The Gate of Heaven (IC)

[horus42]

Captain Carter drops her notebook in the gust, but manages to stay standing. "That man is going to be the death of us..." She frowns, but helps Cathari and Shai to their feet before she starts to follow behind the trail of dust clouds left in Will's wake.

[josienoms]

After a few moments of running, Will comes into view of a city. It's massive, built from bricks of limestone and marble, and a vast ziggurat serves as the city's center. The streets are filled with people, and creatures that look suspiciously like people, but not quite enough to be human. The humans are bronze skinned, and wear simple clothes of what appear to be cotton. The other creatures are slightly shorter than the humans, but much more heavily muscled. They wear armor of Jade, and carry weapons that look like spears. They must be the Jadeborn than Captain Carter wrote about in her report of her trip through the Gate.

At the outskirts of the city a group of startled people start jabbering at Will in a language he doesn't understand. "Aquin ticah tehuatl? Tehuatl ticah ce axnohtic tlacatl. Canic oquichih tehuatl xihuiqui den?"

[Obscurejones]

"Dude, speak Meruvian."
Will whips past the village, shouting at the top of his longs. Once he's through he changes on a dime, shooting back in the other direction, repeating his request in old realm.
<"Dude, speak Meruvian.">

[horus42]

Captain Carter moves along the dusty road, still sketching her map as she walks. She was easily able to multitask, keeping her eyes and ears peeled as she approaches the end of the road, albeit much more slowly than Will did.

[josienoms]

The rest of you make your way down the road, the Wood Aspect taking point. You eventually reach the end, much more slowly than Will did, of course. The rest of you, and the 5 members of AP-2, see the same view of the city, sunk slightly into a basin. The road starts sloping down, and you come across the same two men that saw Will, as they headed out of the city.

He gasps. "Ocachi xhi yehuan! Aquin ticah teh tlatlaca?"

[Guancyto]

"That sounded like a question," Cathari said, adjusting her glasses. This was what they had brought her along for. Well, that and her peerless ability at baccarat.

"Please speak slowly and enunciate," she said in Old Realm, clearly forming each word, examining their expressions to see what was tone and what was inflection. She put her hands out in front of herself, palms up in the hopefully-sufficiently-universal gesture of peace that surely wouldn't insult anybody's mother. "we come from far away, we come in peace."

Spoiler

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2m on 1st Linguistics Excellency. Int+Linguistics+4 (13d10)[4][3][7][1][4][4][8][5][9][10][1][8][6](70) - 6 successes.
Any possible stunt dice: (3d10)[6][9][8](23) - extra sux if it's a 2-die

Could use Thousand Tongues Meditation but since there's nobody attempting to gut us (yet, they haven't really met us) we can slow down and do the thing properly.

[Kell_tamer]

Crimson grips both the gun and the daiklave using one hand momentarily to hold up the hand signal to hold position. To ease the tension she sheathes the daiklave since it is obviously a weapon to them. She slips the Shellcaster into her holster but keeps a hand on it so it can be pulled at a moments notice.

She is a rather imposing figure to those not used to power armor, it makes her look even more fit than she actually is and she's definitely no slouch. That said no one would be able to tell given the cold emotionless helmet upon her head.

"Do you understand them?"

[josienoms]

When the native speaks again, Cathari is able to get the gist of what he's saying, despite not getting every exact word. Essentially, he's saying "Who are you people? Are you gods?"

Meanwhile, as Will is running through the streets, he hears shouting, and finds a street ahead of him blocked by a group of Jadeborn. They shout at him in harsh tones, and brandish their short spear like weapons at him.

[Obscurejones]

"Oh thank god, I was worried I was going to get bored."
Without slowing down Will hauls back his fist and leaps into the air, spinning in a graceful balletic leap. At the apex of his arc he looses his fist sending it flying through the lead soldier, and through the miracle of infernal force imbuing the poor bastard with Will's velocity. The soldier flies, skipping through the sky like a stone. To his credit, Will does his best to send him flying between obstacles, doing his best not to force the poor bastard to hit a wall.
"Allez-oop punk ass!"

