The Purple Fez Tavern, Men's Bathroom (Jann; Rosalind)

Rosalind sighed in relief, "Thank you. I really needed that reassurance."

She listened to Jann's plan and nodded, "A simple plan. What signal should I wait for?"

edited 14th May '18 10:38:28 AM by Miss_Desperado

The Purple Fez Tavern (Ozurr; Varg)

"Oh good," Ozurr said, taking another loaf of bread. "We're on the same page."

Edge of Town - North Gate (Krakka'a, Zarokh) -> Town Square (Zarokh)

On the other side of town, a pair of large prehistoric archosaurs wandered up to the gate.

"Good," Krakka'a said. "This place is inhabited. Time to find out what people know about..."

He paused, halfway through the act of walking through the gate. One of the guards had noticed him. The guard (who by this point had been notified of Ozurr's presence in town) simply rolled his eyes and muttered "Oh God, there's more of them."

Krakka'a, meanwhile, took a step back. He recognized this creature. It was the same strange, bipedal mammal that had allied with the Troodon back on the island. Krakka'a didn't know much about these things, except that they were highly resilient, and apparently possessed of an almost preternatural amount of luck. He didn't think it was a coincidence that, within 24 hours of this mammal appearing on the island, the Troodon he had spent the last 20 years absolutely dominating had suddenly rallied together and allied with the sea creatures, the Tyrannosaurs, and their hated rivals the Prenocephale, and driven off his entire flock.

On a hunch, Krakka'a took a closer look inside the town. The technology and architecture was a hopeless mishmash of styles, mixing the mystical, earthy aesthetic of the Troodon with the geometric, heavily engineered focus of the more scientifically-minded Prenocephale, along with who knew what else. But more importantly, it was positively crawling with more of the strange, nearly-hairless bipedal mammals.

Krakka'a recoiled before he could stop himself. He couldn't admit to Zarokh that he was afraid. Hell, he couldn't admit to himself that he was afraid.

"Change of plans, Zarokh." He pointed at the town. "We're going to do this like we did with the Troodons. You go in, pretend to be a curious traveler, get whatever information you can, and then get out."

Zarokh nodded and entered the town, deep in thought. He had mixed feelings about how they had handled the Troodons. They had seemed generally happy to accommodate him, if a bit reluctant to leave him unsupervised in their village. Their high priest even seemed hurt when he leared why Zarokh had really been there. Hadn't stopped Zarokh from eating him, though. Krakka'a had insisted the Troodons were his enemies, which made them enemies of the great Sobek, and whatever the great Sobek commanded, Zarokh would obey.

Town Square

This doctor, Jamie Castell, as she called herself, was certainly an interesting person. Much more lively than the old crow Chitara had met once, dressed in similar garments. 'I wonder what he would say to this colleague.' She couldn't help but think.

Chitara chuckled at the doctor's word. "Oh, no need to worry about me. I know what a haunted necropolis is like." Though her tone became a little bitter at the last sentence. "I've had my own share of encounters of that kind, and I would rather face something I know than... that." She pointed dismissively at where the deathly pillars had risen.

And then the woman freaked out over a fairy. "So much for unspeakable horrors, eh?" Chitara dryly added.

The fairy itself, a rather polite one, it seemed, flew away while promising to bring someone else. Meanwhile, the snake woman worked on what looked like a ward, the glow easily proving it was magical. "Well, good to know we'll be protected."

The fairy returned wuickly, with another snake-looking woman. Only this one seemed sickly. And reeked of so much perfume she wouldn't have looked out of place on the harpid royal court. And she had this familiar aura about her. Yeah, better to keep a good eye on her.

"My, had I known I was going to meet royalty, I would have put on my best clothes." Chitara bowed her head at Sindar in respect of his title, even if the gesture and her tone of speech had a slight bit of mockery. Fairies tended to be rather egocentric and grandiloquent, but better stay on their good graces, lest they make your life a nightmare. "I am Chitara, once priest of the Raven God, now a humble merchant. The boy over there is Naiolo. Kid I picked up on the road, no one too imprtant." She pointed at Naiolo, who was busy dragging and strapping the beetles to the wagon. "Well, nice to know the incident over there was just a show. Now I feel a little more relaxed." She wasn't being entirely sarcastic about this.

Although Saen seemed concerned about her Chitara's well being. "Oh, don't worry about me, dear. I know how to take care of myself and the boy. Besides, I've dealt with undead and such before, I'm not going blind in there."

Once he finished his tasks, Naiolo turned back to Chitara. "All right, everything's ready."

"Ah, finally!" Chitara claimed, and beckoned the others with her. "Come on, everyone. We're leaving." With this, both stepped into the wagon.

The wagon's interior was just as worn as the exterior, with not a lot of furniture. The table that she had been using before was in the center of the room, over a dark purple carpet, and some wooden stools around it. From another corner hung a hammock, with Naiolo's harp next to it. Some wooden beams protruded form the wall left to the entrance, and went up like stairs, to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Under the 'stairs' were a bookshelf with some books and parchments, and a chest next to it in which Chitara put her sack with her wares. On the wall opposite of the entrance was another window, the main source of light on the place, and on the wall to the right there was another trapdoor that led to the wagon's front. Under it was a small wooden beam, like a step.

"Make yourselves comfortable." Said Chitara, leaving the door open for everyone to enter. "It's not much, but it has been my home for quite a while."

"We have extra hammocks for you to sleep into if you want them." Naiolo added. "Oh, by the way, Garnma. Do you know where the place is?"

"Well, of course. It's..." Chitara went speechless as she realized one missing part of her plan. "Yeah, you got me there. No one happens to have a map with you, right?"

The Purple Fez Tavern, Men's Bathroom (Jann; Rosalind)

"Hm, maybe something like this?" Jann answered.

He channeled a trickle of magic through his hand and snapped his fingers, causing a tiny orb of green light to appear near the bathroom door. It buzzed around like a firefly for a second or two before fading away.

"See you outside. And uh... try not to worry too much. You'll be fine."

With that, Jann carefully opened the door - making sure no one outside would catch a glance of Rosalind - and stepped through. He turned left to head out into the main room of the tavern, and suddenly found himself eye to eye with an older man who, judging from his worn clothes, unkempt beard and overall rather weathered appearance had most likely just returned from a journey through the wasteland.

The man's eyes wandered between Jann and the out-of-order sign on the bathroom door.

"Um... health and safety inspection," Jann responded - perhaps not very convincingly - to the implied question. "Trust me sir, you do not wish to go in there." He held up a closed fist and quickly opened it, spreading his fingers to simulate an explosion.

The man did not respond, but thankfully turned around and walked towards the tavern's exit, gesturing at an equally weathered-looking young girl at one of the tables - his daughter maybe? - to follow him.

Jann moved towards the exit as well, and discreetly snapped his fingers to signal Rosalind.

edited 16th May '18 9:04:57 AM by Corvidae

The Purple Fez Tavern, Men's Bathroom (Jann; Rosalind) -> The Purple Fez Tavern, Bathroom Hall (Jann; Rosalind)

Rosalind nodded and moved to where the opening door would block anyone's view of her. Waiting, she heard Jann's voice, but couldn't quite hear every word of what was apparently a bluff. "?... Health and ???. Trust me, ???, ??? not ??? go in there."

