Surrounded by weirdoes
Pablo felt the clash through his whole body, as the impact sent him back as he was so much smaller than the gargoyle, even if he could keep his balance.
"OK, you metalhead" He started talking, starting to get more worked up "EAT CLAW"
With that, he charged again, aiming his claws at the body this time. Jumping like a wild beast, he roared, slicing twice.
Wake me up at your own risk.
Fwomph
Raid Day, First Encounter: Dominulan Gargoyle
Heather, surprisingly, didn't rush in at the call to send it toppling over. To her point of view, there was already others handling it and also she had this brewing concern that if she did charge into melee to claw it off the cliff it would be the easiest thing in the world for the monster to drag her down with it. Of course, raising such a concern was a vulnerability she did not wish to expose.
"Tch, this pathetic mongrel is not worth my effort to finish off. Someone else can have the honor of killing it."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
The Light That Blinds
Jayden
...why don't you just do it yourself...
Not even bothering to voice this thought, as he could tell it would be pointless, Jayden moved his arm, elegantly weaving all the small blades into one big blade that proceeded to slam into the creature's face.
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Gargoyle - Vanquished
With the constant attacks coming in, its back up against the cliffside, the gargoyle was knocked clean off balance, and sent spiraling downward - one last roar echoing upward as it vanished beneath the treeline. There was a crash, and numerous birds flew out from the impact site, scattering into the distance. Matthew for his part watched the area for a moment - gauging if something more might happen...
...And when the area fell silent, he nodded, and stated, "It's knocked out, I figure. We can keep going. With the Dominulan Gargoyle outta the way, I figure we have a clear shot at Orcath...whew, would you believe that wasn't the first time I fought that thing?"
Matthew shook his head and kept leading the way along the pathway. The woods started to seem more curated as they went along. Less like this was a natural path - and more like this was something clearly made by human hand. It wasn't long before they would start to see the base Orcath.
Hidden from mundane mortal eyes, Orcath - to the team - stuck out in the surroundings like a sore thumb.
Black and gold was the prominent color scheme.
Numerous long, thin towers rising up out of a twisting and vaguely biomechanical structure. The distant archways and halls almost looked constructed out of living material. Two of the towers however were more blatantly mechanical, and thin black smoke poured out of them. Black tendril like structures snaked between spiky outcroppings and the high rise towers.
The front entrance would be visible in the distance - and it would be obvious why approaching from the back was wise.
A whole contingent of armored Umbral Horde men marched back and forth in the front, the front of the units twirling black halberds fitted with a distinct flag - a red spider on a black flag, with a human eye at the center. Present in the courtyard past the Umbral Horde guards was a huge lion-like demon-beast, silvery in fur and covered in chains. The creature obviously didn't enjoy being there, and stalked back and forth in a couple lines.
Nearby that were a couple of armored Hordier vehicles, outfitted with a single mana cannon at the top. Nowhere near as powerful as the Mana Accelerator Cannon, but they packed a wallop nonetheless.
"Well, glad we didn't take the path down there..." Matthew commented, "Yeowch..."
As they approached, further up the side path, Matthew looked at Mina, "You ready?"
Edited by NickTheSwing on May 13th 2022 at 11:35:11 AM
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
An Ordinary Oddball
Mina Parker
"I c-can't believe that this fort was h-here all along," Mina commented as they went along the path. Her mind was alight with possibilities and fear of failure as soon as she saw all the potential reinforcements out front. "It s-seems almost impossible that this w-was here and we never suspected a s-single thing about this place! But...I suppose I'm as r-ready as I'll ever be." She retrieved the key Xander her given her from her pocket and stared at it in her hand as she walked.
Edited by JumpingFruit on May 14th 2022 at 4:35:39 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Pablo gave the fortress in front of them a good look, thinking. The amount of time, materials and work that'd take to build all of this would be insane, and more complex than he could grasp. And that's not counting the friggin' army from Hell in front of the door. Or whatever was there lying inside this place. Fighting their way in would have been a nightmare they might not have survived, and that cannon on top...
