only wrak point is their neck, hence the fact we use grappling hooks and a propellant in combat. The extra blades are for replacing Dulles blades, as we can't afford to change weapons in combat

[Earl of Purple]

Daemonwood Shrine

"I didn't get much choice in the matter, but before that I was in slave for sale in Skyside, and a painful death and subservient afterlife is not what I was expecting, but ultimately better and more enjoyable than most of the other options." Not that she actually enjoyed dying, or being raised as a ghoul, but now she's used to it she'd do poorly as a regular human. She's developed a taste for human flesh.

[Solidarity]

[Foggy Marsh]

A looming fog rises around the less-ventured part of the Islands. Stories of curses and other rumors keep the majority of the fishermen away from these parts. The water stirs in ways that look and feel foreboding. Ripples caused by nothing at all, and small currents that start and stop randomly in varying places along the stagnant waters. Nothing but strange inconveniences if it weren't for the feeling of dread this particular fog brought along with it. The terrain itself consists of a mushy amalgam of mud, grime and rock. A few paths exist through the marsh for means of travel, though they do not seem as if many have used them. Should anybody happen to travel near or into the fog, they might be able to hear low, strained sounds in the distance, along with the occasional rumble.


http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq40/happyturtle-avs/smilies/interactionwanted.png

[Morcleon]

Sophia chuckles
Slaying titans. Their only wrak point is their neck, hence the fact we use grappling hooks and a propellant in combat. The extra blades are for replacing Dulles blades, as we can't afford to change weapons in combat

Deep Forest

"...titans?" Yuki raises an eyebrow, confused. "Dangerous creatures of some sort, I take it?"

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

"...titans?" Yuki raises an eyebrow, confused. "Dangerous creatures of some sort, I take it?"

Yep. Giant, man-eating humanoids. Utterly terrifying.
Sophia explains briefly.
So, what sort of stuff do you do?

[Ionbound]

[Foggy Marsh]

A young woman with black hair and blue eyes, carrying a compound longbow, half-trudges, half-wades through the Marsh, wary for danger.

[Morcleon]

Yep. Giant, man-eating humanoids. Utterly terrifying.
Sophia explains briefly.
So, what sort of stuff do you do?

Deep Forest

Yuki's eyes widen as he frowns. "...certainly sounds scary. How effective is that equipment? It seems like it would be really easy for them to just grab the wires used for your grappling hooks..."

"Ah, I'm a magical doctor. I, um, heal people."

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

Yuki's eyes widen as he frowns. "...certainly sounds scary. How effective is that equipment? It seems like it would be really easy for them to just grab the wires used for your grappling hooks..."

"Ah, I'm a magical doctor. I, um, heal people."

Quite effective, actually. The titans are as bright as a rusty nail makes a good pillow, usually.
Neat. I'm a member of HALO.

Sophia replies, leaning on a tree

[Solidarity]

[Foggy Marsh]

The woman may or may not hear the aforementioned sounds in the distance, and begin to see vaguely humanoid shapes obscured by the fog. A good mile off, the woman might also see faint lights flickering intermittently in the distance followed by feeling the reverberations in the ground and water. Should she venture closer, she may be able to make out the low noise as a dull groaning emanating from the listless shapes ahead of her.

[Beans]

Daemonwood Shrine

"I didn't get much choice in the matter, but before that I was in slave for sale in Skyside, and a painful death and subservient afterlife is not what I was expecting, but ultimately better and more enjoyable than most of the other options." Not that she actually enjoyed dying, or being raised as a ghoul, but now she's used to it she'd do poorly as a regular human. She's developed a taste for human flesh.
Liache nods. Well, at least you have someone taking care of you and feeding you so nicely, dear. Though if she ever needs help with that, I'll be happy to lend a hand or four.

[Ionbound]

[Foggy Marsh]

The woman hears the noises and sees the figures, but slowly walks forwards, cautious and using her enhanced sense of smell to try to get a better sense of what's going on.

((For the record, her sense of smell is very powerful. Like, smelling a bakery from a mile away if she wants to.))

[Morcleon]

Quite effective, actually. The titans are as bright as a rusty nail makes a good pillow, usually.
Neat. I'm a member of HALO.

Sophia replies, leaning on a tree

Deep Forest

"Ah, I see." Yuki chuckles slightly. "Are there any around here though?"

"Ah, HALO is a good group. I'm part of WATCHTOWER, actually."

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

"Ah, I see." Yuki chuckles slightly. "Are there any around here though?"

"Ah, HALO is a good group. I'm part of WATCHTOWER, actually."

I have no idea, but it is a possibility. Might as well keep in practice.
Sophia chuckles
Neat! I guess we'll be working together soon then.

[Morcleon]

I have no idea, but it is a possibility. Might as well keep in practice.
Sophia chuckles
Neat! I guess we'll be working together soon then.

Deep Forest

"I see... well, I can rely on you to protect me, right?" Yuki grins, half-joking, but also half-serious. "I can't fight all that well."

"Oh? Is there a joint program going on that I haven't heard of?"

[Aric Kale]

Foggy Marsh

)(Lemme know if y'all rather play this out by yourselves. If not, here's a post.)(

The Mourning Hoplite was trying to figure out exactly why he was here, wandering around these horrid bogs alone with only Hawthorn, the magical wooden golem, for company. Damn it all...by Ares and Hades, if I don't find some undead to slay I'll flog that townsman to undeath...oh yeah, that's why he was slowly trudging towards the loudest collection of moans and groans in unfamiliar territory. A villager warned him about the zombies in the marshes...
Ah well, let's hope this all goes well.

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

"I see... well, I can rely on you to protect me, right?" Yuki grins, half-joking, but also half-serious. "I can't fight all that well."

"Oh? Is there a joint program going on that I haven't heard of?"

Sophia nods.
HALO and WATCH are supposedly merging.
She explains, putting her blades away and storing the handles in pockets of her jacket.

