As Gemma catches the coin, she does indeed feel uncomfortable. It's not like the itching, crawling sensation that has now settled into the brand on her ankle. It's much more of a constant goosebump kind of feel that is most unpleasant. The hairs stand up on the back of her neck and she can feel the shadow's unpleasantness as she places the coin over her head.
She looks to Nicholas as she readies her gear. "That's not the first time I've been called that and I'm sure it won't be the last. I'll consider it a backhanded compliment since you brought your cousin into the description. Either way, I got you to stop shooting and you got to eat. Best of luck to you and I truly do hope you make it back home safely. Thank you for all of your help."
Looking to her comrades, she notices Willem's look of wanting and offers up a solution. "I'll be more than happy to share this blasted thing if you want." She briefly touches the coin around her neck. "I have a feeling it's going to be a bit of a burden anyway." She gives him a weary smile before heading to the exit with the other constables.
On the way to the entrance to be with the other constables, Willem smiles and nods at Gemma, "Thank you Constable Atherton and I don't think you are cold. When the coin becomes a burden to you, I will be glad to lift your burden for as long as you want. I have a feeling the coin would come to good use as a sharpshooter. Although I didn't find Nick pleasant, it was a good thing I didn't shoot him after you told us to hold our fire."
Knowing there are (2) really strong leader types in the group, Willem looks back and forth between Gemma and Ifris, "How should we proceed out of the mine and I feel we should take the road until we can get off of it? I have a feelin' the mountains will delay us too long and they are too dangerous for our group."
Anneca holds the coin with a bit of distaste, clearly not pleased to have it. She holds it almost at a distance, looking at it warily, before putting it in her pocket. She won't give up a potential weapon, even one that she doesn't trust. "We need to get moving. Talking and planning isn't going to get the mission completed, and we have a lot of lives riding on us." She pulls out her pistol, clearly ready to engage the next challenge in battle.
Constable's Map of Axis Island
With their exchange of food and extra sunrods to Nicolas Dupiers completed and goodbyes given, the six constables leave the watery mine cavern and move up the tunnel passage to the island's interior. It takes only a few minutes to reach the cross-junction to the larger mine tunnel that ascends and runs roughly east-west to the surface; about ten minutes past that and they see the faint light of a partially moonlit sky before them. Though it seems like forever since they first jumped into the water from the Impossible, they know from their watches that it is only been less than an hour, with the rest of the night before them to cover their mission. Still, they have a long way to go...reduced now greatly in both numbers and experience to prevent a disaster in blood spilled by the dawn.
For Gemma, the strangeness of her ability to see in the dark gloom of the mine passages is surpassed by the occasional whispers of the shadowy stalker that drifts somewhere ahead and to the left of her. It seems content for her to command it, yet it hungers for the chance to drain her "enemies" of their life essence, eager to do so at anything she would let it go after. Even her own comrades, if she ordered so. That in itself sends shivers up her spine, for the shadowy creature that should belong beyond the Bleak Gate is bound to her and will not harm her, but only as long as she possesses the ancient eclipse coin.
For Anneca and Emerson, their newfound allies are much easier to deal with - though perhaps no less strange in the fact they can hear and speak the language of these elementals to command them. Useful to be sure in their upcoming trials this night on Axis, with other powers to boot that each coin imparts to the owner, yet the reason why ancient gold coins embedded deep in areas of the island have such power is still a mystery. Clearly some segment of the Danoran leadership understood the significance, but if Nicolas is to be believed they are now all dead - victims in war from Ethelyn's assault. Archeological interests aside, it seems that Lya Jierre knew more than she was willing to reveal about what the Danorans were interested in uncovering upon Axis Island.
Still, the mission to open the sea gates of Axis presses upon them all. With a look at their copy of the Axis Island map, they believe they have emerged just up the ridge and north of what Nicolas said was "Highshade Village" below them (), with the central valley road running due east to a junction of sorts, and the road north towards Axis winding around the mountain ridge line and along the coast. They heed the advice of Nicolas and take a less-used trail that runs eastwards and slowly descends down the mountain ridge, settling out on the central valley road a good half-mile east of Highshade Village. This proves fortuitous for the six constables, as their height up on the trail and cover of the tropical scrub and tree cover keeps them from being observed by a party of twenty Risuri rebels; spied some three-hundred yards or so below and away from them on the valley road, heading westwards towards the village. The rebels seem alert but not alarmed, the conversation drifting up towards them the stuff of any normal soldiers out on patrol without imminent threat of danger. The score of rebel soldiers pass by well to their west after a few minutes, the constables able to continue on the ridge path in its descent to the valley road where they already passed by. So far luck has held for the constables, though clearly the answer as to nighttime patrols by the rebels has now been answered for them.
