[Nexus] Random Places and Plots 4

[Devixer]

[Mount Anthor]

I dunno, energy bars are pretty universally bad.

"Oh, no, you don't need to do that. I'll be fine on my own," Hildur says. "I'll see you later, Agatha," she adds shortly before departing, at least if she isn't interrupted.

[Morty]

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...

Louv're, you say... well, we're looking for him and not to shake his hand, let me tell you th- And then a roar. I take it that was the monster. Possibly in the process of tearing Marciano apart. We better hurry, Dipsnig tells Jakus.

[Rebonack]

[Mount Anthor]

"Okay! I hope you have a nice time climbing the mountain!" Sister Agatha replies before turning her attention to the nearest Pillar. She sticks her tongue out a little in concentration as a faint golden miasma washes around her.

And then...

WOOSH!

She jumps, the miasma trailing behind her like the contrail of a rocket!

...

She...

She just jumped several hundred feet from the ground to that Pillar.

[Devixer]

[Mount Anthor]

Hildur gives a little gasp when Agatha suddenly jumps hundreds of feet in the air, but manages to pay it little mind. She seems to have realized that she's just going to have to deal with the crazy things in the Nexus.

She looks back towards the trail, and starts walking. Hopefully this hike wouldn't be too torturous.

[Rebonack]

[Mount Anthor]

Yeah.

Silly Nexus.

Full of crazy things.

Of course this particular crazy thing is totally normal to Sister Agatha. And other mundane things to Hildur would be crazy and exotic to Agatha!

Like cell phones for example. Or even snowboards.

So...

Yep!

Time to hike!

The trail is very very windy and at present under the canopy of the trees. Hildur will be able to hear birds singing in the distance by the animals seem to be making themselves scarce.

[Shadowcaller]

[Adventure!]

Correl's weapon is actually sheathed but the instant the bandits starts pulling theirs, she/he puts his/her hand on the hilt. "Now, now, I didn't came here to fight. I'm looking for help actually, see there are bandits in the area, I found the remains of a caravan not far away from here which had been attacked by those brigands. They hadn't left a soul alive, it was horrible." The knight claims in the most oblivious manner possible.

"I figured you gentlemen might need a warning."

[Devixer]

[Mount Anthor]

Hildur would of course be baffled by someone not knowing what a snowboard is.

She has a pretty easy time hiking up this windy trail for a while, though I imagine as the path becomes steeper, she'll have to stop more often.

She very much loves the current view of the tree canopy, as well as the sounds of the birds.

[VampireRot]

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!

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

Rot's not in the sky! They're underground!

The vampire springs off from the Grundlekrug's head to bound down its back, digging his iron heels into more of its eyes as he does so. He turns in mid-air and slashes at the tentacles with his sword as he backpedals along the length of the monster.

[Mina Kobold]

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."

Rahona adjusts a few buttons on the Timegun and activates the trigger, causing a hum as the time-travel device prepares to send them years out of their present.

"If all goes well, she never did. Ya ready?"

Rahona walks closer to the two Fogborn as she speaks, keeping the trigger from releasing in case they need something to prevent paradoxes. Not that Rahona can create them, but it never hurts to be prepared.

[Halae]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

((Let's just run with it then))

"Tell us how much you love Sakura then," Harnel says, grinning. He's hoping Adir either gets flustered or whips out some kind of amazing D'awww moment

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."

[Clinic]

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Evan says, grinning. This should be interesting, "Is there anything else, or should I go check on the drones?"

[Slii Arhem]

Louv're, you say... well, we're looking for him and not to shake his hand, let me tell you th- And then a roar. I take it that was the monster. Possibly in the process of tearing Marciano apart. We better hurry, Dipsnig tells Jakus.

Abandoned Mine

Furt stiffens when he hears the roar, and every hair on his mangy back bristles angrily.

A low grumble starts deep in the rat-ogre's throat, and builds up until...!

"HrrourrrgrrRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOUURRRRRRRRRHHHH!!! !"

The sixteen foot long rat lets out a bellow of challenge of his own. There's something deeper in the tunnels for him to fightriptearkillmaimeatgnawchew, and nothing fights in tunnels better than a rat.

Jakus might find Furt tugging on the chain a bit more urgently from now on. Let him free, big one, and he will killmaim whatever is ahead.