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods.
HALO and WATCH are supposedly merging.
She explains, putting her blades away and storing the handles in pockets of her jacket.

Deep Forest

"...interesting." Yuki nods slowly. He places the few mushrooms that he did manage to collect in a small box in his bag. "Let's hope everything goes well with this merger then."

[Solidarity]

[Foggy Marsh]

((Perfectly happy with more characters. Makes room for more dialogue and better fight scenes.))

Depending on where the Hoplite and his mechanism are in the marsh, they too might be privy to the vibrations in the ground as well as the flashing light in the distance. The woman's outstanding sense of smell awards her with rotting flesh mixed with the lovely smell of the swamp invading her nose. She might also smell the scent of a man, and something...with which she might not be familiar. Damp wood, maybe? These would be slightly harder to identify, with the other scents so overwhelming all around her. The Hoplite and the woman would probably see the shapes become much clearer if they close in on the groaning. They'd be met with the sight of numerous shambling carcasses and a few skeletons—some still climbing out from beneath the ground—headed towards the source of the light in the distance.

[Ionbound]

[Foggy Marsh]

The woman gags at the scent of the rotting flesh, forcing herself not to vomit. She then squints to see the undead forms, loads an explosive arrow into her bow, and fires at the largest mass of the shambling corpses, trying to destroy as many as she can with a single shot.

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

"...interesting." Yuki nods slowly. He places the few mushrooms that he did manage to collect in a small box in his bag. "Let's hope everything goes well with this merger then."

Sophia nods.
If you ever want, I can teach you how to fight, y'know.

[Aric Kale]

Foggy Marsh

Hawthorn...Charge towards the light and kill as many of the dead as you can...aim for the heads. The obedient wooden construct rushes forward with surprising silence, the only distinguishable noise being the squelch of mud on wooden feet.
For those of you who don't know, Hawthorn is a five foot tall wooden golem with complete resistance to fire and arms himself with pointy fingers...he can also use a sword when necessary, but this isn't one of those times. When dealing with this particular group of undead he'll attempt to break their kneecaps so as to bring them down to a more reasonable height before shattering their skulls and destroying the grey matter within.

The Mourning Hoplite, for his part, with faintly glimpse the archer in the dim lighting and try to make his way towards her, his steel xiphos raised and at the ready in case one of the fleshy beasties wants a snack. If he runs across any zombies then he'll either slice through their skulls, or bash in their heads with the rim of his shield.

[Solidarity]

[Foggy Marsh]

((The light is about a mile off, so if I'm describing what Hawthorn sees, let me know))

The woman looses the arrow and it's explosion rends the zombies limb from limb, in a rather violent burst. It would seem that this fog bolsters the effects of explosives, being barely flammable due to the fumes from the swamp. The sky rains zombie appendages. She might hear the sloshing of someone cautiously approaching her. She likely would be able to smell the man as he neared albeit the sweet scents of the marsh now accompanied by smoke.

The Hoplite might see a large explosion in the distance and a disembodied rotting arm fly directly toward his head, right after ordering Hawthorn to go charging into the masses. The golem is able to literally knock them off their collective feet before splintering the skulls. The zombies seem very slow to react with the golem's approach being as quiet as it is.

The lights and the rumbling continue, but does appear to be moving. The lights stop, and the ground calms for a moment as the explosion takes place, and both start back up with the lights flashing a bit closer and the vibrations a bit stronger.

[Ionbound]

[Foggy Marsh]

The young woman turns, her bow morphing into a longsword as she turns and levels it at the Hoplite and asks, "Who the hell are you?"

[Daemonwood Shrine]

Elereshur smiles at the chatting, but says, "Babette, I'm afraid we really must be going," before turning to Liache and saying, "Is there an easier way I can summon you? I can't just come out here and waste seven slaves that could go to a better purpose just for a progress report."

[Aric Kale]

Foggy Marsh

)(I suppose you're describing for what both of them see, since Hawthorn is rushing off ahead and The Hoplite is heading for the huntress.)(

Hawthorn will continue to wreck bloody havoc...as soon as he picks himself up off the ground. He's immune to flames, but an explosion still has plenty of force behind it.

As for Zander The Mourning Hoplite, he raises his shield to block the airborne arm attack, lowering it as he walks forward, only to be met by a longsword.
I'm a friend...all I seek is to return these undead to their underground beds. I see you share the same goal, assuming that the shaking was caused by you..and the body parts. He adds, indicating the gore smeared across his shield, the weeping owl covered in blood.
Hawthorn is going to investigate the light, I'm going to ask that you keep me covered as I follow him. He'll wait but a moment for a reply or some form off confirmation before advancing towards the distant light, the cold steel in his hand eager to cleave flesh.
I should mention that an identical blade hangs at his hip, however, it's made of silver.

[Ionbound]

[Foggy Marsh]

The huntress eyes the silver blade with barely concealed apprehesion, and says, "Sure...Go for it. I'll keep an eye on you from a good ways back."

[Earl of Purple]

Daemonwood Shrine

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Babette nods and hops up to follow Elereshur. She frowns at the state of her attire, but forgot to bring fresh clothes so doesn't have anything to change into. She does pull a hairbrush from her clothes and uses it to remove the tangles, blood, and bits of gore from her hair as she gets ready to leave.

[Recaiden]

Peacefield Skull

The skull follows, floating ominously behind the ghost-girl as its cannon continue to fire at her. They're attempting to lead their shots to improve their accuracy, but they still aren't very accurate.

The holdfast, a stout stone keep in the centre of Peacefield, is launching its own rockets at the skull, though they're far cruder- more like Chinese fire-arrows than anything more modern. Five hit the skull and explode, doing little -if any- damage; the return fire, however, blasts a gaping hole in the holdfast's crenellations, the roof and the upper floor. No more fire-arrows are launched from the keep.

