Outside 47: [Insert seasonal phrase that will be outdated when this thread ends]

This place is just as it sounds. It's Outside!
Want a change of scenery? Go Outside.
Always wanted to visit the beach? Come Outside.
Looking to have a climatic fight on clifftops? Attempt Outside.
Secret meetings being held where there's no cameras? Try Outside.
Want an ambush without nasty base defenses? Yep! Outside.

Any and all are welcome in the wild expanses beyond the reach of civilization. Who's going to keep you out? That's right, no one. You're already out!
Here lie vast expanses, dense forests, towering mountains, dizzying canyons, treacherous dungeons, encroaching jungles, roaring waterfalls, endless wastes, blistering deserts, mossy cliffs, illusionary oases, eldritch moors, flowering bosques, infested hills, cyclopean ruins, weed-tangled gardens, crumbling glaciers, peaceful glades, bubbling tar pits, rumbling volcanoes, teetering hoodoos, honeycombed caverns, dripping grottos, inland seas, grassy knolls, overgrown battlefields, creepy boneyards, guano-covered caves, and so much more!
The sky is truly the limit, and sometimes not even that. If you can imagine it, it's here, and something super cool is probably happening there.

And most importantly, enjoy Outside. That's what this is all about. :smallsmile:

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Rules and Guidelines

Spoiler

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There is very little you can't do Outside. However, like always, please follow the forum rules and general rules of conduct. Respect that a scene may be private or that a plot shouldn't be interrupted. When in doubt, ask someone involved in the OoC thread or by PM.

There are many areas Outside, and people can be in multiple places outside. In order to keep areas Outside separated so there's no confusion, consider bolding your outside location at the start of each of your posts, like so:

Quote:

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[An Epic Cliffside Battle]

The creepy eyed squirrel looks on at the raging battle with contempt! Contempt that only a squirrel with particularly creepy eyes can muster.

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Quote:

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[The Beach!]

The menacing craps are not only menacing today, but frustrated. Their every attempt to menace the non-existent duck has met with failure. Some might ask why the crabs are trying to menace nothing, but those people would get viciously pinched.

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Note the creepy eyed squirrel and the menacing crabs do not interact because they are in different areas Outside. They could interact, if the squirrel moved to the beach. Of course, various things like telepathy help bypass this.

Archive

Spoiler

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Outside 46
Outside 45
Outside 44: Baby it's cold outside
Outside 43: Where the sun hurts your eyes and burns your skin
Outside 42
Outside 41: Inside Outside, outside Inside
Outside 40: It's all downhill from here
Outside XXXIX
Outside XXXVIII
Outside XXXVII
Outside XXXVI
Outside XXXV
Outside XXXIV
Outside XXXIII
Outside XXXII
Outside XXXI
Outside XXX
Outside XXIX
Outside XXVIII
Outside XXVII
Outside XXVI
Outside XXV
Outside XXIV
Outside XXIII
Outside XXII
Outside XXI
Outside XX
Outside XIX
Outside XVIII
Outside XVII
Outside XVI
Outside 15: There used to be a silly pun here, but it wouldn't fit
Outside XIV: More animals than you can shake a stick at. Yes the PCs.
Outside XIII: Spores of Corruption Dance in the Wind
Outside XII: We number things correctly.
Outside XI: Bugs are Eating the Landscape
Outside X: The Rotting Corpses are starting to Smell
Outside IX: There are Mosquitoes
Outside VIII: We cater birthday parties
Outside VII: Open longer than a 7-11
Outside VI: Now with Locations!
Outside V: More civilized than Inside
Outside IV: The Creepy Eyed Squirrel's Domain
Outside III: Beware the Non-Existant Duck
Outside II: Now with Menacing Crabs
Outside

[Neon Facility]

"Why would there be random ammo down here, though?" Khannie asks as Morne kicks at one of the crates.

The thing smashes open without too much difficulty and inside he'll find!

Ammo.

Among other, less useful trinkets. Little chips and components for who knows what.

Khannie purses her lips at the pile of cartridges and power packs for exactly the sorts of weapons Morne has been using. Even a few of those missile grenades.

She decides not to question it and sets about gathering up little components that look neat. She's working on her Halloween costume, you see. And she needs all sorts of cool bits to put on it.

