Serious Plots 6: Srs bsns

[Gullara]

This thread is for the more Serious Plots in Nexus that people don't think really pertain to a particular location. This is also for fairly longer plots, unlike the Random Places thread.

Rules

1. Use [Location Tags] or [Plot Tags] on your posts.
2. Each location or plot is under the control of its creator.
3. Play nice and keep the drama low. Serious Plots is just a name.

Archive

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Serious Plots 5: No lulz.
Serious Plots 4: So Srs it hurts
Serious Plots 3: Too srs for my shirt
Serious Plots 2: SERIOUSNESS OVERWHELMING
Serious Plots

[Ashen Lilies]

[The Warrior-Queen's Tomb]

Grace doesn't break the silence, instead taking several moments to collect herself. Literally. After several efforts, she reforms her illusion, once again taking shape as a figure in a brown hooded robe.

[Deathkeeper]

The Warrior-Queen's Tomb

After some effort, Krayger unlatches his breastplate and takes in a long gulp of air now that there isn't a large pointed dent jabbing into his diaphragm. With a bit of a huff he begins reloading both of his guns.
"Well, that happened." he says simply, choosing not to make any pointed comments at Grace just yet.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowbound Tundra]

"She likes me." Obriane says in a encouraging tone. "I'm sure it won't get so bad once she gets used to it. She probably just needs time. Maybe we can let her meet my little brother when all this is over?" She suggests.

[Snowbound Tundra]

"Well of course she likes you. Who couldn't like you?" Kitty laughs and gives Obriane a kiss on the cheek. "Besides, you're basically family. It's good for her to meet more kids around her age, though. I hope she'll get along with your brother. How old is he again?"

[Snowbound Tundra]

"He should be about her age now I think." Obriane replies with a shy smile. "I just hope he's okay. My parents have actually spirit proofed the house so if they just stay inside I think they should be fine." She doesn't sound too convinced though.

[Ashen Lilies]

[The Warrior-Queen's Tomb]

"Yes. Yes it did." Says Grace, not-commenting on Krayger's non-commentary. "Let's move on?" She asks, pointing towards the twin doors at the end of the room. She's assuming they lead in the same direction.

[Deathkeeper]

The Warrior-Queen's Tomb

"Very well. Give better warnings next time. I won't be able to repair this armor myself, so I'm without it for now." he says, shouldering his pack and loading up all his weapons into his harness.

[Morty]

[The Warrior-Queen's Tomb]

The twin doors both lead to the same wide staircase, which splits in two again as it makes a 180-degree turn and finally leads to a large chamber. Grace will feel increasingly strong magic as they ascend. No more traps appear to be forthcoming.

When the grave-robbing duo reach the upper, and seemingly final, hall, they'll be faced with a circular room lined with sarcophagi. There's six of them at the walls, and one in the centre. A statue towers over the central sarcophagus - that of a broad-shouldered woman in a suit of lamellar armour, hefting a vicious axe and a heavy shield. A winged helmet adorns her head, so that not much of her face is visible. But what can be seen bears a determined, ruthless expression. Her left foot steps on the stylized severed human head. Grace can tell that powerful magic is contained in the sarcophagus, but that powerful sorceries also keep it from opening. She might be able to determine that those sorcerous workings are weakened now.

The other six sarcophagi are smaller and less lavish. They also contain magic items, and sorcery that seals them. They share a connection with the central sarcophagus, similar to the servants in the chamber below. Each of them is adorned with a relief, presumably representing the person interred inside. Two, a man and a woman, appear to be warriors - they're armour-clad and hold a bow and a spear respectively. One, a man with long hair and flowing robes. holds a staff. Another one represents a surprisingly plain-looking woman in a cassock of sorts, grasping a horn. Another is wrapped in a cowl similar to one of the guardians below, and has a single dagger. Finally, there's a bald, muscular man holding a hammer.

[Gullara]

[Snowbound Tundra]

"Hey, keep your chin up." Kitty puts her arm around Obriane's shoulders and gives her a squeeze. "We're going to rescue them, right? They're going to be completely fine. There's no way we'd let anything happen to them." She says encouragingly.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowbound Tundra]

"Yeah, I know." Obriane closes her eyes for a moment, shuddering a bit. "We... we probably should have a plan to defeat that thing though. It was like one of those creatures right? The one we met when we left the nexus."