The girl disregards the cannons, seeing as they can't do anything to her so long as she's careful, pausing to dodge and change her course only when the rocket's fire can be heard.

Needs to get into the skull to do anything, Peacefield clearly is out of it. She looks at the buildings of the town as she arrives, seeing if any will put her in a reasonable height-distance of the skull, or it has particularly tall trees or anything. Some watchtower would be ideal, but they seem to only have the central keep, and that's already out of the fight. By the time the skull gets there it would be too late. :smalleek:
How frustrating. She will need to acquire some mobility or ranged weapons when she returns to the keep. But now, ah, what to do?
Besides jumping out of the way of a rocket there. Oh! Yes, it's very frustrating. Frustrating enough that, well...
The ghostly girl pauses for a moment, standing still, letting a cannon round fly through her, and then jumps into the air, free hand out to hold...something.

A dark shape materializes underneath her, just off the ground, wings beating frantically. A large, textureless, bird-shaped thing that she's now riding up into the air, starting and weaving to make a less predictable target. The hope is to get above where the skull can easily fire, forcing it to at least choose between firing at her and at the village.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

Enough of the keep stands that it could be used, and as it's stopped shooting at the skull it hasn't directed any further rockets at the structure. The skull also floats low enough that it's just above the roof of the village inn, which is mostly intact- a shell has cratered the beer garden, shattered the windows and knocked over the outside toilets. The keep is taller, but comes only halfway up the skull, at just the right height to be hit by the nose-cannon. It directs the rockets at the ghost-girl, whilst the cannons have stopped firing to conserve ammunition.

It's designed to assault ground targets, so will prefer to continue attacking the village and in fact cannot get any higher than it currently floats unless it devotes all the energy its engines produce.

In the top of the skull is a slight depression and a hatch in the roof.

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods.
If you ever want, I can teach you how to fight, y'know.

Deep Forest

"I might take you up on that offer, actually." Yuki chuckles sheepishly. "I've been attacked more times than I'd like. Luckily, I've always managed to escape them or had a companion who could fight..."

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

"I might take you up on that offer, actually." Yuki chuckles sheepishly. "I've been attacked more times than I'd like. Luckily, I've always managed to escape them or had a companion who could fight..."

Alrighty, when do you want to train?
Sophia inquires, smiling

[Solidarity]

[Foggy Marsh]

Hawthorn is continually met with zombies and now a few skeletons who seem to begin noticing his advance. Those he misses tend to stray toward the Hoplite and the woman, now that their attention is forced away from the flashing light. The explosion has seemingly drawn in a lot more undead to the area as well. The strays shamble threateningly toward Zander. Two crumbling corpses swing and lunge at the Hoplite should they close in without issue, biting and aiming to grab hold of whatever they can. To the woman, the smell of the undead becomes far more apparent all around her. She might hear groaning now behind her as zombies emerge from the fog heading toward where she'd shot the first arrow. The lights in the distance seems to start flashing a lot brighter, as if they're much closer. The trembling ground can now be credited to a small booming that resonates through the foggy air in the direction of the occasional lights.

[Morcleon]

Alrighty, when do you want to train?
Sophia inquires, smiling

Deep Forest

Yuki pauses, then shrugs. "Anytime is fine, actually. I'm not on assignment right now, so I have quite a bit of free time. Would tomorrow work for you?"

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield]

The ghost-girl and her bird spiral up over the skull, and she laughs at the last rocket goes past before she's above the thing. This is so much simpler than the attack on the Inside Council was. No lasers at all, and nothing to remind her of home. She turns the frustration-bird into a dive, down towards the hatch on the top of the skull, to hop off and hover just over the entrance to the war machine.

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

Yuki pauses, then shrugs. "Anytime is fine, actually. I'm not on assignment right now, so I have quite a bit of free time. Would tomorrow work for you?"

Sophia nods.
Alright, wanna meet at [Field in Outside] then?

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods.
Alright, wanna meet at [Field in Outside] then?

Deep Forest

"Sure! That'll work." Yuki smiles at her and gives a small bow. "Thank you for agreeing to teach me."

((Timeskip? :smallsmile:))

[Arkhosia]

Deep Forest

"Sure! That'll work." Yuki smiles at her and gives a small bow. "Thank you for agreeing to teach me."

((Timeskip? :smallsmile:))

TIMESKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

Field of Mock Battle

Sophia waits in a field of green for Yuki, sitting upon a horse.
She's clad in her combat gear, and has a large bag on her back.

[Morcleon]

TIMESKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

Field of Mock Battle

Sophia waits in a field of green for Yuki, sitting upon a horse.
She's clad in her combat gear, and has a large bag on her back.

Field of Mock Battle

Yuki walks into the field in his usual white jacket and pants. He spots Sophia and waves cheerily. "Hello Sophia~!"

[Arkhosia]

Field of Mock Battle

Yuki walks into the field in his usual white jacket and pants. He spots Sophia and waves cheerily. "Hello Sophia~!"

Sophia waves back before dismounting.
She plops the bag down next to the horse (who's name is Clyde), who is tethered to a post.
Hey Yuki. So, which would you like to learn first: Martial Arts, or Swordfighting?
She inquires as she walks up to him.

[FireFox]

"Alright, hold on. Okay, so it's blue, with this yellow thing in the middle. It has five...no, six petal things on the flower, and-Oh **** this, hold on. MagComputer says it's Thelymitra crinita. It's about two feet away from some crabgrass. Thelymitra crinita, also known as Blue Lady Orchid. Melody has a goofy sense of humor. Oh, right, and compass direction, southeast." Magtok squats down next to the flower, before suddenly shooting up and backing away nervously. He's just genre-savvy enough to realize staying there and looking at the flower was going to get him accidentally kicked in the face.

