Outside 50: Meeting nature halfway

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

"Morning, Fudo." G'nichi says quietly, his voice somber. He doesn't really have much to add as he heads in.
He's not sure where Jeb could be at the moment. Nemeth is probably worrying about his door.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

There's a grunt of acknowledge from Fudo that could honestly go either way on the friendly/hostile scale.

As said before, most everyone else is here, lingering vaguely around their previously assigned cushions, but not yet sitting with the exception Hana who is in a slumped crouch staring at the floor.
Yuu is loiters sort of awkwardly nearby, but still seems the most positive person in the room by a fair stretch.
Kawa and Sumiye are muttering to each other over there, the latter looking particularly worried, while Atsushi stands silently by himself watching everyone else.

Lady Eiko is over by the altar, ostensibly praying, with the boy as usual glued to her side.

The second G'nichi's foot steps over the threshold his sword freaks out.
Not visibly, to anyone else, but in the back of his mind. There's a burst of fear for G'nichi, wrapped around a ball of hatred.
This is the closest it's come to thinking actual words to the hero, even though they're still mostly concepts.

There is a monster in this room. Not the sort of monster that kills young women in their sleep, but a genuine horror slipped from the borders of a nightmare, of the sort this sword was specifically created to slay. It fears G'nichi is not up to this task. Not now.

Unfortunately, it doesn't really have any specific information to go with this...

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

G'nichi can only try to lull the sword into some semblance of security. This being must be what was blocking Tiamat's sight. Syncope sent him into this to defeat the acquaintance she wanted him to slay. Now she might have implied he had better odds than she really thought but there has to be some chance. Perhaps this temple is to the thing buried under the town? It would make sense if part of this is to feed it at least in name.
G'nichi doesn't belong with these people. He can't think of anything to say except to get somewhat over to Atsushi.
"Um. Did I miss anything besides the uh, obvious?" he whispers.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

Suitably heroic music is probably playing somewhere as our heroes lay into the boss!

It doesn't last long, though! With a roar it heaves itself up right again, sweeping one of its huge limbs across the room!

Shortly followed by the OTHER!

Oh no!

Look out of those deadly boss attacks, heroes!

Jeany LEAPS over the first attack! Then makes a jump to avoid the second, only to get clipped and crash to the floor!

"I'm okay!" she shouts.

Probably okay. Don't let up the pressure, heroes!


[Found an Inside]

Pepper blinks.

Then laughs and rubs the back of her neck awkwardly.

"Oh, haha, yeah, that's true isn't it? Wowie, how could I mix something like that up?" she giggles.

Probably fae things.

"But I know what you mean! The Nexus is pretty surreal until you get use to it," Pepper says as she starts off toward the City. "I guess you could look for a place to stay first? There are lots of different charities around the City that help newcomers get settled in. OR! I could volunteer my apartment! It isn't very big, though. Just one bedroom! But I don't sleep in my bed anymore so that probably isn't a very big deal."

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

The sword can't really offer any insight into what Syncope was thinking, but it's still feeling pretty anxious for G'nichi here.
This room is a death trap, it's sure.

Atsushi gives G'nichi a curt little nod, though his gaze has currently fixed itself on Hana and hasn't deviated yet.
"...no, not really. Just the reality of the situation finally hit them. The fact that it came from Yuu didn't really help."
Picture it now G'nichi, that's probably your fault too.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Linus jumps, then pulls out his shield and sword to protect himself from the second swing. He's sent flying across the room and lands hard on his shoulder but his sword takes most of the blow. With a groan he sits up and tries to blast the monster again!

Found a Fortress

"The city might be a good place for you to get started. But you can stay at Fort Aegis a while if you want to! I'm proud of our service. The kobolds have really come a long way." Spako certainly seems proud of his employees. But he did train half of them himself.

ABAJ - Day 3

"I didn't think getting it from me would have been any better. I had hoped Hana...no, that was too much to ask of her. I'm really botching all of this, aren't I?" G'nichi sighs. He's not feeling great about the proceedings. Somehow he's going to have to convince a bunch of people to kill Nemeth with barely any actual evidence to speak of. Are they really going to believe "a crazy goddess told me?"