[Gullara]

[Snowbound Tundra]

"Fire seemed to work on those things pretty well, so we can try it on this one too. We jump it and burn it out so it can never threaten anyone else again." Kitty says, without any apprehension. She insists on being absolutely confident. It's probably not going to be so easy, but she doesn't want Obriane to despair.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowbound Tundra]

"It will be waiting for us though, so it will be difficult to get a jump on it. We'll be walking into a trap." Obriane says, stroking her chin. "What if you turn into a fox and scout the town first? Find out where that spirit is? I want to be with my parents so badly but... we gotta be careful. If we make a mistake I might not see them ever again."

[Gullara]

[Snowbound Tundra]

"Yeah, I can try that. It might be hard since I don't know my way around. maybe we can at least get somewhat close and then you can give me some directions from there to your house?" Kitty suggests after a moment of thought.

[UncleWolf]

Capital of Ays

While the Royal party had been waiting at the Crossroads to allow the Princess and her charges rest and ease, word had been sent ahead. Nearly a week later, when the caravan arrived at the front gates, the Princess, King, Royal Guard and the "Hero" Samantha would find them thrown open with blue and yellow pennants flying high to welcome their arrival. Flowers are thrown off of the large stone walls and the street itself is covered with them. As soon as the gate is passed, the King rides to the front and takes a lance from one of the Heavy Knights, lifting it high to make the crowds cheer. Brittany herself is more subdued but smiles as she walks next to Samantha's horse, raising her upper body enough for everyone to see her as she gives small waves to everyone present.

The Princess is wearing a garment suited for royalty, a bright white vest with a high collar over a pale blue dress shirt with sleeves that billow in the wind. The shirt extends partly down the connective "tail" that connects her to her lower body and is tied off at her "waist" by a leather belt with a shining silver buckle. She seems to fit naturally in front of the crowd.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the city itself seems rather advanced for such a low-tech society. Most houses are of sturdy stone or brick construction and well-crafted with smooth lines and multiple stories. They even have glass windows, a rarity in most realms like this one, but then again this place does have Alchemy on its side if what the Princess has said is true. The streets are cobblestone, well made and well-worn, and as the procession moves on, the common-folk give way to the merchants and the merchants in turn make way for the upper class, clearly marked by their more elegant attire with brighter colors and baubles. The cheering is far less pronounced there, replaced by whispers of caution and pointing fingers, particularly in the direction of Dazzefire, the newly pronounced noble. Despite her yellow cloak having been burned upon the pyre of Krait's death and replaced by one of white, she looks quite out of place.

The city itself smoothly transitions from one tier of wealth to the next with the stone block and brick houses slowly turning to ones of almost perfectly smooth stone construction as if they were hand carved from one piece until finally all that remains before them is a tall keep that would look almost out of place if it didn't dominate the sky. The entire castle, walls and tower included, are built out of hand-hewn large stone blocks, likely quarried at the mountains that silently sit on the horizon.

The walls of the keep are manned, with beings that appear human or human like rather than the driders that make up the Heavy Knights, and there are what appear to be large rifles mounted on the walls as well, ornately made with barrels in the shape of dragons' mouths. The Keep is perhaps about eight stories tall and much of it has large stained glass windows. The gate entrance to it is opened only at the approach of the caravan with the King's riding lizard at the lead. The moment the gate is breached, the heavy knights fan out and the wagons are pulled to the side to be offloaded.

The King takes a moment, looking around with a smile before turning his lizard to look over at Samantha. "Welcome to Ays. There's a few hours where you'll be able to rest and relax, but there is to be a banquet tonight where you'll be introduced to the nobility and your betrothal will be announced."

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowbound Tundra]

"My house is on the outskirts of town, near the temple. If you enter from the south, you can't miss it. They are the two largest buildings in the area." Obriane explains. "I just need to figure out what I'm gonna do. That horrible thing seem to hate me the others seem to believe I'm their ruler or something." She sigh. "If I only could figure how it all worked, how it all made sense. How to control all of this."

[Gullara]

[Snowbound Tundra]

"Let's just focus on one thing at a time. We make sure you're parents are safe, then we can try and figure out more about this." Kitty gives her a comforting squeeze. "Okay?"

[Terumitsu]

[Capital of Ays]

It was unfortunate that it couldn't have been a return in the evening but Samantha had been feeling more alert during the day for the past week or so, oddly enough. It was still unpleasant but it felt now more like a very late night rather than the exhaustion of days without sleep. She wouldn't admit it but she had put in more thought than might have been expected or even due to just how she should try to present herself in the city. Given what she had gleaned, a Flowless could do with as much good press as could be managed and first encounters couldn't ever be redone. She hadn't brought anything to wear that wasn't more geared towards travel or battle; having decided on using the latter to at least project an appearance of an accomplished, if somewhat oddly garbed, warrior when paired with the black mail she had won from the wreckage of the cave. The axe was mostly wrapped up and stowed in a saddlebag but she had left just enough of the handle hanging out for it's suggestion of existence to lend credence to her implied status and prowess.