Melody's Island

Toby hangs up and uses a Druidic spell to travel from a plant near GLoG to one on the island. It's not instantaneous, taking at least a minute and possibly more than five, depending on the distance. Nor does he come from the flower the cyborg had specified, because that would be too obvious. So when he steps out of a plant 50 feet behind Magtok, at an unpredicted time, he feels confident that he has successfully claimed the element of surprise. So the famous Lord Magtok thinks he can set a trap for me, the Goddamned Tobias, and bait it with my wife! An interesting site for a battle, certainly, but I can see what you're aiming for and I approve. Traumatic tragedy juxtaposed with tropical tranquility. You intend to turn this paradise into an infernal landscape through our combat! Perhaps you think you can hurt me by forcing me to choose between collateral damage and the life of one woman. Maybe you think a druid will avoid natural destruction at all costs. Whatever your plan, know this: When it comes to hell on earth, I was born and raised in the briar patch! While he monologues, storm clouds appear out of nowhere and ominously rumble overhead. The ground tremors under his boots in an attempt to set off any mines or other traps buried nearby. Wind currents form and coalesce into a shielding torus around him and the hastily painted runes on his bare chest create a magnetic field strong enough to deflect bullets. At long last, the clash of Nexus titans! The two greatest minds, preeminent and peerless experts in our own fields, engaged in an inevitable and much anticipated war. Don't disappoint me, Magtok!

[Morcleon]

Sophia waves back before dismounting.
She plops the bag down next to the horse (who's name is Clyde), who is tethered to a post.
Hey Yuki. So, which would you like to learn first: Martial Arts, or Swordfighting?
She inquires as she walks up to him.

Field of Mock Battle

"Um, martial arts. I don't really have a sword." Yuki chuckles sheepishly. "I mean, I have my medical scalpel, and it's very durable, but it's not really a sword."

"Oh, and before we get started, I should probably tell you that I have a number of, well, grafts. I keep them hidden most of the time, but if you're gonna teach me how to fight, you should probably know about them." He slips off his jacket, displaying a set of white wings speckled with grey dots and what appears to be a long prehensile tail. He scratches his head in embarrassment. "Um, it's not too weird, is it...?"

[Aric Kale]

[Foggy Marsh]

The huntress eyes the silver blade with barely concealed apprehesion, and says, "Sure...Go for it. I'll keep an eye on you from a good ways back."


[Foggy Marsh]

Hawthorn is continually met with zombies and now a few skeletons who seem to begin noticing his advance. Those he misses tend to stray toward the Hoplite and the woman, now that their attention is forced away from the flashing light. The explosion has seemingly drawn in a lot more undead to the area as well. The straws shamble threateningly toward Zander. Two crumbling corpses swing and lunge at the Hoplite should they close in without issue, biting and aiming to grab hold of whatever they can. To the woman, the smell of the undead becomes far more apparent all around her. She might hear groaning now behind her as zombies emerge from the fog heading toward where she'd shot the first arrow. The lights in the distance seems to start flashing a lot brighter, as if they're much closer. The trembling ground can now be credited to a small booming that resonates through the foggy air in the direction of the occasional lights.

Foggy Marsh - The Monster Marsh

Hawthorn continues to slay the Zombies as effectively as he can, unarmed and alone though he may be. Still, the overwhelming numbers make his task difficult enough, fortunately he does not tire like a human would. For now, his advance continues, though slower than before.
The Hoplite, on the other hand, is finding things a tad more interesting. Luckily, he's too quick for the zombies to get a bite on him, but after a struggle against three undead simultaneously, he loses his shield in the fog. After swinging his leg around in attempt to knock one of the brain-dead monsters aside, Zander draws his second play and unleashes his twin whirlwinds of cold metal, each strike aimed solely for arms and heads. When necessary he ducks under wide grabs and lops off limbs, jutting up quickly to bash in the jaws of the zombies with his bronze helmet.

[Beans]

Daemonwood Shrine

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Babette nods and hops up to follow Elereshur. She frowns at the state of her attire, but forgot to bring fresh clothes so doesn't have anything to change into. She does pull a hairbrush from her clothes and uses it to remove the tangles, blood, and bits of gore from her hair as she gets ready to leave.
Liache flicks a little cleaning spell at the girl by way of a farewell, chittering softly as she waves to her.

[Arkhosia]

Field of Mock Battle

"Um, martial arts. I don't really have a sword." Yuki chuckles sheepishly. "I mean, I have my medical scalpel, and it's very durable, but it's not really a sword."

"Oh, and before we get started, I should probably tell you that I have a number of, well, grafts. I keep them hidden most of the time, but if you're gonna teach me how to fight, you should probably know about them." He slips off his jacket, displaying a set of white wings speckled with grey dots and what appears to be a long prehensile tail. He scratches his head in embarrassment. "Um, it's not too weird, is it...?"

Sophia shakes her head, smiling.
Not at all. I'm actually not exactly normal either. Alright, so ready to begin?

[Morcleon]

Sophia shakes her head, smiling.
Not at all. I'm actually not exactly normal either. Alright, so ready to begin?

Field of Mock Battles

Yuki smiles in relief. "Ah, good..."

"And yes, I'm ready. Well, not really, but no one's every really ready." He smirks.

[Arkhosia]

Field of Mock Battles

Yuki smiles in relief. "Ah, good..."

"And yes, I'm ready. Well, not really, but no one's every really ready." He smirks.

Sophia smiles, and adopts a boxing stance.
Copy my stance.

[Ionbound]

[Daemonwood Shrine]

Elereshur smiles, and says to Babette as she walks away, "So, Babette. I believe that you deserve to have your abilities augmented...What do you think?"

[Morcleon]

Sophia smiles, and adopts a boxing stance.
Copy my stance.

Field of Mock Battle

Yuki nods and adopts Sophia's stance as best he can. "Ah, okay. Um, what should I do with my wings?"

