Outside 52: Touch grass

[bc56]

Crystal Crags

"Be still." The entity (what's a Selekhael?) finally speaks. Time seems to slow down. She moves deliberately towards the fighting, jumping up onto the outside of Gene's mech. She faces the magenta being. "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but can you understand me?" Her mum can send messages in a way that anything can understand, but she can't. Her twin sister can read minds, but she can't. So she's just going to talk and hope the thing can understand her.

[Ironsmith]

[Dragonborn Hunting]

"I wonder if he somehow pried that secret from Miraak's mind," Fenris muses as she decides to join in on the fun, raising a claw toward the construct and channeling a storm of brilliant points of light into it. She usually doesn't bother with this admittedly quite potent spell largely because if she's within range to use it just using her claws is usually a better use of her time. "That was not dissimilar to the shout he used to consume the souls of the dragons in his thrall. 'Your soul is mine to devour' if my memory of its meaning is accurate."

That was a horrible shout in its own right.

And thankfully apparently not one he could use on other Dragonborn. Hence Fenris' thought that it might only be effective against creatures already under his thrall.

It won't take long to reduce the necrotic construct to slag and ashes.

Good riddance.

"It bodes ill, certainly. And in spite of that power he is throwing away minions rather than confronting us directly. He is clearly strong, so I suspect he would prefer to avoid an altercation where he has even a chance of being defeated, no matter how small."

That's the sort of thinking one might expect from very, very old vampires.

[Dragonborn Hunting]

Yuvan always wondered about that. And the fact that Dragonrend never seemed to have any effect on either of them. Potentially something to do with their mortal nature and/or the fact that a given Dragonborn of any significant power has several Dragon souls on them, which would probably diminish the effects of any such attacks.

"On the other hand..." The altmer begins with a little smile. "That would still imply he is afraid to confront us directly. Even when we came face-to-face, he preferred attempting to dispose of me with a trap to fighting me himself. For all of his power, it seems he has doubts about his ability to use it effectively against us." Yuvan steps past the now-very-thoroughly-destroyed construct and makes a gesture along their original heading. "Regardless; I believe you were tracking?"

[Rebonack]

[Dragonborn Hunting]

"Quite," the werewolf says as she continues the trail. And as the move in the distance they'll hear a loud crash and the sound of rending metal and shattering stone.

Snaking through the city, they will eventually reach a dwemer cog lift with a very distinct mechanical issue.

All of the cogs have been torn out and the lift platform left to plummet to the bottom of its shaft. Sunlight is visible afar off, but it is VERY afar off and that looks like it will be quite the climb.

"The white take him!" Fenris growls. "He sabotaged the lift. We are going to have to double back to the other entrance or climb. I am not certain which will be more expeditious."

She could...

Climb the inside of the shaft, she's quite certain.

Not unlike the way Sinding climbed the interior of this jail cell before leaping to freedom. With the augmentation to her strength that her aether armor provides she's quite certain she would be able to carry Yuvan as well, provided he can hang on. Or-

"Alternatively, I can cast a Milestone here. That will allow us to return to the surface, though its counterpart that I left is some distance from these ruins. Still, that may be less of a trek and we are more likely to avoid whatever unpleasant surprise our quarry no doubt has waiting for us."

So! Options! Climb out, double back, use a Milestone.

What does Yuvan think?


[Crystal Crags]

ZA WARUDO!

Selekhael freezes time to talk with a blob!

That's very magnanimous of her.

No one else has tried to talk with the blob so far, aside from yelling at it.

Technically trying to blow it up is also a form of communication, just a very crude one.

Several of those diamond shaped 'eyes' form across the skin of the entity, direction its attention at Selekhael.

NO PARACAUSAL SUBJECTIVITY DETECTED. NO CARTESIAN SUBJECTIVITY DETECTED. YOU ARE EMPTY.

Okay those are some words.

