Outside 40: It's all downhill from here

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

Yuki takes a smaller sip of his water and grins. "Well, even though I can fight now, I'll still need to practice quite a bit."

if you want, we can spar later
Sophia offers, finishing hers, still petting Clyde

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Bridge

The helmsman doesn't resist as his mind is sucked out, leaving him as a pretty basic undead skeleton. Everything that made him unique is gone.

The ghost-girl does now know the layout of the ship, so assume I've told her because I don't know it all yet, knows that the controller of the skull is a mummified lich named Thormoses the Resplendent, can know understand Russian, and knows what the helmsman looked like when alive, and what their name was- Captain Robert Popeys, of the Royal British Navy. Also a few other, unimportant details I don't want to have to detail.

[Morcleon]

if you want, we can spar later
Sophia offers, finishing hers, still petting Clyde

[Field of Mock Battle]

"That would be nice, yes." Yuki walks over to Clyde and smiles at him, chuckling. "Not now though. I'm too tired to put up any sort of fight."

[Solidarity]

[The (Aptly Named) Monster Marsh]

Hawthorn continues to slay the Zombies as effectively as he can, unarmed and alone though he may be. Still, the overwhelming numbers make his task difficult enough, fortunately he does not tire like a human would. For now, his advance continues, though slower than before.
The Hoplite, on the other hand, is finding things a tad more interesting. Luckily, he's too quick for the zombies to get a bite on him, but after a struggle against three undead simultaneously, he loses his shield in the fog. After swinging his leg around in attempt to knock one of the brain-dead monsters aside, Zander draws his second play and unleashes his twin whirlwinds of cold metal, each strike aimed solely for arms and heads. When necessary he ducks under wide grabs and lops off limbs, jutting up quickly to bash in the jaws of the zombies with his bronze helmet.

After launching a rotter aside with a well aimed kick, it bowls over a good portion of other undead in front of the Hoplite. This made for easy targets as he dismembered and decapitated zombies left and right. Attempts to even touch the well-oiled killing machine failed and lunges missed broadly. The following headbutt knocks clear the skull of a zombie that's launched into the rest of the horde. Skeletons respond much quicker to Hawthorn's intrusion. Many attempt to latch on with whatever attack they're able to land. If they're able, they'd try to pile atop the golem.

The zombies that now encompass the woman begin their ragged advance. The first of five swings deadly, decayed claws with a lethargic hunger around her midsection.

The lights and the booming draw nearer. Hawthorn might be able to make out the outlined shape of the white explosions a good forty yards away in the fog to be similar to that of the zombies he's currently demolishing. The light from the explosions stretch much farther than normal in this fog, reflecting off the mist, making it more difficult to see the closer you are.

[The Bushranger]

Melody's Island- On the Beach

Quinn, indeed, looks rather...stressed out. And like she's been crying for awhile.
She's also still in that rather torn one-piece swimsuit, of course.
She doesn't seem to notice Toby's arrival, though, although she seems to have quieted a little.

[happyturtle]

Melody's Island - On the Beach

Spoiler: On the Beach

Show

Melody's Island

Toby hangs up and uses a Druidic spell to travel from a plant near GLoG to one on the island. It's not instantaneous, taking at least a minute and possibly more than five, depending on the distance. Nor does he come from the flower the cyborg had specified, because that would be too obvious. So when he steps out of a plant 50 feet behind Magtok, at an unpredicted time, he feels confident that he has successfully claimed the element of surprise. So the famous Lord Magtok thinks he can set a trap for me, the Goddamned Tobias, and bait it with my wife! An interesting site for a battle, certainly, but I can see what you're aiming for and I approve. Traumatic tragedy juxtaposed with tropical tranquility. You intend to turn this paradise into an infernal landscape through our combat! Perhaps you think you can hurt me by forcing me to choose between collateral damage and the life of one woman. Maybe you think a druid will avoid natural destruction at all costs. Whatever your plan, know this: When it comes to hell on earth, I was born and raised in the briar patch! While he monologues, storm clouds appear out of nowhere and ominously rumble overhead. The ground tremors under his boots in an attempt to set off any mines or other traps buried nearby. Wind currents form and coalesce into a shielding torus around him and the hastily painted runes on his bare chest create a magnetic field strong enough to deflect bullets. At long last, the clash of Nexus titans! The two greatest minds, preeminent and peerless experts in our own fields, engaged in an inevitable and much anticipated war. Don't disappoint me, Magtok!

Melody's Island- Inside the Barn


Don't worry about it. Melody says with a nervous chuckle, when Derek promises to mend her clothes. I needed to buy something new anyhow.

Melody physically tenses when she senses Derek beginning to place the needles, but soon relaxes as she notices a severe lack of pain, and soon she starts nodding off, once again.