Looks were one thing but action was another. Though she could easily play the part of some triumphant, boisterous 'hero' (and more than a little bit of her wanted to as well), she deigned for an air of formality. A sternness without an edge or aloofness without most of the implied arrogance that came with it. She 'broke' from this from time to time as she leaned to the side to gesture at this or that establishment or bit of construction while making mention of it to the princess. Small nothings that, nevertheless, people would remember as her showing interest in the city.. And people often mistook interest for care when thinking back to energetic situations. Her waves were more pronounced than Brittany's were and aimed at 'individuals' that were selected by random chance here and there but never were they sweeping or overbearing. It was all calculated but not necessarily a facade... Really, the muse was simply turning what she thought would be the best facet towards the throng than wearing a mask.

Once the king had spoken now that the byways were a little less crowded and a little more quiet, she replied with: "In that case, would you recommend a tailor who could work quickly? I haven't a thing to wear to dinner as you've probably seen." There was a light jest to her tone but it was perhaps something that should be dealt with sooner or later. Sure, fatigues and the like might be exotic here but looking too different wouldn't win her any favors with those who's living was made partially by currying favor.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowbound Tundra]

"Let's just focus on one thing at a time. We make sure you're parents are safe, then we can try and figure out more about this." Kitty gives her a comforting squeeze. "Okay?"

[Snowbound Tundra]

Obriane squeezes back and nods, closing her eyes. "Okay. Let's do it then. It's only a few hours walk from here. We should be there by..." She looks to the sky. "Evening, if we hurry."

[Ashen Lilies]

[The Warrior-Queen's Tomb]

The twin doors both lead to the same wide staircase, which splits in two again as it makes a 180-degree turn and finally leads to a large chamber. Grace will feel increasingly strong magic as they ascend. No more traps appear to be forthcoming.

When the grave-robbing duo reach the upper, and seemingly final, hall, they'll be faced with a circular room lined with sarcophagi. There's six of them at the walls, and one in the centre. A statue towers over the central sarcophagus - that of a broad-shouldered woman in a suit of lamellar armour, hefting a vicious axe and a heavy shield. A winged helmet adorns her head, so that not much of her face is visible. But what can be seen bears a determined, ruthless expression. Her left foot steps on the stylized severed human head. Grace can tell that powerful magic is contained in the sarcophagus, but that powerful sorceries also keep it from opening. She might be able to determine that those sorcerous workings are weakened now.

The other six sarcophagi are smaller and less lavish. They also contain magic items, and sorcery that seals them. They share a connection with the central sarcophagus, similar to the servants in the chamber below. Each of them is adorned with a relief, presumably representing the person interred inside. Two, a man and a woman, appear to be warriors - they're armour-clad and hold a bow and a spear respectively. One, a man with long hair and flowing robes. holds a staff. Another one represents a surprisingly plain-looking woman in a cassock of sorts, grasping a horn. Another is wrapped in a cowl similar to one of the guardians below, and has a single dagger. Finally, there's a bald, muscular man holding a hammer.

[The Warrior-Queen's Tomb]

Grace approaches the central sarcophagus carefully, sensing for any magical traps. The main sarcophagus represents the best potential profit, of course, but also the greatest potential risk. If there's no way of getting it open safely, then in their current state it's probably a wiser choice to loot what they can and leave.

[Gullara]

[Snowbound Tundra]

Kitty gives her a reassuring smile and a firm nod. Time to press on as fast as they can without wearing themselves out for the long walk. Unless something of note happens on the way there, they'll no doubt arrive around Obriane's predicted time.

[Deathkeeper]

The Warrior-Queen's Tomb

"I didn't think to search any of them. Might want to later, in case there was magic. So, what are we looking at here?" asks Krayger, trying to get Grace to actually explain things.

[Morty]

[The Warrior-Queen's Tomb]

There are no traps on the central sarcophagus, as such. But Grace will be able to detect something just as dangerous, if not more. The sarcophagus isn't meant to hold people out as much as it's designed to hold something in. It's the focal point of the entire tomb, with its guardians, slaves and elaborate, lavish decorations no one living was ever meant to see. There's a presence in the sarcophagus - sleeping, but angry and vengeful. It seems to be a ghost of someone very powerful.

