Outside 45

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Ruin]

Zenon gives a satisfied sigh as a dull red glow suffuses his body for a moment, before fading. He turns back to Fayyaad and gives the tiefling a friendly smile.

"Ah, that hits the spot! Now, then, let's get your refractor and get out of here." He quickly makes for the other generator room, where the crystal still floats, waiting for someone to take it. Zenon glances about for a moment, then shrugs, placing his hands on the sides of the large object and lifting it from the pedestal easily. It's a somewhat awkward load to carry, but despite its size and mass, the armored humanoid seems to have no trouble with it. He gestures with his head towards the door.

"Would you like to lead, or shall I?"

[Degenburg Castle]

Electra listens to Dena's end of the conversation impassively, keeping her own hand up to keep the illusion up. She has two ideas of what Dipsnig might say, depending on whether the assassin's been found and neutralized while they've been in transit and conference with Sszinyon or not. She hopes for good news, all the same.

[Ashen Lilies]

Aelfisborough

The settler's car (an old pick up truck with caterpillar tracks) pulls up here! It's a collection of ten stout stone houses, looking particularly small as they are partially underground. Each house has a slate roof and walls of well-crafted granite, and are arrayed in a circle, with the town hall in the centre. The town hall is a larger building, two storeys, and clad with white marble and roofed with red clay tiles. Visible on a hill overlooking the town is a basalt tower, four storeys tall and looking slightly neglected, though it's far enough away that details aren't obvious. Surrounding the town are fields, many dominated by herds of small cattle, with black, red or white fur and small horns. The fields closest to the tower, and those neighbouring the closest fields, are fallow.

There's several farms and farm-buildings set away from the main cluster of the community, though due to current circumstance many have been abandoned or are temporarily deserted. "That tower up there is where the wizard lives, and the barn where the creature has made its lair is down the side there. The mayor and his team are in the town hall, they might have more evidence or news if you want it. There's a general store in the hall too, if you discover you forgot something."

[Aelfisborough]

Cassandra spends most of the car journey in relative silence, staring out the window as various countrysides drift by. As they approach the town, which is seeming to be a little less of a town and more of a hamlet, Cass finds attention drawn to the incongruous presence of the wizard's tower, baldly out of place among its pastoral surroundings.

"Curious place to put a tower," she comments. "How long ago did he build that, did you say?"

Once they actually arrive, she'll spend some moments gathering together her belongings, smoothing out her coat and such, to let Koshal do the same, and attend to his horse if he brought it (though she may have suggested it be stabled Inside if there was a preference to all traveling in the truck together).

"It's probably best to check if there are any new developments with the Mayor," she says idly.

[Deathkeeper]

Aelfisborough

Faye doesn't really fit on Dune, Koshal's horse, so she instead sits in the truck bed. Dune is an enormous sandy-brown horse probably suitable as a draft horse but that's to be expected when Koshal is likely to hit the quarter-ton weight of his uncle in a decade. Koshal hops down from him as they arrive to meet Cass and the unnamed settler, seemingly not worried about the horse potentially running away.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." says the teen, nodding at Cass' suggestion.

[Earl of Purple]

Aelfisborough

"He didn't build it; he moved in about thirty years ago. The tower's been there for as long as anyone can remember, but we've only been here half a century. The mayor should know more, though. His office is this way." The settler walks into the town hall, and will lead the two adventurers to a worn oak door, reinforced with iron rivets.

If they follow, then they will find that on the other side is a spacious room, lit by tall oil-lamps in the corners. In the centre of the room is an art-deco desk, and behind it sits the mayor. He stands to greet the newcomers, and possibly shake their hands. He's a tall man, wearing a green rifleman's jacket with elaborate braiding, and a pair of dark red velvet trousers. On his head sits a black tricorne hat, and at his waist is a wheellock pistol. Also in the room is the town's sheriff, a pale, bald woman wearing jeans, wellington boots, and a thigh-length mail hauberk, armed with a khanda sword at her waist. The mayor speaks first. "So, you are the people Ananais found to help us. Please, be quick; my daughter has been missing half an hour." He certainly sounds a little frantic.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Aelfisborough]

Ah. As far as locations to build a settlement go, "next to a mysterious wizard tower" rates a little lower than "on an ancient battlefield" and "over some mysterious catacombs", but still higher than "on top of a portal to hell".