[Arkhosia]

Field of Mock Battle

Yuki nods and adopts Sophia's stance as best he can. "Ah, okay. Um, what should I do with my wings?"
I'd fold them up Or something like that.
Sophia replies

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

The skull stops firing all its weapons. It doesn't do anything else, though, should ghost-girl or her bird wish to try the hatch.

Daemonwood Shrine

Babette smiles when her clothes and skin is cleaned. "Thank you." Then she follows Elereshur.

She's very happy at what the demon tells her. "I would like that a lot. Thank you!" Elereshur may find herself getting a hug from the ghoulish girl.

[Morcleon]

I'd fold them up Or something like that.
Sophia replies

Field of Mock Battle

Yuki nods and folds them up behind his back, settling back into the stance. "Got it."

[Arkhosia]

Field of Mock Battle

Yuki nods and folds them up behind his back, settling back into the stance. "Got it."

Sophia nods.
Alright, the proper way to punch is to quickly intend your arm and hit with the flat part of the fist between your knuckles and the part where your fingers bend, quickly retracting it back into the stance.
She does so to the air to show him.
((wanna have training happen offscreen?))

[Recaiden]

Peacefield Skull

The skull stops firing all its weapons. It doesn't do anything else, though, should ghost-girl or her bird wish to try the hatch.

The ghostly girl pats the bird, reassuring it that it can fly off, and rebalancing it to be happier and excited to have succeeded. Then, as it flies up and away, she goes to try the hatch. A few inches away, she realizes that's silly, and just tries to float down through it.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

It's successful, and rather lucky she changed her mind. The hatch is linked to a small flame thrower. The trap can be disengaged, but only from the inside. A flamethrower was chosen because the strange ceramic material the skull is made of is impervious to heat, whereas bullets or rockets could damage it.

Inside the top room is a large table with a series of maps on it and a built-in compass, and there's a large wheel like that of a ship on the front wall. Above the wall is an illusion, half of it showing the view out of the eyes in real time, with Russian lettering marking targets and threat levels. The other half shows a bird's eye view of the surrounding area, with the skull in the centre. A skeletal figure is standing at the wheel, wearing a red greatcoat, green pantaloons and a blue peaked cap. Hanging at its waist is an macuahuitl with lumps of green Tamrielic Glass (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Malachite) instead of obsidian. The figure is presently engaging a device on the wheel that will prevent the wheel from moving until it is disengaged and therefore immobilise the skull.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull - Top Room]

Nice and secure of them. If the flamethrower looks easily unlinked from the inside, the ghostly girl will solidify and take it up in her arms, seeing as it is small. If not, she leaves it engaged, stays incorporeal, and sneaks towards the skeletal pilot, staff now held tightly in both hands.
Why are these things here? Perhaps writings somewhere could help explain it. She should have actually tried in Russian class; the girl can barely pick out letters, much less words.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Bridge

The maps and compass are in several different languages; the projection is in Russian. It's all for navigating and maneuveuring the skull-shaped assault platform. The flamethrower is built into the ship; it can be disengaged from the hatch so it won't burn whatever enters but the fuel supply is carried along pipes leading elsewhere- to the engine room, specifically.

The skeletal helmsman has finished his task and pulled free the macuahuitl from his waist, and advances upon the ghost-girl. He holds his weapon in a defensive posture, intending for her to make the first move.

[Ionbound]

[Daemonwood Shrine]

Elereshur smiles as she's hugged, and says, "Well...There is a slight issue...I don't know how to go about it. Do you have any thoughts? I don't know your ecology as well as you do."

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull - Bridge]

The ghostly girl moves forward, sweeping the stave out at the skeleton's legs. It should find the weapon quite solid, unlike the girl. She presumes it has the same basic, hateful mind as the others.
She is careful with the attack though, it has little leverage behind it, as glass blades like that are usually magic, and could be actually harmful.

[Earl of Purple]

No Longer Daemonwood Shrine

"Um, I don't know as much as you think I do. I know what I can do, and I know what would hurt me, how to heal myself and what would kill me. I don't know how to become more powerful. There might be some kind of artefact that could do it, a weapon or bauble of some kind, but I don't know how. And what would work for me might not work for the others- when I turned, my tongue mutated and grew, but Kessandra didn't. She can stop people with a stare, though." Kessandra being the shaven-headed half-elf.

If you want suggestions, then there's Violet Crystal, an equip spell card in Yu-Gi-Oh! for Zombie-type monsters, and there may be other equip spell cards that are suitable, or an equivalent from Magic: The Gathering which I don't play or even a Pokemon held item might work.

Peacefield Skull

The skeletal helmsman's mind is not, actually, as crude and malevolent as the assault squad's. His mind is more complex and rational, though less capable of emotion- he doesn't even feel anger, pain or disappointment; his job is entirely different to that of the four the ghost girl faced earlier.

The skeleton swings its macuahuitl down to block the staff, aiming a punch for the ghost-girl's head with its other hand. The macuahuitl is enchanted, but staffs usually have no life-force to drain and it's entirely possible that neither does the ghost-girl, as she's undead and not alive.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull - Bride]

The staff is knocked aside, having no life force to drain, although the girl sort of does.
She lifts up a hand as if to to block the skeleton's fist. It should just pass through her head and hand, maybe giving him a chill if he can feel that, but more importantly, he should find it harder to think as she tries to draw away part of his mind.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

The pilot doesn't feel the chill. He's already dead. He does lose part of his mind, including knowledge of how to pilot the skull, but not what the Russian means.

Drawing back his fist after the punch, he decides not to try that again and tries to stand on the staff so it can't be used whilst also freeing up his macuahuitl for a swing at the ghost-girl's right shoulder. If he can't stand on the staff, he'll try the swing anyway. If he hits, the macuahuitl will draw away life energy and use it to empower the pilot and heal any wounds. It can't fix his mind, but it would fix any physical damage, had he taken any yet.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

Ooh, now that's an important bit of thought. The ghost girl swiftly stores it away in her ring, rather than devouring it, to study later. The staff is stood upon, and twisted out of her grasp. She rises up in time to be cut by the swinging glass. It meets rather less resistance than it should, but there is some life energy being drained, and blood dripping from her upper arm where it cut in.
She lunges at him, reaching out with her now empty left arm to grasp at the pilot's thoughts.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

The pilot's thoughts are in Russian. They're mostly about how he plans on defeating the ghost-girl so he can go back to his primary purpose- piloting the assault skull.