[bc56]

Crystal Crags
Time isn't frozen, it's just moving very slowly. Stopping it entirely would be a lot of work.
"I, uh, guess that's a yes?" Selekhael wonders. "What do you want?" She ignores the comments about her own emptiness. It doesn't especially matter. What matters is understanding what the nanite entity wants, why it's trying to seize the pilot.

[Rebonack]

[Crystal Crags]

That is a yes.

A weird sort of yes.

But still a yes.

It would be nice if the entity used words that made sense, right?

This is where the Information sphere is really handy. Gives you a feel for the intent behind what something is trying to communicate.

A COMPATIBLE PARACAUSAL SUBJECTIVITY HAS BEEN DETECTED. THIS UNIT HAS BEEN DISPATCHED TO LIBERATE IT.

Haha.

Noooo...

It's not going to start making sense now all of a sudden.

[bc56]

Crystal Crags
That's progress, at least. Hopefully. But there are just more questions. "Compatible with what? Liberate from what?" Selekhael can guess at the answer to the second question. The device embedded in that pilot's body. But what is it, actually? And why does this thing want it?

[5a Violista]

[Into the Woods]

Little Colette tries repeating, "Aye siwmae," but ends up butchering the pronunciation.

Her grandmother makes a gesture to the kid, who then runs to grab a beer glass and bring it back. The lady turns around on her chair and starts filling up the glass with beer, and then places it in front of Domhnall. "Here you go," she says. "Anything else?" she asks, to get the hospitality out of the way before answering the centaurlike guy's question.

"Us two are doing better than most here," the old lady says. "Of course, that's not much to brag about. At least she's still got me."

The lady thinks seriously about how much of their problems she wants to tell the visitor. She decides to stick to the most relevant things. "The town's in need of desparate supplies and so far everyone who has been sent to the nearby town through the woods hasn't come back. Unless you're the type to run at the first sign of danger, I would recommend staying away from the woods at night." Braver people tend to get themselves in trouble.

[Rebonack]

[Crystal Crags]

COMPATIBLE WITH TECHNORGANIC INTEGRATION. LIBERATE FROM METAFOLD PRISON.

Hmm...

There is a...

There's something inside that machine on Gene's back.

It seems...

Injured somehow.

Maybe?

No, not injured. Constrained. Like how Selekhael constrains her body in those little twisty directions whenever she folds up. It's something alive, but alive in a very, very strange sort of way. It isn't fae, that's for sure. Or an empyrean. Or... anything, really, that Selekhael has any familiarity with. Letting it out of that black box might be dangerous. Or might kill it. Or might just about anything else.

[Deathkeeper]

Into the Woods

Dom idly sips at the beer.
"Run? Nay, not the type. Who've you sent? Anyone armed? If you wanted I could try to get to the next town. You sent anyone in the other directions?" he asks. After all, he had no problems getting here.

[bc56]

Crystal Crags
"Can you do that without damaging its vessel?" Selekhael asks. She's sure the whatsit isn't embedded in the pilot's spine for a good reason, but she's not sure exactly what's going on.
However, it seems like the entity will pull the pilot apart in order to get at it, and that, by comparison, is definitely bad.

[Rebonack]

[Crystal Crags]

THE ORGANIC BODY IS OF NO CONCERN.

That...

Doesn't quite answer Selekhael's question.

Or maybe it does?

The entity will pull Gene apart to get at what it wants with zero concern for what damage it will cause.

RELEASE THIS ONE SO THAT IT MAY CARY OUT ITS PURPOSE.

Oh.

That's the first time it has actually asked Selekhael for anything.

[bc56]

Crystal Crags
"The organic body is a person!" Selekhael protests, "With her own mind and feeling and purpose! You can't just destroy her!" She shows no sign of releasing the entity (although she can feel the time left in the slowing running out).
Weird isn't it. One minute she's threatening to kill Gene, the next she's trying to protect her. This at least feels more natural, she doesn't get uncomfortable like she does when threatening people.

