Outside 51: It's just a weather balloon

[Recaiden]

"Is that a ton 'a gold? Seems like ton 'a gold."

The manticore stretches a wing to block the doorway.
"Hold on. The last place had skeleton guards, skeleton 'gators, and lightning, for like, a small and medium amount of gold."
"This is a whole room, with nothing but some worn-out bars?"
"Plus it looks super-super cursed. Was there any writing over the door? 'Tomb of King Midas' like?"
Then they slip into the room, not touching the table or chairs or anything.

"Honeysuckle, do your thing - is this stuff really gold all through?"
"Wave, see if you can get the doors open. That one." The monster waves its tail at the north door.
These seem reasonable enough ideas, so the foxgirl focuses her devil-sense on the dinner scene to analyze its chemical makeup, and the elemental slips around to the door to fiddle with the brackets.

The manticore paces back and forth.
Body dressed in gold, statue in silk, statue in wool, and statue with statue-pants? How does that make sense? If they're part of the funeral, why doesn't the child have real clothes? If these are a real family who turned to statues, why didn't their clothes go but the ostrich did?"
Does that gold apple look particularly enticing and/or delicious, by any chance?

[Ironsmith]

[Pixie Grinder's Compound]

The potion goes down... maybe not smoothly, but not terribly. It'll be salty with a sort of sweet, fruity aftertaste, and in the immediate aftermath, Boada will experience immense satisfaction with the current temperature; not too hot, not too cold. If Boada has any spellcasting talent, she'll also find her supply of arcane energy refreshed, as though she'd just gotten a good, solid night's sleep.

When he's certain she's drunk the potion, Yuvan steps forward and raises his hands, flames flaring up in his palms as he prepares the spell. He'll wait just long enough for the gate to be unlatched before proceeding. He always had a bit of a taste for Destruction magic, and it quickly becomes apparent why.

When the spell is complete, he slams his hands down, creating a fiery explosion about fifty meters in radius, engulfing not only his immediate surroundings but also the gate and likely much of the front of the compound in flames. Despite the theatricality of the spell, there's relatively little actual force applied; it's not needed, since the intensity of the flames will cook alive anything that isn't magically warded against flame (like himself and Boada). This was already a powerful technique, but the elixir he had imbibed would boost it to ludicrous degrees; he expects to see the gate melt and the walls crack from the sheer heat involved, cinders and ashes where there used to be a front yard, and... well, the continued existence of guards in the area was more or less out of the question.

But just in case, he has a more conventional means of dealing with any survivors.

Yuvan draws his mace and steps into the wake of his spell, gesturing for Boada to follow.

[Earl of Purple]

Bone Hills - The Maw of Akarkhentkats

Well, this chamber was blocked from the inside, it's just the bar locking the door has fallen off and in, so the door can be shoved open with some effort.

The gold is pretty pure, in the table, chairs and most of the ornaments, though the bread is filled with holes and hollows making it lighter than a solid brick of gold. The roast ostrich, the apple, and the statues are exceptions; again, the gold part of them is pretty solid, except for some voids roughly where one would expect in an actual example of a roast ostrich, apple, or person. The bones in the ostrich and the statues are, however, actual bone rather than gold (except some of the ostrich bones, the ones in the legs). And the golden apple has real apple seeds in it, but doesn't look any shinier than the rest of the gold in the room, nor especially edible. All the gold is quite shiny, except the coronet on the mummy, which is dull and quite battered-looking.

The bar can be lifted handily, though it's heavy. It's textured like an oak beam, with the faint feel of growth rings and knots. It also doesn't try turning the fire elemental into gold, although depending on how hot it is, the gold might start to melt.

Pixie Grinder's Compound

Boada does have magical talent and some spellcasting talent, though primarily in the field of Divination. She's going to use the opportunity of the magical recharge to try and determine what the sword she was given can do; if it's not magical and Yuvan just gave her a wooden sword to make her feel better, she'll know what kind of wood it's made of and roughly how old it is. She's really hoping it isn't just a toy handed because she doesn't carry a knife.

