Outside 50: Meeting nature halfway

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

"Well a good numbers of dragons here were created by Bahamut, the Father of Dragons. But yeah, most of them are only metaphorically his children, not literally. They have normal parents."
And then spooky noises!
G'nichi slides into place behind an alcove.
"You want to take a look?" he whispers.

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

Fenris takes mental note that 'Bahamut' is the local name of Akatosh here.

Good to know.

Normal parents.

What would 'normal parents' consist of for a dragon? For that matter, what would dragons even consist of for dragons here? G'nichi says he's a 'dragon man' and as far as Fenris can tell that just means a sturdier argonian. Maybe there's more to it? She isn't exactly an expert on dragons in spite of some degree of first-hand experience.

In the sense of them trying to murder her.

When the droning sound picks up Fenris decides that G'nichi has the right idea. Discretion is the better part of valor after all and if they can avoid a pitched battle (or at least assess the situation before stumbling into one) that should give them a tactical advantage.

So.

She scoots in along side him and crouches behind the low wall, carefully peaking over the top.

Their foe reveals itself before long.

It's a mosquito.

If the mosquito where the size of a man and covered in throbbing crimson veins. And if its limbs were... significantly more substantial than a mosquito's limbs ought to be. They're shaped vaguely like the arms and legs of an almost comically muscular man, though clearly still insect like. Fenris finds the mental image greatly disquieting. The fact that the creature has more man-like features leaves her feeling ill at ease. The mouth flanked by mandibles, the shape of the head and body, the tattered remains of something akin to clothing.

"Is that a daedra?" Fenris mutters, more to herself than anyone else.

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

Comically muscular things?
G'nichi knows nothing of such things.

"We can't assume everything is hostile." G'nichi warns her.
That thing could just be a person. He doubts it, but it could be. He still brandishes his staff.

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

"Probably not wise to assume it's friendly, either," Fenris whispers back.

The creature certainly doesn't look friendly.

But that's something of a hypocritical position, coming from her.

Maybe the insectile abomination is perfectly peaceable and-

Oh.

Wait.

Here come two more similar, though not quite as comically bulky creatures dragging an emaciated looking human clothed in rags. The poor wretch's skin look parchment thin, pale, and covered in puckered puncture wounds. The human doesn't struggle, a heavy pall of hopelessness hanging over them. The four figures are moving toward a stone table in the middle of the pavilion.

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

Oh boy. Time to save people from supernatural captors again!
With a flash, a frilly pink and white outfit appears on G'nichi, who steps forward.
"In the name of Bahamut, I must demand you release him!" he booms, letting his large, shiny form draw their attention.
That and the fact that a number of pink ribbons are extending from his staff to drag the captor-mosquitoes to the ground.

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

Fenris is trying not to laugh at G'nichi's outfit.

Really, truly she is.

This situation is incredibly serious and that prisoner's life may very well be in danger.

But that pink frilly costume is just so... SO silly.

And then ribbons happen. It does not, perhaps, go quite as G'nichi had been planning. One of the thinner insectoids leaps out of the way deftly while the other gets entangled. The first and largest of the trio gets rapped up as well-

-but shatters the ribbons merely by flexing his limbs.

How would flexing even work on something with an exoskeleton?

The larger creature begins moving to engage G'Nichi while the smaller hurls a disgusting looking blot of crimson energy at him-!

-which splatters against an large oval barrier of magic that suddenly shimmers into existence in front of him as Fenris moves out of hiding!

Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! It has wards! Wards are great!

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

G'nichi doesn't have time to thank Fenris as he is being engaged in GLORIOUS MELEE COMBAT!
With a wave of his staff G'nichi glows pink as he steps forward to rise to the mosquito's challenge. His prodigious muscles are being empowered by the power of LOVE and FRIENDSHIP!
Which he will use as he tries to do a sick wrestling throw on the buff mosquito just like Atreyu taught him.
The throw that is. Atreyu's training was not specific to mosquitoes of any variety.

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

Fenris rushes forward, making a smooth arcane gesture as the barrier she had woven neatly snaps from G'Nichi to herself just in time to intercept another vile magical projectile. Her ward dismantles the hostile spellwork, feeding some of the dissipated energy back to her to help her keep up the defense longer. A smirk comes unbidden to her face. While her monstrous foe might be starkly inhuman, she can feel the frustration bleeding off it. Frustration she can take advantage of. As she closes she ignites the warrior spirit that burns in her heart and casts it outward, causing the horror to be wreathed in golden flames!

