[Nexus] Outside XXX

[Shadowcaller]

Duel

The knight mumbles something but is otherwise not really looking like she can maintain any meaningful conversation at the moment. The phantom-sword have disappeared all together but the real sword is still firmly lodged in the Grig's chest.

Once the magnetic pull let's go she will fall right to the ground with a groan. It doesn't look like she will able to walk for a while. She's still very much alive though.

[Lost_Deep]

Duel

The magnetic pull basically stops quickly, and Vriveka steps back a bit. "Gimme a sec to not throw up after making my insides do the twist, and then I'll patch you back up." She staggers back a bit more, before splaying her legs out a bit and holding her head in her hands. It looks like turning herself into an electromagnet was not the easiest thing to do.

She's not doing anything about the sword. The blood is coagulating around it now...

[orb_of_blood]

[Dragon caves]

"Yes, that'd probably be a good idea." Draaxar's about to turn away and let her leave, when one final idea floats across his mind. "Oh, before you go, one last thing. Perhaps your first assignment could be to break up the argument between my sons." If she listens closely... yes, there it is, still going on. Faint, but enough to irritate Draaxar. "You wouldn't mind using some charm, or some threats, to stop their fussing, would you?"

A sort of mean task to give a newcomer, actually, dealing with Ruber. But Rigel is there too, so it will at least be safe, if not exactly easy.

-----

[Outside Trogs]
Pyrus frowns. He does look over at the changed woman. Erm...okay....uh....I'll try. He gently sets down the mirror and close his eyes. Soon, his bones begin to rearrange and his scales show through. In about a minute he's changed in to a dragon too. His yellow eyes flick around.

It's an amazing feeling, being a dragon! One can soar effortlessly through the air, or hold one's head high with the pride that seems to come along with the morph. One suddenly knows all about hunting, every sense is sharpened to detect small mammals which are quite clearly deemed 'food' by the dragon mind.

It's almost like sharing a consciousness with a proper dragon, except rather than there being a second mind, there's just knowledge.

Talk about an easy way to lose yourself, or forget that you were ever humanoid.

Perhaps it's clear now why Kestrel was insistent that he spend a few minutes remembering his facial features for his morph back?

Pyrus will have no more than a second of dragon morph before he's the target of a first of electricity. He's a lightening dragon, there would be no pain, it's only Kestrel being playful. Her paws are spread, a merry twinkle in her eyes, crouched down to leap aside if there's a retaliation. Guess she's not so immune to the effects of the dragon mind either. Or heck, maybe that's just Kestrel messing around.

[Rebonack]

[The Village of Puddington]

All is not well today in the village of Puddington. In large part due to the monster that has been causing quite a bit of ruckus. It had rooted up many of the vegetable gardens, eaten all the sheep, and did a wonderful job of shrugging off any defense the people of Puddington have thus far managed to erect against it.

Even their sturdiest weapons of fired-clay seem to have no effect on the creature!

Was it mentioned that the inhabitants of Puddington are all claymation Gumby people? Yeah. That's probably important.

The monster, however, is not.

No, it's more of a horrible amalgamating between an elephant, a pangolin, a hyena, and a human. Hideous, armored, tusked, and very very angry.

Who shall rescue the good people of Puddington?

[Lost_Deep]

The Village of Puddington

A pair of figures heads toward Puddington, a purpose in mind. They know what they are here to do. They know how to do it. They have all the tools, all the training. They are the best at what they do.

...wait, it's those silvery extraterrestrials. Crud. They aren't heroes! They're... scientists. Alien scientists. That might have ADD? Things don't look good for Puddington...

Well, maybe they'll save the village on accident? They do things like that sometimes.

...nope, they've stopped in someone's backyard and are examining a dandelion. You seen dandelions before! They're all over the place! They're not even noticing the monster...

Okay, the female is scanning one of the natives. That's... progress? Maybe?

[Rebonack]

[The Village of Puddington]

The villager is made of orange clay. Like... literally. The guy is made of orange modeling clay. The sort that doesn't get all hard if you leave it out too long. There's no reason at all why he should be able to move, think, or see. But he does.

"Oh good, adventurers! We're saved!" the Puddingtonion cheers.