Then came the signal. Rosalind cracked open the door, peeked out, and opened the door further to exit. That's when she caught sight of the "Out of Order" sign. She blinked at it, traced the letters with her fingers and quickly realized it was an illusion. She quietly chuckled, "Oh, that's what you did to the door."

With a pang of sympathy for whoever Jann had just turned away, Rosalind wondered how to dispel the illusion. Just to see what would happen, she pantomimed a scrubbing motion on the illusion. It disappeared, so either Jann had actively dispelled it, the spell was on an expiration timer, or whatever Rosalind did worked. She followed Jann out of the exit.

The Purple Fez Tavern, Bathroom Hall (Jann; Rosalind) -> The Purple Fez Tavern, Outdoor Tables (Ozurr; Varg, Jann; Rosalind)

While approaching their table, Rosalind noticed the expectant stares coming from Ozurr and Varg, and decided to forestall the most obvious questions about her sudden bout of illness. "I'm okay now, everyone, sorry for rushin' off and alarmin' y'all like that. Turns out I can't eat raw mutton, you do NOT want to know what happened in there, especially at the brunch table, so let us never speak of that incident again." Now that she thought about it, none of the food on the table besides the raw mutton looked appetizing to her for any reasons beyond nostalgia, even before she threw up.

Suddenly, she noticed that her forestalling hadn't wiped the expectant stares from Ozurr and Varg's faces. In fact, the intensity of the stares had increased in a forebodingly familiar fashion. This was it, she was about to get interrogated.

"Eep!" Before Jann had a chance to sit down, Rosalind hid behind him, trembling and clinging to his arm. Then she reconsidered how such a pose could be maliciously misinterpreted as an attempt to use Jann as a hostage and a living shield. Just as she was about to panic over that possibility, her train of thought derailed.

Rosalind's sense of smell had finally recuperated from the plague zombie stench. One particularly enticing scent was now dominating her attention — Jann's history-scent made it plain that he'd been traipsing around and sweating in the wilderness, and yet he wasn't harboring any stinky bacterial colonies. Rosalind guessed that his cleaning spell was the moderating influence. For the first time in a long time, Rosalind started breathing in a slow, even rhythm as her heart rate matched humanity. Her courage started to return and she eased her grip on Jann's arm.

[City Hall Plaza – Parthenia and Sa'ad]

With a terse nod, Dominic and his crew made their way out. "Sorry for the confusion, ma'am." The skulked away warily, as if expecting some violent retribution from Parenthia (and they would be ready if one came), but otherwise would take a long, paranoid route to a spot with a warp portal ready to take them back to their homeworld until Alice had need of them again. And it would be soon. Abigail protocols were not to be taken lightly.

Naturally, the Ace of Spades was nowhere to be found.

Purple Fez Tavern (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)

Ozurr gave a wry smile and palmed a handful of apples. "Fair enough," he said in response to Rosalind. "Though given the environment I grew up in, I have a pretty strong stomach." He capped this off by popping the apples into his mouth like candy.

Now that he had mentioned his Third Eye, Ozurr was suddenly more acutely aware of what it was trying to tell him. Rosalind was scared, but also feeling...well, that was between her and Jann, wasn't it? Some things you just don't share with strangers.

Notice Board (Zarokh; Mark, Farah)

This town was nothing like the Troodon village. It was so eclectic, as if it wasn't created by a single civilization, but rather a hodgepodge of different cultures and technology levels. If Zarokh wasn't on a holy mission, he would have liked very much to learn more about this place, and the strange, bipedal mammals that wandered everywhere.

But alas, there was nothing for it. The Great Sobek wanted Krakka'a to find this thing, whatever it was. Actually, that was a bit strange, now that Zarokh thought about it. Krakka'a had brought him here in search of a powerful artifact, but had never said what it was. If he didn't know better, he'd think Krakka'a didn't actually know himself.

He crawled up to a wooden board erected at the very center of town, which he noticed two of the mammals were staring at. Out of curiosity, he stared as well. Various bits of paper had been attached to the board, all of them making various proclamations. A legendary musket...Zarokh had no idea what a musket was. The notice said it was "good for fights," but Zarokh had all the weapons he needed right there in his mouth.

Ah! Right there. "POWERFUL ARTIFACT stolen from the Necropolis rumored to be hiding in the Cave of Secrets near the Coast of Chills. Rumored to be connected to a subterranean society." Now he just needed to figure out where the Cave of Secrets and the Coast of Chills were.

"Excuse me," he said to the two mammals, "but might either of you know where an enterprising Deinosuchus might find a map?"

City Hall Plaza – Parthenia and Sa'ad

Parthenia stares at the orange-clad SWAT team moving away, feels the link with her deity restored while they're still in her attack range aaand … does nothing.

Attacking them would be pointless.

"Come, pirate." She yanks the chain.

"Just like that?" Sa'ad scoffs. "They've pulled a gun on you. If I was in your place I'd tear that mustachioed cunt's head off."

"That's why you're in shackles. Move it." The Inquisitor starts ascending by the City Hall's steps.

"I thought you were looking for a lift."

"I have an unfinished business here. And allies."

City Hall – Parthenia and Sa'ad

"How can I-?" Parthenia's badge shoved into City Hall clerk's face makes him jump.

"Parthenia the Keraunos, Inquisition. Heard about us?"

The clerk mumbles something into his communicator.

"Speak," says he to the Inquisitor.

"I need to talk with our official."

"She's already on her way here. May I ask why you're dragging this gentleman on a chain?"

"This gentleman is a criminal." Parthenia reattaches her badge in one swift motion. "I need him to be contained while I'm talking with our official. In an anti-magic holding cell."

The clerk mumbles something into his communicator once again.

"Your request is within the clauses of the agreement between our City and your State. Please settle in in the waiting room."

"No. I'll supervise the transfer."

The clerk makes a deep breath.

"Certainly."

"I also want to report a criminal organization acting within the borders of your City," says Parthenia. "I had an encounter with them right before your doors."

"I'm listening," the clerk gives her a concerned look.

"Five heavily armed men in military uniforms tinted with orange. Led by a brown man with a mustache who calls himself Dominic Chaudhari. Associates: a dreadlocked man in black suit with anti-magic abilities called the Ace of Spades, a pale woman in her forties called Winters, allegedly has the same powers, short, black hair, dressed in black-and-white school uniform. She's near the hotel entrance right now."

And I know how ridiculous this sounds, don't look at me like that.

edited 17th May '18 7:13:01 PM by Millership

Town Square ~ Frontier Sporting Goods (Bonnie, Carol; Not-Chaos-Hunters)

Carol tilted her head slightly, "And that's why I refuse t'fly anymore," she said, before asking "how'd you manage t'get outta that one?"

To Jackson's offer of weaponry, Bonnie shook her head, "We already have our own weapons: Carol has her halberd, I have my staff, and Lily has her rifle. And besides, we've only just met; we wouldn't want to impose on you in anyway," she said.

