Riverside 20: Another day, another disaster

[Morty]

[Tracking Rats - Amalungak, Tarim & MERC]

Amalungak follows. He realizes the danger involved, but this is what he has to do to serve his King. He simply trusts the King in Rags will watch over him down there.

[5a Violista]

[Tracking Rats - Tarim & MERC]

Stupid rats, not answering questions.

Holly looks up at Tarim, suddenly being reminded what's going on and how bad the situation they're in is for everyone else. Was Tarim talking to her, or to the other MERC people? she wonders, but then quickly realizes it doesn't really matter: right now, Tarim is between her and the other MERC people, which means he can't use his fire in any direction. By grouping up with the other ones, she'll be out of his way, allowing him to use fire on this side of him, and she might be able help pull people out of the way if necessary.

She, still squeezing the rat in her hand, nods and says, "Okay." She runs to group up with the other MERC members and, with the recently-reloaded shotgun, fires at the biggest mass of rats in front of her to make it easier to run to them and get out of the way.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tracking Rats - Tarim & MERC]

Two of the MERC members have at this point fallen into the well below where they're still struggling to fight off the rats within all that dried up gunk. They seem to have so far managed to keep the rats from biting too deeply into any critical part of their bodies but as they're now on the floor that might change soon.
The others can still move around which makes it more difficult for the rats to attack.
As Holly moves out of the way, Tarim conjures shockingly bright flames from his hand which leaves all the rats behind Holly dead in a sudden flash fire.

Even those not directly in the path of the flames but still looked at it might find themselves partly or fully blinded by the bright light. This fate has befallen many of the rats which all appear confused and dazed as they suddenly can't see so well.
Holly will have an easy time firing at them as they're not even moving out of the way. But just as sees the rats being blown to bits by her shotgun shells, something far louder can be heard.

KRABROOOM

The whole well-room shakes as what must be an explosion that must have happened just nearby. Holly won't be able to see any signs of it however but it couldn't have been too far away.

[Amalungak and the rats]

The white rat leads him in the same direction they were going but is taking an alternate route it seems.
Though as he follows he might suddenly have his ears ringing as a explosion can be heard somewhere nearby.

KRABROOOM

The white rat stops for a moment and looks around but then it continues as if nothing happened.
It might take him a while to recover, especially as his eyes, nose and lungs will be assulted by the dust the explosion have shaken into the air.
However, if he continues following his guide he will soon find himself going down a sewer tunnel that looks just like any other. But the amount of dust here suggests that it likely was ground zero for the explosion. If Amalungak knew anything about construction, he might realize that it was cement that was just blown up.

[Morty]

[Amalungak and the rats]

Amalungak covers his face with his arm when the dust is kicked up, coughing violently. He then produces a scarf from his satchel and wraps it around his face, to at least help him proceed a little more quickly. This does little to help his eyes, but he makes do. He doesn't know anything about cement, or explosives for that matter - they come across as vile goblin technology to him. He realizes that he's nearing the epicentre of the explosion, however. Just what happened here? And is the being he came here to meet unharmed?

[Recaiden]

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

They've recently fought off two strange creatures that look like some mix between an occtupus and a spider. One of them have retreated back into the cave where they ambushed them while the other have disappeared somewhere in the cave hall they're currently in.

A river runs through the middle of the stone hall and on either side of it are a series of small caves. The creatures attempted to lure them into one of them using a human voice, causing Ruby to walk into a web.

Now they're leaving the cave hall to return to the fork in the tunnel that they ran into earlier.
However, as they're going back through the tunnel they can hear what sounds like hooves moving across the stone floor. It must be some heavy hooves as they can hear it quite well without seeing it's source.

But it won't take long before they can make out a huge hulking figure with their respective dark visions. The sound gives them some time to react before that occurs however.

Ruby stops and waves at Fade to get back.
She presses against the wall of the tunnel, to try to stay a little hidden and watch the huge figure.
That's got to be related to what they're looking for.

[5a Violista]

[Tracking Rats - Tarim & MERC]

Holly can feel the heat across her back. Even the light reflecting off the walls tell her how bright it was.
And...
an explosion. This is probably why the rats were gathering. But, unless they fend off the current problem, they won't be able to look into it.