The fire burst severely chars the bricks and dries out the mortar, causing it to start to crumble and crack. The wrought iron of the gate heats up, glowing hot, and the guards pushing it open scream briefly before expiring as their flesh cooks. There's a small explosion as well, as the fuel tank of the car waiting to get through the gate explodes. Other, smaller bangs mark the ammunition of the guards' pistols cooking off.

Beyond the gate, the fire has very nearly reached the house, and it would have reached the tree with lilac leaves- but it's stopped, a circle around the tree completely unscorched by the blast. The tree's trunk is very smooth, and wide; marked occasionally by what look like veins, and a symbol has been carved into it- a circle with a crescent cupped around the top right side of it, a bar going from the circle straight through the larger crescent to a smaller crescent pointing away from the circle. There's a wrecked, burnt-out car with smouldering corpses inside, the tyres melting and burning into the ground, and looking gobsmacked at the destruction wrought is a guard just outside the house's front door, wearing jeans and bare-chested; he's lithely muscular, a tattoo of the same symbol as that on the tree on his chest, and he carries an ornate shotgun with a flared barrel and gilding along the stock, pump and trigger assembly.

The water tower is also untouched, and the guard up there will shoot down at Yuvan as soon as he sees the elf, a hunting rifle intended more for animals than armoured foes.

[Recaiden]

The elemental is just not that hot most of the time. Bismuth, Lead, maybe Zinc. But they won't melt gold without some effort.
Just takes the gold-ified wooden bar down and opens the door behind it.

"You're right. Real bones and anatomy inside. Definitely some gold-curse situation." Honeysuckle gets another empty cotton sack out of her pockets and throws it on the table.
Imagine if things are still getting turned to gold here. Not just a dinner table, but...

"Hmm. Maybe it's just that the kid is smaller? The crown looks different from all the rest, bet that's what's responsible for it."

[Ironsmith]

[Pixie Grinder's Compound]

The instant Boada casts her spell, she'll recieve confirmation that she was, in fact, just given a children's toy.

Sissel's Toy Sword
DAMAGE 2, WEIGHT 3
Absorbs [wow] points of Stamina
Chance to paralyse creatures for [wow] seconds

In practical terms, hitting someone with this "children's toy" will exhaust them, reinvigorate (but not heal) the wielder, and may leave the victim immobile for the next several weeks unless they're cured, while actually harming them about as well as a slap from a stick really could. Yuvan intended it as a solstice gift to his daughter, to give her a taste of what being a real adventurer is like; he doesn't trust her with the responsibility of having someone's life in her hands, but she would have a way of defending herself and fleeing the scene if she were beset by something that had no qualms with hurting a little girl.

Apparently, he feels more or less the same about Boada.


Meanwhile, Yuvan himself will hurl a fireball at the guard in the water tower; even if he misses, it'll explode on impact, producing a smaller-scale but likely just as lethal effect as his entry did. He'll then turn his attention to the guard on the ground level inhale sharply, preparing to Shout again:

"ZUN... HAAL VIK!"

The words will ring out and carry a shockwave through the air; one that will be harmless to the guard, but will tear at the gun in his hands as though Yuvan had come up and physically yanked it out. For Yuvan, this wasn't strictly necessary; the guard's not much more dangerous to him armed than unarmed. But he is escorting a rather vulnerable half-sprite right now, and he doesn't want to risk her getting shot.

[Earl of Purple]

Bone Hills - The Maw of Akarkhentkats

The north door leads into a vast space, almost a temple or something. There's a large wooden platform at the far end of the room, with a bloodstained pillar protruding through it from the ground underneath. Lying atop the pillar is a skeleton with its chest carved open; a bronze tumi knife rests in the open cavity. There's also a dead ogre slumped against the wall to the east, its skin peeling from muscles, a pair of something like vast tusks sprouting from its face, one on each side of its mouth, and it grips a polearm made of a pole topped with a long skull with serrated teeth providing the blade. The door used by the fire elemental and the door next to it, towards the east of the dining-chamber, are framed by demonic faces.