[bc56]

Mountain (not Peak)

"A trial. To strengthen myself." Kothar explains. He frequently does such things in the pursuit of martial prowess. He didn't expect to fight, but he's always able to if he needs to. Climbing the mountain was supposed to be a test of his resolve and courage.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

Jeany is busy reloading her glowbug gun while doing her best to avoid getting savaged by meyetes. It's working okay but this is always an annoying process. Too bad she can't just keep firing like someone in an action movie! Then she wouldn't have to pause to reload! She could just keep pew pewing forever!

Granted that's sorta what the sac-fed weapons like the venom cannon and the strangle-thorn launcher are for.

But those weapons are REALLY not well suited for dealing with an amalgamation beast like this thing. They work best against heavily armored targets.

Linus, meanwhile, fires at the boss again!

It vomits a cloud of meyetes, allowing the tiny creatures to take the brunt of the attack.

Several of them land nearby and begin nipping at Linus.

The jerks.


[Mountain Descent]

"That's actually really impressive. Usually when people want to strengthen themselves they do weight training instead of climbing mountains and fighting thunder knights," That Guy replies, suitably impressed. "Did you know the knight would be up here? I sure didn't. He caught me by surprise."

What with getting clubbed into a rock and all.

The trip down is, thus far, not too bad.

It's still pretty cold up here.

But at least they're getting down below the snow line. Only the two two hundred feet or so of the mountain was covered in snow. The steps help quite a bit, too. Climbing a mountain that doesn't have convenient stairs is WAY harder by contrast.

[bc56]

Mountain Descent

"Weight training?" Kothar doesn't know the meaning of the term. "I knew not of the guardian, or of the temple." The kind of ridiculous serendipity it takes to stumble on a mountain with both is rather commonplace in the Nexus though.

[Rebonack]

[Mountain Descent]

The Nexus IS pretty odd like that, isn't it?

"Weight training," That Guy repeats. "Where you lift heavy things to build muscle mass? I guess if you're a wandering paladin you'll probably get plenty of workout just doing paladin things."

Fighting for the innocent is quite the training regime.

"I just sort of showed up nearby," That Guy admits. "And this place seemed odd and interesting so I checked it out. Not sure how long I'll be able to hold onto the dream, though. So if I up and vanish all of a sudden don't be worried about it."

That's...

Kind of a weird thing to say.

Right?

Acting like this is some sort of dream?

[bc56]

Mountain Descent

Kothar seems unconcerned with the strange being's utterances. He's seen and heard stranger, even before the Nexus. Instead he just focuses on the descent. They must be a good way down by now.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

Atsushi chews on his lip a bit here.
He finally looks away from the people over at the cushions and looks at G'nichi, seemingly coming to a decision.

He drops his voice pretty low, quiet but still enough for G'nichi to catch if he pays attention.
"We might still be able to make this okay. I know you're not a Demon. I know."
There is a definite "do you get my meaning?" tone to that statement.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

Ah. Atsushi is the Detective? Or the Hound or whatever names we're going on here. He could also be the Target but eeeeh, why would he be helping if he was the being that likes bloodshed?
"That's good. I called in outside help; I already know who the first demon is. The second has a very small list of candidates. And I have proof it wasn't me anyway. But they're not going to believe me."

iDungeon

Linus swipes at the tiny meyetes and rams a bunch with his shield. This is fine. He needs fodder to charge his sword so he can charge his shield so he can blast it again.
After a few good swipes he runs in front of the monster so he can get a good angle on it when his shield-blast is charged, which should happen when it swings at him again in 3...2...1...

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

Atsushi seems rather perplexed by the declaration G'nichi just made, but his eyes travel to the giant sword being hefted around, notes that it is somehow entirely different than previously displayed weapons, and evidently determines that G'nichi is capable of something unusual.
"Hmm...okay. You're right, they probably won't believe you. But if I vouch for you, it might help a little. Can you explain any of...any of that at all to me?"

You have a good ally here G'nichi, but he needs details if collaboration is going to happen here.

