Outside 47: [Insert seasonal phrase that will be outdated when this thread ends]

[Rebonack]

[Yellow Sands Waste]

Upon leaving the cave, Kothar will find that the enchanted grove that had sprung up around the dragon's home has perished.

All that remains are a few withered vines, a beautiful canyon, and the evening sun setting over the rolling yellow dunes.

The champion's quest is finished.

[Morty]

[Dragon Mountain]

Marshall sighs as Damon burn away the creature. It's fine. We haven't established strategy with each other.

I'm Marshall, Marshall Girard. He says, offering a short little bow to the dwarves. And you?

Damon just stands there, an ever-burning shadow, staring at the dwarves. "Your ssaviourss, it would sseem. A little gratitude would be nice, perhapss." He still kind of just wants to burn the dwarves, but he'll show a little restraint for now.

"Just some fellow adventurers," says Cass. Not exactly trusting these dwarves just yet.

"We had this handled," the archer says, though she doesn't seem to be as sure if as she pretends. "My name is Shayna Gleeveck, the leader of this outfit. Those three are Hakkon, Geber and Salina, my helpers in this... endeavour."

"I can think of only one reason three adventurers would delve into this forgotten relic of Unformed Time," the bald sorcerer says while the spearman and spell-blade remain in sullen silence. "But how much do you know of your reason?"

[The Old Forest]

"Hey, don't worry. I do still have some friends I can call on. But it would be pretty helpful if you can tell me any... weaknesses he might have? Something that might give us an edge?"

The Old Man forest considers this.

"He's not as his full power yet. He can't create armies of lesser fae and warp reality around him. So he slips through the cracks and makes deals with people whose nature speaks to him. Who crave what he can give them. But therein lies his weakness, as well. He can't break a word once given. He will try to worm his way out, but a pledge binds a Lord of the Fae like no one else. And he will need to make more pledges in order to grow as strong as he needs to be."

[Leostales]

Forlorn Cave

The final room contains an armoury, with several metal shelves standing against the walls. Pushed into the corner is a carronade, with a pile of six cannonballs next to it and all the equipment needed to load, fire and maintain it. There's also three barrels of gunpowder. Piled on the shelves are twelve muskets of various designs, mostly flintlock but there's an antique (even by the standards of the others) matchlock as well. There's also a collection of cutlasses and boarding axes, a cavalry sabre, a two-handed war-axe, an aluminium baseball bat and a collection of flintlock pistols. Standing in the corner is a mannequin dressed in a red tricorn hat, a matching greatcoat over a steel breastplate sculpted with a muscular physique complete with brass nipple-rings, and a belt with space to holster four flintlock pistols.

The cannonballs are all inscribed with a different magical rune- one of flames, one of impact, one of frost, one of fear, one of thunder and one of accuracy. The cavalry sabre is ornate, finely balanced and transfers life from the slain to the wielder, though that might not be too handy for Metalhead. The two-handed war-axe manipulates its own momentum to hit harder and smash through armour. One of the pistols is rifled, but isn't otherwise special. The tricorn hat enables the wearer to fly at jogging speed, but it needs to be quite close to a surface to work- wall, floor, ceiling or the surface of a body of water. The breastplate provides a decent forcefield around the other parts of the wearer, so it protects far more of the body than it should. And the belt auto-loads any pistol holstered in it, so long as adequate ammunition is also stored in pouches or other containers hanging from it.

The sword isn't particularly useful, as that is exactly how Metalhead gets power, collecting death energy from people he kills. It still could fetch a nice price though. The belt especially, could come in handy.

"Help yourselves to the guns. I don't have much use for them," he says, showing them his blaster. "If you want the cannonballs, you can have them too. They're magic by the way. There shouldn't be any more pirates in the area, maybe one or two I missed, but I've seen the whole place now." He searches the room to see if there are any hidden doors or whatnot.

[Earl of Purple]

Forlorn Cave

The various freed individuals will help themselves to the weaponry. "Cannonballs are useless without a cannon to fire them. They'd just be dead weight right now. We'll come back for them and that boomer. Should encourage the next bunch of raiders, bandits or whatnot to look elsewhere." That should work. Or they could sell them to a merchant with a vehicle beefy enough to take it.