[Hattish Thing]

GrundleKrug's Lair

The monster howls again as the tip of one of the four tentacles are cut off. Now instead of swiping at the vampire, the sharp spikes on it's back shoot out at the vampire! The spikes are sharp as glass and soar through the air.
Then, the spikes grow back on it's back in about thirty seconds! It can regenerate. It turns with a colossal swish of a skied tail. that sends the ple of bones around the cavern. The only living miner bleeds out. His leg is gone...bitten off....his other one broken. He lies on the floor, crying. He would never see his beautiful wife....the man was under the Grundlekrugs poison. He couldn't see, couldn't feel pain either. Just...there...The Grundlekrug snarls in a fearsome rage. Grauuugh!

[VampireRot]

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

Rot snarls as a spike skewers his left leg, but the vampire doesn't feel the pain a mortal man would and doesn't care for his limbs half as much. He swerves around the other spikes, one missing his wing by a hair's breadth. And in retaliation, the pale man swoops down and swipes at the Grundlekrug's tail with his sword, trying to chop it off with the keen enchanted blade. While working his aerial acrobatics, he wonders how he's supposed to stop this rampaging thing without killing it. A sword can only do so many things!

[Rebonack]

[Adventure!]

The two thugs laugh in a fairly mean-spirited sort of way as they approach the knight in a threatening fashion! "Yeah, those robbers sound like they must be a real nasty bunch."

...

Yeah.

They're probably planning on killing her and looting her corpse.

...possibly doing other things as well which won't be mentioned here.

Hopefully they'll be stopped!

[Mount Anthor]

Hike hike hike up the really long trail!

After a long day of walking (and probably gaining some sore feet in the process) Hildur will have come upon another shrine as the day passes into twilight. Several other shrines would have been passed on the way. But it wasn't dark yet then!

Does she stop to rest?

[Devixer]

[Mount Anthor]

Hildur, who doesn't have unlimited energy, will indeed step into the shrine to rest, and looks around inside it for this supposed food.

[Murkus]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

((Let's just run with it then))

"Tell us how much you love Sakura then," Harnel says, grinning. He's hoping Adir either gets flustered or whips out some kind of amazing D'awww moment

Adir's brows rise, but he appears to gain some composure and turns to grin warmly at Sakura. He'll reach out to take her hand, if allowed. "I... don't really know." Adir does seem to be getting a bit flustered. "I think it's more than I could ever really say. At least, y'know, say without looking like an idiot."

[Clinic]

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Evan says, grinning. This should be interesting, "Is there anything else, or should I go check on the drones?"

"Nothing. I'll have work for you, though. Some tasks. And we're going to have some interesting talks about this... magic." Naitiri says, pulling up a holographic display above her desk and turning her attention on it. "Go on. Just don't teach them too much, Evan."

[Gullara]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

Oh Harnel. Now Sakura is all emotional.

She squeezes Adir's hand, but decides that's not enough. She guides his face down to kiss him passionately, but won't do so for too long. Best not forget their friends sitting right there. "Love you."

[Rebonack]

[Mount Anthor]

There's food alright!

Mostly dried fruits and nuts inside a large ceramic jar sealed with wax to keep critters out. But that's certainly better than nothing!

The cot isn't the most comfortable thing in the world but it's dry and reasonably warm inside the shrine. The air smells sweet from the faint traces of incense. Though odd that's it's warm in here. There doesn't appear to be any obvious means of heating the shack. One would think it would be quite cool all things considered...

Outside animals call to each other.

Some haunting.

Some pretty.

And some really loud and annoying.

There's a large cricket somewhere in the shrine and it won't shut up.

[Devixer]

[Mount Anthor]

Hildur sits down on the cot and examines the jar. Well, it didn't look any different from the average granola bar, so she decides to go ahead and pop it open and eat the contents.

She looks around for a heat source of any kind, doesn't find one, and just goes ahead and assumes it's due to another crazy thing. At least it's warm enough for her to remove her jacket and sleep in just her shirt and snow pants.

Hildur lies down and tries her best to fall asleep, despite that damned cricket's best efforts.

[Rebonack]

[Mount Anthor]

One restful night's slumber later!

Hildur may be a little stiff in the morning. The cot wasn't exactly a modern mattress, that's for sure. Sunlight beams in through the shrine's lone window, illuminating the statue of that saint looking guy at one end.

The birds are chirping with a vengeance, letting their neighbors know that they're still alive and still claiming their territory.

Oh!

And Sister Agatha is sitting on a stump just outside of the shrine, kicking her feet and waiting. If approached she'll offer a sheepish grin. "I know you said not to come back down to meet you, but I thought that you would be lonely on the hike and the thought that one of my friends might be lonely is awful! Forgive me?"

[Devixer]

[Mount Anthor]

Hildur spends a few minutes stretching before she leaves the shrine. That was really not the most uncomfortable sleep she'd ever had, even including sleeping while in a plane.

