Sw46

Split Worlds - Session 46
You move through a strangely deserted city. Rorest had never been a place where people would leave empty streets, but today, the eastern fourth of the city has been completely evacuated. Judgement has progressed, something big is definitely about to go on, but what really is happening is being kept a secret. In the distance, you see lights up in the sky, pillars of light crimson, golden
JayM: and violet.
Yet, your immediate concern and why you are the only ones in this empty part of town: Just a single block ahead is supposed to be this old Ultima church, whose basement leads to the doorway of a ruin. In your hands, the keys. 'Keycards' Sarah mentioned, to be used on the doorways to open them.
Gavriel peers up into the sky, and growls under his breath. He seems like he's in quite a hurry.
Sarah looks up at the sky as well "…"
Jnezdie drinks liberally from a canteen. After a satisfied 'ahhhhhh,' he starts to speak.
Jnezdie: "Y'know… just hopin' we don't find any water elementals down there -before- we reach the controls, yeah?"
Jnezdie: "
Jack: "Ha ha, one can hope!"
Sarah: "Don't jinx us"
Gavriel grits his teeth. "We'll just have to find a way to get past them, if that's what it takes."
Jnezdie: "Oh yeah, whatever it takes and all that rallying cry. But I'm kinda partial to keepin' both'a my arms."
Gavriel: "That would be ideal."
Gavriel tromps onwards.
The church is empty, and definitely forgotten for a long time. The structure is unbelievably sturdy, among the oldest structures of the city so it has held well against time, but it shows how little people here care for it. Finding your way down to the lower level is easy, and it leads to an underground wine storage. At first, nothing seems like what you are looking for, but a little bit
JayM: of pulling and pushing… And you find it
Gavriel has found his share of secret rooms in Rorest basements. It's not -that- hard.
A portion of the floor has collapsed, and it was covered with a table. The hole is small, only one of you can make it in at a time, but down there a faint blue glow illuminates what seems like a portion of a doorway. Seems like the doorway is partially buried and is a large double-door and only the left side is visible. There are glowing buttons and two slots on the door
Jnezdie helps move aside a table. "Shame about the church, but damn if this doesn't make a creepy make-out point."
Gavriel chuckles under his breath. "Haven't spent enough time in Rorest, then. You'd be surprised." He clambers down into the collapsed floor after they move the table aside, clearing dust away from the slots and buttons. "Hn."
Jnezdie: "Oh, you're sayin' there's better places to have duo-alone time?"
JayM: It does looks like the keys you have acquired fit neatly into them
Gavriel: "Some that are more secluded. Some that are creepier." He fiddles with the keycards, unlocking the door…
Jnezdie: "Hah!"
As both keycards slide in, there is a beeping sound. The doorway in front of you slides open while an awful, awful grinding and screaming noise plays out for a moment, probably whatever poor engine moves the stuck doorway trying it's best, and failing, at doing it's job.
Jnezdie grimaces, covering his ears as the engines whine with effort.
Gavriel winces, twitching his ears. Poor engines.
Inside, there is a strange sensation that… This ruin is not like the others. It's not just normal-wet here, it's downright soaked. Tubes on the walls are visible, there were at one point plates on the walls, but those have fallen, given the marks due to explosions or similar, from the inside. The tubes are metallic, although a few are damaged, leaking vast amounts of water, you can see
JayM: wires in the damaged tubes, sparks jumping
Suddenly, an arc of lightning forms momentarily in front of you, connecting wall and ground. There is a puddle
Jack: "Oho."
Jnezdie: "Yow! Guess it's still in service, somehow."
Jnezdie: "Not lookin' forward to fixin' it, though. Well, I guess you-" He glances at Jack, "-and Sarah will really be handlin' that, truth be told. Heh."
Corridor extends further down, and it's light by the constant jumping arcs of lightning… You see threatening images further down… Guns, traps… You're not sure which of them might still be live, which of them have long since been sprung and not be re-set, but at least this seems like a straightforward direction, nowhere else to go. The path is heavily slanted downwards, and curves
JayM: to the left
Jack: "Aye."