There's no hidden doors here; the quest's just about over, minus the getting paid part. The hobgoblin and orc have accepted work from the Argonians, whilst most of the rest have decided to try farming with the marshwiggles. The exceptions are the tiefling and aasimar, who want to find somewhere in a city to settle down together.

[Murkus]

[The Old Forest]

"Doesn't sound too awful yet at least. I think we're gonna be okay, um, Mr. Forest," says Adir, offering a grin. "You and your people don't have to worry. Things have a tendency to work out around here. In the end. Me and a few people like me are gonna make sure that's always the case."

[Morty]

[The Old Forest]

"I hope that it's true, Hunter," the Old Man Forest says. "I'm too old to fight or serve a lord again. Some of my people still lament the Fairest of Lands, but I've taken root in this mortal world. I like the passing of the seasons and how it colors my forest. Much more so than if it changed to a lord's or lady's whim."

[Deathkeeper]

[Wizards' Tower]

Sylvess rolls back onto his feet, sighing with relief. Spako's fine and not angry with him, well not too angry anyway. He'd been braced for a much worse reaction - shouting, grovelling apologies, maybe getting kicked back out the door or something like that. He's not entirely fine himself, but it sure helps a lot having Spako here. "Oh, yes, of course. Lead the way, Spako. A-and, uh, I am sorry. I didn't mean to make your worry."

[Spako's Tower]

"Apology accepted." Spako says warmly, leading Sylvess inside. This time though, he takes the dragon upstairs. The top room is where Spako sleeps, and is lined with soft things, pillows, cushions, the shiniest of the weapons in his collections, and the small piles of gold he has managed to save despite all the improvements to his tower. His reserves do seem to be running lower than a dragon his size would have stereotypically.
"Please, relax. I can get you something?" he offers, gesturing at a particularly plush purple cushion the size of a horse.

[Leostales]

Forlorn Cave

The various freed individuals will help themselves to the weaponry. "Cannonballs are useless without a cannon to fire them. They'd just be dead weight right now. We'll come back for them and that boomer. Should encourage the next bunch of raiders, bandits or whatnot to look elsewhere." That should work. Or they could sell them to a merchant with a vehicle beefy enough to take it.

There's no hidden doors here; the quest's just about over, minus the getting paid part. The hobgoblin and orc have accepted work from the Argonians, whilst most of the rest have decided to try farming with the marshwiggles. The exceptions are the tiefling and aasimar, who want to find somewhere in a city to settle down together.

"There were some cultist's I shot up pretty bad. If they're still alive, getting them medical attention will be my first priority. There's also a kid here. I promised him that I wouldn't harm him or his uncle. The kid could live on your farm until the uncle's out of prison."

[Earl of Purple]

Forlorn Cave

Unfortunately, the ones he'd injured had died. The gut shot one had managed to stab themselves in the head, because it was quicker.

So only the cultist he knocked out for the face, Petey and his nephew are still alive. "Prison? What prison? We're isolated. Independent. We don't have a jail, or a town closer than four hours away. That town has a jail, but... It's for drunks and brawlers, not cultists or raiders." So it isn't built or designed for long-term habitation.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tauron's Workshop]

Fay thinks for a moment, and starts writing and writing.
In summary:
Their favorite color is orange. Then purple and black.
They like humanoid food even though they barely have to eat.
The like order, organization, keeping things tidy.
They want to be unique, valuable, irreplaceable. They shouldn't want this. It is a heretical thing to want.
Their type of angel serves the community in many different ways but of the jobs given to them, they particularly like exploring new places and dealing with potential new recruits. The jobs they're less interested in (but would still be called on to perform) include sneaking and spying, leading small numbers of troops, high-value resource gathering.

They need a voice, a strong long-carrying voice, but feminine still. And lips to speak with. The fangs are fine, nice even, but not what is needed.
They want to look distinctive, noticeable.
They'll need some sort of natural weaponry.
There's relatively detailed diagrams of how their legs would ideally be to make them better at sprinting and jumping, what their face has never looked like but would if they got to pick...
They love the long elegant antennae they already have. In Fay's opinion, they have the best antennae of all the angels, even the queen!
Surely they couldn't have wings. Could they? That would be great if they could somehow.

[Tauron's Workshop]

Tauron looks at all the information given to him by Fay for some time before nodding. "I think I can make this work." He states before pausing to turn to his observers. "It will take time however, at least a few days. Will you stay here and observe? I usually shut myself out from the outside world while I work, I am not used to observers. However, I suppose it won't disrupt the process either."

