[Nexus] Random Places and Plots 4

[Halae]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

Harnel shakes his head, "Nope, that makes it my turn, since Sakura dared me." Harnel grins, "Alright, Adir, Truth or Dare."

[Clinic

"There is. There's also the abyss - Devils are from hell, demons are from the abyss. There's actually a war going on between them," Evan chuckles a bit, "But they still find time to screw with everybody else. It's kind of a losing battle on both sides though, but there's always more," He shakes his head, "My father is a greater demon, a big center of chaos and evil. Sages call his species "Balor" but the abyss is too chaotic to make anything more than general racial identification. But, then, half-breeds like me spring up from time to time."

[Lady Serpentine]

[Harin's World]

Rahona returns the high-five, having picked up on the gesture in about two weeks.

"Sure am! Gonna be quite a leap ta go back'n grab somebody from right under Old Sickleclaw's nose."

She says, forgetting that the two Mistborn probably don't know her world's euphemisms for Death.

Wait. Go back? She want to leap to a time and place where someone was blown to smithereens?

Fortunately, the Fogborn get the meaning from context, though they do make a mental note to ask her about it later on. And Asha wasn't exactly blown to smithereens; she was fine for a resurrection until the Stonebones cut her body into small pieces and scattered them a few hundred feet underground, in an area of several miles.

"Let's get going, then. Three years, eleven days, and one hour should give us enough time to get to her before she dies."

[Gullara]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

Sakura gives him a half amused, half sympathetic look. "Aw, don't worry, Adir. You'll always be my strong man." The dryad gives him a hug and a peck on the cheek before sitting down again.

[Murkus]

Harnel's Birthday Party

I'd thought Cessie said it went to the right after each dare.

"Truth," Adir says, thinking it's better than something Harnel would've put him up to. Maybe not.

[Clinic]

Naitiri settles back into her quiet, contemplative look. Still, that tidbit has clearly shaken her. And Nait had seen some things she couldn't explain... maybe it was time to stop calling Fettina crazy and just do like the Nexites do.

"This... doesn't exactly help my trust in you, Evan," Naitiri says, feeling a little bad about it, but considering the statement necessary. What was she supposed to say? 'Oh, only the son of Satan? You're hired!' "With my sister or this company. I hardly know what to say."

[Halae]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

((So far, it's consistently been the person that got asked whether they want to do truth or dare being the one who goes next. Sorry for mixing that up. should we do a mini retcon? >.>))

[Clinic]

Evan shakes his head, "I'm my own person, Naitiri. The simple fact of the matter is that as long as I'm working for you, I'll honor my end of the bargain and make your security top notch. That is my promise, and the promise I make to your sister, who is a good friend of mine. As a matter of fact, if you want me to, I can even teach you a bit of magic, like I'm teaching Tina."

[Rebonack]

[Adventure!]

Sadei continues her humming, though nods to the knight to hurry.

She's...

Obviously up to something.

Something to help with the plan.

But by the same token it isn't something she can keep up forever.

You see, all the Starspawn have some unusual abilities unique to them. Sadei can sing illusions into being. And given that she started early and nothing has manifested yet she must be gearing up for a real doozy!

Wonder what it will be?

The two lazy guards continue napping!

[Hattish Thing]

Abandoned Louv're Mine

The woman is freed from, the rocks! She almost collapses onto Jakus. She's hurt. Mostly just bruised and battered. She'd had no food for a long time. Thank you.... She stands on her own now. It was one of Louv're's creations...a killing machine...it got free...I don't know what we were trying to do....what Louv're was up to...I just make sure the mine works...

[OrchestraHc]

[Adventure!]

Sadei continues her humming, though nods to the knight to hurry.

She's...

Obviously up to something.

Something to help with the plan.

But by the same token it isn't something she can keep up forever.

You see, all the Starspawn have some unusual abilities unique to them. Sadei can sing illusions into being. And given that she started early and nothing has manifested yet she must be gearing up for a real doozy!

Wonder what it will be?

The two lazy guards continue napping!

