Seaside 5: Kinda like One Piece without the anime

[Recaiden]

Anchor's shadow slips back and reports on the fish-ambush.

"Six monsters waiting at the far end of the tunnel. Anything you can do to deal with them from here, Benedict?"
She asks.
Only then does she turn to the occultist and see him being attacked by the digging flea.
After an instant of motion, she refrains from doing anything like 'jab the spear at his face to get the flea off'. That couldn't end well.

[Earl of Purple]

Marlick Bay Benedict and Anchor

Benedict is bitten, and tries to grab the giant amphipod so he can pull it away from his face. He's tempted to throw it at the wall, but then he'd lose control of it, so he'll keep hold of it instead. He can't kill it like this, with both hands occupied he can't draw a symbol or draw his sword, so hopefully Anchor will stab it with her spear or something.

"Most of my magic requires line of sight, or a very close range. We can't easily dig the tunnel clear. These things will attack us if we do. If I scramble up first, I might be able to put them to sleep with the relevant glyph." If that doesn't work, though, things might get a little trickier.

[5a Violista]

[Marlick Bay]
Zophiel/Selekhael

Honestly, Selekhael acting like this was pretty much what the paladin was expecting.
It's a little disappointing.

The only possible response to an impossibly big sword is a hugely big sword of his own. There's enough space here to draw his, so he draws the blue one. The black and gold of his gauntlets spread across the hilt and base of his sword.

Zophiel feels time just around him break.

He wanted to respond to the elf with a witty one-liner riffing off of what the elf just said, but the paladin gets distracted by the feeling of...causality. Oh. It was just the...lion-girl. It would probably be best to concentrate on the elf, but reflexes are reflexes. Instinct takes precedent over conscious actions.

[Shadowcaller]

Moonwell Convergence

What a funny coincidence since Anika also does what she does best which happens to be the same thing. However, she can't quite match Laz's speed so the ghoul knight makes the jump over the barrier before she does.

But at least any flames that Laz didn't block were blocked by the bear behind her so they wouldn't reach Awen.

The fire is hot, no doubt about it. But its heat is comparable to the fireball which Laz already had endured.
The difference is that there was little kinetic energy behind the flamethrower so the knight wouldn't get pushed back but it was a continual burst so eventually Laz and her armor would likely just melt underneath it.

But as Laz jumps into the air she at least escapes the most intense heat. The demon realigns its aim but by that time it's too late and she has closed the distance to it.

Her vision have likely been blurred by the heat but she can still tell she have landed somewhere in front of the fiend.
It cowers back and raises its left armored arm as a shield and it seems like it's still pressing the trigger as she can still feel that terrible heat just a couple of inches away from her, just not nearly as intensely as when she was in the middle of the flames.

The other demon seems to lose its focus as Awen's the breeze seems to make contact with it. It isn't immediately clear how much of an effect it has, but it clearly has some as it looks like it's about to nod off.

Operation Sea Slug

As the little group descends the dragon roars in pain. "Gyyaaah!"

As they keep soaring through the air, Leopold actually grinning toothily as they fall as if he was actually enjoying it for a moment, Titania actually gets a reply from the demonic core.
Like before it's not a reply in words but instead information.

She will learn the following things:

1. Azaries is capable of transporting her, but only her, to itself back at the bunker. So that was always an option.
2. Lannereth was nearby and there was a high probability that, based on their previous encounter, that she was coming to help them.
3. Its threat predictive analytic unit suggested that beings with a desire to destroy it (Azaries) had entered this world (the nexus) and thus its threat level had been heightened. While there was no enemies near it at the moment it had to inform Titania that if such an enemy would come near it, Azaries would have to gate her and any other unit connected to its location as a part of its self-defense program.
It suggested sharing the last piece of information with Lannereth as it was likely that she was motivated to sustain its existence.

She will learn all this in a blink of an eye, before she even tumbles and make contact with the ground. She can still hear the dragon roar but its unlikely it will be distracted for long. "Death is too good for you! I will send you all to a realm of eternal torturer and have you suffer for all eternity!"

