Outside 50: Meeting nature halfway

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Night 2]

"Hold on, there's a few more details here you should know before I turn you loose."
There's a ghost of a smile again at his punching request, but she pats her hand in the air in a "settle down" gesture.

"First: you still have to respect the rules of the game, that particular termination process is automated and I cannot exempt you from it. Any such loopholes will be taken advantage of by our adversary and that will end poorly for everyone.
Second: the 'Demons' are just pawns. My associate is in this game, and picked the 'Demons', but they're not going to be one of the killers themselves. You need to terminate all three of them to end this properly. I can't tell you who they are, unfortunately, as they have assumed the place of someone else entirely.
Third: do not let them know you are aware of the greater situation. It will be very difficult for me to maintain the integrity of the game, if they realize it's against their goals. Understand?"

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Night 2

G'nichi doesn't sit down but he doesn't look like he's going to take his swing right at this juncture.
"This plot is already in motion. Three people are dead, and I won't let them die in vain. This is the only reason I will accept this, and I'll have my say to you about it later as I promised.
Now, of course there will be angles I'll have to take. Does your 'associate' know about my weapons? If I lie and say that my 'mysterious tools' gave me a hint about the heights of our killers would that tip them off?'
Oh, and it's entirely in character for me to be mad. Because wouldn't you know it, I'm actually furious. So I hope you don't mind that I will be probably loudly swearing against your little moniker and-
Wait this isn't even the first time the blood thing has happened, how long was this long con?"
This is true. Was the last game not to the death? Or is G'nichi poised to be the secret weapon for a centuries-long ploy?

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Night 2]

He can take that swing if he wants, but Syncope would really like to get this conversation settled first.
She thinks it's more important than revenge oaths.

"My associate doesn't know anything about you. Keep playing the generic outsider hero angle and you'll be fine as far as tipping them off goes. May make you more or less of a target, it's hard to say.
You can use whatever methods you see fit, within the rules, as long as you don't ever directly acknowledge the metagame. I don't think they'll have time to figure it out, if you don't."
There's no particular offense being taken to all the anger here, as it seems to have been perfectly expected.

Mostly. That last question seems to give her the slightest amount of pause.
"Is that what they think happened? Fascinating. I hope you'll forgive me on this one, as I've been very forthcoming thus far, but I really can't elaborate on that just yet. The situation is still a little unstable with your involvement."

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Night 2

"Very well. Then my last requests are thus: since I assume you cannot simply tell me and let me end this in the next two days (and if you can please do), I humbly request that when the game is up you give me something strong enough to actually confront my target. Branch would not be terribly useful. Unless there's something about him I'm missing? The other is, well obviously it's to give me a name when the time actually comes. You've been very vague though I'm sure it's to keep me honest in my moves." Knowing who is target is would possibly make him too clearly angry at someone besides Shimono.
Well and to let him have his punch but that's already been said before.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Night 2]

"Give you...? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not actually in your bracelet, or the bracelet itself, if that's what you're thinking. I'm definitely using it as an instrument to reach you here, but I'm quite separate.
If you give me some time, I can probably figure out how to help you...influence your weapons, but you would lose usability for some time. The designer of this artifact was a enchantment genius and untangling the spellcraft without breaking it will be quite the ask. Doable, I think, but not something I can snap my fingers and accomplish for you."
Syncope stares at the bracelet, an expression somewhere between admiration and annoyance on her face.

She glances back at G'nichi and frowns.
"The name of your opponent, I can give that to you later, certainly. Knowing it now would present a metagame risk, so you will have to wait. If it was safe to tell you, I would do so. I doubt the name would mean anything to you, but it would definitely mean something to them that you knew it at all."

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Night 2

G'nichi takes a deep breath.
"Very well. Then it sounds like we're done here. I will win your horrible little game. Or at least survive it. However the bracelet chooses my tools I will take what it gives. Even if most of them aren't very much helping this. And I will take any help you feel safe giving me." He straightens his glasses.
"You're still an awful piece of [EXPUNGED] for all this, though."