He swings once again with his macuahuitl, this time aiming for her head with a savage downstroke. I'm not sure if the ghost-girl's touch does any physical damage, or is capable of disrupting enchantments, because otherwise I'm not sure if she can win without a weapon. Unless she causes him to forget why he's fighting, anyway.

[Ionbound]

[Daemonwood]

Elereshur thinks for a moment, and then snaps her fingers and says, "Ah-ha. I think I've got it...If I use my barbs on you, I think I can empower you...You would still be undead, but you'd be filled with our Lord's demonic power...You could still do everything you can now, but also gain some demonic abilities. It'll hurt quite a bit though, and I don't know if it will work or not...Are you okay with that?"

[Earl of Purple]

Daemonwood

"Yes, it does. But, can it wait until we get home? I want to be somewhere I feel safe if it hurts as much as it seems to." Because if she's in too much pain to defend herself, she doesn't want to be out in the open.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

With a strike like that, the ghost girl has time to jump to the side, spinning away as the blade goes down past.
Her touch does no physical damage. That's what the staff is for, if she can get him off of it. But apart from taking what they no and remember, it can damage one's ability to even have thoughts, until all that's left is a heartbeat, or dark magics assembling bones into an unholy mockery of life, or whichever.

But he's proving to be a bit resistant to that. Probably because he has a dedicated purpose; most living beings are a bit directionless and conflicted, and thus vulnerable. That makes damaging him someone else's problem. She quickly runs through tested options in her mind. The ghostly girl tries to back away from the skeleton as a speck of blackness expands and solidified behind him, in the shape of a great bear.

[Ionbound]

Daemonwood

Elereshur nods, and says, "No problem...Frankly, I was going to wait until we were home, anyways."

((Calling it here, unless there's anything else you want to say.))

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Bridge

The helmsman doesn't notice the bear, yet. But he does stride forward and swing his macuahuitl at the ghost-girl's torso, which might disrupt the summoning attempt.

Daemonwood

Babette follows Elereshur. ((No problems with that here.))

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

Unfortunately for him, the construction of the bear is complete quite quickly, although dodging back and turning that swing into a shallow cut takes all of the girl's remaining attention. And still, that's a bit of power for him through the life-draining of the blade.
The bear rushes at the skeleton, aiming to knock him down.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Bridge

The helmsman is knocked over onto his front. If the bear stays on the helmsman's back, he can't get up, attack or defend himself. If the bear doesn't, for whatever reason, the helmsman will try to stand up. Several bones broke during the impact, but there's enough life-force stored in the macuahuitl to heal them quickly.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull - Bridge]

"Hold him down."
The bear, fairly obedient, stays atop the skeleton pilot, growling, while the girl bends down to set a hand through the skeleton and empty him out. The other hand is clutching the wound in her shoulder. The mental energy of his strange emotionless mind is less nourishing than the assault teams' would be, but it's better than nothing.

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods.
Alright, the proper way to punch is to quickly intend your arm and hit with the flat part of the fist between your knuckles and the part where your fingers bend, quickly retracting it back into the stance.
She does so to the air to show him.
((wanna have training happen offscreen?))

[Field of Mock Battle]

Yuki copies the move, slowly at first, then faster as he gains more confidence.

((Sure. :smallsmile:))

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

Yuki copies the move, slowly at first, then faster as he gains more confidence.

((Sure. :smallsmile:))

And so Yuki is trained martial arts!
Yay!
Sophia at the end offers some ice cold water.

[Morcleon]

And so Yuki is trained martial arts!
Yay!
Sophia at the end offers some ice cold water.

Field of Mock Battle

Breathing heavily, Yuki accepts the water gratefully, chugging it down. "That was... really intense. But I did learn quite a bit. You're not a bad teacher..."

[Arkhosia]

Field of Mock Battle

Breathing heavily, Yuki accepts the water gratefully, chugging it down. "That was... really intense. But I did learn quite a bit. You're not a bad teacher..."

Thanks.
Sophia replies, grinning as she drinks some water, petting her horse, Clyde, as she does so and offering him a sugar cube

[Lex-Kat]

Melody's Island- Inside the Barn


Derek smiles back. "Don't worry you are in good hands." With that said he will start to get ready to try and heal the injuries that remain. This will involve carefully rolling Melody onto her stomach and some cutting of her clothes. He will promise to mend them later.

Assuming that he can get that far the next part will seem a bit more magical. He pulls out several dozen long needles, a bowl made of obsidian, and a vial of milky white liquid. He pours the liquid in the bowl and soaks the needles in them. He holds the bowl in both his hands and whispers a quiet prayer in a strange language. The whole bowl glows for a few seconds bringing a happy smile to Derek's face. Sometimes his prayers aren't answered being so far from home. This obviously isn't one of those times.

Then it is very similar to acupuncture. Those half a dozen of needles will be stuck all around her back and other injuries. There should be no pain. As a matter of fact it should start to feel very relaxing. It will probably take about 15 minutes or so for him to get all the needles in place. Then he will have her sit for another 15 minutes. Plenty of time for the others to have things happening.
Don't worry about it. Melody says with a nervous chuckle, when Derek promises to mend her clothes. I needed to buy something new anyhow.

Melody physically tenses when she senses Derek beginning to place the needles, but soon relaxes as she notices a severe lack of pain, and soon she starts nodding off, once again.

