Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

[Ironsmith]

[Thrakeld]

Ah, but you see, Kagranac HAS no stamina.

He can run it a pitched gallop indefinitely.

Which is rather the point of having a mechanical horse.

"Hmm... I would hate to see you stuck on foot while I ride. It... just wouldn't feel quite right," Fenris sighs as she accepts the book and slides off her steamwork mount. "You ride, then. I'll, ah, hoof it myself. As it were."

Then?

She takes a deep breath as she clenches both fists, emerald threads of magic weaving over her and-

It takes place in the blink of an eye. No sound of popping bones and squelching flesh. No ripping clothing and tearing metal. Her armor is whisked away by her magic and in the span of a heartbeat there stands an impressively large grey-furred werewolf. Grey, nearly white. Luminous. Radiant. Golden light pours from her coat, her golden yellow eyes blazing with intensity. Her claws and teeth are nearly painful to look at, like gazing into the sun.

"Push Kagranac into a full gallop. I can keep pace," Fenris says, her voice a deep rumble partly garbled by her teeth. But she's still understandable in this shape.

[Thrakeld]

Oh. Right. Werewolf.

...Shiny werewolf.

Yuvan does as he's told and mounts the mechanical horse, instinctively giving it the kicks in the sides that would encourage a flesh-and-blood horse to get moving. If that doesn't work, he'll look for buttons to start pressing and experiment with them.

Shuttle to L1
Actually, Sekhmet doesn't realize those barriers are down. She's not constantly probing Miranda's mind, that would be rude. She's aware enough to detect powerful psychic activity if it happens (especially without a barrier obscuring what's going on. Lizzie can't make a move without Sekhmet knowing it (and Lizzie knows that) so for now no one takes advantage of the opening. The most Lizzie does is express her frustration at the situation.

[Shuttle to L1]

"...So." Miranda begins, stirring around her porridge. "We've, um... we've got another eight hours together. How did you want to spend them?" She has to practically bite her tongue to keep from indulging an honorific there; it still feels appropriate, even knowing Sekhmet hates it. She's going to skip right over the exercise options... she can always do them when it's just her awake, and besides, that seems like a good way to waste the precious time she has alone with Sekhmet.

[Rebonack]

[Thrakeld]

Kagranac has no buttons or levers and thankfully responds to commands and directions more or less as a normal horse would. It makes riding the Dwemer machine significantly easier. Upon being spurred forward the mechanical horse takes off at a fully gallop, shock absorbers in his legs making the right significantly smoother than that of a natural horse. The machine feels like it could drop off a cliff and absorb the impact while the rider would hardly feel a thing.

As for Fenris?

She drops to all fours and takes off in a loping run, the light bleeding from her claws leaving marks burned into the earth.

Our heroes are making significantly better time like this.

Hopefully they'll make it to the ruins without any interrupt-

"Halt there, citizen!" yells an orc dressed in mismatched Imperial armor. He's surrounded by five other definitely not bandits in similarly ill-fitting gear.

Fenris can smell the blood from the corpses hidden in a nearby draw. There's a good chance Yuvan can as well. The scent of blood and offal, the scent of battle and death, isn't a subtle thing.

"You two are interfering with Imperial business. You're gunna have to pay a fine. Uh... one hundred gold. Yeah. Pay up, citizen," the orc demands, heedless to the fact that he's yelling at a Mer in full armor riding a mechanical horse and a werewolf that blazes like the sun.

"I swear to the Divines, here too?" Fenris rumbles in disbelief.

[Ironsmith]

[Thrakeld]

Yuvan smirks under his helmet, though neither the poorly-disguised bandit nor Fenris would be able to tell. These guys were a rather obnoxious random encounter, yes, and would rather especially be so back in Nirn. But out here, he had many more options at his disposal, and he intended to make good use of them.

"By the eight!" He exclaims, dismounting the mechanical horse. "Where have you been? I put in that troop request to General Tullius almost a month ago!" He looks them over, his helmet visibly tilting back and forth as he sizes up each of the men. "...Though I must say, I'm surprised only six of you decided to volunteer for this assignment. Dwemer ruins can be frightening places, I know, but with all that extra pay plus plundering rights, I was certain there would be more of you." He shrugs haughtily. "Six will do, I suppose. We'll just have to take it a little slow. Just as well, I should say; more time to search the place properly." He points in the direction they were traveling. "Come on, then, step lively! We've got war funds to raise!" He'll turn to go, but he'll also hear out any protestations. And if the bandits call him a "citizen" again, he'll correct them, saying the appropriate form of address is "Legate".

[bc56]

Shuttle to L1
"Huh? Uh, I don't know." Sekhmet frowns. "Are you all right? You're acting strangely." Her concern is enough for her to ping Miranda's psychic defenses, and finding them down, her worry only grows. Is Lizzie doing this? No, she's not, and that's even weirder. Sekhmet's face shows genuine concern and nervousness over the situation.

