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Quasit accepts the jug with a smile, and raises it in salute with a wink. "Breakfast. Cheers."
She throws back a long, thirsty swallow before coming up for air. Then she wanders off to the back side of the Hut and drinks some more. She was still frustrated and upset, but the anger had passed. The sun would be rising in a few hours, and they'd all be looking to her again for decisions on what to do.
"What we need is for a certain Murder Hut to get off its lazy ass and go stomp those soldiers for us." she says over her shoulder. She takes another drink but shorter this time-- she was already a little sick of the taste. Plum wine wasn't her favorite. And she wasn't even drunk yet, just a little woozy. Weirdly, she was also full of energy. She had thought she'd just drink til she fell asleep, but it was clear now that wasn't going to work -- was she ever going to sleep normally again?
She found herself going back inside the Hut, cradling the jug under one arm like a baby. "Red seven on black eight." she says to the Coffin Man as she passes him, then goes off looking for Tezuzu.
He was back in the room with a cauldron and the little men in the cage, reading, spectacles perched precariously on his black beak. He glances up to see her, blinks, then slowly closes his book and tilts his head.
"Whatcha reading?"
"Poetry, actually. At the moment. You know, the books changed when we appeared here. I've been reading something called 'Torrents of Spring' by a fellow named Turgenev, but I needed a break. To be honest, I'm not really a fiction person."
She nods, then uncorks the jug and sloshes another drink while he watches her silently and expectantly. She walks over and picks up one of the books on the table. "I can read this stuff a bit now." she announces, in lieu of anything interesting. "But poetry would be lost on me, probably."
"There was another story I was reading. You might find it interesting. It's about a man who's dying. He's lying in his deathbed trying to come to terms with the end of his life, and everyone around him is in denial or pretending it's not happening, or just lying to him in a misguided effort to be nice or diplomatic, and the foolishness of all the pretense in the face of this supreme truth consumes him with fury at the people he used to value. He finds himself desperate for just one. honest. word."
Quasit looks at Tezuzu, wondering if he was trying to say something to her.
"What was it called?"
He shrugs. "I don't remember."
"How does it end?"
He blinks at her and pulls off his spectacles. "He dies, naturally."
"And then?"
"And then, everyone goes home."
Quasit slumps into a chair and puts down the jug heavily on the table. After a moment, she gestures to it, offering him a swig, but he declines with a wave of his hand. "Your lips have been all over it. I'll be quite honest, Monkey. I find lips to be faintly disgusting."
She smiles and leans back stretching and taking a deep breath that ends in a chuckle. She holds up her hands in deferential surrender, then slaps them down on her thighs. He watches her some more.
"Feathers, do you have extra paper? And pen and ink?"
"Extra? Not extra. I have a sizeable amount, probably enough to share, if that's what you're asking. Planning to write some poetry?"
She shakes her head. "No. Our story. Someone should write all this down. In case we don't make it. To explain that we tried. And so people know something about who we were. That we were real people, thrown into this impossible situation, not just mercenaries and yahoos."
"Excuse me... yahoos?"
"You know, weirdos."
"Hmm. You might want to watch the silly slang words. You'd write it in Taldan of course. And if you die here, none of the people on this world would be able to read it. They'd most likely burn it. A waste of my paper."
Quasit looks at him with mild annoyance. "Well, if you don't want to share, fine. I'll get some from the space merchant."
Now it's Tezuzu's turn to wave his hands in surrender. "No, no, far be it from me to interrupt the stylings of your muse." he protests, then digs into his satchel and pulls out a sheaf of foolscap, a quill and small jar of ink. "And you're welcome to work here, I won't bother you. And perhaps I can help refresh your memory on some of the details. I know how scatter-brained you can be."
Quasit smiles at the ribbing, then takes another drink. "Oh, I remember it all just fine. And the things I don't remember, I'll just fill in the gaps in a way that makes the story more interesting."
Tezuzu snorts. "In a way that makes you look better you mean."
Quasit shakes her head. "No, nononono. No, if anything, the opposite. No, I have to make sense of it. And remind myself why it's worth it. Plus I can't sleep anyway."