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

Kothar's goggles are effective at shielding him from the blinding light. And now he sees... A pendant. The source of the divine power? He doesn't see any immediate purpose to it, but it's possible it has innate effects.
Either way, Kothar isn't about to touch it. For all he knows, it could make you the next black knight guarding the mountain.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

"I've got the stranglesthorn launcher," Jeany says as she back-peddles away from the meyete and narrowly avoids getting grabbed by it.

The nasty thing is quick!

"I could try that?"

She begins trying to pull the weapon out of her pack, but it's a large two-handed contraption and bringing it to bear is unwieldy against such a small foe!

What's Linus going to do?

It's coming for him again!

Trying to sword blast it didn't work that great.

Maybe there's some other way to deal with a small, mouse sized foe?


[Mountain Peak]

Or maybe it's a really cool magical trinket that gives you a lightning shield!

This is why it's nice to have someone around to identify magical objects, isn't it?

"Oh hey, come take a look at this," That Guy calls out as he leans over the altar the pendant is hovering above. Should Kothar join him, he'll see that the altar is decorated with what appears to be a map. At the center is the peak they're currently on top of. A small white symbol marks it. Surrounding the mountain are four other symbols. Green, blue, red, and yellow. They mark a forest, a lake, a fiery mountain, and a shifting desert. "This is definitely some sort of treasure map. Do those pillars spread around the room have the same symbols on them?"

Should our heroes double check they will find that they do, in fact, bear the same symbols.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Night 2]

There is a shrug.
"Hm, there were similar thoughts when I helped engineer the slaying of dear mother. I'm used to it. Fortunately, my protection doesn't demand gratefulness."
Syncope tosses the bracelet back towards G'nichi and turns her cheek.
"I believe you wanted a parting punch?"

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Night 2

One more deep breath from G'nichi as his fingers clench.
"A true and proper hero would not take out his anger on other people." G'nichi says before giving Syncope his best right hook.
"But as Sword keeps telling me, I still have a long way to go before I'm a hero."

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Night 2 Day 3]

There is a moment of satisfying fist-against-flesh contact, before Syncope shatters into millions of silvery particles, much like metal shavings.
They fill the room, surrounding the space around G'nichi is a chaotic swirl of reflected light and gray.
In the midst, a final murmur in his ears.
"I like that in a champion."

A bird chirps somewhere nearby and G'nichi awakens in his bed, the glint of sunlight peeking in under his room's door.
Leaning against the wall near his cot, an enormous sword as long as he is tall, made of faintly blueish metal and an ornately spiraled bronze handle.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

G'nichi wakes up. Hello, Giant Sword. What's your name?
G'nichi slips on his pants and goes outside without putting his shirt or weapon strap on. He goes straight to Mari's room next door with a spare blanket. She deserves to be buried by someone who actually gives a damn about her. Which from the sound of it would certainly not be Fudo. He doesn't want any of them to even touch the body after what she said about them. He wishes he hadn't assumed that whatever her deed was it had been simply what got her exiled to this rock. He had truly thought that everyone being exiles might have softened the blow of whatever it was.
And yet here they are. Yuu, Hana, Eiko, and the boy. Jeb, Fudo, Sumiye, Nemeth, Atsushi. The killers were short and tall, which means only one from each group. And more importantly, they're dumb enough to go for someone they disliked instead of a tactically advantageous option. It is grim, but he will wring every ounce of advantage he can out of Mari's death or he won't ever forgive himself. If nothing else, it will be harder for Jeb's faction to implicate G'nichi on the death of one of two people publicly nice to him.
Holding his breath, G'nichi opens the door and does his best to wrap Mari's body if there is one left.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

Looking at the sword, it seems to glint a faint greenish blue that has nothing to do with the ambient light.
It doesn't talk to him, but maybe that's because he hasn't picked it up yet. There is a strange feeling of alarm that tickles the back of G'nichi's mind, however.

Running out into the fog-muddled sunlight, the world itself is unsuspectingly calm.

Mari's door isn't locked, so his passage is not barred.
Holding his breath was probably wise, as the stench of blood and death has filled the small room as much as it can, surging back out the door as it's opened to the outside world.

The room is a horror, but not to the degree of the librarians.
It's still very clearly Mari, even if she has been thoroughly broken by multiple blunt impacts, and more of her blood on the surrounding furniture than in her remains.
There are bloody footprints on the floor, leading back out the door, but the blood stops very abruptly at the threshold.

