VVVVVigil: Valorous Veterans Vanquishing Venal Vermin

[Shadowcaller]

Outside the Base

The head eventually collapses on the ground, and with a final twitch it becomes completely still, it's mouth opening wide as its jaw becomes slack. The landing was not the best, your standard human would not be able to get up without a stretcher after that. However, Saint Laz is not standard and arguably not human either, yet she still have a large hydra head on top of her which isn't the most comfortable of blankets. If she wish to rejoin the battle she needs to get out from underneath it and run

Meanwhile, the two other heads move towards Calm Reed only for one of them to be pushed into the other. It managed to close its mouth, yet the two crashing into one another can't be good for its overall health. However, Calm Reed can see that the injures the two gave it earlier, which is causing magma to leak out of it, now results in black smoke starting to rise from underneath the hydra as it seems to have set fire the the ground underneath it. Soon the entire beast might have caught fire as it seems to have started to spread across its body.

VIGIL Armory

Anika looks like she actually considers this choice for a moment before she starts asking questions. "So, what are any of those weapons? Besides sniper, these names mean nothing to me. I can tell you right now though, I was decent but not great at the bow."

[Murkus]

[Urgent Business - Commander's Village]

"Honestly? Never as ready as I'd like to be," says the stag, holding out his hand to shake Wenomir's. He forks a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the weapons he carries there. "These are about the only decent iron I can afford after we lost the first house. It's a far cry from my old collection."

"You guys turned this into... some kinda place," the stag gives a whistle. "You wanna give me a tour, and I'll explain the visit?"

[Arkhosia]

Armory

Blanche grins at this, which is probably the first time Anika's ever seen her give more than a slight smile. "Well, guns come in all sorts of different designs for various jobs, even within the usual categories you'd probably think of." She pauses for a moment.

"Hm, how do I put this... okay, so DMR is short for "Designated Marksman Rifle". They're sort of like the middle ground between a sniper rifle and the usual infantry rifle, and exist so that a squad of soldiers has someone that can take out longer range targets without sacrificing being able to actually participate in a fight - that's the problem with sniper rifles; they're for taking out targets from extremely long ranges, preferably without being noticed, so they're [Shiitake Mushrooms] if you're engaging another enemy squad." The catgirl explains.

"An anti-materiel rifle is a little simpler to explain; they're sniper rifles with even greater range and increased destructive potential. You could use them to take out targets, but what they're really for is wrecking equipment from a long distance. Light armored vehicles, concrete barricades, primed explosives, communication arrays, stuff like that. Not heavily armored vehicles, though. They actually started off as honest-to-gods anti-tank rifles to destroy treads and punch through armor to send shrapnel and bullet material ricocheting about the hull, but nowadays the armor they have is so strong that it's really impractical to make an anti-materiel rifle powerful enough for it." Blanche personally finds these weapons fascinating from a technological standpoint, not to mention really gosh darn cool, and it might be showing a little.

[Shadowcaller]

Armory

"Okay, cool, makes sense!" Anika replies, probably only understanding half of it right now. "So what do I start with? They seem a lot easier to use than bows." And unlike bows even nerds could use them as they didn't seem to need any actual strength to use.
Even weapons had been made nerdier by goblin magic, funny that.

[Morty]

[Urgent Business - Commander's Village]

"We certainly have," Wenomir says, with more than a little pride. "We couldn't give those demon vermin the satisfaction of breaking us, could we? I can certainly show you around while you tell me what's going on."

[Outside the Base]

Calm Reed backs away hurriedly, as her water anima can't actually protect her from a proper fire. She'll wait outside the range of the flames to see what happens to the hydra.

[Zefir]

[Arriving]

With the shuttle system comes a man in rather ordinary clothes. Nothing to fency just a normal adeventurere outfit. He appears a bit dizzy when he leaves the shuttle and maybe a bit green.
"Urgh...." Karl says. "And people use those things to travell every day? That is even worst then those long Iron carts. "
And so he goes on still dizzy looking for someone to talk to. He was told people here can open portals back at home.