The six constables are on the central valley road heading towards the junction that must be less than a mile off when they hear it. The sounds of men talking, a small group of faint figures, unknown in number or disposition, faintly illuminated by the Hunter's Moon and stars in the mostly clear sky. Perhaps only twenty or thirty yards ahead of them on the road, the constables have not been seen yet, but have only seconds to act if they do not wish to be seen by the enemy.
Anneca pulls out one of the scrolls to shield her in ethereal armor as they emerge from the mine. It bothered her that she was unprepared for battle earlier, and she is sure that it will not happen again. She holds the coin at her side, unwilling to put it around her neck until the last possible moment. She watches the air elemental zoom ahead of them, whispering silently. She tries to keep her head on a swivel, but doesn't notice in time as the rest of the group starts avoiding the enemy patrol on the road. She jumps aside, hoping that her clumsiness will not cost them valuable time to set up an ambush. She hurriedly tries to put the coin around her neck at the same time, somehow doing both tasks poorly.
Before leaving the mine, Willem makes sure all of his weapons are covered and ready to shoot. He takes the waterproofing and sticks it his pack. Then hangs in the
Willem notices the rebels and then aims his double-barreled musket at them while taking a concealed covered with a small cluster of boulders nearby. The aiming of the musket was a signal to anyone who may be near him. Noticing Anneca, and perhaps others, making extra noise and not moving fast enough, Willem begins to aim in on the closest rebel.
Gemma has her pistol drawn, knowing that even though she's better with her sabre, if she can get a good shot off, it might make more of a difference and buy her some time.
As she rounds a slight bend in the road, she hears the patrol ahead of her and quietly moves to the side opposite Willem, hiding in some bushes, hoping to set up an ambush if necessary. Even though it is discomforting to do so, she instructs the shadow creature to move out of view as well and wait for any further commands.
Emerson, not feeling the same sense of unease with his elemental chose to keep his gold coin on the entire time since leaving the mine. He could easily pick up the faint foot falls before he realized what he was sensing through the connection.
He motions for Johnathan to break off towards the side of the road and follows the quicker man. Commanding his earth elemental to move in front of them and take the shape of a large boulder, Emerson readies his musket. He can hear the telltale click of Jackson pulling the hammer back on his pistol as well.
'Nothing left to do but wait and see how this plays out...'
For some reason Ifris stands there defiantly on the road for a long moment, watching Anneca as she clumsily moves off the road even as the others spy out ambush positions to take cover in. Whether it distraction on her part, the idea of facing the traitorous rebels in open battle, or being the last one to take her spot after the others had seen to theirs, Ifris nearly spoils their secrecy.
At the last moment Johnathan Jackson darts back to the road and yanks her off of it abruptly, making cover just in the nick of time as what appears to be three soldiers round a small bend into plain view just yards away from their position. Each bears a tabard and soldier's uniform of Risur, though they wear makeshift colored bands around one upper arm that seems to denote a faction or company they belong to. Fortunately for the group of constables, this trio of rebels does not seem to be on alert, involved mostly in their own quiet conversations as they move down the road to catch up to the platoon that passed by on the road some minutes before.
"...just burn 'em next time and be done with it. I'm tired of using my spade on clay ground and rock," says one patrolman to the left.
"As if you think any are left out here to snatch alive," interjects the rebel soldier on the right. "Fun is fun with that ward catching Danorans like fish in a fish weir, but we've cleared all the known holdouts and byways."
"Orders is orders," shrugs and answers the soldier in the center, who seems to be of higher rank and their leader. "Could be some skulkin' about still, and if they're in a fightin' mood they'll be lookin' for weapons. So we set the bait. Let's just hurry up and make contact with the rear scout...damn that Billsely and his idiocy for not keepin' a proper line o' sight with us!"
"Aw, they're just all on the double-quick because of that rumor of the Drakran keg cache bein' discovered at the far westside villages today. As if us regulars are gonna see a drop of that good stuff!"
"I thought I saw somethin' up ahead," interrupts the left-side patrolman, looking generally in the direction of where Ifris and Johnathan ended up.
"Nah. Billsely broke contact all right. I'll have his hide when I see him next at the village. Let's hurry up."
"Right."
Willem follows them with his rifle muzzle but hopes everyone decides to let the soldiers pass so as not to alert rebels who may hear combat and steal unnecessary time from their mission.
