Serious Plots 6: Srs bsns

[Recaiden]

The shadows screeches in pain at an actual audible volume.
They stop at the line of light, some of them already dissolved away.

Looks like she's getting away!

[Deathkeeper]

Masked Shore/Spider Woods

If she's able, Sarina will run the whole mile or so back to the spider's woods and set the bundled up ring down in the HQ web for her "boss." Then she can fall over a bit.
"Why are my legs always burning when I come back from a mission?" she sighs between breaths.

[Recaiden]

"Perhaps you don't have enough of them to bear the strain. Or you need to practice."
An aide quietly informs the queen that the question was rhetorical, and there are no more suggestions.
"You have done very well in retrieving this."
A moderately-sized spider scuttles out and retrieves the bundle, picking it in its mandibles and retreating to the darkness.

[Deathkeeper]

Spider Woods

"Well, maybe I did a little better when I had more. But deer aren't made for what I do now anyway. And I've never seen a spider run. But still, off track. Thank you." she says, happy with herself that she didn't flinch at all when the aide-spider took the bundle. She's finally gotten used to all these spiders. Mostly.

[Recaiden]

Somewhere (near but not inside HQ), they turn off the spatial distortion for the mission and the river snaps back to being 300-some miles away.

"You are welcome. You have been much more enthusiastic about your work lately. This is good. So we have to ask, will you be ready for another trip, soon?"
Sarina should see the spider-races sometime.

[Deathkeeper]

Spider Woods

Sarina looks up into the blackness as she finally catches her breath.
"Well, I guess that one only took an hour. So yeah, sure I guess. What do you have in mind?" she asks.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty manages to dive right at the central 'head' of the spirit, and can feel her fangs sink into what feels like cold water. There is no blood coming out of this throat, just emptiness and sadness. The howl of pain is real enough though and she can feel the spirits cold hands of death reaching for her, trying to pull her away from the throat, their touch bringing intense agony. She can hear Obriane call her name in the distance. She sounds concerned.

[Rivi Des]

Kitty's tails flare suddenly, engulfed in foxfire. She can be a living inferno for this creature, so it best be ready to get burned. The kitsune doesn't even hesitate, while her flaming tails hopefully fend off the hands for a while longer, she bites down harder, ripping and tearing toward something vital. She wants to end this, now.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

The creature sceams as it's shadowy hands seems to disappear like shadows in the burning inferno. Kitty can feel her teeth sinking deep down into the shadowy mass when she is suddenly biting empty air. The cold, menacing presence suddenly gone. If Kitty has the presence of mind to be aware of her surrounding she can see the creature with it's back turned to her, fleeing the scene. It appears to be 'leaking' its shadowy mass into the air, sniffling pathetically.

Obriane is standing nearby, her knife held in a rather menacing fashion, shadowy substance lingering on its edge.

[Ashen Lilies]

[The Nightmare]

"That's not what happened," Wenomir says, as if arguing with what he's seeing. "We lost, but most of us got away. Felandria certainly did. And I destroyed the base before the demons could claim it."

[The Nightmare]

Anika would suggest Wenomir to ignore it all as it was obviously not true, but she herself was focusing on getting out of here as soon as possible. She knew the effects of prolonged exposure to the nightmare and would rather avoid them. She looks around for any signs of the creature, if it truly was a part of the nightmare (and perhaps even if it wasn't), she should be able to feel it's presence within this elaborate illusion.

[The Nightmare]

Anika's senses will point her... up? It seems that if there's to be any resolution to this nightmare, it lies at the top of the spire. Well, that's just typical, isn't it.

Speaking of typical things, a low rumbling might clue the pair of them in to an upcoming obstacle. If they're a bit slow on the uptake, well, then the rumbling will help by getting larger, building up in intensity until there's a colossal crash as something smashes through the keep's doors.

It's a sight that Anika might find somewhat familiar - a massive centaur-like being with a capacious gut and long tusks, brandishing a wicked double-ended polearm. This particular pitlord differs from the ones of Anika's world however in that it appears to be little more than a shell made of giant slabs of jagged metal. It barrels across the courtyard at a gallop, swinging one end of its polearm low in an attempt to separate Wenomir's top half from his lower half.