[Recaiden]

[Up in the Mountains]

But not the ones that anyone in the big city bothers to learn the names of. Only geologists and locals and sports enthusiasts do that.

A portal opens, a silhouette in the air opening onto inky black nothingness. There's a brief heaviness and stillness. Then the demon tumbles out of the portal and it snaps shut. Most normal laws of physics reassert themselves, the spiritual pressure in the area drops back to normal, and all is well. Except perhaps their feelings. She had worked on a route where they could escape over land for an embarrassingly long time before remembering that they could do this. Open these gates through the void.

The massive alien creature picks herself up - gets to her six feet and looks around. She had hoped others would be able to traverse the portal with her. Looks like this will take a bit longer than she'd hoped.
Looks up, tentacles twisting around to shield her eyes from the sunlight. Yes. That's a sky all right. Here she can fulfill her obligations. Of course things will get in the way.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowbound Tundra]

Kitty gives her a reassuring smile and a firm nod. Time to press on as fast as they can without wearing themselves out for the long walk. Unless something of note happens on the way there, they'll no doubt arrive around Obriane's predicted time.

[Snowbound Tundra]

Yes, Obriane knows the area well so she can take them quickly to their destination. She and her father used to hunt around these parts. They will be able to see the distance already from the hill they have to transcend. While not particularly large it's no village and you'd have to search far and wide to find a larger town in the frontier.
"Okay... I think you should move ahead now. There is a straight path to follow down to the valley. As soon as you cross the bridge you're there." She gestures towards a tiny bridge in distance.

[Gullara]

[Snowbound Tundra]

"Okay, you just sit tight. I'll be back as soon as I can and we can go from there." Kitty leans over and gives Obriane a kiss on the cheek. "See you soon." Suddenly in Kitty's place stands a many tailed fox. She does a little circuit around Obriane, nuzzles one of her legs, and then takes off down the hill toward the town.

[Recaiden]

[Helix Honey] (closed)

A phone rings!
It's the phone assigned to one Penny Vess, sitting on a desk in a cramped, moderately well-lit office space. The carpet is well-cleaned and has colorful geometric designs, but the wallpaper is a bit dirty. The majority of the marketing department (which isn't terribly large) seems to have vanished off to lunch without her. Extension 001, huh.

[Deathkeeper]

Helix Honey

Darn it. She has no idea how or why they do that, but it happens at least twice a week. And they're not unfriendly to her or anything. No one seems to dislike her, at least. So why do they keep forgetting to invite her to eat with them? She's never seen this extension before, though. Isn't it...?
"Hello?"

[Recaiden]

[Helix Honey]

It is!

"Hello!" The voice sounds delighted.
"Ms. Vess? Could you please come down to my office? At the end of the hall on the top floor." Let's leave aside exactly how many floors there are. Might just be two.
Little time for a response, the call is already over.

[Deathkeeper]

Helix Honey

Our heroine gulps, not been even give enough time to respond with an "oh, sure." Well, unless she somehow offended someone enough for the...the CEO herself to be happy to fire her, the tone didn't seem like a bad one.
With some trembling, the girl makes her way to the elevator, up to the top floor, and down the hall, not even stopping to acknowledge the secretary (if they're even here right now) unless stopped, before knocking on the door. She's never even seen the CEO before, only heard things about her. Good things, mostly. But even those statements were few or far between. She really knows nothing at all, going in...

[Recaiden]

[Helix Honey]

The secretary nods at her.

Inside the office is...well, mostly just an office. It's a bit cleaner here, rather dim, there's a very large dark desk. Along the far wall is a bunch of shelves with bottles of...probably honey and jelly? There's a table of bottles and beakers and what looks like a beehive. And behind the desk is the boss. 'CEO' sounds so business and officious.

Patience Sitsow looks like...some woman in a suit. Short shiny grey hair, a little heavy, smiling. Except for the eyes. They don't cover her head, but black multifaceted eyes fill the sockets, bigger than anyone's eyes should be. And there's the three little ones on her forehead.
"Come in, take a seat."
There's a pair of chairs for guests in the corners.

[Deathkeeper]

Helix Honey

Penny isn't in incredible shape, but she's not quite heavy. Just not thin. A bit on the pale side, with hair just a shade lighter than black. She's wearing a formal blouse and skirt at the moment, and nervously slides into the chair on the right.
"Hello, Ma'am. you asked to see me?"