Gavriel peers distrustingly at the wires. "For… certain definitions of in service, yes."
JayM: How about a Danger Sense/Infiltration [TN 4] check?
JayM: Take note, Argent haven't returned just yet, and Sarah urged you to get this sorted as soon as possible while she sorts herself out
Jnezdie is beyond ready for this. He slips across like a ninja. But really that's just him crouch-walking, it's his sixth sense that's getting a workout. [Aptitude]
Gavriel keeps a close eye on where -not- to step [Too Easy] and disarms some traps here and there [Trick] [WR] [Lucky]
Jnezdie rolled 1d12 and got 11 ( Total: 11 ) for TN 4
Also rolled 1d8+1 and got 8 [Total: 9.0 (High), Avg: 8.00]
Also rolled 2#1d8(1) and got 4 [Total: 4 (Low), Avg: 4.00]
Also rolled 2#1d8(2) and got 4 [Total: 4 (Low), Avg: 4.00]
Also rolled 3d8 and got 5, 7, 6 [Total: 18 (High), Avg: 6.00]
Also rolled 1d6 and got 3 [Total: 3 (Low), Avg: 3.00]
Total: 49.0, Avg: 6.00
'Trap' is not a good description of what you find on your way down, as you are moving in a spiral downwards. No. It's more like automated defense systems, you can't seem to figure out how you're tripping them off, but between volleys of bullets, rockets loaded with burning payload, grenades with truly cruel shredder fragments, you need to make constant use of the spiralling form of the
JayM: path to keep your safety, often you need to quite simply make a break for it, dodging to one side and another. Whatever this place is, it did not want anyone to make it's way this far down alive.
Jack: "Haha, I suppose someone really didn't want visiters!"
Jnezdie: "Yeah, a'int it great! Hahahah!" And a machinegun pops out of the wall, prompting Jnezdie to do a tricky sideways flip-roll out of the way!
Still, you make it through, taking a chance when the last turrent stops firing for a moment to replace ammo, you run right past and the sound of whizzing gunfire keeps you on edge as you take cover past a last doorway, leading to a giant atrium- Or perhaps warehouse is a better description. There are unfinished and damaged armaments spread all over, vehicles, too- Similar to vehicles
JayM: you've seen in previous ruins, although those seem definitely armored
Gavriel doesn't see a meaningful distinction between 'trap' and 'automated defense system', really! Which is why his trap-disarming expertise seems to be working just fine in helping them evade said systems without taking any scratches. "…heh. I like that we're not in the parameters for whoever designed this originally." Duck, roll!
This warehouse, however, has a very distinct feature… The ground appears to have a series of very tiny indentations where a tiny, tiny river is flowing towards the other end of it. And the indentations head up a wall, and the water is flowing upwards, towards the second floor. Whatever means there was before to get there are gone (really just a stair and catwalks), although salvageable
JayM: perhaps.
Gavriel stares as the fur on the back of his neck stands straight up. "…well, I've never seen that before."
Jnezdie cracks his jaw. "Alright. Water goin' up walls."
There are things on the walls, mechanical things, akin to arms- You might mistake them for further defense systems, but no, they do not have weapons on them. Tools, unknown and strange tools (who am I fooling, you've seen those sorts of tools on Sea Base, probably saw an automated factory there if you were sufficiently curious)
Gavriel: "I don't get to say that terribly often, these days."
Jnezdie: "If only we could stack the vehicles, it'd be easier gettin' up there.
Jnezdie: "Okay, maybe I mean more fun."
Jnezdie: "But I mean, about the same."
Gavriel chuckles, slightly. "Might be able to climb the… machinery."
JayM: Well, getting up won't be exceedingly hard, despite having fallen and being somewhat rusted, the old stairs are useable, if you prop them just so and balance up. Or you could tr to climb up by using the indentations as grip, but that'd involve getting your hand in that weird water. OR, yes, you can also attempt to climb up through the tools if you're sufficiently agile.