Much to her surprise the thing begins shrieking and flailing as the holy fire burns its impure flesh to ashes.

That... wasn't what she was expecting.

Against a living foe the Warrior's Flame merely saps their stamina and leaves them exhausted, making combat far more taxing. Unless this creature isn't living at all. Which means it must be-

"These horrors are undead," Fenris calls out to G'nichi. She isn't sure if that information will help him at all, but you never know! He did say he's a paladin, after all.

G'nichi's dance partner, meanwhile, is hurled to the ground and neatly springs back its feet, hauling back to plant a devastating punch square to his gut.

The broiling mosquito isn't taking its beating sitting down, either. Seeing that it's magical assaults aren't working out very well it instead goes skittering toward Fenris and leaps at her, claws out-stretched!

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

G’nichi is a JUNIOR paladin. A rookie. He swore the oath in private but he hasn’t gotten the full ceremony in the temple. Nala told him that’s all Bahamut would ask for and the ceremony is a formality. But G’nichi doesn’t feel any different. He doesn’t feel any more or less holy. So them being undead doesn’t change his approach.
G’nichi is punched, but he shockingly doesn’t go down besides giving a gasp and a hacking cough. In exchange he pulls back his own fist and smashes it toward the bug’s head with a mighty wheeze of his patron’s name.

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

That's what the gods are really into.

Their followers wheezing their name and socking undead mosquito monsters.

Fenris reacts to the leaping horror with the reflexes of someone who has grown accustomed to combat without having any real formal training in it as such. She could probably practice her footwork a bit more. Maybe find someone who can give her some concrete pointers. But she's been doing alright thus far, right? She angles her ward as the claws descend toward her, causing them to scrape off the barrier rather than gouging into her face. She's pretty sure her armor could have taken the worst of that hit, but given the choice she would much prefer a ward taking the brunt of the attack rather than her arm. Sure they aren't the best thing to block physical attacks with. An actual shield would be better. BUT she is quite skilled with them and knows a thing or two about weaving a bit of physicality into the magic.

And now that the vampiric abomination has been kind enough to get close to her?

The brass plate on her bracer covering the back of her hand has a ring set into it. A ring that ignites with incandescent white light as her fingers crack and warp and distort into bestial claws. She doesn't slash at the horror. Instead she grabs it, sinking her claws into its impure flesh. It probably won't like the surge of Meridia's light that follows.

G'nichi's foe gets socked right in the face, causing its head to snap back and one of its mandibles to crack. It doesn't like that one bit. It likes it even less when the other bug Fenris just savaged explodes in a shock-wave of shimmering blue and gold light and filling it with dismay. With a shriek the monster backs away from G'nichi before trying to flee toward the still open cellar entrance.

The bug that got restrained?

It was blasted to smouldering ashes. Apparently it wasn't quite as resilient as the big one.

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

G'nichi would have yelled it but he was just punched in the diaphragm.
His enemy is getting away!
G'nichi kneels down and twirls his staff in a circular motion before pointing it at the bug monster! From its shining power erupts a beam of pure LOVE energy!
It probably really hurts evil monsters.

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

On a scale of pastel to eye-burning magenta how pink is the love beam?

Regardless, with how injured and off-foot the monster is it doesn't have time to react before getting pierced through the heart by the energy attack, causing it to burst in a big heart-shaped cloud that sprays sparkly glitter everywhere. Because of course it does. Foes defeated?

Fenris dismisses her barrier and immediately runs over to the injured captive, shaking her werewolfy paw as she does as if it had fallen asleep and she were trying to get feeling back into it. By the time she reaches him it looks mostly human again and little wisps of ethereal black smoke are wafting off it. The darkness is quickly chased away by the light as she begins channeling healing magic into the man. Slowly the puckered wounds close up but the unnatural pallor and the lurid crimson veins aren't diminished.

The healer frowns at this. She reaches down and lifts the insensate man's eyelid to peer at his eyes. Bloodshot, yes. But not the tell-tale hungry orange of a vampire. Something nefarious is going on here but she isn't sure what.

"He has some kind of... wasting disease? We'll probably want to get him to temple where the infection can be purged," she suggests. Then she reaches down to help the man up, "Come on, let's get you out of-"

The man grabs her wrist, his eyes wild.

"No!"

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

G'nichi waves his staff about the man, but he probably can't fix anything Fenris can't without knowing what ails him.
"Talk to us, sir. What did those creatures desire of you? A sacrifice? A convert?" Were they some sort of strange were-mosquito? He can't say it's impossible, given the tatters of clothes on the others.