Adventurers always have lots of cool bits on their outfits.

If they look too neat, they just aren't very adventurer-y.

[Neon Facility]

Morne generates his grenades from a magic reservoir, so it's unlikely any of those would be lying around, except maybe in mote of light form.
Still, Morne is all too happy to stock up on ammo for his gun that won't give Khannie hearing loss, and make sure his sword is still doing all right as well.
"No drops, but at least we're stocked up again. Let's go." he says casually, heading to the goal with the canister one Khannie is done.

[Neon Facility]

Khannie wraps her little arms around one of the canisters and begins awkwardly waddling back toward the mini-boss door. These things are pretty big, after all. She might be strong for a child, but carrying something you can hardly get your arms around is still difficult!

Our heroes won't be harassed on their way back, thankfully. And slotting two of the canisters into the alcoves to either side of the door is simple enough. Khannie hops over to the nearby control pillar and gives it a smack, causing a musical chime to fill the room shortly before the door begins opening-

-while draining the canisters in the process.

And on the other side?

That nasty partly completed skeleton robot lizard thing! The hulking machine gives a synthesized roar at our heroes, raising one claw as a nimbus of plasma begins forming around it-

-and then gets blind-sided by Khannie as she suddenly appears next to the thing out of a roiling cloud of darkness and plants a suck-punch right in the side of its head. There's a sound of groaning metal and crunching bone as it gets bowled over sideways. The blast of plasma it was no doubt intending for Morne goes wide, searing into the wall of the facility and leaving the surface distorted and oozing with heat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by billtodamax

Dragon Mountain

Very well. I name you Raum, Truthspeaker. Marshall says, and the newly appointed Raum will feel themselves... solidify. The name gives them strength, a connection to the world and a sense of self that nourishes them. It also constrains them, narrowing the possibilities of who they could be and what they could do down, just slightly. In Raum's case (very intentionally, because of how he was named) he'll find it almost impossible to tell a direct lie.

The King bid me here. Marshall confirms, maintaining steady eye contact with Raum. We're here for the dragon.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gnrlshrimp

[Dragon Mountain]

Naming the bird? What an odd thing to do. Damon is perplexed. And why such a specific name? Very strange. "The King? The ssame myssteriouss creature that hass brought uss all here?" He lets the fire in his hand poof back out. This skeletal bird thing doesn't seem to pose any immediate sort of threat.

But why is it here? Why would it be waiting for the king?

"I would be ssurprissed if there were two powerful magical creaturess hidden in one cave. Are your perhapss what remainss of the dragon?"

---

[Dragon Mountain]

"There's still a trace of sorcery deeper in," whispers Cass, warning. "This bird is old, as old as everything else in the cave. But there's still something more recent to be mindful of."

[Neon Facility]

Well shoot, Morne can't really unload is gun into something when there's a reckless child flailing around next to it. Friendly fire isn't as fun as it sounds.
Morne draws his sword and advances on the creature, swinging at the legs of the creature as Khannie whacks it in the face.

[Dragon Mountain]

The name seems to attach itself to the bird, which seems somewhat revitalized by it. Faint, pale lightning crackles around its form, illuminating the bird a bit more. It does look a lot like a dessicated pile of skin and bones... but less so now.

"This is not... my name..." it hisses, spreading its wings, but then slumps back... and laughs. "Me, the dragon? No. The dragon is far stronger than I am, that's why it's asleep. I can survive in this diminished world, but it can't. I await my master, the King in Rags. He will come back for his beast, and if he pleases, take me back to his service as well."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UncleWolf

Spongy Glen

Well, this was certainly a predicament. Hoping that he has enough rope left, Dustin begins to descend, pausing only a moment to pull out a glowstick to crack open and drop. He'd go down as far as his rope would let him and judge from there. If it was just a few feet above the ground, he could risk getting off of it, but if the drop was even just ten feet or so, he'd be trapped down there so won't risk it. If that is the case he'd just have to head back up to the surface and gather all that he could up there.

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Spongy Glen

Dustin's rope takes him down to within a two yards of what he can tell is the new floor of the sinkhole. The wall collapsing beneath him had been a great help there, filling up this side of the pit another few feet. But as he's getting lower and closer to the bottom, the light from above fades, too distant and at the wrong angle to penetrate into the pit. His flashlight's beam cuts a narrow line across what's down here, and the grey mass seems to shrink back from it as looming shadows dance between the strands.

