Outside 50: Meeting nature halfway

[Ironsmith]

[Off the Road]

"You. Got. Your gut. Stuck." Alan sounds somewhere betweem incredulous and annoyed. "You got your fat gut stuck in a crevasse because you went in there to escape an amorphous blob that could squeeze into any crack you could, even though you could have just walked three feet the other direction and been safe in the stream."

This wasn't a rescue. This was defiance of natural selection.

Alan lets out a long-suffering sigh and grabs ahold of the woman's feet and pulls.

[bc56]

Off the Road
"Hey! I panicked, you twiceling lunk! Just get me out of here!"
With a pop, the woman comes free. She's dressed in simple traveling garb. More surprisingly, she's only a couple feet tall, and quite pudgy. "You're rude, but thanks for rescuing me. I'm Melody Hollybrook, but you can just call me Mellie."

[Ironsmith]

[Off the Road]

Obviously she panicked. This situation was not the result of rational thought. Such an obnoxiously human failin-

...Oh, no.

Now, Alan has no idea what a halfling is. Before today, he would never have seen one. But dwarfism is a well-documented genetic condition, and juvenile humans tend to be a little on the smaller side regardless.

The point is, even though Melody isn't human in the strictest sense of the word, as far as he (and his programming) is concerned, she definitely is.

Which meant he'd have to obey any orders she gave him.

This idiot was going to get them both killed. Well, herself killed at any rate. With his luck, he'd just end up immobile in a godforsaken cave somewhere, unable to return to his original task of trimming azaleas.

"...Charmed." Alan drones, in a tone that implied he was not charmed in the slightest.

[Recaiden]

The (an?) actual Marin, even better!

"Maybe a bit." Meaning, actually Marin was missed quite a lot.

"Uh. Trains always neat to ride on, things moving by so fast. Second half of the ride, there was this passenger who wouldn't leave me alone."
"How that got my sleeve exploded, well, actually, there's something I wanna show you."

She lets go Marin's hand for the moment, and turns into a fox!

[Earl of Purple]

Wrecked Motorway

You don't understand, Ironsmith. These are girls who have been living on their own with no male company (besides the occasional chav, who usually aren't friendly, nor 'company' for much longer than it takes to either scare him off or kill him). They wouldn't answer his question because he's American and therefore they think he might be able to tell them if the Flash was there, too, and if he's looking for a girlfriend.

"What." Is Waheeda's first reaction to the question, and then Tristan explains. "Um. Maybe? I think I'd better take you all to the camp, show you the Head Girl. Do any of you know how to play cricket?"

Fred raises a hand. "If that's a projection, what's underneath? I mean, I don't think I'd trust us with a twelve-foot tall murderbot with saw hands." Which is a valid point, as nobody has actually seen Green for herself yet.

Wasteland Campsite

"If'n they be incapable o' penetratin' yer armour, I should be fine, aye?" Frigate does have delicate and sensitive parts, though the strigoi aren't going to see them so long as he doesn't get damaged. There's some near his joints, though. I suppose those are visible. "Ye sure ye want me? I be not stealthy, nor be I quick. Slow an' loud, though I be tough." Frigate wants to accompany them to try and keep the goblins safe, but he also doesn't want to have to reveal his actual motives and get involved on their side.

[5a Violista]

[Hopelessly Lost]

Seraphina thinks:
"Well, if it's not this way and it's not that way..." She looks both ways down the road. All roads lead to Rome, but they're headed to the Riftline, not Rome. "The only way there is offroad and it has to run parallel to this road. Well, that makes it easy: don't worry, we'll find it now."

Plus.
There's a lost kid.
Seraphina has to be the one confident they'll find a place now, and she can't just abandon her.

She points perpendicular to the road: "We walk half an hour that way, find a vantage point, and look for it or anything recognizable. If nothing appears, we come back to this road and do the same in the other direction. Easy, will find the train tracks in an hour and a half, tops."

"Don't worry, it was a very boring mountain range. You didn't miss anything." Seraphina doesn't recognize what Soda Springs Monument is, but if it's connected to the Riftline then all she has to do is get there and ask for a train service map, and she could find her way back to the Riverside Station and from there she can go back home.
"Oh. Right, introductions. I'm Seraphina. Nice to meet you."


The offending tree gets kicked.
It groans a little and its branches shake, and then it moves a half-foot away from Khannie.


[Townside Riftline Station]

"Oh, people who won't leave you alone are the worst." Marin still doesn't like being touched by people she doesn't know.

She watches closely.
When her hand is let go, she expects something like "the whole arm lights on fire".