Cass quietly observes the decor and dressings as they're led inside. Pretty fancy looking officials, for such a small town.

Well. That's bad news, though.

"Oh. Of course."

That sort of takes away the option of asking any more questions. At least, as far as Cass' player is capable of thinking of.

[Shadowcaller]

[Degenburg Castle]

"I just love it when you try to solve a problem and step in a big heap of family drama," Dipsnig says. "I remember that one time... never mind. Raril is still here, safe and sound. The assassin is dead. So there's no obstacles on this end."

[Degenburg Castle]

"Great, so then you can fix his memory, right? We got a warlock, she must be able to fix him up some hocus pocus." Dena replies.

[Deathkeeper]

Aelfisborough

Koshal blinks in surprise, pushing down his grumbles about the settler jabbing at his appearance when his own townsfolk are carrying both swords and guns. And weird swords at that.
"Okay, has anyone actually seen this thing? 'Cause we don't have much to work with on what we're fighting. I figure that your daughter has no other possible culprit so we'll skip that part."

[Earl of Purple]

Aelfisborough

Koshal's gun is far more advanced than any of the very few firearms here. And if the tower was abandoned when the settlers arrived, it wasn't a wizard tower, and could have been a lookout tower, town hall or other useful feature.

"There's been reports of buzzing at night, like a host of flies. It's never come out at day before, and my daughter is a guard. She can look after herself in most situations. It's got the town petrified, and the second person it took was one of the guards, so most of the citizens try to avoid it. One of the ranchers claims to have seen it, he says it's got a foot-long sting and a twelve-foot wingspan. He's exaggerating; wings like that could not comfortably fit into the barn, but nobody else even has that much." The mayor wishes he had more information, but the person he sent to gather information is amongst the missing.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Aelfisborough]

"So it's definitely insectoid?"

This is sounding increasingly like Cass is going to regret not stopping to pick up some notes. Bugs, especially in swarms, tended to not like fire. Fire being not a particular specialty of Cassandra's. It had its uses, but Cass had always found fire spells a bit too finicky and difficult to manage for common practice.

[Deathkeeper]

Aelfisborough

Koshal nods. "It sure sounds like it. If we're lucky it'll be fragile. Some bugs are. Some aren't. We might wanna step on it, though." he suggests.

[Earl of Purple]

Aelfisborough

"I don't think stepping on it will help. It's large enough to carry away a person, and leave no tracks. It may be too large to step on." Though I think Koshal may have mean the term to mean 'hurry up', there's only one vehicle in the whole town so they aren't familiar with that meaning. Also, because the monster is insectoid, it works both ways.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Aelfisborough]

"Yes. Time is of the essence." Probably. It could be that everyone is already dead, in which case an expedited rescue is not necessary, though stopping the creature from killing again is still preferable.

To the barn!

Cass will nod to the mayor and leave.

[Deathkeeper]

Aelfisborough

Koshal gives a stiff bow of his head to the mayor and follows Cass out.
"If you want Dune could probably carry us both there. I'm not big enough to be the only person who'd fit yet. Or we could uh, just walk..." he offers the elf.

[Felandria]

Temple Assault

Felandria keeps pace with Wenomir, trying to get his attention.

Wenomir!

This is what they want, to split us up and pick us off!

We need to find the others and get our butts to the temple as soon as possible.

[Ashen Lilies]

Aelfisborough

Koshal gives a stiff bow of his head to the mayor and follows Cass out.
"If you want Dune could probably carry us both there. I'm not big enough to be the only person who'd fit yet. Or we could uh, just walk..." he offers the elf.

[Aelfisborough]

"I don't mind riding along, if you want to bring the horse." Says Cassandra. Cassandra doesn't know if Koshal has a specific tactical use for having a horse nearby, but if he does she's not going to let her pride or unfamiliarity with horses (she's always been more of a motorbike person) stop him.

[Earl of Purple]

Aelfisborough

The barn is not that far away, however they get there. The settler and his track-truck is still outside, if needed.

