"This thing is noisy and loud. What are the chances that the hunter of this territory hear this contraption?"
They can. Which is why we need to hurry Bolus prods them all towards the craft.
Sinathel eyes the contraption with much disdain but moves to enter it. She would shift and fly, but that could mean leaving her egg. She would put up with this thing for now. It's obvious by the look on her face she doesn't like being on it.
While Moody clears away some space in the skyskipper, his partner, hearing Bolus' words, flies up to the second story of the building, where the wall was blown away. After a moment the windshield opens and another of the Scout Brigade climbs out and into the building. He emerges from the building a moment later with the body in his arms, climbing back into his skyskipper and closing the windshield again.
The skyskipper hovers closer to Moody's, where Yala is just now enthusiastically climbing into a rear passenger seat. The pearl diver is fascinated by this noisy machine that can fly, and looks out one of the side windows with her face to the glass.
You see Moody put a finger to his ear, frowning a moment, then nodding. "Come on, civvies, this storm's not going to be getting any better. See that lightning up there? This might seem obvious, but that's not a natural storm...there's magic in it. Best be off back to Terminus before it gets much worse."
In the back of the skyskipper are enough center-facing seats for all of you to sit, though your knees might be a little pressed together.
What made you come out here anyway? Bolus asks as he sits close to the exit. Did a Scanner spot something? The way I ended up here with these guys wasn't... normal
"We were chasing a Scout that went rogue and commandeered an airship that was heading north on some wizard's business," Moody replies, having to raise his voice somewhat over the engines. 'Wizard's business' is slang for 'some esoteric, complicated, unknowable b%%$#!##' among the Scout and Guardian cadres, who were often tasked with working with them.
"Apparently the Scout stole some contraband and it's our job to get it back. I don't even know what it is he took, but it's very dangerous, and illegal as hell, whatever it was. If the poor bastard didn't die on impact, we might have had to do it ourselves. Orders are to bring him in, dead or alive, and recover whatever it was he took." Moody shakes his head as he pulls back on the controls. The airship leaves hover mode and begins to fly above the ruined city. Immediately upon leaving the wind-shelters of the nearby buildings the craft is rocked by strong winds.
"Hold on," he comments, as the skyskipper pulls off southward.
Bolus shoots Sinathel a look and glances at the object she is cradling in the makeshift sling. What is that thing? he says to her in a tone that only she should hear.
Then raising his own voice he yells back Wizard's business is what got me here. We found a beacon of some sort and when the Mimic's started studying it... well you won't believe it but it sent all of us into... well you won't believe it. It's where I picked up these guys. How long have I been gone?
Sinathel bit back the rude remark she had been about to make before Bolus asked what she held. She looked over to him with a small smile and kept her voice low in reply so it wouldn't travel very far. "An Egg, full of life."
Olivius doesn't like the feel of this sky-wagon. It feels too muh like a certain guard paddy wagging he once frequented. He was free of that once he learned to pick locks from the inside, but this one was enclosed and all shiney. His stomach lurches as they leave the ground and instinctively grabs the edges of the seat. For the first few minutes he doesn't dare look out the window.
"What's wrong? You look pale. Does flying not agree with you?" Sinathel teases Olivius.
Yala seems oblivious to Olivius' discomfort, so fascinated was she by the terrain flying by outside. "I'm so glad we're flying, it's so ugly down there! Why couldn't we have gone somewhere nice, Sticky-Fingers?" she asks, teasing him from the other side.
Olivius just glares at his only connection to a world he knows. Not everyone here can become a bird. I think I prefer my feet on the ground, but wait a moment. Let me get used to the fact that I should be falling to my death, yet I am not...
Yala seems oblivious to Olivius' discomfort, so fascinated was she by the terrain flying by outside. "I'm so glad we're flying, it's so ugly down there! Why couldn't we have gone somewhere nice, Sticky-Fingers?" she asks, teasing him from the other side.
Don't look at me. It's his world He points to Bolus quickly and returns his hand to the seat with a slap. Ask him why it's ugly.
"It is more enjoyable flying as a bird. You can feel the wind flowing through your feathers. It is... exhilarating." She looks off for a moment looking out a window at the dead landscape, reminded of it by Yala and Olivius. Her face and aura are melancholy. "The land is mostly dead, and The People gone... there is very little life out there."
Bolus grimaces. Standing up into a crouch in order to get off his seat he wrenches the cover up to reveal a storage area containing emergency parachutes. Hide it underneath the chutes or it will be found and taken when we land in the city. he says in a growl under his breath. Only a few hours ago he would have never contemplated such an action but the betrayal of Orwell and Temellen had convinced him that there was something suspicious going on in Terminus city.
Rogue Scout? he yells back Bad business. Never thought anything like would ever happen. Got bad news of my own. Mimic Orwell went rogue too along with his rat faced assistant Temellen. It's why I'm the only Guardian who made it back from the wastes. Any news on what's happening in the city? I'm t tracking that bastard down.