Instead, she gets a fox.

"!"
Marin's mouth drops.
"What! Can? Have? Have you always been able to do that?"

[Ironsmith]

[Wrecked Motorway]

They had a point. Though Green wasn't really a murder-bot, her actual appearance of a mechanical skeleton wasn't likely to fly over much better. These girls have obviously been through a lot and her appearance might come off as threatening. Still, seeing no real alternative, she drops the cloak, letting the girls see her Terminator-like structure.

While she's not capable of feeling tense (except perhaps in a literal sense, being able to tell if she's near her maximum stress capacity), she nonetheless identifies this as a high-risk situation and is ready to fight or run if the girls freak out in a dangerous way.

[Wasteland Campsite]

One of the knights, who is decked out in full silver armor which would glimmer quite conspicuously in the sunlight and clatters loudly when he moves, looks over at Frigate with skepticism at the notion that they intended to approach this situation stealthily.

"Yes, I'm sure. You're one of the few of our number who won't be harmed by sunlight. While I doubt our fight will last very long, it would be foolish to turn down that kind of advantage."

Meanwhile, outside, the goblins will see a bright blue bolt of energy exiting the mouth of the cave, hitting near their position and kicking up an explosion of dirt.

[bc56]

Off the Road

Mellie grins and heads for the exit by the light of Kothar's axe. "Wow, you guys are like real adventurers! I don't know if you're going to keep spelunking, but if you need a place to stay for the night, I can take you back to my hole! I have plenty of food!" Kothar nods and begins to follow. He knows not to pass up halfling hospitality. He might be just a bit tall for it though.

[Ironsmith]

[Off the Road]

Since he has completely different notions of "comfort", doesn't require food and can't taste it, already dislikes the halfling and finds the idea of "going back to her hole" to be pretty sketchy, Alan is considerably less enthusiastic about her invitation. Still, that's where his guide was going, and he wasn't going to be able to get much further without him, so he'll just have to grin and bear it.

...Well, bear it, at any rate.

[Rebonack]

[Volcanic Fields]

One of the elders nods.

"Yes, but it burns with a divine flame. We know of its resting place. An old tale tells of a day when the Five Eyes will be united again. To think my tongue would taste of such an auspicious season," the elder says. "Sssnek shall accompany you to the human village. He knows the way."

Apparently Sssnek is the warrior that came into the village with Kothar.

It's really too bad no one is around who would get that really great pun name.

Lost on all these people who speak Draconic.

Anywho!

Quest continues!

Sounds like this part will be mostly non-combat maybe hopefully?


[Wrecked Motorway]

Tristan winces at Green's actual appearance.

"Geeze they really went all-in on the Terminator look, didn't they?" he mutters. Then shrugs. Then stretches. "Well, I think I'm up for a walk. How far away was your settlement again? What about you, Endurance? Do you think you're good for a midnight hike?"

Hopefully his name is for more than just show.

"Can't say I've ever played cricket before. My college didn't have a cricket team," he admits. He has in fact done some sports, just not that specific sport. "I've played soccer, or football if your prefer, if that counts for anything."



[Hopelessly Lost]

"But going off the trail is what got me lost to BEGIN with," Khannie objects. "I went off to look at a neat flower just a little way into the woods and when I turned around the trail was GONE!"

Which Khannie thinks is absolute nonsense.

If things get twisted up that bad just by stepping off a trail then there should definitely be warning signs.

(There were, Khannie just didn't read them.)

"So I went back the way I had come in and I found this road and I've been following it hoping it would go back to the monument," Khannie explains. She thinks this is pretty solid reasoning. By extension, going off the trail again would just get them MORE lost, right? AND there is a TON of tall grass off the trail it might be full of wild pokemon and she hasn't got anything to fight them with. The little girl huffs, trying to make sense of this terrible bad situation. "I'm Khannie Vallarm. You better not be one of those things that steal names otherwise I'm gunna deck you right in the nose if you try to take mine."

Khannie needs to set some boundries here.

And apparently so does the tree because it just scooted away from her.

That sure got her attention. She scrambles away from the tree a few paces, raising her fists like she's getting ready to throw down in a boxing match against a pine. When it doesn't do anything further she goes, "That's weird," and steps forward to touch the tree with her hand. "Hey can hear us mister tree? If you can sorry I kicked you I didn't know you could feel stuff."

[Recaiden]

[Townside Riftline Station]

"Oh, people who won't leave you alone are the worst." Marin still doesn't like being touched by people she doesn't know.

