"Sometimes, horrible people give you the biggest blessing of your life. Let's go." Vai didn't really like Artorius. Even so, she only hesitated slightly before lightly placing a hand on each of Nala and Artorius, the touch making her uncomfortable.
A quick second later, Vai and the two generals are standing in the Forest clearing, looking around. Vai spots Fei and immediately breaks into a smile.
"And I assume the sheer magical power we have arrayed on our side won't be much benefit to us?" Tyrrin said, trying to assess the situation. Some of the people in this... game... were here to keep the danger away from others. Perhaps they could put that to their use. "And the wards that prevent us from dying... it would be safe to assume those are no longer intact, correct? If that's the case, we should hide the rest inside one of the fortresses - especially the children."
"Fei," Tyrrin adds, as an afterthought. "Your patience will be needed, I think."
"Yes, that's a good summary of the situation. We can't be certain of any of the protections now. And no, magic isn't gonna do us much good. We're gonna need more in the way of brute force. And buffs for those who are good at the brute force. Keme would be especially good for that as long as we can convince him to do it. And we need Nala....I think she can cancel out some of the bad luck effect that surrounds the aschen."
"Speak of the devil and she shall appear," Nala said dryly, having arrived just in time to hear the last part of Ephebe's speech. "Thank you, Vai," she said quietly before walking over to the table and pulling up a chair. "Okay, so, would you mind filling in Artorius and I? No offense Tyrrin, but your telepathy is a bit muddled."
Begins to organize the desert community in order to move at a moments notice, if need be.
Ehos was growing increasingly antsy. More people kept showing up, and no one could hear what they were saying. Ehos knew how to read Tyrrin's expressions. The pursed lips meant she was very concerned. Something was very wrong.
Through the link, to Jiminy: ::Jim, what's happening? People out here are getting worried.::
::I'll explain everything shortly. Get everyone together if you can. Let them know I'll give them an update on the situation as soon as I can. It's...not good.::
"I apologize, I am not as psionically gifted as my Mother. I think it would be best if Mrs. Blackscales here would explain it."
Right, get the guy who can't speak to gather people. Ehos thought sarcastically. At least he could communicate with people in Forest, but someone else would have to get Mountain moving. Excluding any members of the council, Ehos sends out to all members of the collective: ::Everyone, we need to gather at the Fortress. Tell the members of Mountain as well. There is a crisis. Be here as quickly as possible, and bring whatever supplies you can.::
Smiles and winks at Nala from accross the room...
"Fei," Tyrrin adds, as an afterthought. "Your patience will be needed, I think."
Fei looks over at Tyrrin thoughtfully.
"If it can be of help, I am glad to offer it. In what capacity are you thinking, if I may ask?"
A quick second later, Vai and the two generals are standing in the Forest clearing, looking around. Vai spots Fei and immediately breaks into a smile.
The young monk bows to the new arrivals, giving Vai a quick, warm smile as he rises before returning to the conversation at hand.
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::Everyone, we need to gather at the Fortress. Tell the members of Mountain as well. There is a crisis. Be here as quickly as possible, and bring whatever supplies you can.::
::I'm on the Mountain/Forest trail now, letting the fastest ones know to spread the word.:: Anthony sends back, hints of worry and confusion in his mental voice.
"A crisis?" Michael wonders as he looks at the finished creations he had made with Skivven. "Sounds like we got finished just in time."
He didn't know if they would be any help, but how could shock troops that couldn't die be useless? Granted, they had been designed with fighting his 'fellow' students in mind, but they could be altered quickly enough.
"I'll admit using the aschen wasn't the best idea." Ryo tells his tressym as they watch the meeting between Kingdom leaders. "But is was intentional. Several students know a little bit of how I think, and I didn't want this to be easy."
"And a whole Imperial Fleet would have been easy?" Ruji images.
"Against my students? We'd have needed at least three. As it stands, one of the most powerful weapons the Empire has is on it's way. I want to see if they can handle it or if plans need to be made to evacuate Agartha should it ever be discovered. I have several fail safes ready in case things get out of hand."
"And if the aschen infect those fail safes?"
"Then I improvise. It's what I'm best at, you know."
After Ephebe had caught everyone lately joining them up to speed, Tyrrin glanced at Nala. "Now do you understand my urgency that we begin moving right away? Since we're all here already, we should move as many of non-combatants safely into the Forest Fortress as quickly as possible."
Vai, who had sidled in next to Fei, had been keeping quiet thus far. She was no leader, and had enough trouble keeping her room organized, let alone all these people. "The aschen... you said that magic wouldn't work Ephebe, but what about our Champion powers?"
Tyrrin cocked an eyebrow. Champion...?
