Inside 68: Dawn of a New Season (or two)

[Earl of Purple]

Office of Horror

Alfred screams- a bit like a girl- and recoils, whilst Ben responds by shooting seeds out, a large amount of seeds in a very short period of time. There's about fifteen seeds in total, being spat out with a comparable amount of force to a submachine-gun. Arnie's behind Alfred, and can't react immediately because Alfred's in the way, which is unfortunate. Alfred's going to duck and dive to the side, knife still in hand, but he's still in the way for Arnie.

[WarKitty]

Pontius' Custom Constructs-->Lady Arachne's back terrace

The table itself is mostly plain wrought iron, although coated in something clear that is keeping it from rusting. The hedge is obviously a different story - whatever it is is flexible enough to move like a living plant in the wind. In fact it almost perfectly looks like it was grown right in place, the metal going right into the ground and bits of silvery root poking up in places. Her wide skirt sweeps the ground and her high-necked dress otherwise prevents any skin from showing.

After a few minutes a lady in a silver victorian dress comes out, a black porcelain mask covering the upper portion of her face and a veil of lightweight silvery chain falling from it to cover her mouth. She sits in the chair opposite Pontius and introduces herself. I take it you are Pontius? I am Lady Arachne. I was interested in some constructs - I'm afraid I don't have the skill to make them myself, but I have access to the materials.

[Earl of Purple]

Lady Arachne's Back Terrace

"I am indeed Pontius Gearhands Ascendant Montifex Dathrii, yes. My adult, two achievement, child and mother's name." That's the order he uses them, from the one he likes the most or feels is most relevant, to the one he likes least. "Constructs are very interesting things, a fascinating branch of magic. The materials need to be high quality, for the best constructs. What purpose are you looking for in them? And how many would you like? It would effect the material I would recommend, and how much of it I would need." Servants need to be decorative as well as functional, whereas guards or soldiers need to be more resilient.

[Arkhosia]

The Docks - Ruined Tavern

Blanche doesn't object to this plan, and will follow or lead the rest of the crew down into the channels below... or whatever is left of them, at least.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

Misty nods, looking uneasy. The tech just shrugs and waits.

"Yeah, it's definitely weird in here." She waits patiently while Michalson breaks out his goggles and investigates.

Michalson's goggles reveal wisps and dregs of power. They're nebulous, almost like small, dark particles, or patches of mist, as though whatever used its power here was in a hurry and didn't bother to manifest its abilities cleanly. Whatever sort of being did this was incredibly powerful, though, judging by the sheer amount of the residue the goggles reveal on the factory floor. The residue is slowly fading back into the background magic of the Nexus, but for now, there's enough for Michalson to examine more closely. It seems to be a mix of a very old type of magic, along with some psionic and divine energy. There might be other components; the goggles struggle with the analysis of the residue as it is, but they're able to identify that much, at least, as a start.

[WarKitty]

Lady Arachne's Back Terrace

"I am indeed Pontius Gearhands Ascendant Montifex Dathrii, yes. My adult, two achievement, child and mother's name." That's the order he uses them, from the one he likes the most or feels is most relevant, to the one he likes least. "Constructs are very interesting things, a fascinating branch of magic. The materials need to be high quality, for the best constructs. What purpose are you looking for in them? And how many would you like? It would effect the material I would recommend, and how much of it I would need." Servants need to be decorative as well as functional, whereas guards or soldiers need to be more resilient.

I'm looking primarily for food service, but they would need to be both durable and attentive as well as graceful. Are you familiar with nanites?

[Earl of Purple]

Lady Arachne's Back Terrace

"I have heard of nanites, but I cannot build them. I use the skill and craftsmanship of magic to create my wares, not the foul and blasphemous science of technology." He's saying that because he can't make any sense of robots or robotics, and his own magic to determine how they work tells him that they don't. "Food service needs to be sterile. Not wood; that rots, and rotting is not healthy. Stone, perhaps, or metal. Metal's better, I think. I recommend copper, or a copper alloy. It looks pretty, and its got anti-infectious properties. It's reasonably sturdy, as well; not as fragile as silver or gold. Grace can be determined by shape, far more than material, and attentiveness... That's a facet of the anima I use." Copper is mildly anti-bacterial, and I did read somewhere the science behind it, but I've forgotten it. I think it's the microscopic crystal shape, but I honestly can't remember why that does anything.

[Deathkeeper]

[Hotel]

"Oooh, clooothes?" Lucy pauses, puts a finger on her chin and stares thoughtfully at Sam. "Coat, yeah, we definitely need to get you into a trenchcoat, make you look all Sam Noir. And I dunno, we could prooooobably get it lead-lined or something if you think you need more protection. Just don't lick it. Lead isn't good for you. Doesn't taste nice either. Uh, don't ask how I know that."

[Hotel]

"Um, I mean probably a jacket? You know I like to wear stuff open. A long coat wouldn't look good with my gut hanging out." Of course he could just button it, but that doesn't seem to be an option in his head.