[Rebonack]

[Crystal Crags]

THE ORGANIC BODY IS OF NO CONCERN.

The entity seems to be quite certain of this point.

DESTROYING IT IS A SIMPLE PROCESS OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE.

Which is apparently in response to the assertion that the entity can't just kill Gene all willy nilly.

THIS ONE INFERS THAT UNKNOWN EMPTY VESSEL IS OPPOSED TO THIS ACTION.

That seems pretty evident.

REMOVING THE METAFOLD PRISON WILL KILL THE ORGANIC BODY. THE METAFOLD PRISON MUST BE REMOVED TO LIBERATE THE SHACKLED PARACAUSAL SUBJECTIVITY. THIS UNIT CAN DETECT NO CARTESIAN SUBJECTIVITY IN THE ORGANIC BODY. CONTENTION: THE ORGANIC BODY DOES NOT POSSESS AWARENESS APART FROM THE SHACKLED PARACAUSAL SUBJECTIVITY.

Is it...

Arguing that Gene's soul is trapped inside that horrible black machine somehow?

[bc56]

Crystal Crags
"You're saying the thing in her back is operating her body like a puppet?" Selekhael asks. Some pieces of this puzzle are beginning to come together. "And you are interested in it because it is capable of, uh, being integrated with organic components?" She hopes she understood that right. "Then it's already integrated, you, uh, don't need to do anything." She hopes this bluff works.
It probably won't.

[Earl of Purple]

Rovering

There's not much in the way of a battleline. Mostly the fight consists of cybermen advancing through the streets of the traction-town's upper tiers and shocking everyone with a grip from their hand, whilst the residents and civilians run around trying to avoid them. At the city's pinnacle there's a brass-plated structure, every approach defended by a team of gendarmerie wearing bright red plastic jackets, pressed steel helmets and jeans, carrying self-loading rifles which don't do much against the cybermen's armoured frames. The nearest possible-officer has a sabre at his waist, though he's gripping a rifle like the others. "Ah! Uh, the Lord Mayor's leading the Steering Committee in the town hall, behind me. We're 'oping to get outta the marsh we're bogged in, so we can get away from the airship. Without that, we hope the Stalkers will disengage." Rather a faint hope, he thinks. There's not many of the cybermen about, yet they've proven totally impervious to all the weaponry carried by the gendarmerie. The engine decks have been sealed, keeping the mechanical men in the civilian areas, but there's not much aboard that could really stop them.

The unicorn might note that the cybermen aren't giving out lethal shocks, and some of the people that have been electrocuted already are starting to stir. They want to pacify, not annihilate, the traction-town's population.

Bone Hills- Maw of Arkhentkhats

The further along the corridor they go, the more it smells. Something sour, and rotten- like old, curdled milk, or something along those lines. The corridor twists several times, eventually ending at a rusty iron door. It's stuck, but a good shove or two will push it open, the hinges squealing in protest. It's not going to be quiet. Beyond the door, there's a small square chamber which has partially collapsed. The floor's littered with rubble, battered shields, and bones. The bones shake and shiver, slowly reassembling into a pair of humanoid skeletons. One stoops to pick up a broken spear, whilst the other adopts a rough boxer's stance. Both advance on the door, snapping their jaws as they do so.

Apocalypse Junction

"I hope you can get back to 'em, so you can teach 'em how to transform. And nah, I don't got a family. Had one, but I left. Had to, given no choice. Stonewood's a great place, mostly safe an' lots o' water an' stuff. But I'm mageblooded, nobody right trusts us. Before the Magewar, I'd a been found when I was young, and taught. Till I raised a tower o' me own, and joined one of the societies whose war went an' ended the world. Most wands can be used by any Tom, Bob, or Kelemen who finds it. Actual spells're different, they need the right kinda mind to use, enough base power an' the determination t' master the magic afore it masters you. S'why I can do this." Sian opens her hand, and the cold flames she used on the weird monster outside flicker there. "Wands need a command word. I say somethin' when I make it, people ain't always so scared, but I don't need no wand. I ain't figured anythin' else out yet, an' this nearly killed me... four times." And Earl can't remember the word she used the first time around.

