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Sakitu finds a comfortable spot to wait while Quasit and Bulvi go on their mission to find disguises. When they return she is slightly disgusted with the outfits.
"You guys want me to wear these? Have you smelled them?" She turns up her nose at one particularly nasty pair of pants. She gags a couple times.
"I guess there's no other option though, is there. I mean, I can't see how Selena's wagon idea will work so I guess..." She finds the largest clothes she can and pulls the on over her normal outfit. The extra bulk of an extra layer of clothes does a decent job of hiding her figure. Secretly, she's glad that Fin can't see her at the moment.
"Ok. How do I look?"
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As Selena scolds her, Quasit buries her face in her hands and slows pulls them down so that her lower eyelids, cheeks and the corners of her mouth get stretched downward grotesquely.
"UUUHGH! You are exHAUSTing!" she groans. She then pantomimes pointing the alien rifle up at the bottom of her chin and pulling the trigger.
"You guys want me to wear these? Have you smelled them?" She turns up her nose at one particularly nasty pair of pants. She gags a couple times.
"Yeah, I know. To be fair, the guys were rotting corpses, so it's not really their fault. Sorry. Believe it or not, these were the best ones."
"I guess there's no other option though, is there. I mean, I can't see how Selena's wagon idea will work so I guess..."
Quasit gestures emphatically to Sakitu and looks around for confirmation. "Thank You." she says assertively.
"Ok. How do I look?"
"Like a grubby soldier with an adorable fox face." says Quasit, tickling her friend's whiskers. "Don't forget to go human. And ditch the tail, sweetie."
"Selena, all of your plans are terrible, stop upsetting Quasit!" Maka said with a growl.
She focuses a moment and her body smoothly transforms back to her human form.
"You can totally still tell she has really pretty bone structure!" Maka had an odd amount of worry in her voice.
"Selena, all of your plans are terrible, stop upsetting Quasit!" Maka said with a growl.
"Really? Which of my plans have ended poorly?" Selena asks irritated.
"Really? Which of my plans have ended poorly?" Selena asks irritated."Selena, all of your plans are terrible, stop upsetting Quasit!" Maka said with a growl.
"Which one of them has actually worked?" Maka vented her frustration, exhaling a cloud of smoke from her nostrils.
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"Really? Which of my plans have ended poorly?" Selena asks irritated."Selena, all of your plans are terrible, stop upsetting Quasit!" Maka said with a growl.
"Oh, I don't know. How about when the Hut first landed on Triaxus and we were going through that miserable garden. The moving plant attacked us and you told us we shouldn't assume it was evil or fight it. Then we ran into the dead cat being used like a puppet by the monster stump, and you refused to believe it could be bad ir trying to trick us because you were bonding with it over witch stuff. And when we got into the little hut, you decided to go into the room and talk to the Denizen of Long and its 'Master' and you got yourself charmed. That was all in the space of half an hour. All while lecturing us about how we shouldn't assume the monsters are evil just because they're monsters."
After another bout of arguing, Maka stomped off to meditate and center herself.
Kalchine also picks out an outfit but does not put it on, yet. He goes to sit down in a spot under several trees and extends his connection to the strangely verdant nature on this planet.
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The autumn sun sets swiftly, turning gray skies black. A few sullen snowflakes continue to fall from the dark skies above, and the chill in the air deepens... though it's still not as bad as Triaxus.
In their scavenged uniforms, the party sans Fin march towards the gate. The blackness of the night seems deeper as you approach Rasputin's fortress, save for the moments when violet lightning leaps from one of the corner towers to the central temple spire, briefly revealing the camp in ghastly hues.
You stop at the prescribed distance, and give the salute and pass phrase. The gate opens, but as you march through one soldier in one of the towers calls out, "Тебе не хватает нескольких человек. Что случилось?"
save for the moments when violet lightning leaps from one of the corner towers to the central temple spire, briefly revealing the camp in ghastly hues.
"Do you think that's magic or is lightning just purple on this planet?" Maka leaned down and whispered to Quasit on the approach to the great.
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save for the moments when violet lightning leaps from one of the corner towers to the central temple spire, briefly revealing the camp in ghastly hues."Do you think that's magic or is lightning just purple on this planet?" Maka leaned down and whispered to Quasit on the approach to the great.