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"Lady's bladed 'eadwear," Michalson says, his expression turning more grim by the second. "Whoever or whatever did this... left a trail a mile wide an' deep. And that was without using everything it had, by my reckoning." He reaches into another pocket and produces what looks like a small vial. He uncorks it, revealing a net of thin wire inside. Then he crouches down and sweeps the vial close to the ground. It should capture the magical residue before it fades. "We need to take it apart properly later."

[bc56]

Office of Horror

The seeds embed themselves into the monster's arms and it roars, pulling them back through the ceiling before driving them through again elsewhere. The damaged ceiling is beginning to crack under its weight.

Sewer Prison

"I see." Tethrik sighs. Fine, fine, lead on then."

[Earl of Purple]

Office of Horror

Alfred scurries away, on all fours- getting up would take too much time, and he wants gone. Ben follows, puffing out a spray of soporific Sleep Powder, which should put Tethrik asleep for a while, if he breathes it in. Arnie, meanwhile, covers Alfred's retreat, getting ready to slash at Tethrik with his Metal Claws if he falls out the ceiling. As it is, however, Tethrik's out of the little metal pokemon's reach.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

The residue seems to be trapped in the bottle easily enough. Misty nods at him.

"Maybe the video will tell us something more, then. That is, if whatever mojo this...person was throwing around didn't muck up the cameras."

[Shadowcaller]

The Docks - Ruined Tavern

"Really, guys?" Anika remarks as this sewer entrance apparently is a obstacle. "Just make the damn entrance bigger if its too small. I've seen you guys destroying more property than this." She will have to squeeze a bit, but it won't be impossible to get through if this entrance is fantasy-sized sewer entrance. Otherwise she might be too big though, being over two meters tall.

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"Aye, only so much dark I can scrape up from 'ere," Michalson says, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead. They give him a headache if they're used too long. "Let's see that video."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

The tech leads them on to the security station inside the factory. Several other techs are working at various monitors, while another comes up to Michalson and Misty.

"We don't have much; whatever sort of powers this....person has damaged a lot of the footage, but we were able to get a silhouette and footage of the casting."

He gestures towards one of the screens and nods at another tech. It seems to be capturing a hallway that looks out onto the main factory floor. Something shrouded in garbled fuzz walks out of the hallway. It's clearly humanoid, and might be armored, as the fuzz clears for the briefest of instants, when the person pauses just inside the floor. They raise their arms, and a black wall appears in front of them, crackling with electricity. The footage gets really fuzzy then, and cuts out for a second. When it comes back, the factory floor is empty, and the person is nowhere in sight.

Misty gives Michalson a curious look after it finishes.

"Any idea what it might have been that that thing did?"

[WarKitty]

Lady Arachne's Back Terrace

"I have heard of nanites, but I cannot build them. I use the skill and craftsmanship of magic to create my wares, not the foul and blasphemous science of technology." He's saying that because he can't make any sense of robots or robotics, and his own magic to determine how they work tells him that they don't. "Food service needs to be sterile. Not wood; that rots, and rotting is not healthy. Stone, perhaps, or metal. Metal's better, I think. I recommend copper, or a copper alloy. It looks pretty, and its got anti-infectious properties. It's reasonably sturdy, as well; not as fragile as silver or gold. Grace can be determined by shape, far more than material, and attentiveness... That's a facet of the anima I use." Copper is mildly anti-bacterial, and I did read somewhere the science behind it, but I've forgotten it. I think it's the microscopic crystal shape, but I honestly can't remember why that does anything.

The lady takes this in, and then says Would you come with me please? Assuming he follows, she opens the gate in the thorn hedge. If he's observing he will notice the hedge really is swaying in the wind. She leads him over to a large stone shed and opens it. The inside is lined with blocks of various metals along the walls. Perhaps a copper-gold alloy - you could do a suitable patina, yes? And I'd want some stones inset. I have an assortment over towards the back wall, and they could be done in different colors.

[bc56]

Office of Horror

The ceiling does break, and the creature falls through, into the cloud of sleep powder. He's a massive, 12 foot tall, scaly green monster with a pair of bladed limbs coming out of his shoulder blades. He woozily gets to his feet, having inhaled much of the powder, and there's a spark of recognition in his eyes as he sees Alfred. "Run, I'm not in contr—I'LL KILL YOU!" he shouts, shaking off the effects. The claws tear into his leg, and foul black ichor leaks out, but he doesn't seem especially bothered by the wound: it's one of many bullet holes and other injuries riddling him already.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Hotel - Streets]

"Just a jacket? How boooring!" Lucy argues as she drags Sam on out of the hotel and off down some random road through Inside. She has no idea where she's going, of course. "Nooo, w-we should get you a big trenchcoat with like ten pockets a-and one of those hats you can pull down real low a-and then you'd be Detective Sam! You could totally be a grizzled veteran PI, doing one last case before he retires." She giggles, pulling him along with the sort of enthusiasm that she hasn't shown in quite a while. "Uh, not that you look old or anything, y'know? I've just, uh, been reading a bit. I had no idea what detectives were before I came here but there sure are some exciting books about them!"