Moonwell - Calicommand

Anika isn't replying at least and Awen seems to have lost hers as well. The only one who might have it is Saint Laz and she was busy going berserk on demons.

The crew is hurrying to obey Blanche's commands and the ship starts to move out of the way. It appears that the trajectory of the obelisk ship starts to adjust to match their movements but it at least forces it to slow down a bit. Especially once the VIGIL ship starts to pick up speed.
It's likely that the ship will have to start chasing them, but its unlikely that they will be able to ultimately outrun them. In addition, once they are in chase mode the cannons they have won't be aligned to hit the enemy ship anymore. So she could have time fire at it right now or simply try to stay out of its way until the VIGIL members on board took care of it from within.

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

Kitty and Knight

The past has shifted.

Follow the cracks.

Selekhael pounces at the elf and the elf flounces away. It all looks very dramatic and showy. Just like the elf's pretentiously long sword. In one smooth motion he draws the weapon and sweeps it at the not-lioness. Being struck by this weapon wouldn't be pleasant, as it is impossible. And impossible things don't get along very well with the Empyrean. Likely not lethal, but ooww. Don't let the elf do that again.

A coy smile tugs at the elf's lips.

"Ah, tricky kitty. The story is still the story even if it comes round on itself again. You'll have trouble fooling me with your silly games."

For Zoph there will likely be a sense of deja vu. Of what just happened and what had happened both occupying the same memory at once. The memories grind against each other like two pieces of broken glass. It really isn't great.

For Sele, she'll feel something building inside her. That wound spring feeling. If the wound spring were made of little hooks and knives and when it comes unwound it's going to do nasty things to her insides. This meddling with time has made certain eventualities impossible. She wouldn't have pounced if the elf hadn't threatened them. And if she pounces then the elf won't threaten them. The snake eats its tail. Paradox is winding itself; a temporal bomb ready to burst. But... a certain intuitive tugging informs Selekhael that due to her connection to entropy and time she could pass this causal hot-potato off to someone else so they suffer the consequences when it comes unwound.

Magic Gal and Magic Guy

The giant amphipod is yanked away after it bites the magician's face. Oddly enough the bite doesn't hurt.

At all.

But it does start bleeding.

Quite a bit, really.

Ah, the joys of pain killing anti-coagulant saliva.

Getting bit by quite a few of these nasty little creatures would likely cause someone to bleed out in short order. And that raises a question, doesn't it? How to get through the sandy tunnel without getting nibbled to death? Maybe if our heroes had something that creatures found more interesting...

[bc56]

Selekhael yowls in pain as the impossible sword cuts into her. She rears back and then pounces, trying to knock the elf to the ground and pin him down, where his oversized sword will be useless, and she can bring her fangs and bladed wormlike jaws to bear. "Who are you calling kitty, hollow thing?"

[5a Violista]

[Marlick Bay]
Kitty Knight

Having two overlapping memories like this is...nostalgic. Sure, it isn't great. But it could be worse. He could fix it - it's simple enough that every paladin trainee learns how to fix paradoxes like this - but it honestly isn't that serious right now. Besides, combat takes precedence. Cleaning up paradoxes happens after everyone's safe.

Since Selekhael is doing the exact opposite of the plan, the paladin decides to adapt. It might even help Selekhael cool it with...whatever her problem is. Besides, it looks like she can handle herself for now. If things get worse, then he can help out.

So, Zophiel takes on the role that the lion was supposed to do: he runs, circling around to the altar so that he can take care of it.

[Recaiden]

Magic Folks

"Why don't we see if we can distract these bugs with one of the dead monsters from the other room, or something, then you crawl in and put them to sleep?"
Actually, Anchor is just going to turn around to start trying that.
She has another, riskier idea, but no point mentioning that at the moment.

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

Oh good it looks like Selekhael is making friends.

The elf is tackled!

And promptly slides out from under Sele after only a relatively minor mauling. It managed to completely avoid those scything mandibles.

Probably good for it, too.

They likely would have bisected the elf.

The elf gives a little mocking bow, as if this were a dance rather than a battle. "Ah, strange that you would call anyone hollow, soulless husk that you are. But I shan't begrudge you, you are as you are written!"