"Idle hands gather no moss. Or is it that a devil's plaything is a joy forever? Ah, I can never remember how these little proverbs go. Of course, I'll be happy to proofread it. Correct your spelling and punctuation. You'll forgive me, but you don't strike me as the type who had much formal schooling.
Quasit concedes wth a shrug. "Just what my mom and her boyfriend taught me. And what I picked up working for my brother."
Tezuzu shifts in his seat. "You never call him your step-father."
Quasit's head rears back. "Garen? Damn right I don't."
"He didn't marry your mother?"
Quasit squirms. "I mean... kinda... some Varisian folk ceremony. But she was still married to my dad. So it didn't really count." Tezuzu nods and thinks a moment.
"Your father is dead. Does it count now?"
Quasit looks at him. The heartlessness with which he said it had caught her off guard. She stands up, gathers the jug in one hand and the writing materials in the other.
"Thanks for the paper." she says like an expletive, then turns and leaves the room. Tezuzu scratches at his cheek feathers with a talon, then returns his spectacles to their perch and returns to his poetry while the comprehend languages spell lasts.
"I like this Yeats fellow." he muses to himself.
The Coffin man heaves a sigh, interrupted by a coughing fit, as Fin walks away.
Though not a gambler, Kalchine recognizes a fellow killing time. As Fin takes his leave, the Triaxian takes his seat.
"What are we playing?" he asks.
"Poker." The Coffin Man sighs again. "I can teach you."
"Thank you," Kalchine says. "I would appreciate that."
He is silent for a while and listens to the rules.
"As you know, I am new to this group so I don't understand all of the relationships. Forgive me if you are retreading old ground, but what is your role here? Did you come to the hut with the others or some other way?"
"Oh, I have been here for a very, very long time." The Coffin Man's cough seems almost... pointed. "I am a... distant cousin of Baba Yaga, as I explained previously."
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When Fin scoots in beside her, Sakitu turns away and keeps her face covered. She mumbles something in between the silent sobs. Fin's persistent embrace eventually breaks her down and she turns to bury her face in his chest.
After a few more moments she looks up at him with reddened eyes.
"Maka thinks I'm stupid and dumb and naive. I think that she hates me and wishes that I wasn't even here. She doesn't say that but I know she means it."
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”Hey Fin, Quasit. I’m thinking we should probably make a few attacks on the camp, not necessarily to make a full attempt to complete our mission yet, but rather to accomplish two things, first, to make these attacks from a variety of directions to get the defenders to spread out, and second, to whittle down their numbers slowly so we have fewer of them to deal with when we make our actual full strike. Oh, and a third reason, so they won’t know whether we are making a short raid or a full strike. Lull them into a sense of us just making raids, then on our full strike, we can attack then hide in a building somewhere to make them think it was just another raid while we stealthily deal with the devices.”
Quasit had been gone for about 4 hours, and now wandered outside into the gleaming dawn light to get some air. It's clear she hasn't slept and her fingers are covered in black stains, not to mention the smudges on her cheek and forehead. She listens carefully as Selena makes her suggestions and pauses to take it in after the halfling witch finishes.
"You know, I think from their perspective, it probably looks like the last 3 nights have been us making raids on them. To them, we suddenly appear in the middle of the night, we spark a firestorm and set off alerts, kill a lot of people and monsters, then disappear again. I think more raids is probably exactly what they're expecting from us."
"I don't know if we really have the numbers to split up and hit them from multiple directions. I mean, we could, but individually we're pretty vulnerable, and some of us could easily end up dead or captured before the others could help them. And I'm also worried that time may not be on our side here. This is their world, and Rasputin has much more capacity to reinforce that place or put obstacles in our path. He knows we're coming, and I shudder to think what he's arranging for us on the other side of that dimensional veil --I think he can see that eventually we WILL most likely get that machine turned off, but then the fun will probably really begin."
"But I agree that we need to try something different. I'm just not sure exactly what that is yet. I want to think about it some more, and wait for the space merchant to come with our new gear."