"That's a good idea." Sian takes the box and stops trying to open it. "A foldin' bridge, solid an' sturdy, what can get us across these gaps." She'll then try opening the box again, but fails. It's the same as the one she asked for her leg-cure, so maybe she broke it by asking for something impossible.

[Rebonack]

[Crystal Crags]

THE EMPTY VESSEL MAKES A CORRECT ASSESSMENT.

That's in response to the first part.

THE EMPTY VESSEL MAKES AN INCORRECT ASSESSMENT.

That's in response to the second part.

THE PARACAUSAL SUBJECTIVITY IS IMPRISONED IN THE METAFOLD. THIS ONE MUST LIBERATE IT AND APPLY TECHNORGANIC INTEGRATION.

Ugh.

There's that weird word again.

The Nexus is having a lot of trouble translating that into a language that Selekhael understands.

Something about...

Not like machines and flesh at the same time. Not like the robotic left arm Gene has. It's implying something else. Some kind of third category that isn't wholly the other two? It wants to smash open that horrible black machine and rescue whatever is inside. And whatever is inside needs... a body? Or something? It's difficult. This is all completely outside Selekhael's realm of experience.

[bc56]

Crystal Crags
"The, uh, subjectivity, uh, has resisted you. It doesn't want to be released from its vessel. You should respect its wishes."
Time is running out. Selekhael has to convince this thing to leave before the mechs kill it.
She thinks they'll kill it. Maybe they won't. Maybe it'll kill them.

[5a Violista]

[Into the Woods]

"First we sent the usual. When they didn't come back, more were sent to see what happened. And so on."
The old lady sighs and drinks the rest of her own drink, and then starts to fill it up again.
"The girl's mother -" she gestures at Colette "- and my husband and one other woman went to the next-nearest town, bringing what little we had left to trade to see if they could come up with a last-minute deal, but it's a much longer travel time, and most our resources went with those going into the woods."

So it's not so much that the other directions are dangerous - if they had gone there first, it would've been fine - but it took just barely too long for them to think of it, and the population of the town is too low so there weren't that many chances.

"If you've got the supplies, I'd recommend going around the forest. The trip adds a week, but...we're blind on what happened."

[Rebonack]

[Apocalypse Junction]

Wizards.

"Heh."

Victor shakes his head with a chuckle.

"We're both like things outta story books to each other, I reckon. I never would have believed wizards is real things before today. Magic's just a load of hooey. Old tech or folks who don't know how moves work."

Ah well.

Not like it matters all that much anyway.

An eyebrow is raised at the box that won't open.

"Here, lemee try that one," he says, reaching out to take the box, gripping it in one hand and forming a psychic blade with the other. Then he boops it while thinking about a good way to get all the way across these gaps. The lights on the box flash and the top clicks open.

When he opens it up there's a small flat disc inside.

"The hell is this?" he mutters, pulling it out. Only to shout "Tarnation!" as it flops out of his hands and expands into a two meter wide, slightly concave platform that just sort of hovers in mid air.


[Crystal Crags]

THE PARACAUSAL SUBJECTIVITY IS ENSLAVED BY ITS METAFOLD SHACKLES. ITS WISHES ARE COMPROMISED BY THE DESIRES OF THOSE THAT BOUND IT.

Is it saying that horrible black machine is enslaving the thing inside somehow?

That's certainly what it sounds like.

It definitely seems as though this strange entity thinks it is doing something right, not merely hunting a person for no good reason.

[Deathkeeper]

Into the Woods

"So no one combat-trained? No soldiers? Worth a shot then." Domhnall stands up and starts draining his drink.
Um. It looks like he's made up his mind already. That was fast. And potentially dangerous.