"It's been a while since I've been on Golarian, but last I knew lightning didn't go *up*." Quasit whispers back. "I bet it's magical discharges from the machine that's holding Baba Yaga."
"Totally not ominous and creepy."
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Sakitu tries not to look intimidated under the gaze of the guards. She has no idea what they said but she hopes that Bulvi can figure it out. He seems pretty good with languages.
She eyes the purple lightening. Just like Quasit said, it doesn't look natural. But on this strange world, who knows that is natural or not.
Before they set out, Kalchine uses his baffling newfound ability to take on the shape of an ordinary human, though one with impressively shaggy hair and side burns of an exceptionally pale blonde color.
He also casts a spell that turns Chest Thumper into a small statuette instead of a very large ape not native to this world.
His small eyes widen with fear when they are addressed in the strange language by a guard and he looks desperately to Quasit.
"It's been a while since I've been on Golarian, but last I knew lightning didn't go *up*." Quasit whispers back. "I bet it's magical discharges from the machine that's holding Baba Yaga."
"That makes sense. We should probably try to check that out first then huh?"
Before the group came into view, Selena used a pinch of soot to trace a few arcane glyphs in front of Bulvi and Selena. "Let us remember just who was useful here. And also remember that this spell only let's you understand their tongue, not speak it. To you it will seem like they are speaking a dialect of common."
All Sakitu can tell is that the lightning is definitely magical. Powerfully so.
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Quasit, understanding the strange foreign tongue, steps toward the tower where he called out from. She looks around conspicuously, then gives a little shake of her head and gestures for him to come down from the tower, then points toward an area far inside the compound. Giving the impression that she wishes to discuss it privately.
"OK everyone, keep walking. Everything is cool. We get away from all these soldiers, and if he comes down for an answer, we knock him out and tie him up before he can raise an alarm. Just keep walking..." she says quietly to her companions.
"Сначала отчитаться? Ну, если надо," the soldier says.
They do not come down from the tower.
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Quasit waves in acknowledgement.
"He thinks we're going to report to our superiors. He's going to let us go." says Quasit quietly to the group.
"Come on, let's get through that next gate while we can."
"Saki, once we get through and get a little cover, I need you to go invisible and fly over to where Fin is hiding, and cast those spells on Fin so we can get him back to us. Then once we're all together, we'll check out the lightning building. And hopefully end this."
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"Saki, once we get through and get a little cover, I need you to go invisible and fly over to where Fin is hiding, and cast those spells on Fin so we can get him back to us. Then once we're all together, we'll check out the lightning building. And hopefully end this."
"That sounds like a great idea. As long as I can fly there before my invisibility runs out."
"He thinks we're going to report to our superiors. He's going to let us go." says Quasit quietly to the group.
"Come on, let's get through that next gate while we can."
Maka can hardly believe it as the group walks past the gate. "Quasit that was amazing! You're so good with words you don't even need them anymore!" The fire monk did her best to contain her amazement and keep up the air of being a scary boy.
Marching through the gate, you enter the outer courtyard of the strange fortress. The cloudy night sky provides precious little illumination, leaving the structures within little more than blacker shapes against a dark background, until another of the unnatural lightning bolts sears a vision of your surroundings into your eyes. Two long buildings once stood to the left, but now only one stands intact with a couple dim lights shining through its windows, the other a burned-out shell. To the right a couple of large sheds stand, in the northern one of which you can briefly make out the shapes of more of the metal wagons sitting.
Marching on to the inner gate you see no guards, nor even a lock. On the other side of the fence you see several more buildings--some of them also burned down. They are dominated by the ruins of a temple with a fire-scarred tower thrusting upwards to the sky, which seems the focus of the violet lightning. On the right an area of tents is fenced off from the rest of the inner buildings. A ghostly green light shines from somewhere in the camp, and a few hints of movement might be horses. Lights from the towers sometimes turn from the perimeter to search over this inner yard, before turning back outward.
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As his friends enter the compound, the tension leaves Fin and lowers his bow, stowing it in his efficient quiver. He retrieves his rope of climbing, whispering for it to attach to the northeast corner of the tower and knot…he then quietly climbs down the knotted rope to the inside of the compound, using the darkness/dim light to conceal himself (using his hide in plain sight Shadowdancer ability) as he does so…
…once he reaches the ground he’ll whisper the command for the rope to untie and return to him…he stays low and concealed, looking around for any signs of soldiers before he tries to move to his friends…
…and if clear, he’ll take advantage of the lack of illumination, moving silently among the shadows, keeping his hood up and his cloak closed…
…and then he mixes in with his friends as they approach the gate, whispering, ”That went well…let’s hope our luck holds up…”
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”That went well…let’s hope our luck holds up…”
"Fin!" says Quasit excitedly. She gives the elf a brief, tight hug. "Thank goodness you're all right. I was just about to send Ski off to find you and spirit you away to us. I should have known you'd manage it on your own!"