Unable to find time to figure out what to do with the rat she's holding, she tosses it.
She then tries to figure out what the situation they're in is. Those two members in the well need to come out - losing them would make this a lot harder. She can't immediately get them out without breaking her cover, and she doesn't want to do that just yet unless there's no other option, so...

The half-elf looks down the well. If she goes down there, she could draw off some of the rats there and give them time to get up and do something. So, she slides and hops down the well to those two members. "Hey, get up," she orders, firing another shotgun blast - aiming to not hit the two mercenaries, but just a bunch of rats again.

[Zefir]

((I appologize for the delay here. Just never managed to get to this thread for reasons.

I will do a quick summary of events in each scene to get everyone back on track.))

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

They've recently fought off two strange creatures that look like some mix between an occtupus and a spider. One of them have retreated back into the cave where they ambushed them while the other have disappeared somewhere in the cave hall they're currently in.

A river runs through the middle of the stone hall and on either side of it are a series of small caves. The creatures attempted to lure them into one of them using a human voice, causing Ruby to walk into a web.

Now they're leaving the cave hall to return to the fork in the tunnel that they ran into earlier.
However, as they're going back through the tunnel they can hear what sounds like hooves moving across the stone floor. It must be some heavy hooves as they can hear it quite well without seeing it's source.

But it won't take long before they can make out a huge hulking figure with their respective dark visions. The sound gives them some time to react before that occurs however.

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

"Bombs?" karl replies. "I am also behind something else, which might be connected to your problem. maybe we should just join together. Maybe my skills are of help. Those are my pals" he says pointing at the skeletons behind him

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]


Ruby stops and waves at Fade to get back.
She presses against the wall of the tunnel, to try to stay a little hidden and watch the huge figure.
That's got to be related to what they're looking for.

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

Fade nods and backs off a little, searching for a place Ruby can hide, he is safe using his shadow but he won't be able to keep Ruby there for long, also they might need to fight and it would be good if they can surround the enemy.

[Earl of Purple]

Tracking Rats- Spewer & Karl, Without Irena

"Are you a bomb disposal expert? Or an explosives engineer? Do you know how to stop the bombs from exploding? Because that's what they're going to do unless someone stops it, and I can't stop it." And the person he's hanging around with has disappeared, the person who has arrived has some skeletons and Spewer's feeling a bit nervous. He's pretty sure his power won't work against the skeletons, unless he uses another tablet to change his effect to physical damage rather than an emotional effect.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tracking Rats - Tarim & MERC]

More rats are shot, but presumably not the ones on top of the MERC members as that would make it very hard not to hit them. The two are attempting to pull off the rats in sheer panic. But each rat takes a tiny chunk of flesh with them as they're pulled off.
Screams of pain can be heard echoing through the well, but it's not just coming from the MERC members. Up above Tarim is torching even more rats. Looks like he will get the other MERC members free soon.

Tracking Rats- Spewer & Karl, Without Irena

Whatever Not-Irena is doing, she is taking her sweet time doing it. Or perhaps she's right behind Andy right now. Waiting for the right opportunity to stab him in the back.
Or she's elsewhere, simply watching the exchange.

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

The figure soon becomes clearer and it's indeed big. Nearly 5 meters tall with a pair of horns that make it just cross that length. It's covered in black fur though by contrast the hair on it's legs are snow white. It's facial features can best be described as goat- or demonlike if one is so inclined. Hooves are often associated to such beings after all.
Though it's chest is far more human like as it seems to be well-equipped in the lady department without even fur or clothes covering them. But the creature suddenly stops and starts to look around as if had just seen something.
It might have just detected their presence.

[Gullara]

[Descending into Darkness - Archera & Flicker]

Archera and Flicker are fighting against a group of mutated people with various strange rat features.
The mutant grunts as Archera kicks them in the front center mass. Falling down to the hard stone floor with a thud. The others not finding theirs as they're swept away by the water.
Their leader however holds firm and fires a shot at Archera, or rather the position she was a moment ago. He curses and starts to aim for her again. However, as he spots Flicker he decides to shot at her instead as she wasn't moving. Firing off a single bullet aimed in her direction.

[Descending into Darkness - Archera & Flicker]

There's little Archera can do to prevent the shot from going off, but the shot draws her attention to the leader immediately. With the person immediately in front of her momentarily disabled, she rushes the leader, sending a swift, low kick to his knee. She can't worry about what the gunshot accomplished. She has to stop him from using it again.

