Riverside 20: Another day, another disaster

[Shadowcaller]

[Tracking Rats - Ruby & Fade & Holly]

Jaahlyn remains in cover as the cat people attack and starts looking through her backpack but pause as she feels the king of rags leave. So their business had already been concluded, they had managed to delay them long enough.
Still, her priority was the rat king themselves and there was no way they'd be able to flee if she got any say in it...
She won't do anything this round besides looking through her backpack however.

[Arik's Place]

Arik let's out a small sigh. "Yes, I figured that too, Mr. Kirk. But that doesn't add up is what I'm saying. He wouldn't need your help to acquire a dragon as there are plenty of them in the nexus. Especially as you're claiming it isn't about capturing a dangerous beast. Unless of course you mean a specific type of dragon, but then..." He pauses, his brows frowning. "Dragons are extinct in Helios world. Is that the information you're looking for? Since that would be the reasoning behind whatever scheme you're a part of I suspect. I trust you won't tell exactly what your part of this deal is? Since this is a big deal and if you wish to disrupt Helios plans telling me would be a good start."

[Descending into Darkness]
Spewer & Karl

They will be able to just barely make out what sounds like guns being fired from down below. Sounds like a fight.

[Descending into Darkness]
Flicker & Archera

Archera might be surprised then as after just a few moments after she reached out the armored figure materializes out of the shadows near them. "You okay? All the rats started moving so I figured something was wrong. Then I encountered all these messed up thugs..."

The leader of the mutants is still where they left him. He's moving but looks to be in great pain. Not-Irena barely gives him a glance.

[Court of the Rat King - Amalungak]

The children all nod solemnly. "The filth shall aid you."
"While we take flight."
"A king must see the greater picture."
"Which now lies in darkness as far as we can see."
"As will be our journey below."
"Therefore, we bid you farewell for now."
"Until we meet again."

As the children are speaking there is suddenly a scream coming from one of the bloated creatures nearby. If this would catch their attention they can see that it's enormous black belly is slowly deflating as a swarm of new born rats start to pour out from underneath it.
The children barely gives it any attention beyond disgusted looks however.

"The city have killed most of its filth and will continue to do so even after we're gone."
"Therefore this can still have been considered a success. We hope the same can be said of your plans."

The last speaking girl bows before the king of rags before she start walking towards the far end of the cave and is soon joined by her brothers and sisters.
Meanwhile, the newborn rats are quickly reaching adulthood by the looks of it. Even while still covered by protective slime they have started to grow fur and fangs. They would likely be able to join the fight against the invaders soon.

[Recaiden]

[Tracking Rats - Ruby & Fade & Holly]

Even thought the ghosts are meant to slow them down, well, they can't just be ignored.

Only three cat-ghosts between her and Holly, and the other half of the survivors are tried up by Fade? That hardly seems fair.
One of them collides with Ruby, and though she rocks back, she is decidedly un-tackled. They're weak, insubstantial, and busy being kicked around by Holly, while she's quite strong.
Spreading her wings to each side to try to keep the speedy ghost from getting around her, she aims to shove them to the ground with one hand and turn her gun on them with the other.

[Morty]

[Tracking Rats - Ruby & Fade & Holly]

The remaining cat-people are dispatched easily enough by the combined efforts of Ruby, Holly and Fade. They won't go down easily and Holly is likely to take more injuries, but the spectres dissipate into motes of dust.

[Court of the Rat King - Amalungak]

The King in Rags and his servant both remain. Amalungak is searching through his bags for more tools he could bring to bear against the incoming heroes.

[Gullara]

[Descending into Darkness - Flicker & Archera]

Archera steps toward Irena, but then stops herself. "We're fine. The explosives still need to be cleared out of here, but the detonator was dealt with." She reports.

[Arik's Place]

"My plan isn't to disrupt his plans. It's to understand that he's honest executing his plans." Kirk explains. "His plan doesn't impact us except for this request for us to be involved in it. The fact dragons are extinct where he came from adds more context, at the very least. Otherwise I still don't intend to get into the details for the reasons I already explained. That's not what I came here for. If you don't have any more to speak to Helios's trustworthiness, then I think I have everything I need."