The other girl, meanwhile, gave the boy a slightly intrigued look, "Hmm, you've peaked my interest, whatcha got?"

The rabbit-eared girl glanced around at the contents of the store they had entered, noting, "I don't think this place carries "snacks"; they seem to have field rations, though." She glanced behind her towards the door of the store, "I did notice what looked to be a corner shop on the way in," she said, before adding with a hint of discomfort, "perhaps they might have snacks?"

edited 18th May '18 2:54:37 AM by WillDeRegio

[Supply Store...I think we're in the supply store now?]

"Like I said," Nick said, "It was pure luck. One minute we have guns and lasers and shit shootin' at us, and when I started wishing we would get out alive, boom! Here! Landed flat on our asses in a driveway by a hotel. You know the rest, probably."

Jackson smirked and opened his bag. "Let's see...I have electric gloves—my personal favorite—and I have a grappling hook for climbing high places."

"We can live with rations." Marie said, "Our priorities should be getting supplies, after all. If we're going to do this, snacks should be the last thing on our minds." She turned to her friends, "Right?"

Nick sighed. "...Fine."

Amy nodded happily. "Let's go look for Cormack! Maybe he's already inside!"

Notice Board – Zarokh, Mark and Farah

They watch in silent horror as a ten-meter long scaled monstrosity each of its teeth the size of Farah's palm, tall enough to loom over them, looks at the board with clear comprehension of what it's seeing.

"You win, Fingers." Farah's throat's gone sore, making her whisper a bit louder than she intends. "I'm a teetotaler now."

"You're not seeing things. And it's impolite to stare." Tanzer manages to regain his composure a lot quicker than his companion. He addresses the prehistoric crocodile, with a smile. That dumb fuck. RUN! "Depends on what's depicted on this map. If it's the city we're in, then most definitely at the Town Hall."

"If they have it, that is." Farah can't help but exhale a quiet 'woah!' when she sees Deinosuchus' 'combat equipment'. "Erm, the town hall I mean. This town seems to be a bit thin in the law department."

"If the map of the city's surroundings is what you after, then going to the market is your best bet," says Mark. "Though it's a crowded place. I beg your pardon, but your appearance might cause panic out there. I'm rather surprised it still didn't."

"How…?" Farah pauses for a moment, looking like there were throngs of 'hows' inside her head, fighting each other for freedom. None of them win. "How."

edited 18th May '18 6:17:49 AM by Millership

Notice Board - Zarokh; Mark, Farah

Huh, Zarokh thought. So there is such a thing as a talking mammal.

He shrugged with one arm. "Your guess is as good as mine. When I got here, one of the guards at the gate just sort of rolled his eyes and said 'Oh God, not another one.' I kind of figured there might be more, but..." It was strange. Back home, everyone gave him a wide berth simply on account of his species. But everyone here seemed so immersed in whatever they were doing that they hadn't really paid attention to him.

"Which way would the market be?"

Town: Restaurant - outside seating area

Gwion grinned at Diantha's reaction. "Thank you. It's all due t'healthy living, pure thoughts 'n' advanced nanotech.

James was puzzled as to why Diantha tapped Nora on the skull for mentioning more food - it seemed a sensible enough suggestion - they would certainly need provisions for the journey unless they intended to spend most of their time hunting for food rather than exploring... and there was no guarantee there would be anything worth eating once they got inside some of the ruins. Perhaps they already had sufficient food and Nora was wanting more. James couldn't tell.

He watched as Diantha left to fetch her gear then turned to Leone, who had expressed a desire for a ranged weapon. "No need to apologise for having good manners. When we get to the shopping district, we'll see what they have in the way of provisions for the journey, weapons and equipment. This seems like a very advanced civilisation, so there should be plenty of choices." Unlike the last place, that didn't even have electric torches or semiautomatic firearms - it had been scarcely a century more advanced than his own time.

Suddenly a loud whistle attracted his attention and he turned to see the two people with horses near the notice board - a bearded caucasian man and an Asian woman, grubby from travel and armed.

The woman introduced her travelling companion in the manner of a sideshow hawker, as though she were about to sell tickets to those desiring to watch him in action. From her voice and movement, she had obviously been drinking.

Kris had also turned to see the commotion. "Sounds like he's b'n a busy chap, dunnit."

James nodded. "Though how one purloins living things, I don't know." He knew full well what the woman had meant, but the misuse of the word was amusing.

Gwion chuckled.

As they watched, the largest crocodile they had ever seen approached the notice board and, instead of instantly trying to eat the people or horses, appeared to read the notices on the board. Then it looked for all the world like it attempted to engage the humans in conversation - at this distance it was impossible to tell and, again, Gwion wished Kaitlyn were here to listen in.

Hotel Lobby

Wolfe listened in silence as Vindex ranted, Unlike the 'demon's' mistress, he could handle being called names and being insulted without throwing a half-hour-long fit.

The so-called demon claimed that he was not acting under his own accord and that he hated every moment of the attack.

For some reason, the demon was ranting about 'Lady Celine' and 'Magdalene' - Wolfe hadn't even heard of them, let alone insulted them.

Then Valerie said 'You're not my father, right?' Well, no, of course not. If he had been, she would have realised that she had somehow caused offence to Maya and would have stopped and said she hadn't meant to be insulting, tried to repair the damage, rather than repeatedly calling Maya a 'stupid jerk' even after Justin had tried to smooth things over.

There was little point in trying to explain any of these things - neither Valerie nor Vindex had the emotional maturity to comprehend. He would have said that they needed to act their age rather than their shoe size, but it was clear that 'acting their shoe size' would be an improvement on the way they had acted.

The short, grey-skinned being that reminded Wolfe of Nemaforte confirmed that Vindex was being suppressed throughout the fracas and that it was largely due to Justin's hatred of Vindex. The grey elf didn't seem to have any stake in either side of the fight, so Wolfe figured he could trust their impartiality in the matter.

Moobly returned with a metal box which she gave to her companion who then started offering biscuits to everyone - including Vindex, complete with a Snickers reference.

Wolfe noted what the woman had had to say about pepper spray and such distracting a magic user from casting a spell - which he had rather suspected - but that taking the magic out of a fireball would do nothing about the ball of fire itself - which was fair enough: his idea had been to stop the magic before the ball of fire was on its way, anyway. Hopefully without killing anyone in the process - just in case they were conjuring a bouquet of flowers rather than a ball of fiery death.

Just then, a woman wearing black fedora and boots, grey vest and matching jodhpurs and kitted out for travel arrived. She was obviously known to Moobly's uniformed companion and she was wearing two pistols on her hips. Wolfe instantly recognised the distinctive shapes of the pistol grips - one was clearly a Walther P38 and the other a Colt 1911 or one of its many variants.

She introduced herself as an antiquarian - clearly of the Indiana Jones or Lara Croft variety, from the way she was outfitted - and asked if anyone knew where James Turner was, which then sparked off a spate of introductions.