[Earl of Purple]

Descending into Darkness- Flicker & Archera

As soon as she spots Archera, Flicker zips back forwards with her shotgun, headed to the closest mutant that isn't running away. She'll raise her shotgun and fire a blast of birdshot into their chest. The bullet fired at her misses, as she's no longer standing where she was when it was fired.

The birdshot isn't likely to kill, but it will probably hurt... And if the mutants don't want to fight, it'll give them an excuse to stay down and stop fighting.

[5a Violista]

[Tracking Rats - Tarim & MERC]

Yes.
Shooting the people you're trying to rescue is a little counterproductive. Would not recommend.

Normally, Holly would come up with some clever way to make the rats run away or to get rid of all of them at once - or, at least, to get rid of large groups of them at the same time. But she's been too busy, too stressed out, and hasn't got enough sleep...so she can only think of a few dumb options.

Shooting doesn't seem to help in the short-term, so...she decides to help one of the mercenaries remove rats, while she starts working on a bigger idea. But if she pulls them off, they still bite, so she tries something else: her her hands grow spines from them and she strengthens the muscles - so that when she grabs onto the rats to remove them, she (instead of pulling) squeezes, to crush and skewer them.

And, as she does this, it's time for her plan that feels like it will most definitely backfire, but she can't think through how right now.
Sometimes they bring in rats to the vet's, so she's read up on some of their hormones and such. A common way to trap rats is to use their sex hormones - and, interestingly, male pheromones tend to work better on females than female pheromones on male rats. In order to get the attention of as many as possible, it seems reasonable to try to attract the females.
In hopes this somehow helps, she begins flooding her sweat with male rat hormones/pheromones and then vaporizes it to help it spread faster.

[Recaiden]

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

Fade nods and backs off a little, searching for a place Ruby can hide, he is safe using his shadow but he won't be able to keep Ruby there for long, also they might need to fight and it would be good if they can surround the enemy.

The figure soon becomes clearer and it's indeed big. Nearly 5 meters tall with a pair of horns that make it just cross that length. It's covered in black fur though by contrast the hair on it's legs are snow white. It's facial features can best be described as goat- or demonlike if one is so inclined. Hooves are often associated to such beings after all.
Though it's chest is far more human like as it seems to be well-equipped in the lady department without even fur or clothes covering them. But the creature suddenly stops and starts to look around as if had just seen something.
It might have just detected their presence.

A goat-devil lady more than twice her size? That promises to be a fun fight.
But then, this girl has been killing rat monsters. Is she a beast that lives in these tunnels, dealing with the infestation of vermin just like everyone else? Or is there a connection to the gear that they found earlier?

Ruby steps out, showing her light, and confronts the giant.
"Who are you?"

[Zefir]

Tracking Rats- Spewer & Karl, Without Irena

"Are you a bomb disposal expert? Or an explosives engineer? Do you know how to stop the bombs from exploding? Because that's what they're going to do unless someone stops it, and I can't stop it." And the person he's hanging around with has disappeared, the person who has arrived has some skeletons and Spewer's feeling a bit nervous. He's pretty sure his power won't work against the skeletons, unless he uses another tablet to change his effect to physical damage rather than an emotional effect.

[Tracking Rats - Tarim & MERC]

More rats are shot, but presumably not the ones on top of the MERC members as that would make it very hard not to hit them. The two are attempting to pull off the rats in sheer panic. But each rat takes a tiny chunk of flesh with them as they're pulled off.
Screams of pain can be heard echoing through the well, but it's not just coming from the MERC members. Up above Tarim is torching even more rats. Looks like he will get the other MERC members free soon.

Tracking Rats- Spewer & Karl, Without Irena

Whatever Not-Irena is doing, she is taking her sweet time doing it. Or perhaps she's right behind Andy right now. Waiting for the right opportunity to stab him in the back.
Or she's elsewhere, simply watching the exchange.

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

The figure soon becomes clearer and it's indeed big. Nearly 5 meters tall with a pair of horns that make it just cross that length. It's covered in black fur though by contrast the hair on it's legs are snow white. It's facial features can best be described as goat- or demonlike if one is so inclined. Hooves are often associated to such beings after all.
Though it's chest is far more human like as it seems to be well-equipped in the lady department without even fur or clothes covering them. But the creature suddenly stops and starts to look around as if had just seen something.
It might have just detected their presence.