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"Maka thinks I'm stupid and dumb and naive. I think that she hates me and wishes that I wasn't even here. She doesn't say that but I know she means it."
Fin looks down compassionately, wiping away her tears, lightly stroking her cheeks before responding. ”Hlao-roo…I am certain that’s not what Maka meant despite . I don’t know what she said, but she can be a lot like me with conversation and you know how awkward I can be; I’m always tripping on my tongue. I happen to know Maka is very fond of you…and I’ll bet a copper to a gold that she’ll be apologizing to you later…”
Fin ponders for a moment. “Uh…was she talking with you about…uh…sex?”
"Oh, I have been here for a very, very long time." The Coffin Man's cough seems almost... pointed. "I am a... distant cousin of Baba Yaga, as I explained previously."
"And do you like it here?" Kalchine says, examining his cards and wondering why some of them have pictures and others don't. The Coffin Man hadn't said anything about the ones with pictures having special rules, but if they didn't why weren't they just numbers, too?
"Are you older or younger than Baba Yaga?"
"I am bound here, to Baba Yaga," The Coffin Man replies, as if that is somehow an answer to Kalchine's questions.
He plays slowly and obviously is taking it easy on Kalchine, not wanting to scare away a new player on their first game.
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"That makes it sound as though you do not want to be here. Do you know how you may be unbound?" Kalchine asks.
His ears flick slowly, then quickly as he scowls at his cards. Then, he smiles in triumph and lays them down.
"Ha! All red!" he exclaims as he lays down a combination of hearts and diamonds.
While the drama unfolded Bulvi reflected on the last fight. He was about to go after Saki to see what the matter was but when he saw Fin heading in her direction he held off for a bit.
He settled down to watch the card game and offered Maka a quiet smile as she shared her plum wine with Quasit. Unlike himself Maka had been like an avatar of Saranrae cutting quite the figure... he was missing fighting dragons to some degree. He'd take the moment to enjoy the reprieve rather than tormenting himself over his own lack of ability to meaningfully contribute in the previous encounter. He leaned in looking closely at Kal's winning(?) hand of red cards. "How does the colour affect your points?"
"I'm starting to feel a bit useless in these fights. My greatest accomplishment in the last few fights has been lugging people around and providing an extra target. That and a handful of shots is all I've managed."
"I think Selena's got a point it's one raid then we retreat for a few hours. Rather than going in with the intent to take them out we strike for a few seconds and plan to withdraw? Even then their defensive position and the threat projection they have with their guns does leave us on the back foot."
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Quasit shakes her head. ”It’s not the amount of time we’re there. The problem is that they have guns and they outnumber us. And Rasputin keeps popping up. We need to figure a way to counter their advantages more effectively. Sneaking hasn’t worked.”
”Bull, I know you’re frustrated. So am I. If you’ve got some ideas about how you can better exploit your talents, then believe me I’m all ears.”
”Magic and Maka’s fire thing are our big tactical advantages. I think we need to be smart and maximize those. And I’m just now reconciling myself to the fact that we probably have kill pretty much everyone and everything in that camp.”. But even as she says this, Quasit grimaces uncomfortably and falls silent, as if self-conscious about uttering a slur.
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The Coffin Man has another coughing fit.
At least, it's probably a coughing fit. Surely he's not laughing at Kalchine, right?
"You still do not understand this game," he says, "And if you ask that question, you still do not understand Baba Yaga."
Bulvi puts his hand on Quasit's shoulder. "If we had access enough magic to remove his hold over them we'd have side stepped them using less reources. That's being purely pragmatic. There's more to me being frustrated than it being a tough fight for our group.."
"If we could talk to them... we might get a better idea but he ferreted us out fairly quickly last time, even with a cunning plan using disguises it would just expose us to more risk. The only thing I can think of is if we could get close enough to use the grenades but past experience has shown we'd be in a very bad spot well before we threw them."