[Earl of Purple]

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker & I Can't Believe It's Not Irena

Flicker comes to a stop as she sees Irena, and encourages Archera off her feet. "I hope you've got a good way to get around and outta here, lady. I can't do that with both of you. I can only move with stuff I can carry." And theoretically she could put Archera on one foot and Irena on the other and they all hold tight, but that would probably unbalance Flicker and be less than pleasant, even if nobody is hurt when she falls over because there's no momentum when they hit the floor. Or she could lie down and both the others could lie on top of her, that could also work- so long s they don't touch the floor.

[5a Violista]

[Tracking Ratas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

Once they're gone and everyone is safe, Holly decides she needs to take care of her injuries. She looks down to see which ones are the worst - which are bleeding the most.
After a bit of concentration, they start to heal up. Only a little, though. Just enough that they stop bleeding - so that it appears they just look worse than they actually are.

Obviously she got stabbed. Everyone here saw that happen. The holes in her clothes are evidence of that.
That's why she can't just heal up the wounds. It still has to look like the wounds are still there; they just have to not be as bad.

Once that's done, Holly sheathes her sword into her hand and rather than stabbing through her it just vanishes. The other swords that were around also vanish when nobody's looking at them.

Holly takes a deep breath and turns around. "Well, glad that's over," she says. "Let's get going. If that was to delay us, I imagine we don't have much time."

[Shadowcaller]

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

Looked like the group wouldn't need Jaahlyn's help after all.

As she looks up from her cover it appears they had already been dealt with. But that still left the sovereigns own defenses and she could feel their presence moving. "Impressive." She declares as she looks at the battlefield. "But we have no time to celebrate. The being behind all this is attempting to escape." She once more gestures towards the lake. "Let's just be careful, the lake is dangerous."

The lake does not seem dangerous at a first glance though. The water is clear enough for them to see to the bottom of it and there doesn't seem to be anything lurking in its depths. It is quite deep though so they can't simply wade across.

It would be possible to press oneself against the right cave wall and carefully scoot over to the other side but it might leave one vulnerable to attack. Swimming would likely be faster (depending how good one is) but it would still take about five minutes to cross it that way.

Then one could always fly or teleport across, there's nothing stopping that. Though there is a horde of rats and what seems some kind of mutated rat-like humanoids. Though at this point it's difficult to tell if they are becoming a rat or rats as smaller rat heads and other parts seem to be growing out of them.

They all stand in perfect silence just staring at the group across the lake as if waiting on them making the first move. The mutants have even gathered small piles of rocks that they presumably will start throwing once the group starts to cross.

Spoiler: Good perception/intelligence

Show

An observant person might spot the fact that the rats on the other side of the lake never even get close to the water at any point. This seems a bit odd.

Spoiler: Geology/Caving expertise

Show

The stalactites above are not particularly stable. Trying to attach anything like a rope to them and then attempt to swing across might result in them breaking off. You can also spot the ones least likely to do so however. This knowledge might also be used for other things.

Spoiler: Spirit/Supernatural Sense

Show

The lake does gives off an ominous feeling, It does not like to be disturbed by anyone.

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker & I Can't Believe It's Not Irena

"Of course I do." Not-Irena tells Flicker. "Didn't you see me appearing just now? I move fast."

She then turns to Archera and gives pause as the archer approaches her. Eventually replying by nodding curtly. "...right. Good job. Looks like our job here is done then." Another pause. "We just need to take all these bad guys to the, uh, station then."

Archera might despite the fact that Not-Irena is wearing a visor and have her voice distorted tell that she has something she wants to tell her but can't do so in front of Flicker or the others.

[Arik's Place]

Arik nods in reply and then after what seems like a moment of consideration add's: "There is one last thing. While Helios often like to claim otherwise, he's not fully a person. He's a 'god' and there are certain conditions that apply to that title. The things he represent? No matter how hard he might try to have it otherwise, those aren't just empty words. They're concepts he has to submit himself to. So ironically, I think the reason that he often downplays his god-status is that he sees it as a weakness for his enemies to exploit, not as a proof of his power."

