Serious Plots 8: Rawr serisaurus!

[Lord Magtok]

TBC - MagQuest

"Needs, have you put on some weight?"

"Just a couple pounds. Too many leftover Spooktober chocolates this year. Your form is as radiant as ever, of course," Needs answers, speaking with some weird squishy beak thing that I don't really want to describe in much detail, both because it's really wet and gross and also because it's not very important right now. Anyways, breaking things just for the sake of frustrating the dragon worked! That's great, now it's time to switch gears and get the hell out of here before we have to actually deal with the consequences of our actions.

"Brother, this place is no longer stable. We have to relocate or die."

"Got it, no prob. Libby, please tell our chauffeur Blue where we're headed next. He doesn't need to know exactly where; we found you just by thinking Libby thoughts. Just say what objective we're chasing and he can probably get us close. Blue, I'm not exaggerating your ability to get us out of here, am I? You can do the thing before we all die?" Gods, Purple hopes so. He also really hopes Libby has a good idea where to go from here, because 'a weapon that can destroy and/or vanquish Feiadyne' is the best answer he's got if she doesn't have any halfway decent suggestions, and he just knows Affy is going to drag the hell out of him if he says something like that aloud. No, better to let her take the helm for a moment, so we don't have to deal with all this sass and grumbling and backhanded compliments ourselves. Gods, that thing Needs did wasn't even the least bit planned, let alone his idea. How dare Blue get all persnickety at us for Needs saving everyone's lives!

Speaking of Needs, he puts together a bubble of decelerated time over in realspace, to get his speed to match the Blue City's just long enough to squeeze out one last portal. A MagCave one, the storage room where all the inert and deactivated MagDrones are piled up. Needs just has to throw that entire pile of drones into the room with Blue, Purple, Orange, and Libby, seal the portals behind himself, and then join the crew just in time for everyone to get the absolute **** out of here. It probably would've been fun, redirecting portals to do that orbital barrage thing Magtok wanted to do, but there's no targets in the room to obliterate anymore, is there? Project Legion will have to do instead.

[Reinholdt]

Spoiler

Show

[Gem Mountain]

Everything seems to go wrong for Queen Titania Beatriz-Esmeralda at the same time. It seems the adventurers' plans paid off.

The water capsules hit various parts of her crown and wings - and even the ones that slightly miss still reach a high enough temperature to activate. That much water is sure to put out large parts of it all, in addition to getting her drenched.

And, since water is the polar opposite element than fire, now that she's covered in it she's going to have a really difficult time controlling more fire. Her breath catches, the rest of the fire-wings fizzle out even though no water's hit them, and she takes a step back.

At that time, Rein shoots at the compact. For various reasons, it slightly misses - but still hits the sleeve and her arm, causing her arm to jerk and making the compact fall out of that hole and onto the ground. The shot continues through and hits the vanity mirror behind her, as well. She turns to look for who shot at her: no longer as confident nor intimidating as she initially seemed, her face shows a little panic.

And then, for a reason probably related to just what happens, some hands start reaching out of the smaller oval mirror, at the queen. They're charred skeletal hands, wreathed in flame, and its fingers wrap around her face. Her hair starts burning and there's the sizzle of the water rapidly boiling off of her, and she says, "No, wait, not yet, I can still - "

And then, her head's gone, replaced by just a jet of flame. Not having a head makes getting her bearings difficult, so it'll take a moment for her to realize what's going on. However, even without doing anything, all sources of heat in the room will slowly start to feel their heat drained away to her, and the hotter they are, the faster it drains, starting with the embers from the torches but even the ornate box and two adventurers - assuming they produce heat - will quickly be able to notice the chill they feel.

It appears that Tina and Rein, through their teamwork, have already moved on the battle to phase two.

[Gem Mountain]

Oh no. Oh this is bad. Tina definitely produces heat in this body, a bit more than that of a human, but sapping it won't be healthy for her just the same. She doesn't really understand what's happening or why the fire spirits blew up the Countess' head, but she's not going down, and things just seem to keep getting worse.

"Rein!" Fettina fumbles for her extinguisher, and then unleashes it at the fount of flame atop the lady's shoulders. It doesn't have nearly so much left as it did before... in fact, it will sputter out in about ten seconds whether or not that succeeds in dampening the blaze. "I need ideas here!"

[Fairy Mountain]

The elves' reaction to Damon's incineration of the troll is rather less composed than Ilpholin's. Haabeth manages to keep steady, but the soldiers shrink back in awe and fright. Once it's done, however, they swiftly lead the two back upwards to the main hall. One of the soldiers runs ahead, presumably to bring news and get things prepared.