”To address a misunderstanding earlier, when I say we shod attack from multiple directions so the defenders have to cover more areas, mean each raid comes from different directions, so the defenders have to break into multiple smaller groups to cover many different areas. Additionally, changing up tactics would also help, and to that end, I’m thinking these grenades with a bit of flying and invisibility would make for a good raid. A couple of us get invisible and fly over the camp, dropping grenades as we go. If we pull pins and simply hold the grenades them simply drop them while we fly, that should avoid the invisibility dropping, leaving us to return back to the tree line while remaining invisible for another pair of grenades. Some oil and alchemist’s fire as well would work too. I don’t really like the death toll here, but the only other option I can think of is to make invisible flights to each anchor location so I can teleport a few of us directly into each anchor site and have some items from the planer merchant guy, I’m sorry for forgetting his name already, that can create solid barriers around the anchor rooms while we deactivate them. An Immovable rod as well would allow a spherical wall of force spell to form and hold around us and keep us relatively immobile while working even if the tower gets destroyed beneath us. Of course I’m still looking into it, but a wall of force might just be immobile anyway. Problem with that idea is the expense. We’d need at least four one time use scrolls for a very high level spell, and items of fly and invisibility so I can fly longer and depend less on short lived invisibility spells would massively help. A few items of silence could help as help as well, allowing us to teleport in, drop silence, and take care of the defenders inside an anchor room without being heard by those outside, though it still wouldn’t take long for them to notice. But actually, the silence approach might also give us the best chance for success. The other options will likely be instantly known once we go for the anchors, leading the defenders to congragate around them making them harder to approach. But if we use silence, invisibility, and teleport, then if we hurry, we might actually be able to hit all four before the defenders realize we are there, especially if we do a few raids beforehand to draw the defenders out into the trenches. Off course, I just remembered, if we go for that approach, we will need some items to mask us against scrying, which is probably how he knows where we are once we show up.” Selena had quickly switched to looking into outer space as she spoke, running through the ideas in her mind as she spoke them.
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"Whatever we decide to do, I'd like to know if they're not even bothering to man the trenches during the day anymore, or if last night was a fluke because they anticipated us somehow."
"Fin, is there any way you can scout them out today and see if they've all moved permanently inside the barricade? And if they're no longer bothering with patrols? Also, it might be good to get a handle on the movements of the Headless Horseman and where he likes to hang out now-- he's their general, and taking him down could be key to overcoming the defenses."
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Fin nods. ”Aye, Q; I’ll check things out…”
The Elf gears up, gives Sakitu a quick kiss, and heads out the door…
He’ll stay in the tree line whenever possible on his route to the camp, taking advantage of any cover and dim light for concealment, eyes alert for any signs of danger or tracks…
...when approaching the camp, he’ll follow three line to its nearest point to the camp, settle in, and observe…
His first priority, as directed by Quasit, is to see if most of the troops are still massing in the south half of the camp…then he’ll try to locate the headless horseman…and then take a look at the towers to see if he can better see what they were fiddling with before he left…and, finally, to see if he can locate the mist and the creatures within it…anything else he sees will be gravy…
If he needs to move around the tree line to get a better view of his secondary objectives, he’ll move stealthily, in the same manner as before, around the perimeter…
As Fin headed off to scout ahead Bulvi looked between Selena and Quasit. "I'd like to have a quick word with Quasit Selena, nothing to do with the camp or you just personal." There was often enough tension between Quasit and Selena he didn't want to increase that by making there by a suspicion they were going to be badmouthing her.
He nodded his head off to the side to see if Quasit would follow. The large ulfen man seemed for the most part relaxed.
”Oh sure, because people totally say that when it’s the truth.” Her words dripped with sarcasm, but she gave some distance and let the adults get on with their “personal” discussion.
Bulvi rolled his eyes at Selena and shook his head, honestly it was near impossible to win with her sometimes.
"Look, I might be out of line but there's been a few times you've shown some interest in Maka, I'm not sure if you remember one time when you were drunk. Maka is different from me, from a lot of people. Just don't think I'd end up being an issue if you decided to explore that."
