Carran tries to reach for Figwidget and Luke Rand to keep them from moving out into the storm as he sees them start to wander off into the storm. Though ineffective, he keeps a wary eye on them as the storm subsides and looks out across the wastes.
What the hell is that? No creature around Alkenstar looks like that. Whatever it might be, it looks dangerous, better not get too close to it.
Tychi squeezes with his legs, and Nike reacts without even realizing it, trusting her rider. His legs send her into a charge.
The massive shaggy beast whistles a challenge at the creatures, and races forward so fast she might just as well have teleported. Other than the fact her rampaging form slams into the creature . Her horn drives into the creature, sending blood spraying.
Tychi draws his weapon as the unicorn pounds the ground heavily toward the creature, and when they arrive, the razor whip like weapon reaches out to slice into the creature.
Blood splatters as the razor sharp whip like weapon coils around the creature's neck and slices into it.
Luke wheels and his eyes alight upon Figwidget as if noticing him for the first time. "You. You and your horde killed my daughter and wife. Did it feel good? DID YOU WASH YOUR HANDS IN THEIR BLOOD AND PRAY TO YOUR TWISTED GOD?" before Figwidget can reply The Major is upon him, slamming his shield into him again and again, before shoving him a good distance away.
As Tychi's blade finds purchase in the creatures' flesh it screams in agony...pulling the weapon back towards himself, the Tengu inadvertently cuts through rows of acidic pustules on the beasts' hide....the sores explode in a fountain of acid liquid, showering Tychi and Nike.
Rising up from the ground, the creature towers above the Tengu and his mount...before slamming down upon them, clawing and biting at both of them.
The second beast tunnels down into the ground, the broken earth falling back down over it. From the path of collapsing soil moving towards Carran, the Major and Figwidget, it appears that it is intent on attack.
Carran takes aim at the creature he can see and fires a whole array of arrows at it.
What in Alkenstar are these creatures? They seem to be like those creatures that I shot from the wall once. But they look nothing like them, they walked on two legs instead of burying in the ground.
"Aai! What is wrong with you man?!" Tychi calls out, shocked to see the small gnome cut down by a supposed ally.
Tychi squeezes his legs in a pattern and moves his feet, and Nike rears up, the training they'd gone through together now in her muscle memory. Her horn drives forward, and then both her front hooves come down on the thing.
Tychi spends a Ki Point for an extra attack on his Flurry. As the Ki Energy floods through him, Nike too is flooded with the energy, and she drives her horn forward in another gore attempt.
Tychi then power attack two-handed flurries.
Figwidget awakes with a start, in the vault of his home in Alkenstar. With a sharp intake of breath, he sits up, looking around wildly. It's dark. Hi is disoriented; not only has he just jumped bodies, but the afteraffects of the confusion from the mana storm are still on him.
After about half a minute, he regains his wits. He realizes what must have happened. "Oh, Major Luke Rand, remind me never to stand next to you in a mana storm again."
He feels his way through the familiar location until he locates an alchemical light source, illuminating it. He sees another copy of himself, laying down on a bier next to the one he just stood up from. Rubbing his eyes, he says to himself, "Well! Gets the heart rate up, but hopefully that'll push the bleaching off another month or two. Mana storms! Terrible things."
He lays back down and concentrates. Over the next several seconds, his consciousness jumps into the other copy of himself. (OOC: he's jumping into his remaining alchemical doppleganger simulacrum.)
Standing back up, he looks at his normal body, and says to himself, "I always felt rather paranoid doing this. Guess it was a good idea all along! Going to have to brew myself up another replacement next time I get a week to myself."
He opens the vault, extinguishes the light, leaves the vault, and closes it up again. Walking up the stairs, he calls, "Jeeves!"
After a few moments, to the sound of ticking and clanking, a three-legged clockwork servant stides into view. "I'm going to need some clothes, good for travelling."
As Jeeves is getting Figwidget's clothes, the gnome walks through his house, making sure his workshops and everything else is in order. He sees that Orc, his clockwork guardian, is well-wound.
Once dressed, he instructs Jeeves to keep himself and Orc wound. Figwidget leaves his house, and hurries through Alkenstar, trying to make contact again with the Brass Guild. "I have to find some way to get out there as fast as possible. I hope they make it through the pickle they're in right now; I wasn't any help for that. But I don't want them to think I've just abandoned them...."
