Telin lands next to Eleven as the group nears the structure and jogs alongside her. "Looks like trouble..."
”Didn’t invited that party to the berk get!” With a grin Gilly gallops over to the inevitable and then starts flossing. The sight of Gilly trying to floss with 4 legs is hard to watch.
"Who is good at lying, would they mind going up and asking the Berk, what its after"
She says to her fellows
Telin shakes his head, "not my forte, if you wanted to scare the thing I could put on a bit of a show, but I doubt that would really go over very well..."
Tak shrugs, Heck if i know, i don't do that really, not my style
Gilly yells back at Eleven, "I'm great at lying!"
He turns back still dancing and asks, "So what brings you here?"
The figure wears a golden cloak that blows in the winds coming from beyond the cliff, and as it turns it seems noticeably more robotic than even the android in the party. Seemingly built to resemble a human with the same material as Beak and the other arbiter. Yet some how it's slightly agape jaw and no other expression gives off an air of disbelief upon seeing Gilly's "performance". It recovers composure swiftly enough, speaking clearly and loudly to overcome the noise from the building before speaking to the group as a whole.
"ATTENTION. I AM KOLYARUT MODEL RD-4D4. THE CREATURES RESIDING IN THIS STRUCTURE ARE IN VIOLATION OF LOCAL ORDINANCES. I CANNOT ENTER STRUCTURE UNTIL A WARRANT IS ISSUED. ATTEMPTS TO COMMUNICATE FACE-TO-FACE HAVE PROVEN UNSUCCESSFUL. PROPOSITION: A REWARD FOR WARDING OFF THE OFFENDERS. DO YOU ACCEPT?"
Gilly nods while saying, "Oooooh." He then motions for RD-4D4 to move to one side, "Lemme try!" Irregardless of whether his new friend moves he trots ten feet back, Gilly lowers his head, and yells, "Ramming speed!" He then charges the door.
Yes we do, what kind of issues should we accept
"Gilly no!"
RD-4D4 moves unceremoniously to the side and follows Gilly to the door with his head as the bariaur uses his own head to crush in the door sitting between him and his wouldbe contact. The door doesn’t dent like most metals, but it doesn’t splinter the way wood does. Rather, a central portion of the door caves slightly and a split goes up the center of the panel. Yet it does hold in place, albeit visibly damaged.
”PROPOSAL. YOU ARE OUTSIDERS AS WELL. IF YOU CAN SPEAK WITH THE OUTSIDER, YOU MAY CONVINCE THEM TO LEAVE. THE PERPETRATOR HAS RECOGNIZED MY PRESENCE, AND INTENDS TO WAIT MY APPROACH OUT. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. AS WOULD BE BREAKING AND ENTERING IN FRONT OF A BEING OF PURE LAW. AS SUCH, I SHALL RETURN TO THE NEXUS OF AETGANOS FOR THE PROPER PAPERWORK TO SEARCH THE BUILDING, AND ARREST THE LAWBREAKER. THIS PROCESS IS LIKELY TO TAKE AN EXTENDED TIME. STATISTICALLY SPEAKING, THIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL LIKELY HAVE THE CAPACITY TO COMPLETE YOUR BUSINESS AND BE GONE BEFORE THEN AS AN ELEMENT OUTSIDE OF THIS SYSTEM. WHEN I LEAVE, ENTER AND PERFORM YOUR DUTIES, THEN CONVINCE THE OFFENDER TO BE GONE AS WELL. THIS SATISFIES BOTH PARTIES.”
After laying out his terms, the artificial outsider makes his way back towards the small building complex, and is soon out of sight.
"Master Gilly, do you make it a habit of breaking in the doors of those from whom you require assistance? Please stop and let's wait for Eleven to address our contact. We'll try to smooth this incident over. Just try to not break anything else."
To Eleven Telin says, "I think there may be more going on here than simply a noise complaint. Either way we should try to convince the scientist to leave before the law comes back again. I don't want to be here for too long. The officer will not be happy with us if it finds us here still and the lab not gone."
Gilly waves goodbye as his new friend leaves, "Have fun!" He turns to Telin and explains matter-of-factly, "New was our knocking having trouble the was friend on door. Gilly helped so!" He nods knowingly, "Heard be the can Gilly's noise knocking above." The goat-man looks at the door expectantly.