[Leostales]

Forlorn Cave

"I'm sure there's another place somewhere else in the nexus that I could take him," Metalhead assures.

His next stop after the barracks is the kitchen to see if the kids are still there.

[Recaiden]

The observer nods.
Then it carefully indicates the ridiculous bird-construct it has been given. It's going to need to deliver that and then come back. It's not going to hold the myr for several consecutive days.

So it does that! Back upstairs, race off home with the myr.
But it'll be back soon!

[billtodamax]

Dragon Mountain

Marshall takes note of the names. Useful later, perhaps.

Magic, power. What it always boils down to for adventurers isn't it? That and money. Is that what you're here for? Marshall says. In any case, if we're both progressing further in we may as well go together, hm? More hands, etc.

The earth spirit has wandered forward, entirely unencumbered by the mud, and has started sniffling around the feet of the dwarves. More friends!

[Earl of Purple]

Forlorn Cave

"Yeah, but would they take your word the guys are criminals and need to be locked up rather than shot?" Is the marshwiggle's final question.

The cabin boy is still there, as is his one-legged uncle. Not like he was going to go anywhere, considering both his crutch and his wooden leg are broken, and he's been shot in the leg he's got.

[Leostales]

Forlorn Cave

"What would you recommend doing?" he asks.

[Earl of Purple]

Forlorn Cave

"Shoot 'em, if you reckon they'll do it again. Or let 'em go, if you reckon they won't. If they'll do it again to us, we'll shoot 'em, unless they shoot us." Which is a little harsh, but they're frontiersmen, in the Nexus. Lots of monsters and bandits falling out of their worlds and into this one. Lots of merchants, hunters, farmers and so on as well.

[Leostales]

Forlorn Cave
"Ok," he turns toward the two. "Get out of here right away, and I better not see either of you again. Or else." Once they're gone he says, "Now we should focus on getting all your animals back to your farm. The best way to do that would be to use their vehicle. I crippled it, but should be able to fix it. After that, I'm going to come back here to see if I missed anything of importance."

[Earl of Purple]

Forlorn Cave

Petey with his one leg has a bit of difficulty leaving, since he's crippled. His nephew does help, however, since his uncle is the only family he knows. The other one snarls and turns to leave, staying away from Petey and clearly intending not to meet the navigator and his nephew again.

Fixing the vehicle's quite easy, since Metalhead broke it, and everyone here will help load up the animals and ride it to the farm. He hasn't missed anything, and the marshwiggles will reward Metalhead for his help with a small bag of coins, mostly low-value ones but it's all they can afford to give away.

[Murkus]

[The Old Forest]

"I hope that it's true, Hunter," the Old Man Forest says. "I'm too old to fight or serve a lord again. Some of my people still lament the Fairest of Lands, but I've taken root in this mortal world. I like the passing of the seasons and how it colors my forest. Much more so than if it changed to a lord's or lady's whim."

[The Old Forest]

"I like it that way too. Just stay safe for now, okay? I'll go talk with these friends of mine and tell them what you told me. We'll see what can be done."

And perhaps with that said, Adir will take his leave. After bowing to the Old Man, of course.

[Leostales]

Forlorn Cave

If the Marshwiggles have a use for the cultists' vehicle, he lets them have it after his return trip. Otherwise, he claims it for himself. On his return trip he makes sure to grab any treasure he hadn't already pocketed (like the chest and the bronze daggers) he also cremates the dead cultists' bodies. Once he's all done with this, he goes off to look for a residence (which will probably be in another thread).

OOC: I guess that concludes the adventure. I quite enjoyed it.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Dragon Mountain]

Damon shrugs, content to let Marshall do the talking. Who knows, maybe there is a way to solve this by talking? Damon has his doubts, and sure as hell isn't putting out his fire, but he refrains from doing anything overtly hostile for now at least. "In case you're wondering, no I'm not a demon. People make that misstake a lot." They might not actually be thinking that, but usually people are. It's a very common misconception.

*****

[Spako's Tower]

Ooh, giant purple cushion! Perfect! Sylvess flops onto the cushion in a typically undignified manner, sprawling out like a much more childish dragon than he really ought to be. "Oh, um, a drink would be nice, sure." He flicks his tail round to shuffle a couple more cushions over beside them, patting them with a claw. "But other than the drink, what I reeeally want i-is you here beside me."

