The apocalypse is here. It has been four months since the outbreak. Two months since it has reached every major city. Surviving the zombies was hard enough then you learned the real monsters were the living. Pockets of civilization still hold against the horde. Though the most effective route was by water, floatillas of combined ships have come together.
But this story is not about them it is about the few that believe in magic. This all Hallow's eve was special for it was the new blossoming of magic. With such great amounts of death the veil was finally shattered. One man, devoted to magic, finally got through. 97 year old Mavis McCarthy had the body of a 50 year old. But to keep the portal open he was aging fast.
Mavis with his auburn wavy hair and moustache was out on what looked like a helicopter pad on the far part of his lands. The mansion a black monolith standing ominous in the distance as nothing else could be seen for miles. He started the incantation the robe first shattered and fell to the ground as ash. Each layer of magical items would be destroyed to hold the portal open leaving him standing with a simple shirt and jeans. As Sona and Constance came through he continued until an elf in armor and a tower shield came through with another figure.
Then he stopped with sweat soaking his body and clothes. His hair had turned colors to salt and pepper before their eyes. He didn't bother standing either dropping to the ground onto a large oversized pillow he had prepared earlier. He raised his hand to stop the questioning before it started trying to recover his breath. He simply pointed behind him where plaques were prepared in all sorts of languages.
It says, "Welcome savior! The man who summoned you is Mavis McCarthy. One of the few wizards in this land. Magic is a legend here, instead they worship and develop technology. You may not call yourself a savior but you have the skills and aptitude to be just that. You have something special that allowed you to be summoned. It will take Mavis several hours to recover. You may explore the lands and the mansion at your leisure. There should not be any threats here but the others that came through the portal. Please play nice as there is defensive magic's in place to knock you out should you start fighting. Once Mavis is dead all magical defenses will stop and the horde outside will descend upon you.
The world has been through a zombie apocalypse, zombies roam the lands freely and mindlessly. There was a plague that quickly spread turning the living into feral abominations, if they died, they would reanimate as the lifeless zombies you will typically encounter. The great horde outside is being attracted here so their ranks may be thinned, but not all of them will be destroyed upon Mavis's death, so be aware of your surroundings."
Speaking in English and Common she asks, "Do you understand me?" She holds an ebony scythe before her, more as a standard than a weapon. Her corset, dress, boots, and jacket are black with red trimmings. Red runes are emblazoned on her clothing as well as her scythe. The blade is not as black as the wood handle but does not reflect light.
The elf in full plate seems to be able to move easily in it. His ears poke out of his helmet showing his race. His tower shield is covered in marks of damage, runes of protection, and lined with metal. He waits in front but to the side of the other figure. He then asks in Japanese and Elven, "Do you understand me?"
As reality re-calibrated around the two of them, Sona held her hand to her chest in effort of self-preservation and protection. Her eyes scanned the plaque before her in her language; eyes widening at the revelation of not just the state of this dimension, but the state of the man's condition before her. Having witnessed the change in the now "old man", concern built within her for him. Was he going to continue until he died if it was necessary? Was having a savior so important to them? As Thorn and Jelissa address her, it at least was more of a comfort to hear them speak in a language that she could understand.
"Yes...I...I can understand you. We can understand you." she replies in Common, looking briefly to Constance for confirmation. When Thorn speaks in Japanese, she too nods to him with a little bow, albeit a bit more impressed; while Constance has no idea what was said.
The first thing upon Sona's mind is not necessarily her fate, but after reading the plaque, is a concern for Mavis. "Is he going to be alright?"
He shrugs at her comment for Mavis, then he uses his free hand to touch the forepart of his helmet which then retracts behind him, freeing his loose flowing hair. "Ah, that is much better," he sighs.
"He won't die yet, his fate is woven with ours. We are meant to be death to the threat of this world. Somehow he was able to send us literature, allowing me to learn English and Thorn Japanese. Oh I haven't properly introduced myself, as you can tell I typically get focused on something and forget myself. I am Jellissa M'Barra, Messenger of Death, Slayer of Undead, and Holder of Reaper. My friend here is Thorn Omenbringer, my protector and shield. He has many other names as well but I leave it up to him to relay them. Where do you hail from, your attire seems inappropriate and more like from this world than Golarion." She relays simply.