While he waits Gilly rhymes
"Knock on the lock,
Gawk at her hawk,
Squawk goes a roc,
Walk with your sock,
Dock near the croc."
Yup, yup. Let's see what we can do gang.. Move aside Gilly, i'll handle opening the door Tak knocks Open up! you have three seconds before i bust it down Tak will place his gloves claw on the door in question and use it's magic
Tak uses his gloves the GM totally remembered he had and looks into the room. Not just seeing the room, he also hears the music blaring out at full volume without the protection of the door in the way. (It sounds kinda like this to Tak specifically. To get an idea of the sensation in Tak’s ears turn your volume to full before opening the link. Cause it’s loud.)
From his position the kobold warrior sees a belt of some make and pants with a person inside them up against the door. They’re too tall for him to see the whole body, but their position seems to indicate they are trying to hear through the other side of the door as well now that it’s been struck. Past the person against the door Tak can find a small entry room and a path leading down out of sight. The place is dimly lit, electronic lights of some kind light the area from the wall in a blue hue.
The individual goes away momentarily. Tak gets a better glimpse of him. Blonde haired, pretty big. No look at the mans face though.
The blaring music dies down in a moment.
EH, gods the racket... He flinches as the music blares into his head. They'll never hear, someone pick the lock and stand back, i'll go in first
"I can make an attempt," says Telin while pulling out his set of picks.
Gilly backs up 10ft and frowns as Telin has gotten in his way, "No fun!" He considers charging the door again despite Telin's presence but gets distracted by a butterfly that appears to have been crafted out of metal and gears. He begins chasing it laughing.
Telin hears a telltale successful click in the door as he moves the picks in the lock around. He feels a strange and brief vibration when he pushes the last pin.
Who’s first?
Tak goes Shock and awe tactic and kicks the door open once Telin moves aside
"I see... well we are off to a great start now aren't we. First we bash the door so hard it cracks, then we let ourselves in, and with such style I might add. They'll be dying to help us..." Telin says with a shake of his head. Still he follows after Tak, determined to make the best of this crazy situation. I hope Eleven have very good ties with this contact of hers. If it was me I'd throw the lot of us into the dungeon. Then again I'd never have music going so loud I couldn't hear someone at the door. I wonder how it is that they've done that. This whole place is really a marvel.
Tak bursts through the passage to find the room is somewhat small for most folks. The ceiling is just over six feet tall, and the walls are roughly 15 feet across in each direction, dimly lit with the azure glow of the lights in the walls. There are some low plastic storage containers against the wall, but more importantly the human man from before is back. He stands to block the descending hallway across the room. He sports blonde hair, about shoulder length with a matching beard. He also wears a polo tee over a belt and gray jeans. Not exactly battle ready armor.
”Wrong choice gecko. Invasion of the home is a crime where I come from. Luckily, this isn’t my home. You people have about six seconds to decide what you think you’re doing here before we have a problem.” The mystery man holds a poleax of good quality in his left hand. It’s quite out of place in this plane, but so is the rest of the man. This guy sure doesn’t seem to fit the description of “female ratfolk” that’s for sure.
Gilly waves at the man, "Gilly was helping the modron knock on your door! HI! The modron seems to have left."
If its not your home, i'll have to ask you to leave. Bucko He puts a hand on his axe ready to draw
With a sigh and a shake of his head Telin rises slightly off the floor but only just as the ceiling prohibits him from reaching any higher. In a feigned casual tone he says smoothly, "Tak we needen't be rude, this is not our home either. My friend we are not here to fight you, nor to rob you. We came to speak to someone, nothing more. However, should you try to impead us... well, we don't really have time for... unnecessary delays. Let us be reasonable. We are four to your one, and let me assure you, your magic will not be protection enough should you try to stop us. Now please lower your weapon and we can begin introductions as is proper."
Throughout his speech Telin's tone alternates between airy and unconcerned, and menacing. As he finishes he cracks his knuckles in much the same way an experienced brawler might before a fight. It is an odd sight on an elf of such a slight frame, but he seems natural in the motion.
”Yeah? And who exactly are you here to talk to?” The man makes no hostile moves yet, but he doesn’t budge.
"A friend of my associate," Telin says while motioning to indicate Eleven.
Eleven leans into the doorway. "Hello. We have urgent business to discuss with Devic Zaitsev."
