[Nexus] Outside XXXII

[Earl of Purple]

Attacked Village

"I didn't see, I'm afraid. I'd been clubbed off the wall by then. But they came from the south east. So, follow the other tracks. Save me, if you can. If not, please kill me. They have my girlfriend." Saving him shouldn't be too hard; the wounds on their own won't kill him, and he'll recover completely even without magical healing or super-high-tech. "Take this; it's the armoury key. The armoury is in the big building; we've got all sorts of stuff there." The guard reaches into a pocket and takes out a small key on a keyring with a tiny soldier on it.

[Surtr]

[Attacked Village]

"Alright, rest easy now." Esruc takes a different pouch from his pocket, its Sleep powder. Due to the man's weakened state the powder should put him to sleep easily. Once the man is asleep and numbed most like, as this sleep is a bit different, he will push the bone poking out until it looks like its in the right position. Esruc then takes out some bandages in place of powder. The bandages are coated with Medica IV which when applied can heal even internal injuries like fractured bone and internal bleeding. Afterward he will take the man to the inside of the armory via litter pulled by horse, the key given should also open the door. Once inside He will place the man in corner with the litter. From the horse he will take 1 week's worth of rations and place it next to the man with instructions to make it last that long. The man should heal within a week but he will be in pain the whole time as the Medica he made is a far cry from what a Medic can really make. With that done he looks inside the armory for anything of use.

[Earl of Purple]

Attacked Village

There's a rack of shotguns against one wall, and several boxes of shells for them. There's solid slugs and scatter-shot available. There's also a rack of swords next to it; most of the swords are plain, steel, functional items of ruthless efficiency and little style, but there's also a sabre made of magically-hardened crystal and a large, silver-plated zweihander. In addition, there's a collection of kevlar greaves and bracers, and a single steel breastplate.

The guard, incidentally, is asleep.

[Surtr]

[Attacked Village]

I've heard of some people that used guns back in my world in another town called Lagaard. This looks like one of the basic types I saw in pictures. As long as the slavers aren't using my kind of black steel it should work on them. Esruc takes the shotgun and the ammo which he puts on his horse but before he leaves he locks the armory from the inside. He then looks for the right tracks to follow.

[Lex-Kat]

{Melody's Island- Barn}

"OK, sounds good."

He can't help but sound a bit relieved to avoid the conversation with Estia. And when they finish up dishes he will lean over to give Jezebelle a kiss. Then says he has to run to his boat to take care of some stuff really quick.

Jezebelle nods her head once. Okay. Um.... I hate to ask this of you, but... she bites her lower lip. Nev.. never mind. I'll ask Melody.

[Forest Lake]

"I don't hunt all that often, and I didn't have a bow or anything."

He washes quickly scrubbing away the blood and dirt before climbing onto the shore and putting on his shirt and laying down in the grass to dry off a bit.

"You can look now."

Do you normally hunt without a bow? she turns back around.

[McBish]

{Melody's Island- Barn}

Derek stops and turns to her.

"What? I'd be happy to help if I can."

--------------

[Forest Lake]

"I don't normally hunt at all. But I needed a deer so I chased one down."

He grins at this apparently proud of being able to chase down a deer.

Hui should quickly notice that Calvin has an unusual habit of picking leaves of grass and chewing them up from one end to the other. He doesn't remember when he started this habit, he just always liked how it felt when he did it.

[Lex-Kat]

{Melody's Island- Barn}

Well, Lyanna is going to need a swimsuit, if you're going to teach her as well. And... so will Estia, for that matter. I'm certain she'll come around, once she sees the fun Lyanna's having. Assuming neither of us drown. she adds the last part, almost involuntarily.

I can handle this on my own, but I won't have time to get them suits. she indicates the food she's still stirring.

[Forest Lake]

That's pretty fast. she doesn't notice what he's eating, though she does notice he's picking at the grass. She doesn't say anything though, not wishing to offend. Maybe it's a strange human custom. Where are you from?

[McBish]

{Melody's Island- Barn}

"Yeah if you could point me in the right direction I should be able to do that. Though I wouldn't be surprised if the girls and my taste in swimsuits differs."

He assumes that he can manage, but then again he might be wrong there.

-------------

[Forest Lake]

"Originally, a place a long ways from here. Currently in the nearby city of Inside. How about you, are you from around here?"