There isn't likely a lot of time here, Jeb and Nemeth still aren't back, but knowing the former this is not going to be delayed for very long.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

"A goddess owed me a favor. She tracked Mari's blood for me. Other than you know, her body and the room she was killed, there was a decent amount of Mari's blood at Nemeth's home and somewhere around here. I can't prove who was at the temple first thing in the morning but only Nemeth would have been at his house. Besides, I have his footprints in her blood all over the scene, and I got a good vision of the killers thanks to my magic. One tall, one short. Yuu and Hana were clean, so the only short people left are Eiko and the kid. But I'd focus on Nemeth since well, he's a jerk and people like Fudo don't seem to like him.

Also Nemeth's door got mysteriously blown up while I was tracking the blood trail so they're going to accuse me of that." G'nichi says that in a way that makes it very clear that they would not be wrong to accuse him of this but that is not the important part when it comes to getting Nemeth outed as the killer.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3 Banquet]

Well.
"A goddess owed me a favor" is still a pretty rough pill to swallow, and it definitely shows on Atsushi's face.
But it's technically possible? Very, very technically?

And that slight accusation towards Lady Eiko and her ward makes me blanch a little.
"Lady Eiko...will be a very hard sell...even Jeb likes her, in his way. The boy is new, only showed up a little before you did, but she's taken full responsibility for him. Something about the priestess' duty to the lost, I think."

But G'nichi is right in that Nemeth shouldn't be too hard of a sell.
"Okay, we'll start with him then. I'll tell people you're clean and we can work from there-"

"Shuddup and get inside."
"But they tried to kill me!"
Jeb returns, hand on Nemeth's shoulder and pushes him into the room.

Everyone turns to see them enter, with an uncomfortable silence following as the elf looks at G'nichi, jerks a finger his way, and shouts "that lunatic is one of the Demons!"

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3 Banquet

"Don't out yourself if you can help it." he whispers.
G'nichi sets his bag on the ground and gets started.
"Don't be ridiculous. We all know what happened to the people who break the big rules. Anyone trying to kill you would get pulped like the others. Although apparently none of the other rules have much weight given how much magic I've been throwing around the last few hours. But still, I don't know if Hana and Yuu looked inside Mari's room this morning but I welcome anyone who's curious to do so. If they did you would see more of these."
G'nichi takes out the bloody footprints and leaves them out on the center of the floor.
"Our Demons made quite the mess, and left quite a lot of evidence. I'm no detective and couldn't take anything very exact but you will notice that, well,-" he thumps his very dragonlike foot onto the floor. "Our demons have very normal human shoes, which I cannot wear."
He adjusts his glasses.
"Now I was at Nemeth's place this morning. I'm sorry about the door. It's covered in thorns so I tried to use my sword to knock and it thought I wanted it exploded. I'd pay for it but...." he fixes him a dead stare.
"But I was only there in the first place because my spells to track Mari's blood led me in a straight line directly to your humble abode. Now why is that, Nemeth?"

[5a Violista]

[Found an Inside/Dungeon/Fortress]

Finding a place to stay is definitely in the top priority. "I'd rather not impose on anybody..." thinking that both staying at a not-really-used apartment and staying somewhere with not-quite-servant kobolds count as 'imposing'. Especially it would be imposing on the kobolds, even though June is really curious about what they look like. But, then again, getting help from a charity is probably equally bad when there has to be so many other people around that need the help more.

Ugh! she wants to groan. Why is this so hard? When someone needs your help, you really shouldn't give them such an obvious chance to turn down the help because what if they're really prideful and are okay with making things harder for themselves if it means they aren't a bother?

June sighs and turns back around, facing forward, so that she can debate what to do without having to remind herself that these two people literally were just out to find some metal bars and now one of them is going to have a random girl intrude in their homes, even if temporary.

She puts her hands up behind her head, so that from behind she looks pretty well-put-together and that she she's literally just deciding this on a whim. Meanwhile be bites her lip and tries to speedrun reasoning through all the pros and cons (if she takes too long to think about it, she's afraid they might actually figure out it's not a spur-of-the-moment whim made by a carefree girl!).