There, they resume their journey towards the elders' quarters in the upper part of the city and the Singer's demesne still above. The news of the two outsiders who slew a great troll and come in the name of a figure from legends have spread and many elves stare at them as they pass. Haabeth speaks to some of them on their way, to make arrangements.

Some way up from the bottom of the chasm, the party stops. They're on a platform made of... not wood, but some kind of bone-like material, surrounding a building carved into a rocky pillar.

"These are some of our best guest quarters," Haabeth tells them. "Lower to the ground as well, so we don't need to climb all the way up before you can refresh yourself."

She shows them inside, where they will find fairly comfortable and perhaps even somewhat luxurious arrangements. A circular dining room equipped with a low table and several chairs greets them, then two doors leading to their respective rooms. They appear to be largely identical, each with a bed, table, wardrobe and a dressing table. There's a separate bathing area, where two servants have prepared a hot bath for Ilpholin.

"Tell the servants if there's anything you need or when you're ready to meet the Singer."

[Fairy Mountain]

The concerned looks from the elves get little more than a shrug from Damon. This is just how he eats. Besides, it's going to make the cleanup a whole lot easier for them!

He follows along quietly after that, sitting down at the table once they're shown to their room. "Let me know if you require anything of me, Ilpholin. Enjoy your bath."

*****

[TBC - MagQuest]

We could connect her to our thoughts. We could explain everything to her in safety, and understand what she's planning. If you want to, anyway...

Blue glances at Purple and shrugs. "That translates to "yes, please submit a portal request". He's not good with words."

[Gem Mountain]

Gah! Reinholdt likes his heat! He likes it very much. Being cold was the worst. Having your heat ripped out of you until you die is ever worse. It's worse than the worst! "Uhh, destroy the mirrors? I don't know! Smash that compact!" Reinholdt shouts, regarding the one that fell to the ground just near Tina. Rein himself shoots at the bigger mirrors, aiming to shatter each of them.

[Fairy Mountain]

"Thank you Haabeth," Ilpholin says, stepping into the room, apparently pleased with the arrangements, based on the smile she gives.

After the soldier leaves, she turns to Damon and begins to disrobe. "Well yes, I could use your help," Ilpholin says, clothing removed slower than strictly necessary as she starts walking towards the bathing area. "You are my bodyguard aren't you? Well you can't do that from in here while I'm in there." She stops just outside, naked and giving him such inviting eyes that any other person would have no difficulty understanding her intent.

"So... Come guard my body..." Ilpholin says, crooking her finger at Damon and walking into the other room.

[5a Violista]

[Gem Mountain]

While the fire-head is being extinguished, the heat-drain is actually temporarily halted: Tina has managed to buy both of them an extra fifteen to twenty seconds before their bodies get too cold. The reason it only lasts that long is because that's about how long it takes for the flames to start burning through the extinguishing-stuff. If it were a normal fire, it would probably have gone out, but...simply put, it's not natural. But they could probably already tell that based on context clues.

Reinholdt's shooting also seems to have some effect - shooting the two larger mirrors doesn't seem to directly impact the queen, but both of them had reflections in them that didn't quite match the queen's own movements. The reflection-versions of her --which still have their heads, by the way -- appear angry and then...vanish, once the mirrors are sufficiently shattered. The only mirror of note left is the small compact on the floor.

And now, Titania Beatriz-Esmeralda finally seems to have the presence of mind to not just stand there. She takes a step in Rein's direction, pointing her fingers like finger-guns at him, since he was the one destroying the mirrors so obviously he's the stronger threat. Her head-flame flares, and all the humidity in the air around her suddenly freezes, forming sparkling ice suspended in air - too cold to even drop down, somehow.

Then, the stolen heat forms a thick beam of intense flames fires from her finger-guns, in the direction of Rein.

I'd recommend he dodges. Or put something between him and it. Or makes the queen lose her balance and miss. Or bust out a magic fireproof ability. Or something...I'll bet that watching somebody burn in front of her would probably make Tina lose her desire to go on any more dungeon crawls.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[TBC - MagQuest]

Heydoyourealiseshe'ssloweddowntimeinhere? Thisismakingitreallydifficulttokeeptrackofyoursloo ooowthoughtsasitdoesn'tworkquitethesamewayfor-

It is likely that Affy's thoughts still occurring in real time will be more than a little uncomfortable, possibly headache-inducing for the other Mags. It's also not particularly fun for Blue, as the Prof sends commands to the body at regular speed and the body struggles to respond.