Gemma decides to hold but has her pistol ready to fire as the patrolmen pass by. The thoughts of the shadow that keep popping into her head as the men come near are difficult to ignore though. She knows that it would be nothing for the creature to silently descend and suck the life out of all of them. It's difficult to hold it back but she knows she must keep it at bay...until she can release the monster to do it's work.
”…I sure hope they have something hot to eat when we get there.” The rebel patrolman on the left side of the road grumbles even as he passes by where the constables are hidden, seemingly oblivious to their presence.
”Yeah, it’s been a long day today, and its cold on this blasted island,” gripes the rebel patrolman on the right.
”If you keep up your bellyaching I’ll pass out something hot for ya to eat – or at least rub yer nose in it!” The threat from the lead soldier in the center leads the other two men to laugh and quit their complaining, the idle talk fading as the trio of rebel soldiers move westward down the valley road. After a few minutes, the constables can only hear the typical sound of the chill ocean wind across their area, with nothing else moving in sight under the Hunter’s Moon. They take back to the road and continue to move eastwards, keeping a sharp eye both ahead and behind them.
With Gemma and Johnathan on point, Ifris taking up the rearguard and the rest in the middle of the formation, the group of constables approaches what they believe on their map to be the easternmost road junction that joins the main road north to the fortress and town of Axis; a smaller road continues on southeast towards what the map shows to be a lookout tower () covering the eastern seaward approaches of the island. From ahead of them they can hear the faint sounds of ocean swells and surf hitting the coastline.
Even without Gemma’s current vision in the dark, the constables spy out what appears to be an overturned Danoran-style wagon some fifty feet in the distance, just past the junction on the southeastern spur and just off the roadway. The wagon looks as if it has suffered a broken axle and there are no signs of the horses that once were harnessed to it. What is unusual, however, is that the dull gleam of weapons spilled from crates and racks are clearly seen from the rear and sides of the overturned wagon. Sabres and spears, axes and longer halberds can be seen…and mixed amongst them are several Danoran muskets, blunderbusses and pistols from a sundered wooden crate marked with the Danoran national symbol. Whether intended for the watchtower or the main fortress is not clear from the way the wagon overturned, but the cache of weapons clearly looks as if it could fully outfit a full platoon or two of Danoran infantry.
The constables seemingly have another choice to make – either to investigate and take advantage of the spilled cache of Danoran weapons, or to ignore it and head up the northern fork towards Axis. The junction looks like it could be a good location for a rebel ambush, yet their senses tell them nothing obvious is around or approaches them…
"Well? Should we take this opportunity to load up? Or is it a trap?" Emerson asks to no one in particular.
"Looks clear to me."
Anneca can feel the strange sensation of the coin making her seemingly spring from place to place. She keeps a wary eye on the elemental. The creature is an oddity, despite her growing control over the elements. It is as if one of her spells has been given form - although, she reminds herself, it is not her spell that created the creature.
With the crate in sight, her instincts force her to look over the vista with a very suspicious eye. "Always assume that it's a trap, Emerson. Maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised, but at least you'll never be unpleasantly surprised."
Willem nods his head and whispers, "Yeah, I don't like it especially since those rebels just passed by here or around here. In addition, a common tactic in war is to set tasty traps for the opposition to either kill or injure enemy combatants. And this is probably no different? I suspect, it is rigged to blow up, or there is an ambush or sniper nearby, or somethin' in between and equally sinister? I say we notate its location and continue since this is not our primary mission." Willem keeps his head on a swivel looking for trouble.
"I always do assume it's a trap. That's why I asked." He grins at his fellows for a second and then his tone turns serious again. "Problem is, if someone is watching, we have to move especially stealthy so as not to invite an attack. Anyone else see anything?"
"It's too orderly," she whispers. "As much as I'd like to get some extra guns, this smells like a trap to me. It's the way that someone would stage a broken wheel, not like how it would occur naturally. Willem's right. We should bypass it and move on. We've got the gear that we need to finish the mission, and it's not like we have a battalion to equip. Maybe we can grab some of them on the way back during the chaos."
Despite not seeing anything overt to denote a trap, Gemma must concur that it probably is.
"It would have to agree that it's probably something that we should avoid. So northern fork to Axis town it is then?"
Gemma waits a moment and makes sure everyone is ready to go, then motions for them to start moving towards the fork in the road that will lead them to the town of Axis.
With Johnathan and Ifris both agreeing with the sentiments of a possible trap that is not worth the risk, the dull glint of Danoran weapons in the overturned wagon are soon left behind as the constables take the northern road towards Axis. Soon, the six are climbing the winding slope of the road which skirts around the northern mountainous ridges to their immediate west; though the going is slower now as they ascend, the vegetation of this eastern side of the island providing plenty of cover around them for now...