"I'd really like to see what these kobolds are like." June laughs and turns backwards again. "Kinda want to see if they're as good as you say. How far is this Fort Aegis, anyway? I feel like I could walk for days, if I had to."
There.
Nailed it.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3 Banquet]

The arguing has already started! Well that's not quite how this order of operations is supposed to go.

Lady Eiko quietly moves everyone to their seats as G'nichi begins his arguments, while Atsushi gives our hero a subtle little nudge to take a spot as he moves off to his own.
Jeb is significantly more blunt about shoving Nemeth towards his spot before finding his place.

The (purifying?) drink that was in the middle of the cushion circle is passed along the ground equally quietly, as no one seems particularly eager to get in the way of things just yet.
Except Jeb, because of course it's him.

While G'nichi continues his argument, the older man picks up one of the footprints and investigates it.
"No one saw the room but me."

Nemeth is in a reluctant kneel on his cushion, but his indignant body language hasn't changed much.
"Her blood wasn't in my manor, thank you very much. I wouldn't soil the furnishings with such filth."
He seems like the sort of haughty person where this might be a true statement in general times...
"And if it was, how do we know it wasn't because you brought it there? To frame me, perhaps? Your footprints are very disgusting, but if you have the magic to destroy my door, who is to say you can't fashion some of that poor girl's blood onto paper?
We all know you look down on our quaint little settlement and its customs. It seems perfectly within character of a hateful outsider to turn us against each other for his own blasphemous ends."

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

"Oh no, Nemeth. The blood wasn't on your furnishings. It was on you. From when you made that horrific mess of my friend and her room along with your shorter accomplice. Perhaps you washed most of it off but you can't ever get quite all of it. And Jeb saw the room so he would have seen all the other footprints."
For the last part G'nichi raises an eyebrow-ridge and tilts his head dramatically.
"Looking down? I look down on them? These people you walk around calling 'transients' to their faces? I'm disgusted by this game and everything around it, but at least I use people's names. I've been here 24-hours and you've shown nothing but contempt.
Besides, if I was one of the demons why on Earth would I go for the only person who stood up for me yesterday? Why wouldn't I go for one of the people pointing the finger at me like Jeb? Of course, two people apparently decided that Mari's sins were their most pressing concerns. I haven't a clue what she could have done to deserve that"

Found a Fortress

"Oh, you saw a kobold already. That's my two-legged form. But the fort's just a little while away if you want to go." Spako would show her again but he doesn't want to shift back and forth over and over. He'll only get tired.

[Rebonack]

[Mountain Descent]

Definitely a good way down!

In fact...

They're at the bottom of the mountain.

That...

That should have taken longer, right?

Even with the stairs it should have taken Kothar the better part of the day to get to the top of the mountain. And relatively speaking it wasn't that big of a mountain.

That might just be Outside being strange.

Regardless of the reason, there are a pair of signs pointing off down two diverging trails. One sign has a picture of a lake and the other a picture of a forest. Handy!

Just a matter of following the sign, right?


[iDungeon]

Sure enough!

While Jeany is busy shooting the monster again it does that double leg-sweep at Linus!

Better watch out Linus, it seems like it's getting really testy! Especially since a shotgun blast of grubs is currently eating pockmarks in its hind end. Thankfully for the monster more meyetes keep pouring out of the walls to replenish its mass! That's a bit less thankfully for our heroes but hey no one ever said that adventuring and dungeon delving are supposed to be easy.


[Found a Place to Crash]

"You two have fun!" Pepper calls out as she heads into the city. "Thanks for going on an adventure with me, Spako! It was nice!"

[bc56]

Lake Approach

Kothar heads for the lake path. It shouldn't be too far to the lake, especially if the weirdness of the Nexus keeps cooperating. His companion seems awfully quiet. Is he still there? He did warn that he might possibly disappear.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Well it worked last time, so Linus repeats the maneuver to see if the monster is learning or it's just going to work again. Jump over the first swing, use both shields on the second, try not to dislocate his shoulder, and launch a sword blast at the thing's face!
The shields work but man he's going to need some ice when all of this is over...

