Kyras’ voice, quiet and frantic, cuts through first, strange to hear when her agonized scream had been utterly silent. The reality of the undercity--of her companions, of the sound of people battling across the river in the Sera’s proud stand against their assailants--quickly burns away the rest of the haze of memories, but the experience has taken its toll, leaving her badly shaken.
It’s the touch of Shelyn’s healing, the favor of the goddess of love coursing through her body, that highlights the tender substance of Kyras’ words. Her eyes focus first on Tokine, floating like an angel over her. When the priestess draws away, Azami’s gaze turns carefully towards Kyras, completely at a loss for how to respond.
She is saved the awkwardness of whatever she might try to say as Kyras falls to the ground groaning. Azami immediately rolls to her side and sits up partially, a shot of pain driving through her bruised midsection and nearly taking her breath away. Watching him change in a hundred tiny ways before her, she feels a sense of resolve harden her once again, familiar yet stronger than ever. Something tells her that whatever her Dragonborn companion is experiencing, it is an internal struggle she cannot aid him with; regardless, Azami reaches for that clawed hand.
Advisor Chujitsuna Kage's coldness is relieving, sparking her into action. "N-no. I can walk." She certainly wouldn’t trust a voice as shaky as hers; Azami looks across their clasped hands to Kyras, head bobbing to suggest they help each other up.
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Azami's words bring Chu to look back at her the magical glow finally fading from his eyes as he calculated. His voice wavered ever so slightly before he reigned himself in and banished useless sentiment once more. "That is good, if you weaken say so." It was times like this that reminded him of things he left compartmentalized in his mind, raising Baru had always heavily on him and left him weak when he needed to be strong. He had no time for emotion, but found it hard to cast it completely aside either. "Let's go Old Friend."
Kyras pulls himself upwards, with Azami doing the same. The draconic features of his body - the scales, the claws, the maw, the flames - fade away, until only Kyras remains. They both arrive up at the same time, both weakened enough by the ordeal that they nearly collide. Their faces stay just inches from each other for a long pause longer than necessary, until the samurai pulls away and detaches herself from his grasp. The moment gone, Kyras tenderly follows. He no longer has a blade, but that doesn't mean that he is without weapons.
He summons together enough magic to stitch a resistance to the flames that he will most definitely be throwing around momentarily, and places his hands upon Azami's shoulders. As a shimmering, faintly-orange aura settles over her, Kyras remarks, "I've got a feeling that you'll be needing this. You won't be immune to flames, but it will take most of the edge off."
As the orange aura coalesces over her, sourced from a man who has just reshaped from a dragon, Azami recalls the red dragon as big as a city, engulfing her in flame.
Your hand is a stone. Your hand is a heart.
Across the way, she reminds herself, Clan Sera is sacrificing for us while you are distracted by emotional confusion . Stiffening, she bypasses all of the very public and awkward behavior with blatant avoidance. "Mm. Thank you. We should move on. " Tone firm, Azami turns away towards the exit the Advisor has opened for them, taking up a ready stance beside her charge.
Envoy-Six having joined your group, you continue forward into the new passage opened by Advisor Kage, leaving behind the heroic Zhongyi and the combined forces.
You walk for some while in silence, passing strange lines of runes written in Aklo or Undercommon, none of them amounting to anything more than graffiti of the most base and scatological sort. You cross stone bridges over seemingly bottomless chasms, take a rope swing over another river, one thankfully not occupied by a kraken. After nearly twenty minutes of quick walking, Envoy-Six brings you all to a halt.
"We are near the central chamber, the one from which you can exit to any other. From here we can go directly to your friend, but I hear voices. We must be silent."
Listening, you can all hear clearly two voices speaking. One is clear and high and piercing and quite irritating. Listening to it is like enduring nails being run across a chalkboard. The other is low and scratchy and difficult to understand. It sounds like leaves rustling.
One phrase, or word, does seem clear; "Grik-Grok". This sounds familiar to those of you versed in religious studies.
You are standing in a 15'-wide corridor. Directly in front of you is a ninety-degree turn to the left. There is light spilling out from whatever chamber is around the corner, and it is in this chamber that the owners of the two voices are carrying on their conversation.