It's a sturdy building, with thick stone walls. The roof is made of rotting beams and old tiles, held together with a clear, sticky resin. The same substance is layered on the walls, and holds the large gate closed. The gate is eight feet wide, and made of rotting wood, but the resin is layered on thick to hold it together. The building is actually large enough for a creature with a twelve-foot wingspan, but the only opening- a hatch into the hayloft- is the size of a standard door, and a creature so large could not fit through that, let alone if it's carrying a burden too.

They might be able to break down the door; the resin is tough, but it's layered on rotting wood, and might give easily. Or they could try and find a ladder, to see if they can access the hayloft. If they look, there's an old metal ladder lying in the grass behind the barn, next to a pile of old tyres and rusting car wheels.

[Deathkeeper]

Aefisborough

Koshal realizes that maybe he shouldn't bring an animal to the lair of a monster known for eating domesticated animals, but then he decides that Message's protection should be enough. He invites Cassandra onto the horse behind him. She will be allowed to hold onto him if she needs to as they approach the barn.

Who builds a stone barn anyway?

[Shadowcaller]

Temple Assault

Steve impales what appears to be a pale fish with his sword, black blood oozing out of its semi-transparent skin and down into the murky water. It appears as if he has killed it (he better not get its blood into his wound though).
Yet as its body sinks down beneath the surface he can see more of the creatures gathering just below the surface, tearing the recently killed fish apart in a feeding frenzy. Soon there are more of them going after Steve's legs, driven by pure blood lust.

Back at Wenomir and Felandria, things have gone strangely quiet, the mist has returned and is enveloping the two, hiding away all the traces of the explosion, except of the smell which is still rather distinctive. There are no attacking demons for the moment though, so for now they have a moment of respite.

[Morty]

[Temple Assault]

Wenomir stops, and breathes heavily.

"Yes... you're right. They've led us on a merry chase around this bog. Let's go find Steve and Luvon. Watch out for fireballs and counter them if you can."

[Ruin]

"I'll take the lead," Fayyaad says, before doing just that.

[Degenburg Castle]

"I hope so. I'll talk to Astrana and call you back soon."

[8BitNinja]

Temple Assault

Steve impales what appears to be a pale fish with his sword, black blood oozing out of its semi-transparent skin and down into the murky water. It appears as if he has killed it (he better not get its blood into his wound though).
Yet as its body sinks down beneath the surface he can see more of the creatures gathering just below the surface, tearing the recently killed fish apart in a feeding frenzy. Soon there are more of them going after Steve's legs, driven by pure blood lust.

Back at Wenomir and Felandria, things have gone strangely quiet, the mist has returned and is enveloping the two, hiding away all the traces of the explosion, except of the smell which is still rather distinctive. There are no attacking demons for the moment though, so for now they have a moment of respite.

Steve sees the large amount of fish swimming at him. He opens a jar of holy water and pours it on the lake at his feet. Even though he thinks that it will work he yells "I need help, there are creatures under me!"

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Ruin]

"Very well, then." Zenon follows Fayyaad at a fairly close distance, moving easily despite his load. If Fayyaad cares to check the four larger generator rooms before ascending the elevator, he'll find that the massive crystals that were once contained therein have indeed been shattered into small shards, all of them the same dull gray color. The elevator ride up to the next floor is quiet and uneventful. Zenon seems distracted, but says nothing, and simply follows when Fayyaad moves. Their way is clear up to the next elevator room, where Fayyaad left two sentries still active. They can be heard tromping around, but not seen from the doorway.

[Shadowcaller]

[Degenburg Castle]

Dena hangs up. "Well, this is just great. We actually found a solution of this stupidly complicated situation, and now it might not work. Guess we just need to hope for the best."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Degenburg Castle]

Electra blinks for a moment, looking to Dena, lets her face grow serious, nods once, then lowers her hand.

"What's going on?"

[Ashen Lilies]

[Aelfisborough]

People who want to not have their barn burn down, probably.

"Front door or top?" Cass asks Koshal. She holds up a hand, creating a small floating light, which she attaches to the top of her staff for safe-keeping. Could be useful later.

[Shadowcaller]

[Degenburg Castle]

Electra blinks for a moment, looking to Dena, lets her face grow serious, nods once, then lowers her hand.

"What's going on?"