[Arkhosia]

Armory

"Well, most people begin learning how to handle firearms with a handgun." Blanche suggests, a hand moving to indicate the pistol holstered on her hip. "Most courses start with making very sure that you understand these things are not toys, but you've handled weapons before. I doubt you need me to teach you that."

She picks up a convenient box of ammo before leading to the exit. "Let's teach you how to handle the basics first, then we'll get to the more dangerous and destructive stuff, sound good?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Commanders' Village]

The sorceress nods slowly. "I'll have a elemental fetch the device then." She makes a gesture in the air and vaguely feminine figure made of what appears to be cooling magma materializes in the air next to her, starting with the legs until it stands there fully formed just a blink of an eye later.
It then starts running out the door as if following some silent command, which it probably is.

Soon it makes a return carrying a pale white staff with a flared head which it hands to Cessie. Then it just stands there silently and watches as Cessie gets up from her seat. "So why don't you show me this injury?"

[Commanders' Village]

Ithuriel raises an eyebrow at the rather casual summoning of an elemental. Seems a bit flashy, really, to make a fancy magma elemental to go pick up a staff for her.

She shrugs and bares the wound on her arm for inspection again, having only just finished rolling the sleeve back down on her robe. "I'm really not very good with the whole magic stuff. You mind explaining what you're doing as you go?"

She pauses and glances back at the elemental. "Do we, um, need to have an audience? I'm surprised you just throw around elementals like that. Isn't it taxing on you at all? I find doing even basic angel stuff really tiring."

[Shadowcaller]

Armory

Anika let's out a small sigh, but she had expected to start with the boring stuff first. Her mother hadn't let her even touch the kitchen knives until they had trained with wooden swords for months. Then they had moved on to dull blades. She knew about that "respecting the weapon" stuff all too well.
"Man, don't take this the wrong way, but you kinda sound like my mom right now." Anika remarks with a laugh. "But yeah, let's start with the basic stuff I guess."

[Commanders' Village]

The elemental does not look back at Ithuriel, but Cessie nods. "If it makes you feel comfortable, I'll make it go away. Though it does not actually have any semblance of sentience. It's more of a extension of my mind, like a new leg or hand. Moving it around is about as taxing as moving myself around, my body convinced that I'm doing the moving." She pauses. "Which I suppose only raises further questions, so let's focus on why you're here instead shall we?" The sorceress gestures with the staff towards the angel. "I'll be frank when I say that I don't know how the staff works as it's no creation of mine, but it does translate magic to me as feelings and flashes of memory. It sounds vague but it conveys enough of it for me to make an educated guess." With a sudden shake of the staff, the elemental materializes, it's magma simply eaten away until nothing remains.

Then she gestures at the wound, by channeling eldritch through the staff, she activates it, it's magic being projected at the wound. Cessie is specifically trying to dampen whatever residue that might linger in the wound first as to avoid some spectacular reaction to coming in contact with alien magic. Trying to contain whatever energies that lie dormant there.

[Recaiden]

[Arriving]

With the shuttle system comes a man in rather ordinary clothes. Nothing to fency just a normal adeventurere outfit. He appears a bit dizzy when he leaves the shuttle and maybe a bit green.
"Urgh...." Karl says. "And people use those things to travell every day? That is even worst then those long Iron carts. "
And so he goes on still dizzy looking for someone to talk to. He was told people here can open portals back at home.

Before long, a particularly nondescript man in a VIGIL uniform comes by. He looks tired, but is smiling.
Once Karl has recovered a bit from his dizziness, the staff member will lead him up towards the [Academy] and instruct Karl to talk to Geneva. She's the one who's working on portals to outside the Nexus.

[Rebonack]

[Geneva's Lab]

Geneva is, in fact, the one working on portals!

Should Karl follow the given instructions he should be able to find said lab without too much difficulty. A little plaque on the door has the engeneer's name on it.