It seemed that the grey alien could not speak but was able to communicate through the radio on the dog's collar and that the grey 'elf' of indeterminate gender was indeed, like Nemaforte, from Orenya. Aha! Called it! Apparently they wanted to go to the Ghost Town, amongst other places.

Alice then mentioned that they might want to avoid the Ghost Town but gave no explanation as to why and then mentioned that her crystals would at least block a non-physical death spell.

Now that the round of introductions were concluded, Wolfe turned to the antiquarian, Jean. "I'm Kevin Wolfe, 'n' James Turner is one-a my compatriots. He's outside th'restaurant-" he pointed, "at th'moment." Then he turned to Alice. "James' group is plannin' on headin' t'th'Ghost Town. What's goin' on there that we should avoid it?"

Town 'Square': Chitara's Wagon

The mushroom-clad fairy returned with Nyceme. Aubrey was rather disappointed to hear that Míron wouldn't be joining them as the tall soldier appeared to be be both well-armed and courageous and would have been a valuable ally in the venture.

The Plague Doctor, Jamie, was bleeding from her hand but it healed itself far more quickly than seemed natural and there were disturbing sounds of grating bones as she got back to her feet. The object she put away looked, to Pearl, like some form of grenade.

Saen seemed concerned that the merchant bird-people would not fare well against whatever dangers the necropolis might hold - understandably so - but Chitara seemed confident that she knew what she was getting into and had had experience in such matters.

It didn't take long for them to get things squared away and announce that they were ready to leave - and then it was revealed they didn't know which way to go.

Finn chuckled and took his Portable Office out of his haversack. "Well, y're in luck, 'cause I downloaded a map." He pulled the map up onto the screen. "It looks like we need t'go south until we get to a river 'n' follow it upstream - there's some sorta 'scar' that apparently can be used as a road until we get to the river." He held out his Portable Office so that the map was visible.

Pearl turned to Chitara. "We won't be needing to ride in the wagon - we've brought our own transport and it's already packed and waiting. How about we meet you at the South Gate?"

[Ulf, Teri, Sophia]

Sophia caught sight of the grenade in Jamie's hand as she put it away and wondered why she had grabbed it in the first place. Perhaps she had dropped it when she fell and just retrieved it - it seemed a rather excessive response to being startled by a small fairy.

When Ulf commented about having had enough of lunatics, Teri smiled. "Well, unfortunately for you, me trav'lin' companions're Wolfe 'n' Gwion - 'n' I'm sure you know by now what sorta lunatics they are."

Sophia could only nod agreement. She looked at Ulf. "You got any transport or you gonna try your luck ridin' pillion behind one'v 'em?"

Three down, will try to deal with the D'voreem Attack tomorrow...

edited 19th May '18 2:51:05 AM by Wolf1066

Notice Board – Zarokh, Mark and Farah

"There." Mark points at the direction where Zarokh's tail was pointing, at the shopping district's stalls and shops looking like some sort of a sailing vessel from the distance. "Be careful and nimble, though: merchants are a temperamental sort when it comes to the integrity of their wares."

"You would know, wouldn't you," mumbles Farah. "So, you're not a local too, huh? I'm Farah. Just Farah. And this is Fingers … eerm I mean Mark Tanzer, if you missed my announcement."

edited 19th May '18 7:08:33 AM by Millership

Inside someone apparently, never thought this was how it'd happen..

Casually handling the intense light like it didn't affect her, the mysterious woman's gaze turned to the intercom. Bit, too easily actually, like she already knew to look there... Regardless she listened patiently, and for a few moments she did nothing but rock on her heels calmly.

Then, without warning, she burst into laughter- Even slapping her hands onto her knees. Soon, for just a few seconds, her laughter became far more upset like... The nervous laughter someone has as the only way of handling a decidedly unfunny occurrence.

Still, with the swiftness and absoluteness of that upset-tinge's disappearance, even those present would have difficulty discerning what just happened. Nonetheless, the woman's once-again happy laughter dying down to mere chuckles, she speaks with faint amusement in her tone.

"That reminds me of something my bro said recently, not about him of course! See, there was this woman who abruptly showed up inside one of our angels, and he later confronted her about it by phrasing it in a similar way to you. I don't know if he was trying to be funny, poor bastard's so serious I sometimes think he's gone mad."

Then, flicking her gaze to Maequoql, the color of the woman's eyes immediately stand- Specifically, that instead of any natural eye color, they're an almost supernatural golden color instead. Though with the shadow of a faint frown on her face, the mysterious woman speaks with an tone faintly touched by unhappiness.

"I'm called Explorer of Unknowns by my people, and you... Really don't want to meet most of them. If anyone called Breaker of Wills shows up one day? I recommend solving any and all personal issues you have, especially the things you don't think are personal issues."

Then, with a clap of her hands she speaks much more cheerfully. "Honestly I'd say my title is a wee bit inaccurate, as many of the universes I go to are simply unknown to my people. Oh, we're humans by the way, though I wouldn't be surprised if you don't believe that. So, other than..."

Leaning to the side in a manner rather obviously staged, the woman's eyes unfocus for a second before clapping her hands & smiling a bit excitedly. "Interacting with a Justin Parker, what are you lot up to? Bit small for an invasion crew in my humble opinion, so that can't be it right?"

Hotel

The canine-like demon taking note of Shale's hand close to her toolbelt, Vindex's suspicions still hold strong. His attention is soon caught by Cynthia's magic crystal, to which both him and Valerie examine it with their eyes. An unfamiliar kind of power, but nonetheless power materialized...

Still, before either could say anything, Cynthia began passing out biscuits. His mistress looking rather eager to eat some of said biscuits, Vindex decided to wait patiently- Yet hearing Cynthia try to give Wolfe advice irritates the demon for a moment... Before blinking in minor confusion as she tries downplaying anti-magic's usefulness to him.

Though the moment Cynthia looks at him and questioned him about her being "bad" at magic, all Vindex could do was give a look saying    "What is wrong with you?"    as if she just said something really stupid. Still, as she approached and offered him one of the biscuits, Vindex examines it-

And flicks his gaze to his mistress, Valerie practically whimpering in silence as her gaze stays on the biscuit. Thus, as Vindex accepts the biscuit, he casually gives it to Valerie instead who eagerly begins nibbling away.

The demon flicking his gaze from his still-eating mistress to the speaking Cynthia, Vindex calmly swishes his tail as he listens. Once Cynthia finishes, Vindex doesn't seem to consider the possibility she was referring to him as well, and instead gives a small smile.    "Heh, thanks for calling him out ma'am."   

Though as a newcomer arrives and begins conversing with mostly Cynthia, Vindex looks at the woman with casual curiosity. Valerie herself glances over, still nibbling away at her biscuit as she considers the woman's request. Before she could properly put together her thoughts on the subject, Valerie glances over at the newly named Shale.

The dark-haired witch lifting her right eyebrow in thoughtful confusion. Valerie began to speak up, but as she mumbled what sounds like "That seems" the young(?) girl stops due to realizing she's still eating. Looking between her biscuit and Shale, Valerie begins kind of fidgeting as if she's stuck between mutually exclusive choices.