[Rebonack]

[Thrakeld]

"Uh..." the orc in an officer's heavy plate grunts in reply, not quite sure what to make of this.

One of his fellows elbows him.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Of course. The volunteers, that's us. We, uh, didn't recognize you out of uniform, sir," he continues. "So, looting rights?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea, boss?" one of the other bandits asks, this one a dark elf.

"Shut it, I'm in charge here. Or, uh, our superior officer is. So we'll follow his lead. And we'll be sure to take any night watches. Just to be sure no bandits make off with our booty," the orc says, winking to his flunkies in the least subtle way possible.

The party, now consisting of a former Thalmor, a robot horse, a werewolf, and six poorly disguised bandits continue on their way toward the Dwemer ruins. Fenirs isn't sure whether she should laugh or cry over the situation.

"Hey, are you a werewolf?" one of the bandits asks her.

"No, I'm a sabre cat," Fenris replies in the deadest of pans.

"Really? Huh. Awful wolf-y looking for a sabre cat."

"Julianos preserve me..." Fenris laments.

[Ironsmith]

Shuttle to L1
"Huh? Uh, I don't know." Sekhmet frowns. "Are you all right? You're acting strangely." Her concern is enough for her to ping Miranda's psychic defenses, and finding them down, her worry only grows. Is Lizzie doing this? No, she's not, and that's even weirder. Sekhmet's face shows genuine concern and nervousness over the situation.

[Shuttle to L1]

"Of course I'm all right." Miranda replies with a slight frown. Why wouldn't she be? She's got things under control here. Is it weird that she wants to enjoy her time with Sekhmet a little? Or that she kind of wants the demon queen's approval, on some level? She's a social animal, of course she's latching on to the only other person here. The alternative is a brush with insanity.

[Thrakeld]

"Uh..." the orc in an officer's heavy plate grunts in reply, not quite sure what to make of this.

One of his fellows elbows him.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Of course. The volunteers, that's us. We, uh, didn't recognize you out of uniform, sir," he continues. "So, looting rights?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea, boss?" one of the other bandits asks, this one a dark elf.

"Shut it, I'm in charge here. Or, uh, our superior officer is. So we'll follow his lead. And we'll be sure to take any night watches. Just to be sure no bandits make off with our booty," the orc says, winking to his flunkies in the least subtle way possible.

The party, now consisting of a former Thalmor, a robot horse, a werewolf, and six poorly disguised bandits continue on their way toward the Dwemer ruins. Fenirs isn't sure whether she should laugh or cry over the situation.

"Hey, are you a werewolf?" one of the bandits asks her.

"No, I'm a sabre cat," Fenris replies in the deadest of pans.

"Really? Huh. Awful wolf-y looking for a sabre cat."

"Julianos preserve me..." Fenris laments.

[Thrakeld]

"One last thing." Yuvan will add from on top of the mechanical horse. "Are any of you battle-mages? I have potions for you."

If any of them step forward, he'll give them some of his stock of Fortify Destruction potions. "These will enhance the power of any Destruction spells you cast, for a short time." He'll explain. "They're rare and I don't have many, so don't go using them before I tell you to." All technically true, but leaving out an important detail.

He watches the exchange between Fenris and the other bandit with amusement, shaking his head and stifling a chuckle.

[bc56]

Shuttle to L1
"It's, uh... You've been very accommodating. But, uh, today, you're, uh, doing all these extra things for me. You're, uh, treating me more like royalty than a person. I, uh, don't really like that." If Sekhmet wanted to be treated like a queen, she'd go to her court and order some servants around, but she really prefers to be treated like anyone else. Demon queens are people too.

[Ironsmith]

[Shuttle to L1]

"...What are you talking about?" Miranda asks bluntly. "I mean, yeah, okay, I did call you 'your highness' earlier, and I can see how that might weird you out, so I'm sorry about that. But other than that, I haven't done anything for you that I wouldn't have done for my papi or my little brothers. I'm... well, I suppose I'm really just trying to be a good host, that's all. You are sort of stuck with me for another 260 hours or so. I just want that to be a comfortable ride."

[Deathkeeper]

[An Improbable Adventure]

Sounds like Fenris isn't rid of G'nichi just yet.

"The city. As in The City? The one you had mentioned before? I suppose being familiar with the major population centers nearby wouldn't be unwelcome," Fenris muses.

She'll wait for G'nichi to take the lead since she has no idea where they're going.

An Improbable Adventure

"I live in Inside, yes. It's usually that way." And with that slightly worrying phrasing G'nichi sets off in what may or may not be south-west with Fenris in tow, hopefully for a boring trip home.

[bc56]

Shuttle to L1
"That's, uh... Okay, I guess. But, uh, why do you have your mental defenses down? That's, uh, very risky in your condition." Sekhmet asks. She doesn't want Miranda to do something stupid and give Lizzie complete control.

[Rebonack]

[Thrakeld]

As it happens there is one 'battle mage' among them.

A Breton by the looks of him. Who apparently knows exactly one spell.