There's a very unpleasant cracking noise as his robotic half moves faster, his fleshy half tries to, and something inside snaps in the process before the Prof manages to adjust and get things under control.

OkaythisisverydifficultbutIthinkIhaveitundercontro l. BluemightbealittlebrokenafterthisbutIcanprobablyge tusallsomewhereIjustneedyoutokeepLibbyfromthinkingaboutwhatI'mabouttodoifyouwanthertocomealong. Canyoumaybeknockheroutorsomethingor-?

Ow ow ow.

It's not any better when Blue starts speaking, his words half-garbled as his tongue tries to keep up with his thoughts.

"OkayLibbymywayoutonlyworksifyoudon'tthinkaboutwha tI'mabouttodo. ToactuallyunderstandwhatI'mdoingrequiresrecognisin gthatrealityasyouknowitiswrongsoyoujustneedtonotthink,okay? Noweveryonegetaroundmeandsomeonegivemeadirectionor I'mjustgoingtotakeussomewhereand- ohhey,isthatblood? WhateverIdidismakingthisbodybleed. That'sprobablynotgood."

*****

[TBC - Pyramid of the Cosmos]

Meanwhile, in a less crazy part of the city...

Once the letter is given the all-clear, Magtok does indeed open it and look at the contents. "I can help. Impress me." He mutters out loud. "Oh, before anyone gets any ideas, that's what the letter says. I guess if we do well or something, we might get bonus points from Syncope 2?" Yes he's sticking with that name now just to maybe-slightly-irritate her on the offchance that she's watching them already.

Meanwhile some magic stuff is happening.

"Well if it is some sort of monster thing, it probably still doesn't like being shot." So just in case something does go horribly wrong, Magtok gets in position to take a shot, robo-lasgoose at the ready.

*****

[Fairy Mountain]

Even through the masks of flames around his face, Ilpholin will have little difficulty spotting where Damon's gaze is being drawn. Seems she's having the desired effect.

A few moments after she's slipped into the bathing area, Damon walks through to join her, similarly disrobed and for the first time since they met, actually free from fire. His bare body is smooth and nearly featureless, and notably lacking in certain aspects that Ilpholin may be anticipating. Pale white eyes focus on her with difficult as he closes the door behind him.

"I cannot give you the company you sseek, not like thiss anyway. But being a sshapesshifter hass itss ussess. Sso tell me what you dessire, and I sshall do my besst to accommodate." Though Damon's shapeshifting is limited to forms he's consumed, he has a fairly substantial range at his disposal - particularly in the field of humanoids of various shapes, sizes, and genders.

Whatever Ilpholin requests, if she's still interested and it's not too outlandish, Damon will oblige and proceed to demonstrate just how well he can play the part of servant to her.

[Chaotic Bob]

[TBC - MagQuest]

This probably would not have been the most winning strategy, in the long run. Needs had the element of surprise going for him, with the portals keeping Feia on the back foot. The temporal differential gives her quite a bit of a speed advantage on countering things as they happen, which was only likely to get worse as she got the feel for what he was doing.
So popping in one more, vomiting a bunch of drones on the floor, and then aborting from the room entirely is a pretty sound plan.

Particularly since they have only moments before this entire region of space-time is forcibly expunged from this particular reality into a different one. With unkind results to living occupants.

It's frankly incomprehensible how sincerely Libby can take compliments from the thing that is Needs, with a charmed smile on her race. Clearly she really wasn't joking about her universal love for the Magtoks, no matter how...divergent they may be.
No time to dwell on that though, the bad guy response timer is ticking down fast.
"Ah, of course. I have been trying to reach a prison deeper in this particular dungeon, a gateway to a side reality holding someone who will probably be very suited to helping us."
Not terribly specific, which she seems to be struggling to work around. Maybe she doesn't want to spill too many details where they can be overheard?
"There's a chronomantic lock anchored on the good captain here, it should have a similar signature."

Oh yes, that soldier fellow is still on the ground. He's not paralyzed anymore, he's just very carefully not moving after seeing everything that's happening.
And Needs. Mostly after seeing Needs.

There's a loud rumbling from beyond the walls now, and they're starting to look complicated. The way that a failing graphics card causes horrific screen-tearing and visual artifacts sort of complicated.