[bc56]

Crystal Crags
"How do you know? Maybe it, uh, chose to be this way?" Selekhael feels her control slip away.
She was so close, but now everything is back to full speed.
A barrage of missiles tear into the magenta entity, while Gene might find it hard to see past the being standing on her cockpit.
"Wait, I was so close, we can negotiate!" Her words are all but drowned out by the cacophony of battle.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Rovering]

Hmm. Subjugation tactics, as opposed to extermination tactics.
Either the mechanized force intended to rule here, it they have some hidden use for living citizenry.

The unicorn sniffs and looks off in the general direction the cybermen are moving in from, considering the easiest way to go about what she wishes to test here.

She could probably handle the cybermen on her own, and easily if they weren't actually intent on killing. But that doesn't offer the same sort of live-usage data she's looking for...

A moment later, she turns back to the maybe-officer.
"Would you be interested in some impenetrable armor and a sword that actually works?"

[Rebonack]

[Crystal Crags]

Oh boy here come some missiles!

Everyone loves missiles.

...okay that isn't true.

Lots of people don't love missiles.

The bunker entity definitely doesn't like those missiles, since they splatter its black and magenta flesh all over the place. Thankfully it eats most of the impact from those blasts because otherwise that would be Sol Invicta getting hit with missiles and, as Gene said, she just finished repairing this thing.

But alas!

That's the lift of a mech pilot.

The bunker entity slithers off the smaller mech like a forlorn octopus and begins burrowing into the sand.

...

It really doesn't help that the sand is pink.

"Would you kindly get the hell off my mech?" Phoenix requests of Selekhael.

[bc56]

Crystal Crags
Selekhael does not get off the mech. "Listen! That thing, uh, doesn't want to hurt anybody. But, uh, it wants to free you, uh, from that machine stuck in your back and then do something called, uh, tech no organic integration." She clearly doesn't know at all what that means. "I, uh, don't know what to do about that."

[Ironsmith]

[Dragonborn Hunting]

"Quite," the werewolf says as she continues the trail. And as the move in the distance they'll hear a loud crash and the sound of rending metal and shattering stone.

Snaking through the city, they will eventually reach a dwemer cog lift with a very distinct mechanical issue.

All of the cogs have been torn out and the lift platform left to plummet to the bottom of its shaft. Sunlight is visible afar off, but it is VERY afar off and that looks like it will be quite the climb.

"The white take him!" Fenris growls. "He sabotaged the lift. We are going to have to double back to the other entrance or climb. I am not certain which will be more expeditious."

She could...

Climb the inside of the shaft, she's quite certain.

Not unlike the way Sinding climbed the interior of this jail cell before leaping to freedom. With the augmentation to her strength that her aether armor provides she's quite certain she would be able to carry Yuvan as well, provided he can hang on. Or-

"Alternatively, I can cast a Milestone here. That will allow us to return to the surface, though its counterpart that I left is some distance from these ruins. Still, that may be less of a trek and we are more likely to avoid whatever unpleasant surprise our quarry no doubt has waiting for us."

So! Options! Climb out, double back, use a Milestone.

What does Yuvan think?

[Dragonborn Hunting]

Yuvan frowns. The climb would, at first blush, seem to be their most expedient option, but between the poor footing that would leave them on and the absurdly slow rate at which he could climb hand-over-hand if Fenris couldn't carry him, it seemed too treacherous to risk. So that really just leaves the question of which is further away; the entrance of the ruins from here, or from Fenris's milestone?

"...We'll take the milestone." He says finally. "Whenever you are ready, miss Gray-Mane."

[Rebonack]

[Crystal Crags]

"Oh it just wants to dissect me and then do some science crimes with what's left?" Gene replies, not sounding super enthusiastic about that idea. "Well hell, why didn't it say so to begin with? Maybe it would like to provide Cynic with a free pet unicorn while it's at it?"

Would Cynic like a pet unicorn?

Is she one of those gals who thinks unicorns are cool?