Then in a single, fluid motion the elf lunges across the room, its impossibly long sword somehow growing even longer to bar Zoph's path to the altar.

"Ah, my friend, it isn't time for that just yet. We still have this waltz to dance before the next act."

Gosh this elf is terrible. Just the worst.

[bc56]

Why won't you just DIE! Selekhael roars. The roar is charged with the power of entropy, aimed to wither away at this impetuous thing that is blocking her way. It miiiiight also catch Zophiel in the effect. Oops.

[Arkhosia]

Moonwell - Calicommand

"Think you can throw off its momentum with enough shot at this angle?" Blanche asks the crew, weighing their options. If the answer is an affirmative, she will direct them to open fire with said goal.

[5a Violista]

[Marlick Bay]

See?
If Selekhael had used her time-jumping powers to instead go after the altar instead of the elf, then this would already be over.
It's too bad that the elf is too good at goading lions.

Being blocked by the impossible sword forces him to stop. He glances at the elf: see? This is (one of) the reasons he doesn't really like fae. If they know where you're planning on going, they'll obstruct you just fo--

He gets hit by Selekhael's roar.
And he's immediately glad he decided they all should split up.
If Zophiel were human instead of paladin* then the entropy would probably rot him to death like it did to that lobster.
Instead, his skin cracks in places like a dried pot, and a small number of the spots flake away, leaving...fresh skin underneath. Looks softer.
He glares at Selekhael for her indiscriminate attack. They'll have to talk about this later. As she is now, in terms of attitude and powers and so on, Selekhael is similar to some of the worst demonic threats he had to deal with in his homeworld. Well, he's not sure he should call them demons because they were something else unlike the succubi that were so common, but...close enough.

Anyway.
Best thing you can do with fairies, he believes, is ignoring them. Don't answer them, barely acknowledge them. With that sword, he can't continue, but...
The paladin winds up, holding his own implausibly large sword like a javelin, ready to throw it over the elf's. His other hand is outstretched, towards the impossible sword. From the outstretched gauntlet, black tentacles form and wrap around the sword to slow its movement and bind it in place.

Then, he throws his sword at the altar's midsection. As it sails through the air, it speeds up (instead of just maintaining speed like you'd expect an object with such high inertia to do).

[Earl of Purple]

Marlick Bay Anchoring Benedict

"My magic generally requires quite a line of sight to what I'm doing. I could scramble up there and hit them, but from here my options are limited and I might get attacked by those whilst I try to concentrate." And that would be bad. "Distraction might work, though." He'll go to help Anchor drag a body of a mutant to feed and distract the bugs so he can sneak past and blast them.

[Vahnavoi]

[Coast of some Seaside island]

Waves crash against rocks near the shore and wash over the sand, carrying with them pieces of driftwood and fruit from distant lands. Seagulls fly overhead and cry, fighting over the spoils. Among the litter lies a corpse of a tall, lanky man. His body is clothed in white, soaked in seawater, his left hand grasping some black rag wrapped around two, long objects. The birds don't seem to mind him - one of them descents just a foot away from his head. It looks like he's lain there for a while.

Yet, for some reason, this is the moment he decides to show he's not quite a corpse after all. His head twitches. His free hand digs into the sand. The gull is startled and flies away, screeching as it goes. The man crawls to all fours, puking water from his mouth.

*Hack* *Cough* *Blech*

After sufficiently emptying himself, he wipes his mouth on his sleeve, then combing his soaked stringy mane from his face and squeezing salt water from his eyes.

"What?"

He straightens his upper body and sits on his knees. Squinting, he tries to catch a glimpse of his surroundings.

"Where?"

He notices the black cloth his hand is grasping. Groggily, he unrolls it, and two swords in pure white sheaths clatter on the ground. He blinks, looking at them as if he's never seen them before.

"Why?"

He's about to throw the cloth away, when he realizes it is a piece of clothing - a haori - with some kind of insignia on it. He stretches the garment in his hands until he can make some sense of it - on its back, there's a white design of some serpent, or a dragon, forming a circle and chewing its own tail. He stops and stares at it with a blank expression.