[Deathkeeper]

[Streets]

"I dunno, detectives are like...hard boiled and classy. I'm not either one of those things. I'm too casual. I go around with my gut showing and with an oversized key and a rude talking sword."
A very rude talking sword.
Sam tries to subtly guide Lucy to the left so they can avoid going down some worrying back alleys.

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"I'm damned if I know," Michalson says in a resigned voice. "What it looks like is that they just walked in and teleported everything right off. That'd be some rorty dazzle, which would explain why it still hangs 'eavy in this place. We might not be dealin' with a crew, but rather a single basher who can just brute-force their way through."

[Leostales]

Sewer Prison

"Trust me, it's really no big deal." Blackwall says. They head down a series of corridors. Eventually they reach a corner. Blackwall peers around it, motioning for Tethrik to do the same. He sees a door guarded by three blue-armored guards, two white robed ones and one wearing red armor. "Don't kill them." he mutters. "If you do, they'll just respawn on the other side of the portal. They're not a big deal in our dimension, but in theirs they are a handful."

Spoiler

Show

I'm sorry that this adventure is so trippy, I didn't really plan it out enough in advance. I'm kinda new at this sort of thing.

[UncleWolf]

Rambling Shop - Lum

By the time he's done, Lum appears to have left, but there's a cardboard box with an orange on it left on his wagon-step. Gentle snoring seems to be coming from beneath it, and lifting the box will let him find Lum sleeping beneath it. She's happily asleep, curled up in her poncho and with her scarf. Without her tools to keep her busy, she settled on just camping out until the man finished with his work.

The Palace - Jace, Zebes, and Kothar

I'll try? She's an old batty harpy. We'll be lucky if she answers smoke signals, but I'll make calls. Heather messages back.

Veronica's smile falls when her boyfriend starts talking, but despite the rather complex expression and grimace on her face, she kneels down to the little green guide to pass the child off to him. "Take little Logan here and go ahead and go. I promise I'll be fine, Boysen." Despite hesitation on the guide's part, he eventually relents and takes the child with a nod before padding on out, vanishing behind the trees through another exit that is out of sight. Only when he is gone does she turn her glare on Jace. "Ten minutes, Jace. You couldn't give me TEN MINUTES?!?" She asks, clearly upset and angry. The air practically hums with the anger, creating a small breeze from her. "You couldn't give me ten minutes of feeling proud of myself or happy or allow me to have a sense of achievement? Ten minutes to show you around, explain what this place was, where it came from or the history of it? Ten minutes of actually feeling like I'm the most powerful person in the world and don't have to be coddled?!?" She yells, stomping her foot in anger and clenching her hands. Her feathers are clearly ruffled and the breeze is a bit stronger as she gets more emotional but not enough to knock people around just yet.

"And instead of that, you come in, lauding patronizing praise before going right to telling me to stop." She says with a growl. "Don't you think I know all of this already? I'm not shortsighted, Jace. But I'm not going to give this up so easily. Not when for the first time in years I feel like I don't need to bend over and let fate or others dictate my course of action."

The Palace - Group 2

The female guide holds up a little pail for the crushed cookie to be put into before setting it all aside so she can head to the doors leaving the chamber. She pauses with her hand on the knob before looking back at the group. A larger, more-likely-to-make-trouble group than the first one had been.

"Enter without hostility, lest your fates be sealed." She tells them before opening up the double-doors to reveal a much different hallway than the first had gone through. While the materials were much the same, the lighting was darker and the halls and floor were scarred by ancient signs of battle. There are cuts so deep in the walls that it is possible to see the city on the other side far below. Massive gouges, bullet holes, scorch marks, and crystals of magic residue coat every surface and a gentle blinking blue light is seen in the far distance. "Perhaps you may yet be of service to the palace however. Darkness and troublesome monster await within. Our last helper died after cleansing most of them for us, may she ever be honored."

[Deathkeeper]

Palace: Jace and Kothar

Palace: Jace and Kothar

Kothar doesn't seem especially impressed. He's seen both of mad beings who believe themselves gods and elaborate magically constructed palaces before. He raises his shield into a defensive posture. His expression, to someone who can read nonhuman faces, says that he is more than willing to send would-be conquerors to their early graves, but he still holds back. Jace's impassioned plea falls upon ears too unfamiliar with the tongue to fully comprehend, and Kothar turns to Jace and asks a rather stupid question. "Your not-yet-mate? Girl-friend?"

Jace turns for a moment, absolute annoyance on his face. He speaks in absolutely flawless Draconic:
"Friend, this is between me and my mate. She needs only to be spoken to. There is no evil for you to chase. She is no threat to you or to anyone. Your continued presence will only make things worse. I ask that you leave. Please." he says as clearly as simply as possible so as not to be misunderstood.

snip

Hehehe. She looks like YouDee. Hehehe. Zebes giggles in a strange, almost manic way. Jace shoots him a scornful look and doesn't dignify the nonsense with a reply. He's too flustered.
"Veronica, we don't have ten minutes! There are literally already people lining up to your front door to beat you up because they think you're some crazed super-villain. And yes, you can probably handle them, because you are throwing around some serious mojo right now, but I can't let anyone get hurt and-. And there I go again, I just did it again, I just went telling you what to do like I have any idea of what you're capable of. "