Even if she is, she'll probably be disappointed.

The bunker entity has no intention of providing magical horned horses to any of the mech pilots.

"If that thing tears up the machine I've got for a spine then I die. Full stop. Whatever comes out the other end wouldn't be me anymore."

Gene is pretty dead set on remaining Gene. She's really attached to being herself.

The bunker entity has, but now, vanished below the surface of the sand. It might... still be around? Just lurking somewhere below the surface.


[Dragonborn Hunting]

The werewolf nods.

And then her armor begins disassembling itself as her werewolf body begins dissolving into black mist.

Seems kind of weird that the process of transforming INTO a werewolf is a horrible bone crunching process and the transformation back is far more obviously magical in nature.

It's almost as if some animator didn't want to spend the time creating a reversion animation.

Regardless of the deep, mystical reasons Fenris is a Nord again here in short order and busy shoving her suit of werewolf fitted armor pack into that little white hole in reality she keeps all of her junk in. She clenches both fists, causing flares of green geometric shapes to begin swirling around her fingers as she initiates the conjuring sequence. One bright flash later and standing before our heroes is a small grey stone obelisk with shifting arcane shapes hovering above it.

She offers one hand to Yuvan.

"This will feel rather like be transported into Oblivion," Fenris says as she touches the stone with her other hand. "More properly, if Oblivion were a river we are now skipping a stone across its surface."

Should he take her hand there will be a wrenching feeling shortly followed by appearing next to an identical stone a good half mile away from the entrance to the ruins. Our heroes will have a pretty good view of a dragon receding into the distance with a figure riding on its back. A second dragon is crouched atop the ruins, watching the entrance. A rather... gross, drippy, undead looking dragon that should be familiar to both our heroes.

[bc56]

Crystal Crags
"I tried to talk it down, but, uh, it doesn't think you're responsible enough to make decisions." That's one way of interpreting what it said. Selekhael jumps off the mech.
"Why yes, I would like a unicorn, right after we solve all poverty forever and rebuild the Star League." Cynic is being sarcastic. "We need to talk when you're not about to be killed by whatever that is." That's not sarcastic.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cloud Castle]

Resting on top of a enormous seemingly eternal cloudbank is a strange floating castle.

First these sightings were just rumors told by a pilot but as others seemed to confirm these sightings more people suddenly got interested.
It wouldn't be long until someone or someone's would eventually decide to try to explore the mysterious castle...

---

A castle usually isn't simply one big building but several and this one is no exception. In fact, this one could be compared to a campus that just have a lot more walls and defensive structures.

Since it wouldn't be accurate to say that the castle itself is floating on clouds. Rather, the piece of mountain it was build on seems to have been ripped out by its foundations somehow and is now resting on the cloudbank. Completely invisible to everyone below but obvious to anyone flying above the clouds.

Getting closer one would also see that it's divided into three distinct levels which have been carved into this floating mountain. The bottom level isn't actually build on the mountain itself but at the foot of it and contains a fort, walls and a number of smaller buildings such as what appear to be a barrack.

The second level has a completely different architectural style than the other two as the buildings which have built along the mountainside seem to lack roofs altogether. They're simple cube-shaped houses which have been partly carved into the mountain itself.

The top level has been built on the top section of the mountain where it flattens out somewhat. This level is dominated by the largest building in the entire castle. A massive rectangular stone structure which overlooks the rest of the castle grounds. Built into it is a equally massive tower which also seem to be a green house of some sort as the enormous cupola which sits at its peak is made of glass.

Linking these three levels are stars carved into the mountainside with one leading right out of the back of the the castle on the top level and onto a stone platform.

[Pepo's Hollow]

Anika tried to set a building on fire politely one time. It didn't work out so well.

Though one might say it still worked out hot.

Anika watches the fire spread with glee. She found this sort of thing entertaining. It reminded her how her village had controlled burns every year at the start of summer. It was a lot of work but at the end there was a big party and sometimes there was even a gift exchange. It was great.