Frostbite.

Really not the cream of the crop, these ones.

Regardless!

There are no further encounters on the way to the ruin entrance aside from a oddly colored black and orange fox that runs away when the party draws a little too close for comfort. That is likely completely irrelevant and won't be important in any way in the future.

As for the ruins?

Well...

They really aren't much to look at. A large granite outcrop stick out of the earth, the base of which is largely overgrown with shrubs. As the shop keeper said, an overhang obscures a small cave descending into the stone out of which steam steadily arises. In the depths, one can hear the hiss of steam and the clank of gears. Here and there vent systems stick out of the earth, the perfect place for dwarven spiders to come leaping out of.

"We ain't never fought Dwarf machines before, boss, you sure this is gunna be okay?" one of the bandits asks.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. How tough could they be?" the orc replies confidently.

Fenris, meanwhile begins pacing between the nearby vents, ear to the earth. There's always a tell-tale skittering sound that announces approaching spiders and she's planning on providing some degree of warning if this turns out to be an immediate ambush. Thus far nothing is trying to stab them to death, which is encouraging. Honestly she doesn't have the highest hopes for the bandits. At best they might manage to distract the constructs for a few moments.

[Ironsmith]

Shuttle to L1
"That's, uh... Okay, I guess. But, uh, why do you have your mental defenses down? That's, uh, very risky in your condition." Sekhmet asks. She doesn't want Miranda to do something stupid and give Lizzie complete control.

[Shuttle to L1]

Miranda's eyes eyes widen. She's not sure which disturbed her more; the fact that her defenses were down and she was vulnerable to a psychic incursion, or the fact that she was unaware of it, even if only briefly.

Mirnada takes a deep breath and recenters herself, re-erecting her defenses. It only takes a minute or so, but if Sekhmet wasn't here to catch out Lizzie, that would have been a minute too long.

"...I don't know." She says finally, hands steepled over her nose in an expression of exasperation and worry. "Lizzie must have found a way to turn them off. Directly or indirectly." She frowns. "Which means I also don't know how to stop her from doing it again. Damn."

[Thrakeld]

As it happens there is one 'battle mage' among them.

A Breton by the looks of him. Who apparently knows exactly one spell.

Frostbite.

Really not the cream of the crop, these ones.

Regardless!

There are no further encounters on the way to the ruin entrance aside from a oddly colored black and orange fox that runs away when the party draws a little too close for comfort. That is likely completely irrelevant and won't be important in any way in the future.

As for the ruins?

Well...

They really aren't much to look at. A large granite outcrop stick out of the earth, the base of which is largely overgrown with shrubs. As the shop keeper said, an overhang obscures a small cave descending into the stone out of which steam steadily arises. In the depths, one can hear the hiss of steam and the clank of gears. Here and there vent systems stick out of the earth, the perfect place for dwarven spiders to come leaping out of.

"We ain't never fought Dwarf machines before, boss, you sure this is gunna be okay?" one of the bandits asks.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. How tough could they be?" the orc replies confidently.

Fenris, meanwhile begins pacing between the nearby vents, ear to the earth. There's always a tell-tale skittering sound that announces approaching spiders and she's planning on providing some degree of warning if this turns out to be an immediate ambush. Thus far nothing is trying to stab them to death, which is encouraging. Honestly she doesn't have the highest hopes for the bandits. At best they might manage to distract the constructs for a few moments.

[Thrakeld]

"I don't want to hear any more of that sort of talk." Yuvan grumbles. "You are legionaires. You've faced down more dangerous threats in training than these run-down dwarven machines."

He's as aware as Fenris is that these bandits weren't exactly Tamriel's finest, but there's no sense in letting them walk in demoralized. And they probably were still reasonably strong; they did manage to kill the legionaires whose armor they're now wearing. A little indirect motivation along those lines would certainly be called for.

For his part, Yuvan still seems totally at ease as they approach the ruins. Although his confidence may be misplaced; he's used to approaching with much stronger gear.

[Earl of Purple]

Pixie Grinder's Compound

Unfortunately, Boada can't get the pixie dust off Yuvan, so he gets to keep it. She's just left frowning, and turns away as she opens the fridge. Inside, there's quite a bit of food, some meat and vegetables. There's also a bottle of Argonian Ale in the door, and some of the raw meat is human- well, elf, as it happens. If Yuvan can tell the difference.

"That's odd. The light came on. I've not seen a jenny about, have you? Uh. Electricity, runs from a generator. Big thing, probably loud and smelly. There's not one outside." And there's none in the kitchen or living room, either. Might be in one of the other rooms, downstairs or up. Matter of finding it, really.