Jace takes a deep breath, trying to slow down. He is very clearly visibly panicking right now. Pain lances through his temple as Zebes continues to giggle about something.
"Veronica I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be patronizing. I shouldn't tell you what to do. But I know I don't praise your work enough. I don't support your decisions to work with things that are dangerous even though they've essentially never backfired on you. I fret and I worry and I panic and I tell you that I don't want you doing things because you could get hurt even though I don't need to. I just did all that again when I saw them all armed and I thought of you having to fight them and- look, Veronica, I'm not asking you to stop. I like your palace. Hells, if it has indoor plumbing I'd move in. I like your servants. Your new look is your choice to make. But I came here because your own sibling told me that you looked like a woman possessed, stumbled out the door, and you didn't call her to tell her what was going on. There have been reports for days about people getting strange headaches and acting out in strange ways and she's worried about you. You then announce to the entire city that you plan on taking over the place. And no, I know that's not what you meant, but that's what people thought you said. All I'm asking you to do is talk to me. Tell those people that you aren't trying to conquer the city. That's it. Once they're gone, we're all good. Don't stop. I just want to be here with you. No people trying to kill us and I won't speak again without your permission. I promise."

Jace stands straight, folding his staff down into his palm again and taking off the other glove, sticking it back into his bag. He paces, only one or two steps, not out of impatience, but out of distress. She doesn't want to hear this. She doesn't need to hear this. Why can't he stop his mouth from moving? There's static in the back of his head. Buzzing, droning, ringing.

[bc56]

Sewer Prison

Tethrik nods. "Leave them to me." He pulls yet another weapon out of his belt pouch. This one is large and heavy, looking organic with nature, with four insectile claws radially positioned around its muzzle. An unnatural droning sound comes from within a truly malevolent noise. "I've been meaning to try this one on live targets." He levels the weapon at the guards, and pulls the trigger. The drone builds to a dull roar, and the gun discharges a swarm of large, angry bees towards the doorway. "Hurry, while they're distracted." Tethrik whispers, at the same time charging the defenders.

Palace: Jace and Kothar

"You honor me by speaking my tongue." Kothar replies in draconic, "But I will not leave. Your love, though praiseworthy, blinds you to what is happening here. Anything which can create a structure such as this out of nothing is a threat, whether you choose to see it or not. Her stated goal is a threat itself to the liberty of the city. I tell you, this may not be your mate anymore, and the creature will use her face as a weapon against you. Have your conversation, but I will not leave, because if I am right and you are wrong, you will either be unable to do what must be done and the city will fall, or you will do it, and it will destroy you." Kothar then steps back from the feuding pair and bows his head in silence, praying.

[Rebonack]

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Catch an unconscious child in her horn's glow, gently lift them up through the gap, set them down far enough away that the groaning wood won't collapse under their weight.

Repeat.

Red is about half way through her task when she's confronted with two problems at once.

First?

That nasty gurgling coming from under the door.

Second?

She gets a call from Ithuriel to escort the civilian and the death-cloud child.

"Tch," she clicks her tongue, ears folding back. "Goodness, I'm never left with the easy way out these days, am I?" she huffs. Bits of drifting bone join the hazel glow of her horn as she points it at the ooze. "You first. Stay put."

A bolt of corrupt marrow trailing an oily haze leaps from her horn to strike at the growing puddle. Should all go according to plan, the creature the ooze belongs to may suddenly find itself securely and violently caged in ribs that erupt from the ground around it. Normally one would expect blobby things to be able to just ooze around the bars of bone, but whatever this binding is? It appears to be a bit more magically endowed than a simple physical barrier.

Hopefully that goes well. Otherwise the next part will be terrible.

With fewer children this time, Red drapes them across her back with only minimal levitation to keep them stable.

"I hear you, dear, and I'm on my way. Be advised, we still have hostiles lurking about and I only had time to hand off half the little ones to our associates upstairs."

That would make sense, right? A few officers just inside to grab the kids as Red levitates them up? Better than just leaving them laying around until she's done.

That said, Red moves to meet up with Mo. She still has that effortless grace to her motions, but she's starting to show signs of magical fatigue.

[The Docks => The Sewers]

Uh oh.

Some of Geneva's friends can't fit down the hole! A normal sized human could get down easily enough, but someone as bulky as Quinn?

Geneva makes a tiny aggravated animal noise.

It probably sounds adorable.

~More property damage, I guess,~ Geneva sighs as a pink glow surrounds a chunk of the street. The mew strains for a moment, her eyes burning brighter as the rosy illumination briefly flares with magnesium brilliance. There's a groan. Then a crack. Then a crunch as concrete, brick, and asphalt tear away in once big piece. She gently sets it down off to one side.

There!

A big enough hole for Quinn.

~We need to be quick and careful. Everyone stay within sight of at least one other person,~ Geneva's telepathic voice reaches out to those present. ~If you see anyone down there who looks like a victim, assume they aren't.~

And that said?

Down into the Adventure! Sewers she goes.