Melody's Island- On the Beach

Spoiler: Bushranger, Firefox, Happy, & Magtok

Show

What Toby might notice after a moment of grand-standing, is Happy holding a crying Quinn. A young woman holding a teen girl, both crying. And Magtok with a cell phone in his hand, possibly still next to his ear (or wherever he holds it when making a call).

Soon after his monologue begins, Jezebelle looks over toward where the voice is coming from. Clash of titans? What are you talking about?

Melody's Island- On the Beach

Quinn, indeed, looks rather...stressed out. And like she's been crying for awhile.
She's also still in that rather torn one-piece swimsuit, of course.
She doesn't seem to notice Toby's arrival, though, although she seems to have quieted a little.

"Tobias Goddamned Druid! Knock that **** off and get over here! You can fight with Magtok another day!" Happy has raised her voice to be heard over the Ominous Weather, but she's also using the MOM VOICE! Complete with Middle-Naming and heavy notes of 'Boy, you're in a lot of trouble if you don't obey!' Whether Toby is vulnerable to that sort of thing is another question.

[Lord Magtok]

Melody's Island- On the Beach

What Toby might notice after a moment of grand-standing, is Happy holding a crying Quinn. A young woman holding a teen girl, both crying. And Magtok with a cell phone in his hand, possibly still next to his ear (or wherever he holds it when making a call).

Soon after his monologue begins, Jezebelle looks over toward where the voice is coming from. Clash of titans? What are you talking about?

Melody's Island

Don't disappoint me, Magtok!

"I'm disappointing you, Tobias." Ouch. Right to the point, no humoring Tobias's dramatic entrance for even a moment. That's got to sting.

[FireFox]

Melody's Island - On the Beach

It doesn't just sting, it cuts deep. What, this supervillain is so used to playing with all the Nexus big-leagues that he thinks the Druid is beneath him? Toby Scowls at Magtok before turning to see what the woman holding his wife hostage is yelling about. Who the hell are... wait, I know you. Uh, Jolly? Gay? Perky or Peppy? Merry? No, that's a hobbit. Sunny was that poor victim, think she was with Remnant... He takes a look around the beach and grudgingly accepts that this probably isn't a trap in the conventional, final showdown sense. Another glare for the cyborg and then Toby starts dispelling his magic as he runs to Quinn. Chirpy isn't it... ...Happy? Happy the shapeshifter! Haven't seen you in years. Explain what's going on. He takes another look at this whole scene. Crying woman and crying girl. His catatonic-looking wife with shredded apparel. A barbarian who used to be GLoG's president he thought was perma-deadtimed. And the famous supervillain, who called saying Quinn needed him. He divides his consciousness, reinforces the mental defenses on one, then opens the other up to try and make telepathic contact with the paladin. Quinn, did you go on an adventure without me?

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull - Bridge]

"Crush him."
Leaving the bear-construct to that work, the girl devours some of those unimportant details for nourishment and healing. The skeleton's past is likewise unimportant. The language and the name of the lich-lord who sent him, on the other hand, is important.

After checking the entrances to the bridge to make sure nothing is coming in right away, she turns towards the controls, letting herself become solid, and tries to figure out how to move the skull away from the village.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Bridge

There's several hatches leading down into the bowels of the skull, though no movement beyond either of them. One leads to the Engine Room, one to the Armoury and the gun bays and one to the barracks and beyond, to the cargo bay and jaw.

Moving it is quite easy; she knows how it all works, after all. The device locking the wheel in place needs to be removed first, however. It doesn't move very quickly; something in the Engine Room is trying to cut off the power or turn it off.

The skeleton's been crushed.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull - Bridge]

The ghostly girl removes the locking device and tries to turn the skull away, but noticing the dwindling power available, prepares to head to the engine room. She checks that the hatch doesn't have any surprises like the flamethrower, and picks up the macuahuitl that the monster had been armed with before lifting the hatch.
It might be difficult for the bear to get down there, depending on how it's made and sized. He can guard the bridge if need be.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

The ship can still be turned so its guns are facing away from the town, so I assume that's happened- it requires little power, and saves the town from further destruction.

The hatches are small- they're designed for human-sized figures, so unless the bear is very slim it won't fit.