To Anthony specifically. ::Thanks Anthony. There's... something happening other than just a war game. That's all I know. Looks like the leaders from all the nations are here.::
Phaezeriel's mental voice comes clearly to all, ::Perhaps Mountain Fortress would be better for non-combatants. Someone has been sealing the borders of the Mountain Kingdom with very impressive fortifications.::
After Ephebe had caught everyone lately joining them up to speed, Tyrrin glanced at Nala. "Now do you understand my urgency that we begin moving right away? Since we're all here already, we should move as many of non-combatants safely into the Forest Fortress as quickly as possible."
Nala sighed, exasperated. "I understand your urgency, but you missed a few steps and are running in the wrong direction."
"Ephebe, what kind of terrain is this infernal engine best in? Does it have any particular weaknesses, anything that will slow it down or encourage it to attack one position before another?"
Vai, who had sidled in next to Fei, had been keeping quiet thus far. She was no leader, and had enough trouble keeping her room organized, let alone all these people. "The aschen... you said that magic wouldn't work Ephebe, but what about our Champion powers?"
"Well, it sort of depends. Mine are useless. The aschen don't age, so I can't really slow them down with condensed time like I could with most machines. Yours may or may not work. It is effectively immune to magic and a lot of your abilities are magic. Keme will be helpful since he can make other people better fighters. Krays can't do a lot directly, but he can summon undead who might at least slow it down a little. Nala is essential to this since she's the only one who can do anything against the aura of unluck. And Enre....well, to be blunt he's our best chance of surviving this. Nobody does brute force quite like Enre.And Wrath gets to exercise his powers so infrequently."
After Ephebe had caught everyone lately joining them up to speed, Tyrrin glanced at Nala. "Now do you understand my urgency that we begin moving right away? Since we're all here already, we should move as many of non-combatants safely into the Forest Fortress as quickly as possible."
Nala sighed, exasperated. "I understand your urgency, but you missed a few steps and are running in the wrong direction."
"Ephebe, what kind of terrain is this infernal engine best in? Does it have any particular weaknesses, anything that will slow it down or encourage it to attack one position before another?"
"Well, Akhenaten was a desert city, so I know that it doesn't mind sand. And there were mountains there. Didn't really slow it down at all. The aschen earth glide about as well as we do, so stone isn't much in the way of protection. I've never seen it deal with water. The engine pretty much turned aside once it got to coastline or even big rivers."
"Island kingdom it is then. Can your fortress handle all of the non-combat students at once?"
"In a word, no. But with some help we can expand it so that it can."
Nods
"We have the talent to do so, definately. As soon as this meeting is over, we'll organize those folks taht can do so and get the mwhere they need to be."
"If it's deterred by large bodies of water then whatshisname who has been shaping the rock in the mountain kingdom and Morrivan and any other water control types we can find can help us control the size and shape of the battlefield by diverting rivers and stuff like that."
"If it's deterred by large bodies of water then whatshisname who has been shaping the rock in the mountain kingdom and Morrivan and any other water control types we can find can help us control the size and shape of the battlefield by diverting rivers and stuff like that."
"If we do that, we will need to do so in a way that does not encourage it to use its earthgliding ability. Unless we can reshape underground aquifers to essentially 'cage' it for a while. There are a great many under the Desert, if any inspiration is needed for that..."
"Also - can it fly at all?"
"If it can fly, I've never seen it. But that doesn't mean it can't surprise me."
::I can help.:: Belyu tells Jiminy quietly over the connection set up by Phaezeriel. ::Well, I know someone who can. Which most of the student body would think to be impossible considering the person I'm talking about is a member of Triad that frequent the Hunts.::
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To Anthony specifically. ::Thanks Anthony. There's... something happening other than just a war game. That's all I know. Looks like the leaders from all the nations are here.::
::Want me to take a look around and see if I can find whatever it is? I don't know how far out I can get my lights to go, but they can move faster than I can.::
::I can help.:: Belyu tells Jiminy quietly over the connection set up by Phaezeriel. ::Well, I know someone who can. Which most of the student body would think to be impossible considering the person I'm talking about is a member of Triad that frequent the Hunts.::
::I'm not most...what do you have in mind?::
::Newest member was titled Ripper. You know Jeran right? About the same in power and maybe a little faster. Had to put her arm back on once so it would reattach and save her time. Might be one of the few people here foolish enough of getting on whatever it is that's coming and be able to talk about it later.::
::Figured knowing one of those three would be a good thing eventually. Sounds like we need all of the 'go all-out' people we can get.::
::Sounds good. Definitely the sort of thing that will help against this threat.::
"So, it sounds like we need to make evacuating the first priority. Second priority is assembling a team of our strongest fighters and the support personnel who can keep them on their feet. Tyrrin, you'll have to take charge of the evacuees since they're heading to Island. Artorius, you assemble the members of your team that can fight this thing. Nala, you stay here since you're one of the ones we need to fight this. I'm going to explain things to the forest-mountain kingdom. Fei will do the same for the desert kingdom and get the evacuation process started. Everyone who is going to be taking part in the actual fighting should meet back here and we can figure out from there what our actual strategy is."