And they are strands. Like thick, fluffy spiderwebs they intersect and weave around the cavern, a lattice of fungus that blocks all light and sight beyond a few feet. The mass which was disrupted here by the collapsing earth drifts on what little breeze reaches down here, flying airily on the currents as if they were weightless. Each one curls and dances like a ribbon, avoiding Dustin as it's carried around him.

Even as distracting as the torn shreds of fungus might be, and as thick as their remainder are, it's clear that this isn't just a singular sink-hole. The pit is merely the opening to a more extensive network of tunnels and caves, supported somehow and likely just as unstable as what's already fallen.

Spongy Glen

Dustin takes a moment, trying to figure out if he wanted to continue or not. Two yards...he could get back to the rope with fair ease provided this new floor held out. With that in mind, he lowers himself to the bottom and unlatches his climbing gear. He leaves it hanging on the rope once he's done and takes a moment to rearrange his remaining equipment. He takes another glance around with his flashlight when he's finished and if there is a clear direction to go he'll start walking. If there isn't, he'll just pick a random direction and get moving. "Hello?" He calls out gently. "Anythin' down here?"

[Neon Facility]

Morne's blade cleaves into the machine's leg, bringing it down to a knee as Khannie continues savaging it. She's quick and tenacious, but it finally manages to wrap one claw around her and fling her against a wall.

She crashes into the metal surface.

Hard.

Khannie gives a little gasp of pain, but she's back on her feet in a hurry!

With her eyes widening as the machine levels a growing tourus of plasma in her general direction.

Quickly Morne!

Do something heroic!

Dragon Mountain

It is now, Raum. Marshall says, patiently. This creature was clearly struggling to exist, even here. The King in Rags bid us here. Show us where to find the dragon and we can take you back with us. He adds. He gives no signal that he heard Cass's warning, but that's likely just bravado in the face of their new friend here.

[Dragon Mountain]

What a curious creature, and what curious behaviour from Marshall. The power in his actions is completely lost on Damon. It's a little bit too indirect, perhaps, for a creature whose answer to any problem is to throw fire at it. Now that he knows this bird-thing is a pet belonging to the King in Rags, he has little interest in it. He'd be more interested if the king decided to make an appearance, but that's presumably only going to happen when they get this dragon woken up.

Cass' warning, though, well that requires some attention. "Our fellow intruderss? I sshall sscout ahead a little way and ssee what iss in sstore for uss next." The black fire spreads around him, making the shadows loom and concealing him within as he continues down the path, searching carefully for any sign of this other party...or traps. There could definitely be traps of some sort too.

[Dragon Mountain]

"The dragon lies deeper," Raum says, pointing with his wing towards the corridor Damon is entering. "It's hidden behind others, who went mad waiting for the King. They won't let you pass easily. Twisted memories of the Fairest of Lands will bar your way, too. I would have found the dragon myself, but I couldn't get past them."

As Damon creeps through the cave, the oppressive heaviness of the air only grows thicker. The petrified subterranean forest gives way to what looks like a layer of mud, with thick fog gathered around it. Throughout the fog, maniacal laughter and sounds of battle can be heard. Cries, shouts, clash of metal and discharge of sorcery.

[Neon Facility]

Morne leaps, holding his sword aloft as a column of swirling sand erupts from around him. The sand flies at the machine, and Morne hopes he can blind it for a few seconds to give him time to sever that gun arm at the joint.

Dragon Mountain

Thank you, Raum. Marshall says, meaning it. You've done well to last this long. It shouldn't be much longer now.

Marshall turns to Cass, jerking a thumb toward Damon. I don't like the idea of any of us being alone in there. Let's catch up. He'll head toward Damon, hoping to meet up with him before he gets too far ahead.

[Neon Facility]

It becomes clear in a hurry why Khannie was able to take this thing down on her own without too much trouble.

While the machine is really large and intimidating, its attacks have quite a bit of windup. Khannie is quick on her feet and busy blitzing the monster to prevent it from having any opportunity to counter attack.