She watches closely.
When her hand is let go, she expects something like "the whole arm lights on fire".

Instead, she gets a fox.

"!"
Marin's mouth drops.
"What! Can? Have? Have you always been able to do that?"

"Can't have." The fox says, sounding a lot like Honeysuckle.

"Guess probably always could, but I didn't know how until, other day. Met Jade, she got turned into a house fox girl; we figured it out."

The fox carefully paces back and forth, to show off.

[Earl of Purple]

Wrecked Motorway

"She really is a robot. Cool." Fred doesn't say anything else. The other girls are taking it quite well, all things considered; they've been expecting weird stuff since they saw the flash, and these three they've met are pretty odd.
Waheeda looks at the two guys. "She said one of you weren't human. Which of you is it? And are you an elf or something?" She asks with a straight face.

Regardless of the answer Tristan gives her- Endurance just looks confused, poor chap, and he's a little startled still by Green's real appearance- the girls will point back the way they came. "There's a junction five minutes' that way, onto a dual carriageway. Our camp's fifteen minutes down the first turn off. So maybe twenty five, thirty minute's walk? Rosemary, that sound right?" Rosemary shrugs in response. She's apparently this team's designated time-keeper, but isn't very good at her job.

Wasteland Campsite

"Aye, I shall join ye. Lead th' way, I know not where th' skirmish did occur." Frigate stands and will join the others as they leave, resting his volleygun on his shoulder. He's intending to make lots of noise and be quite obvious, so hopefully the goblins will hear the group coming and escape. It seems one of the knights will inadvertently assist in this endeavour.

[Ironsmith]

[Wrecked Motorway]

Tristan winces at Green's actual appearance.

"Geeze they really went all-in on the Terminator look, didn't they?" he mutters. Then shrugs. Then stretches. "Well, I think I'm up for a walk. How far away was your settlement again? What about you, Endurance? Do you think you're good for a midnight hike?"

Hopefully his name is for more than just show.

"Can't say I've ever played cricket before. My college didn't have a cricket team," he admits. He has in fact done some sports, just not that specific sport. "I've played soccer, or football if your prefer, if that counts for anything."

Wrecked Motorway

"She really is a robot. Cool." Fred doesn't say anything else. The other girls are taking it quite well, all things considered; they've been expecting weird stuff since they saw the flash, and these three they've met are pretty odd.
Waheeda looks at the two guys. "She said one of you weren't human. Which of you is it? And are you an elf or something?" She asks with a straight face.

Regardless of the answer Tristan gives her- Endurance just looks confused, poor chap, and he's a little startled still by Green's real appearance- the girls will point back the way they came. "There's a junction five minutes' that way, onto a dual carriageway. Our camp's fifteen minutes down the first turn off. So maybe twenty five, thirty minute's walk? Rosemary, that sound right?" Rosemary shrugs in response. She's apparently this team's designated time-keeper, but isn't very good at her job.

[Wrecked Motorway]

Green turns her cloak back on, taking their response to mean that they were sufficiently persuaded of her non-murderbot-ness. She'll follow the girls when they go to leave, though if Tristan and Endurance don't go with them, it'll cause her some amount of hesitancy.

[5a Violista]

[Townside Riftline Station]

Marin is still a little surprised, and watches her foxy companion carefully in case this is some sort of magic trick and Honeysuckle is going to pop out from behind a pillar any second now.

The more time passes without a video camera that would prove this as some kind of social media prank, the more believable it is.

Marin crouches down to get closer, and reaches out to touch her.

"Wait, Jade?" All three of them went to that thing together.
Marin quickly turns to look at her own cat-tails, trying to check if any of them stopped being purple cat tails.
"Wait! Does this mean I'm going to turn into a fox next?"
But she's already wrapped up so much of her identity in being a catgirl! No offense, but it would be weird if she suddenly were a fox.


[Hopelessly Lost]

Seraphina doesn't want to point out the obvious, but she didn't see anything in half an hour in the direction she came from, but either Khannie was turned around and is going the wrong way, or they need to leave the trail.

But she's a kid.
Seraphina doesn't want to make it an angry lost frightened lost uncooperative lost kid.

"Did you tell anyone where you were going?" she asks. "If so, it's best to stay in place or find somewhere obvious as they look for you." That would be the next-best scenario, having someone who isn't lost find the two of them and tell them where to go.

Seraphina also looks at the tree.
And backs up towards the middle of the dirty path.

She crosses her heart, even though neither of them are paying enough attention to her gestures (as opposed to that tree). "Scout's honor, I've never taken someone else's name, not even as a prank. Would never do something as rude as that."