[Rebonack]

[ABAJ]

The bracelet is meant to prevent bleedover from the weapons when they aren't summoned. Purely for the saftey of the wearer, of course.

Imhullu, however, is not merely a weapon.

The sensation is distant. Muddled. Like a light deep under water. A burning pinprick of incandescent rage.

Tiamat feels the hopes and sorrows of all her children, but it is a maddening cacophony. Through Imhullu, through G'nichi, she has for the first time in ages suffered loss through the eyes of one.

Murder.

A still, small voice at the back of G'nichi's mind.

Still the usurper gods murder my children for their perverse pleasure. Oh Mari, Mari, Mari my daughter! Your blood cries to me! Please, pour out her blood as a libation that my earth may drink it. Give her spilled life back to me and I will aid you as I can to end this cruel game.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

Well, this is more than he expected in terms of evidence. G'nichi goes to his bag and gets some paper and his phone. And a cup. And undresses since this is his only set of clothes and he can't afford to get them covered in blood. He wraps Mari's corpse in the sheet and the one she was killed on as best he can. It is grim work but he does manage to collect enough blood from the scene to partially fill the cup. If Tiamat needs more she cannot have it. He will not juice the body of his friend for her sake, even to solve the murder. He photographs and does his best to get an impression of the bloody footprints onto the paper (both sizes if he can). He's no forensics expert and he knows he's dirtying the scene but in this case if he doesn't catch the killers right away everyone dies so there's that.
After that he does his best to wash himself off of the blood and leave Mari's wrapped body outside for him to take it into town and to the graveyard. He does wish he could bury her somewhere she'd rather be but leaving her out for days would only be worse...
And he will pour out the cup of blood onto the earth.
This is for you, then. If you can find he or she whose hands are stained with the rest I give this to you, Kindly Tiamat. Well, the ones stained that aren't me.
But if you so much as touch her soul I shall never forgive you. I can offer this gift of the blood she no longer uses, but her soul is something neither of us have any right to touch.

[Morty]

[Steelbite Canyon]

"These bandits are as yet unaware we struck here and killed their leader. We can strike and take them down in the confusion when they find out we did," Calm Reed suggests.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

This is unpleasant work, for a variety of reasons, but nothing in particular goes out of its way to make things more difficult for G'nichi.
Mari was athletic in build, but not particularly large by any measure, so that should help him bundle her up.

The blood on the floor still appears to mostly wet, perhaps assisted by the tendrils of mist coiling around on the floor.
Accordingly, putting them to paper is easily done, with the slight complication that they aren't complete footprints. Perhaps as a consequence of the odd movement patterns of the Demons, the footprints are fairly smeared, making definite sizing difficult. He can make some decent approximations here, but it won't quite be enough to absolutely damn someone who puts their foot to it for him.
But it may help narrow the field further, perhaps.

After this is all sorted, and he places Mari's body outside-
"Oh my god."

Hana's head pokes above the top step of the stairs, as she freezes part-way up.
"What? Did she leave out all her booze bottles again?"
From behind her, Yuu's voice can be heard.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

The footprint isn't much to go on but it should be able to at least differentiate between the shoe size of Yuu, Hana, and the boy.
"The Wolves went for her first. She had told me that people hated her but never what it was. I didn't imagine they'd choose her over everyone else." G'nichi stands up and approaches the two.
"And if you two know I would very much like to know about what that was all about, because two people in this town decided that out of everyone they wanted her dead more than anyone else. And I'd like one of them to be the one dead in a few hours and not someone innocent."
Yeah he sounds pretty upset.

iDungeon

Well, poking a tiny thing is pretty hard so Linus opts to make use of surface area.
That is to say, he lets go of the sword (she'll return to the scabbard it's fine) and takes his shield into both hands so he can smash it down on the Meyete as it jumps at him!

[Rebonack]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

One must understand that Tiamat is a dead god. If she's to accomplish anything in the world of the living, she needs some measure of life to do it.

Her miracles are powered by blood.

This is a large part of the reason why her cultists tend to be so overwhelmingly awful. When are cultists who sacrifice human blood EVER a positive influence on anything?

So, speaking of sacrifices? The blood poured out soaks into the soil. It curdles and bubbles, taking on a vague shape that one might say looks like a serpent if they really squint. Then?