Abandoned Battlefield

"Hear that, girls? We got salvage rights to the little one. Let's go have a look. I... I know it's been quite a bit more stressful and scary than we were expecting, but... We're probably trapped here, now. We should take advantage." The tank rumbles back to life and heads over, the commander offering what comfort she can to her crew. "I'll check the cockpit. This place is dangerous, we know that now. I hate to say it, but we can't rely on Love's Revenge for defence. Hopefully they'll have pistols, or something that survived." She's also interested in if the crew of the mech were human, since Almoner said they were from another planet. "Maybe food, too. Jenny, see if you can find the thing's fuel tanks, see if we can get any diesel from it." It's probably a long shot, but it's a chance. "Amelia, see if there's any parts that look as though they're compatible or upgrades." They stop next to the wreck, turning off the engine and disembarking. There's four of them, and three go off to see to the tasks assigned to them- finding fuel, finding anything that might fit as spare parts, which is quite unlikely- not many similar parts between an obsolete seventy-year-old tank and a giant futuristic walking war-machine. And Anne-Marie heads to the dead vehicle's cabin, looking for weaponry, medicine, food, and water.

Bone Hills - The Maw of Akarkhentkats

The gold melts and drips off the halfling's bones, which keep coming, a little scorched from their contact with molten metal. It weakens a little, as the gold reinforcing the bones was partly responsible for their unusual strength.

The elf is tackled to the floor by the manticore, and slaps at it in response. The lion-beast's fangs can bite into the gold, ripping chunks away and cracking the bones underneath. Broken bones hinder the skeleton encased within the gold, and if the manticore can manage to fit the elf's golden head in its mouth and squeeze hard enough to crack the skull within, the undead stops moving.

The child heads towards the elemental, to try hugging its leg in the hope it has bones it can break with a powerful enough squeeze. The apparent danger of approaching naked flames doesn't trigger any reaction from the statue, whose gold trousers have cracked and fallen away from its legs. When the child was affected by the Midas touch, the trousers were touched too, probably not deliberately.

[Ironsmith]

Pixie Grinder's Compound

Unfortunately, Boada can't get the pixie dust off Yuvan, so he gets to keep it. She's just left frowning, and turns away as she opens the fridge. Inside, there's quite a bit of food, some meat and vegetables. There's also a bottle of Argonian Ale in the door, and some of the raw meat is human- well, elf, as it happens. If Yuvan can tell the difference.

"That's odd. The light came on. I've not seen a jenny about, have you? Uh. Electricity, runs from a generator. Big thing, probably loud and smelly. There's not one outside." And there's none in the kitchen or living room, either. Might be in one of the other rooms, downstairs or up. Matter of finding it, really.

[Pixie Grinder's Compound]

Yuvan shrugs. He doesn't know enough about how refrigerators or electricity or just about anything remotely modern works to make a judgement call on the subject. If Boada says it's odd, he essentially has to take her word for it.

So naturally, he's a bit surprised when he goes to retrieve the meat and finds it cold. How bizarre. This container must have some sort of frost enchantment on it or something.

"Let's say you're right." Yuvan begins, tucking the elf meet away without concern. "What are the implications? This 'Jenny' isn't a threat to us, is it?"

[Earl of Purple]

Pixie Grinder's Compound

"I'm tempted to say no, but... it might. Kill the generator, the house loses power. That fridge starts to warm up, the television in the other room goes dark, all the lights stop working. And if there's any traps powered by electricity, they get disarmed too- unless they have their own battery, I guess. But so far, we've not seen any traps at all, so maybe it'd do nothing." Boada reaches into the fridge and grabs a cucumber, taking a bite.

Ruined Motorway

The Tetrarch continues barrelling along, but there's an issue- the road ahead is blocked. The raiders in their hodgepodge technicals made a barrier of wrecked vehicles, cars stretched lengthways across the lanes, with stingers and caltrops spread across the road before it and five people behind, with crossbows, rifles and handguns, which do nothing against the light tank. The metal tracks destroy any caltrop they go over. The tank hits where two cars were pressed together, bumper-to-bumper, sending them spinning away. One of the raiders goes down under the iron plates of the tank's tracks, another is caught between a car and a concrete divider.

The chasing technicals also continue onwards. One clips a stinger, bursting the tyres to one side and slewing into the concrete barrier. Another brakes and turns to one side to slow down and not hit the traps, the gunner stumbling and falling off the side- onto some caltrops, screaming. The schoolbus also comes to a stop, the doors opening and seven people getting out to clear the way. The final technical also manages to stop without harm, and rattles some shots off at the tank.

The tetrarch also slows down, and turns around. It fires a high explosive shell which sails into the schoolbus, detonating and sending scrap metal scything across the road. One of the raiders who disembarked from it is injured, and they all turn and run off the side of the road as another shell is loaded into the cannon and the turret tracks around to the technicals.

[bc56]

Shuttle to L1
Lizzie lurks menacingly at the edge of Miranda's awareness, trying to make it clear that yes, she was responsible, and yes, she could do it whenever she wanted (even if that wasn't nearly the truth). "But then why wouldn't she take control?