The six constables have just crested the first of what appear to be two ridgeline summits on the northern road, with a steep forested coastal canyon in between that seemingly descends off to the northeast. The road, however, looks well engineered and descends at a reasonable decline to ford over the base of the coastal canyon, though signs of rockfall and flash flooding are visible in the geography ahead. From this vantage point they can see the ocean to the north of the island, though from this ridgeline they cannot see Axis as of yet to their northwest. With no obvious signs of movement on the road before them, they start the journey down into the forested canyon...
The nighttime sounds of insects and small nocturnal animals are all around them, filling what would be a unremarkable leg of their journey. Though the thick vegetation to their left and right could be a place for ambush, the steep slope on their left would make trying to do so a treacherous undertaking in the dark. Down in this canyon the constables can no longer hear any sounds of the ocean or feel the sea breeze. They are making good time, however, and should start to ascend back up to the second ridgeline as the road starts a northwest angle in just a few hundred yards or so.
LURCH!
Suddenly, a strange bluish illumination appears in the sky just off their right side, emitting an uncomfortable heat as if they were marching under the full tropical heat of a Yerasol summer. There is a brief wrenching feeling in their stomachs as the ground seems to lurch below them about a foot, causing all of them to fall for the briefest of moments with a watery plopping sound. All six constables both feel a damp squishing sensation in their boots, the bluish light now so intense and warm that it is all they can do to squint and avert their eyes from the intensity. Heat all around them causes perspiration to exude from their pores, and both their noses and ears are accosted with the smell of stinking eggs and the sounds of a loud rhythmic croaking coming from all around them.
It takes a few seconds for each to recover from the assaults on all their senses, but they do recover and are able to look around them at a sight they can barely comprehend. Simply put, the constables now stand ankle-deep in a stinking marsh of oddly greenish and bluish vegetation, the sounds of croaking from countless bright yellow frogs echo all around their position. The frogs do not attack and...seem like normal frogs...other than their extreme oddity of color. As their eyes adjust from being in the darkness to what is now full daylight, they perceive the full heat of an azure sun in the sky to their right, contrasted by a bright purple sky which lacks clouds or any other celestial bodies.
The marsh seems to flow for as far as they can see in two directions, though as they look around in two other places they all think they can see the faint image of the forested canyon valley they were just in, shimmering and pale as if there but not there at the same time. The constables can all lift their boots out of the mud of the marsh bottom and are not trapped by any means, though the sucking sound of the mud makes it clear that any travel would be very slow going at this point.
As Willem and his fellow constables lurch into the swamp, he tries to land just right not submerge his firearms. Then gets up, double checks nothing flow into his barrel by first pouring the barrel to the road, then after safely checking there is no water or debris in his barrel, he aims his rifle in all directions except for his fellow constables. Realizing there isn't any immediate issues, he brushes himself off the best he can, "What the frak?! Is this some sort of Deeva trickery?!"
It is possible that why Willem does not see anything is because he is still brushing swamp scum off his face?
Emerson tries hard to see if there is a way back to where they belong. He's looking for a break or tear in reality.
"Didn't Glix say something about being transported into a swamp? I don't like this at all."
Anneca looks around, figuring out quickly what has happened. "Purple sky, yellow frogs? Sounds like what caught the first team. We'll probably get shunted back without warning, so be ready to move. But don't move yet." She reaches into her scroll box and grabs another scroll of passwall in case they need to make a quick hole in the ground to escape. She then opens her senses to magical auras, hoping to figure out more about what exactly has happened. "Let me see if I can figure out what is going on."
Willem looks to the right then nods, "Yes he did, when he was stuck under the boulder in the underwater cavern. So yes, we should listen to Anneca to not meet the same fate as team 1. However, I still wonder if this is Deeva trickery?"
Gemma tries to shield her eyes from the strange blue "sun" with her left arm while drawing her sabre with her right.
"I remember Glix saying something about it, too. I can still see the canyon, so I agree with Anneca. I don't think we should move yet unless we have to. If this places lurches back, I don't want to end up sliding down into a ravine because we moved off the original path."
She pauses a moment, trying to get her bearings in the strange landscape.
"With any luck, whatever this is should go away soon. At least we don't have to worry about any rocks falling on us...I think."
Ifris somewhat disregards Gemma's caution about moving, her strange mental blacksuit allowing her to somehow move across the muddy marsh with relative ease; she moves about twenty paces ahead of Gemma, bringing her amber thoughtform large blade into existence in her hand, scanning the strange landscape for enemies.