[Ilpholinside - Later]

The angel makes its return to the nymph's dwelling in a flash of light.
It appears unscathed and wasn't gone for more than eight hours, returning just before the sun starts to set.

It seems to understand social necessities enough to at least knock before letting itself in. Unless of course someone or something stops it before it even reaches the door.

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinside]

Nothing so dramatic stops the angel. Indeed, the door practically opens itself as the AI lets it inside and directs them deeper into the estate. Traveling through the cold metal halls gives a feeling of loneliness simply because of how much space there is and how sparsely decorated the walls are past the entrance chamber. Pragmatism is the guiding hand here, but maybe Ilpholin should look into spooky suits of armor or green techno screens to put here and there.

Regardless, unless the angel decides it wants to explore wildly on its own, it should be led to Mister Squiggles lab. Here there's more character, simply because there's more clutter. Machinery, tools, trinkets, and instruments for all manner of purposes. A lot of wide open spaces to get the giant dire spider room to maneuver, though presumably the ceiling is a little low for this purpose as well, as there's evidence of traffic up there. The one thing really out of place is the brightly colored baby monitor that's off to one side.

Ilpholin and Mister Squiggles are both here, looking through a window at the silver containment unit within. It's glowing brightly, what with the demonic corruption currently being held inside. Ilpholin glances briefly at Cerabella and states simply "You're back," as if it weren't obvious. Or perhaps she doubted the angel would succeed and return alive.

[Shadowcaller]

[Ilpholinside]

The angel follows the spider without a word.
A phrase found in Ilpholin's new children's book 'Why Spiders Are Your Friends'.

But as she is addressed by Ilpholin she nods curtly. "Indeed, and I bear good and bad news so let me start with the bad ones. The island you directed me to is filled with with what I must assume are your 'gnoll's'. Hairy canine creatures that have more common with the hyena than the ape despite their upright walk.

It seems like they just arrived there through the means of a metal-made sea bound vehicle and were unloading supplies to the island, likely planning to set up camp there. The obvious point of interest on the island was a metal door those creatures had unearthed. I didn't see what was down there but the presence of demons and other heretical spirits could be felt emitting from it. If the pith is anywhere, it's down there as I couldn't sense its presence anywhere else on the island. I even scouted the surrounding area but I found nothing of interest. That island was in the middle of nowhere and I don't believe anything have left it ever since those 'gnolls' arrived.

There was about a dozen gnolls including what I could tell was a spirit-infused construct and a small green skinned humanoid in the company of a even tinier spirit which were helping them. I might have been able to simply fight my way past them if I had taken them by surprise but I didn't want to risk it considering there were too many unknowns."

Cerabella pauses for a moment to let all that sink in. "As for the good news... there was no physical evidence of demons in the area. Though the spirits helping the gnolls were likely demons in all but name as they didn't carry the mark. None the less, that is a sign that we might still have some time. In addition, while I were on my way back I passed by that city, Inside, and I could feel the presence of the draachi. Sworn mortal servants to my court and eternal enemies of all demons. I'm not sure how they're here but they will be easily recruitable to our cause.
As I could feel their presence it means they are sworn and would be willing to die for their oath should they be called upon."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinside]

Ilpholin scowls. Gnolls. Insufferable mongrels all needed to be n- "The pith was leaking corruption pretty badly last I saw of it. They probably can't move it easily and decided to set up around it instead."

She waves her hand. It was mostly irrelevant why they decided to base there. Only the pith mattered and that was still an unknown. "What is this mark you refer to? And if you were needed, would you be able to locate the draachi? Inside can be large." And full of people.

Moving on to what she had accomplished in Cerabella's absence, Ilpholin states, "I collected some specimens to test on before we go after the pith. To make sure we can do lasting damage. I also located a large fey gathering around the Three Blind Frost-Seers, located in the Valley of Endless Ice and Night." It's not actually endless night, but it's pretty close. Presumably not endless ice either. It is a valley at least. "If we're to form a bridge for your companions, we should start there."