Abandoned Battlefield
The most notable thing about the damaged Panther is that it's still running, a small fusion reactor in its torso providing energy to the entirety of the machine even after the pilot was killed.
Speaking of which, the cockpit is a bit of a mess. The pilot was human, female, but having taken the anti-tank shell in her upper torso, there's not much left of her. She was apparently wearing some sort of lightly armored flight suit, but it's been pretty badly damaged. She did have a sidearm, a small submachine gun, and a combat knife strapped to what's left of her shoulder. The cramped cockpit is lit by the light of a bewilderingly complicated control panel flashing numerous warnings about structural integrity and the fact that the mech is currently lying helpless on its back.

[Rebonack]

[Thrakeld]

Fenris is not a tactician. She hasn't ever watched any large scale battles before. Nor participated in one. But she has noticed that Imperial forces are often traveling around in pretty small groups, which makes them vulnerable to getting ambushed by bandits.

Which is likely what happened here.

Looking carefully, our heroes will notice three points of ingress.

The first is the cave that likely leads down into the lower parts of complex. This is the way you're supposed to go in.

The second would be those vents the spiders like leaping out of. That might be a tight squeeze, but it's probably possible to shimmy in there.

And finally?

Fenris sniffs a few times before turning her eyes upward, pointing with a huge claw.

"Overlook. Probably an exit. I can smell the poison thick from up there," she says.

Or door number three, the way you're probably supposed to leave through upon completing the ruin run. It would be a precarious climb to get up there, but it might be possible. However, there's a good chance that the door is barred from the inside.

Which route will our heroes take?

Regardless of which, that light around Fenris burns blinding white for a few brief moments and she's human again.

Also smoking a bit.

"HA! I knew you weren't a sabre cat!" one of the bandits proclaims, pointing at Fenris.


[An Improbable Adventure]

"Hold on just a moment," Fenris says as she clenches her fingers, causing a brilliant white ball of magic to appear in each her. She casts her spell, releasing the power and causing a stark white hole in reality to appear!

From which she pulls out-!

And oblong bronze? machine about the size of a grown man and quite a bit thicker. She raps on it a few times with her knuckles and it obligingly unfolds into a full-sized steamwork horse!

"I'm going to wager you don't have a mount, considering that you were out for a jog. Yes?" Fenris asks.

[Deathkeeper]

An Improbable Adventure

Ah, a trans-temporal claudication.
G'nichi is definitely surprised by this show of magic and technology.
"Um, that's correct. I've never learned how to ride. Or fly." But he did own a little scooter way back when. It was too small for him even before he got big.

[Ironsmith]

Shuttle to L1
Lizzie lurks menacingly at the edge of Miranda's awareness, trying to make it clear that yes, she was responsible, and yes, she could do it whenever she wanted (even if that wasn't nearly the truth). "But then why wouldn't she take control?

[Shuttle to L1]

"She's afraid of you." Miranda replies matter-of-factly. "I don't think she'll take control while you're paying attention. At least, not until we get closer to our destination and she gets more desperate."

And then, totally involuntarily, a plan comes to mind. She's spent a lot of time chasing bad people, it's only natural for her to slip into thinking like them every now and again. In this case, what comes to mind is a hostage scenario; after spending enough time with Sekhmet for the two to get invested in each other, Lizzie could take control of Miranda and threaten to harm her, and since Lizzie's in Miranda, it'd be hard to circumvent that. Lizzie could force her out of the vehicle, which would leave her with a space-age vehicle, a body she was in full control over, and a potentially infinite amount of resources at her disposal.

And Lizzie did seem intent on pressing the two of them together, which suggested this might indeed be the plan. And if it wasn't before, Miranda just handed her the idea.

Oh, you bitch! Miranda groans inwardly.

Miranda opens her mouth to warn Sekhmet of this possibility, but Lizzie still has some control over her body. If she wants to stop her from saying anything, it's not hard to trigger a coughing fit.

Pixie Grinder's Compound

"I'm tempted to say no, but... it might. Kill the generator, the house loses power. That fridge starts to warm up, the television in the other room goes dark, all the lights stop working. And if there's any traps powered by electricity, they get disarmed too- unless they have their own battery, I guess. But so far, we've not seen any traps at all, so maybe it'd do nothing." Boada reaches into the fridge and grabs a cucumber, taking a bite.

[Pixie Grinder's Compound]

"I was already planning on razing the building. I see no advantage to alerting the other grinders by dousing the lights. If we do run into this Jenny, it may be in our best interests to leave her alone."

Not that fighting them would be much harder if they were on alert. But if they don't know he's in the building, they don't know to run. He wants them wiped out today.

[Thrakeld]

Fenris is not a tactician. She hasn't ever watched any large scale battles before. Nor participated in one. But she has noticed that Imperial forces are often traveling around in pretty small groups, which makes them vulnerable to getting ambushed by bandits.

Which is likely what happened here.

Looking carefully, our heroes will notice three points of ingress.

The first is the cave that likely leads down into the lower parts of complex. This is the way you're supposed to go in.

The second would be those vents the spiders like leaping out of. That might be a tight squeeze, but it's probably possible to shimmy in there.