Underneath is a second, hastily constructed sign which reads:

High energy experiments under way. Please knock first.

Wise advice.

Wouldn't want to go barging in and get vaporized by a particle accelerator or something.

[VIGIL Tour]

"No one has wanted to eat me yet," Lapis confirms. "But I haven't met anyone really hungry yet."

She raises a valid point.

"It seems like a strange bird to me? I don't know many birds yet, but the memories mom gave me are saying it's strange," she insists. "Maybe it just likes watching interesting people?"

[Lord Magtok]

Outside the Base

Spoiler

Show

Outside the Base

The head eventually collapses on the ground, and with a final twitch it becomes completely still, it's mouth opening wide as its jaw becomes slack. The landing was not the best, your standard human would not be able to get up without a stretcher after that. However, Saint Laz is not standard and arguably not human either, yet she still have a large hydra head on top of her which isn't the most comfortable of blankets. If she wish to rejoin the battle she needs to get out from underneath it and run.

Meanwhile, the two other heads move towards Calm Reed only for one of them to be pushed into the other. It managed to close its mouth, yet the two crashing into one another can't be good for its overall health. However, Calm Reed can see that the injures the two gave it earlier, which is causing magma to leak out of it, now results in black smoke starting to rise from underneath the hydra as it seems to have set fire the the ground underneath it. Soon the entire beast might have caught fire as it seems to have started to spread across its body.

[Outside the Base]

Calm Reed backs away hurriedly, as her water anima can't actually protect her from a proper fire. She'll wait outside the range of the flames to see what happens to the hydra.

Oof! Saint Lazarus isn't getting up. Not this turn, anyway. Pulling herself out from under the beast is going to take a few moments. Hopefully Calm Reed can maintain her distance and stay on the defensive while Jenette works on dragging herself and her sword out of this accursed hellbeast.

[Earl of Purple]

Vigil Tour

"Most people don't eat other people, especially whilst they're alive. That's not something you need to worry about, but if they do? You know how to deal with it, don't you?" Makuro smiles. "Perhaps, but... Why does it watch? How does it decide who is interesting, and what is it interested in? I... Do not trust it, even though I've not seen it do anything bad." It is a bit odd, though maybe Makuro is just being paranoid.

[Morty]

[Training Grounds]

On a sunny day some time after her induction into Vigil, Calm Reed is seen training. It's different than what people might associate her with, as she's not doing so unarmed. Instead, she's wielding a large tetsubo and whaling on training dummies and targets with it. It seems to follow similar motions and stances to her unarmed martial arts, however. The monk is also not wearing her signature magic armor, instead opting for a pair of loose trousers and a sleeveless threadbare shirt that display her thick, muscular arms. The blueish hue of her skin doesn't stop at her eyes, it seems - it extends like veins down her arms.

[Murkus]

[Urgent Business - Commander's Village]

"We certainly have," Wenomir says, with more than a little pride. "We couldn't give those demon vermin the satisfaction of breaking us, could we? I can certainly show you around while you tell me what's going on."

[Urgent Business - Commander's Village]

"No we could not," Adir agrees. He starts off following beside Wenomir, beginning his tale unhurriedly. It'll be a few minutes until he's finished telling Wenomir everything he remembers about the King. To be honest he hasn't formulated any kind of plan himself yet.

"...To be honest, I was hoping you might have heard of this thing. Apparently if we can just find it we can kill it like a man... provided it's following 'mortal rules' like my source thinks it is. I think the best place to start - and maybe a good way to weaken the thing - would be going after people who have already made deals. Or those who look like choice targets."

[Zefir]

[Geneva's Lab]

Karl follows the instructions. he got no reason not to. He isn't chaotic... most of the time he isn't. He reads the sign and thinks for himself how lucky he is they use the same language as him. Could be VERY dangerouse if you can't read it. So he knocks.

"Hello? I was told you might help me with portal problems."