Spoiler: Punchy roll stats

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Superman Punch (13d10)[64]
C'mon give me at least a little stunt. I did a jumpy thingy. (3d10)[19]
Activating Behemoth Fetch Exercise, because oh dear sweet god I love that charm. Assuming this punch hits it's sending this guy flying 99 yards. Which is delightful. Also any animals that saw it are now unnaturally fond of me. And any predatory animals have an unnatural compulsion to eat this guy. It can be resisted for 1 willpower.

[Guancyto]

"He's asking... divine status, I think, or... maybe if we come from the sky. I'm not sure if they make a distinction between the two," Cathari said, nodding her head to the two men to indicate she'd understood.

She looked quickly to the captain and to her commander, "I hadn't thought to ask about that one. If someone asks you if you're a god, you say yes, right?"

[Kell_tamer]

"You are going to respond by saying you are a mere god?" The sidereal scrunches her nose under her helmet at that insinuation, she could weave the literal fabric of fate. She wasn't some mere river deity, and neither were the Dragon Blooded, to say nothing else of the Solar, the Lunar and the Infernal...

[Guancyto]

Cathari tapped her foot against the ground, trying to figure out how that might go and thinking out loud. "Higher than gods? God-ier gods? From further than far? The Godlinators?"

She shook her head, "it would help if they were chattier. I need more to go on.

Micah timomauhtiz tlatlaca," she said to them, hoping that was an appropriate way to render, 'those the gods fear.' She pointed down the road, more immersion would help smooth out any translation errors, "Ocachi yehuan?"

[josienoms]

After Cathari speaks, the natives's eyes widen in what could only be described as abject terror. They both shout "Tzitzimimeh!" And bolt for the city, dropping the carts of fruit they were carrying.

Captain Carter recognizes that word. It was what they called her and her team the first time she went through the Gate. The closest approximations of the word in Meruvian are "Demons" or "Anathema".

The Jadeborn that Will punched goes flying into the distance. This gives the others pause, unsure of what to do. Clearly this being has a great deal of power. One of them takes out a small crystal and speaks into it, though whether he's calling for backup or telling the rest to stand down isn't clear. The remainder eye Will warily, but don't attack just yet. The one who spoke into the crystal steps forward and speaks in Old Realm.

"Apologies if we offended you, Oh Great One. May I ask who you are?" He inclines his head deeply and respectfully.

[horus42]

Captain Carter sighs as the natives run away. "I know that word. They think we're demons now. You know, these people have no concept of the Exalted. Calling us gods would have been the highest form of flattery to them. And now we've thrown that back in their face. It might be prudent to collect Mr. Scarlet and try another Gate Address."

Tactical retreats were an unpleasant option, but it was the best chance of getting everyone home alive. Of course, who knew what would happen in the attempt to find Will? Things could still definitely change.

[Kell_tamer]

Crimson walks past carter and pats her shoulder. "Now now, no ruining this trip with being a downer Captain." She steps forward and lifts her helmet. "you just need to know how to talk to people." With that she pulls the shell caster and sights up a branch in front of the running men. With absolute precision she fires a single shot to drop it in front of them. She figured she could scare them into coming back with a display of "magic". The bang is heard echoing through the trees as some birds in the distance flutter out of fear while the rest of the wildlife almost begin chattering amongst each other about to to do about the approaching monster that never actually comes.

When they turn back around and see the weapon held out she pulls it back and with a coy yet friendly smirk gestures them back.