Sinathel nods in understanding. Hiding her egg as instructed, she'll do what it takes to keep it from being taken. With the egg situated and hidden, she gives Bolus a thankful smile. "You are a good man."
"A Mimic going rogue isn't as surprising as a brother Scout, frankly," Moody shouts back. "Those egghead wizard-wannabes are always researching things they shouldn't and getting strange ideas. There's a lot of weird stuff going down in Terminus City, my friend," Moody glances over his shoulder at you briefly, and you see a grin beneath his visor. "Glad I randomly found a Guardian to escort me! It's my lucky day."
The storm is getting worse outside. Sinathel, you hear the song of the storm is joined somehow with strange voices you don't recognize in any thunderstorm you've listened to. And as a druid from the jungles, you've listened to your share of thunderstorms. There's something alien to the lightning and wind outside that sounds unsettling.
Meanwhile, Yala sits facing forward again, and looks down at Olivius' hand. With a little snort through her nose of disapproval, she fishes in her backpack for a few small strips of cloth. "Your bandages need changing," she comments, pointing to your wrapped hand. "Hold that out." Assuming you consent, she carefully removes the bandages - not easy, given the turbulence of the storm - and discards them, before wrapping your hand tightly again.
Regos is looking pale and wan, not seeming to enjoy the flying any more than Olivius.
Bolus, still very conflicted about what he's just done, grumbles don't make me regret this under his breath and settles back. He's far more likely to believe in the honour and good judgement of a Scout rather than that of a Mimic or a Wizard.
I need to go straight to Guardian HQ for debrief. Give a report on all the $4** that just went down. What date is it anyhow?
"It's June! June 15th!" Moody calls out, distracted. Both hands grip the piloting controls tightly as they buck and struggle in his hands. The skyskipper is rocked by heavy winds that toss is about in the sky.
Anyone looking out the windows sees a series of bright glows forming on the ground below you in a dozen random location.
Moody sees them too, and curses. "We'll have to talk about it later...we've got magic eaters!"
All around you from the ground below, massive pillars of writhing flesh, like horrid tentacles with suckers on the tips, coil up and up toward the sky, past even the skyskipper's elevation. Moody shouts as he has to buck the skyskipper hard to the right to avoid one that shoots up directly in front of the windshield.
Sinathel gives him a distracted nod, looking out the window. "...that storm... it's voice... it's wrong... There's something in it that shouldn't be..." That is when she notices the bright lights forming on the ground below. "Magic Eaters? Do they cause storms? Is it their voice I hear singing with the storm's song?" She looks at Bolus, directing her questions to him. "Do they live below the surface?"
Hold on to something! Bolus shouts gripping the handholds built into the side of the Skyskipper for just these kinds of situations.
The skyskipper is well-designed, and Moody's experience in piloting belies his youth. Nimbly the craft dodges and ducks around the tentacles sprouting up all around them. "NO!" the pilot cries out, as his partner Scout in the other 'skipper wasn't so lucky. A rapidly-uncoiling magic eater gets caught in the engines and there's a small explosion in the tail of the other craft. The skyskipper loses control and begins spinning toward the ground, trailing smoke.
"Brace yourselves, we're following her down!" Moody shouts over the roar of the storm. Lightning strikes all around the skyskipper and torrential rain slaps against the windows constantly. Your aircraft enters a dive, dodging around massive tree-trunk sized columns of flesh and shaking back and forth. Faster and faster your craft nosedives toward the crashing skipper!
"WE'RE COMING IN TOO HOT!" Regos shouts, barely able to keep his butt in his seat as he grasps hold of a handhold, following Bolus' lead. Yala finishes tying the knot in Olivius' bandage with admirable grace under fire, cinching it tight before grinning a slightly crazed grin at Olivius. "The earth spirit never mentioned this!" she shouts at him, laughing as the craft bumps and shakes all around her.
Olivius is just doing his best to stay in his seat. He clenches his teeth as the craft moves in more ways than he thought should be possible. As soon as the bandage is finished he grips a panic bar. I'm glad you're enjoying it! he yells over the whine of the dive. Let it never be said I failed to show a girl a good time!
Right after the word failed..." escapes your mouth, you're interrupted by a jaw-clenching THUNK. a pause, and then another massive impact. Your skyskipper is landing roughly, with rough bounces that nearly knock you to the floor. You can hear the pilot shouting with effort as he tries to keep the craft level, but despite his struggles from the cockpit, you bounce a few more times before coming to a rest. From outside, you hear thundering roars and the constant spray of rain continues to batter your skyskipper's outer hull. There's a large rupture in the hull near to the exit where Bolus was standing. The normal running lights of the craft are knocked out, replaced by a slowly flashing red light in the center of the cabin. What do you do?
Yes, you're still inside.
As the craft judders to a halt Bolus yells Moody! You alright? Can the skipper still fly or is it grounded?
Bolus yanks the seat open and pulls the egg back out and hands it to Sinathel for safekeeping before ducking outside with his stun rod drawn and shield at ready.
Olivius groans. He would have a few new bruises for his collection tomorrow. Everyone else ok? he says with a pointed look at Bolus. He does a visual check with everyone before he pulls up his hood against the rain and staggers outside.