Behind them all, Johnathan stays where he is in the muck but reaches over with the long haft of his polehammer, nudging at one of the yellow frogs to see what it does. It croaks excitedly and leaps away from the prodding, with several other frogs croaking in reaction. Johnathan shrugs at any who look at him and continues to study the frogs in amusement.
To Anneca, her cantrip works as expected and her eyes glow faintly with the ability to discern magical emanations. Almost instantly she sees the varied auras coming from the three coins that she, Emerson and Gemma carry. However, to her surprise she discerns nothing magical whatsoever about the alien landscape they find themselves in. Only at the very fringes of where the marsh seems to mingle with the faint image of the forested canyon they once were in does there seem to be...something...but the aura is faint and doesn't take on a discernible hue of an aspect of magic that she understands.
Willem's notion of "Deeva trickery" goes unanswered by the rest, for who among them can truly know such things? The most common stories and tales of the Dreaming and the Bleak Gate do not seem to reconcile with this alien landscape at least.
LURCH!
Then, just as the six constables look to each other for someone to offer a solution, the glaring heat and light of the azure sun fades from the sky above them, the brilliant purple-hued sky dimming to utter darkness. A sharp tang of salty sea air grips them with a hard chill, causing each of them to shudder from it as they feel the dampness of their sweat with the sudden cold. The sounds of the croaking frogs fade rapidly, replaced by the softer droning sounds of insects in the island's semi-tropical vegetation. Their eyes adjust after a few moments, and each of them finds their boots are no longer sinking in fetid marsh mud. They are back on the northern road to Axis, in the coastal canyon between the mountainous island ridges where they originally were. Even so, they all see that Ifris is still twenty paces ahead of Gemma on the road, her movement forward in that otherworld having precise effect on her position in their own to the same degree. As each of them looks down, they see the mud of the marsh still stains their boots and lower hems of their clothing, proving that what they all experienced was no shared dream.
Johnathan looks to the nighttime sky for a moment, studying it and relaying to the rest of them that the time of night has not significantly changed. As they ponder the implications of what they just experienced and what it meant for the Resilience team in their last moments, a strange new sound is heard faintly in the distance. It sounds...like the grinding of metal on metal, followed by a faint impact sound of something heavy hitting the ground. A moment later they hear the impact sound again, then again repeatedly in regular intervals. The sounds are all far off and seemingly up the farther northwestern ridge ahead and to their left, though with the way they are situated in this dell of a coastal canyon that slopes downwards towards the sea on their northeast, the echo of sound could be misleading...
Gemma makes an attempt to pinpoint where the sound is coming from.
"Mechanisms at the fort, perhaps? I think we need to make as much haste as possible. We may be running out of time."
Seeing as how Ifris disregarded her recommendation to stay still, Gemma moves up to the position that she has taken ahead. She makes a quiet aside to the experienced warrior. "Constable Lanvaldan, if I may. I understand that you are a more experienced soldier than myself but I require something of you. I've noticed that you tend to do things with limited caution. Please try and keep in mind that this is a team effort if you would. It will greatly help if I have to make any tactical calculations down the road."
Gemma looks back to the other constables.
"Everyone ready?"
"I don't know. Maybe they're under attack. Or just closing up the walls for the night."
Emerson checks all his gear to make sure none of it remained in the hot bog. "Ready. Let's get on with it."
"Doing things with limited caution is practically our motto." Anneca checks her gear to ensure that she is ready, taking out a scroll of shield to ensure her safety once combat appears imminent. "Yeah, let's go."
Willem checks his gear when everyone else does. Then adjusting his eyes and shaking his head, he scans the area with his muzzle making sure not to cover the other constables with his barrels, he follows the other constables precisely, then responds in a quiet voice "Knowin' what happen to the other team, that is some trap. I am ready to move out as well, and we may want to keep it quiet as we get closer to the rebels. Sound is more noticeable at night since the night is mostly quieter."
Ifris scowls at Gemma’s commentary on her recklessness, but says nothing in return. Instead, she mumbles something unintelligible and sets off “on point” again in the lead. As Emerson, Anneca and Willem ready their gear for the next part of the road up and out of the upper reaches of this coastal canyon, Johnathan follows suit as well, watching Ifris and shrugging nonchalantly to the group.
”She’s been affected by this island since we got to the cove, perhaps before. Not sure why, though. She’s operating mostly on instinct at this point – I’ve seen the signs on many a Marine during the war.” He shrugs again. ”It might help us, it might hurt us. I don’t think she’s cracked yet, but don’t look to her for input on your planning at least.” With that, Johnathan hoists his own gear and starts on the road again.