The tree doesn't answer her.

Instead, a sap starts oozing out of a hole farther up the tree. Being sap, it flows pretty slowly downwards.

It's very sticky and very sweet-smelling, though.

Seraphina smells it before she sees it, and after looking around, spots it: "Hey, look up," she says.

[Rebonack]

[Wrecked Motorway]

"Green was probably talking about me and I am absolutely a human," Tristan says, rolling his eyes. "She probably just can't wrap her little robot mind around my fantastical magic powers."

Tristan does his best to strike a very magical pose.

Whether the pose looks magical or not is a matter of interpretation.

"Okay, well, it's really one magical power that's worth mentioning. I can breath fire."

Which, all things considered, is still a pretty cool magical power as far as magical powers go.

Makes starting fires out in the wilderness way easier.

"Endurance seems to be a pretty regular guy, near as I can tell. Not that there's anything wrong with being a pretty regular guy. Most guys are pretty regular guys."

As opposed to pretty irregular guys.


[Totally Lost]

Khannie decides that it's probably a good idea to stand up straight and not look scared at all. This poor lady had been wandering around for a long time and having to deal with a scared kid would make things worse for her! Besides Khannie isn't scared she's tough and brave and not worried about being lost out here in the woods even a little bit!

Okay maybe a little bit but not MUCH.

"Yeah! I was going to see my friends at GLoG after school. But I had to got o the bathroom so I got out to use the bathroom at Soda Springs Monument so I guess no one really knows I'm here just that I was going to GLoG."

Which, now that Khannie is thinking about it, probably isn't enough information for someone to figure out where she is.

Too bad there's no cell coverage.

She could just look at a map if there was!

And then?

This is the moment a fairy dragon pops out of Khannie's back pack. The little orange dragon is sniffing at the air.

"Oh something smells good!" she says as she begins beating her little butterflying wings only for Khannie to grab her.

"Maridia no that's definitely a trap!" she warns the dragon.

[5a Violista]

[Totally Lost]

So.
...
If someone does come looking for her, they'd take weeks to find them here.
So staying here is probably not an option.
Seraphina's about to say something, but...
Sudden Fairy Dragon!
It does look cute and cool at the same time, somehow.

"It...it almost certainly is a trap," she says. Seraphina suspects it's probably a trap just for bugs, but...if it were just for bugs, it probably wouldn't have triggered by her touching it with her hand. But if it were a trap for people, it wouldn't have fled after getting kicked. "I wouldn't recommend touching it..." she says, suspecting it probably catches anything small-animal-sized or smaller.

But, on the other hand, it would be good to know if it's edible, if they get stuck here...
"Your..." dragon? "Your butterfly's pretty cute," Seraphina says. She reaches into her cloak for an inner pocket, and grabs a mithril scale that's roughly the size of her palm.
"Back up, I'm going to check how dangerous it is."

Seraphina steps towards the tree, and prods the sap with the scale.
...
Nothing.
She scoops a little onto the scale.
It's hard to pull away, but she manages to do it. The force of pulling away makes the pine tree's needles shiver.
"Okay..." She's now got a little of the sap on the scale. She tries to dab it on her wrist as part of a toxicity-test, and...
It gets stuck. It combines with the moisture on her skin, and gains the consistency of a rubbery glue. She can't even pull the scale away from her wrist for more than an inch or two.
"..."

She turns to Khannie and the butterfly dragon, and shows her wrist. "Yeah. Definitely don't stick it in your mouth if you like eating things." Although...maybe it'd be okay if it's cooked first, she thinks.
Actually, now she's curious: she turns and looks at the tall grass suspiciously. There could very easily be bones of animals that died of hunger or thirst hidden in there, after trying to eat this and getting their mouths stuck.

"Well, one way or another, we need to get somewhere where you can be found," Seraphina says. "Being here in this area would be too hard for anyone to spot you, unless we start a fire or something. I really would not recommend the direction I came from, but there is a town that way a few hours."

[Rebonack]

[Totally Lost]

"No way I'm touching a tree that skitters away and blows tree snot at me," Khannie declares, giving the tree a really suspicious look. It definitely isn't a normal tree. It's a weird tree. And touching weird trees too much is a really good way to get weird all over you and Khannie doesn't want any weird.

"Thanks you're cute too!" Maridia replies brightly even while she pushes against Khannie's face with one of her feet. Khannie watches the whole testing process while Maridia wriggles around in her arms. "But it smells sooooo good!"

Then?