Mavis seems determined as he stands again after putting on some magical items. He begins the incantations again and soon the items are being drained of their energy then turning to ash. He works as fast as he can but he still ages further, the magic taking a toll on him more than his mana reserves but aging him as well. This time the portal opens and out pops a thin, almost gangly looking woman, her dark skin covered in vivid purple tattoos. The tattoos run in a pattern - on one half, swirling across the left side of her face, across the right side of her body being covered by her long coat and easy to move outfits beneath. Her appearance is a little unusual - the touch of strange blood in her makeup gives her a strong, unique look. Her face is soft and calm, her jaw bone human, but her eyes are deep and intense. She shaves her hair, to expose the tattoos there, further adding to her odd look in most people's eyes. Her feet are bare except for the tattoos. Most would say she is human but you can tell she is unique.
Once she is through he stops and rests.
In common she quickly asks, "Where is your partner, we are all suppose to come in twos? Connection to your home and all."
"Ahh, you have a face," she mutters to Thorn humorously, attempting to joke away her nervousness in the tense conditions. Her eyes briefly go to his massive shield. I've not see one quite that large before. As Jelissa speaks, her eyes are stolen away to lightly view her surroundings before returning to the speaker so as not to be rude at all.
"What does she exactly mean by our fates are tied?"
"No, not from Gol-ar-ion? Never heard of it!" Her flowing singsongy contemporary rp dialect jumps with excitement at the prospect of meeting people from an entirely different realm? Dimension? Planet? Who knew! "Hail from? Interesting phrasing... "My name is Sona...Sona Tanaka. This is my bestie...umm...best friend, Constance Palmer. You could say she is my..." a curiously fun look falls over her face as she playfully looks to her friend, "pack-horse-slash-bodyguard. At least today, as we were "hiking". Um...walking in the wilderness randomly for exercise and entertainment."
That initiates an eye roll from Constance who says, "Constance...nice to meet ya," in a quite strong and fast Southern Irish dialect. "Don' let our looks fool ya. Even in our world we 'ave undead. We're ready ta fight." Constance will open the outer dress she is wearing slightly to reveal a set of chained mail. Sona likewise will lift her blouse's edge respectfully to reveal a shining mithral chain shirt underneath. There was more to these girls than met the eye. Still, they looked more like they were heading to a mall rather than ready to fight a horde of undead.
"Right," Sona will pip out as she smooths out her blouse with a calming hand, "We were living in a place called the United Kingdom. In, what I'm guessing, is a world like this one. I can see we are at least having helicopters in this world...or did at one point." She'll gesture vaguely to her feet.
As Mavis raises himself up, a look of worry falls once more on Sona's face as he bears that great toll again. "How is he doing that? I could never...He is a greater mage than I've ever seen." A moment later, a woman enters in bearing the look of otherworldly tattoos everywhere. In her world, such a strange looking woman, much like Sona in her Kitsune form, would have been killed on the spot should they see her as such. Worried on the reaction of Jelissa and Thorn, she is curious how they will receive this newcomer and instead of watching from silence, moves over to Mavis to aid him down to his pillow safely. With a calming motion of concern, she rubs his back slowly. She is possibly the only one here at the moment who understands his internal torment.
Stumbling a little as she came through the portal, Azana looked around at the strange room and took a moment to recover. Mostly she was trying to get her wits together as the others chattered among themselves. Her ears perked up as one of the two pairs started talking about the UK.
"Oh! I come from the UK! Just from the South of Newcastle." Her own accent had more than a hint of the North. She paused for a moment, scuffing her bare feet on the floor in obvious confusion. "It was kinda named without thinking about the future, though? Because it's pretty old now. I don't think the castle is even there now? But they wouldn't tell me why they won't update the name..."
Pausing for a moment, Azana looked around, her brain clearly waking up and finally starting to register that this was not quite what she was expecting. "Oh, sorry, I'm Azana. What's going on? Where are the zombies? I swear there were zombies." She looked behind at the way she'd come, clearly confused. "Wait, what was that? 'This world'? Are there more than one?"
"Ahh, you have a face," she mutters to Thorn humorously, attempting to joke away her nervousness in the tense conditions. Her eyes briefly go to his massive shield.
He grins at her comment and looking back at her for a moment before scanning the area again and being wary of the newcomer. As each of them introduce themselves he nods in your direction.