"What?"

His confused voice echoes on the beach. Too bad there seems to be no-one to answer... or is there?

[Earl of Purple]

Coast of Some Island

There is no immediate answer, to any of the swordsman's questions. However, there is somebody else arriving. They're emerging slowly from the sea. It looks at first to be somebody wearing either a heavy diving suit or thick platemail of verdigris-dusted bronze, however the glowing purple light behind the helmet's visor and the ease with which it moves suggest otherwise. It's been submerged a long time, by the looks; barnacles and seaweed are growing from the plates of its armour. Another clue that this is an artificial entity are the limbs, when they are visible; articulated beams of brass and granite, reinforced and plated where possible with the thick bronze plates and moved by the workings of tiny cogs made of silver, brass, and gold. A leather belt slung about the figure's waist holds a short, heavy cutlass with a brass blade and a large turquoise set into the pommel. In large hands with four digits it holds a copper box, carefully designed to be as airtight as possible, and once it finishes wading out of the sea, the construct opens the box and retrieves a pair of fine flintlock pistols, with ebony handles and steel barrels, carefully rolling them over in its powerful-looking hands to ensure they are dry and unharmed by the seawater.

[Vahnavoi]

[Coast of Some Island]

The man is slow to notice the newcomer, having his back turned to the sea. But when he hears heavy steps press against the wet sand, his brow furrows and he turns to look... falling on his ass from surprise when he sees the thing from the sea.

He follows its movements with his jaw agape. Is that a... machine? He's only seen such constructs in fiction before... he thinks. Why on Earth is this man-shaped machine marching out of the sea?

Maybe he should ask it?

As the machine man checks its pistols, the swordsman pulls himself together, picks up his swords and slings the soaked haori around his shoulders. Warily, he approaches. "Good day, sir. Those are some fine-looking pistols. May I inquire, uh... whence you came?"

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

Kitt and Knight

Ah the poor elf.

He doesn't have any way to avoid a roar. Maybe he wasn't expecting the empyrean to be so disregarding of her former allies? Regardless, the elf staggers from the attack as it becomes withered and wrinkly and yet somehow still whimsical. Just like an old impish grampa instead a young conniving trickster.

That stagger is enough, though.

Plenty enough for Zoph to hurl his sword through the altar and for the altar to burst in a shower of gross, drippy bits.

There's a reasonable chance that the elf could have blocked the throw with its improbable fencing abilities, but stunned as it was by the ROAR OF TIME it wasn't able to react.

The elf gives a long suffering sigh as the altar bursts. "Well! That was exciting, eh? It would appear you have me at your mercy. My old bones aren't fit for fighting."

It makes a big show of being weak and frail as a result of Selekhael's attack, stooping and shaking with age, leaning heavily on its sword as if it were a cane. Or was a cane the whole time? It's hard to tell with elves. They're notorious liars.

"What shall you do with me now, hmm? Eh heh heh heee!"


Magic Folks!

Wow it turns out fish-person corpses are really useful!

The sand fleas dig up out of the sand and begin chewing on the carcass, completely ignoring our heroes. Good thinking, Anchor! With the bugs satiated it should be easy enough to crawl through the tunnel-

-but there's still the issue of the fish people on the other side waiting to spear them.

Hmm... a puzzle...

[bc56]

"Liar." Selekhael fires a beam of rampant growth at the elf. He's old now, he can be old and cancerous too. She doesn't seem to care about the fact that she's clearly killing him. She's not as like Sekhmet as she believes she is. Sekhmet probably wouldn't kill someone in cold blood like this.

[Recaiden]

Feast for Fleas

Oh, the usefulness of dead fish monsters is no surprise to either of them.

"Okay, you start crawling through. I'll send my shadow just ahead to distract them."
And Anchor does just as she says. The shadow glides slowly over the sand, passing through the formerly-flea-infested tunnel and reaching for the central fish-man, who should feel its cold hands grabbing onto him...