The constant thudding sound and occasional grinding of metal continues as the constables make their way up the steeper incline of the second northern ridge, taking the road as it is to crisscross in two places along the upper ridge in order to facilitate carts and wagons. As they are perhaps only fifty yards from gaining the ascent of the ridgeline, the group all pauses to look back to their south and west at a rocky break in the slope where a tree cracks and falls with an unmistakable crash, followed by more metallic grinding. The thudding sound grows louder and suddenly makes sense to them – giant footsteps. Something emerges from the dense brush and tropical trees on the upper slope of the canyon, coming down into it at a point roughly ten minutes or so back where they just were.
Even in the moonlit shadows of the night, the constables see a giant hulking construct, glinting as if made of solid metal, though whether iron or steel or some other alloy they cannot determine. It slowly pushes aside two smaller trees as if mere tindertwigs and steps onto the road; from their higher vantage point and estimate of the foliage around it, the construct must be well over fifteen feet in height. They cannot make out insignias or markings at this distance, but it must be of Danoran make. What is most striking, however, is that the construct is devoid of its head, as if decapitated in some violent battle that took place sometime before. Even more odd is a dark oily oozing liquid that bubbles and spurts out of the construct where its head should be – the liquid can be discerned at distance because it seems to contain strange white motes of illumination within it, almost like some odd version of rural meadow fireflies in Summer season. The motes of light seem to brighten and fade on their own volition, the black oily liquid continuing to spurt and boil at the rent neck of the massive metal construct even as it stands now directly on the road of the canyon they just were at minutes ago.
The construct stops its movement and grows still for a moment, though the grinding metal-on-metal sound persists as it rotates its torso back and forth upon the road, massive fists clenched, as if looking for something. Though over a half-mile away and well up the road on the ridge, the constables cannot help but feel a shiver of dread even from this distance, almost as if the construct is blindly seeking traces of their passing…
Gemma takes an assessment of the construct and finds the motes of light more disconcerting than the rest of the metal giant. The gears in her mind start to turn as she tries to figure it out.
"I may be completely off my base here, but what if the fay have brought this thing back to life, so to speak. It looks Danoran, but I don't think the lights are. You think it's being used by them as a scout or guard of some sort? I think we need to move...and quickly."
"You'll get no argument from me. Let's get a move on."
Anneca looks upon the thing with her mouth agape. She wouldn't think that a traditional construct would be operational this close to the magical dead zones - or at least be unreliable enough that one wouldn't bring it. "Most constructs are basically magically animated objects, given a semblance of life through spells. I don't think this is one of them. I mean, it could be, but it's hard to tell from this distance." She creeps a few yards closer, hoping to get a better idea of what the thing is.
Willem keeps his head on a swivel, "I also agree, let's move!"
As he waits Anneca to study and give the team her expert analysis about the construct, Willem comes up with his own idea from the technology he has seen in his life time, "Anneca, is it possible, this construct is more mechanical than magical and maybe piloted by a humanoid or humanoids? I mean from the stuff I have seen in my life, the technology is there. And regardless who or what is in control, we may want to either destroy it or take over it if it poses a threat to our forces?"
Though Anneca makes some small movement to try to get a better observation point, the huge construct does not seem to notice or move in your direction up the road. Instead, it continues to stand there on the road in the depth of the coastal canyon between the ridges, slowly turning its frame this way and that.
What bothers her is the strange black oily liquid that boils and sprays out from the top of the golem's neck. She understands the use of oily fluids to grease or lubricate metal parts for mechanical movement, but there is way too much of the liquid to serve that purpose. The white motes of light that seem to exist in the oily fluid must be magical in some way, but she has never heard of it before. Also, the fluid moves...oddly...as if of its own volition, defying gravity. It doesn't just leak out to the ground. Even the violent action of spurting and bubbling sends very little away from the massed collection at its neck. It is disquieting, though she cannot say exactly why.
After a long moment of it standing there, the headless construct makes a grinding metal sound as it turns its torso towards the east-northeast and begins to walk again, its shuddering steps upon the ground clearly felt as it leaves the road and begins to proceed farther down the canyon towards the coastline away from them.
"Never mind, I now see an hot oily substance bubbling at the neck and it is missin' a head where most driver's seats would go. So it must be magical."
"Magical or mechanical, I still think we need to make quick time. We don't know what we'll find before we try and get to those sea gates. I have a feeling that any extra time we can find will be needed and well spent."
Noticing that Anneca has advanced a bit forward towards the construct, Gemma makes a motion towards her in hopes of drawing her back. "I know these matters have great interest for you, but I think we must press on."
Far from being cross, Gemma truly does wish that Anneca could stay and study the metal giant. She knows the information she could gain from it would be both personally fulfilling and important for Risur, but the time it would take just isn't available and the risk would be too great.