[Rebonack]

[Geneva's Lab]

The sign was, in fact, in Unovan.

But the Nexus translation effect was nice enough to take care of that little detail.

At the knock, there will come a, "Come in!" from inside. Karl will find... well.

Probably not what he was expecting.

Unless he happened to be expecting a slate-grey hippogriff wearing a lab coat and some welding goggles. She's currently working on soldering a circuit board. Or at least doing something very akin to soldering a circuit board. She turns toward the newcomer and pushes her goggles up, revealing large, intelligent eyes with that trademark avian intensity. She's quite large and very possibly triggers that 'dangerous predator is too close' instinct that humans have.

"What can I help you with? Something about portals?" she asks. Her voice sounds like it belongs to a twenty something human woman. "Are you a recent castaway? Oh! I haven't had a chance to do much field study on castaways recently, it would be a great break from all this 'ghost' stuff. Where did you initially manifest? Did you notice any visual after-effects from the portal?"

She sets down her soldering gun and begins rummaging around in a nearby drawer. "Where did I put that thing... Ah!"

An odd looking talon-held machine is brandished in Karl's general direction. It makes electronic beeping noises.

"Hmmm... interesting..."

[VIGIL Tour]

Maybe making people paranoid is one of its powers?

"Maybe..." Lapis tentatively agrees. "Can you show me where you're living?"

They have GOT to be close by now.

[Earl of Purple]

Vigil Tour

Indeed, it's not far now. I don't know if it's a cottage or a room in a bunkhouse or something else, though. So next post, when I've clarified it. "Yes, this way. Maybe the hoopoe's going to meet us there. Wouldn't be the first time it's appeared in a locked room with no clear way for it to get in." Which is... Really a bit creepy.

[Morty]

[Urgent Business - Commander's Village]

Wenomir is silent for a while as he remembers.

"I think I remember something. Stories told to me by my parents and grandparents. Of a king of the fairies who was thrown down into the deepest pits. I can't remember if they called him 'the King in Rags', but they supposedly had many names. Hard to believe a Lord of the Faerie would just come crawling back. But I guess this is the Nexus. I have no idea if killing it conventionally would work, so our priority is finding out." He pauses. "According the book my master once gave me, Jarowit found the Riddle of Steel and became the god of war when he brought steel against the fairies. I wouldn't put much stock in it."

[Shadowcaller]

[Outside the Base]

Calm Reed backs away hurriedly, as her water anima can't actually protect her from a proper fire. She'll wait outside the range of the flames to see what happens to the hydra.

Outside the Base

Oof! Saint Lazarus isn't getting up. Not this turn, anyway. Pulling herself out from under the beast is going to take a few moments. Hopefully Calm Reed can maintain her distance and stay on the defensive while Jenette works on dragging herself and her sword out of this accursed hellbeast.

Outside the Base

The hydra continues burning, the flames spreading across it's blackened magma-scales. Yet despite having lost a head and sustaining multiple other injuries, it still moves to attack. The two heads first seek to go after Calm Reed but as the body starts turning around, the dead middle head starts dragging across the ground which will free Sain Lazarus. The two other heads stop and turns around as to see what is holding them back. Seeing the dead head and the saint, they seem to realize they won't be able to keep up with Calm Reed while dragging a head around and that there is someone far closer which they can attack.

But there is a level of intelligence to their attack this time Instead of both heads attacking Sain Laz, one of the heads stays in its position and keeps an eye on Calm Reed so she won't attack from behind once again while the other moves in to strike at Saint Laz. It might not have much time left though as the fire is now spreading up along its neck.

[Arkhosia]

Armory -> Firing Range

Blanche snorts in amusement as she guides Anika to the firing range. "Heh, don't take it personally. I've seen far too many [Fondue]wits pointing pistols at their buddies or stuffing them in their waistbands to not be careful, and I'd rather not see you get hurt from that sort of stupidity."