Khannie gasps!

"It turns into GLUE!" she shouts in astonishment. "If you tried to eat it then it would glue your mouth shut! And it can move its roots and stuff so...."

Khannie shuffles forward cautiously and reaches out with one foot to part some of the grass near the base of the tree.

She's fully expecting there to be some skeletons there with roots wrapped around them.

"Miss Seraphina do you think it would be a good idea to have Maridia fly up really high and see if she can see anything?" Khannie asks. Maridia has stopped trying to escape now that she knows how deadly those sweets are!

[Recaiden]

[Townside Riftline Station]

It's good Marin was distracted by looking at her tails. Actually touching the fox would be a sure way to determine if it's a prank of some sort or not.

"Was a fox before. Probably just Jade's life. So dramatic, you know?"
No danger to Marin's identity here. Surely. Although maybe it would be a good thing to be a fox? Try something new?

"So, funny part of this, is, don't have my sense, but- I can see."
The fox demonstrates by opening her eyes and looking at Marin for the first time.
Huh.

[5a Violista]

[Townside Riftline Station]

Actually touching it would definitely confirm if it's a prank or not, but it would also ruin the magic of the prank.

"Okay. But I had the impression that the town had something to do with foxes, even if it was only something minor. Also it gave Jade the ability to change how she looked, remember?" Although that was probably just a coincidence and incidental. And it made Honeysuckle catch on fire. That may have also been a coincidence, though. And it gave Marin a second tail. Which also could have been a coincidence, but three coincidences feels a little too much. And now two of the people who went can now turn into foxes, which makes a fourth coincidence.

The catgirl looks at the fox's eyes.
She blinks.
"Oh! I see. Um."

She quickly stands up, and twirls around, then freezes, smiling with a little pose. "So how do I look, then?"
Notably, Marin's not wearing a turtleneck or a scarf, or even a necklace. Is wearing a skirt, though.
Also, her color choice doesn't go well together.



[Totally Lost]

Seraphina keeps on tugging at the mithril scale until it starts to hurt, and decides to just let it be. She'll eventually get it off, for sure. Might need to find some citrus fruit or something, but it'll work out.


When Khannie looks at its roots, she finds pretty much exactly what she expects. Lots of bones, from all sorts of different animals. After moving around enough, the skeletons aren't even completely intact, as some of them fell off into the grass or were pulled apart. Plus, even worse, there's still a relatively 'fresh' animal under there: already long dead, but not skeletal yet. A ferret, tightly embraced by roots.
Don't worry, though! It doesn't have a bad smell.
The root holding the ferret has flowers growing on it, that neutralize and mask the smell to make it smell like dirt and grass.

Seraphina scrunches up her face and backs away: she was also curious about confirmation for what was under the roots, but a dead animal still looks gross.

Something that Khannie said in the question distracted her and made her a little lost in thought.

"Oh, um, um...what?" Seraphina asks, trying to figure out what Khannie was asking, since she was a little distracted. "Oh, um. Flying."
She looks upwards, trying to see if there's any danger to flying upwards.
"Yeah, should be fine, if she thinks she can do it safely. As long as she comes right back." If there's predatory trees, who knows what else there could be around here.

[Rebonack]

[Totally Lost]

Gross.

Khannie makes a face at all the dead animals.

She's really glad that Maridia didn't go and get her mouth glued shut because then she might have ended up as one of those dead animals, too. A dead animal with a creepy crawly tree crouching on top of her like an owl with a dead mouse.

"You're a really mean tree," Khannie informs the really mean tree. Not that it can hear her or anything (as far as she can tell) but just because giving voice to her feelings on this issue makes her feel a little better about it.

And...

Okay maybe this is all making her a little worried. That she's lost out here in the woods and there are trees around that apparently trick people into eating their sap and then glue their face closed and then sit on them until they die and rot. If there are trees like that out here then what ELSE is out here? Khannie could also turn into a magical girl if she had to fight, but these trees don't seem like the sort of thing you have to fight. They hurt people by being tricky. That means they'll have to be tricky, too.

"Okay Maridia fly up high and see what you can see, okay? But be careful," Khannie warns.

"Alrighty!" the little dragon chirps as she kind of... shimmers? Shimmers like that weird alien Arnold beat up with a log until you can hardly see her! Then she beats her wings and ascends into the sky looking like little more than a wavering mirage on the road. Except. You know. Up in the sky.