[TBC - The Pyramid of the Cosmos]

Norael opens the door!
Well, Benedict tries to put a scouting eye into the room beyond first, but it seems to be hitting a pretty hard barrier at the door's threshold. Technically we could have opened the door, everyone gotten to the side, then left the eye to see beyond, but...it's all going to have the same effect in the end.

The room beyond is structured like an inverse pyramid. It descends downwards in room-spanning levels of wide steps, to nearly an entire building story's depth, before changing.
Half of the room's floor space is this lowest portion, much of which appears to be a pool of strange fluid, with small amounts of silently sparking vapor rising off of it. Every color can be found within this pool of liquid, shifting in undulating waves, but otherwise remaining calm. Almost all of the room's light seems to be coming from this pool, though there are some faintly glowing torches ensconced around a closed stone door on the far end of the room.
To the left, about a quarter of the way around the room towards this lit door, is the outline of another door, in the form of an amethyst rectangle on the wall, with no immediately visible means of opening.

In this center of this pool is an island of smooth stone, upon which rests a large white plinth. There are words scrawled on it, but most of them are obscured by the sole living creature within this room.
Wrapped around most of the plinth, and looping around much of the central island, is an enormous snake, with scales the color of the void between galaxies, with subtle hues of nebula visible from just the right angles. It appears to be sleeping, or otherwise possesses no open eyes, its man-sized head resting still upon another portion of its body. After a moment, it expands with a breath, and all of the room's light seems to flow directly into it, leaving the room that familiar shade of nothing at all. Then it exhales and everything returns to normal.

This, unknown to anyone without obscure stellar lore knowledge, is a Dark Star Serpent.

[Lord Magtok]

TBC - MagQuest

"Is that enough information for you to go on, Blue?" Purple asks, as all those inactive drones rise up all around him. Oh good, the new control system is working fine; he doesn't even have to be comatose to operate all these extra bodies anymore. He passes his antimagic rifle to one of them, who passes it to another, who passes it along to a third, until soon it's hard to tell who Purple is at all, once he slips his way into the crowd. Maybe it doesn't matter anymore. Maybe they're all Purple now. They move towards Blue, since apparently that's a thing that needs to be done right now.

Needs, in the meantime, reaches out with a tentacle, meaning to grasp the captain Libby mentioned and hold him up right in front of Blue, flopping the man's body around like a lightweight ragdoll he is by comparison. That should be all they need to make their exit strategy work, right? Well...that, and the other thing Blue mentioned.

"Orange, hold her steady. Libitina, if there are no objections, I'd like to cast Sleep to ensure our safe passage to your destination. You'll be awoken immediately," the big tentacled mass promises, pointing a glowing tentacle in her general direction, and casting the spell if she agrees to go along with it.

[Reinholdt]

[Fairy Mountain]

Even through the masks of flames around his face, Ilpholin will have little difficulty spotting where Damon's gaze is being drawn. Seems she's having the desired effect.

A few moments after she's slipped into the bathing area, Damon walks through to join her, similarly disrobed and for the first time since they met, actually free from fire. His bare body is smooth and nearly featureless, and notably lacking in certain aspects that Ilpholin may be anticipating. Pale white eyes focus on her with difficult as he closes the door behind him.

"I cannot give you the company you sseek, not like thiss anyway. But being a sshapesshifter hass itss ussess. Sso tell me what you dessire, and I sshall do my besst to accommodate." Though Damon's shapeshifting is limited to forms he's consumed, he has a fairly substantial range at his disposal - particularly in the field of humanoids of various shapes, sizes, and genders.

Whatever Ilpholin requests, if she's still interested and it's not too outlandish, Damon will oblige and proceed to demonstrate just how well he can play the part of servant to her.

[Fairy Mountain]

Ilpholin smirks seductively as Damon walks in, glad he joined her. Her eyes travel the length of his body, now free from the concealing fire. Interesting. Very interesting. Between this, Anika, and Darcy, one might get the impression she had a thing for shapeshifters.

They wouldn't be wrong.

She reaches out with her arms and wraps them around his back, gently drawing him in. The fact that her arms are still bloody means nothing to her beyond the fact that now Damon has to join her in the bath. To get clean.

"Mmm... I think a bodyguard should be a strong, muscular man of some kind, don't you?" It's been too long since she's felt the masculine touch. Well, there was the King in Rags, but that still feels like a dream. Not as real as this.

[Artemis97]

[Everfree Park]

Raril strolls up to the little shack and will politely knock on the door..

