Outside 45

[Recaiden]

Cloud nods.
"It can be a lot to take in. I had a pretty bad time when I first left my hometown. But you clearly have a lot of experience traveling and being on your own. I think you guys will be okay."
Eve's toy halo finally winks out.

"You could actually pay us, you could donate blood, and you could just think nice things about us every so often."
More extreme and unusual methods of payment are of course possible, but not going to be suggested.
"But we're helping you guys because it's the right thing to do, so consider anything like that a donation to future good works, and not a rescue fee."
He shrugs.

[8BitNinja]

Felandria stops and ponders.

Well, aside from the obvious, where I grow bigger and carry them, I could alternatively shrink them for the same result.

A fly spell would work for Steve, but I don't think the horse would be able to fly, he wouldn't know how.

I might be able to turn the horse into a stone figurine until we get across, but there's always the minimal risk of something going awry on the reversal.

Feather Fall is a possibility........

.
.
.
Ooh, let me check my bag.

She checks her bag of holding.

Well, I have a scroll of Tenser's Floating Disk, but it doesn't carry that much weight.

That's about all I got, at least right now.

Steve says "I'll leave my horse, I'll send Henry back to the upper planes." He dismounts and holsters his lance on his horse. Henry runs off into the swamp. After he is out of the line of sight of the group, he will have returned to the upper planes where he waits to be called again. He draws his sword and awaits further orders.

[McBish]

I am feeling well enough to donate some blood thanks to you. I would pay you but I would like to figure out how much money I have. If I figure out I have more than I think I will have to come visit you. The west side of the city you said?"

She will think nice things of them, and keep them in her prayers. Not sure if divine people notice people praying for them and not to them.

Eve gets upset about losing her halo. She shifts around looking for it and then slowly starts to cry when she can't find it. Naftly taps on the dome getting her attention and whistling to her. Just a little tune, but it seems to quiet Eve. Eveland still pouting tries to put as many fingers in her mouth as she can. A trick that usually makes mom smile, it does so this time.

[Recaiden]

Cloud nods. "That's right. Best of luck getting things together down there."

It isn't as clear, but it will probably be noticed.

Poor Eve.

There starts to be a little turbulence as the shuttle runs into air and heat and wind and weather.

[McBish]

The shaking takes Naftly by surprise but a steadying hand on the unmoving stroller and she is quick to adjust. She snaps/hooks the panels back onto the stroller. "What no seatbelt lights?" She grins, her first joke to someone that understands her speech in a long time. A small one, and sort of a inside joke amongst her old dead crew. She could use some practice. She will look around for a place to sit and probably strap in, unhurried unless someone else does the hurrying.

Eve poits, if she doesn't get a halo they don't get her being cute. She seems undisturbed by any turbulence.

[Recaiden]

There are slim benches, but they don't even seem to have seatbelts.

Cloud just shakes his head, not understanding the humor.

The descent of the shuttle, being controlled, soon smooths out.

[McBish]

In that case Naftly stays on her feet. Trusting the ride to not toss her around. Now that she is paying attention she has excellent balance. She tries to move so she can look outside the ship. Windows or a front view screen, just something to give her a view of the world thus new world below.

"Any career advice for down there. Will probably have to find a job." She doubts she has enough wealth to set her up for life.

[Recaiden]

The front displays are your best bet, looking over the shoulders of the pilots. There are no proper windows.

"Career advice? Ask yourself 'why?' a lot. Keep looking for new opportunities, all the time. It changes fast, whatever you do."

[McBish]

Naftly move up to the front of the shuttle watching them head downwards. She glances at the controls wondering if she can recognize any of the controls. She will hold onto the back of the pilots chairs so she doesn't get thrown off her feet.

She had been hoping for something more practical but she nods like it makes sense.

[Recaiden]

If you want practical advice, you're going to need to bring a specific problem.

There's probably no common origin between these controls and one's Naftly has seen. But a steering yoke is pretty recognizable. That lever there seems to be the throttle, even though the bar is labelled in Hz.

And there's Inside spread out below/ahead of them. Should make quite a sight.

[Morty]

[Temple Assault]

Wenomir nods.

"There are places where a warhorse is useful, but a swamp isn't one of them. Can you work with it now, Felandria? We need to hurry."

[Temple Grounds]

"And you'll let me leave? Just like that?" Thariza is befuddled.