From the cockpit you hear a groan. "Urrrgh...I'm alright," you hear a voice say weakly from up there. You see him struggling to get up, moving slowly.
The egg is thankfully unharmed. When you climb out of the skipper, you look up and up and up and up and up to see one of the magic-eaters reaching toward the sky, like a living lightning rod for magic. The 'skipper is partially resting on its side on the thing, and as you look down at the squishy ground you see you're walking on a living thing - of some bizarre variety.
At its base, it's nearly half as wide as a city block. It narrows up to its full height, which is literally sucking energy from the thunderclouds overhead.
Bolus thinks hard trying to remember what he knows about the building sized monster that has them trapped on the wrong side of the gorge.
Magic Eaters are a plague, a symptom of the illness that is gripping the world itself. As magic slipped the yoke of control that mortals exerted over it, new creatures born from magical energy were created in response to the new and abundant source of food - the rampant arcane lightning themselves. As you look upward, you see the tips of the tentacles getting struck by purple lightning again, causing ripples to travel down the tentacles' length over and over. They don't appear conscious, existing only to feed on magic - but magic-users should beware when surrounded by them, lest their own talents attract the great worms' hunger.
Bolus ducks back in This is an EVACUATION situation. Those who can walk, carry those who can't. We are all walking off this abomination and we are doing so NOW. And I do mean WALKING. No magic! Of ANY sort! This thing eats magic and we do NOT want to get its attention. Bolus looks at Sinathel meaningfully before quickly assessing who needs help and who doesn't.
Olivius looks ready to go. He immidiately starts making his way down ahead of the main group using every sence he has to identify slippery or insecure paths down the beast.
You can see smoke rising up to your east, but not the skipper itself. You can hear Moody struggling to escape his pilot's seat from within your crashed ship. "Her...navigational controls are still active!" you hear him struggle to say. "I can...get her flying again...just get me out of here!"
What should I be on the lookout for?
What is about to happen?
What here is useful to me?
As you look about yourself, examining the strange environment of the future, it looks as different from the Gaia you knew as a different planet would be. Even the color of the dirt looks off. You look to the west and you see a gathering fog creeping slowly toward you from between some squirming magic-eaters. The fog triggers your danger senses somehow, but you aren't sure if you're just being paranoid.
You're about to glance away from the fog when you see something that clinches it. The magic eaters squirm slightly, moving their colossal bodies aside a few feet to avoid touching the fog. That's a pretty clear sign of danger if you ever saw it. Anything that spooks something as tall as the clouds is worth avoiding!
As you navigate down the magic-eater, you see a small box that must have been thrown clear of the skipper in the "landing". They apparently do still have boxes in the future, and you're able to pop this one open fairly easily. You can check the contents now or stow the box in your pack, your choice.
Bolus grimaces with frustration as he moves to help Moody out of his constraints.
Then do it quick Moody
Olivia's stores the box for now without peeking. He dashes back up the worm thing and shouts, We have a fog coming this way that I don't like! Even these magic eater things are avoiding it!
With a moment's struggling you're able to free Moody from the constraints, but the pilot's injured. "Thanks!" he shouts as you pry him free of a broken altitude panel. He immediately sets to turning off the engine completely and letting the instruments reset.
While he works with his hands, you recall the only thing that Olivius could be referring to - what the Mimics call fecudus elementus but known to most laymen as broken elementals. After the Calamity, great swaths of land were rendered uninhabitable by the chaotic release of primal magic. Elementals, creatures born of the natural energies that the Calamity destroyed, were affected in tragic ways - vaporizing apart entirely, or becoming barely-intelligent, malignant fogs. The stories say that the fog-like creatures seek only to vent the mindless fury of their eternal existences on whatever living thing they encounter. Now, they wander the earth like ghosts, leaving behind frozen, electrocuted, or fire-blackened bodies in their wake.
How fast they are?
Can they be fought?
Can they be delayed or distracted or scared away?
There hasn't been anyone who has successfully fought one that you know of. They're slow, but silent, so most deaths due to broken elementals have been from people caught unawares or who tried to stay and fight.
You know that displays of magic drive them away.
Alright people. Bolus bellows Here is the situation. We are currently standing on Magic Eaters which are not hostile unless they think we have magic that they can feed on. What is coming towards us is a fog that is VERY hostile but slow and scared of magic. If Moody can get the skipper running SOON then we're fine. If he doesn't than does anyone here have any magic items we can use to scare the fog and distract the Eater? Moody you carrying any magic flares or shield -wands?
Moody pauses in his engine diagnostics and hurriedly takes off a thick arm-strap, upon which is a small rune. "That ought to do the trick - it's simple parlor magic, makes light with varying brightness and color according to the desires of whoever wears it, but it's definitely magic-powered," Moody explains for Sinathel's benefit - of course Bolus is familiar with wrist-torches. He hurriedly climbs back under the front central panel, and you see sparks fly from under the instrumentation, accompanied by a curse or two.