[Gullara]

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker & I Can't Believe It's Not Irena

"Of course I do." Not-Irena tells Flicker. "Didn't you see me appearing just now? I move fast."

She then turns to Archera and gives pause as the archer approaches her. Eventually replying by nodding curtly. "...right. Good job. Looks like our job here is done then." Another pause. "We just need to take all these bad guys to the, uh, station then."

Archera might despite the fact that Not-Irena is wearing a visor and have her voice distorted tell that she has something she wants to tell her but can't do so in front of Flicker or the others.

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker & I Can't Believe It's Not Irena

Archera looks at totally-not-Irena for a moment longer, and then turns back deeper into the sewers. "I'm worried they picked their guns up again. It'd be risky to confront them again." She decides. "We've disrupted their immediate plans enough that they should be slowed down. If we call in a bomb threat the authorities showing up in force will probably make them scatter."

[Arik's Place]

Arik nods in reply and then after what seems like a moment of consideration add's: "There is one last thing. While Helios often like to claim otherwise, he's not fully a person. He's a 'god' and there are certain conditions that apply to that title. The things he represent? No matter how hard he might try to have it otherwise, those aren't just empty words. They're concepts he has to submit himself to. So ironically, I think the reason that he often downplays his god-status is that he sees it as a weakness for his enemies to exploit, not as a proof of his power."

[Arik's Place]

Kirk nods slowly, considering that. It could be something they can work with, but it does raise one more question. "Do you know what he represents?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker & I Can't Believe It's Not Irena

"Don't worry about the guns, I spooked them good. They started running in the other direction as soon as I appeared. Didn't even bother picking up their weapons." Not-Irena gestures in the direction she came from which means that the mutants must either be heading back towards the hole or past it and continue along tunnel which the hole was intersecting with.

[Arik's Place]

"I believe I mentioned it earlier. Helios is the god of secrets, shadows and deals. That for instance means that he's not too keen on practices that takes away the illusion of choice which you always see in deals such as forced slavery. Something which not many people could just guess he'd be against." There's unforced slaves?
Arik shrugs nonchalantly. "I mean, he's not opposed to blackmailing or similar despicable practices but as soon as threats of violence or mind control becomes involved he suddenly plays another tune. It's a thin line that he tests the limits of but once you understand it as well as he does you understand what he cannot bring himself to do or even order to do. This is not something he can't just bypass by have someone else do or play ignorant about. It's an ideology that he has to follow no matter what."

[Ilpholinside]

"The mark is what makes it easier for us to detect demons. You might have noticed that some demons don't make silver glow for instance? That's since that demon is still unmarked by us. I imagine that applies to a lot of the demons here in the nexus which we haven't managed to get to yet." Cerabella explains briefly. There was more to it than that, but that's the information she was going to give Ilpholin.

"But yes, I'd be able to find them easily or make them find me. So if you indeed have a location in mind I can reach out and have them help us out. But how did you find out about this place and what can you tell me about it? I didn't expect an location come to you so quickly."

[Zefir]

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

Looked like the group wouldn't need Jaahlyn's help after all.

As she looks up from her cover it appears they had already been dealt with. But that still left the sovereigns own defenses and she could feel their presence moving. "Impressive." She declares as she looks at the battlefield. "But we have no time to celebrate. The being behind all this is attempting to escape." She once more gestures towards the lake. "Let's just be careful, the lake is dangerous."

The lake does not seem dangerous at a first glance though. The water is clear enough for them to see to the bottom of it and there doesn't seem to be anything lurking in its depths. It is quite deep though so they can't simply wade across.

It would be possible to press oneself against the right cave wall and carefully scoot over to the other side but it might leave one vulnerable to attack. Swimming would likely be faster (depending how good one is) but it would still take about five minutes to cross it that way.