[Grove]

Alaine doesn't know anything about fey and their ability to steal names, so she doesn't think to warn Fayaad. She just smirks, satisfied her allomancy seemed to be working.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[TBC - MagQuest]

"Yesitshouldbeplentyformeto- hyuuurk!" Mid word vomit, Blue is interrupted by actual vomit. Gross, red, bloody vomit. He staggers backwards for a moment, steadying himself against the wall.

"OhIthinkIfigureditout. Isnappedoneormorebonestryingtomovefasterthanthisda mnbodycanhandleandtheymight'vepuncturedsomethingvi tal. NomoretalkingtimetogobeforeIpassout."

Don'tworryMagtok. It'llallbefine. Icanfixthis. Icanfixeverything.

We don't want to be here any more, do we?

We want to be somewhere else.

Needs, Purple, Orange, Libby, the soldier, all the other Mag-thingies, all of them. We need to be elsewhere, right now.

And so we shall be.

Hopefully Libby either consents to the spell or manages not to think about how wrong this is, or it's entirely possible she'll be left behind, as they go...somewhere.

It doesn't matter where it is. There is no where. It is a thing that exists as much as any of us exist, and I say we are there now.

Unfortunately, when they arrive, the rest of the group will find that Blue isn't is fine. He appears to be considerably more robotic than he was a few moments ago, but Blue is fine.

See? All better now.

*****

[Fairy Mountain]

Damon obliges, letting Ilpholin pull him into the waters with her, his form shifting to meet her demands - big, strong, muscular, masculine. There were a couple of options that fit the bill - orcs could be a little divisive and he'd rather not go that way without being sure beforehand, but...ah yes, there was that one guy who had a little giant blood running through his veins. Yes, that should do...

He smiles, answering "As you wish" in a deep, gravelly, mercifully hiss-free voice, letting the curtain fall on the scene so they can enjoy their "relaxing" bath in peace.

[Morty]

[Grove]

"I'm Fayyaad," the tiefling says, declining to give his father's name and his family name out of hurry or caution. "If you have any directions towards a grove where a mighty bear lives, they would be much appreciated."

[Rebonack]

[Everfree Park]

"Hello!" comes a voice from inside the shack. "I'm so very glad you're visiting me. Please, come inside and have some coffee."

Should Raril open the door?

He'll find a rather spartan little shack. Which, given its humble exterior a matching interior really isn't too much of a shock.

A bed. A desk. A bookshelf. A little wood stove. A bed. And a table set for three.

Standing next to the stove is an old man with a long, white beard, and a balding forehead. The wrinkles around his eyes suggest he's the sort of fellow who smiles quite a bit. He's dressed in a white and red robe with a little shepherds' staff laying against the wall nearby. He's working over a little pot full of sand from which boiling coffee overflows every now and again. Greek style. Or Turkish. Depending on who you ask.

The man gestures at the table, which includes a rather hefty chair sized for Sam.

"Please, please, make yourselves comfortable. It's so infrequently that I have company."

[Deathkeeper]

Everfree Park

Sam is surprised but can’t help but come in. He slowly heads over to the chair sized for him.
”Um. Hello, sir. So, you live out here? I didn’t know anyone did. It seems...pleasant today.”
Notably not homicidal.

[Reinholdt]

[Fairy Mountain]

The curtain rises sometime later with Ilpholin throughly relaxed, extremely satisfied, somehow clean, and getting her clothes back on. "Despite his flaws, the King in Rags certainly has a keen eye for quality. I look forward to slaying many demons with you Damon."

She runs her fingers through her hair and flicks it behind her shoulders. "Are you ready to get back to it?"

[Chaotic Bob]

[TBC - MagQuest]

The captain is shocked out of his stillness by the tentacle grabbing and proceeds to predictably struggle, striking at the appendage with his hands. Not that it is terribly likely to accomplish much.

Libby meanwhile, struggles in no such manner, although Asq proceeds to shroud himself around her a bit more, once unconsciousness is achieved. For better or worse, his wakefulness doesn't seem to contribute much in the way of anything to their subsequent relocation.

Which...is actually fairly nearby. Outside of the spacial and temporal wranglings of moments ago, but they remain relatively near to where they were. Just a different room in the same place, evidently.
This room is significantly smaller, with a sole point of any real interest. Thick pipes run up the walls and along the ceiling, to ends unknown, but this is probably not terribly interesting either.

Directly in the center of the room, with nothing but an empty chair nearby, floats door-shaped portal to what looks to be a wide open field. The air around the portal seems gray and murky, but there is otherwise not a lot going on here.