The man with an axe looks at eleven suspiciously upon her response, then to the others present. Without turning his eyes away from the group he reaches to the wall with his free right hand and pulls open a small panel. He holds in a button.
”Devic?” A slightly static garbled voice comes through the speaker in response.
”Da?” It’s a female voice. The same music from outside can be heard in the background as well.
”Were you expecting visitors? Four of them?”
“Ehh… five. Three of the clock?”
“...It’s three thirty, Dev.” There’s no answer for a moment. The man who addressed the party looks down to the speaker, exasperated. It’s hard to tell through his beard but he seems to whisper the words ”Never tells me anything.”.
”Ehh... Come.” The lights in the walls turn green and the low door opens all at once. The man addresses the assembled group, this time his tone is lighter and he speaks with a warm smile in a full 180 from his previous visage.
”You really are just here for a visit? Aw, I’m sorry about all that then. Our vacations tend to go south a little too often, heh heh! Good to meet you! Call me Magni if you would forgive my suspicions.” He extends a hand to shake and relaxes his stance.
"I can't possibly imagine why," Telin drolls as he looks around while politely shaking the man's hand. "Anyways, if we can I'd like to be gone before the Arbitor returns. After you."
”Certainly, certainly. And your name?”
The man now known as Magni descends the short steps and opens the door for the group to pass by him as he asks for an introduction from Telin.
What lies beyond this doorway is an orderly mess. Boxes with tarps over them are seemingly strewn about at random, forcing the group to continue single file unless they were to climb the shoulder-high (Or in Gilly’s case-and Sheila if she were here-waist high) boxes. And in Taks case, over his head. Looking up shows rows of small green lights in the ceiling, which is level with the last room, leaving about a foot more headroom. Against the wall to the right and down another path rests a dark metal overhang, covered in tubes and surrounding a metal door. But heading further ahead leads to an enclosure with yet another tarp drooping overhead by wires. Sparks fly on the other side of the space with crackling drowned out by a source of music. Occasionally the party kicks a glass bottle that used to hold alcohol.
”They’re here!” Magni shouts loud and clear over the ruckus. ”I’m heading to the kitchen, anyone want anything? We’ve got… well most of the whiskey’s gone now. Some O.J. though. We finally got running water last night.” He offers while opening the tarp that drapes over the room within a room. Upon entering the threshold the party finally gets a look at their contact face-to-face. Sort of.
The individual’s face is covered by a welding mask. She seems to have a torch retracting into a metal glove. On a second glance, it’s no glove but a metal hand, and both hands share this unnatural trait. They're asymmetrical with one another, but the same silvered metal certainly. A very organic tail flicks to the side behind her. She sits on a large object, seemingly just one out of a bunch of rune-covered cubes that look connected at random, and of course partially covered with a tarp.
”So. Ehh… here for Sigil thingy? Pfeh. Growing dead air in great beyond obvious to one’s that pay attention to such things. Only natural would start grabbing attention of Outside beings soon and later. They pull ear because have need of expertise of mine. You imagine? Supernatural not so super. So why you here, eh? Just told to come, da?” She leans forward with interest in the answer she may receive.
When asked his name Telin responds, "Kingfisher, Telin Kingfisher."
With a confused look Telin later asks, "What is oh jay?"
After the man leaves Telin examine the room, particularly the cubes and the strange character their contact presents. It takes him a momen to collect his thoughts. At first at least he stands speachless, trying to take in the foregin surroundings and the odd creatures dialect.
When asked his name Telin responds, "Kingfisher, Telin Kingfisher."
With a confused look Telin later asks, "What is oh jay?"
After the man leaves Telin examine the room, particularly the cubes and the strange character their contact presents. It takes him a momen to collect his thoughts. At first at least he stands speachless, trying to take in the foregin surroundings and the odd creature's dialect.
Gilly asks, "To make the water run do you give it little watery legs?"
Gilly answers Devic, "Thought it would be fun to to get out of town! What does this do?" Gilly moves to touch one of the runes.
Tak, or officer Starscale. I suggest we move before the Mondron returns with back up. i refuse to fight law abiding officers. We can discuss what we need to in a safer location elsewhere. But yes, we were told to find a contact. i'm assuming that's you Tak gives a paranoid look around, behind him, expecting a return of the Modron. He has a gruff tone, and generally strict way about him
Telin casually reaches out to block Gilly's hand, "Let's not get into anything we shouldn't.