Then one could always fly or teleport across, there's nothing stopping that. Though there is a horde of rats and what seems some kind of mutated rat-like humanoids. Though at this point it's difficult to tell if they are becoming a rat or rats as smaller rat heads and other parts seem to be growing out of them.

They all stand in perfect silence just staring at the group across the lake as if waiting on them making the first move. The mutants have even gathered small piles of rocks that they presumably will start throwing once the group starts to cross.

Spoiler: Good perception/intelligence

Show

An observant person might spot the fact that the rats on the other side of the lake never even get close to the water at any point. This seems a bit odd.

Spoiler: Geology/Caving expertise

Show

The stalactites above are not particularly stable. Trying to attach anything like a rope to them and then attempt to swing across might result in them breaking off. You can also spot the ones least likely to do so however. This knowledge might also be used for other things.

Spoiler: Spirit/Supernatural Sense

Show

The lake does gives off an ominous feeling, It does not like to be disturbed by anyone.

Jaahlyn seems rather ok with the shadow guy who suddendly appeared. Maybe she has known he is here the whole time? That might mean she looked over them befor they met. But currently this is not important. Fade steps close to the water and observes the situation. When Ruby comes close and Holly he says:
"This is obviously some kind of trap. Can you knock thwm all out from here or will this be a waste of time?"

Fade could easily slide over in his shadow noth touching the water, but he needs to make sure Ruby can do so as well.

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinside]

"I see. Yes, then I'm familiar with the mark and those who evade it." For now.

Ilpholin smirks a little cockily. "You underestimate my resourcefulness. There's a reason I'm the one that stumbled upon you after all."

"Anyways, I don't know very much about the location itself other than the sun rarely reaches it and it's covered in a lot of ice and fog. And how to get there. The information came from another fey, the King in Rags, who considers the Three Blind Frost-Seers as enemies. In exchange I must either convert them, expel them, or neutralize them. I won't ask you to contribute if that offends you. I can call you in after the deed is done."

[Recaiden]

"They're keeping away from the water. Don't fall in."
Then Fade makes his suggestion.
"All of them? From here?"
That's a tall order. Sure, she has a gun, and they just have rocks. But there are ever so many, and there's quite a distance.
No, to do that, she would have to do something dangerous, hubristic, and foolish.
"Okay."

Ruby holsters her gun, and takes a deep breath. As she lets the air out, tongues of flame dance before her.
She starts muttering things in the language of dragons and the old tongue of Ziost, not because of anyone who might hear, but because it helps direct her thoughts. Calling on her family spirits, calling on a shared camaraderie and daring. Asking to spare the MERC members.
The temperature around her shoots up ten, twenty, forty degrees. A spark appears in front of her, and then becomes a flame, and then a fireball, and then a swirling inferno with brilliant shapes clawing at the boundary from within. This takes a while. Not five minutes, maybe not even one full minute, but plenty of time to be interrupted.

[5a Violista]

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

Oh!
There he is.
Holly was certain that Fade was here because he left with Ruby earlier, but she was kind-of curious about where he was hiding.
...
But.
Shoot.
This probably means when he debriefs, MERC is going to find out about her magical girl powers. Which means she'll have to come up with a plausible excuse about why it's not on her paperwork, because powers like this seem pretty relevant to which mercenary work she qualifies for. At least she's still kept her shapeshifting (pretty much) a secret so far, so there's no need to worry about that quite yet.

While waiting for Ruby to perform...whatever magic it is she's doing, Holly decides to ask Jaahlyn about some things. "How is it dangerous?" she asks, looking down into the lake. "Do you know how, or is it just some feeling or whatever?" To be honest, Holly was considering just swimming across (but then her player would have to figure out whether this scene takes place before or after she becomes a mermaid). The biggest problem is that there is something stopping Holly from just flying or teleporting across: she can't do either of those. Maybe she could jump, and then use swords as some kind of moving platform or whatever, but that sounds too risky and incredibly difficult. She'd definitely have to practice that beforehand if she wants to do it safely, but...seems pretty difficult. Maybe she could use the stalactites as anchors? That'd make it a little bit easier, but...ugh, that'd be a drain on her available magic. No thanks.