Spoiler

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spending 2 motes on fateful firearms to reduce target number to 5. 11 dice + stunt
(11d10)[2][10][9][6][2][6][1][5][7][3][5](56)
stunt
(3d10)[7][10][9](26)

She also uses a bit of performance to get them to meander back. 2 motes to get a successes on a performance excellency.
8 dice + 1 success
(8d10)[5][7][5][6][3][3][7][9](45)
stunt
(3d10)[1][4][9](14)

[horus42]

Captain Carter frowns. "Well, not like things could get any worse. Let's go have a talk with them." She starts walking towards the natives, making sure to do so in a nonthreatening way. She puts her hands up in a gesture of nonaggression as she nears them.

[JonRG]

Shai's tail wags slightly as she watches the scene unfold in front of her. Will's been gone for quite a while, and Shai's starting to get worried. He might move fast, but he still has a scent. She shifts into her spirit form and tears off after him. It might screw the peace talks with the confused natives, but to hell with it.

[josienoms]

The natives stop and the branch falls right in front of them. They turn around in time to see Shai turn into a wolf and run off, and Carter coming down to meet them with her hands up. They start to back up slowly, seemingly begging and pleading with her. They bow down, prostrating themselves before her.

Meanwhile, Shai catches up to Will! She finds him just as the leader of the Jadeborn speaks to him in Old Realm.

Spoiler: OOC

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I know that the math there doesn't really work, but it seemed the best place to have her show up.

[JonRG]

Shai lets out a happy bark and rushes up to Will, nuzzling against his legs.

[Obscurejones]

Will keeps running, first in tight circles around the jadeborn, then figure eighting around them and Shai. When he speaks his voice is nearly lost in his own winds.
<"I am Will Scarlet, chosen of the true masters of the world. I come in relative peace. Do not raise your weapons to me again. I may not be so gentle twice.">

[Guancyto]

"Yes, looks like they already have a place in their mythology for that," Cathari said, a hand on her revolver. "Looks like we're a little past being-" and off the woman-turned-animal goes. "-peaceful. Let's at least get a handle on their tongue before we go running with our tails between our legs."

"Hmm... titlatoa," she commanded the two men, ordering them to speak so she could analyze their speech.

Spoiler

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Sorry, edited!

[josienoms]

The natives look up as Cathari orders them to speak, and begin to babble incoherent prayers of supplication, begging for forgiveness.

Spoiler: OOC

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As a side note, these natives are human. Only the soldiers are Jadeborn, since they're the Jaffa equivalent.

The leader of the Jadeborn bows as Will runs around him and the others, and holds up a hand, speaking in his native tongue. The others put aside their weapons and stand quite still.

<"What manner of god are you, Will Scarlet? I have never seen one such as yourself. Perhaps it would be wise to take you and your companion before Tzekel-Kan, Son of Tlaloc, in the temple.">

[Kell_tamer]

Holstering her weapon Crimson approaches the people, she gently pats them on the shoulders and beckons them up.

[Obscurejones]

Will grins, a streak of white whizzing by the jadeborn in the midst of the red of his hair.
"<Perhaps you'd best. My second will accompany me.>"

[josienoms]

The two natives get up at the gesture from Crimson, and seem to have calmed somewhat. They're still muttering in their language at Cathari's command.

The leader of the Jadeborn nods and speaks a few words in his native tongue. The crowd of others disperse, and he offers to take Will and Shai to the temple. The going would be far too slow for Will's taste, but the Jadeborn is the only one who knows where he's going.

He takes the 2 of you to the great stepped pyramid in the center of the city. More Jadeborn guards flank the entrance, a heavy set of stone doors, but at the look on your guide's face, they let you pass. Inside the temple is a narrow corridor lined with bracketed torches hanging from the walls. The bricks are painted with hieroglyphs, the meaning of which neither of you could hope to decipher at this time.

The corridor leads into an open chamber in the center of the pyramid. Light filters down from a shaft in the ceiling, which shines right onto the elevated dais in the middle of the room. A throne made of crystal and Orichalcum sits upon the dais, and a creature sits upon the throne. It's well over 7 feet tall, massively built and well muscled. Its skin is covered in thick scaly hide, and a crest of brightly colored feathers runs up the back of its head and neck. It's naked from the waist up, its bare chest bearing a few scars of battle. It watches you with cold reptilian eyes the color of old amber.