[Industrial Complex]

Oh, don't be that way Down.

You have friends!

Like Persimmon. And probably Bubblegum Confetti, too. Or at least Bubblegum is trying really hard. You just need to be a little more social and set fewer people on fire.

Even Morning Glory would probably try to be your friend. She'll befriend basically anyone who isn't an active existential threat to the Nexus as a whole.

Anywho! Morning Glory trots on, shivering every now and again. "I can feel the hair in my nose freezing," she mutters as she wrinkles her nose at the sensation. It isn't very pleasant.

Then comes the chamber filled with people who are probably terrible.

"Magical support would be great. I can probably disrupt a few of them, mess with their nervous system. That would weaken whatever ritual they're doing and let you snuff the rest," Morning says to her malodorous companion. She'll wait for a moment of assent from Jaahlyn before springing into action.

Time is, after all, of the essence.

Thus, she speaks, a clear, carrying note. She touches life and form to bind them. Four of the cultists may suddenly discover that their nervous system no longer feels like communicating with their muscles as what were once clear signals of intent are reduced to incomprehensible gibberish. The effect won't last long, a minute or so at most. But a minute is plenty of time to cause havoc.

"Go!" Morning hisses as she leaps off the cliff into the snow below.

[Abrajin's Library]

Is the Scout getting a little miffed because a snake is refusing to-

-give it a hand?

"Oh, I might know," the snake replies, tilting its head to the side and peering at the Scout with one eye. "But why should I tell you?"

This snake.

Is rude.

A rudesnek.

[House Hunters]

"Nay, that's what we have time for right now," the dwarf replies with a huff. "Oi, who's been doin' this soddin' job fer years? Is it you, lass?"

"I think what Bjorn is trying to say," Alexa interrupts the somewhat rude dwarf. "Is that we have lots of experience with this stuff. Usually houses that aren't haunted don't HAVE other monsters lurking around in them. Monsters don't enjoy living in a haunted house any more than people do."

Dusk Glow nods. "It's the only way to be rid of a ghost for sure. Even if you destroy them or trap them, they'll just manifest at their haunt again. They need to be laid to rest."

[Leostales]

Sewer Prison

After stinging the guards in white, they instantly die. The guard in red is incredibly annoyed by them, trying in vain to swat them. The guards in blue, (being ice devils in human form, and therefore somewhat insectoid) don't seem too fazed, but at the very least a little distracted. Shielding himself, Blackwall rushes to a console and starts trying to hack the door. The proto-Ice Devils notice them this and raise their blasters. Two beams of pure cold energy rush towards Tethrik, though one proto-devil is too distracted for his beam to go anywhere near Tethrik.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Do the bees attack Blackwall or only the proto-devils?

[House Hunters]
"That does clear up some things. These remains may not be enough to lay the ghost to rest. If there is only one ghost in this house, then we should look for the rest." Anatya remarks.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

What are the other rooms and doors that the characters are aware of?

[Deathkeeper]

[Intersection HQ]

On this dreary, misty morning, Officer Wilfred Dibbles is called away from the office library into his sergeant’s office. No warning, and no explanation other than a memo about “further assignments.”
The mage will find the hallway mostly quiet. Most of Division T has already gone out on their assignments or are quiet at their desks.

Except for Sergeant Dabrain, who sounds like he’s yelling at someone over the phone. As usual. The sound-suppressed walls have paid for themselves five times over. Eventually the talking dies down and Dibs has a chance to go in.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"That...is not encouraging," Misty says, a bit worried. She absent-mindedly hits a key, and starts the playback again, but something catches her eye the second time around. She rewinds it to a certain spot, plays it again, and this time, stops it just as the fuzz clears. This camera managed to catch a brief pause in the intruder's countermeasure. From this angle, the face is hard to make out, but the person is clearly humanoid, and wearing high-tech armor of some kind underneath a cloak that's starting to get a bit tattered. The image is clear enough that it could be cross-referenced, if this person is unique, but if they're part of a larger group, it might be harder to figure out who they might be. "Well...this something, I guess."

[Chaotic Bob]

Spoiler: So Many Spoils

Show

[Industrial Park - Beneath]

Muun slides into Background Mode, performing abstract and off-screen contributions for the party, until such time as he becomes more connected to reality again.

Meanwhile, Down is wondering if she should make some sort of snide remark about the dedication to flaming tails passphrase, but an oft-quiet voice reminds her that she doesn't always have to be an enormous jerk about everything. This is why she has no friends.
So instead, she just smartly nods along with the joint decision to "move ahead quickly, stay together" that it seems everyone likes.

Sometimes simple is better.

Onwards they go! Deeper into the presumably natural cave tunnel presented before them, the temperature precipitously dropping with every passing moment of progress.
It is cold. Quite past cold, in fact, straight into freezing. Any damp residue that normally would like the cave walls has long since frozen into a slick sheet, and what should be stale-but-cool air is becoming more and more awful-and-unpleasant wind.
Bits of snow float past.
Snow drifts begin to appear along the edges of the walls.