...
Holly sits next to the lake. Ugh. She still reeks of those male rat pheromones she produced. Maybe a quick rinse in the lake wouldn't be that bad? Obviously, it depends on exactly what kind of danger, but, to be honest, just swimming is really tempting. "Like, dangerous enough that I can't even touch the water, or what?"

[Earl of Purple]

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger That Isn't Irena Probably

"And I, personally, need to figure out how to get out of this hole. I can only move like I do on surfaces that I can stand on, so... I was kinda hoping we'd find a way out of here." Or at least, not find the bombs and get into the fight they did.

She also got down here by jumping, and wasn't hurt because she used her power just before she landed. Irena or Archera might remember that and figure out more rules, if they want to figure out how the superspeed/teleportation of their current ally works.

[Gullara]

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker & I Can't Believe It's Not Irena

"Don't worry about the guns, I spooked them good. They started running in the other direction as soon as I appeared. Didn't even bother picking up their weapons." Not-Irena gestures in the direction she came from which means that the mutants must either be heading back towards the hole or past it and continue along tunnel which the hole was intersecting with.

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger That Isn't Irena Probably

"And I, personally, need to figure out how to get out of this hole. I can only move like I do on surfaces that I can stand on, so... I was kinda hoping we'd find a way out of here." Or at least, not find the bombs and get into the fight they did.

She also got down here by jumping, and wasn't hurt because she used her power just before she landed. Irena or Archera might remember that and figure out more rules, if they want to figure out how the superspeed/teleportation of their current ally works.

[Tracking Rats]
Archera, Flicker & I Can't Believe It's Not Irena

"Oh." Having someone clean up the mess she left in her wake is pretty nice. She didn't relish the idea of those goons being ready for her after she'd revealed the tricks that let her get the drop on them last time. "Then we can clear this place out properly. These explosives need to be dismantled." She looks to Flicker and gestures down the tunnel. "If we have free rein down here we should be able to find another exit from the sewers into the streets above."

[Arik's Place]

"I believe I mentioned it earlier. Helios is the god of secrets, shadows and deals. That for instance means that he's not too keen on practices that takes away the illusion of choice which you always see in deals such as forced slavery. Something which not many people could just guess he'd be against." There's unforced slaves?
Arik shrugs nonchalantly. "I mean, he's not opposed to blackmailing or similar despicable practices but as soon as threats of violence or mind control becomes involved he suddenly plays another tune. It's a thin line that he tests the limits of but once you understand it as well as he does you understand what he cannot bring himself to do or even order to do. This is not something he can't just bypass by have someone else do or play ignorant about. It's an ideology that he has to follow no matter what."

[Arik's Place]

Kirk nods slowly when Arik finishes that explanation. "That could be useful. I owe you one. If you need a favour you know where to find me." The drow readies himself to leave. It's always a risk making promises like that, but it's worth it if this information pans out. If it doesn't, Kirk will have cross checked it before it matters. Maybe he can feed this information through Dena's contacts and see what comes out.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

Jaahlyn doesn't seem to pay any particular attention to Fade. Perhaps she had some notion that he was there or she has other prioritize. Like the fact she was now being addressed by the other newcomer, Holly, who seemed to have some questions.

"Someone other than the rat sovereign have claimed it as its territory. Anyone entering it is considered fair game for them to claim." She peers down into the water with her strange goat-like eyes. "Can't really tell how aggressively they enforce it, but they claim won't go away just because you get out of it again. It's lasting." At least Jaahlyn doesn't seem to mind the smell of rat pheromones...

---

Meanwhile, the rat-creatures on the other side have spotted that Ruby is doing something.
They aren't sure what, but it looks dangerous. While the rest of the horde starts to back away hesitantly (though never so far they would be completely out of range) the strange humanoid rats starts to throw their rocks at her, or at least attempt to.