Azami listens to the voices and then looks between the others with a shrug and a shake of her head, seeing if anyone else appears to understand.
Kyras steps forward, already summoning the will to produce heat and flames from his hands. After a beat, he stops and looks back. Perhaps one of the other more level-headed ones will want to stop and talk interminably about what to do - or perhaps someone will give him the nod to go in flames first. But he should give them the opportunity before leaping in recklessly, though he's certain that no one would be surprised.
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It had been years since he had heard undercommon and from such voices caused his scales to visibly crawl before he could regain control of his body. He started to speak but paused, a look of surprise crossing his serpentine features his eyes go wide before he finally sighs and looks to the others. His jaw felt loose which would make speaking difficult, he;d have to rely on telepathy then. How unpleasant. Can't be helped...
Looking strained Chu focuses on the many minds around him, forming and coalescing mental bonds. After the work of a few moments the mental links were created, ::From here on we can speak through me, I will relay your thoughts, it will be difficult but it can be done... Now... Grik-Grok is the Gremlin God of bad luck and broken machines. The voices you hear are complaining about how we penetrated the undercity while the annoying one is saying that the undercity is boring and he cannot be blamed for it. I suggest caution, let me try to identify them...:: He closed his eyes replaying their annoying voices in his mind's eye as he focused on their accent.
When Chu's voice enters his mind, Kyras shakes his head to rattle it out. He doesn't like having another voice in his head, not after what happened with the Dragon. Chu's voice continues unabated, causing him to scowl. He waves to the serpentfolk and points to his head, then shakes his finger. With difficulty, he thinks as loudly as he can, "Nope, out of my head. I'll make do the old-fashioned way." He would rely on his own senses and Azami's guidance instead of letting another person invade his mind without permission.
Azami winces slightly at the addition of another voice in her head, glancing sidelong at Kyras. Turning back to Chu, her brow furrows as she attempts to think back at him, not happy with the telepathy at all. "Do we need to identify them? They are clearly enemy combatants. So unless there's another idea...?" A touch of her katana at her side finishes her sentence.
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::As you wish...:: Chu grimaced as the resistance he received was more taxing when he dealt with multiple contacts. The moment Kyras resisted his thread snapped like it had been cut savagely and let Chu feeling a little less taxed then before. ::The last time these Gremlins released a horde down on us, if we can Identify their possible strengths and weaknesses we can counter before they have a chance to react and hopefully eliminate them like the goblins we dealt with. But if you wish to charge then go ahead...::
Azami frowns, her expression tired. She is only just recovering, and completely unwilling to manage contrary attitudes and sensitivities. She already is facing more emotional baggage than she can handle. Dryly, Azami mentally retorts to the Advisor, "Yes. Combat is what I do best. But you know more than I about them. That is why I was asking..."
Wei thinks to himself, Bad luck and gremlins, today continues to improve! He turns to the others as they exchange strange and awkward glances. With a shrug, the monk waves his arms in an effort to convey minor annoyance.
Aware the day grows shorter, Imuri rushed back to Gossamer Palace to verify the delivery of Sera Aki-Kirei. He also prepares an understudy to replace him at either the prisoner exchange or the state dinner. Perhaps Maemi-sama, the Mother Spider, will have advice for him as to which is best.
Raising a brow at Wei, she thinks towards him. "Are you well, Master Monk?"
Tolkien had turned her back to allow Kyras and Azami a private moment, but her head snaps around at the sound of dragon snarls. She is torn between horror and sadness....
She sends out a silent plea, The Dragon grows so strong inside him. Shelyn, I do not know if I have the strength to help him save himself.....or to stop him if he can't" She continues with a small song, to calm and focus hervnerves before they set out again. It is not until later that she allows her mind to register the slightly differ tone of her bells....and that two new bells were attached to the string.
Seeing expectant eyes turn to her, Tokine gives a harsh whisper, "Vandels. Shelyn has no patience for those that destroy the art of others."
Ah, of course... Chu is using telepathy.
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Chu grimaced as Wei's voice joined the others in the thin woven blanket of telepathic strands. The extra weight pushed his mind to it's limit as, despite his peoples many talents, he never excelled in telepathy as his father did. :Yes and, despite your amusing gestures, I am hoping to discern what we are facing from the sounds of their voices. If I cannot then we will hazard another storm in this undercity.:
As you wait and listen, it becomes clear that the annoying voice IS Grik-Grok himself, and the "rustling leaves" voice is someone called "Bai".