Blinded and flailing, it finds its limbs being crippled and slumps over onto the floor with a resounding clang. Khannie hops onto its back, her fist suddenly causing the air around it to waver with intense heat, before plunging it into the machine's spine in a shower of molten metal and sizzling synthetic flesh. The robot twitches a few times and then falls still.

"There, see?" Khannie says with a big grin. "That guy isn't so tough. All the goblins in the next chamber are way worse."

She points at the far wall where a sliding door ostensibly grants access into the next part of the facility.

No doubt one brimming with goblins.

And not the nice sorts of goblins like the ones at school, either. Mean robot goblins!

The door appears to be operated by a simple control pillar standing next to it.

[Neon Facility]

Morne nods approvingly and heads to the door.
He holds his hand out expectantly in from of the controls.
”Oh.”
Then he presses the button himself.

Dragon Mountain


Cass nods, and follows after.

[Neon Facility]

The door opens and Khannie quickly ducks around the wall.

And for good reason, it turns out!

A fusillade of pulse laser fire comes streaming through the open door!

On the other side there's a goblin riding in some sort of chicken-legged walker armor equipped with a forward facing pulse laser cannon. Several other goblins with rifles have taken up position behind more durable crates and are offering suppressing fire while even MORE goblins armed with random bludgeoning instruments rush toward our heroes, hooting with malevolent glee!

"See?" Khannie calls out over the din. "This is way worse than the mini-boss."

Yeah...

No kidding.

[Dragon Mountain]

Damon lets out a quiet hiss as he considers the muddy foggy path ahead of him. A more heroic sort might feel the need to dash bravely into the fog to try and aid whoever is under attack, but Damon unfortunately isn't the right Zern for that job. He crouches down at the edge of the mud, eyes remaining focused on the fog ahead of him in case he can maybe catch sight of something coming towards him, or perhaps catch the glow of magic to try and get a fix on where these other people being attacked are.

He pokes at the mud curiously with one hand, reaching in to see how deep it is and how viscous it is. Why expose himself to whatever horrors lie in this fog at all? If he's lucky, maybe he can swim right under all of it.

[Neon Facility]

Morne sighs and tosses another one of his bolt grenades into the back of the room.
”What a time to not have a Gjallarhorn.” he draws his sidearm and begins firing searing shots from as safe an angle he can get on the chargers before they’re overwhelmed.

[Neon Facility]

The missile ball blasts a pair of the incoming goblins off their feet, but doesn't stop the rest of them from charging toward the door!

"The important part is taking out the guy in the robot thingy first," Khannie says. "Otherwise he just blasts you while you fight all the other goblins."

She flashes a toothy grin at Morne.

"And getting to him is easy, just try to keep the other ones away, okay?"

Then she steps out around the door frame, bereft of cover. And as soon as the goblin in the mech draws a bead on her?

BAMPH!

She vanishes in a roiling cloud of darkness, only to pop back into existence behind the mech's rider and delivers tooth-rattling sucker-punch to the side of his head. She follows up with a dizzying right hook to the goblin's jaw, leaving him momentarily confused!

The turret on the mech begins swinging wildly, strafing laser fire without care or aim and catching several goblins!

Looks like Khannie has made an opening!

[Dragon Mountain]

The mud is, unfortunately, quite thick and maybe up to the knees of an adult human. He will see a flash of lightning in the fog in front of him, briefly illuminating four short, stocky humanoid figures and something larger, but gangly and wretched. There's a hideous shriek and smell of burning flesh.

Cass and Marshall will see much the same, most likely, as they come into the fog and the mud. Cass will also recognize the telltale feeling of sorcery discharging. Raum seems content to stay in the petrified grove for now, but he also creeps closer to the exit, with trepidation but also determination.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arkhosia

Clearing

Murasaki nods in agreement. It was harsh, perhaps, but it was true. "And how have your travels in this land been, may I ask?" The spirit was eager to hear about her experiences; she too hadn't seen much of this world, most likely even less than Keiko herself. Having to hide within a sword was a fairly stationary and confining limitation, after all.

---

"I have not been traveling long," Keiko says. "Less than a sennight, I would estimate. But I have seen much, a city of people much stranger and more different to each other than any in my own home." She looks back in the direction of the city she came from.