[Morty]

[Wasteland Campsite]

There's a yelp as the bolt strikes and smoke starts to rise from the spot even as some pairs of feet scurry away. It seems that it hit something? It's actually a smoke bomb dropped onto one of Kuvesh's discarded pauldrons, but perhaps it'll fool the knights long enough for the goblins to retreat.

[Ironsmith]

Wasteland Campsite

"Aye, I shall join ye. Lead th' way, I know not where th' skirmish did occur." Frigate stands and will join the others as they leave, resting his volleygun on his shoulder. He's intending to make lots of noise and be quite obvious, so hopefully the goblins will hear the group coming and escape. It seems one of the knights will inadvertently assist in this endeavour.

[Wasteland Campsite]

There's a yelp as the bolt strikes and smoke starts to rise from the spot even as some pairs of feet scurry away. It seems that it hit something? It's actually a smoke bomb dropped onto one of Kuvesh's discarded pauldrons, but perhaps it'll fool the knights long enough for the goblins to retreat.

[Wasteland Campsite]

Skuld did not seem to be satisfied with this result. She throws another bolt in that general direction, causing another explosion of dirt and dust. Then another. And another. It soon becomes clear that she's either not aiming for the goblins in particular or has lost track of them; either way, the immediate danger is apparently minimal.

Maldwyn leads Frigate and the others to the mouth of the cave, where they'll see Skuld hurling bolt after bolt of arcane energy. Maldwyn holds up his hand, indicating that his men should hold position for just a moment longer.

When Skuld finally stops throwing magic, it becomes more apparent what they were doing. Her efforts have rewarded them with a heavy cloud of dust hanging in the air...

...blocking out the sun.

Maldwyn close his fist and lets out a mighty bellow. "CHAAAAAAARGE!"

[Earl of Purple]

Wrecked Motorway

"Breathing fire is very useful. We're almost out of matches, so we try to keep our fire burning. We've not had to light it for over a year, now." It's tricky keeping it lit, and a horrible job for somebody in summer, but not as bad as it can be during a storm.
"Yeah, I'm not a robot or a dragon-man. I'm a wanderer. The world I'm from had shooting stars a year or so before I was born, then dead people started growing flowers and walking around. My mum was in a group called the Children of the Love-Mother, they roamed America in a convoy of motor houses before, looking for the promised land. Turns out, the promised land's on Highway 26, since that's where the supply truck broke down, so they formed a car-wall around it and named the place End of the Road." Not the best place to settle, nor the best reason to stop, but if you can't repair the vehicle you're carrying your most important stuff on, then you have to make do.

The girls will lead the way, slowly but confidently. They're used to sneaking around like this, and Endurance is also quite light-footed. Despite coming from different worlds that underwent different apocalyptic events, the ability to get around without being noticed has proven useful to both.

There's not going to be any interruptions my end en route, but that doesn't mean no interruptions.

Wasteland Campsite

Frigate joins them in running out, trying to get in the way a little as he does so, to slow them down without it seeming deliberate. He's a sailor, so theoretically doesn't get involved in chases like this often, but he's not the most subtle of individuals so there's a risk of being caught. He will stop- probably in front of someone- lower his volleygun and pull the trigger. He's aiming it high, and directly at the source of smoke, so despite the spread and massive boom none of the nine musket balls should hit a goblin. It does at least remove the possibility of using the weapon later when he's more likely to accidentally somebody he doesn't want to hit.

If the nine musketballs do all hit the same thing, it will make a mess.

[Ironsmith]

[Wrecked Motorway]

"Green was probably talking about me and I am absolutely a human," Tristan says, rolling his eyes. "She probably just can't wrap her little robot mind around my fantastical magic powers."

Tristan does his best to strike a very magical pose.

Whether the pose looks magical or not is a matter of interpretation.

"Okay, well, it's really one magical power that's worth mentioning. I can breath fire."

Which, all things considered, is still a pretty cool magical power as far as magical powers go.

Makes starting fires out in the wilderness way easier.

"Endurance seems to be a pretty regular guy, near as I can tell. Not that there's anything wrong with being a pretty regular guy. Most guys are pretty regular guys."

As opposed to pretty irregular guys.

Wrecked Motorway

"Breathing fire is very useful. We're almost out of matches, so we try to keep our fire burning. We've not had to light it for over a year, now." It's tricky keeping it lit, and a horrible job for somebody in summer, but not as bad as it can be during a storm.
"Yeah, I'm not a robot or a dragon-man. I'm a wanderer. The world I'm from had shooting stars a year or so before I was born, then dead people started growing flowers and walking around. My mum was in a group called the Children of the Love-Mother, they roamed America in a convoy of motor houses before, looking for the promised land. Turns out, the promised land's on Highway 26, since that's where the supply truck broke down, so they formed a car-wall around it and named the place End of the Road." Not the best place to settle, nor the best reason to stop, but if you can't repair the vehicle you're carrying your most important stuff on, then you have to make do.