(Jeeves will ask the Brass Guild if they can arrange transportation to get him back to his companions as fast as possible. If that fails, he'll approach the guild that controls the airships directly, and will find out how much it will cost to get him out there.)
The beast falls back under the ferocity of Tychi's attacks...the first attack that lands causes it to bellow in pain, after the second....a whimper as it slumps lifelessly to the ground.
Nike HP : 64/68 (Had 24 points of Temp HP from Ki Point before taking damage)
Tychi HP : 60/84 (19 + 3 + 2 = 24)
As Tychi dispatches the first of the creatures, the second burst through the ground in front of the rest of the party and gallops towards you. Stopping just short of the group, it bites and claws at Major Luke Rand and Carran.
Tychi squeezes with his legs, and Nike reacts without even realizing it, trusting her rider. His legs send her into a rearing 180 turn and charge.
The massive shaggy beast whistles a second challenge at the creature, and races forward so fast she might just as well have teleported yet again. She moves so that she's flanking the creature with Luke & Carran, and her ebony horn drives itself deep into the creature's flank.
Tychi spends a Ki Point as they close, giving himself and Nike another attack.
Nike tries to pull her horn out and drive it in again, but it catches on the creature's armor plating and she can't quite get it out and in again.
Tychi then power attack two-handed flurries.
turning to the creature that moved to engage him, Luke says nothing, yet moves to engage it and swings at it once.
Carran moces up cautiously to avoid the sharp bite and claws of the twisted creature in front of him and attacks it with the fury of his close animalkin.
In a fog of confused images and voices, the Major stumbles forward and swipes blindly at whatever had just attacked him. Smashing through the creatures' armour, globules of acid spray back at the Major.
With his guard down, the beast bites at Luke….it's huge maw clamping down, serrated teeth tearing at the Majors shoulder.
Carran draws his sword and slashes at the creature…but his aim is strangely off, each attack swings wildly in the air.
Galloping back towards the group, Tychi and Nike both land telling blows.
As blow after blow rains down upon the weakening creature, acid burns at the flesh and armour of everyone....
Nike HP : 63/68
Tychi HP : 57/84
The beast, maybe sensing that the end is near, turns and crashes down upon Tychi and his steed. Again, the fearsome bite finds its target, this time accompanied with vicious claws rending at its prey....
Seeing the thing about to hit Nike, Tychi's legs move in precise patterns, and Nike leaps sideways, avoiding the attack.
Tychi reels in the saddle and begins to wish that Nike could warn him of hits.
Nike HP : 63/68
Tychi HP : 24/84
Returning to the Brass Guild, this time discretely knocking at the lesser known rear doors to the building, Figwidget is greeted by a taciturn apprentice. The heavy doors to the Guild remain closed, the apprentice instead preferring to converse with the Gnome through a grilled window opening in the door.
"Minister Baratella ain't here today Mister….she ain't comin' back for a few days is what I heard…..Government business….Guild's closed unless you's a member?"
The apprentice takes a second look at Figwidget, "Who are you anyway?"
The fog finally lifted from his eyes, Luke will attack this monstrosity that he believes tampered with his mind.
With clarity of vision and thought, returning to the Major he smashes heavily into the ailing creature, his first brutal strike being enough to end the threat.
As the beast crashes to the earth, you finally have time to survey your surroundings. You have landed on a dust plain surrounded by the jagged peaks of the Kargatt Hills...the Mana Storm Cloud moving off to the South as quickly as it had fallen upon your position. Although it can be no later than midday, there is an oppresive gloom in the air, the sky is darkened and gloomy and, worryingly, storm clouds are moving in from the West.
Near the rocky outcrop where you had sheltered, Figwidget lies facedown on the ground, completely still, limbs splayed at sickening angles in the aftermath of the Majors' brutal attack.
The wildflowers growing in the dust field show the path that the storm took. Following the colourful trail with your eyes, you can see a number of trails converging at the foot of a boulder strewn slope immediately north of you. Following the trail up the steep incline, there appears to be a manmade entrance into the side of the hill; the entrance is no more than a mile from your position.