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]




A goat-devil lady more than twice her size? That promises to be a fun fight.
But then, this girl has been killing rat monsters. Is she a beast that lives in these tunnels, dealing with the infestation of vermin just like everyone else? Or is there a connection to the gear that they found earlier?

Ruby steps out, showing her light, and confronts the giant.
"Who are you?"

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

Fade remains in his hidden spot. He is after all not the best in communication so he leaves things to Ruby and goes as a backup plan, mainly the hit and slice one.

Tracking Rats- Spewer & Karl, Without Irena

"Nop." Karl just addmits. "But if we have anyone who knows how I could send in one of ym guys anddo it through them. At least it would be less risk."

If Not-Irenais sneaking behind Karl she better be extra sneaky. Those six skeletons got the basisc senses like seeing and hearing and they just stand there looking around.

[Earl of Purple]

Tracking Rats- Spewer & Karl

"If I knew how to do it, I'd be down there trying to stop it. The bombs are big enough that I don't think I can escape it if it goes off. My girlfriend's trying to find the people who set it up and remove them in the hope the bomb isn't on a timer." Spewer doesn't trust Karl or the skeletons, and they don't seem able to help much right now.

[Arkhosia]

[White Rose Health Clinic]

"I dunno. Just...something." Ithuriel sighs and leans back in her chair. "And I know I oughta know better, y'know?" Bloody hard to explain really, isn't it?

"I think- It's so hard to be hurt that I just...me or someone else, I want people to be hurt."

"It's not unusual, Caelynn responds with a morose little smile. "I mean, they say misery loves company, right? And there's certainly something... well, cathartic about violence, at times." She brushes back one of her bangs. "I think what it amounts to is just needing to find a way to vent out our feelings of helplessness and lack of control, y'know? I mean, hurting others is all about control, exerting dominance or pushing them down to your own level.

[Shadowcaller]

Tracking Rats- Spewer & Karl

Not-Irena can't be heard nor seen at the moment at the very least. If she's actually sneaking up on Karl using some form of invisibility or simply is hiding somewhere remains to be seen. Either way, she doesn't seem to want to engage in this discussion.

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

The giant goat creature soon stops as it spots Ruby. Its goat-eyes staring at her in a rather unnerving way as it seems to have some kind of internal debate about what to do. Whatever it's considering even makes their eyes twitch at one point until it suddenly makes up its mind and bows deeply. "I AM JAAHLYN, MISS. A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU." It, or rather she, rumbles back. They might remember Dena mentioning this name earlier. "I AM... INVESTIGATING PRIVATE FAMILY BUSINESS. A pause as 'Jaahlyn's' goat eyes stare off into the distance. "SO I SHOULD PROBABLY CONTINUE GOING ABOUT THAT IF YOU DON'T MIND."

[Tracking Rats - Tarim & MERC]

Squishing the rats in that manner prevents unnecessary injury on the poor MERC members and leaves them free to finally get up and fight back. Webs are thrown and guns are fired. The tide quickly turning back against the swarm as Tarim continues destroying them with waves of shining fire.

Holly's hormones seem less effective than they should be though. For rats that supposedly must be breeding like crazy to replenish their numbers at the rate the city is killing them the sex hormones have little effect.

See can see the rats pausing a moment to look her way, but their attention doesn't linger as they soon starts retreating.

[Descending into Darkness - Archera & Flicker]

The leader grunts in pain and collapses on the ground, though keeps a firm grip on his gun.
The mutant Flicker shoots likewise drops like a sack of potatoes as soon as they're hit.
Of the two other mutants one still struggles getting up from the ground while the last one throw himself at Archera, attempting to grapple her feet.
He seems to be the strongest of the bunch even though he isn't as well-trained as the leader seems to be.