...

Then glances over his shoulder at the monster.

The monster that is busy smashing some poor person's house.

"Umm... you are here to save us, right?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Campsite]

As the various persons gather around, MHF 1 (no glow-y eyes) places a small bone on the ground. He takes a few steps back, motioning for the others to do the same. A word and a gesture, and the bone erupts into flames, creating a nice warm campfire, seemingly resistant to the rain.

Another bone is taken out, glowing brightly for a moment or two, which results in the rain ceasing to fall on the campsite, a small patch of warmth in the wet night.

In the light of the campfire, everyone can see the faces of the two figures, though Jit will have known this as soon as he got a good look at them. MHF 1 looks like a rather old, bearded man, and MHF 2 aside from having glowing green eyes seems like a rather young man with black hair. MHF 2's eyes seem...haunted, somehow, as if he's had to deal with far more horrors than a man of his age should have to.

MHF 2 speaks up first, addressing Jit. "Where? Well that'd be the Nexus. When? Kind of hard to tell in the Nexus. Time works differently here..."

Next he addresses all four who responded to MHF 1's offer of warmth and shelter. "I've taken a look at you all...my eyes see all, and I know that you are all people, and not something else." An odd way to address them. "And that means I can trust you. Were Professor Affidavit aware of what I'm planning, he would've sent in his own creations, he'd never trust anything less, arrogant fool that he is."

MHF 1 taps MHF 2 on the shoulder, perhaps as a reminder to stay on topic, lest he go on a rant about unimportant things...

"Uh, yes. Anyway, my name is Claudius, and my companion here is called Felix. This being the Nexus, I imagine some of you were simply in the area, and haven't come here in response to my inquiries. So, a brief summary, to get everyone up to speed. A close friend of mine is being held captive by the Professor. I don't know why, but it can't be anything good. I need the four of you to enter his facility along with me, and rescue the captive. Felix, here, will provide a portal to a deserted location near the facility, which will serve as our means of return as well. For your time, I can ensure that you are well rewarded. Felix is a skilled mage and can provide numerous magical services. Alternately we have plenty of money should you desire that. On top of that, I myself am an inventor, of sorts, and could construct something, or improve some of your equipment, if that is more suitable."

Claudius leans a little closer to the fire, rubbing his hands together to try and warm up a bit, looking slowly round at the four of them. "Would this be of interest to all of you?"

[Lost_Deep]

The Village of Puddington

The female says something in some language that the fellow couldn't understand and then runs back over to the male. They then run off to scan a living clay dog. That isn't the most heroic thing to do in this situation...

The monster is RIGHT THERE. How haven't they seen it yet? It's all big and smashy and I bet it would be cool to scan. Stupid hyperintelligent aliens.

[Rebonack]

[The Village of Puddington]

The clay fellow seems very confused by this course of action. Maybe these people aren't adventurers after all? Maybe they're just here to watch as the monster destroys their village?

Maybe these thoughts are all cut short when the monster seizes the poor orange clay man in its trunk and hoists him into the air!

"Nooooo! Help me adventurers!" he shrieks in fear!

Oh no!

Won't someone save him?

No doubt he would like that.

[Morty]

[Duel]

The hobgoblins have been watching the duel with some interest, mostly because they've never seen such magic before. Eventually, Igala asks, peering at Vriveka:
So... did you win?

[Lost_Deep]

The Village of Puddington

The pair turns around to see the monster! It's about time... They then rush forward to scan it with their anatomical scanners, taking note of it's anatomy, physiology, and any ways it breaks the laws of physics or nature.

That's not going to save the villager. It really isn't.

Duel

"Well, I have a sword through my middle, but he's unconscious. The rules were to first blood... so the first real wound... so I guess we tied, since we got hurt at the same time."

Vriveka goes back over to Correl, and reaches down to touch his flesh it might take a few tries, given the fairy fire. In any case, Vriveka will then try to heal Correl of various electricity-caused damage.

[Shadowcaller]

Duel

The knight is not in a condition to protest but the only part the Grig could really touch is her head considering she isn't wearing her helmet at the moment.