The Engine Room is dominated by a shiny brass and steel steam engine, though the boiler and furnace look very unusual- the boiler is a collection of micro-portals to the Elemental Plane of Water, and the latter is a collection of micro-portals to the Elemental Plane of Fire, providing a limitless amount of water and fire to power the engine. Scuttling around the room are three goblin skeletons, held together by bits of wire. They've been heavily damaged, and crudely repaired with fine silver wire, copper rods, and some tools. One has a large rubber mallet strapped to its right forearm, another has a collection of screwdrivers in place of fingers on its left hand and the third has an adjustable spanner in place of its left arm. None of the three takes any notice of the ghost-girl, and continue scuttling around trying to disconnect the engine from the steering and propulsion modules. They don't have minds of any form; they're remotely controlled by the lich-lord commander. Well, no. They're remotely controlled by whomever wears the Crown of Command linked to the assault platform's engine, which happens to be the Thormoses the Resplendent.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

That is what was done. The girl, no longer ghostly, pats the bear affectionately before slipping through the hatch.
She takes in the sight of the engines and quickly moves past them; all machines are equally odd here in the nexus. Electricity, magic, portals, psychic crystals, whatever. Seeing the worker-skeletons scuttling about, she charges towards the nearest one, swinging the macuahuitl down in an overhead arc.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

The closest was Mallet, whose skull is now shattered and cleaved into multiple little pieces. So it was mostly shattered. The other two still don't notice, or care, and continue their work.

The helmsman's knowledge did not extend to knowing how the engine room worked.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

Well, deciphering the engine room is something that she can deal with later. Possibly with the help of some technically-inclined AEGIS members.
In the meantime, there are two other skeletons to violently dismantle. She falls on Screwdriver with a diagonal slash, and if it puts up no more resistance, moves on to a horizontal chop to disable Spanner.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Engine Room

Screwdriver's shoulderblade shatters, as its spine and ribcage are destroyed by the blow and the rest of the skeleton falls into a heap of bones.

Spanners falls into two heaps of bones and metallic detritus with the blow to its midsection, the skull rolling under the steam engine.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull - Engine Room]

The ghostly girl inspects the shattered skeletons carefully, making sure that they aren't reassembling themselves or anything else, but if satisfied that they have been reduced to inert bone and metal, she will return to the bridge, and then make her way down to the armory. That sounds like a lot more dangerous of a location, so she leaves the macuahuitl with her bear and discorporates before she passes through the hatch.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Armoury

There's no traps on the way down, but there's a thick steel door at the bottom of the ladder. Inside, it's been painted with green paint mixed with specially treated basilisk venom to stop things phasing in through the door, walls or ceiling. There's a lock on the door, and the key is carried by Thormoses the Resplendent.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull - Armory]

That's going to stop the girl pretty well. Too heavy to break through, she doesn't know how to pick a lock, and can't be phased through. Guess the armory will be left alone for now. She heads back up. Next stop, barracks.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Barracks

The barracks has enough room in it to house about fifty people. It's presently empty, however; the crew is mostly corpses stored in the hold, as it's closer to the jaw entrance. The barracks is divided up into small rooms, each holding a bunk, a wardrobe and a small shelving unit. There's a door at the end of the corridor- the Commander's Chamber, where Thormoses the Resplendent stays.

[Lex-Kat]

Jezebelle helps Estia stand. Come, let's... go inside. And she startsd to pull Estia toward the cottage.

Though weakened, Estia stops her, and looks to Tobias. "Quinn and Reinholdt resqued me. They fought my grandfather, and sent him running." she looks to all those assembled. "Where is Reinholdt? Where's Melody?" she asks, remembering what Reinholdt said about Grandpa attacking Melody. "Miss Happy? Is Melody okay? Is she...." she can't bring herself to say the word she dreads.

[McBish]

Melody's Island- Inside the Barn

Don't worry about it. Melody says with a nervous chuckle, when Derek promises to mend her clothes. I needed to buy something new anyhow.

Melody physically tenses when she senses Derek beginning to place the needles, but soon relaxes as she notices a severe lack of pain, and soon she starts nodding off, once again.

As Derek places the needles into her back the healing energy slowly builds up and starts to work to repair any broken bones or torn muscles. Then as he starts to take them out the whole process should be complete. He will work quietly letting her sleep, figuring she could use it. This nap should be extremely restful and rejuvenating.

[Recaiden]

Peacefield Skull- Barracks

The barracks has enough room in it to house about fifty people. It's presently empty, however; the crew is mostly corpses stored in the hold, as it's closer to the jaw entrance. The barracks is divided up into small rooms, each holding a bunk, a wardrobe and a small shelving unit. There's a door at the end of the corridor- the Commander's Chamber, where Thormoses the Resplendent stays.

How odd. Seems like it was once meant to hold living people. Now, she could confront the commander, but she might not be ready for that, from what the skeleton remembered. Then again, if she could, it would presumably end this whole thing. He might even be the source of the undeads' animating force.
Or she could deal with that assault team, and anyone else who is to be found in the hold.

The ghostly girl goes to inspect the door.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Lost Temple]

Oh, now that's just no fair. Luckily for our demonic bosses, Ithuriel will be able to detect three major hotspots of evil, one of which blinks out as the Holy Hand Grenade detonates behind the throne...But the other two are right next to the entrance, and are revealed to be Elereshur and Thariel. Elereshur fires a bolt of the same red energy she fired at Violet at Ithuriel, though it's much bigger and looks to cause some serious damage to the angel is she's hit, while Thariel creates a wall of fire behind where she can sense Ithuriel's Aura of good.