"What, no mutant shark pool?" He quipped. "Using the last several years and their wallets wisely, I see"
He looked at the others, and gave a thumbs up.
"Ok, let's get ready to rumble"
Wake me up at your own risk.
"Nice place. Not sure how they got the planning permission though".
James joked, but he was truly stunned at how much power the Umbrals had at their disposal. This place looked more like a military base than a cult compound. Even if the mission was successful, there was no doubt the Dark God's followers would be able to retaliate. He knew then that they had stumbled into something much, much bigger than just Tom's disappearance. Did they even stand a chance?
Entering Orcath
Matthew shook his head as he related what he discovered, "It's...kind of stunningly audacious. Everyone expected the Umbrals to have used some sort of advanced dimensional folding magic, on loan from their dark patrons...but what they really used...? A simple illusion spell, to make the base and everything around it simply invisible to anyone at a far enough distance. AKA: one of the most basic illusory spells." He looked over the base, "It's definitely clear the Umbral Horde has been at this for a long time. A really, really long time."
As Mina stepped forward, the Key would it seem react to a section of the wall...
A dull blue set of three concentric circles appeared on the wall, with a number of intersecting lines proceeding inward toward a hole in the wall shaped like the key. As she inserted the key, it would turn on its own and the blue lines would, at once, turn red as the key was pushed back outward.
The wall slowly started to creak, and the strange triple concentric circle emblem split in half, opening a back entrance that gave a look inside.
The innards of Orcath were distinctly strange - biomechanical, black and silver, and it felt like there was a whispery soft wind inside. The ceilings divided into curving sections, with black cables holding up red lacquer-like chandeliers, the light projected by these harsh.
Even from the outside, the team would be able to see two doorways inside further down.
"Well..." Matthew listened in, and shrugged, "At least it's not a trap - no alarm system. In we go."
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
An Ordinary Oddball
Mina Parker
And of course, as soon as they were in the castle, Mina gulped to calm her nerves and looked back at the entrance as they proceeded down the hallways, still bringing up the rear guard.
Edited by JumpingFruit on May 22nd 2022 at 5:58:12 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Surrounded by weirdoes
"Odd way to show off" Pablo commented, giving Matthew a look. If that's true, are these guys inviting trouble or something? Like daring someone to start a fight. Not something he would be unfamiliar with, but at this scale... either the Horde is really confident or pretty stupid.
But that's for another time, now, he started quickly walking in. As one of the biggest people here, his place is in the front.
"This place feels uncomfortably alive" He noted "Did we walk into a tiger's mouth or something?"
Edited by Blueace on May 17th 2022 at 12:24:37 PM
Wake me up at your own risk.
Fwomph
Raid Day, Orcath Interior
Heather seemed to deflate a little as the party wandered into the unhallowed halls of their foe.
"Oh, how Geigeresque. I knew it would be too much to ask for our foes to have a sense of class about their base."
She ran a summoned claw against a wall as she walked, audibly gagging after a few moments of looking at what was clawed off.
"Give me grandeur and luxury over this stupid decrepitude any day of the week..."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
The Light That Blinds
Jayden
"Really?" Jayden muttered as they approached. "Couldn't they have gone for something less blatant? I'll take 'obviously evil' for four-hundred, Alex..."
He shook his head, simply following the others inside. Sooner we finish here, the sooner this can be over.
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Matthew led the way in for the five man team, checking around the corners as they entered the base. You never could really trust these places to not pull some obscenely out of nowhere traps. Let alone, going by what was waiting at the front doors, what was likely waiting throughout the rest of the base. Yet as they walked through the back entrance, it was clear that the hallway was empty - and they were able to make it to a look at the first room visible inside.
It looked like some sort of strange productions / storage room. Multiple computers layered on top of each other, all of them playing certain videos and audio. It seemed the research team who likely worked on whatever material Kellon felt like making in here was out at the time. Likely working offsite.
The entire room was slick, clean, and the walls and ceiling all segmented, silvery and outfitted with a variety of recording, sound and visual editing gear. Situated through the room were about four desks, covered in papers and a wide list of items.
On one of the desks, the cupboard was left slightly open.