Once they reach the range, Blanche will unholster the pistol on her side. "Before you can use this, you need to toggle the safety with the control here. Release the magazine with the button here, and pull back the slide to chamber a round when inserting a magazine or eject a chambered round when removing an unemptied one. Always keep this aimed downrange when you have a round in the chamber."

[Morty]

[Outside the Base]

The beast seems to be reeling, but Calm Reed won't wait to see it happen. She charges again, water swirling about her as she uses some of the Essence she managed to regain to send a water lash towards the head. It tries to wrap itself around the hydra's neck and forcibly pull it towards Calm Reed, who will greet it with a boulder-shattering roundhouse kick.

[Shadowcaller]

Firing Range

Anika takes the gun and experimentally presses the button, which immediately releases the magazine. "Huh, though it be louder, and larger. It's so small. Like one of those magic rods, except less glow-y." She pulls out the magazine and peers closely at it. "So this is where the magic happens, eh? What are these made of?" She pokes at the bullets and to her credit, she does have it aimed downwards. "Maybe you should just show me how you put all this together. A mage tried to explain a wand to me before but it was all bogus to me. Like unicorn ball hair and moonkin spit, or whatever she was talking about. This is all metal-y. Like a sword."

[Zefir]

[Geneva's Lab]

The sign was, in fact, in Unovan.

But the Nexus translation effect was nice enough to take care of that little detail.

At the knock, there will come a, "Come in!" from inside. Karl will find... well.

Probably not what he was expecting.

Unless he happened to be expecting a slate-grey hippogriff wearing a lab coat and some welding goggles. She's currently working on soldering a circuit board. Or at least doing something very akin to soldering a circuit board. She turns toward the newcomer and pushes her goggles up, revealing large, intelligent eyes with that trademark avian intensity. She's quite large and very possibly triggers that 'dangerous predator is too close' instinct that humans have.

"What can I help you with? Something about portals?" she asks. Her voice sounds like it belongs to a twenty something human woman. "Are you a recent castaway? Oh! I haven't had a chance to do much field study on castaways recently, it would be a great break from all this 'ghost' stuff. Where did you initially manifest? Did you notice any visual after-effects from the portal?"

She sets down her soldering gun and begins rummaging around in a nearby drawer. "Where did I put that thing... Ah!"

An odd looking talon-held machine is brandished in Karl's general direction. It makes electronic beeping noises.

"Hmmm... interesting..."

[VIGIL Tour]

Maybe making people paranoid is one of its powers?

"Maybe..." Lapis tentatively agrees. "Can you show me where you're living?"

They have GOT to be close by now.

[Geneva's Lab]

Kalr is caught by suprise, thought its not so unexpected for him to meet 'monsters'. After all people in his worls had summonings and really stronge people even got them around the whole time. But that is very rare. Which means the chances that there is a human who summoned her are over 99%

"Ehh.. well yes? Your the assistant I guess? I may need to speak with your summoner about the whole portal thing if that is possible."

[Murkus]

[Urgent Business - Commander's Village]

Wenomir is silent for a while as he remembers.

"I think I remember something. Stories told to me by my parents and grandparents. Of a king of the fairies who was thrown down into the deepest pits. I can't remember if they called him 'the King in Rags', but they supposedly had many names. Hard to believe a Lord of the Faerie would just come crawling back. But I guess this is the Nexus. I have no idea if killing it conventionally would work, so our priority is finding out." He pauses. "According the book my master once gave me, Jarowit found the Riddle of Steel and became the god of war when he brought steel against the fairies. I wouldn't put much stock in it."

[Urgent Business - Commander's Village]

"Who was this Jarowit? Can we give him a call?" Adir grins, and slightly more seriously adds, "Though hey, like you were saying, look where we are. If this King is back, maybe this Jarowit is still out there somewhere too. Big-time fairy killers might make a good mentor in these trying times."

[Morty]

[Urgent Business - Commander's Village]

Wenomir looks stunned by Adir's question, then actually laughs quietly.