Melody's Island- On the Beach


Quinn might or might not have aged! Schrodinger's Aging!
...as it is, though, the embrace Happy gives is leaned into, the brunette shuddering.
And murmuring something that sounds like everybody hates me.

...seems Grandpa's little psychic attack cut deep. :smalleek:

Oh crap. Happy hasn't got a clue how to fix something like this. She shoots Magtok a "Help me!" look. :smalleek:

Magtok holds up a finger, as he quickly whips out a phone and calls-

...

GLoG's Tobias. Or more precisely, GLoG's Med Lab, but it amounts to the same thing. This should be more help than anything Magtok himself could do.

"Hi, is this Tobias? It's Magtok, I'm on Melody's Island. Your wife is...I don't want to say it's a mental breakdown, in case it's not anything that intense, but she needs someone and your name is the first that came to mind."

There is silence on the other end, as Toby tries to figure things out. Before Magtok can wonder if the line is actually connected, however, he clears his throat and speaks up. Look around and find a plant. Describe it. What kind is it? What makes it physically and visibly distinct from other nearby plants? ... And what is the island's compass bearing from GLoG?

"Alright, hold on. Okay, so it's blue, with this yellow thing in the middle. It has five...no, six petal things on the flower, and-Oh **** this, hold on. MagComputer says it's Thelymitra crinita. It's about two feet away from some crabgrass. Thelymitra crinita, also known as Blue Lady Orchid. Melody has a goofy sense of humor. Oh, right, and compass direction, southeast." Magtok squats down next to the flower, before suddenly shooting up and backing away nervously. He's just genre-savvy enough to realize staying there and looking at the flower was going to get him accidentally kicked in the face.

Toby hangs up and uses a Druidic spell to travel from a plant near GLoG to one on the island. It's not instantaneous, taking at least a minute and possibly more than five, depending on the distance. Nor does he come from the flower the cyborg had specified, because that would be too obvious. So when he steps out of a plant 50 feet behind Magtok, at an unpredicted time, he feels confident that he has successfully claimed the element of surprise. So the famous Lord Magtok thinks he can set a trap for me, the Goddamned Tobias, and bait it with my wife! An interesting site for a battle, certainly, but I can see what you're aiming for and I approve. Traumatic tragedy juxtaposed with tropical tranquility. You intend to turn this paradise into an infernal landscape through our combat! Perhaps you think you can hurt me by forcing me to choose between collateral damage and the life of one woman. Maybe you think a druid will avoid natural destruction at all costs. Whatever your plan, know this: When it comes to hell on earth, I was born and raised in the briar patch! While he monologues, storm clouds appear out of nowhere and ominously rumble overhead. The ground tremors under his boots in an attempt to set off any mines or other traps buried nearby. Wind currents form and coalesce into a shielding torus around him and the hastily painted runes on his bare chest create a magnetic field strong enough to deflect bullets. At long last, the clash of Nexus titans! The two greatest minds, preeminent and peerless experts in our own fields, engaged in an inevitable and much anticipated war. Don't disappoint me, Magtok!
What Toby might notice after a moment of grand-standing, is Happy holding a crying Quinn. A young woman holding a teen girl, both crying. And Magtok with a cell phone in his hand, possibly still next to his ear (or wherever he holds it when making a call).

Soon after his monologue begins, Jezebelle looks over toward where the voice is coming from. Clash of titans? What are you talking about?

[Morcleon]

Thanks.
Sophia replies, grinning as she drinks some water, petting her horse, Clyde, as she does so and offering him a sugar cube

[Field of Mock Battle]

Yuki takes a smaller sip of his water and grins. "Well, even though I can fight now, I'll still need to practice quite a bit."

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

Yuki takes a smaller sip of his water and grins. "Well, even though I can fight now, I'll still need to practice quite a bit."

if you want, we can spar later
Sophia offers, finishing hers, still petting Clyde

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Bridge

The helmsman doesn't resist as his mind is sucked out, leaving him as a pretty basic undead skeleton. Everything that made him unique is gone.

The ghost-girl does now know the layout of the ship, so assume I've told her because I don't know it all yet, knows that the controller of the skull is a mummified lich named Thormoses the Resplendent, can know understand Russian, and knows what the helmsman looked like when alive, and what their name was- Captain Robert Popeys, of the Royal British Navy. Also a few other, unimportant details I don't want to have to detail.

[Morcleon]

if you want, we can spar later
Sophia offers, finishing hers, still petting Clyde

[Field of Mock Battle]

"That would be nice, yes." Yuki walks over to Clyde and smiles at him, chuckling. "Not now though. I'm too tired to put up any sort of fight."

[Solidarity]

[The (Aptly Named) Monster Marsh]



Hawthorn continues to slay the Zombies as effectively as he can, unarmed and alone though he may be. Still, the overwhelming numbers make his task difficult enough, fortunately he does not tire like a human would. For now, his advance continues, though slower than before.
The Hoplite, on the other hand, is finding things a tad more interesting. Luckily, he's too quick for the zombies to get a bite on him, but after a struggle against three undead simultaneously, he loses his shield in the fog. After swinging his leg around in attempt to knock one of the brain-dead monsters aside, Zander draws his second play and unleashes his twin whirlwinds of cold metal, each strike aimed solely for arms and heads. When necessary he ducks under wide grabs and lops off limbs, jutting up quickly to bash in the jaws of the zombies with his bronze helmet.

After launching a rotter aside with a well aimed kick, it bowls over a good portion of other undead in front of the Hoplite. This made for easy targets as he dismembered and decapitated zombies left and right. Attempts to even touch the well-oiled killing machine failed and lunges missed broadly. The following headbutt knocks clear the skull of a zombie that's launched into the rest of the horde. Skeletons respond much quicker to Hawthorn's intrusion. Many attempt to latch on with whatever attack they're able to land. If they're able, they'd try to pile atop the golem.

The zombies that now encompass the woman begin their ragged advance. The first of five swings deadly, decayed claws with a lethargic hunger around her midsection.