This doesn't appear to be an enormously long passage and only one side path seems to exist, which veers off somewhere to the left before appearing to curve off in the same direction as this main one.
The main passage terminates into the opening of a larger chamber, the floor sloping gently down at first, then abruptly terminating into a sheer drop of about seven feet to the floor of a broad area very lightly obscured by billowing snow.

Contrary to Down's incredibly paranoid opinion, there appears to be absolutely no monsters immediately presenting themselves or lurking nearby.
Approaching the open chamber close enough to see inside better, what looks like a group of humanoid figures can be seen in silhouette where the blowing snow is thickest, along with a big dark...smudge in the air. It's pretty hard to tell what it is from over here, but its shape seems kind of indistinct and amorphous, but larger than than any of the figures.

"Big thing isn't giving off heat, that's probably our magic."
The visor of Down's helmet has taken a slightly blue-purple tint to it, presumably facilitating whatever heat detection she's doing.
"Figures are all live."
With that comment, she takes a moment to confirm her weaponry and contemplatively ruffles her wings.
"I don't have any appropriate explosives for this environment or I would recommend terminating them from here."

[The Docks - Ruined Tavern]

There are, of course, storm drains around. Whoever designed this particular area of the Docks' infrastructure was a fan of the things.
Most of them aren't particularly friendly to full-sized people entering them, being smaller grates built into the sides of walkways for basic water run-off. However, for maintenance purposes there are larger and removable service grates approximately every other block of buildings.

The tavern is on an "off block", so there are service grates located in either of its neighboring blocks for the party to consider. Not immediately present, but probably still quicker to find and access than removing all of this debris would be.

[The Orphanage]

Red begins the laborious process of levitating children to the floor above, which obligingly does not collapse under their weight. It's very considerate, despite the abuse she has heaped onto it previously.
Part way through this process, the gross sound of wet, heaving flesh emanates from one of the nearby doorways (that the party had entirely skipped past). A thick, unpleasant looking red sludge begins to creep beneath the frame.

Mo hugs the boy.
Mo becomes a lightning rod.

Much as a novelty plasma ball wildly flails at nothing until a conducting object makes contact, the boy's energy has been more or less just spilling out into the world and whittling away at everything absent a direct target. Ithuriel's focusing exercise narrowed in the scope of this spillage, reducing the broader effects while he struggled to control himself.
Mo has created a target.

From Ithuriel's perspective, the horrible despairing blanket settling over the air around her just stops. The air is cool, as a basement should be, and smells horribly of rotted meat, but is otherwise...normal.

Mo becomes a math equation.
1 + -1 = 0
Anima, electricity, life, light, heat, the "positive" animating forces of the world being poured over with the "negative" finality, stillness, chill, void of Death. It is not a lethal draining, as Mo had theorized, so much as as abrupt smothering. As two opposing frequencies will cancel each other out into a blank nothing, so too do these opposing energies of Live and Die.
For a candle, its heat and fire expire. For a man, it's the cessation of their heart and mind, their breath.
For Mo, it is an attack on her energy reserves and production. No physical damage on anything at all.

There is no dramatic light show or terrifying noises, to go with any of this. Simply the surprised inhale of a boy who hadn't expected a hug.

[Industrial Park - Beneath]

Jaahlyn pulled her coat tighter around herself and started to button it up more. This cold has to be produced by this ritual or whatever those creatures were doing down here. Either way, it probably wasn't good but at least she was wearing enough clothes to endure the cold.

"I could attempt to counter their magic with my own." She whispers as she stares at what she guessed must be the aforementioned ritual. "Or I could shoot at them, but I'm not sure how effective that would be. Either way, it wouldn't be very stealthy."

[The Docks - Ruined Tavern]

Provided the others agree, Calm Reed will remove one of the service grates to allow them entry. Mucking about in the sewer doesn't fill her with enthusiasm, but a monk's life is full of sacrifice.

Golden Flock Orphanage

Mo never had a heartbeat, but her body did have a small vibration to it as she hummed with power. Once she embraces the boy, there is a brief potentially horrifying moment when the hum of her power simply stops. She still smiles, and her embrace practically traps the boy as her body locks itself into place automatically to keep from falling, but for a moment she is undeniably dead.

But then a distant bell tolls. It comes from within Mo but feels like it is coming from a shipyard leagues away. Two pairs of clangs, deep and distant, sound out from within the woman before a gears grind, levers clack into place, and the groan of ancient gears and cogs fills the air. The hum of power is restored within Mo, but far weaker than before and the gleam of her bright eyes is dull when she turns her head to cough out dust. She gets up slow, still holding the boy in a hug, but looks a little unsteady despite her very careful movements. "Angel?" She asks, being very careful to enunciate her words without biting her tongue. "Get the bastard now. I'm gonna be slow getting out of herrrrrrrre." Mo's voice gets stuck for a moment before another clack is heard, making her wince. This was doing substantial damage to her internals as old and obsolete analogue systems kicked on and overrode newer technology, but she was "alive" for the moment. "Need a destroyer to watch my flanks leaving here."