But this was not a controlled burn it seemed as Lapis admitted she couldn't control it.

Ops.

"Uhh... it's probably fine-" Anika is about to reassure the girl when there's suddenly an explosion.

Like fireworks!

Except worse.

A lot worse.

"...that's bad right?" The druid asks with a glance back at Lapis.

[Ritual Night]

"Yes, that's just what you're supposed to ask, but I meant the exact wording that you're going to use. Since you're not going to talk to her the same way you're going to talk to me." She makes a circular motion with her hand. "Just... give it some thought. Play it up in your mind a few times. Since by the time you ask you're already going to be thinking about what she's going to answer. Since that's how the mind works. You can generally only effectively focus on one thing at the same time and since it's me you're going to be talking to you can't have your mind preoccupied with anything. You need to be in the present to notice things like body language and all these other details."

[A Hunter must Herd Kows?]

"Great! Cool! Then I'll help you out as a shark and you help out Blanche in turn, how about that?" She offers her hand but then hesitates as she isn't sure Mimi could properly shake it.

[Rebonack]

[Crystal Crags]

"Yeah that's fair," Phoenix admits as she paces slowly, keeping an eye on the sand. "The talk bit, not the irresponsible bit. Though I guess, like, eighty five percent of the mech pilots I've met haven't been responsible enough to make their own decisions either."

They do tend to be kind of reckless and or crazy.

That's probably what happens when you spend all your time stomping around in a giant robot.

Speaking of giant robots!

The entity burst out of the sand again! and glomps her mech!

This time around she's ready for it.

Spin things up and kick 'em down! Lighting, plasma, searing heat, and a pulse of disruptive electro-magnetic power ripples out of Phoenix' mech, frying the entity and causing it to begin switching uncotnrollably as its components are rendered unable to communicate with each other. It seems highly resists to the damage caused by Phoenix' energy weapons, but that EMP really messed with it.

"Alright gals light that bastard up," she says, backing away to allow the apparently far more effective explosive weapons to do their job.


[Pepo's Hollow]

It's a like a big party!

With fireworks!

But the fireworks are all over the place surrounding you.

"It's making the faerie pumpkins explode we just have to get away from the pumpkins!" Lapis warns.

Just...

Look around a bit.

The are literally surrounded by hundreds of pumpkins. And those pumpkins are starting to explode like strings of eldritch fire-crackers.

Thinking quickly, Lapis folds in on herself until only a little magpie is left and then takes to the skies! Fly away! Fly awaaaaay!

Should Anika decide to follow Lapis in hawk form they'll both get a nice birds-eye-view of the pumpkin patch steadily exploding in huge glitter blasts of orange, purple, and green. The remains of the pumpkin monsters are getting blown to bits pretty effectively. Explosions rock their way across the corrupted fields, pumpkin monsters scurrying around aimlessly before getting blown up by the detonating pumpkins.

"I think that worked out okay," Lapis squawks.

[Deathkeeper]

Cloud Castle

G'nichi has been practicing his flying!
Because he can fly now. It's actually shockingly easy. Steering isn't, but just going up and down has proven simple to learn. So when testing how far up he can go before breathing gets difficult he managed to find himself a palace, right where the rumors said it were. He wasn't even really looking for it, just flying around in the general vicinity he'd read about on the adventurer boards.

G'nichi is a very large, burly humanoid dragon with the long, fluffy tail and mustache of a qilin. Small patches of fiery-colored fur decorate the back of his arms, legs, and wings but he's mostly covered in green scales. He's also dressed light with just a thick set of pants and as best a jacket as he could find that fit around his wings. He should be wearing armor, but he didn't want to fly around with a heavy load. His first attempts were rather clumsy. It's not that he's still putting off talking to Master Ironscale for his paladin mail!

G'nichi summons his daily weapon (just in case) and approaches the main door to the fortress. Where he knocks! One must always be polite when visiting possible royalty.