The lights and the booming draw nearer. Hawthorn might be able to make out the outlined shape of the white explosions a good forty yards away in the fog to be similar to that of the zombies he's currently demolishing. The light from the explosions stretch much farther than normal in this fog, reflecting off the mist, making it more difficult to see the closer you are.

[The Bushranger]

Melody's Island- On the Beach

Quinn, indeed, looks rather...stressed out. And like she's been crying for awhile.
She's also still in that rather torn one-piece swimsuit, of course.
She doesn't seem to notice Toby's arrival, though, although she seems to have quieted a little.

[happyturtle]

Melody's Island - On the Beach


Melody's Island

Toby hangs up and uses a Druidic spell to travel from a plant near GLoG to one on the island. It's not instantaneous, taking at least a minute and possibly more than five, depending on the distance. Nor does he come from the flower the cyborg had specified, because that would be too obvious. So when he steps out of a plant 50 feet behind Magtok, at an unpredicted time, he feels confident that he has successfully claimed the element of surprise. So the famous Lord Magtok thinks he can set a trap for me, the Goddamned Tobias, and bait it with my wife! An interesting site for a battle, certainly, but I can see what you're aiming for and I approve. Traumatic tragedy juxtaposed with tropical tranquility. You intend to turn this paradise into an infernal landscape through our combat! Perhaps you think you can hurt me by forcing me to choose between collateral damage and the life of one woman. Maybe you think a druid will avoid natural destruction at all costs. Whatever your plan, know this: When it comes to hell on earth, I was born and raised in the briar patch! While he monologues, storm clouds appear out of nowhere and ominously rumble overhead. The ground tremors under his boots in an attempt to set off any mines or other traps buried nearby. Wind currents form and coalesce into a shielding torus around him and the hastily painted runes on his bare chest create a magnetic field strong enough to deflect bullets. At long last, the clash of Nexus titans! The two greatest minds, preeminent and peerless experts in our own fields, engaged in an inevitable and much anticipated war. Don't disappoint me, Magtok!


Melody's Island- Inside the Barn


Don't worry about it. Melody says with a nervous chuckle, when Derek promises to mend her clothes. I needed to buy something new anyhow.

Melody physically tenses when she senses Derek beginning to place the needles, but soon relaxes as she notices a severe lack of pain, and soon she starts nodding off, once again.

Melody's Island- On the Beach







What Toby might notice after a moment of grand-standing, is Happy holding a crying Quinn. A young woman holding a teen girl, both crying. And Magtok with a cell phone in his hand, possibly still next to his ear (or wherever he holds it when making a call).

Soon after his monologue begins, Jezebelle looks over toward where the voice is coming from. Clash of titans? What are you talking about?


Melody's Island- On the Beach

Quinn, indeed, looks rather...stressed out. And like she's been crying for awhile.
She's also still in that rather torn one-piece swimsuit, of course.
She doesn't seem to notice Toby's arrival, though, although she seems to have quieted a little.



"Tobias Goddamned Druid! Knock that **** off and get over here! You can fight with Magtok another day!" Happy has raised her voice to be heard over the Ominous Weather, but she's also using the MOM VOICE! Complete with Middle-Naming and heavy notes of 'Boy, you're in a lot of trouble if you don't obey!' Whether Toby is vulnerable to that sort of thing is another question. :smalltongue:

[Lord Magtok]

Melody's Island- On the Beach

What Toby might notice after a moment of grand-standing, is Happy holding a crying Quinn. A young woman holding a teen girl, both crying. And Magtok with a cell phone in his hand, possibly still next to his ear (or wherever he holds it when making a call).

Soon after his monologue begins, Jezebelle looks over toward where the voice is coming from. Clash of titans? What are you talking about?


Melody's Island

Don't disappoint me, Magtok!

"I'm disappointing you, Tobias." Ouch. Right to the point, no humoring Tobias's dramatic entrance for even a moment. That's got to sting.

[FireFox]

Melody's Island - On the Beach

It doesn't just sting, it cuts deep. What, this supervillain is so used to playing with all the Nexus big-leagues that he thinks the Druid is beneath him? Toby Scowls at Magtok before turning to see what the woman holding his wife hostage is yelling about. Who the hell are... wait, I know you. Uh, Jolly? Gay? Perky or Peppy? Merry? No, that's a hobbit. Sunny was that poor victim, think she was with Remnant... He takes a look around the beach and grudgingly accepts that this probably isn't a trap in the conventional, final showdown sense. Another glare for the cyborg and then Toby starts dispelling his magic as he runs to Quinn. Chirpy isn't it... ...Happy? Happy the shapeshifter! Haven't seen you in years. Explain what's going on. He takes another look at this whole scene. Crying woman and crying girl. His catatonic-looking wife with shredded apparel. A barbarian who used to be GLoG's president he thought was perma-deadtimed. And the famous supervillain, who called saying Quinn needed him. He divides his consciousness, reinforces the mental defenses on one, then opens the other up to try and make telepathic contact with the paladin. Quinn, did you go on an adventure without me?

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull - Bridge]

"Crush him."
Leaving the bear-construct to that work, the girl devours some of those unimportant details for nourishment and healing. The skeleton's past is likewise unimportant. The language and the name of the lich-lord who sent him, on the other hand, is important.

After checking the entrances to the bridge to make sure nothing is coming in right away, she turns towards the controls, letting herself become solid, and tries to figure out how to move the skull away from the village.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Bridge

There's several hatches leading down into the bowels of the skull, though no movement beyond either of them. One leads to the Engine Room, one to the Armoury and the gun bays and one to the barracks and beyond, to the cargo bay and jaw.

Moving it is quite easy; she knows how it all works, after all. The device locking the wheel in place needs to be removed first, however. It doesn't move very quickly; something in the Engine Room is trying to cut off the power or turn it off.

The skeleton's been crushed.