Willem nods, "I agree Gemma, not much we can do to the mechanical beast now." Willem continues to keep his head on the swivel while his muzzle follows his scan waiting for everyone to move out.
Constable's Map of Axis Island
Constable's Map of Axis Fortress & Town
Though Ifris Lanvaldan adds nothing to their discussion that they must move forward - other than looking perturbed and on a knife's edge - Johnathan Jackson murmurs his agreement to their desire to move on over the ridgeline. They hoist their gear and make the final fifty-yard ascent to the top of the mountain ridge. There, the crisp ocean breeze and salty air hits them suddenly atop the rise; they look down at the coastline not more than a quarter-mile away to their north and west, a winding descent westward along the rocky cliffs of the coast where no landing could be possible. Perhaps a mile or two distant along the road on a small jut of land lies the town and fortress of Axis, its town dimly lit with gaslamps at structured intervals, the lighthouse at the entrance to its gated harbor shining brightly into the dark ocean swells beyond. Already a light fog seems to be rolling in from the north, covering any trace of the larger peninsula to its northwest as well as a guarded island next to it; the fog should be well upon Axis by the time they reach its outer walls. Whether it is somehow indirect aid from the fleet's skyseers or merely luck's fortune in the early Spring weather, the constables know it should cover their arrival to Axis perfectly.
Still, they have a steep coastal road next to cliffs to travel, with any possible number of threats to waylay them if they are not alert and careful. As a unit they start down the coastal road's descent towards the cliffs.
Though the coastal road was wet and potentially treacherous at times, their travel upon it was unremarkable and without incident or mishap. Their passage onto the jut of land Axis resides on takes a northwest turn and up to the edge of the cliffs at the fortified eastern gates, yet that is not the way the constables follow. Instead, they go off the road and trudge up the slopes to where they stand opposite the outer wall that faces due south . Fog and darkness shroud their careful approach to the outer wall itself, and no sound of alarm or movement upon the southern wall is detected. Strangely, the constables expected more movement upon the outer walls, but it seems only minimally defended at this hour.
Anneca still vividly remembers the explicit instructions of both Tanya Sparhawk and Letmas Lewing as it concerned the precise location of the weakness in the wall for a passwall incantation. Two scrolls of three remain to her, the mental calculations of height and angle at the apparent weakness understood. For the rest of the constables, they stare at a massive outer wall that shelters the town of Axis, its walls forty-feet high and nearly ten feet wide, sloped and angled to deflect cannons and siege fire, star-patterned to give defenders wider firing arcs with their Danoran muskets, reinforced with webs of iron bars and rings of gold thread to form a barrier against teleportation and other types of Risuri magic, with pockets of opaline to act as a further absorption of spell energy.
Johnathan pats a long coil of rope that he has carried with him since the mines, looking up the wall's facing and whispering to them. "It'll be hard-pressed to swing a claw up there and get a good hold up top for a rope-climb, that's for certain. I think I could do it with a few tries, but its not going to be quiet in the doing. So if there's another way in, I'm all for it."
"There's always another way in - walking up to the front door and killing our enemies, then burning down their house." She looks around at the others with a sly grin. "Can I get a second? Anyone? Fine, I guess we'll just warp the fabric of the universe to make our own door." She pulls out her scroll case and removes the scroll of passwall. She takes a deep breath and presses her hand against the massive outer wall, precisely where she was told. If it is ten feet wide, at the right angle, she should be able to open it entirely for hem. She gathers the magic from the scroll and releases the energy along with her breath.
The energies flow through Anneca's hands and the wall seems to melt away before Emerson's eyes. The wall separates like the wind around an arrow until they see twilight on the other side of the magically created tunnel.
"Show off." He grins at Summers, then looks at everyone in general. "Should we get this party started?"
He is about to enter the short tunnel but thinks better of it for a moment. He holds out his hand, motioning the others to remain in place, then reaches out with his senses to 'speak' to the elemental.
Perhaps in a fitting tribute to Letmas and the Resilience team, Anneca unleashes the power of the scroll with expert fashion, just as she had done in the sea cave once before. An artificially crafted hole tunnels right through the stout outer wall of Axis Fortress, with only a slight bulge or two in places to denote a slight warping of the spell near where magical defenses were placed inside the rock. Access to Axis Town has now been achieved.
Emerson's command to his strange earthen ally is obeyed instantly, with a slight shifting in the ground before him near the wall. After a moment there is a faint reply in Terran to Emerson, which to him basically translates as "All is still."