[Recaiden]

Looking into the blackness, she can briefly see the bright bits of the bundled ring-thing reflecting off the queen's eight eyes.
"Due to the unusual nature of the item, there was a backlash when its present state collapsed. A number of hostile quaratic entities are going to have been looking for it. You will go forward to the end-beginning of its thread and destroy them."
"It will be good practice for you to do some lengthwise time travel. That's simplest for beginners."

[Morty]

[The Nightmare]

Wenomir's eyes narrow as he recognizes his enemy during the real battle of Vigil... or something that looks like it, anyway. Some sort of weird facsimile. But he didn't have the Answer back then.

The polearm will only cut air, since Wenomir jumps off Anika's back well before it reaches him. His jump carries him above the massive weapon and onto the monster's arm, from where he tries to jump onto its back. If he manages to land there, he'll attempt to drive his sword into its back, using the momentum of his fall.

[Deathkeeper]

Spider Woods

"Time? Me? I didn't know I was even equipped for time-weaving. Or whatever it is you do it with. And how do I get back once I'm done?" she asks.

[Recaiden]

"What did you think your title was for, child?"
The queen's voice is colored with disappointment.
"Perhaps you are not ready yet; to voice first surprise and then concern for your own carapace."

"But let's set that aside for a moment. What do you think we ought to do with the prize you brought back?"
"It might be kept by myself, to use its power for all our goods."
"It might be traded to our neighbors or other interested groups, where it would command good value or goodwill."
"It might be given to some particular citizen; how do people react to a gift they can never deserve?"
"And it could be a secret kept, or written loudly about."
This question seems like some sort of test. But maybe it is a forthright solicitation of policy advice.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

The creature sceams as it's shadowy hands seems to disappear like shadows in the burning inferno. Kitty can feel her teeth sinking deep down into the shadowy mass when she is suddenly biting empty air. The cold, menacing presence suddenly gone. If Kitty has the presence of mind to be aware of her surrounding she can see the creature with it's back turned to her, fleeing the scene. It appears to be 'leaking' its shadowy mass into the air, sniffling pathetically.

Obriane is standing nearby, her knife held in a rather menacing fashion, shadowy substance lingering on its edge.

[Rivi Des]

Kitty collapses onto the ground when the thing supporting her weight suddenly vanishes. When she springs to her feet and looks for it, growling like an enraged animal, the spirit's already gotten headstart. "That way, after it!" She shouts and starts running, thinking Obriane will follow.

If the creature is too distracted and hurried, it might suffer from a shift in perspective. It's like it got turned around. The house and its foes are in front of it, and the woods it was fleeing into are behind it. It should turn around and keep running, right?

[Deathkeeper]

Spider Woods

Sarina frowns, but swallows the response she has for the queen. Fine. Subject change.
"As has been made obvious, I don't like making decisions without being educated in what they entail. I don't know what this artifact does, which makes my answer biased and uneducated. However, our relations with our neighbors in Town is already rapidly increasing, and doesn't need passing around artifacts. It will heal on its own. I can't suggest we give it away, because I don't know what it does which makes that the most dangerous option. Which leaves me to say that it's best kept, either used quietly for our own gain, or as a bargaining chip if we ever have troubles in the future."

[Recaiden]

"A very cautious recommendation. Which is not to say that we do not need caution. Thank you. You may depart."
The web grows very still.

[Deathkeeper]

Spider Woods

Sarina does a very sincere bow and moves to leave as instructed before she ends up with her hoof in her mouth again.

[Recaiden]

Just outside Spider HQ, Sarina is waylaid by a tree spirit!

This one is a

The spider queen looks away from that tapestry of the future, and pulls back to unravel the threads, undoing the recent local past. The last checkpoint tied in was just before Sarina arrived and fell to a knee in tiredness.
None of this happened, except in her memory.

---

"Perhaps you don't have enough of them to bear the strain. We're quite good runners, you know."

"You have done very well in retrieving this."
A moderately-sized spider scuttles out and retrieves the bundle, picking it in its mandibles and retreating to the darkness.
At the same time, a tree nymph steps out and offers to help Sarina up. This one is a mountain hemlock (don't worry, they're not poisonous) who looks to be a little younger than Sarina and conforms to their usual (lack of) dress code.