A growl rumbles from deep in the creature's chest, barely audible. It's more something you feel in the air than you actually hear. Its lips pull back to reveal a maw filled with razor teeth. The creature's tail, which has a large clublike growth at the end, twitches in anger and anticipation as it exchanges words with your guide. After a few moments, it switches to Old Realm.

<"I am Tzekel-Kan, son of the mighty god Tlaloc. Tolmec here tells me that you and this beast are gods?"> The Dragon King points to your guide with one broad, stubby finger. <"Did you come alone? And from what World?">

[Obscurejones]

Will stands still for a moment, and the whistling winds die away. He looks up at the gigantic monster. He nods slowly, and that brilliant white grin spreads across his face again.
<"I must admit to some chagrin. I am so rarely at a loss for words. Were I a man, one of your warriors, or even one of my fellow 'Gods' you would, Tzekel-Kan, be the most magnificent creature I had ever seen. Thankfully my experiences are not so paltry. I am Will Scarlet. I am chosen of those who undo mere gods. I come from beyond the heavens, my power from stars that are beyond the reach of man or divinity. And I find myself disinclined to answer your questions when asked so callously.">

[horus42]

Captain carter looks down at the two natives. "Any luck in deciphering their language yet, Cathari? I can recognize a few basic phrases, but not much else. I could ask them to take us to the city, I believe. Then we can find Shai and Mr. Scarlet, and regroup."

She pauses as she tries to remember the words. "Uh... Tinechuica inahuac Oh, what's the word...? in altepetl?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Rolling Intelligence+Linguistics to see if this works!

(6d10)[4][2][2][6][3][1](18)

[JonRG]

Shai growls at Will, then shifts back into her human form. "Will, what the hell is he sayin'?" she asks.

[josienoms]

Spoiler: OOC

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It didn't work at all. But because I'm a nice lady and you went though all the trouble to look up actual Nahuatl words to ask them to take you to the city, I'm gonna allow it. We'll chalk it up to Carter just knowing that specific phrase.

The natives nod enthusiastically, and step over the fallen branch. They lead you down the long, narrow road, until you reach the city itself. You see many of the same sights Will saw when he came through before, though no Jadeborn try to stop you. You pass through a market, with vendors of all kinds selling unfamiliar foods, and strange objects made of crystals, plants, and black glass.

You notice as they take you through the streets, they bring you closer and closer to the massive ziggurat at the center of the city. The Jadeborn guards stop you there, and send you and your native friends inside. Once there, you all see Will and Shai!

You also see Tzekel-Kan standing up from his throne and descending the dais to the floor. Carter notices that he looks different from the Dragon King she saw before. Quetzalcoatl was much smaller, for one, and had large wings that doubled as arms. Tzekel-Kan is more like an Ankylosaurus than a Pterodactyl.

Tzekel-Kan tilts his head to one side as Shai shifts back into her human form. It's a quick, oddly avian movement, just slightly unsettling. A look of dawning comprehension settles into his yellow eyes, the slit pupils dilating ever so slightly. <"I see. Well then, you must accept my apologies, Huilxarlit."> his large teeth and native accent mangle Will's name. <"Let it not be said that I am inhospitable. You and your companions are welcome in my city. I had merely desired to know more about my guests. I did not believe you were anything but charlatans, but now I see there is more to you than meets the eye. A festival is in order!"> He barks a few orders to the Jadeborn in the room, who set out to fulfill them.

<"Do any of you speak this tongue as well? Introductions are also in order, if I am to be a gracious host.">

[Obscurejones]

Will bounces on his heels as the Dragon descends to meet them on the ground. He nods along to the god-king's spiel. Shrugs.
"Hey babe, the lizard wants to throw a party. You down?"