[Earl of Purple]

Coast of Some Island

The armoured figure turns to face the swordsman, and saltwater dribbles out from under its visor. "gurgle Ahoy, matey! I was aboard the good ship Maiden of Saltsea when she be hitting a floating island of ice and snow. Wait, no. That was me last shipwreck. This was the Hart's Vengeance, and she capsized in a storm. I was on deck when it happened, and I don't be a fleshy sailor, to float when knocked in the brine. I went down to Davy Jones' Locker, and didn't like th' view. So I be walkin' back to land, and here I be. Just glad the sea didn't get to me guns, they're fine work. Oh! I be called Frigate. Do ye by chance know the date?" The bottom of the sea is quite dark, and without a clock Frigate lost track of time down there. He's not sure how long he's been walking. Even if this isn't apparently the first time he's walked out of the sea following an accident on a ship.

Marlick Bay Benedictine Anchor

Benedict does start to crawl, to look at the waiting mutants and count them. Probably not a sleeping spell; those work best if the victim is looking at the symbol when he completes it. So maybe an elemental blast; electricity, maybe. That usually works well on fish, doesn't it?

[5a Violista]

[Marlick Bay]

Zophiel has already completely removed the magic seal on his own; he can't just let his physical seal deteriorate and fall apart.

That's why he can't intervene and stop Selekhael from her cancer-beam. He needs to run healing threads throughout his body to stitch it all back together (and then pump them full of healing magic).

Which is why all he can do is "Just let him leave!" he orders.

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

Kitty and Knight

Good to see that Selekhael is still making friends.

With a wheezy old man laugh the elf takes off like a shot, neatly avoiding the death-ray and heading toward the stairs. Y'know those scenes in movies where the creepy old witch suddenly launches herself across the room and she's up in the protagonist's face all the time?

Well, that's what the old elf just did.

Just...

Away.

Apparently it was lying about its old bones.

Which shouldn't come as a shock since elves are liars.


Magic Folks

Blasts of lightning usually work pretty well on basically everyone who isn't wearing a portable Faraday cage.

Regardless!

Spooky shadow hands clamp onto one of the fish men, causing him to begin glubbing in alarm! He tries swinging his nautically themed weapon at the shadow but this probably isn't going to work great what with shadows being shadows and all. This gets the attention of all the OTHER fish men and they aren't watching the entrance tunnel any longer.

Which means?

Shimmy faster, Benedict!

[bc56]

"He wanted to kill us! He's not even a real person!" Selekhael complains. She fires a parting shot at the elf, but probably misses again. Stupid lying elves. The celestial lioness turns to Zophiel. "At least we destroyed that altar. We need to meet with the others."

[Lord Magtok]

Moonwell Convergence

Spoiler

Show

Moonwell Convergence

What a funny coincidence since Anika also does what she does best which happens to be the same thing. However, she can't quite match Laz's speed so the ghoul knight makes the jump over the barrier before she does.

But at least any flames that Laz didn't block were blocked by the bear behind her so they wouldn't reach Awen.

The fire is hot, no doubt about it. But its heat is comparable to the fireball which Laz already had endured.
The difference is that there was little kinetic energy behind the flamethrower so the knight wouldn't get pushed back but it was a continual burst so eventually Laz and her armor would likely just melt underneath it.

But as Laz jumps into the air she at least escapes the most intense heat. The demon realigns its aim but by that time it's too late and she has closed the distance to it.

Her vision have likely been blurred by the heat but she can still tell she have landed somewhere in front of the fiend.
It cowers back and raises its left armored arm as a shield and it seems like it's still pressing the trigger as she can still feel that terrible heat just a couple of inches away from her, just not nearly as intensely as when she was in the middle of the flames.

The other demon seems to lose its focus as Awen's the breeze seems to make contact with it. It isn't immediately clear how much of an effect it has, but it clearly has some as it looks like it's about to nod off.

Saint Lazarus knows she doesn't need to kill this demon. She just needs to keep it busy until the bear gets here. She swings for the demon's weapon, hoping that even if she doesn't slice off its fuel tank, she can at least put a bad enough dent in the thing to temporarily neutralize the weapon and give Anika an opportunity to maul the crap out its wielder. She's never fought with the druid before, but she has seen some nature videos, so she's fairly confident in the bear's ability to end this swiftly.