The cotton sack is thrown on the table, and remains a cotton sack. It doesn't turn to gold; whatever caused it isn't the table, the ostrich, or anything on the table. The effect might even have stopped at some point, or it might be not the table responsible for the transfiguration.

Pixie Grinder's Compound

A children's toy, but it seems like a useful one. Hopefully she can keep it; this is something that might come in handy, for a burglar. Boada also quickly becomes far less of a target, as she's rapidly getting smaller before she goes through the gate. She's guaranteed to trigger the wards, if they're not disabled by the damage to the wall or else the gate being open, but this isn't much of a problem any more. But she's far too small to be targeted by a sniper.

The sniper on the watertower screams- though it's not entirely pain- as the explosion blasts a hole in the railing about the walkway, the walkway, and the tank of water itself. He falls over, and then falls as the escaping water washes him off the side. He flails, dropping the rifle, and lands on the wall with a crunch and stops moving.

The door guard recovers as the shotgun flies from their hands and bounces onto the floor not far away, and snarls, drawing a sharp, silver dagger with a wavy blade from the back of his trousers and runs towards Yuvan.

[Ironsmith]

[Pixie Grinder's Compound]

...A knife.

Yuvan watches the man skeptically as he approaches. This idiot was running at him with a knife. He'd seen dedicated ranged fighters do that before when disarmed, but it always struck him as the stupidest possible approach, for reasons that should become clear in a minute.

Yuvan waits for the man to get close, then takes a step back and winds up his mace in an underhanded strike at the man's chest. With the reach he has, it shouldn't be hard for him to land the blow.

[Earl of Purple]

Pixie Grinder's Compound

The Grinder is hit by the mace and goes flying. There was a horrid splat as he went flying, and if Yuvan happens to have a black soul gem in his pocket, it's now filled... though the glow it would usually emit is slightly more purple than usual. The corpse has dropped its dagger, and landed with a crunch. The house lies unguarded before them, it seems. Or Yuvan could investigate the corpses, burning or splattered, or go look at the tree.

Actually, maybe a good idea. Somebody's clapping over by the tree; if Yuvan looks, he'll see a dryad. She's got skin the same shade as the pale wood of the tree behind her, and lilac leaves cascade down her back like hair. She's naked, and very attractive, and her eyes are pure black, deep enough to lose himself in.

Boada isn't immediately apparent, but she's trying to jump onto his foot to get a ride around in safety.

Abandoned Battlefield

Also on the battlefield is a much smaller vehicle, a tank. Its turret swivels around, looking for threats and any possible danger, as it creeps through the streets and ruins. It has been painted khaki green, and if any of the mech's crew knows anything about antique weaponry- and to the crew of the mech, it is most certainly an antique- it's a Valentine, fitted with a 75mm cannon and it has canvas of the same shade heaped around the edge of the vehicle's hull.

The Valentine is headed towards a river, though the only bridges have been blown out; crossing it might prove tricky. Still, it's driving down a slipway towards the riverbank, rotating the turret to face backwards as it does so. The engine and the rather primitive sensors used (a periscope)- and the fact it's looking for other tanks, not giant mecha- means it doesn't notice the mech, so long as there's a wall between it and the vehicle's feet.

[bc56]

Abandoned Battlefield
The mech may be difficult to lay eyes on from the tank's position, but its effects certainly aren't. In addition to the huge clouds of dust kicked up by its footfalls, there are steady pings from its targeting radar. And more importantly, there are the repeated radio transmissions.
"Almoner to Argo, do you copy?
Almoner to Argo, do you copy?
Almoner to Leopard, do you copy?
Almoner to Diablo, do you copy?
Almoner to Herringbone, do you copy?
Almoner to Cynic, do you copy?"
After a while, the message is repeated from the beginning, with an increasing tone of resignation in the speaker's voice.

[Earl of Purple]

Abandoned Battlefield

The tank stops where it is, on the riverbank, and the turret hatch opens. A girl climbs out, maybe fifteen years old, wearing a white shirt, a navy blue skirt and a blue and yellow checked tie, with a navy blazer over the top. She's also wearing a padded hat, like that worn by tank crews in the Second World War. She starts setting up the Valentine's canvas skirt, as this particular vehicle is fitted with a Duplex Drive.