[Lord Magtok]

TBC - MagQuest

Well, it's pretty obvious where to go from here. Just straight ahead into the door, right? Better snap some fingers and clap some hands in front of Libby to wake her up so she can verify that for us, though. This wouldn't be the first time the stupidly obvious answer turned out to be all wrong. It might very well be that the chair is magical and is used to set a destination for the portal, and we'd completely fail to notice any of that because we were in too much of a rush and wound up portaling to the wrong place entirely.

While the Purples are worrying about that, Needs casually tosses the soldier aside like an empty wrapper, and works on slithering his entire form into Orange through his ear canal, which really doesn't make any sense at all given the sheer differences in size involved, but it happens anyway because of Needs' horrible magical abilities, and because having two of him around is just too much of a pain in the butt to keep track of and giving them both stuff to do in every post is a chore. While Orange is being assimilated from the inside-out, Needs tries to read the ambient magical energies of the room, because why not take three actions in a single post? It's not like that soldier is going to do anything to stop him. Orange certainly isn't going to resist this intrusion; they're both Needs, and the bigger one is just taking command of the smaller one for convenience's sake.

"You're sure you'll be fine, Blue? I'm not above pretending to care about your well-being for the sake of the mission, y'know," one of the Purples reminds Blue. I don't think it's the original Purple who first showed up here with him, but it's hard to tell, because there's just so goddamned many of them and none of them are making any attempt to distinguish themselves from the rest. Even the one who spoke quickly drifts back into the crowd, letting another drone(?) wait on Affidavit's answer.

[Murkus]

[Gem Mountain]

If Fettina has one thing going for her as an adventurer, it's that she doesn't freeze up. The formerly neon gal draws one leg up, "Hey, bitch!" and snaps it out at the Queen's belly. She has some Angel Strength^TM backing her up, but it's more her considerable weight than anything. All that metal isn't just for looks.

She's hoping she can kick this woman into the vanity and bring her foot back down to smash her heel on the compact in the same movement. She's quick enough, but not so quick as any accomplished fighter or adventurer.

[Reinholdt]

[Gem Mountain]

Reinholdt doesn't dodge the fire, nor put anything between him and it. He really should have done that. All he does instead is slip a hand into his pocket. And then? He's engulfed in flames.
WHOOOOOSH.
Man that's a lot of fire.

Maybe too much fire?
Much more fire than there should be. A lot of it is humanoid shape as well. And absorbing the other fire until there's nothing left but a humanoid fire man where Reinholdt used to be.

He is supposed to be hot, but he might be taking it too literally.

[5a Violista]

[Gem Mountain]

The Queen, in the end, wasn't an accomplished fighter or adventurer: she was just a queen. Some experience with spooky magics and such, but not enough to hold up against an Angel Strength^TM kick. She's kicked back into the vanity, which prevents her from shooting any more fire at Reinholdt.

...
And the compact is smashed. Glass and metal and who-knows-what-else is scattered.

Now that all the mirrors are broken, something significant happens: the flame that makes up her 'head'? It starts burning away the rest of her body. Soon, her shoulders and arms are gone, then her chest...when she's just a hip, legs, and flame she tries to get back up and run at Tina but before she has a chance to reach her, the Queen is all gone.

...

That was a quick end to the combat. Reinholdt is probably the only source of light left in the room, so the room's still pretty lit and easy to see around. There's not all that much to look at, however: with the exception of broken mirrors and toasted furniture, it's pretty much the same as before, including that smallish box in the middle of the room and everything else that was there before.

[Murkus]

[Gem Mountain]

Fettina cringes back from the blazing phantom, but before she needs to react, the queen disappears. "How did you know--" She starts, looking around... before her eyes widen in panic. "Rein!"

She bounds across the room and tackles him, dragging a blanket from the bed with both hands to start stamping at his blazing body. It's possible she doesn't fully understand what's happening... but he sure doesn't look okay!

[Reinholdt]

[Gem Mountain]

Being made of fire has a few perks. Warming things back up, giving light, immunity to fire, and immunity to physical attacks. It turns out tackling fire isn't all it is cracked up to be as Tina goes through Rein. Though the blanket seems to be having an effect. Not that Rein can scream or say anything. He's fire.

Not anymore though. He stops being fire almost as quickly as he started, though now he's flailing and trying to shield himself. And everything is dark. And Rein's yelling. "Stop! Stooop! Tinnnna!" She should probably stop hitting Rein with a blanket. Rein isn't in the mood for that kind of play!