[Tracking Rats - Amalungak]

The white rat seems unfazed by the explosion and turns to look at him before it continues on into the cloud of dust.
If Amalungak keeps following it he will find that the explosion h's as opened up a strange passage hidden behind that cement wall. It's certainly not a part of the sewer system as the cemented ceiling and walls are immediately replaced by worked stone.
He seems to have stumbled upon some kind of mining tunnel hidden underneath the sewer system. The air in here feels even staler than the one he's been breathing while in the sewers and he will likely get the impression that this tunnel is far older than the ones build upon it.
A swarm of rats coming from deeper within the tunnel passes by them as his guide continues ever downwards.
It will soon become clear that this isn't just a single tunnel, or that this is simply an old mine as some of the intersecting tunnels actually appear to be natural. Indeed, other tunnels seem to be interlaid with white walls suggesting that there were at least two different set of hands that worked them. He'd likely be able to tell even more if he had any knowledge in stoneworking.
However, the rat seems to know their way even within this confusing maze of intersecting tunnels and soon they reach a vast underground lake. A large number of stalactites hang from the cave ceiling above, occasionally forming thick pillars that disappears into the black waters below.
The only way to pass through here is by a narrow ledge running along the right side of the lake. While the white rat can easily run across it Amalungak will be forced to press himself against the wall and slowly move sideways across the lake.

[Morty]

[Tracking Rats - Amalungak]

Amalungak is used to open spaces and feels ill at ease in these cramped tunnels. Like some kind of goblin hovel. But still he presses on. Slowly and carefully - he's not really very athletic. And he doesn't have any rituals or charms that could protect him if he were to slip and fall.

[Recaiden]

The medium-sized dragon creature nods. "The mercenary. Commandant Ruby, from Southside."

"We're looking into the rats, the hidden entrance by which they got up into Westside." She points a clawtip back the way they came.
"Would you know anything about that?"

[Gullara]

[Arik's Place]

Kirk arrives in Riverside and follows the directions given to him to find Arik Mithar. He doesn't know the details of where he's going however, just that Arik could be found there.

Descending into Darkness- Flicker & Archera

As soon as she spots Archera, Flicker zips back forwards with her shotgun, headed to the closest mutant that isn't running away. She'll raise her shotgun and fire a blast of birdshot into their chest. The bullet fired at her misses, as she's no longer standing where she was when it was fired.

The birdshot isn't likely to kill, but it will probably hurt... And if the mutants don't want to fight, it'll give them an excuse to stay down and stop fighting.

[Descending into Darkness - Archera & Flicker]

The leader grunts in pain and collapses on the ground, though keeps a firm grip on his gun.
The mutant Flicker shoots likewise drops like a sack of potatoes as soon as they're hit.
Of the two other mutants one still struggles getting up from the ground while the last one throw himself at Archera, attempting to grapple her feet.
He seems to be the strongest of the bunch even though he isn't as well-trained as the leader seems to be.

[Descending into Darkness - Archera & Flicker]

Archera reacts quickly to the man throwing himself at her. She jump up, planting her hand on top of his head, and pushes herself into a flip over top of him. She angles herself such that she can bring her foot down on the back of the mutant struggling to stand. That ought to keep them down. From there she stays in her crouching position for a moment, trying to get eyes on the leader before the man she outmaneuvered recovers and comes at her again.

[Earl of Purple]

Descending into Darkness- Archera & Flicker

The one struggling to get up has Flicker zip over towards him and fire birdshot into their chest. She'd get involved in the fight Archera's involved in, but the heroine seems to have things handled. Besides, Flicker's only got this shotgun, and she doesn't want to injure Archera.

If the mutant she just shot had a melee weapon of some kind, Flicker will stoop down to pick it up, tucking it behind the bandoleer of shotgun shells she's wearing.

[5a Violista]

[Tracking Rats - Tarim & MERC]

Holly, frustrated, makes a mental note to take a shower as soon as she has time.

She stops the production of more of those, as she continues to crush rats in her hands.
What's wrong with these rats? she wonders in her mind. It's like they've got some sort of dumb hive mind thing going on where somebody who doesn't care about rats is at the center of it.

Once the rats have retreated enough that she no longer has to crush any, Holly groans and pushes back her hair that has gotten free, not caring (or possibly not noticing) that it just means there's now rat guts in her hair in addition to on her hands. "Hey, you guys alright?" she asks the other two that have fallen down here.

While waiting for an answer, she looks down at her bite-wounds. Using her 'elven flesh-shaping magic' (that's what she's calling it) she forces the bite wounds to heal and greatly boosts her immune system to quickly take out any diseases the rats might have been carrying - she definitely doesn't want to wait until it's too late again, for there to be more diseases than she can handle at once. She can still remember how weak she felt the last time that happened. "Need healing, or you fine?" she adds on.

[Zefir]

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

Fade remains hiidden, waiting for Ruby to give a clear sign. The name sure is known so Ruby will hear a whisper in her ear.