Meanwhile, there's another voice on the radio. This one is female, and young- a teenager, fifteen or perhaps sixteen years old. "Um, hello? Over. This is Anne-Marie Fisher of Lady Aethelflaed Grammar's sensha-do team, acting as radio operator for the Valentine Love's Revenge. We cannot find the other members of our team, nor raise them on the radio. Have you seen anyone?" And Anne-Marie is hoping that this 'Almoner' isn't from Southshields Secondary School's sensha-do team, as then they've kind of given the game away.

[bc56]

Abandoned Battlefield
"Almoner's" voice is adult and male, and seemingly quite surprised at who responded. "This is Commander Matthias 'Almoner' Korus of Almoner's Liberators. I cannot raise either of my ships or my Lance... Am I speaking to a tank full of schoolgirls?" He's seen weirder things in his line of work, but not many.
As the tank moves into the open, it should be much easier to see the 'Mech, which is standing still for now. There doesn't seem to be any danger for it to respond to. (No, the tank doesn't count. The Griffin is large enough to casually crush a tank under its heel).

[Earl of Purple]

Abandoned Battlefield

The canvas curtain raised, the tank takes to the water to cross the river. This also means more of the crew clamber out, to keep an eye on things and aid in steering. The tank is below the waterline, the curtain raised to turn it into a boat- though the tank is heavy, and if the canvas is breached the vehicle would sink like a stone. The Duplex Drive turns a propeller at the back of the tank, whilst the tracks are still turning. It's a slow 'boat', but for crossing rivers or amphibious landings, it's relatively effective (except the turret has to face backwards because otherwise the gun would be in the way of the curtain). "Um, yes? Are you... Are you not a fan of sensha-do?" Tankery is a very popular school sport in their world! How can this man not have heard of it? "What am I speaking to?" Now they're crossing the river, one of the girls spots the immensity of the Griffin, and gasps and points. The commander is one of the girls on the hull, holding the wired radio equipment.

[bc56]

Abandoned Battlefield
"I've never heard that word before." Almoner replies flatly. The second question would cause him to raise an eyebrow at the speaker, if there was a video connection. "You'll have to be more specific." "What am I talking to" is a very general question.

[Gullara]

[A Hunter must Hunt Kows]

Anika frowns. "I'll have you know that I've sneaked past hundreds of demons! These won't even make me break a sweat!"

Of course, her exclamations must have been louder than intended as she suddenly gets deadly quiet.

The sound of the metal demons had drawn a lot closer during their brief exchange. Had they already spotted them?
Anika gestures to the left and then changes into a saber before quickly starting to dart away.
However, it would be difficult to move around the two creatures as they had consumed the vegetation of this odd landscape they had left it completely bare behind them. There would be nothing for them to hide within and it would seem that getting to the kows would require them to cross this field.

[A Hunter must Hunt Kows]

Mimi rolls her eyes at Anika's exclamation. Giants are always so loud. She darts off after Anika. "They don't turn around very past. I best we can run behind them." She suggests as they move.

[Ironsmith]

Pixie Grinder's Compound

The Grinder is hit by the mace and goes flying. There was a horrid splat as he went flying, and if Yuvan happens to have a black soul gem in his pocket, it's now filled... though the glow it would usually emit is slightly more purple than usual. The corpse has dropped its dagger, and landed with a crunch. The house lies unguarded before them, it seems. Or Yuvan could investigate the corpses, burning or splattered, or go look at the tree.

Actually, maybe a good idea. Somebody's clapping over by the tree; if Yuvan looks, he'll see a dryad. She's got skin the same shade as the pale wood of the tree behind her, and lilac leaves cascade down her back like hair. She's naked, and very attractive, and her eyes are pure black, deep enough to lose himself in.

Boada isn't immediately apparent, but she's trying to jump onto his foot to get a ride around in safety.