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

For just a moment, Ithuriel fears the worst. The angelic were-rhino lets out a sigh of relief when Mo stands back out, and a heavier sigh of relief as she feels the weight taken off her shoulders. It's very draining, resisting the deathly aura of a deity. No time to rest just yet though. "Red, how are you doing with the other kids? We've got the last one and our friend's, uh, absorbed the worst of it, but she's not doing so good. I need you to cover her."

Then Ithuriel turns and narrows her eyes at the man in the bubble. One problem down, one to go. She takes a single step forwards and slams her fist into the bubble with all the force of the living battering ram she basically is. "Get going, friend. Red will assist, and I'll be right behind you as soon as I've dealt with this individual. Do not resist arrest, bubble-man. You're coming with us."

Industrial Park - Beneath


"I could sneak up on them," Muun whispers. He silently draws a knife.

[The Docks - Ruined Tavern]

Quin watches as Calm pulls one of the service grates off, the expression his eyes giving one of an inquisitive raised eyebrow, which is kind of impressive, given how limited his facial expression range is.

"I will need to find a different ingress if I am to follow you. I don't think an access cover like that is meant for someone of my....bulk."

The Docks - Ruined Tavern

Blanche doesn't object to this plan, and will follow or lead the rest of the crew down into the channels below... or whatever is left of them, at least.

The Docks - Ruined Tavern

"Really, guys?" Anika remarks as this sewer entrance apparently is a obstacle. "Just make the damn entrance bigger if its too small. I've seen you guys destroying more property than this." She will have to squeeze a bit, but it won't be impossible to get through if this entrance is fantasy-sized sewer entrance. Otherwise she might be too big though, being over two meters tall.

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Catch an unconscious child in her horn's glow, gently lift them up through the gap, set them down far enough away that the groaning wood won't collapse under their weight.

Repeat.

Red is about half way through her task when she's confronted with two problems at once.

First?

That nasty gurgling coming from under the door.

Second?

She gets a call from Ithuriel to escort the civilian and the death-cloud child.

"Tch," she clicks her tongue, ears folding back. "Goodness, I'm never left with the easy way out these days, am I?" she huffs. Bits of drifting bone join the hazel glow of her horn as she points it at the ooze. "You first. Stay put."

A bolt of corrupt marrow trailing an oily haze leaps from her horn to strike at the growing puddle. Should all go according to plan, the creature the ooze belongs to may suddenly find itself securely and violently caged in ribs that erupt from the ground around it. Normally one would expect blobby things to be able to just ooze around the bars of bone, but whatever this binding is? It appears to be a bit more magically endowed than a simple physical barrier.

Hopefully that goes well. Otherwise the next part will be terrible.

With fewer children this time, Red drapes them across her back with only minimal levitation to keep them stable.

"I hear you, dear, and I'm on my way. Be advised, we still have hostiles lurking about and I only had time to hand off half the little ones to our associates upstairs."

That would make sense, right? A few officers just inside to grab the kids as Red levitates them up? Better than just leaving them laying around until she's done.

That said, Red moves to meet up with Mo. She still has that effortless grace to her motions, but she's starting to show signs of magical fatigue.

[The Docks => The Sewers]

Uh oh.

Some of Geneva's friends can't fit down the hole! A normal sized human could get down easily enough, but someone as bulky as Quinn?

Geneva makes a tiny aggravated animal noise.

It probably sounds adorable.

~More property damage, I guess,~ Geneva sighs as a pink glow surrounds a chunk of the street. The mew strains for a moment, her eyes burning brighter as the rosy illumination briefly flares with magnesium brilliance. There's a groan. Then a crack. Then a crunch as concrete, brick, and asphalt tear away in once big piece. She gently sets it down off to one side.

There!

A big enough hole for Quinn.

~We need to be quick and careful. Everyone stay within sight of at least one other person,~ Geneva's telepathic voice reaches out to those present. ~If you see anyone down there who looks like a victim, assume they aren't.~

And that said?

Down into the Adventure! Sewers she goes.

[Industrial Complex]

Oh, don't be that way Down.

You have friends!

Like Persimmon. And probably Bubblegum Confetti, too. Or at least Bubblegum is trying really hard. You just need to be a little more social and set fewer people on fire.

Even Morning Glory would probably try to be your friend. She'll befriend basically anyone who isn't an active existential threat to the Nexus as a whole.

Anywho! Morning Glory trots on, shivering every now and again. "I can feel the hair in my nose freezing," she mutters as she wrinkles her nose at the sensation. It isn't very pleasant.

Then comes the chamber filled with people who are probably terrible.

"Magical support would be great. I can probably disrupt a few of them, mess with their nervous system. That would weaken whatever ritual they're doing and let you snuff the rest," Morning says to her malodorous companion. She'll wait for a moment of assent from Jaahlyn before springing into action.

Time is, after all, of the essence.

Thus, she speaks, a clear, carrying note. She touches life and form to bind them. Four of the cultists may suddenly discover that their nervous system no longer feels like communicating with their muscles as what were once clear signals of intent are reduced to incomprehensible gibberish. The effect won't last long, a minute or so at most. But a minute is plenty of time to cause havoc.

"Go!" Morning hisses as she leaps off the cliff into the snow below.