Nike's horn drops to point directly at Major Luke Rand.
Her rider remains a combat stance. "Major Luke Rand, Retired. Please I request you drop your weapons?" Her Tengu then looks toward the corpse of Figwidget. "We are needing to determine our next steps given the... mess... you have made of our friend, Figwidget."
Once she is sure her rider is covering the possibly murderous human, Nike swats her rider with her tail, curing him.
Nike HP : 62/68
Tychi HP : 38/84
Looking towards Tychi and Nike, Luke will say "I haven't made a mess of anything; furthermore, I don't have any weapons"
Glancing in the direction of the pile of goo that was Figwidget's simulacrum, The Major will ask "what the heck is that?"
Carran looks over to Luke standing close to the puddle.
"I believe that puddle used to be our Gnomish friend Figwidget. At least after you were done smashing your shield into him. But this puddle would suggest that he was something else than a gnome."
Carran pokes the puddle of alchemical remains with his sword to see if there's anything left to gather up or give a clue what had happened to the Gnome.
The 'remains' of Figwidget are quickly dissolving, flesh dripping from the body to the ground like wax from a candle. After a few seconds, the facial features have completely disappeared, a disconcerting blank face looking back at you....wet and glistening.
Tychi tch's. "The fact that it was not Mr. Figwidget is really beside the point, unless you can prove you knew it was not him prior to your beating his brains out with your shield, Mr. Rand. Watching one of my new 'allies' beat another 'ally' to a bloody dead pulp with his shield is not exactly the kind of thing I find endearing or recommended in an ally. After all, perhaps next time you will decide to beat me to a bloody pulp? Or Nike? Or Mr. Carran?" He nods toward Luke's torso, where red blood is beginning to melt as it turns into the same goo as Figwidget's body. "The question now is, how did you know it wasn't Mr. Figwidget, if indeed that is your story, Mr. Rand. And, who replaced Mr. Figwidget." The Tengu eyes the sky. "If Mr. Rand will relinquish his shield, which is obviously a deadly weapon in his hands, along with any other weapons he may be carrying, until this is resolved, it would allow us to move to the cave before the sky begins to rain thunder on us."
Luke looks at Tychi, a puzzled expression on his face: "I wouldn't have attacked Figwidget, or any of you, for that matter. There were a few enemies here, and I dealt with two of them: the thing that summoned these beasts, and one of the beasts."
on the topic of giving his "weapon" to Tychi or Nike, he states "no, I don't think that I will be disarming myself in the middle of the mana wastes. That you would suggest such a thing is beyond preposterous."
NIke shakes her shaggy head. "You did human, you beat him to death with your shield, and I will not be turning my back on one who not only kills an ally with no remorse, but then either doesn't remember it, or doesn't admit to it." She backs away from Rand. "Carran, you may ride behind Tychi, if you wish to, and I will convey you, this once, to the safety of the mine, for whatever that safety is worth."
Carran looks and nods at Nike.
"Thank you for the offer Nike, but i'd rather walk at the back and keep an eye out for whatever we might encounter, be it another pair of those beasts or Luke getting crazy again."
He looks to Luke and then back at Figwidget's 'corpse'.
"Luke there's no point in arguing that you're deadly even with a shield, however I saw both you and Figwidget stumbling about during that sandstorm. What happened there? I can't believe that Figwidget would attack you, so why would you attack him?"
Luke stares hard at Carran, as if deciding how much he can tell him. Coming to a decision within himself, he begins without preamble "I was married once; my wife and daughter were...savaged...by a horde of creatures from the wastes. I just heard my wife's voice; my daughter's too. Then I saw the person who created the horde and let them loose; so, I took action against him to ensure that no one else would have to lose their families the way that I lost mine." Luke begins walking towards the mine, not waiting for or apparently wanting condolences or words of comfort.
Nike snorts. "I don't intend to loligag in the open, feline. I offer the ride because I intend to be at the cave in under five minutes. I will give the human the same offer, when he disarms himself. I am not offering a ride to a scorpion, I have heard the tale. If you choose to walk, you will be walking alone. Now, mount and I will convey you. If the human disarms, I will return and convey him as well."