[Earl of Purple]

Forlorn Cave

The bronze daggers probably aren't worth that much except as curiosities. The marshwiggles don't have a use for the Irontread Crusher, as it's too big to use easily, and they're not sure where they'd find the fuel when it ran out. So they're quite happy to let Metalhead keep it.

But yes, this is the adventure over. He's been paid, he can go report the job complete. The marshwiggles will later go back to throw the statue down the pit and try boarding it up, in the hope it'll stop further trouble.

[Leostales]

Leaving Forlorn Farm

Metalhead drives his new vehicle off into the sunset. "Not a bad first job, he says to himself. This place should be pretty interesting."

Spoiler

Show

Thus Endeth Chapter One of thy Metalhead Chronicles.

[Deathkeeper]

[Spako’s Tower]

Spako grins a toothy grin and opens up a floorboard, revealing a large, weathered bottle. A large, expensive-looking weathered bottle.
”Only the best for you. Unless you really do only need me, then I can just put this awaaaay...” he teases.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tauron's Workshop]

"Excellent. Then let me-" But before Tauron can finish that sentence one of his assistants approach, waving its many arms as if to get his attention while making some rather unnerving sounds, clearly telling the artificial being something.
This gives Tauron pauses as he makes a frustrated noise before reply in what must the same language. The construct replies in kind and Sauron turns to his guests. "Excuse me one moment, I'll be right back. Need to check on one of the valves. I really apologize for this, these things always happen so inconveniently."

He pulls himself away from the operating table and tells the constructs something before walking off to the vault to the right. The door opening on its own yet reveals nothing by a darkened space on the other side. If they have some sort of night vision (considering they're living in sewers and all) they will be able to see a series of pipes and the machines they connect to. Either way, the loud noise of these machines will be obvious to them once the door opens as it seems to have been acting as a sound barrier.

They will only have to listen to it for a few seconds however as the door soon closes behind Tauron, leaving the group with the constructs who do not seem to be able to talk in any other language than their own.

---

Tauron moved through the machine room until he came to the offending machine, namely the hibernation chamber where his specimen was sleeping peacefully.
Thanks to a careful operation he had managed to fix up the nymph completely. It was like the demons had never even laid their foul hands on her in the first place. She was such a brilliantly designed being yet it was her mind he wanted to see in action. The thing that had driven her sustain such massive injuries.

He would have to awaken her soon, if the valves of the chamber had started to malfunction like this he wasn't going to risk her life by keeping her inside it. The issue was that he still wasn't sure how to convince her he wasn't working with the same creatures that had captured her. It looked like he might not have any choice but to run the simulation, the risk of brain damage was after all less than 1 % but it was still more than he'd like.

Still, even once he had fixed the valve it felt like he couldn't take the risk. The simulation was his only choice, and thus by manipulating some of the valves around the chamber he released the perfect dose into the solution that encased the specimen.

---

The door opens once again and Tauron emerges. He has only been gone for about 15 minutes or so. "Again, my apologies. The problem has been dealt with however so we shouldn't be interrupted anymore. We can start right away."

[The specimen]

She will awaken in a white bed, in a equally white room. Everything is soft and nice, so unlike the world she left behind. The last thing she can remember was revealing the capital ship...
Now she is a white room with a single large window next to her bed, the sun clearly shining outside...

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Spako's Tower]

Sylvess rolls over onto his back on the cushion, craning his neck round to observe as Spako pulls out something his fancy bottle of beverage. His eyes light up - treasure takes many forms, but a dragon is always entranced by it. "Oh, th-that looks quite valuable. A-are you sure it's okay to, um, drink it?" He's only going to put up a token resistance though as he lazily pats the cushion beside him. "I neeed you, Spako, but the bottle is welcome to join us as well."

[Reinholdt]

[SCP 1194011N]

Everything felt weird about waking up. Ilpholin felt like she'd slept with a warm body- it's hard to get any actual deep sleep without someone warm to cuddle- but none of the signs that anyone else was there existed. It was like... a false positive.

It didn't last long either, as the memory of what happened comes back to her. When it does, all bleary sleepiness disappears and Ilpholin nearly bolts up. Instead, she forces the instinct to roll out of bed weapons ready to stab just about anything nearby, focusing on staying still, staying 'asleep'. Listening, waiting. Figuring out what happened.