[Deathkeeper]

Spider Woods

Sarina gives the bundle to the spider, proud of herself for not being creeped out. She also takes the nymph's hand, though she tries not to be too visibly interested like she usually is. This is business, after all.
"I didn't know that. But my experience is still limited. I guess it's just one more thing spiders are better than me at." she says with a shrug. Sometimes it can be frustrating, having a job when all your co-workers are naturally inclined to be better than you. That's why it's good she's figured out how to have fun with it.
"Thanks, though. I hope that you can use it. Whatever it is."

[Shadowcaller]

[The Nightmare]

A pitlord? No, that wasn't real. Just another illusion protecting the creature producing this dream. Yet Wenomir was fighting it, damn it.
Anika attempts diving underneath the beast, running in-between it's legs, and then change into her humanoid form once she had put a relatively safe distance between it and her. Once that is done, she is going to aim a beam of sun fire at the creatures eyes as soon as it turns to look at Wenomir, attempting to blind it.

"Our foe is at the top of the tower! We can't fight all its illusions!" She yells at Wenomir.

[Rivi Des]

Obriane does follow, but she isn't nearly as fast as Kitty once she gets up in sprint. The creature drags itself what it perceives to be forward, which isn't exactly that. So before it can get too far, Kitty will catch up with it. She can see that it now looks like a massive huddled figure with arms and heads moving around like giant antennas before it, itseems confused and scared.

[Recaiden]

"We all have our particular talents."
Like opposable thumbs!
"Oh, we certainly can. This little ring is from the end of an entire world's time, and besides being completely indestructible, is a gateway to the spirit world and has a variety of changing, unpredictable powers - another lifetime's worth."
The nymph smiles. Wouldn't think of taking all Sarina's attention, no.
"Of course, coming from so far in time raises complications. Will you be ready for another trip, soon?"

[Deathkeeper]

Spider Woods

Well, Sarina's teacher has thumbs and is better at weaving than Sarina. Whether or not she has better cardio remains to be seen.
"Another mission? Well that one didn't take very long so yeah, I guess I can." she says, nodding to the unseen queen.

[Recaiden]

Sarina should/could organize races!
"This will require a bit of practical weaving. Time travel."

[Deathkeeper]

Spider Woods

Sarina nods, though her eyes go wide.
"If you think I'm ready, I'll try to learn. I haven't done anything like that before." she says quietly.

[Recaiden]

"It's just like the weaving work you do. Part of the powers given to you. You're just working with magic instead of thread."
At a wordless signal from the queen, the nymph departs.
"Look here."
A little potholder-size loom is pushed out into the better-lit area, one large, pointy, black-red spider leg maneuvering it. Whatever's being made is only half done, and the weft is tangled and weirdly looped through. The spider's leg traces it through its strange turns.
Past, to present, no future yet. Parallels here, possibilities drawn up here. One will just take Sarina's thread, skip over all this, and tie it in way up here. Then to come back, you loop it around and thread it through back where you started."
"This metaphor is set up to prevent you causing paradoxes, so don't worry too hard about that."
Sarina's not going to try to mess up the flow of continuity, right? Right.

[Deathkeeper]

Spider Woods

Sarina nods. "Seems simple enough. I can try. What exactly do you want me to do?" she asks the Queen.
And of course she's not going to mess with continuity. Doing that might have all sorts of terrible effects, like making her a spider, or changing Alexis' snake color, or replacing everyone with dinosaurs like that one game Isaac played in sixth grade.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Obriane does follow, but she isn't nearly as fast as Kitty once she gets up in sprint. The creature drags itself what it perceives to be forward, which isn't exactly that. So before it can get too far, Kitty will catch up with it. She can see that it now looks like a massive huddled figure with arms and heads moving around like giant antennas before it, itseems confused and scared.

[Rivi Des]

Kitty slows to a walk when she sees that the creature is coming right toward her. Perfect. She holds out her hands and sends a torrent of foxfire to engulf the monster. Nobody threatens her girlfriend and walks away.

[Recaiden]

"Simply fight off some monsters."
The metaphorical loom is left out for Sarina's possible use.

[Deathkeeper]

Spider Woods

Sarina approaches the loom.
"Okay, so...unless you think I'm unprepared, I just need the when I'm going, and what I'm supposed to be...killing? Still not my strong suit..." she admits.

[Recaiden]

"As far as you can go. Elementals. Animate distortions in the fabric. You do not have to kill them, just removing them from the place you find them will be enough to unanchor them from this timeline."
"I know you in particular are not fond of violence, but that is life. Enemies are everywhere."