"With everything that is going on I don't want you having to worry about me getting upset. But I might be looking into it too much, it's obvious there's some interest but it might be that her rather different approach is the barrier." He looked at her and held up his hands. "Just don't get upset with me for trying to be honest and clear. As Selena has shown that approach doesn't work with everyone. If I am misreading things well sorry. I just wanted you to know I have your back regardless, I wont be upset with you."
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"Look, I might be out of line but there's been a few times you've shown some interest in Maka, I'm not sure if you remember one time when you were drunk. Maka is different from me, from a lot of people. Just don't think I'd end up being an issue if you decided to explore that.""
Quasit rolls her eyes and chuckles and gets even a little more tense once the drift of Bulvi's conversation becomes clear. "Everybody is trying to shove me into bed with everyone else. Bulvi, you dear sweet, kind man-- just--that's not at all..."
She pauses, remembering the couple times she got drunk around Maka, at the centaur camp and at the Triaxian banquet. She sighs and covers her eyes with a hand and then pulls her hand down, comically stretching her features as she does.
"Look, I will grant you that when I get drunk, I sometimes get...affectionate." she says through a mouth still pulled downward, after which she releases her face so she can use her hands to properly gesticulate. "But that sort of thing is really non-specific for me, if you know what I mean. To be brutally honest, I've ended up in bed with a few men whose names I couldn't quite remember in the morning. A certain half-orc stable-boy back in Heldren springs to mind. I'm still not sure exactly what happened in that closet."
She waves her hands around like she's shooing bugs. "Look... the point is, I honestly don't see Maka that way. She and Saki are like sisters to me, and you and Fin are like my brothers. The last week or so has been really hard for me. I'm just feeling really homesick and my dad dying has just stirred up all this mishegoss in my soul, and Maka's heart is so huge that she can't help but rush to my rescue any time she senses that I'm sad. I admire her and love her so much for that."
"But I have no interest in any licking or kissing or poking or squeezing with her. That would be super weird. I like boys."
She seems to want to go on, and her hands wave a little more on their own before she rolls eyes and coughs out an awkward laugh and covers her eyes with both hands and shakes her head. Then she gives up and just wraps Bulvi in a hug.
"I appreciate what you were trying to do. You're a good honorable man, and way more generous and considerate than most men. I promise you, if I ever decide to try and steal your broad, I will discuss it with you first." She looks up at the Ulfen, clunking her chin a little against his breastplate. "OK?" She lets a few beats pass, then adds.
"Hugging someone in full armor is a really unrewarding experience. It's like hugging a barrel."
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Fin ponders for a moment. “Uh…was she talking with you about…uh…sex?”
Sakitu sniffles. "I don't know. Probably. Yes. She said I was expecting everyone else to act like me."
Sakitu leans away from Fin's chest so she can make eye contact. "That's not what I mean. You know? It's just that I don't see things the same way that she does."
She leans back down onto his chest. "But I know I don't have to. And you're right. She's probably not mad at me."
Sakitu shifts her body to snuggle more into Fin. "You always make me feel better." After a moment she adds. "Now I'll have to find Maka and tell her I'm sorry for overreacting. But I'll do that later."
The Elf gears up, gives Sakitu a quick kiss, and heads out the door…
Sakitu reluctantly lets Fin up. "Be safe and hurry back."
After Fin leaves she walks around the house. She sees Quasit and Bulvi off in a private conversation. Kalchine is playing with the bone man. Selena seems to be stewing about something, which is pretty normal but she can't find Maka.
"If I remember correctly, Rasputin has only appeared inside the buildings. Perhaps only inside one of the buildings, though I can't remember if that is exactly true. In any case, if we avoid the buildings, we might be able to avoid him, as well. And since we've cleared out the trenches, presumably, we can turn them against the defenders and use them for cover," Kalchine says.
"I think Bulvi could definitely benefit from flying. The speed will help him. And I plan to take a form that will allow me to move without being exposed to gun fire.
"I fear you are all right. We are going to have to go with an iced earth policy and clear out the camp either fully or almost entirely before we begin the process of deactivating the machine."
He scowls at the Coffin Man. "How unfortunate. If I would have known that all the same color wasn't useful I could would have changed the cards I turned in gone for all odds."