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Quite a few things happening here! For better or worse, most of them of them are surprisingly positive!

Firstly, Mo surviving (however reduced) is obviously fantastic from the perspective of the heroes. And the boy, oh his shock just continues onwards.
Instinctually he knew he would kill her when they touched. Knew that maybe it would help, too. He genuinely didn't want to and had hoped Mo wouldn't actually take his hand...
But then she hugged him, which was simultaneously worse and wonderful.

Then she died.
Then she didn't.

Between this, everything preceding, and a sudden and deafening silence in his own wild energies, the boy only really has one response here:
He hugs her back and starts crying.

Meanwhile, mere feet away, Ithuriel proceeds to lay the hammer down on the suited man's defensive bubble. It ripples wildly, as if someone had strongly flicked a blob of gelatin, but doesn't pop.
It had endured wild amounts of Death, what's a punch, no matter how admittedly powerful?
Which conflicts quite a bit with the man obligingly raising his arms up in the air, smiling, and dismissing the bubble in a little tsss of released energy.
"Oh, I surrender. Quite foolish to resist the tamers of Death Itself, hm?"
He is doing absolutely nothing hostile, beyond still looking quite a lot like a smug bastard, and does appear to be leaving himself open to arrest here.

Double meanwhile, Red Velvet's spell flies off towards the ooze beneath the door and springs into action! It's pretty weird to see a bone cage halting the movements of something apparently amorphous, but...there it goes doing just that. There are no particular sounds of displeasure or wild reactions, in response to this. Just the same gross flesh noises as before.
Although...it sounds like there's more of those now. From a different side of the hallway, beyond a different door.

Maybe they should pick up the pace, if they're not interested in learning more on that subject.

[Docks - Sewers]

Well, Geneva ripping a bit hole in the ground works just as well as Calm pulling out that service grate, really. It all leads to the same sewer tunnel.
Unfortunately, this sewer tunnel itself still isn't big, so it's likely to continue being a bit of a squeeze for Quin, depending on just how broad/tall he really is.

Regardless of how everyone fits, the path forward remains pretty easy to pick out.
Sure, the sewers under Inside are generally the very definition of labyrinthine and awful, but...
That big wall of twitching membrane/skin over there is kind of a dead giveaway.

Dropping into the tunnel in this particular spot leads in three directions: away from the ruined tavern, towards the ocean, and back towards the ruined tavern.
About halfway between here and where the tavern is located above, that previously mentioned wall of flesh rather obviously blocks any passage.

For better or worse, if the group was expecting to have to search for their quarry, it would appear they were rather wrong.
Maybe if they'd tried to enter the sewer further away.

[Industrial Park - Beneath]

Presuming neither Jaahlyn nor Muun object to this, Down is pretty onboard with "jump in, kick some butt" as a plan.
Sort of squashes Muun's stealth idea, but if he's quick and everyone does their parts, then maybe stealth won't be needed for his knife hand to do its work.

Off in that short, snowy distance, a handful of the forms fall over into twitchy spasms as Morning Glory's nerve disruption kicks into effect. It looks an awful lot like this was actually half of the group, as the charging party members close the gap and get a better view through the snow.
There are still four more figures, turning to face them with clear surprise in their posture.

The two furthest back, step closer to the "smudge" and continue doing whatever it was they were doing. The sound of roaring winds are becoming quite deafening in here, in this enclosed cavern space, but movements of their robed arms suggest spell-casting.
Which, incidentally, is something the other two are also doing! Just not towards that floating smudge.
They're doing it at whichever members of the group are running towards them. Definitely Morning Glory and Down, possibly Muun and Jaahlyn?

There's enough distance here where they have the time to raise up their hands and fling bolts of electricity arcing across the billowing snowflakes towards their attackers, before they can entirely close the distance.
Dodging electricity is generally difficult, but in the nature of these sorts of spells, it is possible. Though...getting hit really won't be that bad.

For all the flashiness of the magic, it'll feel about as impactful as getting a punch to the chest from your average joe.
This isn't something Down notices, leaning on her race's expertise with weather to simply redirect the "lightning" harmlessly off-target from herself as she flies forward towards flamethrower-range.

But the others may notice. Particularly, Jaahlyn, if she has any particular feel for the ambient magic.
This is not the level of arcane mastery that would be summoning this blizzard.

[Slii Arhem]

Rambling Shop - Lum

By the time he's done, Lum appears to have left, but there's a cardboard box with an orange on it left on his wagon-step. Gentle snoring seems to be coming from beneath it, and lifting the box will let him find Lum sleeping beneath it. She's happily asleep, curled up in her poncho and with her scarf. Without her tools to keep her busy, she settled on just camping out until the man finished with his work.

Rambling Shop - Lum

Fezziro closes the door to keep from disturbing her while he gets his breathing under control, and comes out a few moments later looking cleaner and panting less harshly. Then he creeps down the steps at the back of his wagon and, after checking beneath it to make sure she's inside, knocks politely on the box to wake the sleeping Lum. He's brought a cinnamon roll drizzled with icing as a peace offering in case she needs the extra sugar.