[Shadowcaller]

[Temple Assault]

"Yeah! They probably seen us already, as loud you are." The gnoll complains, as he glances suspiciosly as the fog as if expecting something to emerge from it at any moment. "They gonna kill us for sure now..." The hyena man frowns.

Nothing emerges, but whatever is in there, hidden in the mist, is still watching.

[Temple Grounds]

"Of course, I cannot let something I worked on for so long go to waste. While you appear to be in peek physical condition now, there could be long-time effects I still cannot observe however." Jaccalish replies as it looks at her. "So where would you like to go? I'm afraid I cannot take you anywhere close to here for obvious reasons."

[McBish]

Naftly wonders if the Hz is for hertz, and then wonders if the whole ship some how works on sound. If she was a better engineer she would probably be filled with questions. Instead she is mesmerized by the huge city below. The glass skyscrapers, castles surrounded by thatch roof buildings, pagodas in gardens. "There is so much. I guess that means there should be plenty of opportunities."

[Recaiden]

It is (Hertz) and it doesn't (run on sound).

"Absolutely. I kind of imagine you're not looking for more danger."
The shuttle approaches the spaceport and starts setting down.

You might imagine there would be some talking to an air traffic controller or something, but this place is a bit of a mess for that.

[Felandria]

[Temple Assault]

Wenomir nods.

"There are places where a warhorse is useful, but a swamp isn't one of them. Can you work with it now, Felandria? We need to hurry."

Yeah, I'll just cast another fly spell.

And if anyone needs carrying, I can handle it.

[McBish]

[Inside the Atmosphere]

"Going to be doing my best to avoid danger. Though that has never worked that well in the past." She knows she has to stay safe to protect Eve. She is a little worried that this place may be too dangerous for her to handle.

[8BitNinja]

Yeah, I'll just cast another fly spell.

And if anyone needs carrying, I can handle it.

"Good thing a wizard came along, otherwise we would have been stuck here." says Steve. He awaits further orders.

[Morty]

[Temple Assault]

"Quite so. Let's get moving."

Wenomir will lead the team through the swamp. He walks surprisingly lightly for someone of his height.

[Temple Grounds]

Thariza is lost for a few moments. Where can she go? She can't return to the Black Citadel. The mountain base of Vigil fell. The old HALO base, then? That'd put them in danger, but she has nowhere else. She'll just have to be upfront about it and tell them what happened.

"...HALO. Take me to HALO."

[Recaiden]

Cloud nods slightly, as the (lack-of) freedom of the spacesuit allows.
"Or you wouldn't have needed our help. Try your best to be prepared."

The shuttle finally sets down, and he goes over to open the side hatch they came in by.

[Shadowcaller]

[Temple Assault]

The gnoll waits for him, and the others, to take the lead, preferring to remain in the back as they enter the mist. The mist is so dense that they barely can see one another once they're in the thick of it. "I will stay here, rally the rest of the pack." They can no longer see the gnoll, but by the sound of his voice, it seems that he decided to stay out of the mist.

Steve will detect evil all around them, it is as if it is within the very mist. Whoever is taking the lead will soon find themselves walking into water. While they can't see the lake within the mist, they can certainly feel and hear it as they step into the water.

[Temple Grounds]

"HALO... yes, that will do. Farewell, Thariza." Jaccalish eyes flare blue once again as Thariza will be gated to a location not far from the entrance of HALO.

[McBish]

"Just the most recent event in a long string of bad luck. Though I have had my share of good to." It seems pretty obvious she is thinking of Eveland, since she looks at her still pouting daughter. Still she probably could consider finding a inhabited planet with space flight being common enough. "Guess I will just hope for more good than bad."

((Switch to Inside?))

[Recaiden]

Okay, they're back on the ground and it looks like nothing catastrophic has happened while they were gone.

The pilot sets about going through the post-flight routine, making sure everything is still in order. The copilot makes sure the ramp has been pulled up to the hatch so they can get down properly.

"Welcome to Inside. I gotta say. There'll always be bad stuff happening; you've got to make yourself some good to go along. If you guys are in a hurry, go on down. If you need some more help, I'll be along in a minute."
With that, Cloud heads into the back of the ship to get out of the spacesuit and into normal clothes.

((Sure. You go ahead, since I posted there most recently.))

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Degenburg Castle]

Electra watches Dena and Rein introduce themselves, and finds herself in a bit of a quandary. Dena has not bowed to Sszinyon, but Rein has. She finds herself going quickly back over the various formal protocols she learned over the years doing investigative work back in her home dimension, and decides that a happy medium is probably best. She does not bow, but she does incline her head down slightly, though she keeps those deep, cold blue eyes on Sszinyon.