Anyways, yes we are here to learn what we can regarding a shifting in the planes. Doors are closing in Sigil, planes disappearing. We don't know who's behind it or why. We were hoping you could tell us more...?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Gilly frowns at Telin but then smiles "Wouldn't want that! No siree Bob."
When Telin starts talking to Devic again he subtlety touches a nearby rune.
”Orange Juice? Like juice from- okay, I’ll just get some.” Magni departs for the door under the metal overhang.
While “Devic” does seem to be a Ratfolk, something found sporadically in Sigil like most everything else, the apparently metal arms are what one might call uncommon. Even creatures partially made of metal aren’t the strangest sight, but she seems to be speaking somewhat broken common. Her accent is heavy and lacking in articles, certainly from somewhere far away from Sigil. And Aetganos as well.
Devic seems to chuckle quietly to herself for a moment after listening to the answers from the party. ”Heh ‘officer’. Very well, to ze business. At least one here shows curiosity.” She lazily waves to the implausibly stealthy goat-man. ”Is not finish. Does nothing.”
”You search well. You know who it is you speak to. Devic Zaitsev, I have done travelling of my own. Met Magni and others in such a way.” She next nods to Eleven, who waits with interest.
”You want names? Zhey are group, not single guy as you would guess if you not breathe through mouth. The Outworlders. Interplanar group travelled like caravan. Hail from destroyed place. Were small time, ehh… not aggressive when I previous see zhem. Suspicious. Yet have seen proof.” At this point Devic dismounts the project and approaches the group. She couldn’t be over four feet tall even if she corrected her posture. It’s now apparent she’s carrying a gun like Eleven, but quite different in shape and of course size.
”Had spotted one week ago. Ehh… zhat is single week, single Outworlder. Not here. Hard to recognize without uniform, was with group. And had magical materials. Powerful ones emitting conjuration energies. I think nothing of it at time, but world began to fail.”
Telin listens closely to the ratfolk as she explains. When she pauses he encourages her to continue, "the Outworlders, who are they? Where did you see this one with the magic materials?"
”Egh. Outworlders are outworlders. Is like you asking how you describe prime material native. One I see had four arms. Others different. All outworlders. World zhey from... the plane is gone. Perhaps whole group was outworld. Ehh...” She pauses for a bit, seeming to collect her thoughts before continuing.
”Was in demiplane of First World. Call it Cloudrun. Needed cold iron for project. Was testing hypothesis. Cold iron make different properties in alloys than iron. Trip ended up waste of time as metal only have trace amounts in Cloudrun. I begin to leave when I see strange man with the arms. He with others, but zhey not attend to arcane work. Stone pillars of kind I not recognize. Curious as I am, I approach with questions. I say ehh… ‘Privet.’ And ehh… ‘What those?’ To which others present use weapons. Rude. Moments later ground crumble with pillars still in place, shine and sound of thunder with no rain. After ground goes, buildings nearby go as well. Soon, nothing. Cloudrun harmless place, da? Pixies live there. Never hurt nobody. Now gone. So I begin search of who I see. I zhen contacted by inevitable Marut. I not know how inevitable get my address, not go well last time. After I hang up free times, I listen to Marut fourth call. He say other places taken as well. Gives strange kind of feelings to me. Fear, but also kind of chills. Marut say I to go to ehh.... here. Hate orders, but was good deal. Have begun making Cube-Mass. I have personal reason to be here. You say we leave? Is fine but must move equipment. Who like to lift big things with Magni?”
“Not before we have a decent drink with our guests.” The subject in question comes back with two trays. One with cups of orange juice, and one with glasses of water.
"So these Outworlders, creatures with no plane, came and with some 'pillars' destroyed Cloudrun? And you saw them do this. What sort of device could destroy an entire plane?!" Looking overwhelmed Telin takes a seat and accepts whatever drink offered him. He begins to drink unconsciously his eye seeming to stare into nothing.
”Da, I say zhis already, you listen?”
“Dev, we talked about this.”
“Ugh. Ehh, I mean... ehh…” After a physical nudge from Magni as he passes to the rear of the Cube-Mass, Devic tries a different approach. After several seconds of an abnormally awkward silence, she speaks to the group once more.
