How dare you not let me gracefully bow out!? YOU MONSTER.
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Just make lots of shrieking noises and thumping sounds in the distance. As we move forward to figure out what's going on, we find that they've destroyed themselves with their traps. Problem solved. :P
Era intentionally sets off the trap with her long, pointy stick, making sure to keep well away from any obvious dangers. "Be cautious of that one's taunting. Look carefully for hidden dangers."
Era moves up next to Anna to peer around the corner at the little monster and the trap. "Cruodh. Can I borrow one of your sticks to poke the trip wire?"
Era slips quietly back from the wire to allow the others to be in front, while Tally slips back to the edges of light, curiosity sated. "If we attempt to ambush something that knows about us, we give it more time to prepare. This is their home, so I do not think ambushing will help.. they may simply outwait us, and they are likely to see us coming. We should continue forward cautiously." Era says, softly, not quite in a whisper.
Ila moves up beside him, watching him select his tools. Tally, equally curious, flutters out of hiding to look at the device with interest. The pair function quite well as an extra set of hands.
With every move they make, Era is eyeing the group's surroundings curiously. Surely the gremlins had lined everything with bits of wonder... what sort of traps could they make with the ship's wreckage? Tally, meanwhile, continues to flutter from dark crevice to dark crevice, keeping herself hidden.
Era makes her way down, cautiously. She doesn't pay the skulks any mind, given that they've suggested an alliance, and instead focusing on the task of clambering down. Once down, she simply follows Anna across the room, and moves up into the tunnel, refreshing her light spell with another intonation and hand motion.
"I do not have anything of value to add." Era says after a brief pause, where the others speak. "I do not want to hurt things, but I understand that we must."
"We come for many reasons. Some have come to help Khonnir Baine. Some have come to learn. Some have come to find out more about what is down here. I have come because things are broken and need to be fixed. The torch above has gone out and everything is not right. It has to be fixed so that things can be as they were again. When the people were not frightened and tired from doing nothing and the streets did not overflow with the stench of everyone not cleaning up properly. When I could get sprockets to work on my project.. Era responds, likely speaking out of turn, and with her inflections meandering from line to line. Like with the creature that 'wanted to go home' her passion is clear, especially when she speaks of all of the things that are 'broken'.
"If we separate, we should ensure that at least either Cruodh or I remain with Anna." Era says, quietly. "We are only here because we are looking for the missing expeditions. Especially Khonnir Bhane." she pauses for a brief fragment of time, "As well as to learn in my case. I have never left my home, so I am curious to learn about the metal wall and what is behind it. If you can share knowledge on those things, I will happily go with you."
Era looks from the cave wall to Anna's axe, and then nods in a pair of jerking motions, moving forward through the caves, hand glowing. "I had expected to have difficulties communicating. But you speak our language very well. How have you come to know it?" she asks, clearly less interested in the topic at hand of who should go, or even if they should go.
I feel that this is an acceptable setup for positioning! What's fun, is having the darkvision folks up front to all get ambushed together, leaves us to round a corner and AMBUSH THE AMBUSHERS. And double our wealthy by looting our dead friends' bodies. :) Pragmatism!
It slipped my mind to check the map while I had access to a PC last night. Sorry!
"This seems amenable. I am ready to move forward. Thank you, Dar'shyn, for carrying the Silverdisks."
Era looks to Wrixx's shoulder as he speaks, then back down to the disk in her hand, then back. She chews on her lip for a moment. "Like a spring that holds tension, but not." she says, enigmatically. "Is anyone good with footprints? Is there any chance that what lives here has three legs?"
Era watches the rubble carefully as Wrixx sifts through it, wary of it coming to tumble down, and notes first one, then several more small, thin cylinders. "Those do not appear broken." she says, pointing to the objects. Given the lack of exposed wires, they might be useful for something else; she would collect them if the others would leave them. "They are worth about ten gold pieces, each." "Whatever lives here has drawn other creatures. Four armed creatures and three legged creatures live together in a twisted forest.