And finally?

Fenris sniffs a few times before turning her eyes upward, pointing with a huge claw.

"Overlook. Probably an exit. I can smell the poison thick from up there," she says.

Or door number three, the way you're probably supposed to leave through upon completing the ruin run. It would be a precarious climb to get up there, but it might be possible. However, there's a good chance that the door is barred from the inside.

Which route will our heroes take?

Regardless of which, that light around Fenris burns blinding white for a few brief moments and she's human again.

Also smoking a bit.

"HA! I knew you weren't a sabre cat!" one of the bandits proclaims, pointing at Fenris.

[Thrakeld]

Yes, yes, you're very clever. Yuvan drops down next to Fenris, looking up at the overlook. "You say you can smell poison from here? Curious." In his experience, toxic vapors tended to be heavier than air; whatever the source was, it's located in the top of that tower. Between that, and the fact that the door seemed to be the exit, it seemed a fair bet to him that their Breton was holed up in there.

Unfortunately, he's not much of a climber, and even if he was, getting himself, Fenris, and six bandits up a tower is a big ask. They'd have to take the long way up.

...The long way up.

Yeah, no.

"Well, Miss Gray-Mane." He begins. "You have a number of exotic magics. Anything for traversing the side of a building?"

[bc56]

Shuttle to L1
A coughing fit? So uncouth. Lizzie merely makes a little tweak to Miranda's body to strike her mute. She doesn't get to tell Sekhmet anything except maybe a surprised gurgle. "Are you all right?"

[Earl of Purple]

Abandoned Battlefield

My dad- who is a treadhead- pointed out to me earlier that as an infantry tank, the Valentine wasn't designed to be quick and so probably shouldn't have been 'racing' around earlier. Unless eight miles an hour counts as a race.

Ann-Marie takes the submachine gun, but leaves the knife. She'll pat down the body's legs before she covers the corpse with her blazer. After, she has a poke at some of the screens. As she's the tank commander, she's also the wireless operator and therefore an electronic communications engineer, making her far more competent at this sort of task than the driver who serves as mechanic or the gunner who can only assist. The tank only has three crew, I made a mistake. The turret interior is too cramped for a loader as well as a commander and a gunner.

Jenny backs away from the fusion reactor, knowing enough about nuclear power to know she doesn't know enough to interact with it safely. And it also means she's now a little nervous harvesting wire for the interior lights and radio set, since she doesn't know how to disable the current running through them.

Amelia continues looking, though if there's a wrecked tank nearby no matter what model she'll go investigate that instead. It's more likely to have some compatibility.

Pixie Grinder's Compound

"Jenny is a thing, not a person. Quite a bulky thing, too. Takes in petrol or diesel- uh, flammable liquids made from rock oil somehow- and turns it into smoke and electricity." Although it might also be a windmill, or a hydroelectric system, or something else. They haven't found it yet, and Boada doesn't know a lot about generators or internal combustion engines.

So back to the corridor, if they're done in the kitchen/dining room. There's stairs up to the first floor, a small door leading into a cupboard under the stairs, and another solid panel door with no windows in it leading to the bathroom. Which does Yuvan pick next?

[Ironsmith]

Shuttle to L1
A coughing fit? So uncouth. Lizzie merely makes a little tweak to Miranda's body to strike her mute. She doesn't get to tell Sekhmet anything except maybe a surprised gurgle. "Are you all right?"

[Shuttle to L1]

"..........? .....! .......?!" Miranda doesn't say, her fingers tapping at her throat as her vocal chords refuse to respond. All that comes out is a hoarse, throaty, unintelligible whisper, like she has the worst case of laryngitis. She swallows heavily in an attempt to loosen them up again, but obviously, has no luck. She then tries to see what noises she can still make... grunts, snorts, sighs, a sort of halting laugh. Ooh, and whistling! All sounds she can make without the use of her larynx, but not especially helpful for communicating.

She could try warning Sekhmet of the danger by writing it down. All she needs is to print off a pen and paper from her Hotbox. Wait, no, that won't work; Lizzie's interrupted her fine motor control before. It'll probably just come out as incoherent scribbles.

Maybe sign language? Maybe not. Miranda has a fair grasp of it, but she hasn't used it in a while and it's sort of useless here if Sekhmet doesn't also know it. Little better than a game of charades, really.

She'll have a go at it anyway. The first thing she does is tap her forehead, particularly the part where her horns have grown in, followed by making a zipping motion over her mouth. That should be a simple enough concept to grasp.

Pixie Grinder's Compound

"Jenny is a thing, not a person. Quite a bulky thing, too. Takes in petrol or diesel- uh, flammable liquids made from rock oil somehow- and turns it into smoke and electricity." Although it might also be a windmill, or a hydroelectric system, or something else. They haven't found it yet, and Boada doesn't know a lot about generators or internal combustion engines.