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

What would the staff do for the poor wretch?

Clean him and apply some cute makeup?

"A curse, a terrible curse," the victim moans. "You can't take me to the city. I may spread it to others. At the heart of the ruins there is a ghastly thing that spreads it. If you destroy the source the curse may be lifted."

Oh yeah.

Yep.

This is definitely a quest.

Find big scary curse source and slay it. Fenris is pretty well acquainted with this type of work. Just as well acquainted with stumbling across problems like these and people asking her to help set them right. More evidence in favor of 'the gods use her to clean up their messes'. Though at the very least they were nice enough to give her a competent (if unusually dressed) companion to help.

"We'll destroy whatever monster is causing this," Fenris promises. "You can count on it."

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

G'nichi nods. The outfit fizzles out of existence.
"Okay, well that seems to resolve this particular room. We should head in deeper if we want to help this man. Ah, you wouldn't happen to know how deep we're talking, do you?" It would be great if they would be heading into, say, something the size of your average temple and not a city-length network of tunnels. They didn't bring enough food for that.
Even if after last time G'nichi invested in a bag of holding to come much more prepared.

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

Is it even possible for G'nichi to use the magic of the rod without that absurdly silly outfit?

Fenris is curious.

For purely academic reasons, of course.

"It is... it's just an old wine cellar, I think," the withered man says, his voice trembling. "For a large manor house that has fallen to ruin, but a cellar none the less. The monsters have expanded it, I think, but it isn't large."

Alright, good.

Pretty small dungeon, then.

Not one of those massive sprawling caves that opens up into a dwemer ruin full of angry falmer. Fenris is silently thankful for that. Dwarven constructs aren't very pleasant to fight.

"We'll see it done, you don't have to worry about us," Fenris promises.

As she moves to leave the withered man clutches at her arm one last time.

"Do not underestimate the heart of this horror. Do not! It will be your undoing!" he warns.

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

G'nichi CAN but he hasn't been able to convince Belle to let him do it. She's very insistent.
"Likely only a few chambers, then. We'll have to assume we're moving into the thick of it right away." G'nichi says with a nod.
He seems to run into a lot of ruined houses. Why can't he ever find a nice one that's move-in ready and has no horrors beneath it?
G'nichi will let Fenris dislodge the man as he looks for the way deeper inside.

[Earl of Purple]

Steelbite Canyon

The crystallised zombies can probably be lured out easily enough, just open the door and yell. The one with no head maybe can't see or hear them, but then they're zombies. Who knows what they can or can't do? The one with the crystals growing in place of legs doesn't appear able to walk, though as they mature and the crystals grow that may change.

Wastelands Campsite

"Aye, she be dangerous. She took me head. Want I t' distract at th' entrance whilst ye sneak 'round?" She beat Frigate, but he was able to hurt her- though not permanently, which matches as she hadn't permanently injured him, either.

[Murkus]

The Green

Artie smiles at Vivi's re-entrance.
"Quite well, Vivi. Sir Savarins was just helping me by going over the sorts of glamours he might place on the piece he's made for me."
Artie's not sure if he planned on only making her the one thing. Even if she no longer sweats she'll probably need at least two things to wear.

The Green

"Ah, and has he discussed making you some actual, mundane clothes?" Vivi asks, looking at the spider skeptically.

"Well-- not yet! Exactly!" Savarins insists, his hands still working. The fey woman laughs.

"Why don't we pick some fabrics and other things from his collection to put together a little bit of an ensemble, Artie?" Viviana suggests, smiling companionably.

[Ironsmith]

[Wastelands Campsite]

Despite the goblin scout's percieved flurry of activity within the cave, it's still eerily silent. It seems as though not much is going to happen without their prompting.

[Shadowcaller]

[Temple Site]

Jaccalish does sound as indifferent as they are to these events. They must have happened a long time ago after all and it isn't clear how capable of empathy they really are considering they aren't exactly mortal anymore.

"The planet is on life-support. Cuthun is used to keep what little fauna that remains of it alive, including ourselves. So we're forced to put our faith in the fact it won't fail, and it haven't for a long time. That said, anything else that wasn't directly perserved through some other means has perished and now only exist in the hands of our arcanists." Jaccalish gestures around the blackened planet which now has mostly covered in snow and ice.

"So I wouldn't exactly say that either of us have survived. It's more akin to a shambling corpse that's looking for a way to ressurect itself."