Alfred continues his crawl towards the camp. His clothes are probably horribly dirty by now. With determination and grit, he presses forward.

[Devixer]

[To the Abbey]

After Hildur heard of the possibility of a less-than-peaceful trip to this abbey, she started to become a lot more apprehensive, mostly because she'd have no idea what to do if something potentially violent happened.

After the two have been traveling for a few minutes, Hildur speaks up with, "Ah, Agatha, is it likely that we will be running into brigands on the way?"

[Hattish Thing]

Alfred continues his crawl towards the camp. His clothes are probably horribly dirty by now. With determination and grit, he presses forward.

He's followed by Sonnya, who is invisible. She's getting rather dirty too. A large spider frightens her and she lets out a small eep! Which may or may not notify the bandits!

[Shadowcaller]

[Adventure!]

The knight walks straight up to the two men and attempts to get their attention, "Ahem, may I get your attention please? I humbly request that you tell me what you and your band of brigands are doing here." Correl loudly asks the two guards.

[Murkus]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

((So far, it's consistently been the person that got asked whether they want to do truth or dare being the one who goes next. Sorry for mixing that up. should we do a mini retcon? >.>))

((I don't much mind either way.))

[Clinic]

Evan shakes his head, "I'm my own person, Naitiri. The simple fact of the matter is that as long as I'm working for you, I'll honor my end of the bargain and make your security top notch. That is my promise, and the promise I make to your sister, who is a good friend of mine. As a matter of fact, if you want me to, I can even teach you a bit of magic, like I'm teaching Tina."

Naitiri actually seems a bit fearful of this magic Evan's talking about. "That won't be necessary. And I'm still not convinced of your competency, Mr. Evanazgrix. But, seeing as my sister likes you, and she's footing the bill for this project, I'm inclined to give you a chance." She really has no say, given that Tina will also be paying Evan's salary. "Welcome aboard. And keep in mind, I'll hold you to those promises." She points at him sternly. "My sister trusts you, but you'll have to earn my trust."

[Rebonack]

[Traveling to the Abby]

"Oh, I dunno. Maybe!" Sister Agatha replies as she bounces along down the road. Hildur will probably have noticed that any time the woman isn't talking she's singing. Singing in some strange musical sounding language that has an odd sense of power and reverence about it.

It sounds very pretty.

And she's very good at it!

"There seem to be lots of dangerous things that lurk around in the Nexus. That's why I think it's so important that we Sisters of Silence start getting out of the abbey more! The poor common folk of this land could really use our help!"

[Adventure!]

The two guards awaken with a snort as the knight approaches them!

They obviously didn't catch the full message (or even most of it). One begins fumbling for weapons while the others hands burst into flame!

"Who are ya?" the one with the battle axe snarls.

"Yeah, and put your weapon on the ground!" the one with burning hands continues.

Sadei continues her humming!

[Devixer]

[Traveling to the Abbey]

"Oh. I ah... hope you don't expect me to do any fighting if we encounter anything dangerous," Hildur says. She seems rather nervous about that idea, for some strange reason.

She does like Agatha's singing, at least. In fact, she might end up humming along to the tune, if it's easy enough.

[Rebonack]

[Traveling to the Abbey]

Strange reason?

Nah.

Totally justifiable reason!

"Nope!" Agatha enthuses. "I mean, not if you don't want to anyway! You aren't a Sister of Silence. And that means you haven't been trusted with the Divine Flame! The Emperor gives it to His Priests and Nuns so they can protect his people from evils and the forces of Discord!"

It all sounds very heroic.

"Nuns like me train to better use the Flame by focusing it through the Nine Devotions. I mostly focus on Joy, which is why I'm so good at singing!"

[Devixer]

[Traveling to the Abbey]

"Oh, that's good. I can't fight at all. I've only ever really done sport before I came here."

All this talk of the Emperor and the Divine Flame ends up confusing Hildur to some extent, so she decides on correcting that. "So, who is this Emperor? Some sort of deity, I figure?"

