"Ummm...okay. Nice to meet you again Solivala. This is Krays. And the guy with the slightly wild look in his eyes is Asch. I hope you're packed because we really need to get going. We don't have a lot of....well actually we sort of do. But I'd rather not take the shortcut through the Clock unless we really have to. I'm told it's not good for the sanity. Krays would probably be all right. Professional courtesy and all that. But I'm not sure about you and Asch."
"Point being we need to get moving right away."
"I'm guessing if I just left you'd follow me anyway wouldn't you? Well if you all are going to. Come with me then hurry up." He says as he walks past everyone.
Krays will follow along, saying nothing...
He grabs the pocket watch off his shoulder and puts it away. An orb turns the page for him again.
"I always carry my things with me."
He follows behind Ephebe.
"So, Asch, how far is this place? I mean, we could walk the whole way if you really wanted. Or we could take the skimmer. No, not the hoverbike," she said when Krays started looking a little green. "There's a bigger version. We can all ride. With a lot less zipping around and almost crashing into the landscape."
"Skimmer..."
"Then you're going the wrong way. The shed is over this way. Come on."
She leads the way to the shed, somehow managing to avoid any and all authority figures that might stop them. She pulls open the doors and pushes out a large vehicle that looked like a large oval dish. With bench seats.
"It can comfortably seat six, so we shouldn't have any problems there. Let me get it started before you all climb in. It can be a bit temperamental sometimes. At least since Jimmy did that thing....that I promised I would never tell anyone about...oops...."
She climbed in and the engine wheezed to life. "Oh, man, Mom would have fits if she knew how bad Jimmy damaged this thing. Er, you're good at fixing things, right Solivala? Maybe when we stop for lunch or something you can get it back to the way it's supposed to run?"
"The rest of you, get those shed doors closed and hop in before it changes its mind about running."
"Ermmm...ok..."
He jumps onto the skimmer and has a seat
"There is no need to wait."
One of the orbs breaks off and slaps against the Skimmer like a mud ball but seeps its way in rather then fall off.
"I can scan, repair, and maintain the vessal without the need for a total shut down. Unless it becomes unstable that is."
Solivala floats up into a back seat seeming to stare at nothing. Soon the engine becomes less violent and prone to shaking then before.
Ephebe's eyes went wide.
"Wow. Cool! Okay, well, that makes this a whole lot easier." ^.^
"Let me see that map," she said, taking the paper from Asch after he climbed into the skimmer.
"Okay. North and east. Got it. Temple of the Everburning Sun. Er....Anyone here know anything about this place?"
"You all wouldn't be trying to run away from school now would you?" Aislin asks as she vaults into the skimmer.. "Well its not running if a teacher accompanies you now is it? Now let's hurry before my husband hears about his sister and destroys the whole school."
"Its an order of monk....what the hell Aislin what are you doing here? Screw it let's just go. They hate undead I'm sure my father wants something they hid." Asch mutters.
"You all wouldn't be trying to run away from school now would you?" Aislin asks as she vaults into the skimmer.. "Well its not running if a teacher accompanies you now is it? Now let's hurry before my husband hears about his sister and destroys the whole school."
"Er, okay, ma'am," she said gunning the engine and taking off. The lanscape slid by at an alarmingly fast rate.
"Whoa. When you fix things you don't do it halfway, do you, Solivala?""Um, anyhow. As you already know, we're not running away from school. It's business. Uncle Ryo would understand if we'd had time to tell him. Mom would have taken more convincing, but since you're here...I'll probably only get grounded for a year."
"Its an order of monk....what the hell Aislin what are you doing here? Screw it let's just go. They hate undead I'm sure my father wants something they hid." Asch mutters.
"Okay," she said, steering the skimmer around a slow-moving wagon. "Ummm...introductions all round, Asch?"
"A temple huh. Full of undead hating monks....Dammit. I hate going up against the good guys."
"A temple huh. Full of undead hating monks....Dammit. I hate going up against the good guys."
Solivala looks thru his book flipping pages then gives a slight nod at Ephebe for her comment.
"I would venture a guess about the monks and what they are hiding. As sunlight is a weakness of certain undead then they could be holding an item that protects or overcomes this weakness. It could also be a weapon that takes advantage of this weakness. Such an item would be of great importance to such undead and those that are involved with them. But this is only theory based on incomplete data and past actions on beings that fit the profile. Feel free to disregard it."
He goes back to reading.
"It's a solid theory. Could be useful. If it is something that helps with sunlight, I'm hoping we can keep it somehow. Could be helpful in reverse engineering solutions to another part of the whole vampire curse. Mom and Razule have been working on curing it for a couple of decades now. That could be a big break. But first we have to get whatever it is and find some way to save Amada without handing a major weapon over to Count von Jerk."
"Sorry, Asch. It...it's a coping mechanism. I'm always a smartass when people I care about are in danger."
Asch stays silent for most of the ride. His eyes appear unfocused his hands clench unconsciously. He seems completely oblivious to the scenery as they drive. The red marks on his right arm seem to pulse possibly in tune with his heart.
She swerved up onto an embankment to pass another slow moving cart and then steered back onto the road. She watched the sky and made some guesses about how long it was going to take to get to their destination.
"Okay, guys, next town we come to I'm parking this thing, we're heading into the nearest inn to get some sleep. No arguments. We can't save Amada if we're falling down from exhaustion."
"I will guard and work on the skimmer while all of you sleep. I have no need to rest."