[Degenburg Castle]

"The assassin is dead, but I don't know if they managed to fix Raril's memory yet, or how long that might take. So for now, all we can do is wait for him to call back." Dena declares, appearing rather restless.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Degenburg Castle]

"I see. Well, that's partially good news, at least. Now we just need to convince Sszinyon not to hire anyone else." Electra remarks dryly. "Do you want me to wait here with you, or should I rejoin Reinholdt?"

[Lord Raziere]

[Orc Story][GMO factory]

The woman could barely hear Ensara over her excruciating pain and her brain slowly shutting down from lack of oxygen. She was a little surprised that she lived long enough to hear Ensara's words to the end. What good is a true warriors death if you don't want do die in the first place? If there is no special afterlife for warriors in your religion? If you leave behind seventeen children and a widower who barely makes enough money to sustain them all? Oh, the tragedy!

Soon, firefighters and police forces will arrive, alarmed by the two escaped employees. The firefighters will not be able to save anything of value from the flames, but the police will definitely find the smashed robots, broken greenhouses and orc corpses (if they weren't carried away during retreat). Recognizing the threat Ensara's tribe could pose, policemen and -women are immediately positioned around the outskirts of the town, overlooking the wide, open steppe surrounding it. No active search teams are dispatched.

Although Zingal Institute had saved a lot of money in their bank accounts, it will not be enough to ever rebuild the lost facility.

Orc Story
At dawn, the Shaman makes another prayer. In a flash beam of light from the sun across the land, it hits him against and the Sun-spirit speaks once again to Ensara.
"YOU HAVE DONE WELL. THERE ARE MORE OUT THERE, BUT THIS WILL DO FOR NOW. YOUR ARE ONLY MORTAL AFTER ALL, AND NEED TIME TO DO ALL IMPORTANT ENDEAVORS.

NOW, TAKE MY BLESSING OF THE SUN. COMMAND THE FIRES TO BURN YOUR ENEMIES, THE SKIES TO GIVE YOU SUNNY DAYS, THE RAIN TO GIVE YOUR CROPS WATER AND THE EARTH TO GROW THEM STRONG. MAKE YOUR TRIBE STRONG WITH MY POWER. FOR YOU ARE NOW, SUN LORD."
With that a searing, powerful energy infuses Ensara and she doubles over in agony as a shard of the suns limitless power is forced into her very being. She screams an unearthly scream as the fires of all creation burn within her and she shines with a terrifying light, an endless flame within her reforging her into something greater, more powerful, something ascending beyond most mortals. Her eyes glow with the suns flames for a moment and the entire tribe trembles as the searing fire calms and she eventually settles- but now with noticeable sun tattoos upon her.
"IF YOU WANT GREATER POWER....SIMPLY DESTROY MORE OF SUCH UNNATURAL THINGS TO MY KINGDOM. THAT IS ALL I ASK. IMPRESS ME ENOUGH AND THE POWER WILL BE YOURS."
He then goes back to sun, through a beam of light again, leaving as suddenly as he arrived.
"Thank you Sun spirit......Tribe Ragash! We leave now! I don't want to stick around here and we need to find a good place to settle. Let us leave, before they start pursuing us."
They then begin hurrying off from the town as fast as they can.

[Green Elf]

Steve sees the large amount of fish swimming at him. He opens a jar of holy water and pours it on the lake at his feet. Even though he thinks that it will work he yells "I need help, there are creatures under me!"

The ranger reaches the location, somehow out of breath. He has his swords out but weakly holds them. "What do you need help with?" He asks.

[Deathkeeper]

[Aelfisborough]

People who want to not have their barn burn down, probably.

"Front door or top?" Cass asks Koshal. She holds up a hand, creating a small floating light, which she attaches to the top of her staff for safe-keeping. Could be useful later.

Aelfisborough

Koshal considers unstrapping the rifle from Dune's saddle but decides that it isn't powerful enough to warrant lugging around. What he definitely is is nervous about that ladder.
"Uh, that looks kind of...sketchy. Ladders aren't really made with me in mind." Koshal says, showing Cassandra his hooves. Them being so much shorter than human feet does make ladders hard for him. "Any magic that could help?"

[Felandria]

Temple Assault

Felandria points towards the direction of the shouting.

Wenomir, I think they're over there.

Stay close to me, if a fireball hits, I can take the brunt of it.

She pulls out her healing wand and casts healing on Wenomir to take care of some of his wounds.