After she introduces herself he flatly states, "Welcome Azana, I am Thorn Omenbringer."
"Nice to meet you Sona and Constance, just call me Jellissa, since we will likely be working together." She says with confidence, nodding at your show of armor. "I have similar threads built into my attire," she says with a giddy smile. She then shakes her head at your references, "I know of some unified kingdoms but they don't call themselves the United Kingdom. Nor what a heli-cop-ter is for that matter."
Then she turns to see the new individual come through the portal. A look of trying to understand but failing comes over her face as Azana talks about unknown locations to her. Seeing confusion on her face she relays some of what she knows, "We were summoned. Read one of the plaques that should catch you up rather well. The zombies are at bay right now, but we will need to deal with them in the near future, when Mavis dies. At present we know of three worlds, if you come from a different one that would make four. Welcome Azana, I am Jellissa. This is Constance and over with Mavis is Sona. I think they share a similar world to this one, Thorn and I are from Golarion, as this is Earth."
"Nor what a heli-cop-ter is for that matter."
"We can talk later about it I suppose. You can tell me some about your 'Golarion' world and we can tell you about ours. It is nice to meet you though."
There was a peaked interest from Sona at the newcomer. She was from the UK! Sona looked to her with the best-excited expression of joy she could muster. Jelissa introduces her and Sona gives a little wave.
"Hello, nice to meet you," she kindly states in a softer voice so as not to disturb the mage she was comforting.
Constance, the redheaded Southern Irishwoman will nod a greeting to Azana. "Alright?" Though it is more of a way of saying "hello" than asking how she's doing. Nor is it something that she would have to respond to as the inflected question sound would imply.
Constance felt like Mavis would sit here gathering as many people as he could. From the sounds of Azana, it was being done at opportune moments though. She will look to Sona and then off into the distance.
Sona, in turn, will look toward the mansion and will ask, "From how you speak, time is of the essence?" She will step back far enough from Mavis so that he would not have to lift his head to gesture to her. "If you are alright, Mr. McCarthy, I think Constance and I are going to get the lay of the land."
"Hiya," Azana said with a slightly unsure wave of her hand. Considering, she added, "Helicopters are a kinda flying machine. They can hover, which is really useful, but use lots of fuel." She kinda wanted to say 'Get on the choppa',but she didn't think most of the people here would appreciate the Arnold reference.
Oh, hell, what if Zombie Arnold was out there? That was a terrifying idea.
Still, she needed to know more about what was happening. She moved over and read one of the plaques for a moment, and then read another to make sure she was getting this right. Considering, she turned and looked around. "Are you sure? I mean, I can do a bit of magic, and make people sick when I do it. But I don't think I'm really a hero. I've never even had a prophecy told about me, or drawn out a magic sword. I've never even fought until the zombies, just done a bit of training." Azana considered. "I wasn't that good."
She looked at the struggling spellcaster. She really wasn't sure that she was worth him burning through his life force to call here. Surely there were stronger spellcasters on this Golarion place, or another world. Maybe even on this one. The Insitute had known there were more of them kicking around Earth, but they tended to keep out of the Government's eye. Or so said the Government. Some of the researchers reckoned there was some on staff to deal with supernatural threats and they wouldn't admit it.
Mavis nods to Sona saying, "Take and use all you find."
She does a sort of curtsey lifting the scythe as if it weighed nothing with her slight bow. Then leading the procession along the path.
He nods to the mage and follows his charge. He says to Azana more than the others as he walks, "It is your uniqueness that is why he picked you. You are able to be summoned and have some skills at least. This world has nearly no magic but that is about to change."
"Ahh a difference..." Helicopters in her world, worked differently. She could still relate though. When she was young they still ran on fuel. "Not from our world then...crazy!"
"I'm in a similar boat," she'll mutter to Azana. "I've been a 'hero' a lot of my life, but not because of great deeds...," she will scoff with a slight laugh. "...But because of my willingness to take part in research about my magic. I've never felt heroic. I've sort of felt like a guinea pig more. While that's true, I know what I can do. I've held back much in my life from fear. If I give it a try, I can do some interesting things to help out here. I suppose I've learned that no heroes actually think they are heroes. Look at Harry Potter. He didn't think much of himself either. It's more, other people view us as heroes. Mavis is willing to give his life on the bet that we will succeed. I hope he is right. I myself cannot wait to see what you can do.""Please please don't tell me you don't have the Potter books in your dimension...