"Try to find out more about that family business. It might be related to the rat problem."

Tracking Rats- Spewer & Karl

"Does that mean you didn't inspect them closer?" Karl asks. "As said my summons here could scout. They are expandable.." the skeletons make some noise. "Ok, I mean near immortal in some way." he looks back at his skeletons to confirm this is a better term.

[Earl of Purple]

Tracking Rats- Spewer & Karl

"I haven't seen them, no. I trust the people who did, and if I went down there I'd not be able to get out again and as I'm staying up here to make sure this exit remains clear and they aren't followed by any of the rats we're hunting." Spewer doesn't trust Karl, and apparently he doesn't have complete control over the skeletons, either. That's just a little creepy. "Plus, the hole's deep enough if I jumped in and landed badly, I could be seriously hurt. The people who went down there had abilities that meant a fall was less likely to hurt them." Although he's not sure how Archera managed it, Flicker's teleportation cancels all her momentum, so the fact she could only teleport when she was a few centimetres from a flat horizontal surface didn't actually come into consideration much.

[Shadowcaller]

Tracking Rats- Spewer & Karl

Not-Irena still don't interrupts so they can keep talking!

[Tracking Rats - Ruby and Fade]

Jaahlyn's huge monsterous body suddenly shifts uncomfortably as a human would when nervous. "I'D LIKE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, COMMANDANT RUBY. BUT I'M BOUND TO NOT SEEK OUTSIDE HELP I'M AFRAID. AS I SAID, IT'S A FAMILY MATTER. I CAN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING AS I'M TO NOT INVOLVE OUTSIDERS." She pauses, scratching her hairy chest thoughtfully. "BUT... FOR WHAT PURPOSE DO YOU INVESTIGATE THE DARLINGS? ER, THE RATS? DO YOU PERHAPS SEEK TO ALLY YOURSELF TO THEIR SOVEREIGN? SINCE IF YOU DO, I COULD LEAD YOU STRAIGHT TO THEM."

The goat monster winks.

[Tracking Rats - Tarim & MERC]

The MERCenaries on the ground groan a 'yes' in response, still very much alive despite all their wounds thanks to her intervention. They're likely infected though so if Holly can cleanse them before they get sick it would probably save their lives in the long run too.

"****ING RATS!!!" The human in the merc group swears as she throws a rock after the retreating rats. "Mother****ing vermin, we need to exterminate them all." She drops down into the well and crotches next to Holly to see how her coworkers are doing. "And we need to get them out of here."

"We need to continue." Tarim states calmly as he touches a spot on his armor that have been drenched in the inside of a rat, his fire burning it away into nothing. "The wounded can be healed first, but then we need to move on." No one one of the MERCenaries seems to be in a condition to argue, but neither do any of them seem to want to continue down the sewers after all that.

[Arik's Place]

Arik's 'place', or at least the address he got, seems to be one of the local graveyards and as graveyards go it looks like one of the more stereotypically creepy ones. Hideous gargoyles sitting on each side of the gate he enters through and plenty of gravestones that have been worn down by age and disrepair.

In the middle of all this sits a tall temple that seems perfectly circular, making it look more like a tower than a place of worship. Unlike the graves it seems well-maintained, surrounded by a pebble-covered walkway that branches out into a crossroad in which the temple is the center.

A huge hulking figure made completely made out of water is preoccupied cleaning the temple walls by spraying them with a high pressure blast made up of its own arms. It doesn't seem to notice Kirk at all as he approaches.

[Descending into Darkness - Archera & Flicker]

The mutant Flicker shot cries out in pain and falls forward back onto the ground.

She doesn't seem to have been carrying any melee weapon but she does have a simple pocket-knife in her belt. Otherwise there's always rocks to throw or use for bashing. There's several different sizes down here which could be used for either purpose.

Meanwhile, Archera plants her boot in the back of the muscular mutants head and makes him eat dirt as he lets out a gurgling sound.

However, by now the leader is sprinting away on all fours. It shouldn't be possible for any human to move that fast while not upright but he's evidently not fully human anymore.
He's fleeing deeper into the tunnel, but his movements suggests a greater purpose than simply self-preservation. He's going towards something.

[Tracking Rats - Amalungak]

The rat occasionally stops to wait for him as he slowly makes his way across the lake. On the other side he's greeted by yet another swarm of rats which seems even larger than the one that ambushed MERC in the sewers.