His ears flick in thought. "I don't suppose you know anything about Rasputin. It seems you are related somehow."
Fin looks at the camp from the edge of the area cleared around it. From what he can see from this distance, the soldiers have abandoned the outer trenches, but they've dug new ones around the interior of the smaller fenced-in area on the south of the camp. There's some activity in the two towers at the ends of the inner fence, but other than that it looks like there are much fewer soldiers about right now than last night--perhaps half as many.
The Coffin Man again makes a sound that might be a cough or a chuckle at Kalchine's comments. "The spurned and wayward son, betrayer and betrayed, seeking his mother's crown without walking her path," he says.
Bulvi waited and listened to Quasit as she spoke.
Bulvi laughed at Quasit looking down at her when she was finished. "I didn't say you could steal her... then again you can't steal a person. If you did it would be because I was doing a thoroughly crap job. I think I am mediocre. I have noticed some looks with other people and that is very much none of my business."
"Family is complicated, He almost went to ruffle her hair but it was more of a pat with his gauntlet. He put his arm around her shoulder and started back with her towards the group. "I will say while you say you like boys these things aren't always so clean cut and clear. Perhaps that side of you isn't able to express itself without a bit of liquid courage. I would have never planned to fall in love with someone and having this kind of relationship but we can't control these things."
"That said if I am being cast in the roll of brother I suppose I'll have give anyone who is careless with your heart a drubbing. I know it always helps Maka feel less homesick when I speak Vudrani with her. I've heard you speaking a few Varisian words, if you'd like someone to have a conversation in it I'm happy to learn. I know a few related languages so it probably wouldn't take too long." With his left arm around her shoulder he scratched his chin with his right hand. "I really wish we had someone in the group he knew a sign language. Lets keep our eyes peeled for Russian sign language books, no one back home would ever be able to crack it!"
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After looking over the camp from the trees, Fin frowns. Half as many troops…did we kill that many last night? Where is that headless bastard? And what the bloody hell are they doing in those two towers?
He quickly draws a sketch of the camp, noting the new trenches within and the troop placements. Then he continues to observe to see if he can find definitive answers to his questions, stealthily moving around the perimeter, if needed. And as he recalls another objective that Quasit mentioned, Fin looks to check if there are any patrols, inside the camp or out, and, if so, annotates their pattern and frequency…
Fin doesn't see anyone leaving the camp, nor does he see the headless horsemen. Creeping closer, slowly making his way across the barbed wire and open ground as close as he dares, Fin tries to make out what's going in the towers. It takes him a while (even with his excellent stealth skills, there's just no cover close to the fences), but he *thinks* they've moved the large machine guns from the corner towers, and are currently setting them up.
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Disappointed not to see the horseman, Fin frowns; if he had seen the undead leader, he would’ve likely at least tried to take him out…
Knowing he’s seen all he’s likely to see, Fin takes his time, slowly and stealthily falling back to the tree line…and then back towards the Hut in the same fashion, taking a small detour to the same lake to quickly wash off the stink of last night’s exertions before pressing on…
Upon returning to the hut, he finds Quasit; he reveals the sketch of the camp, showing the current deployment of the entrenched troops in the southern half of camp, in addition to noting the new machine gun emplacements on the two towers at the ends of the inner fence…
”They’ve abandoned the outer trenches, there are no patrols, and no sign of Headless, Q…and there were considerably fewer soldiers there as opposed to last night, about half as many…could be we at least killed a great many last night before retreating…”
Fin pauses a bit to answer any questions she might have before asking, ”Have you thought any further about letting Maka and I take out the troops before we all return?”
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Hearing that the Headless General was unaccounted for, Quasit frowns and thinks.
"Well, he's in there somewhere, probably close to all those troops in the courtyard. Maybe inside one of the buildings. But if they've put almost all their troops inside the courtyard, we're going to take advantage of that. They're the target--Headless is sure to show himself soon enough once we attack."