Dragon Mountain

Marshall draws the crowbar from his jacket, holding it firmly in one hand as he approaches Damon. Don't believe your senses here. He cautions him, before motioning to the little earth spirit still trundling along behind him. Earn your keep, harden this up. He adds quietly, and the little spirit will try and use its innate connection to the earth to solidify the mud in a path in front of them.

Is what you sensed coming from any of those? He asks Cass as the spirit works. Hey, he was paying attention.

[Neon Facility]

”Now Miss, I-“ his eyes go wide. You can’t see it, but they do. The barest Of whispers escapes him no doubt inaudible to anyone except maybe his god.
”Vehicle segment.”

Morne sprints forward, twirling his sword. He makes exactly three cuts as he tries to keep the goblins from clubbing him. He leaps, vanishes, and reappears in front of the pilot with a downward chop. If he can, he’ll wipe it out and then steal that sweet junk-walker for himself.

[Neon Facility]

Oh hey look.

Morne has a sweet junk walker now.

Khannie leaps off the machine and hits the ground at a sprint, dodging between several goblins before hauling back and raking her burning hand through a large metal crate. Molten debris get flung into the faces of several of the goblin gunners, sending them scrabbling at their eyes in a panic and generally suppressing their covering fire.

The little girl ducks under a lunging goblin attack, responding with a quick one-two punch into the thing's solar plexus and throat before kicking the sputtering monster away.

And then?

HORROR!

A goblin grabs Khannie from behind! And several more close and begin whapping her with pipes!

This probably isn't how she was intending for this fight to play out.

Irradiated Wasteland - The Sanctum of Dust, Drider

Malkeizathek stares forward blankly for several seconds, his gaze vacant and empty from beneath his rigid, iron crown. The drider will begin to feel the bitter liquid seep lower through their system, the cold creating an uncomfortable sensation as it pours down into their innards, infecting veins, devouring organs, dissolving flesh.

The pain is indescribable, as if rotting away from the inside at an impossibly rapid pace. The lich steps backwards, gesturing towards the obelisk at the center of the chamber.

https://fontmeme.com/permalink/18102...f66b693ce1.png

https://fontmeme.com/permalink/18102...2859e280d6.png

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Irradiated Wasteland- Sanctum of Dust, Elf

The lich stares forward blankly for several seconds, his gaze vacant and empty from beneath his rigid, iron crown. Finally, once she finishes her chalice, the undead wizard steps aside, cloak dragging across the ash-covered floor. The elf will begin to feel the bitter liquid seep lower through her system, the cold creating an uncomfortable sensation as it pours down into her innards, infecting veins, devouring organs, dissolving flesh.

The pain is indescribable, as if rotting away from the inside at an impossibly rapid pace. The lich steps backwards, gesturing towards the obelisk at the center of the chamber.

https://fontmeme.com/permalink/18102...b9bc6a3b3d.png

https://fontmeme.com/permalink/18102...2859e280d6.png

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[Conference Z - Field Facility]

As Anika rushes into the enormous tent hidden below the tall hill, she'll find herself within what appears to be some sort of medical facility. Men and women in ominous gray coats and medical masks take notes and observe various activities, monitoring a row of sinister-looking tanks or taking notes as doctors perform unusual surgeries within sterile, plastic structures within.

The walls themselves are flanked by dozens of tables filled with alchemical and scientific equipment, and several sick-looking citizens sit within chairs against a wall.

--

Of more immediate concern, a number of armed guards direct their firearms towards Anika, one of which calls out.

"No sudden moves! This is a quarantined zone, and you have intruded on private property!"

Irradiated Wasteland- Sanctum of Dust- Elf

Elimnae will move as fast as she can towards the obelisk, assuming she's been released from the lich's telekinetic grip, at least. She'll run if she can, hobble if she must, but however she does it, she wants to get there and fast.

She'd drink it again, though, if the lich told her it'd help her gain knowledge.

Irradiated Wasteland - The Sanctum of Dust, Drider

The drider glances towards the lich, their eyes going wide as they process what he's saying through the cloud of pain. They stumble toward the obelisk, legs moving like a new-born as they struggle to through the pain to reach the obelisk. They reach out to touch it as they get close, front legs giving out.