She... doesn't seem chained down, but that doesn't mean she's not locked in. Did Adir, Jezebel, and Cessie finish the job then? Ilpholin trusted they could handle it once the ship was revealed. Or rather, gambled that trust for once. So this was probably the Lotus Gardens or the Mithar Keep. One would think.

So why didn't she hurt?

The nymph ought to be aching all over. She's more than trained enough to know she went well above and beyond her physical limits. Her body ought to be screaming at her. And even with healing magic the nanites wouldn't hav- no. No something was horribly wrong. Where were they? Every passing second made it more apparent they weren't there. She can't contact Mister Squiggles. She can't shift her hands. She can't go back to that. She can't go back.

The intensity of her now rapid breathing has clearly given her away at this point, so she forgoes the charade and sits up, opening her eyes. What on earth was she wearing? Some frilly white sundress? A-as cute as it is, she peels it off immediately and starts searching her body, looking with her eyes and her fingers for some fresh scar, some hint of an undesired surgery. But she finds none. Think, think, think.

Why does it feel like she can still think like she used to? If they truly got to all of her augmentations then... Maybe they didn't want to risk going that far. Ilpholin tries stretching and flexing briefly. Those felt right. Was it just the weapons then? But there wasn't any scars. In fact weren't there too few scars in general or was she imagining it? The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. Clearly she wasn't going to ponder out the answers by herself this time.

With a frown, Ilpholin glances at the recently discarded clothes. Well, she could probably still fight in it if she had to, so she'll put it back on in full view of the window as she looks out it and tries to get her bearings.

[Shadowcaller]

[SCP 1194011N]

There are no signs of surgery at all. Her body looks strangely whole, not a scar, not a blemish, as if she had been born anew.

Then there is a voice coming from the other side of the door to the room (had that been there before?). "I'm coming in, so please don't kill me. I am not with the demons. I am their enemy. They killed many of my people." The voice sounds hollow yet nervous and doesn't quite match the being that opens the door.

While made up of what looks remarkably similar to quicksilver, it still retains a vaguely humanoid form. Slender, with its arms, while still attached to the shoulders, numbering four in number with metal-claws at each end. Its head and face is covered in a pentagon-shaped visor. Small tubes can be near its armpits, running between its chest and its arms. It's legs, heavily enforced in a chrome-like material supporting the rest of its body. "I am Tauron and I'm speaking to you through an induced vision. I managed to save you from those creatures, but your body had taken heavy damage. Right now you are sleeping in a hibernation chamber while I'm trying to repair the damages they've done to you." He(?) explains, showing no awkwardness at her state of undress. "That's why you look like this at the moment." He gestures at her.

[Deathkeeper]

[Spako's Tower]

Spako lazily struts over to the cushion and flops down, setting the bottle down between them with a thunk!

"Well, I'm here now. Use me as you like. And our friend here, too." he says, flicking the bottle with a claw. It makes a lovely ringing noise.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Spako's Tower]

Sylvess swiftly wraps a wing round Spako, snuggling up nice and close to him. "Oh Spako, you're so kind. D-do I really deserve this after- I-I-I mean I just vanished while you were being brave and helping and I was stuck in, um, I was way up there somewhere...I think." He nods upwards with a confused expression. He didn't really understand that whole "space" thing, but apparently it was just up? Like, a lot of up?

Oh, and he still hasn't got around to talking to Sam about, well, everything. Well Lucy really needs to do that. Hopefully she'll feel better soon, otherwise he'll have to step in. Not that he's feeling great either, but-

Stop worrying, you silly dragon. Focus on your cute boyfriend next to you. What was it he said?

"Sorry. It's been very stressful and tiring. B-but I'll be alright now. There's all sorts of things I want to use you for."

...

"Ah! N-No, I mean do you!" Sylvess shouts as he flips straight from calm to flustered, "I mean things! All sorts of things I want to do with you! Not- not like that, I mean, n-not that I, um-" He panics, reaching for the bottle and hurriedly opening it as he tries to untie his tongue, "I-I mean, not that I wouldn't want to b-but we're not meant to do that for years! I, uh, I mean if that's something you want to do a year from now, but-" He whines, taking a hefty swig from the bottle to shut himself up before he says anything else stupid.