"I will guard and work on the skimmer while all of you sleep. I have no need to rest."
"Ummmm....sure. Not really gonna argue that one.....Do you eat?"
"I have no need to eat but depending on the fare I may be tempted for the taste."
"I have no need to eat but depending on the fare I may be tempted for the taste."
"Ah. Okay. Well, that might help offset my nutritional requirements a little....okay, not really so much. I'm probably going to eat them out of house and home. I haven't even met them and I'm already feeling sorry for those poor innkeepers."
"Wonder if they'll have enough for both of us...of course I can eat jsut about anything...I forgot how much I liked to chew on onyx..."
"Wonder if they'll have enough for both of us...of course I can eat jsut about anything...I forgot how much I liked to chew on onyx..."
"Really? Well...let's hold off on munching on gems for now...can't say I've ever experienced that particular urge...must be my human side coming through..."
"Well...I can't do it with kobold teeth anyway...and I don't think I'll have any other teeth availble for some time, it seems."
Ephebe swerved into a parking space outside an inn in a smallish town without so much as slowing down before she stopped abruptly, scaring the bejeebers out of several passersby and one shocked goat that was suddenly very glad it hadn't reached for that tuft of grass that was now underneath a largish skimmer.
"Ummm...sorry," she mumbled. "I had driving lessons with Mom. In hindsight, maybe Dad should have taught us how to drive."
*urp*
"Well...now we know there's probably nothing wrong with that hoverbike..." he says with a grin.
Solivala floats out of the Skimmer his dark cloud back under him.
"I will start now."
"How far are we from the temple?"Asch asks. For probably the 10th time in 30 minutes. When they go inside he barely touches any of his food and glares at any other patrons of the inn almost in hopes one will try something stupid and vent his anger on them..
"Should take us another solid day of travel to get there," she said from behind a growing pile of empty plates. The innkeeper had been a little miffed about the amount of food she'd asked for, but the emerald she'd payed him with smoothed things over considerably. As long as she was paying enough to buy the inn twice over, she could eat however much she liked.
"We should probably have some sort of well...plan before then. We need to do this with a minimum of casualties. Stop glaring at the waitress Asch. SHe hasn't done anything wrong."
Solivala appears out of thin air.
"I can send in my orbs to scout, they are very hard to detect with sight alone and can not be found thru magic. Also I can extend my senses thru them so I can make out any wards. It would allow us to gain a layout of the temple without risking ourselves, even in the event of detection my orbs can disperse without a trace. It may be something to consider."
You notice only a single orb, stationary and above Solivala. Anyone attempting to interact with Solivala finds it to be a hologram.
Sits back and rubs his belly, having about 1/4 of the empty plates in front of him.
"Wow...great food here! Not that the school food is bad, but wow..."
Looks up at Asch
"You know, the chances of there being an altercation here would drop drasticly if you'd quit flashing your fangs and looking at the servers like they are food...I know that restraint is not your strong suit, but please keep in mind the people here have nothing to do with your father. You would regret these lives lost due to your temper, and Amada would as well."
Solivala appears out of thin air.
"I can send in my orbs to scout, they are very hard to detect with sight alone and can not be found thru magic. Also I can extend my senses thru them so I can make out any wards. It would allow us to gain a layout of the temple without risking ourselves, even in the event of detection my orbs can disperse without a trace. It may be something to consider."
You notice only a single orb, stationary and above Solivala. Anyone attempting to interact with Solivala finds it to be a hologram.
"Yes, actually that sounds like a wonderful idea. The better prepared we are, the more likely we can get in and get out without anyone getting hurt."
Solivala stands still for a moment having heard something. He expands his senses to figure out what it is before acting.
Solivala looks over the bodies, a pair of orbs dart off like bullets towards the other's repective rooms. Finding the sleeping party they form into hands and start slapping them until awake.
"Best not to take chances."
He removes two wooden stakes from his pocket and drives them thru the heart of the bodies, he then takes out a dagger and removes their heads tossing them a few feet to the side. Putting away the dagger his cloud appears under his feet and he floats towards the rooms windows.
"I'm up you annoying bug!"Asch says with a swipe of a curved blade that materialized out of shadows. "That's new...." He says as another forms in his other hand and he does a quick routine before letting them both dissipate. He goes to the window and jumps from it to the ground. "What's your problem sending your damn orbs to hit people while their asleep!?" He says to Solivala after he lands.
Ephebe wakes up as she is slapped and jumps out of bed, her eyes completely dark as she looks around, and then she jumps back as she notices that the mist seeping in under the door has a heartbeat...after a fashion.
"Asch! Krays! Vampire!"
Solivala's orbs return to him once everyone is awake. At Ephebe's words without looking down at Asch on the ground he answers.
"That would be the reason I sent them to warn you. I found two bodies but already made sure they would not rise."
Solivala opens Ephebe's window and enters thru it.
Krays scrambles out of bed and down the hall, seeing the mist going under the door...
"Get out here, you fanged throwback!" Krays snarls with authority.
Dominate undead DC 31
Ephebe sees the mist recede as if yanked out from under the door. She runs to the door and opens it to see the vampire reformed into its physical body.
"Solidify."
When he does...
"Just what do you think you are doing?"
"What do you mean 'the heart of sunlight'?"[i]Asch says as he walks up towards the vampire with both guns drawn hanging at his side ready to be pulled up and fired.[\i]
"Then you will enlighten us."