I will try. If they are yet stained with her blood, I will find it if I am able, comes Tiamat's voice.

Then a pause as G'nichi gives his warning.

I have no sovereignty over the House of Dust, nor over the land of the living. My strength is spent and my horns are broken. Oh, that I could free my children! My eyes weep rivers at their fate; to be slaves and concubines to the usurper gods in the House of Dust forever. But no, Mari has not descended beyond the bars and gates of death. Her shade yet lingers in the land of the living. Is it this foul game that shackles her here? I can not say. Find a mantis and divide it asunder to give voice to the dead.

Oh hey she's suggesting you do some necromancy, G'nichi. That's probably a great idea.

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

Kothar looks at the map, and at the pedestals, and nods. "The symbols are the same." That helps figure out what's going on here. The amulet isn't a tool or a trap. It's probably a key. Apparently, there are 4 others. "Where are they?"

[Gullara]

[A Hunter must Hunt]

Anika puts her hands on her hips as she looks at the pixie in utter confusion. "What, so you're saying that the entire world got enlarged except of you for some reason- oh wait, you're actually just that tiny." She scratches her head as this relatization dawns on her.

"Well... that must suck? No wonder you're so angry."

[A Hunter must Hunt]

"I'm not angry." Mimi claims, jabbing angrily with her spear to make her point. "You just don't know what you're talking about. I'm normal sized, you're oversized. That's it. Who'd wanna be big and clumsy like that anyway? You were better off when you were a bird."

[Shadowcaller]

[Fort Aegis Resort]

Ambrosia smiles back, it was hard not to with all those hatchlings crawling all over him. "Yes, erm, but let me introduce myself. I'm Ambrosia Ithil, a scholar of dragons like yourself, Sylvess. I'm trying to catalogue all the types of dragons I can find in the nexus. So to that end I was wondering if I could, ah, conduct a interview of sort." Not the best setting for an formal interview but she had a feeling this would be a much more casual one considering all the kids running about.

She then glances at Thariza, giving her a chance to introduce herself.

[A Hunter must Hunt]

Yeah, that stabby spear really proved just how calm she was.

Anika holds up her palms as a show of no ill intent. "Whoa, whoa, let's start over shall we? I just, uh, haven't met anyone like you before." She offers her hand as if to shake the pixies. "I'm Anika Sunfletcher and I'm a kaldo'rei. Who're you?" If Mimi doesn't seem interested in shaking a hand who probably could hold all of her, Anika will instead use her hand to beat her chest. She had seen that being a relatively common gesture of respect. Just wished she wouldn't have to hit her own boobs to make it.

[Rebonack]

[Mountain Peak]

"I recognize the volcano field from flying up here. It was pretty hard to miss," That Guys says as he looks over the map. "It wasn't THAT far away, either. The other three locations are probably pretty close, too. I bet we could see them from up here on the mountain peak."

You can see many things from mountain peaks.

It's one of the upsides to climbing them.

Or just...

Flying to the top.

If you're lazy and happen to be blessed with wings.

"My curiosity is definitely piqued. What about you Mister Paladin? You feel like hunting for some magical keys to see what they unlock? Looks like we've got a choice between volcano, desert, lake, and forest."

All excellent adventuring locations. Classics, really.


[iDungeon]

Skoosh.

Linus just mooshed the bug.

A chime sounds and the door on the opposite side of the room unseals!

Well.

That was easy.

"That was WAY too easy," Jeany says as she finally manages to get her strangle-thorn launcher ready to blast things. She seems suspicious, glancing this way and that for any other threats. But nothing seems forthcoming...

Hmm... Maybe that was all?

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Linus just kind of shrugs.
"I've got nothin'. Nothing is jumping out but neither is any treasure."
I suppose the two of them simply head for the door.
How odd.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

Our heroes head for the door only for it to slam shut again.

Because of course it does.

There comes a grinding noise as dozens, no hundreds, of holes open up in the walls and meyetes come pouring out!

Heaps and heaps!

Hundreds and hundreds!

They gather together into a growing giant meyete-shaped mass until, somehow, a huge EYE forms right in the middle, glaring down balefully at our heroes!