Era wastes no time going to investigate the chalk drawings. She gives the wall a wide berth, recognizing how precarious a pile of scrap could be if not properly balanced. Perhaps something had tried to communicate? Or simply to draw? Regardless, that was certainly very interesting, and all the pieces of scrap meant that something at least slightly intelligent had made this space their home.
"If our journey continues into tomorrow, I will change out some of my cantrips to keep in contact with scouts." Era says, quietly, as she looks around the immediate area for anything of interest.
Era glances down to the doomfrog's shallow breathing. "Be safe, Lince'sa." Her face, as usual, betrays little emotion as her eyes refocus on the path ahead. "Is anyone else capable of casting light magic?" she asks, as she makes her way forward. "I believe it would be in our best interest to grant light to Anna's form as well, so that she does not have to descend into darkness to fight our foes. I have misgivings towards using mine elsewhere." she says, refreshing her magic with another intoned "Lumină."
Era continues with her drawing, not really responding to the statements, clearly lost in thought. They would kill a robot that belonged to no one, or a blindheim because it possibly belonged to a killer. They would kill a wolf that belonged to the enemy if they fought with it. Would they kill the horse a thief rode into camp? What if a noble man rode the horse and the horse bit a child? They would let Tally live, because they felt her no danger. Would they also melt down the weapons of their foes when they came into contact with them? Or would they hope to rehabilitate the axes that had wounded them only moments before? As always, people were machines that Era did not fully understand. Their rules were not binary.
Era waits patiently, drawing the frog's brand on the ground in her cold iron dagger, before slowly adding more and more to the symbol turning it into an awkward, doodled form of art. She occasionally looks up from what she's doing, but nothing catches her attention. "Why do you wear no shirt, Wrixx?" she asks after quite too much time has passed for the question to be spontaneous.
"It is only dangerous if something else is capable of healing it. If we place it into a cage of some sort, then we can attempt communication with it. If it is a pet, it will likely respond well to kindness and food. Would you kill Tally if I died? Or Dar'shyn if Anna died? Or would you attempt to care for them? I do not believe the death of caretakers, even poor ones, should mean the death of a creature." Era responds with a tinge of conviction, though she doesn't look to Fal, instead holding Cruodh's spear for him, and watching his empty strap - which was designed for holding spears - with curiosity.
"Is anyone who is not blind capable of stabilizing the blindheim? Lince'sa. I do believe it is domesticated, and we may be able to work with it and find it a home.". Era suggests. "I can attempt to aid... Maybe. Era is cautious in aiding the others, only touching them with her gloved hand and preferring to touch clothing, even then. To those who can see, her movements are somewhat stilted, though her face is still mostly impassive, as she attempts to lead them back towards the entrance. "We should be careful. Attempting to swim out or climb down will be dangerous."
"I am not good at stories. Would you like aid in moving to somewhere that is more safe?" Era asks as she moves over to investigate the dead frog-creature. Tally, for her part, stays away from the froglight, right back in the tunnel they'd come from.
. "Anna. Does Dar'shyn have a command for moving to the side so that we can see?" Era asks, unaware of her ally's blinded state as she continues to not look directly at the blindheim. She steps to the side and a little closer to the monstrosity to possibly clear a path for one of the other characters who are more capable at ranged combat, before intoning once more, static energy arcing off of her glove as she drags it through the jagged line motion once more. "Zdruncina" The little ball of static arcs around Dar'shyn this time to connect with the frog's side, sending a painful jolt through is body and leaving a blackened mark. "Go away!" she yells at it again.
Era squints her eyes against the brightness, and doesn't look directly at the creature, though the overall effect is still that of staring towards a spotlight. She traces a small jagged line in the air with one hand, before intoning "Zdruncina" loudly and forcefully. She slings her gloved hand at the creature, and a small arc of electricity jumps from her hand in its direction, covering the distance between them rapidly. "Go away, Blindheim. We do not want to fight you."