"So, yes, I've been thinking about how we're going to proceed from here. I think we should all go in together still, but just in a smarter, more coordinated way. And as long as Zilveratt hasn't come yet, we're going to send him another request for half a dozen flying potions."
"So here's the basic plan: Findurel and Kalchine make their way to the south-western trench (R) by wild-shape shenanigans and stealth. Once in position, the rest of us teleport in, keeping our heads low. We all drink our flying potions. Saki throws an improved invisibility on Kal and he makes our opening gambit by summoning the biggest baddest Fire Elemental he can in the middle of the courtyard. And that fire elemental is going to start setting every building in the courtyard on fire. Flush out the soldiers into the open, distract them, cause chaos."
"Then we all go to work. Me and Bulvi get invisible too and fly to the nearest tower with a machine gun (F) and take out that crew. Maka starts raining fire on the soldiers in the courtyard from above. Selena drops a black tentacle patch in the center of the courtyard and puts walls of ice over the inner and outer gates to the courtyard so that nobody can escape. Fin gets invisible and flies off and starts taking down the other machine gun tower (G). Saki drops ice storms and pits all over the place. Kalchine runs a fire snake down their new trenches and summons more elementals or whatever. Once me and Bulvi and Fin have cleared the machine gun towers, we move to the next ones and clear them, or use the machine guns to strafe down the soldiers below."
"Basically we trap them in, cut them off from all chance of help or escape, then incinerate them from above with maximal spell carnage. In five minutes, they should all be toast. Including Headless if he's in there. And if not, we deal with him alone afterwards, along with the remaining teams in the other towers."
"The goal is to clear the camp, then regroup, rest, heal, see about reviving Victor again, and once we're recharged, we turn off the machine and face Rasputin at full strength."
"Whaddaya think?"
Bulvi nods. "I reckon I can handle one of those machine guns after practicing with the slower ones but we'll make that call at the time when we see the lay of the field looks like then."
"Definitely an effective plan. I'll alter my connection with the elements here," Kalchine says.
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Fin nods after Quasit lays out her plan…
”I like it, Q…just have a couple questions…”
”Saki throws an improved invisibility…”
”If I recall correctly, back when we first infiltrated the camp, I think Sakitu cast that on me as well…but the searchlights the towers were magic or something as I was targeted by the guns when the lights turned towards me. I know Maka took out some of the lights but did she get them all? No need to change the plan if not, we just need to be aware that we might be spotted regardless of our invisibility…”
”Fin gets invisible and flies off and starts taking down the other machine gun tower…”
”I’m fine with this but I’d like to talk with Maka before we set that in stone, if you have no objections; she might be quicker taking out that machine gun tower and I might be better suited to take out the trench troops…I’d like to get her take on that…”
In the midst of your conversations you hear a faint *pop*. Turning you see the planar merchant Zilvazaraat smiling at you.
"Ah, friends! I hope I have not kept you waiting too long. It took quite a bit of time to find everything you wanted at a reasonable price, but I have it all with me!"
He waves his hand and a chest appears beside him. "Now, you have everything for trade, yes? Let us conclude our business, and then perhaps I can see if there's anything else I can help with."
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”…but the searchlights the towers were magic or something as I was targeted by the guns when the lights turned towards me. I know Maka took out some of the lights but did she get them all? No need to change the plan if not, we just need to be aware that we might be spotted regardless of our invisibility…”
”Ah, but this time it won’t be night time, so they won’t use the searchlights. I’m thinking we go in about sunset—we’ll be attacking from the west, so we’ll have the sun behind us. At any rate, hopefully the humongous fire elemental keeps them distracted enough that looking for invisible attackers doesn’t even occur to them until it’s too late.”
”I’m fine with this but I’d like to talk with Maka before we set that in stone, if you have no objections; she might be quicker taking out that machine gun tower and I might be better suited to take out the trench troops…I’d like to get her take on that…”
”The key will be making sure all their buildings are on fire so they don’t hide from us. The elemental will be doing that, but Maka can help. Plus, I’m thinking she’ll actually be visible — no sense putting invisibilty on her when she’s blasting around in the sky like an avenging angel. I’d like to put a stoneskin spell on her to help mitigate damage from the occasional bullet that might hit her. Once everything is on fire, she can focus on killing the maximum number of soldiers, wherever they are. I’m hoping that there’ll be so much mayhem on the ground that we can quietly, invisibly take out the guys in the towers and no one will even notice until it’s too late.”