Constable's Map of Axis Fortress and Town
As the constables make their way through the arcane tunnel and into Axis Town itself, they realize their mission briefings only detailed their actions to this very point - they were to hold the passwall in the event of extraction, and otherwise wait until Resilience opened the sea gate and signaled the fleet from the lighthouse, leaving their position at the wall only when the Risuri Marines made landfall and breached past the harbor. There was little discussion as to how Resilience was to make their way to the sea wall and the lighthouse with the gate mechanism - only that they were going to take the best and most direct route that was afforded to them.
Their map shows other places of interest that Lya Jierre and the Danorans gave them in the town: one is the location of the teleportation circle that most certainly would be lethally trapped and guarded in the event of a magical assault, the other is the town jail that was likely to hold a great many Danoran prisoners after the initial assault. Of course, the inner wall and gardens of the central keep dominates Axis with the town arrayed around it; somewhere within most certainly lies the Duchess and her retinue. Yet the central keep and its inner wall is known to be the greatest concentration of rebel strength and attention, with any action there doing the fleet and all those marines no good in the mission to successfully disembark and make their assault. Without Resilience to lead and guide them, the constables stare at the quiet streets of a fortress town at the latewatch hours and must decide on their route and next objective...
Anneca looks around to the others, hoping that someone will take the lead. Even Ifris and Jonathan, their most experienced soldiers, seem to have little as far as a plan goes. "So, we kill our way through the center of town and blow the whole place up? It's too bad we don't have the Coaltongue and its Brand, so as to just blast the sea gate to smithereens." She clears her throat. "I say we get ourselves a distraction. If we skirt the wall, we can hit the town jail on our way to the sea gate, release some prisoners, give them something to worry about other than us. Unless someone has a better idea?"
Willem looks to Anneca, "I am sure there is a reason why the Coaltongue is not bein' used or maybe it will be later? They may have to use it on that golem we saw earilier? And I agree with the distraction."
Gemma takes a deep breath and makes an audible sigh. Since right before Anneca opened the wall, Gemma’s been reviewing the memorized maps in her head and weighing the group’s options, not liking what she’s come up with. “I have a plan…and a distraction.”
She purses her lips and lowers her head a little before raising it again and setting her jaw, almost defiantly. ”We go through the wall and skirt it to the east, making our way towards the lighthouse. We ignore the barracks. We don’t know how many prisoners are in there and they may cause more harm than good if they’re out milling about. Plus, Nathan Jierre may be in there and we can’t try and rescue him, keep him alive, and open the sea gates. Too complicated and too much wasted time. We’ll just have to get him later if he’s there.”
Gemma sighs again, not looking forward to what she will have to do to make her plan work. ”In the meantime, I’ll send the shadow towards the western part of the town, in the direction of the teleportation circle. That should provide enough distraction for us to get to where we need to go.”
She knows the shadow will kill or try to kill any person that it comes into contact with. Most won’t even see it coming or be able to stop it when it does.
”All’s fair in war, right? Use whatever weapon you have against the enemy even though they will bleed Risuri blood.” She looks to the other constables, particularly Ifris and Jonathan. ”Any objections?”
"Mmm. I don't know if I like the idea of splitting up."
Emerson concentrates on his new companion, trying to discern the limits to which he can control the elemental.
"If it gets too far away from you, will it break your hold upon it?"
"The more time we stand here bickering about it, the more time we waste to our enemies," snaps Ifris in an agitated whisper, her eyes glittering dangerously. "Sparhawk said they were going straight for the lighthouse without any other objectives, and so should we."
Johnathan merely shrugs his shoulders and the rest and checks his straps for his immense hammer and smaller blades to guard against noise. "It's not a bad plan, Atherton, and you seem not fond to have this creature behind us up close, which I can't disagree with." He looks around to see no obvious signs of patrols or guards, either up on the wall above them or out in the visible streets of town in front of them. "Whatever we do we should keep it simple, for tricky plans have a way of unraveling at the first snarl."
His eyes closed for a moment, he gets the feeling that he could command his coin bound fellow well within the reaches of the keep's walls.
Ignoring Ifris, he agrees with Atherton's plan. "Sounds like a plan. Gemma, would you like to send your somewhat unsavory friend hunting for enemies?"
Emerson starts off cautiously East along the path, knowing Ifris is sure to pass him in a few strides.
"To be entirely honest Constable Hill, no, I would rather not send the shadow hunting, but the screams of the dying rebels should be a significant distraction. And I do prefer to have it away from us rather than close."
Gemma reluctantly gives the shadow instructions to start off to the west and unleashes it to do what it will. She can only hope that the deaths that follow will be swift and that she will have no sense of them given their link.