With that, she will head down the path behind Jelissa. Constance will jump up next to Sona and take her hand. It was clear that the two were close, and Sona could relax whenever Constance was nearby. The two of them would whisper to each other for a moment and then they will move up toward Jelissa.
"So Ms. M'Barra?" she'll question. "That is a mighty impressive weapon you have there. Reaper? You called yourself the 'Slayer of Undead'. Have you killed much undead and what do your titles mean? What is a 'Messenger of Death?'"
Listening to both sets of people, Azana looked...thoughtful. "A guinea pig? Unique? Well...I suppose I'm kinda both, really." There certainly weren't any others like her that she'd ever heard about. Even the other children weren't the same as her. Some of them had different magic, and some of them none at all. "Suppose we'll just have to do our best. Although I'd kinda prefer to go to magic school for seven years first." She paused a for a moment, considering. "Although not now. It would be really creepy at my age."
After a moment the more geometric, swirling pattern pulsed with energy for a moment and the little shield she was carrying started to glow with light. She checked that the little revolver she'd grabbed was still in its holster, along with the spare bullets she had gotten. Turning to the others, she smiled. "I'll go take a look with the others. Maybe one of my friends is nearby." Assuming that the portal wasn't too far from where she had been.
Moving over to the others, she said, "Messenger of Death? Isn't that Thanatos?"
First she responds sternly, "Please just Jelissa, I don't see you as a lower class, so just Jelissa."
Then she smiles and it stays on her face, "For all I know you might be above me, but let us not think of such things here, amongst allies. Yes, his name is Reaper, though not sentient he is intelligent and has a guiding soul. I have slain likely about a legion of lesser undead and routed several dark cults before Thorn was assigned to me. I am a cleric of the Goddess of Death in my world. The connection stays strong through all my relics and Thorn. Without them my divine spells would likely fail and my strength would begin to wane."
When Azana's tattoos lit up, she flashed wide eyes for a moment and bit her lip nervously, looking to Jelissa for a reaction, but there was nothing. They didn't care. Azana will get a chuckle from Sona though, who had watched the recent movies concerning Thanatos and she will shake her head.
A hand curls up in nervousness at Jelissa's stern tone. She had felt that tone much in her life as the mages and scientists grew increasingly stern with her. It was not the best environment for a little girl to be raised in.
"Interesting. It was theorized that the magical arcane leylines have established a connection with me, and through just simple force of will I am able to bring my spells forth. I don't need items or deep prayer or study. Assuming I can even cast a spell here. I haven't even tried...Anyways, you could say what I do is brought about by will?"
With that, as they move closer to the mansion, she will cast a simple cantrip. The prestidigitation effect would begin to alter the color of her blouse to a different shade. Instead of a creamy white, it would turn to a pastel pink.
The effect of the spell is actually faster than you expect as the creamy white almost instantly becomes pastel pink.
At a brisk walk, you get to the mansion in under an hour. Looking back you can see the flash of the portal twice more before you reach the mansion. There you find a butler waiting for you.
"Greetings all! I know this may be strange in more ways than one but Mr. McCarthy is doing his best. He following the contracts he as made. As you have no contracts you are free to mill about the mansion, eat, drink, enjoy the time he is giving you. I can point you in the way of computers to learn more about this world. Just ask and I can be of service. If you need service all you need to do is pull a rope in a given room and help will be on its way. Now back to contracts, I am sure Mr. McCarthy has said you can have anything that you want within but that is not fully correct. All possessions will be secured for retrieval of Sector 71, unless you commit to a contract. The contract in more or less terms says you will do your best to help humanity survive in any ways necessary and in return you may select one artifact, one magical item, and take as many mundane items you wish. It is rather elegantly written and in lawyer drawl. You may each have a copy before you sign. Any questions?"
"I don't suppose you have an item that can destroy all the zombies?" Azana asked hopefully. Then she considered. "No, I suppose not. You'd have used it before Mr Mavis did the whole 'summoning people with his own life force' thing." Still, it sounded like a good deal for the most part. Hopefully Azana herself counted as part of humanity.
Sona almost jumped with excitement at how simple magic came to her in this realm. She flashed Constance those "crazy eyes", as she had seen her struggle much of her life with the toils of magic. This was going to be something else for sure.