::Sounds good. Definitely the sort of thing that will help against this threat.::
::Sounds like we need good morale-boosting and fighting music...: Belyu replies glumly as she goes in search of Ripper and a few more strong fighters. With the exception of Su'Ta, she knew the most about the students who took part in the Hunts. It was time to put that knowledge to good use.
Upon arrival Fei will see Ghalen has already started an ordered gathering for evacuation.
If asked, he shrugs and says.
"Just in case...?"
Fei stands and bows to those assembled.
"I will let the rest of my group know now. As we have been mobile for the last several days, being ready to relocate is not an issue. If there are any reliable means of mass teleportation, though, that would probably be best for all regions right now. I will return as soon as I am able," he says, the final part as much to Vai as to the others.
He teleports back to the Desert camp.
Upon arrival Fei will see Ghalen has already started an ordered gathering for evacuation.
If asked, he shrugs and says.
"Just in case...?"
"A precaution that will reap fruit immediately, Ghalen. Thank you," he replies with a bow.
"It appears that the Headmaster has added a factor to this exercise that has compromised its integrity...and the safety of us all..."
"...and we will need to migrate all noncombatants to the Island territory for their safety. It may be wise for Dylen to be there as well. His divinatory abilities could once again be most helpful, and he needs to remain protected."
"Those who specialize in overwhelming physical combat should return with me to the Forest for the next stage of planning."
Once finished escorting his allotment of noncombatants to the Island nation, he returns to the Forest kingdom to await new orders.
Khassar returns to aerial surveillance while the others evacuate. When all are evacuated he 'ports over to the forest kingdom.
Velvarmisan sends out half the fleet for fishing and the rest on patrol so he does not accidently assign any noncombatants to spaces on the ships.
Krays assists with the evacuation, and ports to the forrest kingdom.When he arrives he looks around for his wife, and greets her...warmly :P
::Missed you, are you well?::
Ryuzo tries to get a few moments alone with Nala, watching proudly as she handles business.
Ghalen will ask Fei for a 'ride' to the Forest kingdom after seeing all of the students to the Island kingdom.
Finishes up the touches on the revolver he made for his ratling friend. He admires his work, polishing off the barrel and dusting the filagree he etched into the barrel and frame. He used a practial hardwood for the grip, it being in abundance in the forrest kingdom.
As he goes looking for Skivven, he notices the place is getting near empty as it's being cleared out. He chews on his barely lit cigar, looking around, a bit puzzled. He then asks around, looking for Skivven, hoping to catch him before he goes...wherever everybody went.
::Let Kitty know I'm going to be on the front line and Anthony will be staying near her.:: Michael tells Jiminy as he readies himself. ::Phaeze, how many people can you connect at once? I want to know how versatile my options are going to be during this fight.::
"Do you want me on the ground or in the skies? I don't care if I'm fighting or not." Oniero says to Kor as he appears near by. "I just want out of this so I can get back to my work."
::For simple communication I can link with sixteen at a time, but I can form many such groups. I can only form one collective, however, and that can also be sixteen others.::
"Do you want me on the ground or in the skies? I don't care if I'm fighting or not." Oniero says to Kor as he appears near by. "I just want out of this so I can get back to my work."
"Oniero, we have been given reason to believe that what we will face will be nigh impervious to magic. We also have reson to believe that the wards preventing death maybe compromised. I know you use paper magic to fly, but is that your sole means of combat? Any help will be appreciated, but I don't want to put you in harm's way needlessly. Or anyone else for that matter.
I will assist the non-combatants, here. I'm not much for melee combat, other than summoning mammoths, of course. It's not my strength, but I can help here. You are welcome to do so as well."
"I'm quite capable in a fight. Flying is just the quickest way for me to get around." Oniero explains. "Immune to magic, huh? That makes things difficult for me if I want to stay away from it, but I'll manage. If the death wards are down and I... don't come back, there is a tiny box I keep under my bed. It's important, so I want it with me when I get buried or whatever, okay? I don't plan to die, but I won't go into battle thinking that I won't."
::For simple communication I can link with sixteen at a time, but I can form many such groups. I can only form one collective, however, and that can also be sixteen others.::
::Connect me with whoever else will be facing this thing head on. Being able to communicate will be invaluable, and I'll be able to borrow abilities from them if I need to during the fight.::
::once everyone who is going to fight is here, i will do so. I will participate directly in the fight; if is is immune to magic it will be immune to what I can do to it. But I will fill the collective with others, preferably those who can heal, to be better able to help those who are fighting.::
::Thank you.:: Michael replies with appreciation filling his mental voice. ::That will be amazingly helpful to me and everyone one else.::