”Additionally, your real priority will be to focus on Headless if he appears. You flying around invisibly should be our most effective way to bring him down fast.”
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"Now, you have everything for trade, yes? Let us conclude our business, and then perhaps I can see if there's anything else I can help with."
”Your timing is perfect. We are indeed ready to make our trades. And as for additional items, do you have about 6 potions of ‘Fly’? We can offer you… say 300 gold pieces each for those?
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”Ah, but this time it won’t be night time, so they won’t use the searchlights. I’m thinking we go in about sunset—we’ll be attacking from the west, so we’ll have the sun behind us…the key will be making sure all their buildings are on fire so they don’t hide from us…”
Fin eyes brighten as if a light bulb goes off. ”Ahhh…I had assumed we’d go in at night again…but daylight…Q, that’s brilliant! I’ll go in exactly as you planned and take out that tower…and make that horseman a pincushion should he show himself…”
” Now, you have everything for trade, yes?”
Fin smile broadens. ”Aye, my friend, always a pleasure doing business with you, Z,” before he goes to retrieve the items and gold for trade…
As Fin gets the items from his wishlist, he admires the bow, imagining putting an arrow through tha bastard Headless Horseman’s rotting heart…
Selena’s eyes brighten as the merchant arrives, ”Ah, you’re here! What do you have involving souls, like the soul trap and magic jar spells or anything else related? Especially if it will work on demigods.”
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Selena’s eyes brighten as the merchant arrives, ”Ah, you’re here! What do you have involving souls, like the soul trap and magic jar spells or anything else related? Especially if it will work on demigods.”
Quasit looks at Selena with something between disbelief and utter horror, then shudders to dispel the creature walking over her grave. But she says nothing.
Noticing Quasit’s shudder, ”Think past Rasputin for a second. What happens if freeing her is a mistake and we find ourselves having destroyed the only things powerful enough to fight back? Don’t forget our end goal. Rasputin is just one step, an obstacle, not a goal. We finish him off, and whatever else between us and her. I’d like to think she’d be grateful and nice, but if what my grandmother’s familiar says is true, then it may very well be that while we are exhausted and depleted of magic, that we find ourselves facing a new enemy that has spent quite a bit of time considering how not to be defeated by the same trick twice, and we’ll have destroyed anything that could help us. Not smart to lack a strategy.”
”Oh and don’t forget the nondetection items. We don’t want him seeing us coming this time.”
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Fin shakes his head. ”If I know anything, I know Baba Yaga is beyond us; once we free her, I will not attack her unless she attacks us first. Either way, we’d be dead; but as long as she stops Elvanna, which I have no doubt she will, what happens to me then is not important..
”From our encounter with her Black Rider, seems like ages ago now, I suspect she will do right by us. He was dying and had Baba Yaga not been loyal to him, I highly doubt he’d have been loyal to her upon his imminent death…”
After Fin leaves she walks around the house. She sees Quasit and Bulvi off in a private conversation. Kalchine is playing with the bone man. Selena seems to be stewing about something, which is pretty normal but she can't find Maka.
"I'M SORRY! DON'T HATE ME!" Maka's voice suddenly rang out from right behind Saki. "I got you pancakes!"
Saki spun around to see Maka holding up a plate and looking like she was about to cry. "I got you pancakes!"
"Well, I do keep some potions and scrolls with me, of course, though usually not anything quite as potent as what the little lady is asking for. Let me see what I have..."
He rummages about in various briefly-seen extradimensional spaces for a few moments.
"Hmmm... it seems I'm presently out of any scrolls of the sort you're asking for, buuuut, I do have one potion of fly and three of invisibility. Of course, if you're willing to wait a couple of days, scrolls and potions are much easier to acquire than custom-specified enchanted weapons, as you might guess."