Vindex, meanwhile, sounds some interest in Nui's words as she(?) told everyone that Alice's idea of magic is wrong for everyone else here. Vindex is less pleased as Nui insisted people shouldn't rely on magic, the supernatural shadow demon swishing his tail in mild annoyance. Ultimately though, Vindex is pacified as Nui insists magic is neutral and thus further calling Alice out on her bullshit.

Still, as Nui offered to help Wolfe make an "anti" magic snare, Vindex snarled unhappily- But as Nui finally addressed him, Vindex's expression calms as he examines Nui as if expecting her(?) to say something wrong. Though as Vindex does that, Valerie looks over at Nui as he(?) spoke, her expression subdued as she listened.

Vindex, for his part, looks annoyed by Nui's blatant disregard for his ability to comprehend Valerie's feelings- As if he didn't know Valerie wanted him to be calm out of fear one of those nutjobs would try to unjustly kill him. Both he and Valerie are more confused than anything when Nui failed to understand what a dog is, though...

Still, hearing Nui say that they were the immoral ones causes Vindex to snap at her(?)    "We did nothing wrong!"    Valerie, however, just looks away upset by his(?) statement. Still, hearing his(?) interest in the Hellmouth, Valerie focuses her gaze on Nui and wondering. "There are demons, why does he want to go there?"

Vindex, however, took immediate suspicion as Alice casually declared they shouldn't go to Ghost Town. Narrowing his gaze at the woman and taking note of how she apparently wants to leave, Vindex "speaks" to Nui in particular.    "I don't know what you're capable of, but the three of us would be of considerable service protecting you in Ghost Town. I... Don't trust anything that woman wants to do..."   

When it came to Valerie though, her gaze flickers over to Shale briefly and then to Jean. Considering things for a moment, the young(?) witch calls up with a sliver of shyness. "Um, if you tell me what he looks like, I could easily use my magic to locate him if you want..."

It is a only a few moments later that Wolfe finally speaks up, and Valerie... Winces away, as if she's suddenly uncomfortable about offering her aid in locating James. Yet... Something else also stands out to those with the right abilities, she... She's both curious and afraid of learning about whoever her father is.

She startles a bit in surprise as Vindex rubs his head against her affectionately, and the dark-haired witch looks down at him as the demon speaks calmly.    "Relax, that man is obviously not your father, such a... "Person" is unworthy of that honor. Honestly, I'm certain Lord Ziz would say the same..."   

Valerie rubbing her fingers together a bit nervously, she begins running her hands through Vindex's "fur" as she speaks softly "I wish Lord Ziz was my father..." Straightening up her back, Valerie glances at Alice for a moment before focusing on Cynthia instead. Walking up to the older(?) woman and tugging on her sleeve, Valerie rather innocently asks.

"Um, are there any more of those I can have? I haven't actually had breakfast yet, so I'd be really grateful... I'll get you a fair deal should you ever to go my sisters' shop, it is only fair I offer something in return."

edited 19th May '18 9:41:44 AM by Kkutwar

The Purple Fez Tavern, Outdoor Tables (Ozurr; Varg, Jann; Rosalind)

Jann felt Rosalind tugging at his arm and glanced back across his shoulder at her, hearing how her breathing slowly got steadier, and watching as the fear in her in her eyes was gradually replaced with something else entirely...

He couldn't help but to stare back, and was just about to place a hand on her arm just as she loosened her grip on his.

Varg was watching the two of them from her seat at the table, occasionally throwing a glance at Ozurr. Had he noticed anything new with that 'third eye' thing of his, perhaps?

"Thought it looked a bit undercooked," Varg commented at Rosalind's explanation - completely deadpan, eyes locked on her - before she took another bite of her own meal.

Watching the odd woman hide behind Jann - clearly scared shitless, at least initially - Varg let out a low sigh. Now that she thought about it, this situation felt pretty familiar to a discussion she'd once had with Jann... "No point in acting like a graveskitter near a witch, I guess," she thought to herself. Time to get this over with.

Varg leaned back in her chair, managing to look both relaxed and rather serious all at once, and pointed a finger at Rosalind.

"You've got something to tell us, right?"

[Hotel Lobby]

Another transmission interrupted Alice. "Winters speaking. ... Well, I suppose I'd do the same in her shoes. Which is why I planned for it." She smirked and waved her hand dismissively. "Just make a few calls and be done with it. I don't have time for... oh, sorry, I'm listening." Her smirk slowly faded as the voice on the other end explained the situation. "Hmm. Sounds like I miscalculated." Well, she thought to herself, no worse than that unfortunate mess in Bangladesh. "Thanks for the heads-up; I'll handle things on my end, and you remind the higher-ups about our agreement. So what exactly are they going on?" She listened. Looked down at her clothes. Indignantly thought, ...'school uniform'? Seriously?

So this was lovely. The local officials would be coming, and while Western Amalgamated, in theory, had them by the balls, she certainly didn't want to brag about it in front of everyone. Well, no that wasn't true. She did want to brag about it, but Anita and Sigmund would have her head for that kind of open audacity.

To Wolfe... she studied him. Considering. Finally, she said, "it's not something to be discussed where the wrong sort of people might overhear." She glared meaningfully over at Justin's group, who she did not trust with even a hint of what Sophia had told her. "There's been a misunderstanding with the local officials I need to sort out first. Then perhaps you can give me a call or have your friend James do likewise, and I can explain the situation?"

[Outside Hotel]

Alice waited patiently for the officials who would inevitably come demanding explanations of her perhaps over-enthusiastic display.

Oh, and also, there were now dinosaurs in addition to giants. Talking sapient dinosaurs, was that? She studied the sight for a few moments before categorizing it as not immediately important and continuing on with her present business.

Millership, we should probably work out how this is gonna go, since it seems both Western Amalgamated and the Technocracy have plots in motion.

edited 19th May '18 6:24:23 PM by KillerClowns

Edge of the Forest/Grasslands

The D'voreem felt momentary relief from being bitten and pushed as the plant-eater let up its attack and he managed to regain his footing. There was no time to return the attack before there was a sudden, extremely brief, explosion of bright white light accompanied by a brief sensation of pain - followed by a complete cessation of all senses.

The D'voreem lay on the ground; his head flopped limply from side to side as the body twitched its death spasms.

The D'voreem approaching the group of plant-eaters, slowed down; something was wrong - the prey was not running or panicking but stood its ground and the air was thick with the smell of pack-mate blood. Only one of the animals was wounded and bleeding but it smelled strongly of pack-mate blood.

Then a strange sound filled the air, and with it, an alien sensation, a clouding of the thoughts, strange urges. The D'voreem scarcely noticed the sudden strange movements of the plant-eaters.

Those approaching the strange-looking predator to drive it off were hit by the strange compulsion and slowed. Their instincts screamed that something was dreadfully wrong.

The D'voreem closest to the predator was affected worst of all and recoiled, shrieking. The alien noises and rhythms and the pressure in his brain were threats. The D'voreem turned and fled in terror, shrieking the warning call.