Jnezdie , speaking of weird water, is gonna kneel down and get some fingers wet to test it out, for he is a bad scientist.
The water is… Strange- It feels perfectly like water, but it seems to exert a willful force to continue moving in the direction it is, to the point it seems to drag Jnezdie's finger. If he maintains his finger there sufficiently long it feels- No, it definitely looks like the water clamps down on his fingers
Jnezdie: "Hey!" He jerks his hand back
Jack: "Shocked?"
JayM: Strange how you felt no pain, Jnezdie, but your fingers are wounded pretty much as if you had dipped them in acid. Although, it's more like part of the outer skin dissolved
Jnezdie: "More like vice gripped and sizzled, damn! Look at it!" He shows Jack his hand.
Gavriel: "…let me guess, it tried to eat-" -he notices the condition of Jnezdie's fingertips and shuts up rather rapidly.
Jack: "Huh."
Jnezdie: "Yeah, yeah that's about right."
Gavriel makes a mental note to avoid touching the water himself. Thanks, Jnezdie! :D (That eliminates one way of climbing up…)
Jnezdie immediately works to start putting a bandage on that, eyeing fallen and rusted stairs with more respect. Also the tools.
Jnezdie: "I mean I'm curious if it'd drag me up there, but I'd rather not draw back a nub."
Jack‘ is just going to take the easy way up, really.
Jack: "It’d be silly to lose an arm after declaring you desire to keep both, yes!"
Gavriel: "Quite so." He clambers up!
Jnezdie: "Consistency is what makes me great. Also spectacular looks and mean sword arms. Then there's the dancing, and the jumping-" He hops up some rubble like he's in Final Fantasy 7.
Easiest way up, really, is climbing through the automated tools, which are quite dead. A bit of a hop, skip and jump and there you are, second floor. Sarah has climbed right behind you, but she seems strangely scared, although you can't get a feel exactly of what.
Gavriel: "Everything okay, Sarah?"
Sarah: "I- I'm not sure… There's a presence here i'm uneasy about…"
It leads to another corridor, a long and well-lit corridor, at first there are a series of doorways on the sides, all closed, and then it opens up to a very, very large room. It's a very long catwalk, the room below is larger than the main hall of a castle, there are panels, consoles, chairs… It's a gigantic command center, and in the very center of it all, a gigantic obsidian pillar,
JayM: to which the catwalk leads
Underneath, you see the seats still have… Skeletons, bodies which long rotted but still contain some flesh… All races, but… That is not the most disturbing. The lower floor is definitely flooded up to, you'd guess, shin level. And it appears the water that flows upwards from before seems to be making it's way here.
Gavriel nods. He'll keep an eye out, then- not that they have terribly long to go until they find the CIC, and the pillar. "…hn." He bows his head for a moment out of respect, then starts peering around.
And that water? Seems to be slowly welling up in the bodies and skeletons forming figures… Moving, as if the bodies themselves were standing, but only the water moves
Sarah suddenly comes to a realization, she points to the pillar "That's Balmung, get there open it up" she looks down "That water, it's a water elemental, RUN!"
Jack: "…hummm…"
Jnezdie moves along the catwalk. "Looks like we're here just in time for…" He shrugs. "Something."
Jnezdie: "Yyyyyyyyeah somehow I was thinkin' that too!" He dashes for the pillar!
JayM: I guess Running [TN 4] will do, failing this will make the following and actually critical check harder
Jack: "Ah!" Jack takes off.