[Lex-Kat]

{Melody's Island- Barn}

Well, and again she bites her lip. I was kinda hoping you could take them with you. she twists back and forth slightly, giving Derek an innocent look. I'll give you some gems you can trade. They should easily pay for their suits, and a single piece one for me.

[Forest Lake]

"Currently, I live near Judy and her wife, Mint. I help to take care of their child, Xerina. They are a nice couple.

But originally, I come from very far away. A city called cymylau. Home of my kind. It's in the mountains, I believe in the far North. But I've been fearful of going back."

[McBish]

{Melody's Island- Barn}

"Ah that would work out great. I would be happy to take them."

Good he would have hated to have been blamed for picking the wrong color of bathing suit or something like that.

-----------------

[Forest Lake]

"If you don't mind me saying you seem pretty fearful in general. I would expect someone of your size to be harder to intimidate. No offense."

Calvin doesn't ask any questions about the family she stays with figuring she might get suspicious again.

[Shadowcaller]

[Mana Gathering]

Jakus will pick the two short statured individuals off of his back and place them on the ground, before lowing the large trunk he was carrying on his back. After it's off his back, he frowns at the carving, "It's a circle that says Fight Ring. That doesn't particularly seem good."

"Ssoundss about normal for demonss, doessn't it?" Hardly pleasant news, but Damon doesn't look particularly concerned. "I take it we're going to sstop them then? Or do you reckon we need to call in backup, or ssomething?"

[Mana Gathering]

It's worth noting that as before leaving Kuko would have played a weight reducing song to decrease the weight of Jakus' load. "How should we begin setting up Ms. Jyallan?" he asks the anthropologist-magician-scientist.

[Mana Gathering]

Surt puts down what he had carried. It looks like this will be a spot where he will harvest mana. He wondrs how long it would take. As soon as he is done he does something. "I'm just going to try something...." His left gauntlet glows at the orb part and starts to vibrate quickly. After a bit he puts raises his palm. This results in a sonar-like radar that detects life-forms within a half-kilometer area be it on land, air, water or underground. With this he should detect if anything plans to attack them. He will continue to do this while the harvest is ongoing.

[Mana Gathering]

Surt will as soon as he scans the area notice a group of humanoid creatures are closing in on their location while the goblin instructs the half-ogre to place her equipment in the middle of the ring. "Fight ring? Well, of course I knew that! But I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, now try to connect the thingmajjober to the boxshapeaddodle ." She directs the half-ogre while she start to unpack her tools while looking up at Kuko. "You could help Jallus attached the thingamajjiober! Just screw off the bolts first and stick it into the boxshapeaddodle."

[Cyan Beach]

"I think I need to go back to Watchtower." The dragon declares concernedly. "Have you been there before?" He still wasn't sure what to call this version of Damon. DamonX?

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cyan Beach]

"I have not. I am not familiar with much of thiss place." Damon frowns. Here he'd been, hoping for a nice little adventure, maybe some fun with a few ladies...

And instead he'd actually ended up curtaining with a dragon...

And now he's got to deal with demons?

Can't even escape the damn things here!

"I asssume it would be too much to hope for it to be nearby? If we're going to have to fly, you're carrying me. I am not becoming a dragon. I don't do that any more."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cyan Beach]

"It's quite a distance away actually so I guess you have to ride me, but you should be pretty good at it by now eh?" Vizek replies with a toothy grin.

Meanwhile there is still that demon underneath the dragons claw, they have to take care of that too don't they?

[Earl of Purple]

Attacked Village

((How is he locking the armoury from the inside and then leaving? There's only one way in, and the lock has been enspelled to prevent people from using magic to lock or unlock it. It's possible to break the spell, but that would require lifting all the magical protections on the armoury.))

There's signs of wagons going through the south-east gate and also another gate to the east quite recently. Lots of people have travelled through the gates in both directions, so it's hard to tell how many they were or in which direction they were going, and all the gates are open.

[Lex-Kat]

{Melody's Island- Barn}

"Ah that would work out great. I would be happy to take them."

Good he would have hated to have been blamed for picking the wrong color of bathing suit or something like that.

Jezebelle raises an eyebrow and smiles. You think so, do you. It's too bad Reinholdt isn't here. You could ask him to go along.

[Forest Lake]

"If you don't mind me saying you seem pretty fearful in general. I would expect someone of your size to be harder to intimidate. No offense."

Calvin doesn't ask any questions about the family she stays with figuring she might get suspicious again.