Well, that's that. Time to focus on the fighting. Ithuriel can hardly focus quite so intently on the presence of good and evil auras. Which unfortunately means she probably won't pick up on any potential reinforcements arriving 'til they're within hearing range of the fight anyway.

Though she can keep focus enough that any invisibility shenanigans are unlikely to prove successful.

But Elereshur and Thariel appear to be rather...less subtle right now. The fire behind her is ignored as Ithuriel swiftly wraps her wings around herself, like a golden shield in front of her that absorbs the bolt of energy, emitting a bright burst of golden light in the process.

Ithuriel swiftly tucks her wings back in behind her and turns side-on to Elereshur, keeping the point of one sword focused on her foe, muscles tensed to respond to any sudden movement. "There's two of us and two of you. I suppose it would be too much to ask for us to engage in a pair of honourable one-on-one duels?" She asks, with a somewhat crooked grin.

It's been far too long since she last saw combat. Already she can feel the red mist eating away at the edge of her vision...

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull- Barracks

Thormoses the Resplendent didn't build it; he stole it.

The door is made of oakwood, polished and finely carved with twining serpents and dragons. The oak is completely normal; there's nothing preventing the ghost-girl from phasing through it or the walls around it. It'll probably be safer to go through a wall, as walls are rarely trapped. The door has a lock, but it's currently unlocked so she could try opening it.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull - Barracks]

Well that does explain it all. The girl is wondering whether the skull is stolen or if it has simply continued in its grim work despite the death of its crew.
She would try the door and then go through a wall, but seeing how there were things like the basilisk walls and flamethrower trap, she decides it will be safer to just drift through a wall around the door, and tries that.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

Beyond the door is a large, luxurious room with an antique leather and ebony armchair opposite the door. There's a black marble sarcophagus resting on a double bed and a walnut wardrobe, with a door leading to an ensuite bathroom.

Sat in the armchair is a mummified figure wearing a large red miter and black silk robes. He's pointing a hunting shotgun a the door, and doesn't notice the ghost-girl's entrance through the wall. His flesh is grey, and his eyes are empty sockets lit by sickly green dots hovering in the centre.

[Ionbound]

[The (Aptly Named) Monster Marsh]


After launching a rotter aside with a well aimed kick, it bowls over a good portion of other undead in front of the Hoplite. This made for easy targets as he dismembered and decapitated zombies left and right. Attempts to even touch the well-oiled killing machine failed and lunges missed broadly. The following headbutt knocks clear the skull of a zombie that's launched into the rest of the horde. Skeletons respond much quicker to Hawthorn's intrusion. Many attempt to latch on with whatever attack they're able to land. If they're able, they'd try to pile atop the golem.

The zombies that now encompass the woman begin their ragged advance. The first of five swings deadly, decayed claws with a lethargic hunger around her midsection.

The lights and the booming draw nearer. Hawthorn might be able to make out the outlined shape of the white explosions a good forty yards away in the fog to be similar to that of the zombies he's currently demolishing. The light from the explosions stretch much farther than normal in this fog, reflecting off the mist, making it more difficult to see the closer you are.

The woman winces as three of the zombies connect with solid blows, leaving deep gashes...Which instantly heal as she grins and growls, "Sorrry, boys. Nice trrry." Her eyes begin to glow yellow as she shifts into a wolf-woman and howls, but she would be open for a counter-attack if the zombies are feeling particularly frisky.

[Aric Kale]

The Monster Marsh

What can he say? The Mourning Hoplite had one goal in mind...slay the undead. His entrance into the Nexus was a rude one, indeed, and now vengeance would be his. As an added bonus, he's in his mid twenties and enjoying the prime of his youth, so he can maintain this fight for a bit longer.
Hawthorn, on the other hand, is no longer able to deliver killing blows. As the seemingly more intelligent skeletons bear down upon him, the wooden golem can only lash out at random limbs. Within minutes, he'll be buried by bodies.
Fortunately for the woman, our dark warrior can't see her, or he might have cause for alarm. He's still heading for the lights, making his way through the path carved by Hawthorn.

[The Bushranger]

Melody's Island - On the Beach

Quinn winces as Happy yells!

She's managed to collect herself JUST enough that being addressed by Tobias doesn't send her into a fresh round of bawling, so that's something, at least...

"I was called by Neirian," she whispers, her eyes closed and head bowed as she shivers. "Had to rescue her. But...psychically attacked," she murmurs. "Shown....everyone I love hating me."

Academically, she can recognise what happened.
She finds it really doesn't make it hurt less.