[Pixie Grinder's Compound]

Of course Yuvan had such an item on him. Soul gems are light enough that he can carry a large inventory of them, and he has no shortage of circumstances where he can fill them.

Soul captured!

Yuvan isn't going to bother with the corpses for now. Their equipment is clearly subpar and not worth the trouble of reselling- not to him, at any rate. He may go back and check for jewelry later, but that's all he can realistically expect to gain from them.

"Later" being the operative term, because just this moment, he has a spriggan dryad to deal with. His previous experiences with the plant people have taught him not to let such a threat go unchecked for too long; he's had too many close calls to ask questions first.

And that's why she has a fireball heading her way.

[Rebonack]

[An Improbable Adventure]

Fenris gives a small laugh in reply. "Necromancers are... well, I suppose there are some practical applications. Using skeletons for manual labor, for example. But... the ethical concerns are a steep price. Trapping a sapient soul is distasteful. Very possibly capital E evil. I've found the applications for alteration and restoration to be significantly more broad. And less morally dubious."

She doesn't have to rip anyone's soul out or trap it in their still warm corpse to pursue her favored magical discipline.

The world always needs healers, after all.

Cleansing wounds and curing diseases is a service society will always need.

Then?

Questions about weirdness.

That gets a bigger laugh from her.

"Sir, my whole life has been nothing but strange things for some time now. Ever since I came home from studying abroad I've found myself stumbling into every strange situation and world-shaking happening the gods can throw at me. I consider myself a learned and open-minded individual; I'm sure I'll be able to come to terms with whatever oddities this realm can throw at me."

Then?

There's a full moon hanging in the sky.

It was twilight previously.

Then it wasn't.

VERY abruptly.

Fenris blinks at the sudden change in light, alarmed at the unannounced presence of the moon in the sky.

"What, but it was- nnnnggggrrrr!"

Gods she's never going to grow accustomed to the feeling of her bones rearranging themselves. It's easier when she initiates the transformations; more regulated and orderly. The process is both much faster and much less unpleasant. But the involuntary transformations? Those are always distressing. Fenris manages to resist the urge to loose a howling roar as the changes cease, light bleeding out of her grey fur.

She's irritated.

The moon wasn't supposed to be full tonight, but this IS a different world isn't it?

"I suppose I won't get cold tonight, at least," the huge beast rumbles, her words somewhat jumbled by her mouth full of teeth.

Fenris hates sleeping in beast shape. She always feels restless. Like she should be running and hunting instead of sleeping. But that would leave her utterly exhausted the next day, so sleeping in beast form it is.

ONE NIGHT OF NOT PARTICULARLY RESTFUL SLEEP LATER

And lo she awakens with the rising of the sun and her body shrinking back into human shape.

Also?

She awakens to find every surface nearby covered in frogs.

Shooing all the frogs away while breaking camp is certainly a new experience.

[Deathkeeper]

An Improbable Adventure

G'nichi sleeps much better than Fenris.
Except that time in 2am where he wakes up shaking a little. But that's probably nothing. It wasn't even in a cold sweat (because he can't sweat). Probably nothing.
G'nichi wakes up and is surprised to see FROGS but is not particularly perturbed by it. These things happen and eventually they get all of them to leave. Fenris might notice that his staff is gone, replaced by an elegant chakram.
"You ready to head out?" he asks in good spirits after a limited breakfast of what they had packed. He decides not to ask about werewolf woes.

[Earl of Purple]

Abandoned Battlefield

"Sensha-do, also known as tankery, is the best sport! It's got everything, explosions, heavy machinery, and destruction of property!" Though most matches take place in specially prepared arenas, there's still sometimes buildings in them. "Um, I was assuming you were in a tank. You're on a sensha-do frequency." Also known as a 'military' frequency. "I wanted to know what kind of tank. Tanks are awesome." She sounds far too excited about tanks to be entirely healthy.

The tank is mostly across the river, now.

Pixie Grinder's Compound

The fireball reaches the dryad and bounces off, reflected back the way it came. She pouts as it happens, and blows Yuvan a kiss. The way her tree seems unburnt despite standing in the radius of the earlier fire-blast is perhaps now explained.