I've learned the hard way to fear humans. Hui says, frowning. Because you are so small, it makes you a harder target to hit. You get a whole village together, who see a giant as something to fear and hate.... she leaves the rest unsaid. I was just lucky Vilheim and Kara came along when they did.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cyan Beach]

"Why don't you jusst eat or kill that demon already? I could alwayss usse more asshess, but that would probably take a little while." These demons don't burn easy.

Which would normally make things more fun, but they're kind of in a hurry here. Or something.

Damon expertly climbs up onto Vizek's back. It's like riding a bike. Once you learn how to climb onto a dragon's back, you never forget. "Riding you. Hilariouss." And suddenly it's Darrel there instead, "Why, I'd never have expected someone like Miss Vivecka, a beautiful lady and excellent companion, to resort to such crude jokes!"

[McBish]

{Melody's Island- Barn}

"Rein-who?"

He already seems to get along pretty well with Lyanna, and he hopes Estia will warm up to him to. He didn't think the trip would be that bad, he has handled shopping before.

--------------

[Forest Lake]

"Yeah, we humans are a mean bunch. Sorry about that. Must be nice to be this far away from all that stuff. Peaceful like?"

Calvin sounds truely apologetic when he says that. Perhaps because he lives such a violent life he feels guilty about the violence in his race.

"It's good you meet some good people."

[Surtr]

Attacked Village

((How is he locking the armoury from the inside and then leaving? There's only one way in, and the lock has been enspelled to prevent people from using magic to lock or unlock it. It's possible to break the spell, but that would require lifting all the magical protections on the armoury.))

There's signs of wagons going through the south-east gate and also another gate to the east quite recently. Lots of people have travelled through the gates in both directions, so it's hard to tell how many they were or in which direction they were going, and all the gates are open.

((Oh sorry I wasn't clear on that. By lock from inside I just mean he just looked around for something mundane to bar the door with that would set off as he left the room. Kinda like your average house's barrel lock but harder. The dude inside should be able to clear that away when he's healed. I guess I should have thought that out a bit more.))

"Well this shouldn't be too hard." Esruc will examine the tracks around the village. He should be able to make out which is the right track as he can tell from the ground which tracks are the latest made. A cage with people loaded into it should give a deeper impact on the road. Maybe things were dropped along the road the slavers went. He'll examine all these things, hopefully with that he'll be on the right track.

[Mana Gathering]
Surt will as soon as he scans the area notice a group of humanoid creatures are closing in on their location while the goblin instructs the half-ogre to place her equipment in the middle of the ring. "Fight ring? Well, of course I knew that! But I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, now try to connect the thingmajjober to the boxshapeaddodle ." She directs the half-ogre while she start to unpack her tools while looking up at Kuko. "You could help Jallus attached the thingamajjiober! Just screw off the bolts first and stick it into the boxshapeaddodle."

What kinda stupid names are those!? Huh?
he senses a group of humanoids. "Guys, there is a group of humanoids heading in our direction. Intentions unknown."

[OrchestraHc]

Mana Gathering

That was probably the perfect way to describe it to Kuko actually. He draws on mechanical prowess otherwise nonexistent thanks to the ridiculous of the instructions. "Kitcho will go check," he tells Surt. The minish whistles and his sparrow takes to the sky in search of the aforementioned group.

[Earl of Purple]

Attacked Village

Or he could remember what the guard said- that they arrived using the south-east. Meaning that they did, of course, use the east gate. After a while, it looks like the humans that had awkwardly dragged the wagons from the village stopped, and much larger feet replaced them. Ogres, specifically. Up ahead the wagons head towards a relatively narrow canyon and go through it- it's a natural ambush site.

[Lex-Kat]

{Melody's Island- Barn}

"Rein-who?"

He already seems to get along pretty well with Lyanna, and he hopes Estia will warm up to him to. He didn't think the trip would be that bad, he has handled shopping before.

Reinholdt. He's a cat.... sometimes. He helped me get away from my ex, and gets along with the girls really well. I'm sure they'd behave with him around.

She takes a taste of the soup, and nods her head. She then offers him the laddle to sample.

[Forest Lake]

"Yeah, we humans are a mean bunch. Sorry about that. Must be nice to be this far away from all that stuff. Peaceful like?"

Calvin sounds truely apologetic when he says that. Perhaps because he lives such a violent life he feels guilty about the violence in his race.

"It's good you meet some good people."

Four out of five hundred and fifty three. Not very good averages. Oh, five now. she gives Calvin smile. That's still not even one percent.

She sits up, crossing her legs. So Calvin, what do you do, when not hunting deer weaponless?