As their pack-mate's resolve broke and he fled the area, the approaching D'voreem turned about and fled, their warning cries mingling with his.

In a matter of seconds, the entire pack was on the move, loping at full speed towards the safety of the trees. They vanished into the cover of the forest, suddenly running silent so that their cries would not betray their location, as each instinctively headed for their lair.

High above the grasslands, numerous black birds circled over the former battlefield, unwilling to approach the bloody corpses until the group of animals below had moved on. The plant-eaters had killed some of the predators and they clearly posed a threat - but there was fresh meat to be had once they left.

edited 19th May '18 4:22:08 PM by Wolf1066

Town Square ~ Frontier Sporting Goods (Bonnie, Carol; Not-Chaos-Hunters)

The red-haired dark elf scowled at Nick. "You teleported?! Damn, you're either definitely lucky or really damn skilled." She closed her black-and-red eyes for a moment, before asking, "What's a laser?"

Carol then held out a hand, "Hmph, electric gloves? Don't need 'em," she said, before providing a demonstration of what she ment. Briefly clenching her hand, her knuckles audibly cracked, and visible electricity danced and crackled across the skin of her hand.

Bonnie took a step back from the quarter-elf, shaking her head, the hair on her ears raised on end. "You know I don't like it when you do that," she told Carol, crossing her arms, "as for rations, despite how they might taste at first, you'll grow to like them," she said, before frowning and adding, "probably."

Carol gave a brief snort, before fiddling around with some rope she picked up from a shelf. "Who needs rations when you've got a hunter?" she stated as she held up her newly crafted snare.

Bonnie gave her an annoyed glare, "For the times you scare off all the local wildlife with your berserker tendencies."

She sighed before casting her gaze across the store once more, "If you're talking about that elfin boy, he's over there," she said, pointing with her staff towards Cormack engaged in conversation with the store clerk.

Town ~ Hotel Lobby (Cynthia, Jean, Moobly; Dog!Arilay, Shale; Nui; Wolfe; Justin, Valerie, Vindex)

As Cynthia was passing out biscuits, she became aware of the whistling the stranger by the door was making. It sounded... very much like Basic Veran Telegraphic Code.

* * * * / * / * *** * * / * *** * * / *** *** ***

SEMMP

The young knight tilted her head in mild confusion. What did that mean?

She didn't have time to get much further with that line of thought as a big friendly retriever bounded over and began following her, begging for a biscuit. Cynthia was taken aback at first, it was a rather large dog after all, but she ended up smiling at the dog, Arilay, and her antics before giving her an affectionate head rub and a biscuit.

Moobly darted over, squinting her eyes at the retriever. "Arilay looks slightly strange," she commented, earning a small, shocked gasp from Cynthia.

"Don't be rude, Moobly," the young knight said, chastising the cynthonic, who simply wiggled her jaw in response.

She then addressed Valerie, who was tugging on her coat sleeve, "Oh, of course you can have some more," she said, giving the little witch several more biscuits, "would you like some tea or coffee to go with that?" she asked.

Cynthia then proceeded to give Nui an acknowledging nod, "Yes, this is an aether crystal," she said, before frowning, "What you're talking about sounds a bit like aether cores, which are more advanced aether crystals used in automatons."

She then approached Arilay's owner, Shale, and accepted her handshake, asking, "What's "semmp"?"

Meanwhile, Jean politely smiled, "Oh good, I'm looking to team up; I'm quite interested in investigating the forest, and would rather not do it alone."

Town Square ~ Restaurant (Nora; Leone; Gwion, James, Kris)

Diantha showed mild confusion as she left, but didn't mention anything before she left.

Nora had finally finished her food by this point, and though she had eaten more food than a normal person could reasonably handle, she didn't look the part. In fact, despite eating several plates of steak and eggs, the girl hadn't made even the slightest mess, and her dishes looked practically clean.

She smiled, until she noticed the Deinosuchus in the town square. Wide-eyed, the girl gasped, "Wowwie, that's a really big crocodile!" She paused for a moment, before adding, "I wanna touch it."

Town ~ Hotel Lobby (Cynthia, Jean, Moobly; Dog!Arilay, Shale; Nui; Wolfe; Justin, Valerie, Vindex)

Arilay glanced at Moobly, swallowed the biscuit whole and scanned it with her digestive machinery. Her cutting-edge atomic manipulator could digest just about everything, including radioactive stuff and all mundane poisons, which made her a nearly perfect taste-tester. The only things she couldn't handle were anything with a magical curse that would activate upon ingestion — she'd learned that the hard way in the Fair Folk realms.

Just as Arilay expected, the scanner reported no mundane harmful ingredients in the biscuit. Still, Shale wouldn't want to eat something that used eggs in the recipe, so Arilay sent a brief notification to Shale's microchip communicator. Arilay's original jaws and tongue were lost, but she could still taste — the scanner redundantly translated its findings into neural impulses in the part of her brain formerly connected to her taste buds. And my, oh my, those were fascinating spices indeed. She didn't recognize them, and couldn't ask without blowing her cover.

Shale couldn't help herself, the instant her flesh connected with Cynthia's, she curiously riffled through Cynthia's knowledge of Morse code, and instead found a similar set called Basic Verran Telegraphic Code. As Shale compared and contrasted Morse Code with Basic Verran Telegraphic Code, she coincidentally revealed that she'd meant to code "hello" earlier. Cynthia would be acutely aware of this mental probing and the flood of information being exchanged might be a bit uncomfortably overwhelming.

Sick Bay (Explorer of Unknowns, Maequoql)

Arilay listened through the microphones, then spoke over the intercom again, "Acknowledged. Nice to meet you, Explorer of Unknowns. Duly noted about Breaker of Wills." She silently speculated that Shale would be best suited to counter this Breaker of Wills, but such a scenario was for the metaphorical back burner of the stove. "I'm kinda busy, so my crew will take it from here. Over and out."

Maequoql's dark brown eyes had pupils constricted to mere pinpricks in the bright light, but other than that she showed no sign of discomfort. Explorer of Unknown's golden eyes were not an unusual sight to Maequoql, she'd seen superhumans with eyes of that color before. Maequoql spoke aloud, "My name is Maequoql. Two of my sisters will arrive here within seconds." Her second set of vocal cords introduced extra lilts to her speech. She updated all of her sisters on what was happening.

Author's belated note: I forgot to mention Mayatans have an extra set of vocal cords.

Spaceship Corridors (Mequoql, Moquoql, Murquoql, Nyorla) -> Sick Bay (Explorer of Unknowns, Maequoql, Moquoql, Murquoql)

Pattering bare feet on hard floors. Excited panting. A flurry of black-spotted white fur. More dark brown eyes with pupils constricted to mere pinpricks in the bright light. Gasping blue mouths lined with omnivorous silvery teeth.

The chaos was caused by two young Mayatan women running through a quarantine-airlock in front of Explorer of Unknowns. The instant they crossed the threshold, they sidestepped to the left and right, flaring their gliding membranes. The air caught in the membranes and brought them to a halt in less than a second, well before they could crash into Maequoql's back. They now stood panting from their sprint. One held up a finger to signal "One moment," as they caught their breath enough to speak.