"Do I have any questions?"
To her, even butler's were not insignificant.
"I would know your name, Mr...?" she will pause for him to answer, repeat it in a kind greeting and then will hold out her hand for a copy of the contract. It was a strange time to ask that people sign contracts.
Azana's quip made her giggle a little and Sona flashes her a brilliant smile almost complimenting her on her wit. Shortly after, her eyes begin to peruse the contract in brief. As she does, she asks, "You mentioned a 'Sector 71'? What is that, if I may ask? And what is an 'artifact'? You say that as if it is supposed to mean something other than a dusty old relic?"
She will look briefly up to Jelissa and Thorn to see if they were confused on any of it; especially the mentioning of computers.
The butler looked even more dour at Azana but he did answer, "There have been several items that have worked but now they are lost after being used and the user being killed. There are useful items here but nothing so grand or easy to solve our present problem."
In response to Sona, he responds pleasantly and bows as he states his name, "Mr. Smith." He then hands the contract to her with a strange ink flow signature pen.
He obliged her questions with simple to the point answers, "Sector 71 is one of the many organizations that help take care of the supernatural or secure it. Well I am sure you know what magical items are, correct? An artifact is typically a magical item of great power that cannot be reproduced due to one reason or another. Mostly because the construction of them has been lost."
It is true at the mention of computers, she had a puzzled look on her face, but she didn't appear to worry about it. Then she took the contract and muttered to the others, "I am here to help, might as well get as much help I can get." She takes the contract and signs it and returns it to Mr. Smith.
Thorn does the same, taking the contract signing it with a bit of help from Mr. Smith. Then he undoes his tower shield to write his name more properly. With both hands free he gets it done but the scene he made with Mr. Smith holding the contract and him trying to write with one hand was rather comical.
Afterwards, he asks Mr. Smith, "Would you take us to the artifiact room, and point out anything that might be most helpful to us, please?"
Azana nodded. It seemed like a good place to start.
"Ah, I see. We do have magical items in our realm, but nothing of great power. Our capabilities have been put towards renewable fuels, some military-grade weapon enchantments...that sort of thing. Minor stuff. Nothing astounding like you are describing. Not that I know of anyways."
Sona took it all in. What was said to Azana and the opinions of the others. A warm smile passed over both her and Constance's face as they watched poor Thorn struggle in and out of his tower shield. She felt bad for him.
It seemed Jelissa and Thorn were willing right away to sign, but Sona wanted to read it in detail. Assuming it wasn't too long, and assuming within the fine text there wasn't anything too oppressively scary or halting, she too would sign and return it to Mr. Smith. She has had a lifetime of reading contracts and signing waivers for the studies they did on her, so they were familiar.
Assuming that Thorn could use, and wanted help, she would offer to help reattach his gear to ease his struggle. In Japanese, she would mutter to him, "I am imagining your struggle going bed in this. It must be difficult."
Otherwise, if everyone was ready to enter, she too would follow. If he required her help, she would follow along shortly after with him after having finished.
"I have a magic flask!" Azana said. "It makes water." Now that that she thought about it, perhaps that wasn't the most impressive power, all things considered. "It makes about two gallons a day."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You don't see anything obvious and sign the contract. Mr. Smith then signs it too. He puts it into a machine and soon it looks like it is covered in plastic.
He takes you on a tour which takes much longer than expected. Ending the tour with an elevator ride. Down a long hallway and in one of the side rooms you see the vault. There he opens it through a long process. The door slowly opens and once in slowly closes.
There are lots of cases of items. He points out some of them and waits for you to ask to give details; Artifacts
He nods to Sona, appreciating the help. At her comment about sleeping in it he looks at you confused. After a chuckle he lets you in on a secret, "No one in their right mind would sleep in armor. Even light armor is unagreeable. After my watch, I take it off and meditate for four hours. Then it goes back on, it does take about 10 minutes to put it on and off. Thanks for the hand, I always welcome help from beautiful women." He winks at you with that said.
She merely shrugs letting others help Thorn.
Upon hearing about the magical flask she states, "What is your flask called exactly?"
Entering the vault she sets her scythe next to the door. It stands perfectly upright not leaning on anything. She goes from one case to the next asking about them all. Almost acting like a child in a candy store.