"There's a lot of people back home who'd love that, but no. Jarowit is, or was, our god of war. But he, like all the other gods, is dead now. Or just gone. The claim that he was a human who became a god after finding the Riddle of Steel would be heresy for his priests, too. It's just... a story. But then, fairies are all about stories, aren't they?"

[Lord Magtok]

Outside the Base

Spoiler

Show

Outside the Base

The hydra continues burning, the flames spreading across it's blackened magma-scales. Yet despite having lost a head and sustaining multiple other injuries, it still moves to attack. The two heads first seek to go after Calm Reed but as the body starts turning around, the dead middle head starts dragging across the ground which will free Saint Lazarus. The two other heads stop and turns around as to see what is holding them back. Seeing the dead head and the saint, they seem to realize they won't be able to keep up with Calm Reed while dragging a head around and that there is someone far closer which they can attack.

But there is a level of intelligence to their attack this time. Instead of both heads attacking Saint Laz, one of the heads stays in its position and keeps an eye on Calm Reed so she won't attack from behind once again while the other moves in to strike at Saint Laz. It might not have much time left though as the fire is now spreading up along its neck.

[Outside the Base]

The beast seems to be reeling, but Calm Reed won't wait to see it happen. She charges again, water swirling about her as she uses some of the Essence she managed to regain to send a water lash towards the head. It tries to wrap itself around the hydra's neck and forcibly pull it towards Calm Reed, who will greet it with a boulder-shattering roundhouse kick.

What is the greatest weakness of this hydra? Why, its greatest weapon, of course. A weakness shared by all creatures for whom biting is their primary form of attack, defense, and interaction with the world around them. Every time it lunges, it puts its entire head at risk. It gambles with every strike, it prays that teeth and jaws will win the day, that its prey will not strike the eyes, the throat, or even manage to strike at all before the ravenous teeth claim their due.

The hydra assumes that the ghoul is helpless with her sword buried in one of its heads, but she is still anything but. A certain portion of the human brain is meant to keep one from putting muscles under undue strain, from running, punching, jumping, or lifting enough to do immediate and irrevocable damage, tearing one's own body apart. Even with adrenaline, there are limits in place to keep us from destroying ourselves. Saint Lazarus doesn't have that sort of thing to worry about anymore, though. If her muscles are torn, her bones reduced to a fine powder by her own will, magic will solve that problem. Magic is the force that holds her body together, that animates her form, not anything so mundane and grounded as the laws of flesh and bone. As the hydra's head comes flying at her, Jenette balls her hand into a fist, and swings her armored fist forward with all her might.

[Training Grounds]

On a sunny day some time after her induction into Vigil, Calm Reed is seen training. It's different than what people might associate her with, as she's not doing so unarmed. Instead, she's wielding a large tetsubo and whaling on training dummies and targets with it. It seems to follow similar motions and stances to her unarmed martial arts, however. The monk is also not wearing her signature magic armor, instead opting for a pair of loose trousers and a sleeveless threadbare shirt that display her thick, muscular arms. The blueish hue of her skin doesn't stop at her eyes, it seems - it extends like veins down her arms.

"Hey," says the ghoul warrior as she slowly approaches the Exalt, garbed in her usual plate armor. You'd think Saint Lazarus would wear something more appropriate, seeing as this is VIGIL's training grounds, but why bother? A walking corpse doesn't sweat. Physical exertion may as well be done in her identity-concealing costume, since any lesson learned on the practice fields will be need to be just as viable in armor. Besides, a zombie in sweatpants is just too weird, and Jenette's still not comfortable being that open about her undead status around all the strangers and do-gooders who live here.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Wenomir's House]

Wenomir quickly runs through the list of people he might know and who might have a reason for appearing in a different form than normal. Doesn't seem to... wait. There is one possibility that hurts his chest like an old wound. Is this really the meeting he hoped for and despaired of? Or is he just fooling himself? He's good at that. His hands grip the armrests tightly as he leans forward.