They then turn back their gaze to Nathan. "But you believe all this was a test for the angels? Interesting theory. Sadly, without studying the other planets we can neither confirm nor refute it. But if we do manage to establish ourselves in a world once more then perhaps we can seek the answers of what befell us more closely."

[A Hunter must Hunt Kows]

It's a race to nowhere as unsurprisingly it quickly becomes clear that Anika has no idea where she's going.

Thankfully, its also basically impossible to miss even with her horrible navigation skills as they soon run into wast swaths of farmland. Mimi would likely at least have seen these enormous wheat-fields even if she never seen any farm animals before. Not that she'd make the immidiate connection to specific animals and this type of manmade landscape of course.

Anika seems to make an immidiate connection between it and the kows however and rushes right out into it. Presuming that Mimi follows along they soon spot two metal monsters that are consuming the grain with their steel maws.

They move through the field leaving nothing but dirt behind. Seemingly consuming it despite clearly being robots. Perhaps they're somewhat related to the drones that she might have seen Riss using?

Either way, these strange machines make Anika pause as they both seem to be moving towards them. Or at least in their general direction. Perhaps they simply haven't been spotted yet?

[Fort Aegis Resort]

Sylvess makes an awkward forced laugh, embarrassed at bringing up the whole age thing at all. He was supposed to have got past all that. No no, he has got past all that, it's just the anxiety at having so many guests around, talking to him. He subconsciously shifts his position a little further round behind Spako.

"O-oh, yes, um, a-a-anyway, the way wyrmlings age i-is a little odd. Our children a-are a matter of months old but, um, they're much more advanced than an equivalent human in, um, some ways at least. Th-they're able to hunt as soon as they're out of their eggs a-a-and they can fly pretty quickly too and protect themselves and stuff, so i-in some areas they're more capable almost immediately than, um, I don't know, a two year old child maybe? I-I guess they're not much quicker at learning to talk initially, and their development sort of...slows down at some point a-a-and then it takes them a long while to fully mature." Life is complicated like that. It's hard to compare like for like accurately here.

"M-maybe more similar to some elements of how her cubs grow then? I-I think part of it i-is that not all dragons stick around to look after their young, o-or some are left to be raised by servants, or...bad things happen to the dragon. B-but we don't have children that often, s-so it's important they're able to be self-sufficient very quickly."

Fort Aegis Resort

"Dragon growth is decidedly odd. If they were kobolds they'd be mostly functional by two years, but dragons are capable of usual physical activities right away but can't talk for a while, as Sylvess says." Spako reiterates.
"From the sound of it once they figure out their talking and their basic magics they'll be children for longer than a kobold would be alive." Luckily the babies have been making friends with the youngest kobolds. Especially since the latter will probably end up taking care of the former one day.

[Fort Aegis Resort]

"It isn't too unusual for dragons to grow slowly. I've talked to many dragons that told me similar stories of their offspring." Ambrosia remarks as she thoughfully looks over the hatchlings. "How long do you expect it to take until they can talk though? Since I feel that's a important milestone of interaction with your children. Once you can exchange words between one another I mean."

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

It takes a bit of prodding to extract herself from the madman's grip, but eventually Fenris is freed and it's time to descend.

This is all rather exciting for Fenris.

Obviously the situation is quite dangerous and quite serious. With death looming over one's shoulder such situations always are. But there's a level of excitement she'll freely admit to. She's delving into an unknown ruin on (possibly?) an unknown world. Facing an unknown foe with an unknown ally. There's much to learn and much to gain. Here on foreign soil she's already making a difference in pushing back the darkness. Fenris doesn't style herself a brutish warrior by any means. She's a scholar of the school of restoration and all that implies. But she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that her Nord heart was signing at another chance for glory.

So.

Down the stairs they go.

It's pretty dark.

Thankfully Fenris isn't so ignorant of other schools of magic that she can't conjure a hovering mage light to illuminate the surroundings.

The old stone stairs are slick with damp and moss. Our heroes had best watch their step...

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

G’nichi’s claws are very adept at gripping. Not as adept as his old ones but he considers it a win. They’re especially good for swimming.
He does slip once but he’s caught by a translucent pink disc as his outfit reappears.
He glances at Fenris and says nothing on the matter, continuing on his way.

[Morty]

[Fort Aegis Resort]

"I don't have a very good frame of reference," Thariza admits. "My experiences with other races' kids... I don't think I actually have any. But I know Charr cubs grow quicker than, say, human kids. They can follow their mother after a few days. About a year after birth they're handed off to the fahrar."