As Ruby already noted, it's quite a distance so they have to put some real effort into it to even get close to hitting her. Most of the rocks end up falling into the lake itself. Only the lightest one even ending up on the other side in which case they won't do much unless they manage to hit her straight in the eye or something.

Spoiler: Spirit/Supernatural Sense

Show

As the rocks thrown by the rat creatures breaks the surface of the lake the feeling of wrongness only increases. Whatever that feeling is associated to does not like having rocks thrown at its lake. There's no telling what it might do though.

[Ilpholinside]

"Angels are not supposed to take sides in rivalries such as this. Unless either side are demons or willingly aiding demons I don't think I can interfere. This entire world is also technically outside my jurisdiction so I'm limited to police those that come from my own world." Like that pixie. "However, if there is any other way I can be of assistance don't be afraid to ask."

Tracking Rats Archera, Flicker, Mysterious Stranger That Isn't Irena Probably

"The rats went pretty crazy, attempted to jump down here but the other two dealt with that I think. But that's why I even came down here in the first place. Figured something was going down." Not-Irena explains. She has no idea what the other two are doing but it looks like they decided to stay back.

"But we could either have them throw down a rope or find whatever made those people like that." That's of course of assuming they weren't born that way? Though considering they looked otherwise normal besides the mutations it might be a more recent phenomena. "I mean, it's pretty obvious those people weren't responsible for the rats. Something or someone else is." She seems even more determined now to investigate for whatever reason.

[Arik's Place]

Arik nods. "Very well. Looks like our business are concluded then. I wish you luck on your endeavors." Since now a favor had been promised so losing Kirk would be a bad thing.

The mage will then see him out from the graveyard and the scene can probably end there.

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinside]

"No that's fine. I'll just take care of it personally and call you in after if that works for you." Well personally with either Damon or Anika or something. There's three of those blind seers. Might be best to go in with three to match.

"It's a question of priority. I think we should get more of you here first personally, but maybe securing the Pith is most important, if riskier if we start with that."

[Zefir]

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

Fade will stand there catching a few of the rocks that could hit Ruby.
"So they hunt everyone down who touches the water? A nasty way to keep visitors outside." he turns to Holly. "You shouldn't touch this, I don't want to deal with anything we can prevent."

He then makes himdelf ready to head over to the rats when Ruby is done with her breath attack. At least he assumes she does something like that.

[Recaiden]

Fade thoughtfully blocks most of the rocks that even reach them, so it's just a few harmless pebbles that strike Ruby at this distance. Nothing to worry about.

At last she finishes her preparations, spins heavily around, and hurls the fireball across the lake. It changes as it travels, taking the shape of an eagle of white hot-light.
And as it reaches the far shore of the lake, it explodes into a tremendous conflagration amongst the rats and rat-mutants, a shape of fire reaching to the ceiling of the cave. Worse, it's not like it's over a moment later. The flame lingers even where there is nothing to burn, a continuous unfolding inferno, almost alive. For now.
Perhaps she didn't think of it, or just didn't worry, but this is sure to disturb the water more than the rocks did.

Ruby is taking a moment to catch her breath after that, visibly worn out.

[5a Violista]

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

"Oh. I see," she says. A claim? Ugh. If this has anything to do with fairies or magic, she'd rather not have to deal with that. It just sounds too...annoying.

Holly herself was considering tossing rocks into the lake to pass the time while waiting for Ruby.
Fortunately, the humanoid rats throwing rocks back distracts her enough to stop her from doing it.

On the other hand, maybe it wouldn't be that bad? She was just in the sewage, too, so it's not just the pheromones that she wants to wash off but also the gross slick feeling from when she slid down to help those MERCenaries who fell down. She'd have to knock one of those rat-people into the water first to see exactly how bad it is, but she's still not ruling out bathing in the water. But at Fade's insistence. . . "Fine. I'll try my best to not go in it."

She watches the conflagration for a moment, and stands up. "You okay?" she asks Ruby. She moves to that ledge that goes around the lake. "I'll go first, feel free to take a moment." And Holly starts to cross while the fire is still burning, in case there's any survivors who need to be stopped.