The girls will lead the way, slowly but confidently. They're used to sneaking around like this, and Endurance is also quite light-footed. Despite coming from different worlds that underwent different apocalyptic events, the ability to get around without being noticed has proven useful to both.

There's not going to be any interruptions my end en route, but that doesn't mean no interruptions.

[Wrecked Motorway]

Green follows the girls, and doesn't have anything to say unless spoken to or confronted by an interruption.

[5a Violista]

[Totally Lost]

The tree moves its roots down, to close up better and protect what it has. Khannie basically exposed its stash, which could let some of them get stolen by another predator. Otherwise, it doesn't answer her. It's a tree! It doesn't care what some random girl thinks of it.

Seraphina really hopes this sap stuff is just glue-like and isn't an irritant, because she can't take it off. She was expecting, if it were poisonous, she could just remove it and wash it off. Instead...she's going to have to wait? Either get an acid or something.

Luckily, where it is doesn't really matter at the moment. Just on her wrist isn't a big deal.
In order to pass the time while the butterfly-dragon was scouting the area, Seraphina decides to ask, "So, you said you were going to GLoG? Where is that, anyway? And what is it?" She hopes it's not another weird village-area or anarchic crimecity or whatever else she's run into way too many times here.


As Maridia flies upwards, she'll be able to see a few notable things nearby around.
First, yes, there's that village that Seraphina talked about. Seems like a pretty decent village! Small, normal, probably nothing wrong with it. A couple hours away, sure, but to someone that's lost, it's not that far away. Definitely can get there by late afternoon/early evening! It's even got some larger roads - likely trade roads - leading out from it.
Second, in the direction Khannie came from, there's a large clearing with no trees. Got a moderately-sized lake there, too, so that's neat. Closer than the village by a significant margin. The wind's blowing towards the lake, too, so it might be easier to go in that direction, going with the wind currents. The clearing is even accessible by staying on the road, so there's no need to go through the tall grass or the trees. It's even got an old, derelict fishing hut on the shore of the lake.
And, third, off into the forest and off the road, there's a little house made of gingerbread and candy and pastries, and it even has a little chimney with smoke coming out of it. There's no obvious pathways to the little house, but it should be fine just going through the tall grass. Definitely the closest option.
The opposite direction off the trail, meanwhile, is just more carnivorous conifers, for a long distance.

[Rebonack]

[Totally Lost]

Khannie makes a face at the tree. She doesn't want your gross dead weasel, tree!

She moves away from it because she already satiated her curiosity and also it's kind of creepy.

"Is your arm okay?" Khannie asks. "Like is that glue stuff itchy or making you sleepy or anything?"

That would make sense if it made things sleepy. They then would fall asleep and suffocate and the tree could hug them to death with its roots. Khannie is really hoping that isn't the case. If her new friend fell asleep and she had to drag her around that would be a TON of work.

"Glog? It's a camp site and a day care center and I guess they used to redeem villains?" Khannie recollects. "The mom of two of my best friends works there so I go there after school a lot of the time. I'm only taking a summer class right now on shadow illusions."

Seraphina has met a magical girl! Or maybe just a girl who is magical. Surely she doesn't have transformation sequences and stuff that would be silly.

Khannie cups her hands around her mouth and yells, "What do you see up there, Maridia?"

"A lake that way! And a little town that way! And lots more trees that way! And a house made of CANDY that way! Can we go to the candy house?"

"Heck no that's like Hansel and Grettle a witch probably lives there!" Khannie shouts back.

Technically it is her job to punch witches but if it's a witch that bakes children into candy it's probably the wrong TYPE of witch though no less deserving of getting punched.


[Wrecked Motorway]

"I'm not a dragon-man," Tristan retorts somewhat crossly. "I'm human with a pretty cool magical power."

And that's all he's got to say about that!

So.

Walking.

After walking ten or so minutes our heroes will notice something a bit odd.

Statues.

Statues of people made of light grey stone. Some of the people look terrified, cowering from something. Others look distorted and deformed. Mutated. But what really catches the attention are the electric blue pits in the stone oozing neon fluid. The otherworldly goop gives off so much eerie blue light that the area around the statues is well illuminated. A few of the statues look like they cracked open, revealing that they're hollow on the inside. The broken statues all lay in puddles of glowing ooze.