[Wastelands Campsite]

"That's the thing, there's not much room for stealth. The holes are small even for us, and there's this... itching. Being holed up in a cave makes superior numbers less valuable," Olvisin points out. "Unless we plan to lay siege to the place. We could make a bigger hole, but it'd take time. And make a lot of noise."

[Deathkeeper]

The Green

Artie waves a hand.
”Do not worry, Sir Savarins. You are doing an excellent job.”
But she turns back to Vivi and nods nevertheless.
”That does sound like a lovely idea, Vivi. I’m sure we can put something together.” Probably more Vivi than her. She’s still new to this whole fashion thing.

[Recaiden]

[Temple Site]

Jaccalish does sound as indifferent as they are to these events. They must have happened a long time ago after all and it isn't clear how capable of empathy they really are considering they aren't exactly mortal anymore.

"The planet is on life-support. Cuthun is used to keep what little fauna that remains of it alive, including ourselves. So we're forced to put our faith in the fact it won't fail, and it haven't for a long time. That said, anything else that wasn't directly perserved through some other means has perished and now only exist in the hands of our arcanists." Jaccalish gestures around the blackened planet which now has mostly covered in snow and ice.

"So I wouldn't exactly say that either of us have survived. It's more akin to a shambling corpse that's looking for a way to ressurect itself."

They then turn back their gaze to Nathan. "But you believe all this was a test for the angels? Interesting theory. Sadly, without studying the other planets we can neither confirm nor refute it. But if we do manage to establish ourselves in a world once more then perhaps we can seek the answers of what befell us more closely."

Well, what exactly Jaccalish has lost over the countless years is less important to them, unless it makes a difference to the Jaccalish now.

"We consider it the most likely case, but by no means certain." Nathan answers. "It's possible that the answers are not in the physical realm at all, but that is all we have to use to understand."

They gesture in a swirling motion.
"What do you mean by establish yourself in a world? One that is not frozen and dying, yes, but what is needed? When will you be ready? It sounds like a ... a goal that could easily shift."

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

The outfit returns!

Fenris is trying very hard not to look at it because she knows if she looks at it she might start laughing and she doesn't want G'nichi to feel bad about how silly his magical uniform is. It seems like a fairly advanced form of magic to her. Just conjuring matter out of nothing like that? It could be possible that it is actually some form of summoned effect, a bound outfit in a sense, but she would need to study the spellwork a bit more closely and now probably isn't the best time for that.

Especially since they just reached the bottom of the stairs.

It's...

A wine cellar.

Or maybe a beer cellar? Mead cellar? There's a profusion of large barrels and the nose-stinging scent of powerful alcohol. There's also the sound of things skittering in the dark.

That second part is certainly more concerning.

Several things worthy of investigation stand out. One of the huge barrels has broken open and the floor around it is slick with what appears to be congealed blood. Fenris isn't sure if it's a trick of the light or similar to the curse that corrupted the water in the basin. There's a table set up covered in sundry alchemical supplies with a well stocked cabinet behind it. Maybe this isn't a magical effect, but rather an alchemical one? Finally there stands a disquietingly insectile idol perched atop a pedestal radiating a malignant aura.

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

"You know, Claymore is missing out. He'd have loved this." G'nichi muses. Not all of his weapons have deigned to supply him with their names.
Still, he has to work with what he has. He holes his staff up like a rifle and declares, "In the name of Bahamut and love I cast thee down!"
Belle fires a heart-shaped beam of concentrated destruction at the very evil-seeming idol!

[Rebonack]

[The Dread Gazebo]

"Who's Claymore?" Fenris asks moments before the creepy idol gets blown the heck up.

Kapow!

That...

Causes some things to happen.

First?

The ground lurches uncomfortably.

Second?

There is some ominous rumbling.

And third?

A grotesque little mosquito-like imp manifests where the statue was. The creature is about the size of a cat.

"Fools!" it buzzes in a disturbingly deep, baritone voice. "You have freed me! I will thank you for your service by enslaving you to my will."

Big talk for a little imp.

[Deathkeeper]

The Dread Gazebo

"He's one of my other weapons. He's more straightforward. But he got me into big trouble last year." G'nichi explains.

And then an imp! G'nichi knows exactly what to do in a time like this.
He does exactly the same thing as before and blasts the imp with Belle's HEART BEAM.