Ultimate ocular amalgamation
Megameyete

Cue boss music.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

"I hope you kept that launcher out!" Linus shouts as he draws his sword again. He tries to see if there's enough charge for another blast. Otherwise he's going to try to stay out of range of the giant monster-legion and look for something that's going to actually take some damage from being stabbed.
Generally giant hordes aren't something you fight with a little sword or a pistol. Unless you're Viktor Saltzpyre.

[bc56]

Mountain Peak

"Lake." Kothar replies. He hasn't had a good swim in a while. It will be a change of pace from frigid mountainsides.
Unless it's still cold at the lake. What's the climate like in these parts?

[5a Violista]

[Found a Fortress]

"Even if the person who made it doesn't know, the fact is it still exists which means it works somehow," June says, contending with the other idea.

She goes up the stairs, and follows past the BIG OBVIOUS pulled LEVER and wonders how old the shrine is. Dried flowers could mean anything if this place was sealed off pretty well. She obviously doesn't open the chest, since it's clearly a religious sort of thing and ransacking an altar would just be rude.

...
And she just ignores that her traveling companions are probably going to do it anyway.
To aid her in her quest to ignore the ransacking of a religious altar, June stands facing the cave out and decides now is probably the best time to finally get to know the people who saved(?) her from that execution cart and dragon and whatever else. "Oh? Where are you guys from, anyway? Sounds like this sort of thing is a pretty common occurrence for you."

[Lord Magtok]

The Hegemony Flagship

Spoiler

Show

[The Hegemony Flagship]

As Admiraltok approaches the engine room, the door swing outward to meet him. No doubt the flagship is equipped with fancy doors that require no menial pushing and swinging to open, yet today the engine door swings. The force of the impact that tears the door from the surrounding wall might be transferred into our intrepid hero if he's caught too unaware.

Admiraltok, regardless of his condition, barely has a moment to recover from that surprise before his ears are filled with a throaty roar. It's difficult to make out what's happening at first. Was there an explosion in the engine room? Then the last bits of load bearing purple robe burns away, accompanied by the clatter of armoured plates and falling cloth, the source of the disturbance comes into view.

"Outta da way, ya skinny git!" There's a wall of green muscle and shiny, chrome metal standing in what once was the doorway to the engine room, as naked as the day he pushed his way out of the dirt, if marred by soot and burns rather than earth. His red, mechanical left eye telescopes out to focus on the Tok. Mercifully, Admitaltok is spaced answers to any repressed curiosity he might have had about orkoid physiology by metallic construction in the ork's hands. There's clearly bits of the engine factored into this construction, along with other components that have gone missing over the last several days.

An alien saboteur! A green man from outer space, mutilating our engine for his own vile purposes! Even worse than that, however, is the horrific mess the creature leaves in its wake! Soot, grime, scorch marks, maybe even some oil spots or coolant splattered about. Admiraltok picks himself off the ground with an irritated scowl, already thinking about how long it's going to take to scrub all the soot and grime from his stupid white uniform. Gods, can you imagine how much worse it could've been if he was even closer to the explosion when it happened? Blegh.

"Who in the hell are you?" the cyborg questions the beast, one hand sliding to the gun at his hip the empty space where his sidearm would've been, if he'd wisely had it sitting in its holster. Instead, it flew out of his hand when he got knocked back by the explosion, and now it's...oh! Right there, on the floor beside him. He crouches and reaches a hand out for it, careful not to take his eyes off the brute as he does so. Good, we'll need that if we're going to vaporize this ugly lug. Gods, is he ever hideous. Hideous and vaguely familiar somehow, too. Have we seen something like this monster before?

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

"I...I don't..."
Hana is barely even registering G'nichi at this point, her wide eyes locked onto that bundle of blankets.
She takes a step back down the stairs away from the scene, and Yuu takes the opportunity to slip around her side to get a peek for himself.

"Whoa. That's her body? That sucks. ...can I see it?"
There is a flicker of empathy around "that sucks", but then he defaults back to his usual degree of frankly insensitive mirth.
He's also definitely going to try to go over there to look at Mari's body.
"I heard that she beat someone up real bad once. Killed them maybe? Maybe just sent to a doctor. I dunno! She didn't talk about it much. Or at all. Ever."