She turns back to look past the second gate. "Well, I'd say that central building is where we want to go, since that's where all the purple lightning is converging. It certainly doesn't seem random or accidental. But it looks from here like it's just an empty ruin. The energy from that tower may just be getting shunted to one of those other buildings. One thing is for sure -- there's *something* important going on in that compound that Rasputin is very keen to protect from outsiders,"
"Kinda odd that the gate isn't locked. What's to stop any of these soldiers from milling around in there? And it doesn't look like it would be too hard to climb over or slash through that gate. It looks like it's just made of metal wires."
"I don't like this place," Kalchine says, looking around at the strange desolation.
"Why are there so many burned buildings? Do you think they took this place from someone else? Or that there have been accidents?"
He looks around nervously, his face looking odd being mostly uncovered by hair.
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"I'd guess it has something to do with all the lightning flying around. But yeah, they might have taken it by force from someone. There's a war here, remember. And we've seen the explosions their weapons make."
"Lemme take a look at this gate. It might be trapped or something."
Quasit walks over to the inner gate to the strange courtyard and carefully examines it for anything dangerous or unusual.
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Sakitu is surprised but happy to see Fin approach from the gates. "I was just about to come get you. Glad you made it safely."
With a wink, Fin pops Sakitu playfully on her behind. ”No worries, Hlao-roo, easy peasy…”
"Fin!" says Quasit excitedly. She gives the elf a brief, tight hug. "Thank goodness you're all right. I was just about to send Ski off to find you and spirit you away to us. I should have known you'd manage it on your own!"
Taken aback, in a good way, by Quasit’s reaction, Fin returns the brief hug and smiles sheepishly. ”Good to see you too, Q…you did good at the gate. Thought for a minute there, I was gonna have to put an arrow in that guard. Good to see all of you, I was worried there for a while; it got mighty boring up there all by myself…”
He follows quietly a few feet behind Quasit as she checks the gate…and dies the same…
Quasit doesn't spot any traps on the gate.
Slowly, the gate swings open to allow entry deeper into the camp.
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Sakitu smiles at Fin and returns the pat on his rump.
Fin nearly jumps when Sakitu pops his bum, arching an eyebrow as he turns back to look at her. He grins, leaning down to nibble lightly on her earlobe, whispering, ”Next time we get an extended break, we really need some alone time…again…”
After Quasit opens the gate, Fin whispers to her. ”Q, we’re kinda flying blind here…I can scout ahead of our party as usual…do you still wish to go straight to the central building?”
Maka couldn't help but feel a sense of unease as her golden eyes scanned the ruins. She had expected a lot more resistance. "Are we doing a super good job or are we walking into a trap?"
Maka doesn't notice anything new beyond what's on the map and what's been described before.
"I mean...I don't see any traps but this place is weird."
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"Are we doing a super good job or are we walking into a trap?"
"Both, maybe? Best not to think too much about it, I find."
"OK, I think we should avoid that camp over to the right -- whoever is in there is probably not going to be friendly. Let's head for the west side of that first building to the left and move along past it toward some of the other buildings. If that big ruin in the center really is nothing but a bunch of burned timbers, then we should start investigating the other buildings one at a time."
"Fin, you do your thing and scout ahead. Check out that central ruin and the tower, then those two longhouses west of them. We'll hang back by this smaller building off to the left. If you see any patrols, come back right away and we'll deal with them as a group. And watch out for those searchlights!"
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Fin nods in deference to Quasit. ”Roger that, Q, be right back…”
The Elf tightens his hood, draws his bow, and, with a wink, he’s gone…he uses the buildings and any shadows for cover as he quietly makes his recon, eyes alert to any suspicious/dangerous signs, in addition to any tracks he sees as he moves…and he’ll note the searchlight’s pattern and avoid those as well, stopping and staying concealed, if they‘re aimed anywhere near him, till they pass…