Jnezdie is speedy! [Trick]
Gavriel is made of goes fast, as a Varg ought to be. [Aptitude]
Jnezdie rolled 1d8+1 and got 6 ( Total: 7.0 ) for TN 4
Also rolled 5d8 and got 3, 7, 8, 4, 6 [Total: 28 (High), Avg: 5.60]
Total: 35.0, Avg: 5.67
You rush, and eventually you hit the pillar, but there is nothing there. Sarah shoves right past, puts her hand over it "Come on sleepyhead… there!" a doorway opens "Get in, get in!" she urges you in "I'll hold them back!" and closes the door as you enter
Jnezdie: "Yo, got it!" He does a tricky spin like move to juke inside the pillar!
The entire room is nothing but darkness for a while… And then a spark jumps, briefly illuminating the darkness showing disturbing figures. And then a second, and a whirring noise
Gavriel darts inside, taking a few deep breaths- and then whirling around to face the figures, immediately.
A crimson light emanates from nowhere, showing… Piles upon piles of broken material, mechanical, electrical, biological. But they are completely separated from the walls, which seems to be perfect and even…. After a handful of moments, all the walls light up, the walls are not walls, they are panels. Screens appear, symbols and words. Good thing you picked up a handful of words and
JayM: knowledge from Sea Base to translate-
JayM: How will you make this start up again, do you even know what is wrong with it?
JayM: Systems [TN 6] to perform a clean reboot :D
[OOC] Gavriel: What skill, bro?
[OOC] Jnezdie: systems is a skill
[OOC] Jnezdie: it's technical
Jnezdie: "I got this." He adjusts his visor! "I got this!"
Jnezdie: "…Jack you got this?!"
[OOC] Gavriel: sajrfuhgurg fuck sorry I can't read
Jack: "Oh, aye."
Jack‘ cracks his knuckles.
Jnezdie: "Good!" [No Reels]
Gavriel is prepared to step in and ’help', i.e. perform percussive maintenance if it's necessary…
Jack‘ rolled d10 and got 5 ( Total: 5 ) **
d8+1: 5 [Total: 6.0 (High), Avg: 5.00]
Also rolled 3#d8(1) and got 2 [Total: 2 (Low), Avg: 2.00]
Also rolled 3#d8(2) and got 8 [Total: 8 (High), Avg: 8.00]
Also rolled 3#d8(3) and got 7 [Total: 7 (High), Avg: 7.00]
Total: 28.0, Avg: 5.40**
[OOC] Gavriel: need an EE?
[OOC] Jack: nope
As you start operating at blind, attempting to figure out what does what and what is wrong… Some button you press causes a sound to trigger… It’s familiar, and bears no good news
JayM: http://youtu.be/qu1uRmk_4WY
Jnezdie: "…this pillar's got weird ideas about music, or this is goin' sour right fast."
Jack: "I'd wager both."
Jnezdie: "At least it's back on?? Maybe? Shit."
Jnezdie: "Uuuuuuuh."
Frantically changing for a more agressive stance, you seem to start figuring out how to operate this, but this is taking it's sweet time. Figuring out ancient technology like this is definitely not fast, but… You start getting a grip on what is going on, numbers of symbols start lining up, it starts giving you very clear green signs. After a while, the audio feed cuts abruptly "Savant
JayM: series computer online. Balmung operational system activated. Initiating maitenance sequence "
Jnezdie: "Aw yeah!"
JayM: And everything falls silent for a while. And a whizzing sound as the doorway opens
Sarah is in a veritably pathetic defensive stance, shaking like an earthquake, back against the pillar. She doesn't seems wounded, but she looks like she's about to faint "Oh…"
Jnezdie pops his head out. "Yo, Sarah!"
Jack: "All clear!"
Gavriel darts towards Sarah and gallantly catches her before she flops into the water or something awful like that!
Sarah falls over backwards "Ah… Y-you did it, good" she smiles
Jnezdie looks down over the side of the catwalk. Water situation?
A voice booms behind you "All systems nominal, interface system active" a semi-translucent green image appears before you, it looks like a giant man made of metal, attached to his body a ridiculous amount of weapons, most prominent is a gigantic greatsword on it's back. The water around has… It all, ALL of it… Humanoid shapes, water elementals. Although you do not… Feel agression
Gavriel: "So did you. Are you okay?" -he glances backwards over his shoulder, and smiles in satisfaction. That's much better.