As the human walks off by himself, Nike shakes her head and snorts. "Self delusion is rampant in that one. Again, feline, I offer a quick ride for mutual safety. It is obvious the storm has had an affect on the Human, and there is no guarantee he will not go mad again. I am loath to leave you to follow him, but it is your choice. Each must make his own selections in life, and one cannot force another to do what is prudent or safe."
Carran looks Nike sternly in the eyes and shrugs.
"Fine, I'll ride with you and thank you Nike. But lose the attitude, if you're not a horse I'm not a housecat."
Carran shoulders his sword and picks up his bow, ready to sit behind Tychi on Nike's back.
Nike snorts. "I never claimed to not be equine, only that I wasn't a horse. You're a feline, I never called you a house cat. Nor is Tychi a bird, even if he is a bird brain..."
|
Returning to the Brass Guild, this time discretely knocking at the lesser known rear doors to the building, Figwidget is greeted by a taciturn apprentice. The heavy doors to the Guild remain closed, the apprentice instead preferring to converse with the Gnome through a grilled window opening in the door.
"Minister Baratella ain't here today Mister….she ain't comin' back for a few days is what I heard…..Government business….Guild's closed unless you's a member?"
The apprentice takes a second look at Figwidget, "Who are you anyway?"
"Name's Figwidget," the gnome responds. "Pleased to meet you. It's really very important that I get back out to, uh...."
Figwidget thinks better of saying exactly where the group was heading.
"Do you have any idea where I might find Minister Baratella?"
Tychi and Carran - It is short and easy work up the slopes to the Mine Entrance, the trails remain in good repair and Nike finds her footing up the slope without error. Arriving at the sheltered ground in front of the mine shaft, the rising wind fades to a strong breeze carrying the first drops of rain. The gunmetal grey clouds above you indicate a tempestuous storm in the making.
The entrance to the mine itself looks aged and it is clearly some years since the mine was actively worked. The telltale signs of disrepair and decay are everywhere; faded paint, rusted metal, discarded tools, etc
As the raindrops threaten to turn into sheets of rain, it appears that the only shelter is the mine itself, the pitch black tunnel descending into the abandoned Karggat Mine howling sporadically, thanks to the Mana Wastes' unpredictable air current.
Major Luke Rand - Stiffly marching across the dust field, with it's gaudy (and clearly temporary) smattering of flowers interspersed within the rocks, you estimate that it will take slightly less than twenty minutes to reach the entrance to the mine. You watch as the unicorn and her riders ascend the slope and reach your destination…moments later, the heavens open and torrential rain pours down upon the dust field, the flowers…and you…
"Oh my, I almost feel sorry for him." Tychi comments to Carran. By the end of the ride, Nike is back to pretending to not be able to talk, or only speak Sylvan when she mutters an oath or two. Tychi watches Rand march stiff legged through the rain. "Then again, he did just murder.. something that might have been an ally." Tychi sighs, digging an apple out of his pack for Nike. "So, Mr. Carran? This is not an auspicious start, is it. We have lost one ally to the vicious attacks of another ally who appears to have no ability to remember said attack or even admit to it. This makes it someone... questionable... to allow him at ones back, yes?"
Figwidget - The apprentice clearly has little idea about Minister Baratellas' activities outside of the Guild, "Well Mister Figwidget, seems that the minister doesn't tell me where she does her government business…I expect she'd be up at the castle with the rest of that lot…but, you know, good luck getting in there...", and with that, the hatch in the door is closed, the sound of a lock being slid into position following swiftly after.
From local knowledge - the ministers representing the various factions within Alkenstar (and subsidiary towns such as Martel) routinely hold governmental meetings in Alkenstar Castle. Gaining access into the Castle without invitation is however almost impossible, it is well fortified and heavily policed by the shieldmarshals.
Figwidget bounces twice on the balls of his feet, says, "Well, that was worth a try," and promptly heads back through the to Pilot Square.
Once he's there, he looks around for somebody of the Aeromantic League. Assuming he can find somebody, he says, "Hello, my name is Figwidget, and I require passage to... well, somewhere in the direction of Martel."
As Nike stops, Carran easily jumps off of her back and thanks her again for the ride, especially seeing as it started to rain shortly after/before they got near the mines.