"It wears clothes." Era shares with the others. "Someone has given it clothes, it is a pet. We should try to put its hood back on, so it does not continue to blind us." Era says, slipping away from the creature as well.
"Zyphus. God of accidental deaths." Era explains, quickly, with a cursory glance at the symbol. "They believe they can steal souls from Pharasma to empower their god. They mostly break things intentionally. Terribly pointless." she adds, not noting the irony of her statement.
"The city is their home. If the torch does not return, the city falls to ruin. Everyone who has an interest in the city has a vested interest in the city surviving this ordeal." Era says, simply. The bad guys did not need any reason more than the status quo was disrupted, after all. "I believe the area is likely to be more safe than it was. Several groups have passed through by now. This means that dozens have made it beyond this point, which means the majority of the threat eliminated, probably." Era shares with the others.
"I believe he may have been part of the gang up above. A friend of the other one's?" Era suggests, stilted. "Do gremlins eat faces and dump the rest of the body in the water?" she asks, looking just over Anna's shoulder.
Era follows after the others, keeping light present and available for those who had difficulty seeing. She kept perhaps too much focus on the stalactites and stalagmites, wondering what minerals they were made up of.
Era gives the body a cursory glance and then shakes her head. She'd never dealt much with the living, much less the dead.
"Danger was a certainty before we arrived." Era says, flatly, not looking at the body and instead averting her eyes towards the depths that awaited them. Hunched over as she was, the entire thing was very awkward. "If we are attacked here, we will be at an extreme disadvantage. Two handed weapons are not meant to be used in this sort of location." she informs them, hoping to usher them towards less cramped conditions. "Underground specimens would not be uncommon, and would likely be valuable. Did she disappear before Khonnir left?"
"I would not be quick to doubt, Fal. I am certain you have heard a material sing to you of what it wished to be at least once in your life. Inspiration? That is the spirit of it speaking to you." Era was clearly not Kellid, but somehow kellid influence had made it into her work on technology. Tally bobs her head, fluttering up to the edge, and sitting in a shadowy corner.
Tally quickly hops away from Dar'shyn when it starts to shake, just as she'd expected. Stupid furball. She continues doing her job with a friendly hoot to Fal when she's thanked, before continuing her meal. "Should we carry on with our mission or do you feel yourself recovering?" Era asks of Wrixx as she investigates the beetles more closely. Could the chemicals be used for glowing ink, perhaps? Would they have some other purpose? She curses herself for not having brought phials down with them for samples.
Tally looks around with interest at the room that they found themselves in. She absently flutters down to pick at one of the corpses, testing whether or not its inner meats were tasty, while simultaneously the water began to roll off her feathers vigorously. While she feasted, she kept her eyes on Dar'shyn, fully expecting it to share its bounty of moist fur at any moment's notice. Dogs were the worst. After Tally was dry, Era's hair was next, then each member of the party, in alphabetical order, before the process began anew, targeting their clothing. While the two-legs spoke and planned, she would eat, and once they were ready to go, she would flutter back to Era, cleaning her beak, before returning to the process of spreading comfort amongst the group.
"Mmmm, fire beetles." Era says, absently. She watches the ratfolk with a small amount of curiosity. "The water was harsh to breathe. Perhaps next time it would be best to hold our breath. It tasted strongly of smelting smoke, if you stay near the city you will grow accustomed in time."
"Thank you, Father. I will be going now." she says, but pauses. "I am likely to need aid, as I have never swam before." Era says to the others, before staring down at the water for a few moments, as the others begin to get in. Her faces screws up slightly, before she pauses and her hands follow a few quick, practiced motions. "Lumină" she intones, as she holds her tattoo'd hand in clear view. When she's done, the glove on her other hand glows with the light of a torch. Finally, she moves down into the murky water, wincing at the squelching noise as her feet get wet. Tally tugs at her hair for a bit, changing the colors of a few strands, which manages to distract her enough to move forward. The first moment her head dips below water is deeply disorienting, and Tally's attempts to guide her in the proper direction with her only disorient her further, leaving her flailing. After a moment, she gets her bearings, and tears her eyes open against the burning long enough to swim further.