Balmung: "Network connection status, green." a familiar image, also green and semi-translucent appears beside it, wearing laboratory clothes "Cyber warfare and bio warfare systems function. I am thankful for the manual reactivation"
Jnezdie: "You workin', now?" he asks the looming green man.
Jnezdie: "Oh hey!"
Balmung: "Date system indicates great discrepancy. Requesting explanation"
Gavriel: "…it's a very long story."
Jnezdie: "You were off for a long time, yo." "
Jnezdie: "Phoenix has the actual details, but you're just sort of been here, bro."
Jack: "Well, as a point of order it's one relatively short story replayed many, many times and being distorted each time, but!"
Jnezdie: "Yeah, what he said. Except -this- distortion is gonna stick this time."
Phoenix nods at Jnezdie, and you see her image put a hand over Balmung's shoulder "Complete analysis will require approximately twenty seven minutes after complete data transfer. Estimated download time, twenty four days. Connection to central computer suffering severe packet loss, requesting instructions"
Gavriel twitches an ear. "We may not have that much time. I overheard something indicating that the Material Kingdom is implementing a last-resort assault plan."
Jnezdie: "Not to mention the pirates and Heir windin' up a punch."
Balmung: "… Analyzing… Current ongoing conflict on surface, small force with superior technology attempting large-scale conflict with troops under Ether Research Institute designation and Matter Research Institude designation simultaneously"
Balmung: "Application of energy field-based WMDs detected. Initiating defense measures"
The water elementals below you dissipate
Balmung: "Presence of radiation equipment detected, adjusting to support mode."
Balmung's image vanishes
Gavriel: "They always have such trouble getting along?" He breathes a sigh of relief, though, as the defense measures go into effect. That's… what they were here for, bringing in the big guns. Right?
Jnezdie: "I can only imagine their faces when some Water Elementals come rollin' over the hills and far away, yeah?"
Sarah looks at where the image was "I-I think that's it. It's very busy right, but still very, very confused. I'm not sure how useful it'll be, but at least a little bit useful"
Sarah: "We better go"
Gavriel: "Better than nothing. What's next, Sarah?"
Jnezdie: "Oh, hey, Balmung- while dodgin' shots and everything was fun as heck, can you tune it down for our way out?"
Sarah: "I don't know, I need to report back and wait for a response… But that conflict worries me"
Sarah: "Hum, can we just go up and find a place to stay for a while? I strained both of my engines to the limit this time"
Jack: "Certainly!"
Jnezdie: "Not a problem. Even Rorest has soft beds."
Jnezdie glances at Gavriel, unsure. "Right?"
Gavriel: "…do your people know what they want? Or even who 'they' are..?" He shakes his head and frowns for a moment before nodding to Sarah. "Trustworthy beds. Soft beds. Even some that are both."
As you head out, Sarah continues "Well… Seems like it's the Valerian pirates. Well, the entire galaxy is hunting for their blood, so I guess this is their last stake at power or even surviving… Hum…"
After a couple of moments of walking with her eyes closed, after you finally make your way to the church "I've just checked, there is a report that the Heir might be involved too…" she sighs "Sorry… Let's just find a place to stay for now, i'll get a full report give me just a wave"
Sarah: "Connection is awful with a QEC"
Jnezdie nods. "And get somethin' to eat. I like our trail rations and all, but it's time for a little R&R, even if for a Wave."
Gavriel growls under his breath. "They picked the wrong place for a last stand. We'll smash them!" He leads Sarah - and the others - to an inn that -looks- a bit disreputable on the outside, but is warm and clean on the inside. "I know the owner. Helped him out of a mess once."