Murquoql had the extra false zipper meant for Maequoql surreptitiously hidden behind her back. It seemed like Explorer of Unknowns hadn't yet noticed Maequoql's nudity. Murquoql couldn't confirm this, as her psychic radar was returning very little information on Explorer of Unknowns. Murquoql telekinetically slid the two cases at Maequoql's feet across the floor to herself, then made a little fold in space around the false zipper and sent Maequoql a telepathic message, "Check Victoria's Secret Compartment."

Sure enough, Maequoql felt a telltale weight between her spotless breasts and the spotted skin folded over them. She telepathically grumbled, "Couldn't you have done that some other way?"

"Not while tapping into cartoon physics. Any other way wouldn't have been nearly as funny," Murquoql explained. She massaged a headache, the consequence of telekinetically overextending herself. The false zipper had pushed her mass limit a little too far.

Moquoql spoke aloud, "My sister..." she gestured to Murquoql beside her, "...is just here for the first aid kit and AED, some poor kid got knocked out by a wyvern on the planet below. Other than that, we can have a friendly chat." She was also lilting with her extra set of vocal cords.

Murquoql took that as her cue to grab the first aid kit and AED and dash back into the corridors.

"My name is Moquoql. We're members of the Web of Friendship. We were supposed to be taking a little vacation from heroism to just go exploring, but... well, you saw my sister dash off to help a kid. Web of Friendship members just can't be bystanders sometimes. And you'd be surprised at what a skeleton crew of the best Web members can accomplish."

Throughout Moquoql's speech, Maequoql casually circled around behind a particularly large piece of medical equipment. Without breaking stride, she whipped the false zipper out of Victoria's Secret Compartment and quickly fastened it to her front before re-entering Explorer of Unknown's line of sight. Hopefully, this little stage-magician's sleight of hand would mask the fact that the zipper hadn't been there this whole time.

Spaceship Corridors (Mequoql, Murquoql, Nyorla) -> Transporter Room (Mequoql, Nyorla)

Mequoql and Nyorla burst into the Transporter Room. Nyorla headed for the teleporter pad while Mequoql headed for its control panel and quickly typed in coordinates. Nyorla was teleported down to the planet below. As "Nao Ranay Nokt", she could hold on to a dying soul long enough for medical attention to do the rest.

Transporter Room (Mequoql, Nyorla) -> Sun-dry Sea (Nyorla, Pilot 0037, Unit 09)

As soon as Nyorla was on the planet's surface, she threw herself to the ground and rolled towards cover, dirtying her fur so she could blend in with the landscape better. White fur with black spots was pretty good camouflage for the moonlit forests of her homeworld, but stood out like a sore thumb in deserts in the middle of the day. She did a double take at the cover she found herself crouching beside, the boulder was covered in coral! No time to wonder about that now, where was the injured kid?

Fortunately, the teleporter had put her down within sprinting distance of the tree that the kid was under. Nyorla located the kid within seconds and sprinted over for further scanning with her psychic radar.

Oh, thank goodness, the kid wasn't dying. He was mostly all right, just unconscious and a bit overheated, with scalded palms.

Staying alert for danger, Nyorla stood with her arms and legs wide apart and began waving her gliding membranes, fanning the boy. She reached up with her psychic radar but couldn't reach as high as the spaceship, so she used her microchip communicator instead. "Crashed boy's all right, no need for the AED. Just the first-aid kit."

Transporter Room (Mequoql, Murquoql)

"Roger that." Murquoql set only the first-aid kit down on the teleporter pad, stepped off with the AED, and gave a thumbs up to Mequoql. Mequoql adjusted the coordinates according to Nyorla's microchip signal and activated the teleporter pad.

Author's note: Finally! A Mayatan on the ground! Now, Will De Regio's next post for these characters can safely assume that the first aid kit is already down there.

Rosalind had loosened her grip, but had not removed her hand entirely. Jann's hand moved towards her arm, and in response, she transferred her grip to intercept it. As she nearly lost herself in his yellow eyes, she tentatively stepped to stand beside him instead of behind him. A few golden sparkles revealed themselves in her light brown eyes.

Rosalind could still smell apples nearby, despite Ozurr eating the most obvious source on the table. She realized the scent was coming from Jann's mustache. Furthermore, it was a fragrance, not juice from the apples formerly on the table. She stopped trembling and spared a brief moment to fantasize about what kissing Jann would be like with such a fragrance. It was much too soon to find out, so instead, she broke the held gaze and turned her attention to Varg's question.

Rosalind steeled herself. Her voice was solemn, her Texas drawl had all but disappeared, "Bear with me here, I'll answer that right after you tell me this: What do you see when you look at me?"

She waited for each answer in turn. She nodded gracefully at Ozurr's description.

"Now hold on to that, what you see has been forgotten too many times in light of my next words..." She glanced around for eavesdroppers (there were none), then confided, "I'm a vampire." Rosalind's defensive, vigilant gaze swept from Varg to Ozurr, drilling into his eyes and silently challenging, "You got a problem with that?"

edited 22nd May '18 7:27:28 PM by Miss_Desperado

Notice Board (Zarokh; Mark, Farah)

Zarokh nodded at the two mammals. "Zarokh, last son of Clan Khorzth. No, I'm definitely not from around here. I'm here on a...a religious pilgrimage. They say that a sacred place mentioned in the holy texts of my people is located somewhere in this...wherever we are." He was impressed by his own ability to come up with a lie like that.

Purple Fez Tavern (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)

"What do you see when you look at me?" Rosalind asked.

Ozurr looked at her intently. Forget what your father said, he reminded himself. Listen to your instincts. "I see..." damn it, why couldn't Thassilae have been able to stick around to teach him how to use his Third Eye properly? "I see a woman...who is hiding a secret...and you're afraid...and that's why you've been hiding it. Am I close?"

"I'm a vampire."

Why was she glaring at him when she said that? It was as if she was daring him to do something...

Ozurr racked his brain. He had heard the word "vampire" before, but couldn't quite place it...something he had read in a book...

"The vampire can easily rival the Nuckelavee as the most vile creature to walk this earth." Odd. She certainly didn't seem vile. "A vampire was once a person, whose soul was corrupted into a malevolent spirit. The spirit keeps the vampire from aging and provides it with an assortment of abilities, in exchange for the vampire feeding it a steady diet of blood."

Oh. Right. That book. The one he hadn't read since he was a child because of the illustration that had scared him. It had been in the vampire section. A face similar to a Fae's, but with a huge mouth that reached all the way back to its ears and overflowed with massive curved, needle-sharp fangs, and gigantic eyes that bulged out of its head.

Rosalind didn't look like that at all, although he supposed she might have Glamoured her appearance. His intuition told him she hadn't been lying about being a vampire...It was a disturbing thought, to say the least. One's soul doesn't get corrupted by accident. Only the most truly evil of acts can do that. If Rosalind was capable of such a thing...

When Ozurr spoke, his voice was low and devoid of emotion. "Now, when you say that, what exactly do you mean?"