So back to the corridor, if they're done in the kitchen/dining room. There's stairs up to the first floor, a small door leading into a cupboard under the stairs, and another solid panel door with no windows in it leading to the bathroom. Which does Yuvan pick next?

[Pixie Grinder's Compound]

At first, Yuvan considers the merits of simply opening door number three, but then decides no, this is taling far too long. He wants to clear this place now, before the grinders start catching wise- especially if they have another illusionist among them.

He reaches into his inventory and starts flicking through his scrolls, looking for something he can use in a situation like this. Bane of the Undead? Why does he have this, it's extremely situational. Firestorm? Redundant; he can cast that whenever he wants, and he doesn't want to kill any of the fairies. Mayhem? Hm... maybe if he knows for a fact they've got all the exits covered, which he doesn't. A-ha! Here we are. Mass Paralysis. All he needs is a little elixir to boost the duration, and... and he hasn't prepared any. Damn.

Yuvan sighs and puts the scrolls away. For now, he'll have to do this the slow way. On to room three, where there's hopefully a good lab space for him to mix the requisite potion.

[Rebonack]

[Thrakeld]

The bandit who puzzled his way through Fenris' clever deception seems very proud of himself.

"Nothing for traversing the side of a building as such," Fenris replies as she gazes up at the ledge high out of reach. "However, Fabricate Object is nothing if not a flexible spell. A bridge or bed would be of little use here, however I believe I may be able to adjust the parameters of what is considered a 'bridge' by the spell's formulation."

And so?

Twin twists of emerald light ignite in her hands and she begins casting a rather complex alteration.

She fixes within her mind what is and then allows the spell to blossom.

Woven of emerald light and flickering with magic a bridge appears, though one sharply rising and equipped with ample stairs.

The bandits look pretty gobsmacked by this. Expert level alterationists aren't exactly a common thing, after all.

"Hey, can you magic me up a nice warm-"

"Yes," Fenris interrupts. "However I can only maintain one such construct at a time and we have no need for frivolities at the moment."

Looks like a good time to climb some stairs.


[An Improbable Adventure]

"Well, no time like the present to learn, as they say," Fenris replies, reaching out to pat the machine. "This is Kagranac. He is, objectively, the best horse. An incredible Dwemer construct that I reassembled. I do believe he's powered by the soul of an actual horse as well. As a result, his temperament and behavior are not unlike an actual horse. He responds to all the typical motions and commends that a horse would. He is also significantly less to misbehave."

Which is good.

Getting bucked by a robot horse probably wouldn't be fun.

"Since we have an extensive journey ahead of us, Kagranac can reduce the time and fatigue such a journey will cause."

Fenris hops up into the saddle and offers a hand to G'nichi.

[Deathkeeper]

An Improbable Adventure

G’nichi accepts the hand and takes his place behind Fenris. It’s a big mount to carry both of them.
”Alright, well. We’re going that way. Don’t go full speed right away or you’ll throw me!”
He’s joking but also quite convinced that that is a possibility.

[bc56]

Shuttle to L1
Sekhmet looks bewildered at the noises Miranda is making, then the hand signals. Something is definitely wrong, she can tell.
So Miranda ends up getting what she subconsciously wanted as Sekhmet's presence, just a thin, fiery tendril of it, works its way into her mind. What's wrong? Is Lizzie doing something?

Abandoned Battlefield
WARNING: SEVERE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE DETECTED IN:
HEAD, L. LEG
WARNING: STABILITY LOST
The most notable screens read. Another is a topographical map combined with some sort of area scan, it registers the Valentine parked nearby as a hostile vehicle (unknown configuration). Another announces that the two ammo bins have 225 long-range missiles remaining between them, and that the reactor heat levels are normal, with both the heavy and medium lasers fully charged and ready to fire.
The controls are mostly buttons and switches, with a pair of joysticks at their centerpiece.
It's noteworthy that Ann-Marie is technically standing on the back wall of the cockpit. There's enough space in it for two people, three if the ones not piloting are willing to squeeze together, but only the one seat.

[Ironsmith]

[Thrakeld]

The bandit who puzzled his way through Fenris' clever deception seems very proud of himself.

"Nothing for traversing the side of a building as such," Fenris replies as she gazes up at the ledge high out of reach. "However, Fabricate Object is nothing if not a flexible spell. A bridge or bed would be of little use here, however I believe I may be able to adjust the parameters of what is considered a 'bridge' by the spell's formulation."

And so?

Twin twists of emerald light ignite in her hands and she begins casting a rather complex alteration.

She fixes within her mind what is and then allows the spell to blossom.

Woven of emerald light and flickering with magic a bridge appears, though one sharply rising and equipped with ample stairs.

The bandits look pretty gobsmacked by this. Expert level alterationists aren't exactly a common thing, after all.

"Hey, can you magic me up a nice warm-"

"Yes," Fenris interrupts. "However I can only maintain one such construct at a time and we have no need for frivolities at the moment."

Looks like a good time to climb some stairs.