You eventually do get a room somewhere… This somewhere happens to be an inn that is somehow giving free room and board?! Unheard of in rorest- Wait, there does seem to be something involving free board for soldiers. Actually, an officially sponsored thing. The owner's more than willing to be a friend to Gavriel and get his whole party on the deal instead of just him
It appears that the garrisons on Rorest are overstaffed, you overheard, and the majority of the army appears to be using Rorest as the staging grounds before going to the front, which appears to be just east of here. They need a lot of space to hold the soldiers so the kingdom is renting every room avaiable.
And eventually, a letter arrives to Gavriel
It's written in a very personal manner, despite talking about official matters. Golden Shield appears to have a very, very low opinion on you and no qualms about making that very clear and colorful on his words, also thinks you're a traitor and a coward. But that aside, according to Judgement, you're going to be stationed in the FOB working with high command. Apparently you should have
JayM: some official transport avaiable, but the way he's written he made sure you missed it.
JayM: There are directions on how to reach the FOB
Gavriel is inordinately amused by this.
Gavriel also, relays the contents to Sarah once she's done whatever it is that she's doing.
Jnezdie socializes with the soldiers, buys them drinks! Oh he's just passing through, but hey, might as well knock back some frosty ones!
A joyous time is had for a while, until Sarah is back from her trance, wherein she recalls everyone to the room to pass up the latest information. Argent has shown up from somewhere, but appears silent
Sarah: "Oh, well… I managed to get a few reports through. So…"
Sarah: "Seems like everything on Phoenix's network is back online, and both of the kingdom's WMDs are taken care of, so that's that."
Jnezdie: "Aw yeah! Score several for troupe Estrela Prata!" He fistpumps!
Sarah: "Seems that that kind of cornered the Heir, he still has a fair bit of things under his control because he controls Ultima, so he seems to have teamed up with the Valerian pirates"
Gavriel nods firmly. (It's -like- a fistpump!) "I assumed as much."
Sarah: "Hum, battlefield's a gigantic mess right now. The pirates got their backs against the mountains and sea, they'd normally be cornered but their technology is so incredibly superior this is working in their favor, seems like the Material troops are unable to deal sufficient damage to dent their warmachines and the mountains don't allow for the Ethereal Kingdom to interfere with
JayM: anything more than small troops "
Sarah: "And they are seem to have artillery currently bombarding the ethereal capital. They've turtled up and with their defensive superiority they're not takign any damage. Can't figure out whatever Balmung is doing, must be subtle"
Sarah: "That said, seems like my people is sending help, but we're still very limited, the Angelic Blight is very agressive so just us seven Star Knights have complete mobility and a few commandos on rad vaccine. Arc Knight says he needs everyone out there to stop the pirates"
Gavriel grins like a hungry animal. "That means us too, yeah?"
Sarah: "Yeah"
Jnezdie: "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww yeah!" He smacks a fist into a palm!
Sarah: "Hum… Do you have a plan?"
Jnezdie: "Smash 'em!"
Jnezdie: "…that's about it."
Jnezdie: "Like, what mountain and sea 're they up against?"
Jnezdie: "Which one, I should say. Did they move all that much?"
Gavriel glances at Jnezdie. THat's about the long and the short of it - if the best minds of the Material Kingdom haven't got a clue as to how to best assault the base, then they're gonna need a lot more information than that.
Sarah: "No, they're just east of here, between the reef sea and below the mountains of Transcient Town"
Jnezdie starts to grin, a mischievious grin.
Jnezdie: "Man, I wonder if they got anything back home that'd help."
Jnezdie: "It's been a long time since we've been there."
Sarah: "Well, we don't have much more information than that."
Jnezdie: "Let's go get some! A'int nobody knows the area around there better than the Transcients."
Jnezdie: "And they don't have the whole high-profile problem the Ethereals and Materialites do, so I'm bettin' they're more on the down-low on the scale of bein' molested."
Gavriel: "Been looking forward to the visit. Might stick around for a while afterwards."
Jnezdie: "Besides, I know at least some people who'd leap at the chance to get their hands on some wild tech. Gonna be mugged for this visor in but a few Fingers, I'll tell you that."