It should be noted as the full plate is much lighter then the traditional one as you aren't really able to carry that one for everyday use that Correl seem to be doing.

Once healed the knight slowly seem to come to life, "What happened?" She asks as her eyes slowly opens.

[Rebonack]

[The Village of Puddington]

That really won't save him, no.

The monster rips the poor gumby person in half!

There are no organs inside of said gumby person. Just solid clay. Though given that his eyes just turned into Xs there's a good chance that killed him for some reason.

With an earth shaking roar the monster hurls the two gumby halves away!

As for anatomy...

The creature seems consistent with standard vertebrate anatomy. Though its body is constantly roiling and shifting in a very stomach churning fashion. Its neural activity is all over the place as well, as if several very distinct personalities were all vying for control.

[Lost_Deep]

Duel

"You got electrocuted but good. And I have your sword. It's lodged in my back. It's a bit uncomfortable. How about we call this a tie, and you dismiss your fairy fire and remove your sword, hmm?"

The Village of Puddington

Ooh! This is interesting! The two quickly converse and make a plan of action because wow! They want to take that back to their ship and study it properly!

They neglect to consider that it is standing right there as they discuss this in their moon language.

[Rebonack]

[The Village of Puddington]

Yeah...

There are probably better places to chat about what to do with the big angry violent monster. Mainly because the big angry violent monster has this rather terrible habit of being angry and violent at people.

With another roar the beast grabs the two halves of the gumby and devours them! Rather messily, too. Within the span of just a few moments a large tumor begins to grow between the monster's protective scales and eventually drops off onto the ground!

Before splitting open to reveal...!

A clay gumby-person were-beast! Though it is neither elephant nor pangolin nor hyena. Instead it looks like some sort of weird spiky lizard.

[Lost_Deep]

The Village of Puddington

Ooh! The pair stops planning for a minute, to scan this NEW thing! So cool! Man, they wish they had gotten a scan of that! That would have been awesome to analyze!

They aren't very good at this whole "Self preservation" thing, are they?

[Rebonack]

[The Village of Puddington]

Not really, no.

The new, smaller monster is made of clay. Just like the poor gumby the larger monster had devoured. It also seems to be experiencing some very real conflict of interest. Again, as though two different minds were fighting for control of the body.

Though... only two.

With the larger creature it's more like three minds all ganging up on one.

Speaking of the larger creature!

It lashes out a long prehensile tongue at one of the SETs, no doubt with an intent of devouring him or her! It would be in their best interest not to allow it to do this.

[Lost_Deep]

The Village of Puddington

The male is scooped up in the beast's tongue! He yelps as he is brought toward the mouth of the beast, but is unable to do anything because his arms are pinned to his sides!

The female, however, draws her stun weapon and fires it at the beast! The weapon is strong enough to knock out the average humans, but particularly impressive humans might take an extra shot or two.

[Rebonack]

[The Village of Puddington]

Well.

This thing isn't a human. But its brain isn't much larger than that of a normal human. And there's plenty of stress on its brain due to the constant battling between various consciousnesses trying to control said brain.

The creature goes down like a sack of rocks.

Possibly on top of the male.

Which might be uncomfortable.

Poor guy.

[Shadowcaller]

Duel

"Would you release me from this curse then?" Correl asks gently as she rubs the back of her head. That had been rather uncomfortable. She had still not fully recovered from the initial shock.

[Lost_Deep]

The Village of Puddington

The male does get crushed under the beast. That does look uncomfortable.

The female looks a little suprised. Even just particularly tough humans usually take more than one shot. What was up with that?

The female kneels next to the beast, and yells something to her partner. They aren't going to be able to move this alone! Presumably she says something along the lines of "Be right back."

The answer is a muffled "mmfh!"

The female then rushes off to go do something or get something or whatnot.

Duel

"Nope."

Nope?

"You didn't win. We tied. But, I'll tell you what: you were a good fight. The best fight I've had in a long time. You weren't fun to fight, it was just a good fight. And I got to try out some new things! Plus, we tied. So, I'll tell you what: Let's make a deal. I will change you back, if."

[Rebonack]

[The Village of Puddington]

The monster has been slain!

...sort of.