Solstice Cafe

Cas smiled softly, and said "I think I would be more comfortable helping with the abandoned town. There may be a bit of remaining infrastructure I could help with, or debris to clear and junk to dig through.", then, upon the mention of weapons, she glanced down. "Oh. I am no good at those. Where I am from, only a few lawkeepers touch shooters. If a slug hits an oxygen pipe or a wire or bounces on a wall... And, well, even most enhanced can generally be pacified in less... final manners." she says, clutching the pipe she was using as a staff. "But I can defend myself with this, and I am stronger than unenhanced. I am practically made of different stuff. Should be enough for animals, no matter how big they are, right?"

Then the large bag she set besides her chair, or more accurately the large metal cylinder inside of it, beeped many times in fast succession, making her hurry to leave the chair, kneel besides it, and whisper a fast succession of short unintelligible sounds, which made the machine go silent. Then she turned to Peggy, Karl and Kaitlyn and said "Sorry. Old computer searching for long range transmissions meant for me. Says there may be some old broadcasting station among the ruins that I could use to call be ride back from here."

With an nervous smile, she added "Of course, after I help your team. I don't suppose I could borrow I cart to pull this old wire-brain? I am strong, but I would prefer to not compress my spine all the way to the wilds and back."

Sun-Dry Sea (Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Nyorla)

Irrational Hindrance #01 below maximum threshold, restarting normal operating procedures.

...

Irrational Hindrance #02 increased by 20%

My vision is impaired! I cannot see!

...

Irrational Hindrance decreased to normal levels.

Unit 09 is currently not docked with a Mark III Panzerfaust, therefore Unit 09 cannot see.

Status update: Still damaged. Repair protocol currently disabled.

*ping*

Irrational Hindrance #02 increased by 50%

Warning, unknown entity approaching.

The boy grumbled slightly. Face down in the dirt. There was someone standing over him. Just like that time in training.

Just like that time in training. The boy snapped back into full consciousness, and slid forward along the ground, only succeeding in dirtying his face and annoying his nose.

As a result, he sneezed and rolled over. And saw a small strange blueish-white person. He scrambled, a bit slowly, to put himself between the stranger and Unit 09 and did what any child soldier confronted with an unknown and having pragmatism drilled into him for as long as he could remember: snapped his hand to his gun and decided to shoot first and ask questions later.

Only he slid in a patch of blueish-mud, throwing his aim off as he fired. He stared upwards at Unit 09 from his supine position, silently cursing his misfortune.

Sun-Dry Sea (Pilot 0037, Unit 09; Nyorla)

Nyorla's Psychic Radar sensed the boy's intent to shoot a split-second before he grabbed his gun. She was already casually twisting sideways to get her gliding membranes out of the way as the boy took aim. The muzzle wavered and the shot missed as the boy slipped on some mud. Well, that was easy, Nyorla didn't even have to use her telekinesis.

Nyorla chose her next words carefully, "Cease fire, I'm a friend." Her high, gentle voice confirmed she was a girl, her second set of vocal cords introduced extra lilts to her speech, and she gave no sign that she was even the least bit perturbed by being shot at. Keeping her movements smooth and graceful, she crouched and picked up the first aid kit. "See? I brought a first-aid kit. Your hands look burned." She didn't approach him yet, but stayed still to give him time to calm down and reconsider his Trigger-Happy behavior. She kept one hand on the first-aid kit and the other up in a surrender gesture.

Nyorla used her microchip to alert her sisters, "Don't join me down here, the boy's a bit Trigger-Happy and I don't want to scare him again."

Author's note: I forgot to mention Mayatans have an extra set of vocal cords.

"Roger that." Murquoql stepped onto the teleporter pad. Mequoql adjusted the destination coordinates to the town below and joined her sister on the teleporter pad. She telekinetically threw the switch.

Transporter Room -> Town Square, Bulletin Board (Mequoql, Murquoql; Henry; Mark, Farah; Zarokh)

The sisters appeared next to the bulletin board, with it in between them and an enormous gator. Despite appearances and the uneasiness of the people beside him, the gator didn't seem to be much of a threat, so the sisters just ignored him for the moment and briefly scanned the bulletin board instead, paying particular attention to the missing child notice and the moufreta bounty.

Murquoql poked her head around the bulletin board and addressed the group on the other side of it. "Hello! Who wants to help me find a lost kid?" Her second set of vocal cords introduced extra lilts to her speech.

Town Square, Bulletin Board (Mequoql, Murquoql; Henry; Mark, Farah; Zarokh) -> Elsewhere in Town Square (Mequoql)

Mequoql moved away from the bulletin board and picked a nice sunny spot in the town square to stand. She notified her sisters, "Crashed mecha pilot isn't the missing kid from the notice. Missing kid is in the rainforest, not the Sun-Dry Sea."

Mequoql began telekinetically plucking at blades of grass and levitating them over to herself. Her hands weaved a rudimentary basket. She set it down in front of herself and began singing a whimsical Earth song about a Jabberwocky while puppeteering insubstantial little figures of glowing light to illustrate the story. Hopefully, spectators would toss coins in the basket, especially if she showed off what her double-setted vocal cords could do for a song.

edited 22nd May '18 9:10:37 PM by Miss_Desperado

Town square —> Solstice Café

After a hasty round of farewells, there was a mass exodus as the Not-Chaos-Hunters and the trio that seemed to be part of the same rather informally-uniformed outfit headed off to get provisions, leaving just the two ''Mad Bastards, Kaitlyn and Cas.

Kaitlyn thought on what Cormack had said about there being another 'elf' at the hotel wanting to go to the ghost town - wasn't Wolfe at the hotel? If so, he'd probably seen her - and the fact that Cas wanted to go there as well.

Peggy had no idea what enhancements Cas had - aside from the obvious robust-looking replacements - and could think of some pretty big animals. She couldn't imagine Kris taking on a brown bear with nothing but a length of pipe and her prosthetic arm - but then, Kris' prostheses were designed to replace, not enhance. "I'm sure you know your own capabilities. Just be mindful that some animals can be bigger than us."

There was a short interruption while Cas tended to a machine that occupied the large pack and described it as a computer. Karl had grown accustomed to computers that were small enough to be held in one hand and could do truly amazing amounts of stuff - such as the 'smart phones' that Wolfe and Kris had brought from Earth. If a computer needed to be as large as the one Cas was carrying, it probably could do quite a lot more. Perhaps a lot of the mass and bulk was the power supply.

Kaitlyn pursed her lips thoughtfully at Cas' request for some form of cart. "Well, we brought motorbikes t'transport ourselves 'n' our stuff. Dependin' on how many are going, we may need t'get some sorta vehicle t'transport everyone - there's a limit t'how many we can carry on a bike. I dare say we could fit you on the back'v one-a th'bikes 'n' stick y'r pack on the tail rack, but if we're gonna have any more than three extra people, we're gonna need to look at extra transport."

Peggy nodded. "How about we go 'n' see James and Kris 'n' see if we can find this 'Nui' that Cormack mentioned."