Devic keeps silent. Not for lack of trying mind you, but because she has a hard enough time finding the right words to say without the threat of stabbing. She settles on her eyes darting around the area, hoping someone can say what she can't.
We aren't corruptors, we are here to stop the corruption Ammon tries to communicate. He gestures to his holy symbol, I work for a knight order that saves people, everyone here is my friend.Failing all that his last ditch effort is to use a bit of his curing magic to try and prove they aren't evil.
"This is one of those days I resent my heritage," she says as she slowly gets down on her knees. Her arms up in surrender.
"Mr. Norris!?"
Speak telepathic. Norris lunatic. Do not fight them. We wait co-operate. Devic sighs as she kneels and raises her hands.
How being arrested here works?
Ramiel wasn't sure this was working. Maybe it was because they didn't have any facial expressions he could read...
After a long silence, one of the Formian's voices ring in your head. We will take them to Unus. Unus will know what to do with them.
Now wait just a second! Norris started. We didn't aggree to any of this. What makes you think you can just ambush us and take us to your Uno?
Our spears. The Formian answered.
Norris swallowed. Well... I don't see any problems with that logic. How about you guys?
Someone intrude unannounced your home. You happy? Also hypothetical home is on fire. Devic rises to her significantly less impressive 4' 1" height, arms high in the air as she responds to Skjor.
"Just go with it unless you'd prefer to kill them and have their family or tribe or.. hill... whatever, after us!" Ramiel says as he double checks he's mentally focused. Just in case.
"Not like we have a choice in the matter," Amalarra says with a disconcerting smile.
Next time, set watch. Devic remarks. Possibly to herself.
Geralt just stays where he is untill the Spear at his neck goes away, don't wanna die now does he?
By the right of the forest, by the right of our queen, and by the right of Unus. The Formian answered Skjor. Or would this one like to test the right of our spear?
The Formian's don't bother searching for weapons. They must believe that their numbers are sufficient enough. An hour into the forest, you see red eyes everywhere. Formian eyes. Hundreds of them, from skittering workers to those that make Skjor look like a halfling in comparison.
The lead you down a dark path, where you can feel a strong presence of magic, a physical tangibility as if it were humidity in the air.
Then they lead you into a clearing. A vaguely human figure stands in the center.
Unus. Said the Formian. We have visitors to the jungle. They claim not to have connections to the Taint, but are here to cleanse it.
The being, Unus, is a faceless being, it's bare, featureless skin deep, dark blue, freckled with hundreds of star-like marks.
It doesn't speak, but fills in your mind images.
A man wavng hello.
A question mark.
An image of the grove you're standing in right now.
"Hello and.. why are we doing here?" Ramiel mutters, a little disconcerted by the images suddenly in his head like fresh memories. "We're hear to help, that's all. We go where someone or someplace is in need of assistance and provide it."
Ammon has a fierce look in his eye, seemingly getting angrier We are Here to help! I don't care who you are, this isn't right! Accusing me of being with some evil force, threatening my friends. The forest doesn't belong to anyone it's not some property to be owned! We have no connection to this Taint we just got here!If this place is your home make it known, Whatever's going on here could effect the entire world and your worried about the people coming in to clean it up! Even if this is your home your doing a piss poor job at protecting it from what matters if people outside of it can tell something's wrong!Ammon's now yelling, his tail flicking like an angry cat,
"Ammon, settle down or I swear to Gozreh I'll throw so much ectoplasm ghosts will start flirting with you..." The dark-haired male says tersely.
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'Their fear tactics do not scare me,' Skjor thought to himself, his hand ever ready to reach for Aegis, as they passed through the throngs of formians. As they finally approached the large, faceless being they called Unus, and Ammon started yelling, Skjor stepped forward. "If you are this Unus our...escorts told us about, I must question your ability to lead. You send scouts to track down the source of this 'taint', as well you should. But accusing the first outsiders you come across, especially with threats of violence, will only cause your destruction."
That's new. Devic thinks to herself, considering all of the mental interactions as of the last hour or so, and now not words, yet imagery fills her mind. She lets Ammon and skjor finish their pieces. As they go on she eventually pinches the bridge of her nose while they get more hostile.
Enough testosterone.
She's maybe a little too blase about the "kidnapping" thing.
Amalarra keeps silent, already worried that the tribals might burn her age or worse, eat her.
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Geralt was quickly approaching his wits end with this mission, first the jungle and then they spearpoint by spear point And now there talking blue slender man wannabe trying to get some info fron his group.
Geralt raised his hand to get the creatures attention, but stopped when he felt his motes acting odd, they were...shaking? No, there shivering...as if they're afriad.
"what?..." Geralt muttered, to occupied to now he's speaking aloud.
Geralt was truly perplexed, while it was nothing new for magical and supernatural energy to have emotional bases, for his completely scientific branch of power to start showing these traits only now must mean that something about this job just got a whole lot harder
it obviously has something to do with this "corrupted forest", but Geralt just hopes that they'll all make it back alive.
The Formian didn't look to appreciate Ammon's statement, her grip tightening on her spear. Unus, however, didn't falter at all.
It answered Skjor's Question to the group.
An eye.
A man shaking his head from left to right.
A block of lead.
An eye.
A Hospital.
The Formian spoke to them. Five days ago, he came to our colony. She explained. Searching for a lost ally. Kronyuss, an ally to us as well. Missing for weeks, now. Around the same time of the taint. We have same interests.
More images flash in your mind.
A clock.
A hooded figure with a scythe.
"A clock?" Geralt asks, turning back to the faceless creature
"can you elaborate?"