[Hattish Thing]

[Abandoned Louv're Mine]

"Poison isn't something I'm afraid of. Don't worry about the thing. I'm a killing machine and an abomination, and I bet my credentials are much better than some lab-bred monstrosity's."

Rot fearlessly leads the way! At some point, his sword has appeared in his right hand, tubes snaking out of the blade and into his arm. He heightens his supernatural senses, listening and sniffing for a heartbeat.

Marciano nods, Bahaha, tha's th' spiri'. Alright. Ju's through' 'ere. Bye! You ge' it. Try no' t' kill i'. Marciano and Grantaire turn invisible! The Grundlekrug's Lair is full of bones...dead miners half eaten corpses lie heaped around the large cavern. A man lies on the cavern floor. He's alive! He has injured legs....broken. It seems the Grundlekrug ws saving him for later...blood coats the walls. A large crane lies in a corner. The walls glitter with magical crystal veins. Crates of the crystals lie in a corner. Marciano starts collecting them. The Grundlekrug lies on a heap of bones. It's huge. It has no face, just a huge maw fill.ed with rows and rows of large, yellow, and bloody teeth. It has long claws that are strong enough to rake through flesh like a knife through playdo. It has a scaly hide covered with a shelled, chitinous armor plating and seems vaguely reptilain. It has thick legs that support it's massive bulk. It has eight beady eyes. It snaps a piece of dead miner with it's jaw, feasting on the remains to fill its belly. It's always hungry. It smells Marciano....but then sees Rot. The massive thing roars, the roar echoes through the cavern, Dipsnig and co would hear it. The beast drools out bloody saliva. It rushes towards Rot like a giant bowling ball. It attempts to bite the Vampire's head right off....

[VampireRot]

[Abandoned Louv're Mine - Grundlekrug's Lair]

Rot grins widely at the terrifying monstrosity charging at him. The vampire is as fearless as he brags. Probably a bit too much so. He twirls his sword and extends large leathery wings from his back.

"Let's see what you taste like!"

At the last second, like a matador dancing with an incoming bull, Rot springs aside. Well, up. The vampire gives a mighty stroke of his wings and springs into the air, trying to jump above the Grundlekrug's bite and then come down hard on top of it. He aims to plant his heavy and iron-shod boots right on some of the monster's eyes.

[Rebonack]

[Traveling to the Abbey]

Sister Agatha nods enthusiastically!

"Yep! In order to create life the Maker had to split into two forms. The Emperor and Azazel. The Emperor is light, warmth, order, preservation, and all those wonderful things that allow human civilization to exist without falling into chaos! He watches over us and helps us to uphold His Holy Law."

Sure sounds like a god alright.

"Azazel is the Dark Huntress. She's the queen of night, cold, power, and change. Most of her followers are barbarians and scoundrels who care more about their own fortune than they do about the health of society," and for a few moment some more cheerful humming!

Until something else occurs to Agatha.

"Oh! And Azazel isn't technically evil. I mean, she creates the snow after all. And snow is really pretty. But it's her followers who are the problem. They wouldn't think twice about razing a village to the ground if they thought they would gain power or wealth from it."

[Hattish Thing]

GrundleKrug's Lair

Ow! It's eyes are stepped on! It howls in pain. Then weird things happen...Several tentacles branch out of it's sides. They are covered in a slimy, acidic substance that melts the very cavern floor. The tentacles reach out to pluck Rot straight from the sky!

Ok, Now let's switch to group posting order.

VampireRot
Morty
Harnel
Slii Arhem
Singingnoodle

[Devixer]

[Traveling to the Abbey]

Hildur listens to the short lesson on the Emperor and Azazel. She's interested in it, but she's nowhere close to believing it (not that she's going to voice that, however.)

The mention of Azazel's followers is another interesting tidbit to her. "Funny, she doesn't sound like she would have such violent followers."

[Rebonack]

[Toward the Abbey!]

Information about people's faiths is always interesting! Unless you don't like talking about that sort of thing. Then it's sorta awkward.