The computers left on had multiple different files listed;
- Calum_And_Sammy_01 through 12
- Little_Eyes_01
- Guidance_To_Rev_01 through 09
- Be_Careful_01 through 10
And other assorted files that simply looked like data gathering files.
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
"It is quite on the nose isn't it?" He said in response to the others' remarks.
James was relieved that this hadn't been a trap. Xander could easily have screwed them over and he hadn't. The boy truly had betrayed his father for them. Such a sacrifice overwhelmed James with shame. There was no doubt that once the Umbrals knew of his treachery, Xander would lose everything he had ever known, all for a love that was nothing but a farce. Good lord, they had used him like an object without once considering the consequences. Who knew how he would react when the truth was revealed?
James looked around the room cautiously. he was interested in whatever information the computer had to offer, but it seemed unlikely that it would be left so vulnerable. This was all much too convenient.
"You guys think this room is trapped? Kellon doesn't seem the type to leave this stuff just lying around."
Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on May 22nd 2022 at 2:09:28 PM
An Ordinary Oddball
Mina Parker
"Th-This is all really complicated equipment," Mina said, looking around in wonder and apprehension. "I wonder what they're keeping eyes on. I c-can't imagine what they need all this for, unless wh-what they're observing is somehow r-really, really important."
She would move to check the open cupboard in one of the desks, moving gingerly so as to spot any wires or magic trap left in it.
Edited by JumpingFruit on May 23rd 2022 at 8:59:55 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Surrounded by weirdoes
"Not even a password, dude?" Pablo commented, approaching one of the computers. He tried to keep a more careful step than he would like to. This was just too much. And leaving it on was quite the waste of power, anyway.
But as it was, it was an important thing to check if there was any intel they could use.
"If it looks like it'll try to suck my soul or anything, get me out" He told the others as he approached the nearest computer. Let's see what this guy has been hiding.
Wake me up at your own risk.
Fwomph
Raid Day, Orcath Lore Room
Heather barely gave the chamber anything more than a glance as the party arrived at this room. She clicked her claws a little and was about to walk on when the rest of her battle-companions wandered on in to investigate.
"Is this really the time to grab lore doc—... Whatever."
Heather banished her claws for a moment and retrieved a flash drive from her pocket that she underarm threw towards Pablo.
"Download what seems relevant and summarize the rest, I'll make sure we aren't ambushed..."
And with that she manifested her claws and took position outside the computer room so she could wait for her friends to finish investigating when they really should be handling the time-sensitive situation of their other friend's (Heather had to remind herself, she didn't know the guy...) capture and imminent sacrifice by the evil cult residing in this place.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Mina, Pablo and Heather
"Easy," Matthew motioned to Heather, "We'd know if they were going ahead with the ceremony from where we are in the base. The Mana'd be going nuts around here..." He started looking at some of the computers, and his expression turned to confusion as he saw that these "Calum and Sammy" things were...cartoons? Wait, wait...recognition started to click.
"Calum and Sammy is a propaganda series for kids. The supposedly moral equivalent to whatever mommy and daddy didn't want their kids watching. And I'm guessing this weird bit of code here..." He gestured at the screen, near the edge of it, "Is more or less a spell, written into the fringes. I knew Kellon Nyczus' ministries were involved in a lot of partnerships with churches, but going by this, he's had a few ulterior motives."
"Kellon spreads the Umbral Horde using these innocuous little methods. Songs, shows, reading materials." Matthew cupped his chin, "It's...almost funny. These are the kinds of guys who'd say they could tell a witch by looking at them. And they happily take the work of one Kellon Nyczus."
It wasn't all indoctrination games, however.
Pablo would also find evidence on there that Kellon Nyczus had personally written some instructions for his underlings regarding events that took place; "Ensure that my Ritual Chambers, down the hall from here, are sealed shut. When the time comes to crown my own Grandmaster, as an alternative to that delusional Dekeren boy, we will all need to direct our devotion to him. Besmirch him with our dark incantations, and bring him around to our grand vision. The Umbral Horde, dare I say it, requires this action taken covertly. Antonius and my...other partner, cannot know how far along I am. If you require my direct action, I will be in the Prayer Room."