"It's fine. Everything's fine!" Reinholdt assures her when she presumably stops. "Just a magic trick of mine." Rein digs out his flashlight and flicks it on so he can show Tina the medallion looped around his wrist. "This to be exact. I can use it to turn into fire whenever I want, absorb fire attacks and toss them back at twice strength."

Rein turns the medallion over once before slipping it off and sliding it back into his pocket. "I had hoped to never use it, because it's practically in spoiler territory." He shakes his head and looks at Tina. "Are you all right?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fairy Mountain]

Damon dries himself off in a rather direct flame-y manner, stepping back out of the room to collect his clothing and armour.

Though Ilpholin can be quite sure Damon thoroughly enjoyed himself, as soon as he's shifted back to his default shadow-y self, any such signs vanished, replaced by quiet hissing once more.

"Of coursse. When we have ssome free time, I look forward to hunting a few demonss. But for now, yess, I am ready to get back to work."

*****

[TBC - MagQuest]

Don't worry, Magtoks. Blue is, mmm, fine. I just had to rewrite things a bit while you weren't paying attention to fix the damage caused.

Whatever else that means is hard to tell what with the robes and all, but what is visible looks like an all-chrome face and two metal hands. There's not much "Mag" left in this 'bot any more.

And why bother leaving any drone to wait for an answer when the Prof can just broadcast his thoughts to all of them?

Anyway, his job is done for the moment. He could probably poke at the portal a bit and maybe learn something about it, but there's sacrificial Mags to do that. And also Libby's intelligence to tap into.

[5a Violista]

Gem Mountain

The blanket isn't very flammable. Some of the frayed ends and loose threads burn when they hit Flameholdt but the whole thing doesn't catch fire. Maybe with some prolonged exposure, it would catch fire, but...

Anyway.

Since the heat drain is no longer in effect, the area doesn't become any colder. In fact, thanks to all the flames, it's almost as warm as it was before the fight started.

The removal of the blanket from the bed doesn't really reveal anything significant, except for a few well-aged letters and papers that were under the pillow and are now peeking out a little.

[Reinholdt]

[Fairy Mountain]

Fire seems useful like that. Maybe she needs an upgrade that can simulate that effect. But that seems to divergent from her current setup.

Ilpholin smiles a bit, practically a smirk, before heading back out to the elves. Her appearance is definitely an improvement over just after the troll fight. She's almost radiant. "Thank you for your patience. We're ready to meet the Singer now."

[Artemis97]

[Everfree Park]

"Hello!" comes a voice from inside the shack. "I'm so very glad you're visiting me. Please, come inside and have some coffee."

Should Raril open the door?

He'll find a rather spartan little shack. Which, given its humble exterior a matching interior really isn't too much of a shock.

A bed. A desk. A bookshelf. A little wood stove. A bed. And a table set for three.

Standing next to the stove is an old man with a long, white beard, and a balding forehead. The wrinkles around his eyes suggest he's the sort of fellow who smiles quite a bit. He's dressed in a white and red robe with a little shepherds' staff laying against the wall nearby. He's working over a little pot full of sand from which boiling coffee overflows every now and again. Greek style. Or Turkish. Depending on who you ask.

The man gestures at the table, which includes a rather hefty chair sized for Sam.

"Please, please, make yourselves comfortable. It's so infrequently that I have company."

Everfree Park

Sam is surprised but can’t help but come in. He slowly heads over to the chair sized for him.
”Um. Hello, sir. So, you live out here? I didn’t know anyone did. It seems...pleasant today.”
Notably not homicidal.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Raril says, coming in, shutting the door behind them. He removes his hat, stuffing it in a pocket, revealing his snow-white hair beneath, braided back to stay out of his eyes. Sam will see a deep purple scar in the shape of a spider on the right side of his head. The drow scratches at it absently as he takes his own seat. His red eyes drift over to the bookshelf, wondering what sort of books this man reads, looking for clues.

[Rebonack]

[Everfree Park]

A cup of coffee atop a saucer is offered in turn to Sam and Raril.

"It is usually quite pleasant, yes. Very solemn. A bit lonely sometimes," the elderly man replies. "Now, do either of you like cream with your coffee? Sugar? A pinch of powdered chocolate?"

Okay but seriously.

What's this guy doing out in the middle of the most dangerous place in the Nexus.

Isn't Everfree Park supposed to be an absolute deathtrap?

So what's mister beardy guy with fancy coffee doing living out in the middle of the place in a shack?

And for that matter, why were Raril and Sam able to just walk in here like they were having a nice little afternoon walk?