[Surtr]

[Attacked Village]

They came form the south-east but it doesn't necessarily mean they left that way. Best to check what evidence lying around right? Anyway with the clues of the footsteps he will use his horse to ride to the canyon, of course he will expect an ambush he always does as that happens from time to time even if he isn't chasing a bunch of slavers.

((Is this plot going to seaside?))

[Earl of Purple]

Attacked Village- Canyon

((If you mean Riverside, then no. Or at least not immediately. One guy on horseback is faster than two ogre-pulled wagons and a group of walking guards.))

They didn't leave through the south-east gate; they arrived using it. Therefore, they left through the east gate as that one has wagon tracks going through it.

Eventually, the trail disappears. It coincides with a fork in the canyon; there's a left branch and a right branch. However, Esruc may be distracted by this as somebody has sprinkled steel caltrops across the canyon floor. The caltrops are small metal spikes arrayed in such a manner that no matter how they land one spike is pointing straight up. These ones have been painted to match the canyon floor so are harder to spot from a distance and the spikes are long enough that horse shoes don't lift the feet high enough for them to be ineffective. There is a slim chance that Esruc can ride his horse through them without knowing they're there, however, as they don't cover every horse-footprint-sized patch of ground.

Also, somebody hiding in a bush on the canyon's rim has just fired a tranquilliser dart at Esruc. There's a possibility of the shooter's aim being off, or Esruc's clothing being too thick for it to properly penetrate.

[Surtr]

[Attacked Village- Canyon]

In the canyon Esruc's horse stepped on a caltrop. The horse threw him off in pain. The dart that was intended for Esruc hit the horse instead. This made the horse sleepy and fell on its side thus injuring itself on more caltrops. Esruc did not miss noticing the dart and , assuming that the assailant can be reached, ran in that direction ready to kill with his Ax. He'll attend to the horse later.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cyan Beach]

"Why don't you jusst eat or kill that demon already? I could alwayss usse more asshess, but that would probably take a little while." These demons don't burn easy.

Which would normally make things more fun, but they're kind of in a hurry here. Or something.

Damon expertly climbs up onto Vizek's back. It's like riding a bike. Once you learn how to climb onto a dragon's back, you never forget. "Riding you. Hilariouss." And suddenly it's Darrel there instead, "Why, I'd never have expected someone like Miss Vivecka, a beautiful lady and excellent companion, to resort to such crude jokes!"

[Cyan Beach]

Vizek don't respond to the zern immediately as he's busy showering the pit lord in a fine mist of acid. The demons body melts so quickly it don't even have time to properly react to it's death.

"Vivecka don't kill demons for a living either my good sir, see me as her less pleasant aspect of her personality." Vizek says with a slight grin. "Of course, I never imagined Darrel could have such sadistic sides either."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Cyan Beach]

"Hmmph." Damon snorts and gives Vizek a kick, as if the dragon were a horse.

"What elsse am I meant to do, Vizek? Between the demonss and the dragonss in my reality, or whatever it iss, I losst everything. I've losst my home, my race iss dead, I losst Ssarah. It'ss hard to find thingss to enjoy any more. Making demonss ssuffer iss...theraputic."

[Earl of Purple]

Attacked Village- Canyon

The gnome with the dart gun is atop the canyon walls. He can be reached by scaling the cliff; it's steep and near-vertical, but also rocky with lots of hand-holds. It can be climbed, but slowly, though the walls are only six metres high it won't take too long to reach the top. If Esruc has some means of returning fire, then that may be more effective, at least to begin with.

[Gullara]

[Forest's Edge]

Mimi stands on the ground before the biggest flower she's ever seen. It's at least six times her height in diameter. That's not quite as impressive as it sounds, seeing as she's only five inches tall herself. It's still really pretty, though, with long petals streaked purple and blue. The trouble is, how does she pick and transport it? It'll be so unwieldy. The pixie's face screws up in a scowl. She won't be bested by a stupid plant!

((Closed scene))

[Lost_Deep]

Forest's Edge

Mimi may notice that someone else notices the flower. Someone six feet tall, in leather armor, and a bored look on her face. Connie doesn't notice Mimi, but is walking toward the very large and beautiful flower.

[Gullara]

[Forest's Edge]

Oh no you don't! This flower is gonna be Riss' and no one else's! Mimi takes her spear off her back and flies right up in Connie's face. "Hey! I saw this flower first." She waves her spear menacingly.