"Electra, private investigator and bodyguard." It sounds better than 'hired gun' and she's not sure whether to claim any sort of MERC affiliation, since she's just a license-holder, not a full member. Best to let Dena speak for MERC, anyways.

[Green Elf]

[Temple Assault]

The gnoll waits for him, and the others, to take the lead, preferring to remain in the back as they enter the mist. The mist is so dense that they barely can see one another once they're in the thick of it. "I will stay here, rally the rest of the pack." They can no longer see the gnoll, but by the sound of his voice, it seems that he decided to stay out of the mist.

Steve will detect evil all around them, it is as if it is within the very mist. Whoever is taking the lead will soon find themselves walking into water. While they can't see the lake within the mist, they can certainly feel and hear it as they step into the water.

"What's with this mist?" Asks the ranger. "Fog or mist usually isn't like this."

[Felandria]

Temple Assault

Felandria will pull out a bandana and tie it around her nose and mouth.

Well, I'm not taking any chances.

I suggest everyone take precautions.

[Morty]

[Temple Assault]

"This isn't natural mist, and there's... something in it," Wenomir says. "Can you try to clear it out? Swimming through the lake will be hard enough by itself."

He then closes his eyes, concentrates and performs an elaborate flourish with his sword, concentrating his will on the mist. If the mist is magically-created, it might be dispersed to a degree.

[8BitNinja]

[Temple Assault]

Steve watches Wenomir and says "The mist is evil, let me try to help" He closes his eyes and then prays "Bringer of Righteousness, please protect your servants from the wickedness around us." (Magic Circle Against Evil) If the mist is affected by such things, a circular field of good aligned energy will appear as a circle of faint light.

[Shadowcaller]

[Temple Assault]

It is hard to tell what happens exactly, but while the most does not disappear, it does thin out a bit as Steve casts his circle against evil and Wenomir... stabs the air around him.
Steve will be able to tell that the evil of this place isn't as thick anymore, it has somehow dispersed a bit, along with the fog.
It is at that point the group will hear what some might recognize as a helicopter, and it is coming closer.
The ones paying attention to to fog around them however, might see vague figures in the mist that appear to disappear as soon as they look at them.

[Artemis97]

[Degenburg Castle]

Dena does not bow, she found no reason to. She had never dealt with royalty much, and she had yet to see a reason to treat them differently than everyone else. Wasn't that a form of... -ism thing? Treating people differently like that? Whatever.
She does respectfully nod once he has finished speaking however. "I'm afraid we come bearing grave news, your brother, Raril, has been the victim of a assassination attempt. Thankfully we managed to save him, yet the assassin still remains at large. I am Dena Xifhara, lieutenant of MERC, and I am leading the investigation of this foul crime." If the other two wanted to introduce themselves, Dena pauses to let them.

[Degenburg Castle]

Reinholdt glances sideways at Dena. She suspects this man of hiring the assassin and she opens up with praise of its failure and condemnation of the act? Well alright, he guesses. Let's just see where she's going with this.

In the meantime, Rein believes you don't walk into another person's domain and not show them the proper deference, so he does bow while providing his trademark flourish. "Reinholdt, Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire and non-partisan party."

[Degenburg Castle]

Electra watches Dena and Rein introduce themselves, and finds herself in a bit of a quandary. Dena has not bowed to Sszinyon, but Rein has. She finds herself going quickly back over the various formal protocols she learned over the years doing investigative work back in her home dimension, and decides that a happy medium is probably best. She does not bow, but she does incline her head down slightly, though she keeps those deep, cold blue eyes on Sszinyon.

"Electra, private investigator and bodyguard." It sounds better than 'hired gun' and she's not sure whether to claim any sort of MERC affiliation, since she's just a license-holder, not a full member. Best to let Dena speak for MERC, anyways.

[Degenburg Castle]

"A Mercenary, a Treasure Hunter, and an Investigator, all here to tell me that my brother is not dead." A scowl crosses the vampiric drow's face. "Did you come here expecting I would come to his aid? If you have, you are sorely mistaken about the nature of our relationship."

The crowd in the hall shifts a little, growing somewhat tense at their lord's displeasure.

[Green Elf]

The ranger raises his bandana over his face and readies his bow.