None of this makes sense!

The bookshelf appears to be loaded down mostly with books that have vaguely religious sounding titles. Devotionals and commentaries and holy-books and the like. There are... umm... also some really sappy looking romance novels. The first variety of books appear to be very, VERY old. The second set of books appear to be quite new, as if they had been purchased just recently.

[Artemis97]

[Everfree Park]

"A bit of sugar, please." Raril says turning to his cup of coffee. So some sort of holy man or theologian? With a recent interest in romance?

"How long have you been out here, if I can ask?" The drow says next.

[Morty]

[Fairy Mountain]

Haabeth and the other soldiers are waiting for Ilpholin and Damon when they return.

"Of course. Everything is in readiness and the Singer in Dimmed Crystal has requested your presence, without the elders' prior approval."

The two will be escorted further up, through the elven city. Past the highest stalactites, into the roof of the chasm. Of all the different songs they've heard reverberating through the caverns, one becomes more and more prominent, drowning all the others. It's a lone voice, rising and falling in a melody that feels as though it's continued uninterrupted since the dawn of time. The passage grows darker, lit by the ever-thinner web of crystals.

The passage leads them to a roughly circular cave, lined with carefully-sculpted rocks and crystals in a spiral pattern. Corridors extends from ends of the spiral, leading off to who knows where. The song is at its most intense now, though not loud - it's only ever a background, an echo travelling through the underground kingdom.

On the centre of the spiral, a figure is spinning and undulating in a dance. Its body is long and thin, like a dragonfly and serpent both, splitting into two tails at the bottom. It thickens into something like a torso at the height of about a metre and a half, which is adorned with a set of gossamer feathered wings. The figure's head is long, with a pair of feathery antennae trailing behind it. The face has large, multi-faceted eyes and a small mouth, which is lined by four mandibles and is the source of the constant song. When the Singer in Dimmed Crystal sees (or hears) the entourage come in, she stops singing - but the song doesn't end. It quietens, but its echoes still travel through the spiral and the tunnels beyond.

"I am called the Singer in Dimmed Crystal," the fey lady says, in a melodious, high voice and elongated syllables. "And you were sent by the one they call the King in Rags now. But I see why he has chosen you, after your dispatching of the troll in the lower tunnels."

[Deathkeeper]

[Everfree Park]

Sam sure seems confused.
"Cream and chocolate, sir. But uh, do you know what's going on with this park? It's supposed to be a deathtrap. Everyone knows that monsters appear here all the time. But nothing happened to us on the way in. And your place doesn't seem defended at all. How do you like, stay here?"

[Rebonack]

[Everfree Park]

"How long? Oh goodness..." the old man replies as he passes Raril a little dish full of sugar cubes. Sam gets a pitcher of cream and a dish full of coco powder.

He'll let them add their own condiments to their coffee.

People are often particular about how much they like.

"Since the Arena was forgotten and the forest grew up around it, I suppose? But you know how time is around here. Was that a decade ago? Or a few centuries? It probably doesn't matter a great deal," he says, taking a sip of his coco. "And I do know what's going on with the park. It is wholly harmless, in so far as any park in this City can be. The Heart of the Nexus protects itself, you see. Not through any sort of dangerous magical power, mind you. The stories about the dangers of this place are all well known because that is what the Heart wishes to be known. Everyone knows that Everfree Park is a death trap despite no one ever coming here. You two, my friends, are the first. Ever. Aside from myself, of course."

What.

"The monsters are my doing, however. I summon them to the outskirts now and again to keep up the illusion. It's... a pity about the destruction they cause. But necessary. There are people here who would seen the Heart of the Nexus harmed. Better that it be left alone until the right people come to visit."

[billtodamax]

[Grove]

Alaine doesn't know anything about fey and their ability to steal names, so she doesn't think to warn Fayaad. She just smirks, satisfied her allomancy seemed to be working.

[Grove]

"I'm Fayyaad," the tiefling says, declining to give his father's name and his family name out of hurry or caution. "If you have any directions towards a grove where a mighty bear lives, they would be much appreciated."

Grove

Fayyaad, huh? She says, luxuriating over the name. I like it. Who's your friend? She doesn't talk much huh. She says, in what could charitably be called a whisper but is nevertheless clear as day to Alaine. This fae seems pretty uninterested in any boring ol' groves though! She does start to tug at Fayyaad as she begins to walk, and if he'll let her, she'll start to lead them on a rambling route through the forest, not really in the direction of anything in particular. Maybe she's helping?