[Vahnavoi]

[Coast of Some Island]

When the machine introduces himself, the swordsman gives a small bow. "Star of Hope Shines Eternal in the Pitch-Black Universe" , he responds. "Sadly, I do not know the date." He looks sadly to the sky and gestures at their surroundings. "I... don't really recall how I got here. Or, in fact, where 'here' happens to be. I was hoping you could fill in a few blanks for me." He rubs his jaw, looking thoughtful. "This ship... could it be I was one of the passengers and got thrown overboard?"

[Earl of Purple]

Coast of Some Island

Frigate turns and looks at the beach around them, before shaking his head. "I'd say unlikely. This beach has little in the way of the flotsam I'd expect if the currents brought ye here from there. Ye don't know how ye got here? Hmm. Does the word 'Nexus' mean aught to ye?" The warforged puts his pistols back in the box and draws his cutlass, running a finger down it to test the edge. It's enchanted, so it's fine, but Frigate still checks. It gives his hands something to do.

[Vahnavoi]

"Nexus? As in, a core or center?" , the swordsman asks in confusion. "I'm not sure? Are you suggesting there's some kind of nexus around here?" His eyes scan the largely empty beach. "Because I'm not seeing it."

[5a Violista]

[Moonwell Convergence]

It's true: Awen's communicator is broken. Has been since she fell from that height.

She glances at the flamethrower demon, to see how effectively the others are taking care of it. And to make sure it's not going after her.

She can't really speed up the other demon sleeping, but she hopes it works out. She can't even speed it up. Really, all she can do is stay out of the way and start preparing for her next move. She makes sure her hair is securely holding onto the broom, so that she won't fall off...

And starts preparing a possession hex to use as soon as the demon appears to have fallen asleep. The witch really is lucky that the other two are distracting that demon, because doing this would be difficult if they weren't. Awen dips her fingers in her own blood like inking a quill, and then starts tracing three-dimensional shapes in the air in front of her. The shapes appear translucent in front of her.
And, when (if?) the demon falls asleep, she grabs the shape to crush it in her hands, completing the hex.
. . .
If it all works out, then her mind will then possess and control that sleeping demon's body.
If it doesn't, then obviously nothing happens.


[Marlick Bay]
Kitty Knight

There's so much Zophiel wants to say. Like, how he had hoped he could trust her. Or how she's acting - both terms of attitude and powers - like demons he'd sometimes fight from his homeworld. Or how she just definitively proved in his mind that she's not the same person as Sekhmet was. Or how it wasn't 'we' who destroyed the altar - even though it was her job to do that. There's just too much to say, but very little of it is relevant to the matter-at-hand.

"And who should have the moral authority to decide if someone's a 'real person' or not?" he asks, as he goes to the alter to retrieve his sword. "And think carefully, because you've also been practically called 'not a real person', too."

But, first, before they descend, Zophiel feels the need to fix the paradox that happened earlier. With his sword retrieved and put away, he holds a gauntlet up and makes a crushing motion. Blackness spurts out of his fist. It travels back and around and out, consuming the overlapping timeline, sewing together the cracked time, and healing the paradox.
...
Just another perfectly normal paladin ability.

Once he's satisfied that the paradox is healed, he'll go down the stairs again.

[bc56]

"You can't tell? He was made of cobwebs and starlight. Like, uh, an illusion." Selekhael reaches out to gently prod Zophiel in the chest with her paw. "You're made of cobwebs and stuff too, but also of, uh, matter and energy. Real things. So you're more real than he is." She doesn't think of it as a moral decision at all. It's just obvious to her. That elf was gross and fake.

[5a Violista]

Zophiel's chest is...chestlike.
It gets prodded.

Rocks are made of matter and energy, too, as it turns out.
"And yet you're the one missing what many people would consider the distinguishing feature of being a person instead of a thing," he cautions. She can't even tell that much? "Seeing the way you acted made that incredibly obvious."