Era fluffs up her feathers at being mentioned directly, and coos softly. Clearly it was nothing. When the ermine whines about being left out, the flap on Era's bag flips open, and there's another sound from inside. Era looks over, inside. "No, Tally, we can not put him in the bag with my spellbook." which receives another discontented hoot. She raises her hand, showing the back of it to Morgan, not looking at her as she does. It also has the mask etched into it with a golden gear behind it. "It is the symbol of Brigh's faithful."
"Father." Era bows her head to the man. Fal would remember that when Era mysteriously appeared on the Black Hill, that he had taken her in as a ward of the church, just as Dolga had verified her story, so the term carried a little more nuance than her demeanor likely suggested. "We are the latest group who intend to travel below the surface of the lake to investigate the metal structure that Khonnir found." she answers, looking directly at him. "And Counciller Freddert suggested that we ask your blessing."
Era furrows her brow, tilting her head as she looks back to Anna. "You are being literal. I am suggesting that perhaps neither is the monster. Perhaps it is us." she says, not making eye contact. "Do you also blame the axe for the blood it draws? The pen for its hurtful words? The machines do no harm other than what they are made for. They are given rules, and they follow those rules. They do not do the evil, and so they cannot be monsters. Tools cannot be monsters, only those that bear them." she says, finally rising from the creature's still form. "I am sorry that you were frightened, Little Val." she says, as if noticing the child for the first time. Tally flutters out the open door with a low coo. Era then turns, and heads out the door, ready to go get the water-breathing spells as well. Perhaps she should have traveled with the followers of Brigh. They were likely wiser. But... they were not different. And each tool was absolutely vital to the whole. Six pulleys were a poor substitute for a needed spring.
"In time, I think so. I think it could likely be pieced back together, or used for parts to make something new. We should attempt to discern its purpose, before we try to rebuild it, though." she says, looking not-quite-at-Morgan in the closest form of spoken agreement the changeling was likely to get.
Era ignores the outwards situation until Anna speaks once more. She fusses with wires, connecting red to red and blue to blue, pressing sprockets into place, and widgets back from whence they'd come, likely following along in the same path that Val had to awaken the creature. When Anna says that it was seeking a burrow, she looks up, turning her head to the warrior, who had already turned her back. She isn't quite looking at her, all the same. "It was hurt, and it wanted to go home. Whether to repair its home or repair itself, I don't know. But it wanted to go home. It went to sleep and then it awoke where it wasn't. Would you have done the same were it a little girl?"
"Stop.". Era says to the others as they charge in. ದುರಸ್ತಿ. she parrots back... Hoping to intervene before it is damaged beyond repair. But it was too late. Her face is emotionless as she immediately moves over to try to find if there is anything she can do for the automaton, though her rapid movements and breathing show that she is far from emotionless.
"More likely that Val has gotten into trouble." Era says simply as she starts to hustle along with the two, "I think she probably needs an adult." She doesn't seem as interested as Wrixx in hiding, though she does tilt her head at him as he slows down. Her own pace slows, but she doesn't hide as she heads straight for the front door.
Make him LEVEL FOUR so that you can gain SIX LEVELS in the time he gains ONE and be like 'ha, you suck.'
"Do we think that the golems will be our foes in this venture? There was no combat between Khonnir and the golem, yes?" she asks, before drawing out one of her daggers at Anna's mention of the metal. "I have a bit of cold iron if someone is in need of it."
"I did not." Era corrects, quickly. "Fal found the people." but then doesn't have much more to add, instead looking to the others to see what sorts of questions they might have.
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