[Shadowcaller]

[Ilpholinside]

"Once we've managed to get reinforcements securing the pith would be simple." Cerabella remarks, her stoic eagle eyes staring expressionlessly at Ilpholin as she talks. "But I don't want to risk it slipping out of our grasp either. We can't take that position ourselves but perhaps if you could recruit a number of allies we could go for the island first. Is there anyone you trust enough that could help us?"

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

As soon as the fireball hits the far shore the rats split into three groups. Those who can attempt to escape further back into the tunnels.
Those who can't end up either jumping into the water in desperation or start to move around the ledge of the lake to get away from the inferno.
And then there's the rats that simply burn to death of course.

Nothing seems to happen immediately with the rat creatures that jump into the lake so it doesn't appear that whatever is having them riled up so badly instantly attacks at the very least.

But Holly and anyone else attempting to use the ledge to go across will see that a smaller swarm of rats is now moving along the ledge towards them. The ledge is so small that fighting on it will easily cause you to fall into the lake. One have to move very carefully across while pressed against the cave wall or risk falling over.

Jaahlyn is staying back for now. While her hooves seem quite adept at climbing trying to move too many across at the same time is also a risk to take. "The sovereign should have treated their guest better and this wouldn't happen." She remarks as she watches the rat creatures die or flee within Ruby's inferno.

She will then offer Ruby a flask of water. "Miss, can I offer you something to drink? That looked exhausting."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinside]

"Trust trust? Two. Perhaps three. All exceptional combatants. Was the area next to the ocean? Cause if so I also have a trump card I could use as well that will get us in the door." Yes, it's on an island, but some islands happen to be quite exceptionally big! And the structure Cerabella could be held deep inland.

[5a Violista]

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

Holly doesn't want to fall into the lake yet, after what was said and especially without first seeing what happens to the rat-people who jumped into the water.

So, it looks like her choices are to either fall into the water, or get mobbed by rats. Which basically just is reduced down to getting mobbed by rats.
She doesn't really have a choice, here.
Moving too much would make her fall. Trying to get away would make her fall. Trying to stop the rats would make her fall.

So, she waits until the rats get to her, staying frozen. Once the rat mob does get to her, she starts inching her way forward while dragging her feet to prevent herself from stepping on any rats that could make her slip.

She'd also rather not get bitten again, so she hopes that doesn't happen.

[Zefir]

[Tracking Rattatas - Ruby & Fade, Holly]

While Holly is trying to sneak by the rats, Fade gets in position to stop the rats from passing through the path. His sword is drawn and if any rat shows here he will slash it in half. He looks at Ruby and Jaahlyn.

"Are you able to get on?" he ask in his typical voice which makes it sound cold.

[Shadowcaller]

[Ilpholinside]

"Trust trust? Two. Perhaps three. All exceptional combatants. Was the area next to the ocean? Cause if so I also have a trump card I could use as well that will get us in the door." Yes, it's on an island, but some islands happen to be quite exceptionally big! And the structure Cerabella could be held deep inland.

[Ilpholinside]

"It's a relatively small island far from any mortal civilization as far as I could tell. Only ocean and jagged cliffs surrounding it. While it will be easy for me to get there, you will need transportation unless this trump card of yours can take care of that." Cerabella explains.

[Recaiden]

Who would have thought that they'd need a boat down here?

"I'm fine." Ruby insists weakly, waving the flask away.

She looks at the ledge, at Holly, and at the surviving rats. Across the water, the fire starts twisting and fading away.
"You might need to go on ahead, Fade."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholinside]

"It's a relatively small island far from any mortal civilization as far as I could tell. Only ocean and jagged cliffs surrounding it. While it will be easy for me to get there, you will need transportation unless this trump card of yours can take care of that." Cerabella explains.

[Ilpholinside]

"Us mortals have a fancy way of getting over water. It's called taking a boat." Spending a trump card on transportation is a poor allocation of resources!

"Do you want to get the draachi for this? I'll get my allies. We meet at the island?"