The two converse:
GG: "Let them come here! Grik-Grok is not afraid! They will find nothing but bad luck for them if they meet me."
Bai: "you are a fool, gremlin king. they have no desire to come here. they come for the Blossom, I am sure, or the Sapling. there is nothing more here they could possibly want. I will divert guards from the prison cells and armories and sanctums to watch over them."
GG: "Ha! I will go to the fight by the river! Their weapons will rust! Their plans will scatter and fall apart! Grik-Grok will show them!"
Bai: "fine. begone."
There is the sound of spellcasting, then, and two shimmering sounds, followed by silence.
Kyras, unable to understand the Undercommon or listen to Chu's telepathic translation, breaks the silence with his own color commentary. "If you all are done thinking about taking action, I think they went and teleported out of here. Missed an opportunity to take flame to some more gremlins, this time without an army of ninjas as collateral damage." He steps forward, ready to push into the next room and make sure that it is clear.
@Imuri: Your mother counsels you to oversee the handoff of the Erodal woman personally, as the stakes there are potentially higher, and she does not wish to entrust it to anyone else.
Imuri primes one of his understudied for impersonating him through the final court dinner if he does not return from the exchange. The preparations include taking brief shorthand notes of interesting events should Imuri relieve him during the even in progress.
Finally, Imuri procures guards to accompany the Scarecrow to the delivery site. Bethany Erodal is placed back in her disguise and asked if she has any remaining requests or message to deliver to Kyras, should he survive the attempt to rescue her.
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Chu's eyebrows rise a fraction but he doesn't respond to Kyra's childish arrogance, instead he was more focused on severing each connection as delicately as possible. Saving the recoil for himself and barely avoiding staggering as the last one snapped and his mind returned to not being a gateway for so many voices. Despite his own thoughts he steps forward out into the open with Kotei no kiba drawn and ready for action.
Wei looks Kyras over sternly when he breaks Envoy-6's suggested silence, then relaxes. Watching the Warbanian and the Serpentfolk move ahead, he speaks, "I came down here to help a man the Plum Blossom took while under my protection. Fighting gremlin hordes holds little interest to me. Let us press forward."
Envoy-Six peeks around the corner before motioning for you all to follow him. You step into a perfectly round chamber that is 50' in diameter and with roughly a 20' ceiling. There are four arched doorways, including the one you have just entered through, all leading into stone corridors. You have just come in from the west archway. The one to the north leads to stairs going down. The one to the east leads to a long hallway from which the sound of many voices yelling and what sounds like barred prison doors being shaken can be heard. The one to the south also leads to stairs going down, and a soft murmur of many voices chanting in unison can be heard drifting up from the dim depths below.
There are also shelves built into the curved walls, upon which are many strange jars and phials and phylacteries, all filled with curious materials. Almost all are unlabeled.
@Imuri: You verify that Sera-Chan is indeed in the house. Your servants respond that they found her in the sugar plum grove, sound asleep. They carried her to a fine bed and are awaiting further instructions.
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Chu looks around the room suspiciously before spotting the strange items on the shelf. Quirking his interest he made his way slowly across the room towards the shelves and focusing on the three newer looking jars. "Swirling silver smoke eh? Interesting..."
The yelling voices distracted him pretty heavily as he crossed the room, they would bare investigating next and in mid step Chu staggered momentarily. He grimaced as some of his scales sloughed off as he shed off some of his damaged scales. Which were now replaced by thicker more rigid looking scales. He stopped long enough to scoop up the cast off skin and stuff it into his haversack before continuing his investigation with the shelves...
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Chu pauses for a long moment searching his mind for what soul self's were. He mumbled to himself as he read each Jar. "Soul-selves contained in Jars eh? Arthion, Sera the Younger, Swift, Erodel... Which is empty. Interesting." AS he spoke his defensive stance lessened, lowering his repeating crossbow as he focused intently on the jars before him...
Wei pays little mind to the contents of the room, but his attention is immediately foucsed when he hears Chujitsana read the names. "Swift, you say?"