Mina meanwhile would find something in and amongst all the research papers describing Tom and his nebulous "potential". Shoved all the way in the back...was a camera. A very familiar camera.
The missing camera 5.
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
An Ordinary Oddball
Mina Parker
"This is all a b-bunch of weird stalkery stuff about Tom and his p-potential," Mina said, frowning, as she read through some of the papers in the cupboard. "And this is—!" She reached in and slowly slid out the camera after making sure it wasn't trapped. "The missing c-camera number 5! H-How...why is it h-here, of all places?"
She decided to turn it on and flip through the photos.
Edited by JumpingFruit on May 24th 2022 at 12:00:05 PM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Mina - Pictures
Flipping through the pictures, Mina would see most of them were pictures taken near the eerie forest that it seemed functioned as a haven for the Umbral Horde. But as the pictures went on, she would see that one of them featured Kellon Nyczus - seeming to gesture behind him...and the very next picture taken would see Kellon now walking alongside a certain figure.
One Father Corpheus Scyllo - dressed in a black and red version of his humble habit, a shabby constructed amulet around his neck which - even in the photo - was visibly some sort of intertwined image of an 8 and the image of a spider. Easily identified Umbral Horde paraphernalia.
It did not seem the two were quite so adversarial here. Rather, they seemed to be talking. Conversing. Scheming together.
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
An Ordinary Oddball
Mina Parker
Mina immediately turned around to show the others. "Look! N-Nyczus and Corpheus are together in these ph-photos, scheming about s-something!" she gasped as she passed the camera about. "And to think that Corpheus almost came off as trustworthy—!"
Edited by JumpingFruit on May 24th 2022 at 3:56:36 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Pablo looked pensive at what he was reading, trying to weigh the meaning of what he was reading.
"Looks like he wants to hijack the coronation" He noted "He wants to make someone else the Grandmaster, and is going behind his 'collaborators'' backs to do it. Looks like he didn't like Dekeren all that much" He told the others, putting a dubious emphasis on 'collaborators'.
Mina's words got him moving as quickly as he could, as her words kept hitting his brain.
"Holy shit, priests really don't live up to their jobs" He said, with a frown, taking the camera for a moment before passing it on "Makes me feel less guilty for paying so little attention in Church" He jested, but the look on his face told another story.
"Guess that's the other associate he is leaving blind" He guessed, at least he didn't seem like the potential new leader or whatever.
"He is in a place called the Prayer Room, by the way, once you are ready" Such words came out a bit rushed, but he tried to at least go get some info in the meantime. "If that note is from today, or whatever"
Edited by Blueace on May 24th 2022 at 7:25:22 AM
Wake me up at your own risk.
Fwomph
Raid Day, A Sudden But Incredibly Obvious Revelation
"Oh surprise surprise both religious groups in town were working for the cult. Because duh, if they weren't then the one that is with the cult would just straight up steamroller the other."
Heather stood in the doorway, occasionally grinding her claws against each other.
"That's why we need to destroy them yaknow; if we just take back our friend and leave the cult to continue then they're just going to keep being in power. Probably the same deal everywhere, any given authority throwing their lot in with stupid malevolent gods..."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
The Light That Blinds
Jayden
Well.
That was...
Odd.
"Were there any hints to this?" Jayden muttered. "Because that came so far out of left field left field is now right field."
He shrugged. "Oh well. Doesn't change much right now. Let's just move on—"
Heather spoke.
Jayden stopped.
Slowly, he turned to Heather, looking...more than a bit nervous. "Uh...Heather? You, uh...you alright there...?"
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Mina Parker
As she finished her verses, Mina twirled gracefully in a dance and swept into an extravagant curtsy, imagining that she was the focal point of a hydraulic system in her mind. As she went down, she imagined the magical force from that would be multiplied more and more, directed into the ground, until a small pillar of earth would erupt from it and slam into the Gargoyle's side, with all that entailed. She was just hoping that it didn't have any tricks left over for an encore.
Edited by JumpingFruit on May 8th 2022 at 5:12:52 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.