[Rebonack]

[Lake Approach]

IS he still there?

Should Kothar check he'll find That Guy is conspicuously absent.

Weird.

Maybe he'll pop up again later?

Or maybe not.

It remains to be seen!

Should the paladin decide to continue on alone, he'll soon find the lake in question. Considering all the steam vents, the bubbling mud pots, and the scent of brimstone this appears to be a thermal lake. The water in the largest of the lakes, however, isn't bubbling. And there are plenty of water plants and birds flocking to it. A beautiful, crystal clear pool of surprising depth. Kothar may be able to see what looks like a stone shrine at the center of the lake. Should he test the water he'll find that it's pleasantly warm.


[iDungeon]

Okay.

This time.

This time for SURE!

Linus launches the sword blast at the monster and-!

KA POW!

Right in the eye!

Down it goes again, its weak point exposed!

"This fight is way more video-gamey than usual," Jeany comments idly as she lays into the monster with her bone sabre again.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

"I dunno, they've all seemed pretty video gamey. Maybe someone just got tired?" Linus suggests as he pokes the eye as much as he can.
You'd really think that being stabbed once or twice would do it but apparently not.
He's not going to complain much, though. If it was much more complex he wouldn't be maybe getting away with just bruises.

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

That's good. The water is perfect. Kothar sheds his clothes and gear, except for his belt, goggles, axe, and shield. He can hold his breath a long time, so he's not too worried about plunging into the water and swimming for the shrine. He's a strong swimmer.

[5a Violista]

[Found a Fortress to Crash]

"Oh. I see," June says. So that's a kobold, then.
Okay.
Makes sense.
"So you can do both." Both be a kobold and a dragon.

"Bye!" She waves after Pepper. And, since she's thanking Spako, it's only right if June thanks Pepper, too, right? "Um! Thanks for saving me, again!"

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

Sometimes bosses are just silly.

Once again the monster leaps to its feet after being wailed on for a bit, giving a roof-shaking roar as it lashes out at our heroes with its limbs again!

Once!

Twice!

THREE TIMES!

Jeany manages to avoid the first attack, only to get clipped by the second and clobbered by the third. Ouch. Right into the wall she goes. Thankfully the jeanstealer is made of pretty stern stuff, otherwise that probably would have been an incapacitating blow. Still... she doesn't seem very happy about it. A bit on the knocked for a loop side of things, really.

She's struggling to stand up again and a whole bunch of meyetes are nipping at her now.

The jerks.


[Thermal Lake]

The water, as mentioned, is warm.

And the deeper Kothar goes, the warmer is gets. Thankfully not hot enough to be dangerous, but still pretty toasty!

Upon reaching the shrine he'll find a small stone entrance that leads into the interior of the structure.

It's much bigger on the inside.

Also?

There's air inside.

Smooth blue stone, quite unlike the greyish rock outside, dominates. A huge pool, which Kothar will have just surfaced in, fills the main chamber. Beyond is a tiered waterfall with a torrent cascading down its face and into the pull. The nearest level he could approach, but there appear to be two more levels well beyond his reach. The stone is quite slick and incredibly hard. Maybe there's some way to raise the water level? Should he peak below the surface he'll see a well vanishing into the stone. Also? A doorway built into the rock of the far wall. In the shallows at the base of the waterfall it appears as though something may be hidden there, too.

So.

Options.

Well. Underwater door. Waterfall door.

What does Kothar do?

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

A water dungeon. Kothar has done similar things before. The place had flooded chambers and machines that relied on redirecting the water flow to work. If he wants to raise the water level, he should start at the water. So, his first instinct is to go down the well. Down there could be where the water is draining out. He gets a lungful of air and swims down, unconcerned with darkness or depth. This sort of place would have been easier to explore with a party, but he's fine alone.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Linus jumps past the first swing, takes the second with his shield like before-
-and gets knocked senseless by the third because you can't just go changing the pattern like that!
His weapons clatter to the floor as Linus goes sprawling against the floor.

Jeanie might want to do something before he gets swarmed.