Jnezdie: "If we gotta pull the whole planet into this- let's go all the way, yeah?"
Sarah chuckles "Alright, sounds like an idea"
Sarah: "Hum, i'm not sure how to reach there, though."
Jnezdie gets a big grin on his face.
Jnezdie: "First off… there's a dance you gotta do."
Jnezdie: "Not here, but I've already said too much."
Jnezdie: "We can get Rainbow to fly over towards that area, and we'll help ya' from there."
Sarah nods "Alright" she stands up "I'm ready to go whenever"
Jnezdie: "There's a -process- you see, 's why it isn't easily findable."
Jnezdie: "I'm good for whenever. Y'rested?"
Gavriel raises an eyebrow in curiosity. He'll find out when he finds out, of course, but his interest is piqued.
Sarah nods "Let's go, sooner we end this, the better!"
Jnezdie: "Alright!" He fistpumps and turns for the door!
You head outside, and further outside, heading out of town. Finding Rainbow this time requires a bit more time, whereas you know the general direction she should be, and she does call you out once you're nearby, she is awfully distracted apparently… Drawing in the dirt. Not sure what the squiggly lines mean
Gavriel gives Rainbow a big, friendly wave. (Or, well, by Gav's standards, at any rate.) "…what's that?"
Rainbow looks down "Hum… I was trying to draw a… I… Don't… Even know" that sounds like an awkward answer
Jnezdie staaaaaaaaaares at the lines.
Gavriel peers at Rainbow for a minute and grins out of the corner of his mouth. "We need your help again. Think you're up for it?"
Rainbow nods "I am always ready! It's pretty fun flying you around"
Jnezdie: "Okay, well, I hope you like dancing, too!"
Rainbow tilts her head to the side "H-how does a dragon dance?"
Jnezdie: "They need a lot of space!"
Gavriel: "Very carefully, I'd imagine."
Jnezdie: "Now! You'll be heading kinda East, stay a bit low and cloak up, and we'll show you where to land."
Rainbow nods "Alright, hop on"
Jnezdie hops on!
Gavriel does too!
Rainbow starts taking you eastwards, towards the battlefield…
Cloaked, you're hidden from sight and detection, and you see the approaching battlefield and it is… Scary, unlike any other you've seen. First you see the support troops in the back of the fighting, and then you can see in the distance the actual fighting ongoing and… You see a sparse line of armored vehicles firing upon the Material troops, dispensing powerful beams of crimson and
JayM: golden energy, leaving scorched terrain where it hits. In response, barrages of mortar and cannon fire is returned
Gavriel shakes his head and frowns. It's a good thing they're cloaked…
The Material fire does little to their target, explosive ammo does little more than manage to make the vehicles move slightly backwards from the force, but nothing else
As you start curving around the battlefield towards the mountains, you see a few Ethereal troops making their way through a valley in the mountain. They're clearly vastly outmatched, it's mostly ground troops, power armors, which intercept them. The Ethereals bring forth a massive amount of firepower, definitely would be dangerous to the vehicles but with little to nothing as means of
JayM: defense, they're rapidly overwhelmed and sent retreating, the troops that can make it through the valleys are too tiny
But eventually you approach the largest mountain, wherein the Transcient Town is. You're definitely flying still a ways down from the peak, and Rainbow starts panting heavily as she flies farther up
It comes to a point that Rainbow sounds like a person who's be running for waves upon waves, but she firmly refuses to stop ascending, but you realize that by now she seems to have hit a limit
Jnezdie pats Rainbow on the neck. "'s alright! Head for a landing, 's close enough!"
Rainbow doesn't seems to listen to Jnezdie for a while, until she's really hit her limit, landing on a nearby plateu. She's panting too heavily to look as angry as she is
Sarah gets down "It's alright, Rainbow… Everyone hits their operational ceiling someday"
Rainbow: "J-just *pant* give me a *pant* moment i'll-"
Jnezdie: "Sure, sure. Transcient air's kinda tough. But spend enough time in it, and it'll toughen you up!" He takes a deep breath, then looks at Jack. "Well, most people."