Like before however they simply part way as he and the white rat approaches, letting them through a passage which leads into a large underground chamber. Amalungak better be prepared though as the stench coming from here is even worse than the sewers themselves. He got a brief respite from stenches while wandering through the tunnels but now it's back and worse than ever.
The floor in here seems to be covered in gore and blood. It might take him a second but he will likely realize that it's actually the remains of what must be thousand dead rats that have been flattened into a bizarre corpse carpet that's also have started to creep up along the chamber walls.

Pushed up against these walls are creatures that easily could be mistaken for rat-people at first glance. They seem to have been partly absorbed by the "carpet" and have a great deal of rat-like features such as fur and whiskers. However, Amalungak might from several "bald spots" on their bodies that these loathsome creatures actually carry a strong resemblance to goblins. Their skin is black as coal and their eyes akin to yellow orbs, but their body structure heavily suggest a relation.

Of course, it's difficult to see much of their other features as they're dominated by their enormously bloated bellies which in some cases are larger than the rest of their body. It almost looks as if they're pregnant though he couldn't guess with what as whatever they would be giving birth to would be larger than themselves. That is if they are giving birth to a single creature, the movement of their bellies suggest that there might be more than one living being developing in there.

But in the very center of the chamber is the white throne from Amalungak's vision. In heavy contrast to the rest of the chamber it's perfectly clean. Raising like a imposing pillar of order and purity in the midst of all this madness.
However, unlike Amalungak's vision there isn't a single seat on the throne but eight, each one occupied by a human child dressed in white robes that are as clean as the throne they're sitting on. Five boys and three girls, none which appear older than twelve and have crowns adorning their heads.
Though one could tell even from a glance that they're neither human or elves as they all have long rat-like tails and black eyes. The eight tails of the children running up along the backs of their seats and together into a single knot. A unwieldy mass of rat tails which sits at the very top of the throne in-between the eight seats.
"Welcome, Amalungak of the king. We are the rat king, the king of filth."
"We apologize for the filth around us. You shouldn't get too close, least you sully your boots and clothes with it."
The throned girl with the freckles nods. "Yes. We are unfortunately still using the filth to clean the city."
"However, as your former companions won't turn back, not to mention the others that are coming for us..."
"We might not have much time. So we must skip the formalities and ask you a few questions."
The child on the opposite side of the throne which he can't see from this angle speaks and he can just barely make them out. "Tell us about your king. It's rare that we get in touch with other royalty."
Each child is speaking in turn, though how they begin speaking exactly after the other finishes a sentence suggests a deeper connection. In fact, to Amalungak they all seem to be one single being and there is no way to tell if this is even its true form or not.

[Recaiden]

The darlings? But Jaahlyn had definitely been killing rat monsters. Maybe she's trying to protect the normal rats from whatever is going on here? Or maybe she just has a peculiar view of things.

"Well, you didn't seek us out, you know. We didn't come down here to help you in particular."

"But yes, I'd like to see them and my city come to an arrangement, so please do show us the way."
Fade is right, but they need to use the tiniest bit of subtlety. The goat monster clearly wants to help without technically helping - or at least wants to seem like she does.

[5a Violista]

[Tracking Rats]

While Holly agrees that they do need to continue, she gets the feeling that only her and Tarim are really capable of handling-by-themselves another mass of rats like that and it's really fortunate that the rats chose to flee before it got worse for these two.

"...Yeah, we do," the half-human says to the human, responding to the need to get these two out of here. "I'm first going to make sure they don't get tularemia or leptospirosis or whatever infection they could get from sewage in their wounds," she says. Holly moves over so she can place a hand on bare skin from each of the two. Her middle fingernail sharpens to a point, and then coats itself in a diluted neurotoxin mixture, to act as a numbing agent.

...She really hates doing this. She bites her lip to build up mental strength to do this, but she really hates it. It gives her far too much control over other people and it's really distasteful, but...it's also the only way she can ensure they don't die of infection. As long as she focuses on just cleaning up any virus, bacteria, and parasites then all it'll do is split her concentration further than it already is.

"This might sting," she says to the two. Then, she pierces their skin, pumps in some of her own blood through her finger into their bloodstream, and then pulls it out - and the wound closes up. As soon as her blood starts circulating in them, it cleans up any infection they have. At this moment, it would be so easy to make them do whatever she wants. If she wanted, she could have control over...