[Thrakeld]

"You heard the lady. March!" Yuvan calls, taking the first few steps onto the "bridge" himself. If it falters for any reason, he's hardy enough to survive the fall, especially with the armor cushioning him. Plus, it's the kind of leadership these sort of men respond to best; being the first to take the risk will go a long way toward them respecting him, at least by his reckoning.

Shuttle to L1
Sekhmet looks bewildered at the noises Miranda is making, then the hand signals. Something is definitely wrong, she can tell.
So Miranda ends up getting what she subconsciously wanted as Sekhmet's presence, just a thin, fiery tendril of it, works its way into her mind. What's wrong? Is Lizzie doing something?

[Shuttle to L1]

Which puts Miranda in a bit of an awkward position. Trying to protect herself from Lizzie by not thinking about things and trying to communicate with Sekhmet by thinking about similar things makes for a daunting mental task, even as trained as she is. It doesn't help that inviting Sekhmet further in for a better look would do the same to Lizzie, which she can't afford now.

She really needs to find whoever invented psychics and slap them across the face.

Miranda closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and tries to parse together a solution. Okay. Lizzie already knows about this hypothetical plan, there's no need to be furtive about sharing it. The hard part will be convincing Sekhmet how to foil it if she does do that.

Lizzie's cut off access to my vocal cords. I had a thought about what she might do when we reach LaGrange Point 1 and she didn't want me to share. This would be an ideal circumstance for her to take me hostage. If she does, do not hesitate to pull her out of my body, even if it hurts or kills me, understand? We can't let her get to anyone else.

Sekhmet and Lizzie will both feel a certain addendum, though. Miranda has doubts about whether Sekhmet could actually do that. The two of them have a lot in common, and Miranda knows such an incident would make her lose a lot of sleep. Sekhmet... still seems more tender than that. Like she'll need an extra push Miranda won't be in any position to give.

She hopes she's wrong.

[bc56]

Shuttle to L1
She's right about that. If you make any move against me, my queen, your friend here will have a heart attack. Sekhmet looks very worried. Miranda, I can't just... She was also right about Sekhmet being too soft to kill her. I'm sorry, Miranda. Psychic tendrils wrap around Miranda's mind and pull. Sekhmet is very powerful, and unless Miranda can resist, it's her mind that will be pulled out of the body.

[Ironsmith]

[Shuttle to L1]

It's okay. I'm prepared for- wait, what are you doing? Miranda's hands fly to her forehead, as though that's somehow going to alleviate the pain of having her mind ripped out against her will. No! Stop! Don't! It's what she wants!

After all, the end result of that would be exactly what Lizzie has stated her goal to be; an unoccupied body, without Miranda there to slow her down. The only major difference between this and her taking over is that Miranda's mind would be somehow preserved... which isn't much of a consolation to her if the demoness gets free.

But even with her protests, Miranda still isn't a psychic. She can't stop Sekhmet from extracting her.

[Rebonack]

[Thrakeld]

Up the stairs bridge!

The upper landing boasts a wide shelf and several thick Dwemer pipes with turbines mounted within them, the sections visibly rotating and emitting steam. A pair of those odd Dwemer gas lanterns sit to either side of a tall, carved door of solid metal. Pushing against said door reveals that it's barred from the inside.

Sure enough.

This is meant to be an exit.

Probably just a wooden beam that's been rigged to prevent the door from opening, given how Fenris can feel the doors thunk against something on the inside when she pushes against it.

"Unfortunately picking a draw bar isn't an option," Fenris reasons as she eyes the door. "However, I believe we may have a forceful option. Albeit one that will invariably announce our presence."

Shouting is never a quiet activity.


[Improbable Adventure]

Yes.

Kagranac is a pretty big horse.

Mostly Fenris just scoots all the way forward in the saddle. It really isn't the most comfortable position to be in but G'nichi should really get his own mount if he's planning on traveling overland regularly. Honestly it seems like he's an awful long way out if he was just taking a morning jog.

The horse takes off at a brisk trot, gradually building speed as he goes. His legs apparently have built in shock absorbers, because the ride is amazingly smooth.

Initially the ride is quite unremarkable. But before long they will find themselves on a grassy plane sporting a number of odd looking herd animals. They aren't particularly large. Perhaps the size of a deer? Blue, furry, with funny little knobby horns and most notably a long nose akin to an elephant's. As soon as our heroes get close several of the beasts begin sniffing with their comical looking noses and begin trotting toward them.

"It appears as though we're popular with the local wildlife," Fenris observes as a trio of the larger creatures approach.

[bc56]

Shuttle to L1
Don't panic. If worst comes to worst, I can make you a new body. "I didn't know you cared, my queen," Miranda's body says, "Thank you for getting that nuisance out of my head."
Meanwhile, Miranda will need to get used to being a disembodied mind in Sekhmet's body. Considering that despite her appearance, Sekhmet is a very alien being, this will likely be a difficult proposition. I have a plan. Don't worry. That probably doesn't help Miranda not worry much.