"I actually do feel sorry for him. This is an hostile environment even before what has just happened and we leave him all alone there in the rain."
He bites his lip as he looks to the rain pouring down in the wastes while he's dry under the mine entrance.
"Something about that storm made my skin crawl and the hairs stand right up. I'm not so sure Luke didn't see anything, something made his blood rage. But his indiscrminate way of smashing the first creature he saw, would make me question him in things to come indeed. I have no doubt he'd say the same thing about us if we had done the same thing."
The tengu nods. "With every reason. However, I would like to hope that I would at least admit that I had done so under some strange compulsion. It is less the activity than his denial of it that bothers me. One who cannot accept reality is doomed to operate outside it." The tengu shakes his head sadly.
As the floodgates open and the rain begins pouring down, Luke simply shrugs and thinks figures. trudging slowly up the hill towards the mine, he does his best to not let his mind wander to the past, but the past has a way of doing what it wants, irregardless of the wishes of others. He can clearly see the cart he was riding; hear the *clip* *clop* of the horse as it made it's way down the lane; smell the good morning smells of the meadow that his house was in.
then the images replay themselves exactly as they always did: the first thing that he noticed was the shoe. That a shoe would be in the yard in front of his house was not odd; his daughter left them there all the time. It took him a horrible, rational moment to realize that there was still her foot in the shoe; after that, there are flashes of sounds and vision: his daughter on the bed, her chest open to the world; the feel of running; the look of surprise on the thing that used to be his wife's face as he stabbed into her chest; and then the vomiting as he finally came to his senses, surrounded by the patrol of undead.
A peal of thunder brings Luke back to the present, and he hurries his way into the cave.
A little after midday, Figwidget arrives at Pilot's Square to find hive of activity, passengers, cargo and crew moving around the square looking for vessels that will take them to their chosen destination. The gaudy flag of the Aeromantic League flies over one of the larger buildings in the square and, figuring that would be a sensible place to start, Figwidget joins the queue snaking into the door. After an age of waiting (probably no more than fifteen minutes but Figwidget has somewhere he needs to be), he arrives at the front of the queue to encounter a bored looking half-elf.
"Good Afternoon and welcome to the Aeromantic League, Where do you want to go today?", the league member intones in the disinterested voice of someone who wishes he was anywhere else and on hearing Figwidget's request, "We fly to Martel sir….no stop offs, no detours….just direct to Martel". Looking at Figwidget with an inappropriate level of disdain, "Would that be okay for sir? …or would you like to try one of the 'independents'", he sneers at the use of the word, 'independents'.
From local knowledge - The Aeromantic League hold a near monopoly on air travel to and from Alkenstar however, there are a number of independently operated vessels that do travel the less lucrative routes. People tend to avoid such vessels if they have the choice though, stories of airships not operated by the Aeromantic League crashing, exploding or simply disappearing are regularly told in the taverns and markets around Alkenstar.
As the rain comes down in sheets outside the mine, your eyes adjust to the gloom within the Mine Entrance. The walls of the Mine are primarily rough-hewn stone and, at this point, the uneven ceiling reaches an average height of twenty feet. The tunnels coming from the entrance cave are supported by various stone and coal deposits that the miners must have left in place as pillars.
The mines may have originally been lit by sunrods that are placed in sconces around the tunnels, but the light from these alchemical torches has long since faded. The light from outside dimly illuminates the first thirty to forty feet of the mine before it yields to pitch darkness. Everywhere, the dank walls of the mine drip with condensation.
Mine cart tracks from the tunnel entrance continue to the north, disappearing into darkness. A wooden sign at the entrance promises lower levels in the tracks' direction. To the east, several abandoned mine carts lie strewn around the dirt, some tipped over. In an alcove to the west stands a sizable but nondescript shrine half-buried in loose stone, a heavy black sheet of soot covering the steps leading up to its weathered altar; to the south of the shrine stands a rickety wooden door.
The mine is deathly quiet; the occasional whistle of wind and the gentle dripping of water being the only sounds to puncture the blanket of silence.
Some ten minutes after you safely make shelter in the Mine and shortly after you have fully taken in your surroundings, a figure appears at the entrance to the cave. Major Luke Rand…soaked through by the storm.