Holly shakes her head to get the thoughts out of her. She doesn't need to deal with this right now, and she doesn't want this. Just focus on cleaning infection.
She stands up.
"Okay. They'll be fine."
"Got any rope up there?" she calls up, since tossing a rope would make it easier for them all to get up.

While waiting to get up and help the others up, she checks the shotgun, making sure it's working fine.

[Morty]

[Tracking Rats - Amalungak]

Amalungak breathes a sigh of relief when wading through human filth finally gets him to his destination. The beings in front of him don't disturb him overmuch. His lord is a primal creature of fear, after all. And he has met any other fey of dark and frightening nature, not to mention regularly dealing with spirits. He simply bows solemnly, as befits the emissary of a great king in another's court.

"The one who sends me is now called the King in Rags," he says. "But it is not his only name. He has had many in the past and will again. His true name is known only to him. Or them, rather. Such it is with the Gentry, who are rulers of the fey, having willed themselves into being from the primordial chaos at the dawn of time. They dwelled in the Fairest of Lands, but they were taken from my King through base betrayal. He seeks to find his way back or recreate them here."

[Gnrlshrimp]

"It's not unusual, Caelynn responds with a morose little smile. "I mean, they say misery loves company, right? And there's certainly something... well, cathartic about violence, at times." She brushes back one of her bangs. "I think what it amounts to is just needing to find a way to vent out our feelings of helplessness and lack of control, y'know? I mean, hurting others is all about control, exerting dominance or pushing them down to your own level.

[White Rose Health Clinic]

"I guess I rely on violence as an outlet quite often," Ithuriel mutters, looking away. Not really a fun thing to admit that, is it? "But working for Intersection gives me ample opportunity to subdue criminals in, y'know, safe ways. Someone makes a run for it, I get the same kind of rush out of chasing them down and-"

Really does just feel like her trying to justify wanting to punch something, doesn't it?

"I-"

Oh dear.

"He had no control over himself. He was helpless, and vulnerable, and none of it's his fault but I-" Words are forced out through clenched teeth as fresh tears start to fall again. Of course, it's all so obvious, isn't it? "He's just a kid and they tried to use him and I had to keep him safe. I have to keep him safe. But every time I go back home now, I look at him, I see the one who killed my unborn child. I hate him so much. I want him to understand how much he hurt me. He- he's just a kid."

[Gullara]

[Descending into Darkness - Archera & Flicker]

The mutant Flicker shot cries out in pain and falls forward back onto the ground.

She doesn't seem to have been carrying any melee weapon but she does have a simple pocket-knife in her belt. Otherwise there's always rocks to throw or use for bashing. There's several different sizes down here which could be used for either purpose.

Meanwhile, Archera plants her boot in the back of the muscular mutants head and makes him eat dirt as he lets out a gurgling sound.

However, by now the leader is sprinting away on all fours. It shouldn't be possible for any human to move that fast while not upright but he's evidently not fully human anymore.
He's fleeing deeper into the tunnel, but his movements suggests a greater purpose than simply self-preservation. He's going towards something.

[Descending into Darkness - Archera & Flicker]

Oh, that's not good. In a regular situation Archera might not be so concerned about one breaking off from the group. But when the walls are lined with explosives the situation is very different. She pushes herself up and runs after the leader. "Flicker!" She shouts to get the other's attention. She sprints as fast as she can to catch up before he does something drastic.

[Arik's Place]

Arik's 'place', or at least the address he got, seems to be one of the local graveyards and as graveyards go it looks like one of the more stereotypically creepy ones. Hideous gargoyles sitting on each side of the gate he enters through and plenty of gravestones that have been worn down by age and disrepair.

In the middle of all this sits a tall temple that seems perfectly circular, making it look more like a tower than a place of worship. Unlike the graves it seems well-maintained, surrounded by a pebble-covered walkway that branches out into a crossroad in which the temple is the center.

A huge hulking figure made completely made out of water is preoccupied cleaning the temple walls by spraying them with a high pressure blast made up of its own arms. It doesn't seem to notice Kirk at all as he approaches.

[Arik's Place]

Kirk walks casually toward the temple, though in reality he's mon high alert. He keeps an eye on the elemental as he approaches. Assuming nothing happens, he gets up to the door and gives it a knock.