"I... think I know who you mean," he says, trying and failing to sound as detached as before. "But I still want to hear you say who you are and how you know me. Because I really want to know if you saw the way we knew each other... or how I knew this someone... the way I did."

[Bardpocalypse]

"Deeds, huh?" Anika asks rhetorically as she seem to consider what kind of deeds one could perform in the middle of VIGIL. "I could take the form of a hawk and soar high above the base." The druid remarks as she makes a sweeping gesture at the night sky. "But that wouldn't be much of a deed, I'd just be doing it to impress you." She winks at Rain. "But perhaps just being your tour-guide in this, ah, temple of heroes would be enough? You could make a song about it all. The commanders alone probably have enough deeds for a whole song book or two." Anika now gestures at the commander's village above.

[Bardopocalypse]

"A tour sounds like it'd be wonderful." Says Rain. "Who are the commanders? Surely they can't do more amazing things than you?"

Turning into animals is a very impressive skill! But then again, Rain hasn't encountered Wenomir's abs yet.

[Wenomir's House]

(It's coming i swear i just wanted to give SC something to respond to because this part's taking so long)

[Rebonack]

[Geneva's Lab]

Geneva pauses briefly at Karl's request.

"Assistant? Summoner? Oh Princesses above, you really ARE new aren't you?" she replies, her ears dropping ever so slightly as she offers her kindest smile.

It's one of those 'you poor dear' sorts of smiles.

"Here, hold this," she continues without missing a beat, holding out a small rod that looks almost like... well... clouds compressed until they becomes a solid. Should Karl take it, it will feel slightly cool to the touch. Ribbons of liquid color flow around one end. "I'm Geneva Richards, one of VIGIL's chief engineers. As you've probably be informed, I'm the 'portal person' to talk to. The Bifrost project is an ongoing mission of mine."

She looks back down at the device she's holding and hums again.

"How long ago did you manifest here in the Nexus? Do you think you would be able to lead me to the exact location?" she asks.

Her mannerisms are odd, to say the least. Is she a bird? A cat? A human? A horse? The answer is apparently 'yes'.

[VIGIL Tour]

"Really?" Lapis asks as she bounds along with her new friend. "I know a way to do that! It's called drifting. You have to just step sideways in time a little bit and you can go around stuff."

All this spoken as if it were the most normal thing imaginable.

"Do you think maybe the bird knows how to drift? Or maybe it's using discontinuitous motion?"

Teleportion, Lapis. That's called teleporting.

"I don't know how to do that. I don't think mom does, either. It's a ophanim thing."

[Shadowcaller]

Outside the Base

The first head, following Calm Reed with its gaze, seems to be in for a surprise as a rope of water suddenly ensnares its neck. The fire which has spread up along it loudly fizzes as some of the water turns into condensation in reaction to the heat.

The head might have been fine, or at least struggled mightily if not it had been distracted by a sudden surge of intense pain...

...as the second head gets punched in the mouth. Whatever magic that tied the two heads together reacting far more violently than when the first head died. Saint Laz has somehow punched a hole through the lower jaw of the second head which is enough to make it freeze in shock.

The first head cringes in shared pain, distracting at a crucial moment which allows Calm Reed to pull it close and kick its teeth out, also causing this head to seize up.

Then, what the two just did seems to have been enough to fullfill some condition as the hydra quickly starts crumbling away into nothing. Taking with it all the vog and elementals that filled the battlefield.

[Bardopocalypse]

Anika would agree that one of those is far more impressive than the other.

"Oh, you better believe they can." Anika remarks with a grin. "They're modest people though, don't really like to show off, but if we're lucky we might catch glimpse of them or someone else doing some evening exercises." She gestures towards the training grounds and starts to make her way towards it.

Perhaps someone, possibly Wenomir or someone of equal or near equal psychical attractiveness, is there? Otherwise Anika is going to lead Rain directly to the commanders village, just taking a detour through the training grounds.