Despite the attack, the dryad herself doesn't actually attack yet. She's just watching, and smiling, and looking really, very pretty indeed. Maybe Yuvan's starting to feel... a little over-dressed, perhaps. A bit hot under the collar, maybe.

[Ironsmith]

[Pixie Grinder's Compound]

Yuvan's eyes widen under his helmet as the fireball is reflected back at him, but he still emerges from the ensuing blast more or less unscathed. Boada should, too, but only by a matter of seconds; that potion will wear off really soon.

Yuvan finds himself staring at the dryad skeptically. Was she... trying to charm him? She must be; he can't imagine himself giving her a second's glance otherwise. Taarie would have his head. Not all at once, of course, that's not her style, but- he just took off his helmet, didn't he?

The altmer stares at the dryad, thoroughly entranced. If there's more to this spell than simply making him stay put, this could end badly for him.

[Rebonack]

[An Improbable Adventure]

And she slept poorly in spite of having conjured up a warm bed for herself, too!

Fabricate is a rather advanced alteration spell, though one she's quite familiar with. It's just too useful to ignore, especially when one needs an arcane enchanter and there aren't any conveniently laying around. Sadly the spell can only create one useful object at a time, so using it to set up an entire camp is out of the question.

Once she's gathered up the camping supplies she a quick casting of deep storage neatly magics them away for later use.

Because of course she isn't going to have all of those things on her person. She can carry a surprising amount of clutter in her backpack, but when it comes to large bulky things nothing quite beats being able to simply magic them away until they're needed later. No, her pack is for things she'll need on hand.

"Quite," Fenris replies, feeling a little ragged around the edges still. Likely looks it as well. But she's use to restless nights. Comes with the beast blood territory.

And then they're off!

The scenery only changes once on their way to the mountain, abruptly transitioning from the dried marsh to ruins made of deep brown sandstone and covered in etchings of some long dead language. Fenris pauses there briefly to sketch some of the writing before moving on. While tempted to plumb the depths of the ruin she's usually pretty good about avoiding side-quest overload.

Within three hours or so our heroes will have reached Mount Improbable.

It's a bit on the small side, as far as mountains go, but what really stands out is the fact that it's upside down and floating in the sky, tethered to the earth by huge chains.

Fenris shades her eyes with her hands, gazing up at the impossible object.

"I suppose one climbs the chains to reach the summit?" she guesses. "Barring flight. Or scuttling up the surface like a spider."

[Deathkeeper]

An Improbable Adventure

"This is where it would have been nice to have wings that worked." G'nichi had wings once. But they didn't really work very well.
Still, he has no better solution so he goes about strolling up the chains, making sure they aren't wet before he trusts his footing to them.
"So far so good..."

[Rebonack]

[An Improbable Adventure]

Three huge chains, wide as a two lane road, tether the mountain to the earth. The footing is still somewhat precarious, but they double as bridges leading to the top of the mountain.

Or is it the bottom?

And thus our heroes set out!

It's quite a hike. Though thankfully the chains are bound to the ground far enough away from the mountain that the ascent isn't too steep. And true to the name of the mountain our heroes encounter something rather improbable on the way up. Namely? A very large crab wearing a chef's hat manning (crabbing?) a little wooden booth built on the chain.

"Blllrb, welcome travelers! Might I interest you in perusing my wares?" the crab calls out as our heroes draw near.

The booth is full of cheese.

All sorts of cheese.

Which is... great! If you like cheese.

Fenris looks understandably skeptical. "At least it isn't more bandits," she mutters under her breath.

[Deathkeeper]

An Improbable Adventure

G'nichi doesn't blink at the crab merchant (he's a dragon in a flannel and glasses after all) but he does find his choice of local interesting.
He does however, also not want to possibly annoy any locals while walking on a giant metal incline high in the air. So he digs through his pocket for a thick silver coin.
"Could I get some smoked gouda?" he asks the cheese merchant.