Tokine was looking down the way toward the prisons when she hears a different name, one that she heard but once, on the lips of the Eyrine. The sudden realization causes her to forget caution and run over to the Advisor at the selves. "Advisor Chujitsuna, did you say Arthion? I think that is Rhon. What are all these? What they took from him, is that now in these jars?" Her eyes roam quickly across the shelves, looking for his name.
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Chu thoughts are interrupted by his two companions, he was so fascinated by what was before him he explained excitedly. ”Yes and Yes. These jars contain the essence of a "soul-self" which is just the inner essence that makes you, you. It's an idealized projection of oneself with exaggerated attributes. The easiest way to access it is to travel to the astral plane to see your ethereal self, your spirit-self, your soul. So, basically, the jars with the silvery smoke in them contain souls.” He reflects on what he just said and speaks quietly. ”That’s troublesome isn’t it… The younger Sera has been contained here, as with these others. Perhaps we can steal them away and secret them somewhere safe until we can free them.”
The prisoners seem to have gotten wind that something is going on; the noise and bar-rattling is getting louder:
"Hey! Hey who's there! Heyyyyyy!"
"Please, please in Iomedae's name let me OUT! Please!"
"You must free me, I'll pay you anything you want!"
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Chu, after another search of the area for magic, steps forward and removes the four jars and places them careful inside his dimensional pack. "We must find their bodies or their souls would be lost if these shattered... Perhaps the yelling voices can be of help hmm? But who is this Rhon you speak of Tokine?" He looked concerned at the remaining jars but found the the first four were of immediate concern. He'd return for the rest, he'd bring the Imperial army if he had to, to see this evil ended. No one has the right to keep other's trapped like this. No one. They will pay dearly for their trespass. Emperor willing I will kill them myself.
He grimaces as the prisoners seem to have heard them and were now drawing far too much attention. "If only they'd be patient..."
Urk glares sullenly at the group of strangers, and spits out a goober to get their attention."Whatchoo lookin' fer, snake?" The glob sizzles on the floor.
When Chu mentions souls captured in jars and says his name, he walks over and snatches it off the shelf. He shakes it, seeing that it is empty. "Well, I wonder if this was intended for me or for my sister. Fifty-fifty shot, I suppose. I'll just hang onto this one. Maybe they only work with the person written on them. I'd hate for someone's carefully-laid plan to go awry." He juggles it briefly between his hands, then tucks it away in his shirt. "Hopefully it doesn't get smashed to bits. That would be bad."
Kyras ignores the strange goblin and takes a look at the person in the second cell. "Can we get these open?" he asks the others. "There's someone in that one who might need Tokine's healing."
A large man with heavily scarred hands and forearms answers Kyras' question. "Dey put da keys on wunna them shellllves out dere. Dis one on de floor, he is Swift. Bery famous. You not hurt him more! Please!"
Wei rushes over to the cell containing the man called Swift. "Quickly! I must see to this man!"
Finding the keys is a trivial matter. There are two large key rings, each with approximately 20 keys on it, on a high shelf.
Azami keeps out of the way of the business with the jars, letting others deal with magic; the names draw attention though, especially Sera the younger, Swift and Erodal. She gives Kyras' back a brief glance as he swipes the jar with his surname on it, quickly turning her attention towards the gremlin imprisoned with the purported body of Swift. "Wasn't Swift the Shoto scion's man?" she asks the others.
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Chu makes his way back to this Swift person's cell first. This folk hero he had heard about looked to be in dire straights. But before he unlocked the door he cast his arcane eye into the room looking for a possible trap...
A smart enemy would lie in ambush, wounding his enemies companion and leaving him in plain sight to bait them into a trap and kill all of them at once...
If Wei or anyone else proves too antsy about rescuing this man he raises a single scaled hand to silence them as he finishes casting his spell. Trying his best to calm anyone who appears ready to snatch the keys from him and rush in. "This is the perfect time for the enemy to get us at a disadvantage please be patient. Think clearly..."
"Hmmph. Only here 'cause it suits me for now. Don't s'pose you've seen an obnoxious bugger 'round here. Goes by the name of Grik-Grok?" he says, leering at the red-headed female.