"Okay that looks hazardous as heck," Tristan observes.

[Morty]

[Wasteland Campsite]

When it becomes clear what Skuld was trying to do and the order to charge is given, the goblins abandon stealth and just run for it. This job has gone pear-shaped and they can only hope Frigate can succeed where they failed.

[Ironsmith]

Wasteland Campsite

Frigate joins them in running out, trying to get in the way a little as he does so, to slow them down without it seeming deliberate. He's a sailor, so theoretically doesn't get involved in chases like this often, but he's not the most subtle of individuals so there's a risk of being caught. He will stop- probably in front of someone- lower his volleygun and pull the trigger. He's aiming it high, and directly at the source of smoke, so despite the spread and massive boom none of the nine musket balls should hit a goblin. It does at least remove the possibility of using the weapon later when he's more likely to accidentally somebody he doesn't want to hit.

If the nine musketballs do all hit the same thing, it will make a mess.

[Wasteland Campsite]

When it becomes clear what Skuld was trying to do and the order to charge is given, the goblins abandon stealth and just run for it. This job has gone pear-shaped and they can only hope Frigate can succeed where they failed.

[Wastelands Campsite]

Fortunately, or rather, predictably, for Frigate, there's nobody at risk of being hit by his musket balls. All that really accomplishes is making a suitably intimidating boom as the knights charge, which in addition to everything else gives the goblins more than enough time to flee before the knights are on them.

When Maldwyn and the others arrive, the goblins are long gone. They don't have the capacity to pursue; Skuld's trick with the dust cloud wouldn't buy her anywhere near enough time to replicate it, and so it's only succeeded at extending their strike range to a littlw further outside the cave. For the next twelve hours or so, the goblins don't have to be worried about being chased by angry vampire-beastmen.

Evelyn kneels down asnd examines the discarded pauldron and smoke bomb. "Cowardly imps." She spits, realizing the intended deception.

Maldwyn lowers his weapon. "Make a note of their heading, Lyn. Come nightfall, we're tracking them down."

"Isn't that a little much? They wouldn't dare attack us again."

"Where there's a demon, there's an ample supply of people. They may lead us back to a settlement."

"...And if they don't?"

"Then we'll have lost nothing. Come! Back to the cave."

[Earl of Purple]

Wrecked Motorway

"Does that mean there's actual dragon-men about? And also, can I get a magical power?" Is Endurance's reaction to Tristan's reaction.

The girls stop at the statues, and Waheeda drops her fencing mask back over her face. "These weren't here last time we passed this way. Let's go round, the long way round. Stay as far out of the light as you can, guys. Might be radiation or something." Alas, they missed five years of lessons, including the physics and chemistry ones about radiation and its dangers. The six feral schoolgirls will go as far around as is practical, mostly keeping out of the light. Endurance takes his cue from them, and follows around, but he's got a shopping trolley loaded with his worldly possessions so will struggle going off-road until Short Bryony picks up the front and he lifts the back, carrying it between them rather than pushing.

Willow, a small girl wearing a school skirt, denim jacket and cut off wellies and armed with the cricket wicket, is very tempted to poke one of the statues. And so, as they walk past, if one's close enough she will, using her sharpened wicket to do the poking.

Wasteland Campsite

"They ain't demons. They be goblins. Any settlement they be runnin' to be full o' more o' them. We're maybe too close t' their settlement an' we've worried 'em. This caravan be not entirely a reassurin' sight, so many armed men travellin' at night. Goblins be persecuted many places, seen as monsters an' such. They'll set up traps an' ambushes to any who follow, 'cos they don't know we don't want to murder 'em all an' take their kids as slaves." And hopefully that's enough to discourage a chase, the idea that any who follow will find their way into a trap or ambushed by tiny gun-wielding warriors fighting to save their children.

[Murkus]

The Green

Artie turns her nose up proudly.
”Do not worry, Vivi. I designed this tail specifically for this sort of thing. Climbing eluded me in my mortal life.”
The snake-fey coils around the tree and pushes herself up, using her muscular tail to repeat the process. Climbing is easy for a proper tree-climbing snake such as herself.
”But if you do not have such a luxury I can probably give you a lift.”
Carrying Vivi will make this much harder but likely still doable…

[The Green]

"Oh. I didn't think you were one of those sorts of snake," Vivi says, blinking, and then grinning at the spectacle. Honestly she thought Artie would be too heavy, but this is fine. "Yes, please." She is actually a very adept climber, but she's never ridden a naga before. Hopefully Artie can handle it...