[Rebonack]

[An Improbable Adventure]

"Brlrlrlb! A fine choice, sir!" the crab replies, deftly taking the coin in one claw and offering a wheel of smoked gouda with the other. "May the Lord of Never-There smile on your endeavors! And do enjoy the cheese, blrrlrb!"

The lord of...

Fenris is quite certain that's a title.

And considering the nature of their encounter she has a fairly strong intuition that she knows WHO the title belongs to.

Granted, the aedra and daedra aren't a subject she's devoted a great deal of time to the study of, but given how often they seem to be throwing themselves in her path she thought it prudent to be at least passingly familiar with the major actors on the stage.

Of course the Prince of Madness would have followers skulking about somewhere called Mount Improbable.

Why wouldn't he?

"Do you mind?" Fenris asks, holding out one hand toward the cheese wheel. "I might be able to tell if there's something... off... about the cheese."

More so than things are off about cheese in general.

She's trusting in her beastblood to project her just in case the cheese is laced more more mundane hazards.

[Deathkeeper]

An Improbable Adventure

G'nichi was not expecting that much cheese but he's not going to complain about a deal. It's good to have some food reserves.
"Help yourself." he says, breaking off a chunk for Fenris. He's not terribly worried. What would a crab gain by poisoning them?

[Rebonack]

[An Improbable Adventure]

A large amount of meat to eat?

But considering who the crab swears in the name of who knows what kind of nonsense might be involved?

Fenris takes a small bite and-!

"Oh. This is actually quite good?" she says, sounding almost surprised. As if she was expecting it to have some absurd side effect.

The day has been strange.

But thankfully not unpleasant.

It takes our heroes another hour or so to reach the top of the mountain, crowned as it is with a temple complex and an enormous statue of a winged woman with her hands upraised. She has a stern, imperious look about her and she begins SHOUTING IN G'NICHI'S HEAD as soon as they approach the temple.

LOOK AT MY ONCE GREAT TEMPLE LYING IN RUINS! SO MUCH FOR THE CONSTANCY OF MORTALS, THEIR CRAFTS AND THEIR HEARTS! IF THEY LOVE ME NOT, HOW CAN MY LOVE REACH THEM?

Fenris is of course not hearing anything at all. Instead she's studying the layout and noting the differences between this temple and the one from her homeland.

[Deathkeeper]

An Improbable Adventure

G'nichi enjoys the snack as only someone who was not capable of enjoying dairy products until last year can.
That said he gets pretty close to opening his bag for that magic golf ball out of frustration.
"Lady, I will throw this golf ball off the mountain if you do not CHILL." he declares.
"The temple isn't even that ruined!"
He's seen worse for sure. He should tell Tiamat how much he appreciates her mental messages not being screamed most of the time.

[Rebonack]

[An Improbable Adventure]

Thus far Tiamat has managed to mostly avoid screaming.

Also?

The voice falls silent again.

There appears to be some sort of altar at the foot of the statue meant to house the enormous opal, whether G'nichi places it there or tosses it off the mountain is up to him.

And Fenris?

She's poking around a small patch of trees nearby, specifically near what appears to be an entrance to a grotto of some kind. Not really what she was expecting to find atop a mountain. No sign of undead as of yet, either. Though that shouldn't be too much of a shock. If this is anything like the temple she had trekked through the necromancer involved has likely sealed himself in. That memory brings to mind a question that had bothered her then, too.

Where had Malkoran gotten all those bodies?

Had he been paying brigands to collect them for him?

"You have to place the beacon on the altar," Fenris points out. "If my experience was at all informative that will be followed by floating and shouting."

[Deathkeeper]

An Improbable Adventure

G'nichi grits his teeth but he got here because Fenris wanted to help so fine.
He gets out the giant golf ball and slaps it into place on the stupid altar.
"Happy?" he growls.

[bc56]

Abandoned Battlefield
"I'm not sure whether I should be glad you girls have a taste for warfare so young." They're what, in their late teens? That's about the age Almoner started too, but he's much older and "wiser" now. Not wise enough, apparently. "I am piloting a restored SLDF GRF-2N Griffin. Not a tank."