"Wow...a refilling water bottle. That's something I need for hikes," she will comment to Azana excitedly, not regarding it at all as a minor item.
In helping the full-plate back onto Thorn, she will shake her head at the common sense of it all with a quiet chuckle to herself. Of course he couldn't sleep in it. As he flirts with her, it is clearly noticed and her hand will conceal her nose and mouth in partial tradition and partial nervousness. She will simply bow her head in response as if to say that he was welcome.
The two play catch-up to the others and traversing the mansion was actually exciting to her. She grew up in a nowhere village in Japan, and was in a dorm the rest of her life. Such grand places always enthralled her and Constance, particularly nice, big, comfy beds.
As they head down to the vaults, she will linger behind Jelissa, drawing close to her as she asks about each and listening intently herself. As Mr. Smith explains about the Bell of Mercy, she will linger there. Scenarios play through in her mind.
She patiently waits until all others have selected and then will, with respect, communicate, "Mr. Smith. I would prefer to make use of this bell. The Bell of Mercy"
Azana pulled out the metal flask. "Apparently it used to be magic goblet that got reforged when someone put a hole in it. It makes about 2 gallons of water a day, so enough for a single person to live on. Which is kinda good in the whole apocolypse thing we have."
Looking at the various artefacts in mild confusion. How did someone get so many? Was it like Pokemon card collecting for high-ranking wizards? 'I'll trade you this Philosopher's Stone for a Holy Grail?' "Why would you want lady's to help with your armour? Wouldn't guys work just as well?"
|
she shrieks, entering into view in a huff.
From her overly-complicated travelling garb to the magical glowing staff she's obviously one thing--a wizard.
With all that portends.
"Who's in charge here? Who sent this floozy to start yammering about some zombie attack?!? I was in a temple of actual evil. _Elemental_ _Evil_. That mean anything to anyone?"
She winds down and her eyes start to wander into the vault. "Okay, that's impressive. But don't think this makes up for anything!"
|
|
"...The contract in more or less terms says you will do your best to help humanity survive in any ways necessary and in return you may select one artifact, one magical item, and take as many mundane items you wish...."
"Wait, and are you saying that we get one artifact and one lesser item of power?
There's a distinction so I just want to be clear."
As she says this she's eyeing a rather...endless...book.
"Oh my...," she trailed off quietly in a bit of shock at the loud voice. Someone of intense personality choked the air out of Sona's voice and was heading her way. The woman stood just right in height, and had an alabastrine appearance, but Sona was more worried over her concerns.
Moving closer, in a fit of bravery, she gave a little wave to Kyrie. "I'm not in charge," she consoled, "but welcome to you. My name is Sona Tanaka. This is Mr. Smith, a butler for the mansion here. He would know best the answers to your questions." She would then gesture to the butler and then to each subsequent team member,"This is Jelissa M'Barra, bearer of great names and titles that I will leave her to reveal. This is Azana who is from a realm much like mine, similar to this one, and this is Thorn Omenbringer. We welcome you. I'm sorry you've experienced this tearing into another world or realm. We all experienced this... we are in the same boat. Can I offer you something? Some water? A granola bar? Dried fruit?"
It was clear Sona was a nervous sort of girl, but was doing her best to alleviate the concerns of at least some of Kyrie's worry in a diplomatic and friendly way.
|
|
"Hm?" Kyrie initially remarks, her eyes still glued to the book. She had tried to inventory it, to at least find some end to the endless. She couldn't even find an -end- to the pages, so she tried to categorize the topics. It couldn't be done! And at least half a dozen times she found herself stopping and reading a massively interesting missive that could not be simply passed by.
It has, she conceded to herself, been an inappropriate amount of time to respond, so she should do so now.
"I am Kyrie," she begins, tearing her eyes away with some effort. "Called The Remorseless because I have no brook evil-doers. If one hast cast their lot with the fell forces, I stay my hand not a moment to vanquish them and all their ilk. Some call it cruel, I say that the body is healthier once the cancer has been cut away. Many have died from gangrene simply because they paused too long before slicing the limb. I say let not good go undone because the inevitable was but off over long."
She nods cordially to all gathered, pausing at Thorn. "You bring...Omens? You bring things that that tell of other things that are yet to be brought?" she mumbles in rapt curiosity at how that works exactly before coming back to Sona.