She has to shield her eyes for a few moments when emerging from the shrine, but when she sees Agatha, she's a little confused, and does indeed approach her. When asked for forgiveness, she does her best impression of disappointment, which doesn't look very convincing.

It isn't long before she just gives that up, and says, "Yeah, I'll forgive you this time around. Only because we're friends."

[Shadowcaller]

[Harnel's Birthday Party]

Cessie can't help to roll her eyes at Harnel's question but still smiles knowingly at Sakura's and Adir's kiss. She knew the feeling all too well.
"Don't get too cuddly you two, it's Adir's turn to ask a question." She says with a smile.

((It might be best if once you answered the question or performed the dare, you directly ask truth or dare to someone in turn. This would go much smoother then.))

[OrchestraHc]

[Adventure!]

I don't think Alfred has ever done so much crawling. Likely because he was artificially aged past that stage, but that's not the point. He hopes whatever sadei is doing helps when they finally reach the camp.

[Rebonack]

[Mount Anthor]

"Haha! Okay! It won't happen again, promise!" Sister Agatha laughs. "The other Sisters were really impressed with my report!" she reports as she hops to her feet. "There's all sorts of amazing technology in the Nexus. Machines that let people talk to each other from anywere! Water that comes out of a little fountain just by turning a knob. Lights that don't require a flame!"

She sounds very excited by all of this as she starts bouncing up the trail again.

"I think they must have come from worlds that are older than my home is. What was your home like, Hildur? Did you have all sorts of neat machines that did things for you?"

Just wait until Agatha hears about washing machines!

[Devixer]

[Mount Anthor]

"Yeah, we have all of those things and a lot more back home," Hildur says. She thinks of where best to start with all of the technology her world has to offer. It was nothing compared to everything in the Nexus, but she liked technology.

"Let's see... well, we were able to sort of predict weather a week in advance, though that wasn't perfect. We could travel across the world in just a couple days if we had enough money..." She trails off here, not really knowing what else to explain.

[Rebonack]

[Mount Anthor]

The trail is becoming a bit rockier the higher they climb and the large trees are slowly giving way to brushier looking plants. Higher altitude will do that you know. As they climb they're soon treated to a rather amazing view of the Nexus far below!

Wow!

What a sight!

There's Inside off in the distance! The strange city almost seems to roil from this far, things constantly changing and shifting inside it. And there's Riverside! That place is much better behaved when it comes to remaining more or less the same.

Oh! And that must be Mount Improbable! The huge craggy mountain is upside-down and tethered to the earth by massive chains. Apparently gravity there is reversed for some crazy reason. All sorts of totally unlikely events take place on the slops of Mount Improbable all the time. Makes it pretty darn hazardous. You never know when it might start raining turnips.

There's the Grove. Good place to avoid if you don't want to be 'gifted' random animal bits.

"Wow, around the whole world? That's pretty amazing!"

[Devixer]

[Mount Anthor]

Hildur takes in the very scenic view, and her sight lingers on Mount Improbable for a little while, then the Grove.

"Yeah, it's great. Have to admit, though, the world I'm from seems a lot smaller than this one right about now." She takes her gaze off of the view and back to the trail as she keeps climbing.

[Rebonack]

[Mount Anthor]

Welp!

After a fairly uneventful afternoon of walking and chatting the pair will finally reach the Abbey! By this time the ground is well covered in snow. Snow that Agatha has been walking on top of as is she weighed nothing. How tricky!

The Abbey itself is a pretty decently sized building made mostly of wood and stone. A pair of large double doors loom before the travelers, no doubt the main entrance.

Sadly there aren't any big fancy stained glass windows.

Which is too bad.

Big fancy stained glass windows are neat.

"Here we are!"

[Devixer]

[Mount Anthor]

Before Hildur reacts to the abbey, she looks back down the trail for a few seconds. Probably thinking of how she could ride down that on her board. Did I mention she's a snowboarder?

But then she looks back toward the abbey, and is distinctly impressed. It's looks like a good place to stay, especially in this climate.

[Rebonack]

[Mount Anthor - The Abbey]

Agatha heads straight for the front door and shoves it open! "C'mon! You can meet the other Sisters! I'm sure they'll be really happy to meet you!"

Though probably not as enthusiastic about it as Agatha.

...

There's a reason why she gets sent on missions outside the Abbey so often.

And her exuberant personality just might have something to do with it.

Inside the Abbey all is quiet. Not a sound save for the wind outside and the faint inkling of whispered prayers. It's... peaceful. Serene. Though not for very long.

"HI EVERYONE! I BROUGHT THAT PILGRIM WITH ME!"