”Unfortunate to say I do not know how pillars do. Would need procurement of one. Do know one thing. Devices not strong enough to take more than small demiplane. Theory is outworlders would not bother with small destruction if they could get away with more. Also outworlders do not want to be tracked before they are done, and so the scale of attack. Downside of City of Brass will remain untouched, as centerpiece to plane of fire, disgusting place that it is, stupid yobany urod ivory tower, *faint increasingly unpleasant words*... Ehh. We need plan, da? Need to find where Outworlders could get such a thing as these pillars, but also who organize them. Who benefit from doing so? We find one, we find other. Davai, think. Outworlders disappeared when they finish attack as well, where could possibly be? Ideas.”
Devic again seems to wait for input before continuing. Magni is rifling around in the back of the room.
"What you say generally makes sense. The Outworlders will likely target another small plane next. It is also highly likely that they spend some time scouting the planes they destroy before they appear with the pillars. They may even inspect several planes at the same time so to better choose their target.
You mentioned a single Outworlders who was surrounded by conversation energies who was on Cloudrun before the others appeared. I would guess we should seek him, or others like him as they may be acting as scouts. If we can find and capture one of these scouts we would be able to question him and learn much of how and why the Outworlders are doing this.
Now the really hard part. How do you guess where in the infinite universe the Outworlders might be looking to go next, and even if we happen to guess the right plane how do we search it fast enough to find out harbinger before he calls in his friends? Hmmm...."
As informative as this is, if you recall i mentioned Law officials are on the way, perhaps it would be better to continue this discussion elsewhere? Tak, is perhaps a tad paranoid, keeping watch.
"What you say generally makes sense. The Outworlders will likely target another small plane next. It is also highly likely that they spend some time scouting the planes they destroy before they appear with the pillars. They may even inspect several planes at the same time so to better choose their target.
You mentioned a single Outworlders who was surrounded by conversation energies who was on Cloudrun before the others appeared. I would guess we should seek him, or others like him as they may be acting as scouts. If we can find and capture one of these scouts we would be able to question him and learn much of how and why the Outworlders are doing this.
Now the really hard part. How do you guess where in the infinite universe the Outworlders might be looking to go next, and even if we happen to guess the right plane how do we search it fast enough to find out harbinger before he calls in his friends? Hmmm...."
”Da, deducive. Is good points. Will need to be thinking during this mission of ours if want succeed. I cannot do all thinking like did with last group.”
As informative as this is, if you recall I mentioned Law officials are on the way, perhaps it would be better to continue this discussion elsewhere? Tak, is perhaps a tad paranoid, keeping watch.
”Ay debil, what I say? You want leave, you pack with Magni. Now shush, I share idea in brainspace. Ehh, outworlders nomadic as necessity. Moving lot. Portals are needed, da? So happens, I begin work on zhis recently.” Devic waves to the Cube-Mass, centerpiece to the room that it is.
”Is what draw attention from outsiders in Sigil, not doubting. Never go myself. Hope to someday. When finishing, will track known target through plane, and more and most importantly, will open closed portal. First, ehh, we need find portal by outworlder.”
“Hold on.” Magni interrupts in a muffled voice from the floor.
”Where are we even moving this? Or anything else? I know I’m just the assistant, but that sounds important to me.”
"Hmmm yes, it is very likely that they stay on the move. For now I think it best we do as Tak says though and find another place to continue our conversation. It will take time to pan how to counter such an elusive threat."
"We leave yes. Sound like good time." Devic tosses aside her welding mask nonchalantly. Her face is what one would probably expect when they hear “Ratfolk”. A dark gray fur tone, but a less typical silvered metal plate over one eye, the eye itself is a solid glowing violet in color while the other is a more typical black.
"Suppose you folks have a couple of trucks to carry all this in?" As Magni speaks, he seems to make some inputs on the cube-mass. It responds quickly as lights race through its contours and the many blocks shift in form. Eight meld into four, then one until a single block remains. Each cube was three feet across in all directions. Now the sole remaining one is just a foot across.
”Nyet, leave rest. Someone ehh, clean it up. Ehh take guns though.”
“Works for me. I guess I can shift focus for now. First these outworlder folk, then the drow.”
"Why have guns without gun carriage?" Gilly lifts the cube above his head and carries it.