"Eh... you wouldn't say that if you knew more about Azazel's teachings," Sister Agatha replies. "It's all about personal empowerment, right to rule though strength alone, the strong conquer the weak. That sorta thing."

Taken to an extreme...

"There's little empathy for the weak. Little compassion for the helpless. If you can't fend for yourself then you're a burden or worse. At least that's what many of the barbarian tribes teach."

A very survival of the fittest sort of philosophy.

"You can't fight. So... uugh... you would probably be taken as a powerful man's concubine if barbarians found you."

And that would be terrible.

[Devixer]

[Towards the Abbey]

Hildur opens her mouth, and then closes it again. "That's..." she struggles to find a proper word, "not exactly ideal." and then she falls silent, looking at the ground as she walks.

[Rebonack]

[Toward the Abbey]

Sister Agatha rubs the back of her head awkwardly.

"Yeah... it really wouldn't be, would it? My home village was raided by barbarians. Only a few people survived. That's part of the reason why I became a Nun."

She clenches a fist, raising her hand defiantly.

"To be the hand of the Emperor to dispense Justice! To make sure that no one would ever steal the happiness of my friends again!"

...

One can almost hear faint traces of inspirational music playing from... somewhere.

[Devixer]

[Toward the Abbey]

Hildur chuckles at Agatha's enthusiasm. "Sounds like quite the goal in life." At least, compared to her goal of "snowboard down a whole bunch of mountains." Heck, she's even imagining some sort of music swelling to what she's saying.

[Rebonack]

[Toward the Abbey ==> At the Foot of Mount Anthor]

"Welp, here we are!" Sister Agatha announces, gesturing up at a towering spire of a mountain. The flanks are thick with trees and its peak is heavy with snow. "The abbey is way up there! Normally we get up and down by crossing the Pillars of Devotion."

She points to nine HUGE stone pillars that tower above the treeline.

...

With hundreds of feet between them.

"Pilgrims have to take the Trail of Penance. It's really long and windy and takes a couple days to hike for most people."

That would require a lot of time!

"But recently we bought this neat thing from the Nexus that makes the trip for Pilgrims much faster," Agatha explains as she walks toward a shrine at the base of the trail.

[Devixer]

[The Foot of Mount Anthor]

Hildur initially looks almost excited at the prospect of a long hike - it'd been a while since she'd actually went up a mountain - but looks towards the shrine and shrugs. "Alright, sounds good." She follows Agatha.

[Rebonack]

[Mount Anthor]

Into the shrine!

Inside are a number of shrine-related things!

A table and some golden vessels. Incense burning. A statue of a woman who might be an angel or a saint or something. And a small cot for pilgrims to sleep on. Quite simple aside from the holy objects.

There's also a small stone platform with some odd geometric lines carved into it.

Agatha points at the platform. "That takes you to a similar one up at the Abbey. Though if you want to take that hike then that's okay too! I'm sure the Sisters would be a lot more impressed if you did."

Rather than taking the laaaaaazy way!

[Devixer]

[Mount Anthor]

"Oh, I can still take that hike, then? Excuse me a moment." Hildur steps out of the way of anything fragile in the shrine and checks her back pack for all of her emergency rations, which were previously for if her helicopter crashed or something.

When she's satisfied with what she sees, she puts her pack back on, and says, "Well, I guess I'll be up there in a couple days then."

[Rebonack]

[Mount Anthor]

"Great!" Sister Agatha beams! "There are eight other shrines on the way up the mountain. Places to rest or sleep. And we usually try to keep some simple food available at them as well."

May or may not taste worse than the energy bars Hildur has in her pack.

"This whole mountain is consecrated ground. Creatures of Discord tend to stay away and barbarians know better than to mess with the Sister of Silence!" Agatha assures her new friend. The trail being safe is very important! "There are wild animals, but they'll leave you alone so long as you leave them alone! I'm sure the other Nuns will be really excited to meet you!"

Probably not as excited as Agatha is about... well... pretty much everything.

"I'll be Travailing the pillars. If you like I could come back down after I give my report and hike with you the rest of the way?"