"That's the only part I think I understood. If Kronyuss is in a hospital, I think Unus is telling us he's dying. Right?" Ramiel asks the telepath.
The being tilted it's head, then looked to your Formian warrior.
Not Kronyuss. It said slowly. I think it means... Time is dying.
Unus nodded it's head, then looked to the group, not sending another image.
Stupid book never tells me these things ahead of time Ammon calms down a bit speaking at a normal tone I've heard stories of time dying, but none that connect with fey...Some of your warriors called our friend here Under-Fey, does this mean your having drow problems or fey problems? Time dying makes a lot more sense if it's fey, if it's drow not so much. Either way we need to go to the source of this taint, and stop it...
Need plan, korova. We show sign of ehh, on same side? Then, ve work with bugs? Devic speaks up finally, now that the louder members of the party have quieted down. She indicates towards the formian nearest to her when she says "bugs".
holy shit, seriously?! Time itself?
I ehh, no idea to start. Never expect hear this. How do you know ehh, exactly?
I'm not saying we rush in, well i will it's what i'm good at... besides that we need to figure out what we are dealing with, we can't make a plan if we don't know anything about the enemy. This Kronyuss is involved somehow, i'm willing to bet if we find him we get answers.
Not Kronyuss. It said slowly. I think it means... Time is dying.
Geralts heart stops at those words, the metaphorical shivering of the motes swiftly morph into a screaming crescendo that begins to drown out everything else
"Time...is dieing?!" he growls out ferally, beginning to feel physically ill.
Unus looks to the Formian warrior again, hoping for a translation.
Unus says that it can't see into the future any more. That something called the Monad is in chaos. The past is moving faster, and the present is at a standstill. Something is going to happen, soon, and Unus is hunting down every lead that it can.
The Formian nodded. Kronyuss was one of the wardens of time, tasked with keeping it's balance and preventing it's abuse.
Geralt perks up at the mention of someone ment to stop times abuse. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts Geralt asks
"what would count as a abuse of time?"
Geralt tries to keep his voice steady, but anyone could tell he was very shaken up.
"Going back in time to remove a stain from the carpet, stopping terrorists from killing your old eccentric neighbor, I dont know? " There was still some panic to her face. Being called an under fey didnt help, such a term usually meant ill.
I really preferred bank robberies.
Devic's inquisitive side starts to come to the surface, intrigued as much as unnerved.
Dying is perhaps poor word. You take Amalarra as "under-fey." Does this mean ehh, that you have lead suspect Drow?
The Formian pauses for a long while before it begins to translate again. Unus senses something in you Geralt. She said. But what you do isn't damaging, he says. It is a skill mostly given to Aeons, but what Unus and Kronyuss are fighting, it is a poison. Or a blade.
After a long history of Drow crimes against nature, we have every reason to suspect the under-fey of treachery.
Unus looks over the group. They all recieve a series of more images.
An outreached hand.
A peace symbol wrapped around a curly beard.
Okay so it's a Drow problem not a fey thing, there's a difference i should know...i'm from England...Bloody hell Ammon put's his hand on his head if it is Drow we won't get peace, No offense He says to our new companion Your people aren't exactly known for their hospitality, except that one guy i read about. Anyway, i'm still curious as to why, world domination and enslavement is one thing but hurting time could destroy everything including them. After receiving the images Ammon sighs I apologize for my rage from earlier, once the demon blood in me starts boiling i can lose control. If you want peace with us we happily accept, but peace with the Drow or whatever's causing this is unlikely
"Of course, let's not talk about the past shall we. I ain't no typical Drow. I'm like that one comic book character, Bazzit or something, saving the day or whatever we are supposed to do. Guys back me up," she says looking to everyone else.
"What if it isn't Drow? We've already faced shapechangers once, remember? It was our first team assignment." He then turns to Unus and does his best to convey his theory in images before giving up after a few moments. His mind was too active right now. "We need a guide and a plan. What ever is happening won't wait for us to get our act together."
We'll stop it, just show us. I promise, me good Drow," she says knowing that such a case was few and far between. Drow, no matter where you are, are always getting in trouble. Organised crime, terrorists, litterers, of course varying from place to place to place.
"well whatever it is, we need to hurry" says Geralt still abit on edge.
"-and this is unlikely, but there's maybe something I can do." he coughs "time is something I'm sorta familiar with...at least I'm more familiar with it then you guys, though that's not saying much"
Amalarra give us no reason to believe she a threat to natural order. Devic tries to vouch for her new ally. Cant have the new people being hauled off to insectoid dungeons.
You give me idea. Moment, to better understand nature of threat, I should ehh, perhaps study you. With assuming we allowed to leave.
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Skjor was getting more and more uneasy. While he was reasonably good with people, he was used to working larger crowds and reporters, who were a type of evil all on their own. Well, except for that one lady in Wales...
Snapping his thoughts back to the present, Skjor looked around at his companions and said, "If this Unus is being true to us, then, unfortunately, time is something we do not have to waste. Lead us to this blight and we shall stop it."
Looking over his gear, Geralt gives Devic a side Glace and says "um...sure, though not to certain what you could get out of it"
I don't know either. Is a problem. I hope to glean cursory minimum understanding of what may deal with. Will explain if needed. If we can help, ehh will do what I can. Devics attention turns back to Unus now. And her booze.
Is further in forest?
Unus looks to the lead Formian once more.
Unus wants to send you to the heart of the corruption. She says into your minds. To prove you are not part of the corruption, he wants your help in fixing it. Do you aggree.
Norris, behind you, having stayed quiet most of the time, swallowed audibly. I don't know, friends. I was only payed to lead you to the taint, not battle it.