Sarah: "It's alright. There's hardly any air here to sustain your flight, it takes al ot of energy, you know!"
Rainbow: "I… Al-alright…"
Gavriel: "You did great, Rainbow." He pats her on the flank, comfortingly.
Jnezdie spots something, a formation of rocks… Yep, that is definitely a sign showing the way towards the town
Jnezdie grins. "Okay, we'll take the first bit just by regular walkin'." He keeps his eyes open for the next landmark as he leads them about the side of the mountain.
Gavriel follows Jnezdie, his head tilted ever so slightly to the side. Is someone… watching? How does this even work?
As you head down a confusing and mysterious path, to which there is no rhyme or reason, you eventually take a sharp turn up and reach a strange valley
Jnezdie holds up a hand to halt the advance. "M'kay."
Ahead of you is a valley full of rocks, the entire valley is blocked by rocks, and looks, and is, perfectly impassable. But there is an opening wherein six incredibly tall spirs of rock are, a strange diagram drawn on the ground
Jnezdie: "'s part ritual, part magical. A 'synthesis', if you will."
JayM: And here is the secret- Jnezdie and Jack know, the proper chant or song, followed by striking the rocks just so in the right sequence - Each person memorizes their sequence in a different manner, although it's tradition to pass this sequence on in the form of dance, so it's easy to give an update in the 'password' out there without being obvious about it
JayM: Are you ready?
Jnezdie exhales deeply.
Jnezdie: "Just a few things to keep in mind."
Jnezdie: "Feet wider than your shoulders often helps. Keep your arms loose."
Jnezdie: "And try not to tell everyone about this, yeah?"
Jnezdie widens his stance. "Alright Jack, let's hit it."
Gavriel suspects, for a moment, that the ritual is much less complex, and that this is an elaborate put-on on the part of Jnezdie and Jack to make him do a silly dance. However, he's still totally willing to go along with it. "Not a soul."
Jack‘ pulls put his lute, strums a few bars, then begins to play an up beat, easy to dance to number.
The entire place echoes lightly to Jack’s tune, omniously
Jnezdie loosens up, swaying to the beat, and throws out hand and feet strikes on and between beats, his limbs clashing against the spires but with far less pain than you'd expect from someone striking rocks. There's a definite rhythm to it, and each strike flows naturally from one to the other. Jnezdie is adding flair to it, and a martial-artists eye can clearly see that it can be done with less movement, after a while.
Each strike, the spires resonate. The resonance of the spires build up together with Jack's chords, building up a strong reverberation, causing your entire bodies to shake almost pleasantly. The ground itself appears to shake and there is rumbling heard
As Jnezdie strikes each rock, the resonance effects increase exponentially and each step of his foot on the ground small wisps of ice dust form. Soon, as he dances, a rumble akin to an earthquake begins as the rock that fill the valley start to… Move. Shake, as if they were going to turn into an avalance except… They rearrange, moveing upwards, sideways, downwards but never towards
JayM: the opening and slowly, they form an opening, a small cave- But not simply that, the very water in the air freezes, forming webs of ice holding the cave into place.
And with one last step, and one last strike in the spires, all six resonate one last note, and a sudden burst of ice dust, freezing the passage completely solid into an ice tunnel
Gavriel breathes out through his nose, slowly. That's… kind of awesome, actually.
Jnezdie: "Welcome, everyone, to Transcient Town."
As you head through the tunnel, is slowly, safely, melts and collapses behind you, making this trip one-way. And Jnezdie announces as you make it to the other side, echoing a large and rather comical banner flying…. "Welcome to Transcient Town" ahead of you large and scarred fields, a few houses spotted here and there…
[OOC] JayM: Session End
[OOC] JayM: +4649 EXP/+8 AP