"I don't need any water, I can make my own." She raises a hand to point a finger into space, but then hesitates. "Oh, wait, maybe I shouldn't do that here. This is hardly a filthy dungeon room that requires cleaning....
Um, but what is a 'granola bar'? Is it like mutton?
And, my initial question stands. What plans have we for attacking the undead? If we are to have sanctuary for some time, do we wish to sortie now? Might we have some days to thin their ranks? And when the inevitable happens, do we want to stay here and make a stand of this place, or do we have some other location we must needs run to?"
Soon the portal emits energy yet again. Through it steps a tall well-built man in monks fighting robes. His hands wrapped. He has a hood drawn up. As he looks to see those standing here he pulls down the hood and smiles. He then looks behind him and extends his hand as a slender elven hand takes his and a beautiful elven maiden steps through.
"I am Titus. This is my wife Elize. I was in meditation when Sarenrae's messenger appeared to me and spoke of an undead threat to another world. The two of us found each other as adopted children. Our adopted parents are Dhampir and trained us to fight the undead. Are we in the right place?"
He bows his head as a greeting and awaits an answer.
"I think so," Azana said to Titus. "You said a lot of words I don't really understand." Considering a little, she added, "Granola bars are like grains and fruits bound together with honey or syrup. I think. Most of the ones I've had seemed to be mostly made of sawdust."
Pausing yet again, she added, "I think we have until the summoning stops until this place stops being safe. Don't know how long that will be."
Thorn looks at Kyrie as she dissects his own given name and responds cordially, "That is true I bring omens of those I touch. This armor is as much to protect me as it is to keep you from touching me."
He looks over at an axe asking, "What about this one?"
The portal opened again, but that was not known to Sona in the mansion, as the portal lay outside of it out by the helipad. Poor Mavis would have been too tired to speak to Titus and his wife for quite a while, however, there was the sign directing them to the mansion, and if they headed there, Sona would greet them herself when they arrived.
Sona chuckled at Azana's description of granola bars. Clarifying, she soothed the discrepancy, "Hah, not 'sawdust'. That is an expression we say to say for something that doesn't taste very good. These actually are quite delicious though. Here, you can try it. Just take off the outer wrapper." Some such things were not so easily understood to people not from their modern era. She recalled the movie Incino Man and felt like she was in that role. Especially when it came to the shakespearian speech of some of the people in their crew. She took the granola bar out of her pack and held it aloft for Kyrie to take and enjoy.
"I believe we have until Mr. McCarthy perishes. Jelissa says that his fate is woven with ours though, and he won't perish for a little while yet. I still think we should take up one of these items, a magical item from here, and some mundane items to help us. From there we can go spy out the situation with the undead and formulate a plan concerning them from there. But from the sounds of things, we should 'sortie' sooner rather than later--if not today, in my opinion." With that, she would shrug slightly and give Kyrie a kind smile, wondering her opinion on the matter.
"Magical items, undead? Whatever this world may be, it's not so different than ours. To simplify I am a martial artist and my God opened this portal for myself and my wife. I make a living fighting in legal and not so legal fights. My wife here is great at mixing things together from nature and her surroundings. Sometimes they blow up some are good to drink or eat."
Elize giggles and steps forward offering a curtsey.
Elize: "I usually prefer the things that blow up especially when dealing with the undead. So we are safe for now? Some wizard holding the undead away? Are there books or anything I can read about what happened?"
Mr. Smith is about to answer but let's Sona finish. He nods to her and before he can add anything else he vanishes. Leaving only a bit of brimstone and a few contracts behind.
Next the items begin to vanish. With a zip, pop, or a snap each item vanishes similar to Mr. Smith.
In the distance you can hear explosions. They seem to be coming from many directions and getting louder.
"Well it sounds like the beasts have been released! Hurry grab what you can!" He goes to grab an artifact and the item disappears before he can grab it. Moving on he tries a few more times then leaves them. He then goes to the hallway and picks up the Argental Font carrying it on his shoulder. He shouts to Jellissa,
There were many things that caught her attention but the Raven's Head was perfect for her. She claimed it and slipped it on her belt. Then she grabbed her scythe following Thorn along the path she stopped and picked up the Ring of Sealed Souls, a nice looking Cloak of Fiery Vanishing, and a set of Boots of the Winterlands.