Seeing that the most recent spawn of the monster still lives the villagers gather around the creature and begin hurling FIRE on it! It only takes a few moments for the clay monster to be engulfed in flames and hardened into an immobile terracotta statue.

Ha!

Take that!

"Thank you for rescuing us!" the gumby people praise the pinned male SET.

[Shadowcaller]

Duel

The knight frowns slightly, more cursed bargains. She wasn't exactly evil thought, just mischievous (thought admittedly her 'pranks' were rather cruel) so it was not like he could threaten her.

Correl resist the urge to sigh, she needed to have patience here. "If what?" The knight asks calmly.

[Lost_Deep]

The Village of Puddington

There is a muffled reply. No idea what might be said.

The female once again approaches. This time she has what appears to be a XL silvery grenade launcher.

..why does she have a grenade launcher?

Duel

"If I can add one other change. It won't get in the way. It will even be helpful. What do you say?"

She has a sincere smile on her face. A very sincere smile.

Why would you ever trust a sincere smile from "Psycho"?

[Rebonack]

[The Village of Puddington]

Rebo has no idea.

Rebo ceased trying to figure out the SETs a long time ago.

Regardless of reason the people of Puddington are very happy to have been saved!

They will try to give the female a bunch of cabbages and other produce.

Made of clay.

They may or may not be edible.

The weredeor continues to be out cold.

[Shadowcaller]

Duel

The knight peers suspiciously at Vivecka, "Can you tell me what this 'other change' will be? You have to excuse me for my mistrust but you haven't exactly acted very honorable in the past."

[Lost_Deep]

The Village of Puddington

The female basically ignores the villagers, instead walking toward the beast and launching her silvery payload at it. Each ball explodes into a lot of silvery goo, like a paintball. The goo will coalese onto the being that has the most goo on it (which should be the beast) and after enough is on it, will teleport the beast to the SET's ship.

Assuming nothing goes wrong.

Duel

"No. I can assure you that you will be able to ignore it if you want, and that it will be helpful if you use it. It won't be harmful at all. Have I lied to you yet?"

Yet.

[Hattish Thing]

-----



It's an amazing feeling, being a dragon! One can soar effortlessly through the air, or hold one's head high with the pride that seems to come along with the morph. One suddenly knows all about hunting, every sense is sharpened to detect small mammals which are quite clearly deemed 'food' by the dragon mind.

It's almost like sharing a consciousness with a proper dragon, except rather than there being a second mind, there's just knowledge.

Talk about an easy way to lose yourself, or forget that you were ever humanoid.

Perhaps it's clear now why Kestrel was insistent that he spend a few minutes remembering his facial features for his morph back?

Pyrus will have no more than a second of dragon morph before he's the target of a first of electricity. He's a lightening dragon, there would be no pain, it's only Kestrel being playful. Her paws are spread, a merry twinkle in her eyes, crouched down to leap aside if there's a retaliation. Guess she's not so immune to the effects of the dragon mind either. Or heck, maybe that's just Kestrel messing around.

Pyrus looks around with his new eyes. He felt wonderful! Everything was clear, the smells of the world were magnified so heavily. Everything was fresh, beautiful even. Pyrus loved it. He giggled softly in his bizarre new dragon voice before getting zapped! He then smiles, exposing white dragon teeth, and then he does his best to generate his own small bolt, which he promptly sends spluttering her way.

[Shadowcaller]

Duel

"The fact that you won't tell me worries me, if it's indeed so harmless can't you just tell me what it is? I have just been electrocuted and I just wish to take a long bath and finally get out of this armor. Can't you grant me some peace of mine for once? You have tormented me ever since we met and my patience is starting to run dry. I just want my gender back." Correl says with a final sigh.

[Lost_Deep]

Duel

"Really? Ever since you met me? Wow. That means a lot to me." That means that she chose the best possible way to mess with this guy. "You see, this is a test. How much do you want your gender back? Enough to go on with it, despite the uncertainty, or do you fear the unknown more than you want to be fixed? I have given you my word, that's no better than any other word I could give you. There is your choice: What you have now, or the chance of something better."

She leans back, smiling, and putts her hands behind her head.

"Are you a hero, or an adventurer?"