The Library

[Rilla]

Rug in the Fireplace

Tsk.
Tsk.
Tsk.

They couldn’t even do the job right; they had the perfect chance to get in and get out, and they wasted it talking. But it didn’t matter, Kest was far to focused on the fact that the Royal’s had been called in for his little troop. They must have ran thin of people to come after him and retrieve their fallen comrades.

Gamma continued to watch the shadows and the people whom he could visibly see. There was no way they were going to make it out of this alive and he knew it, but knowing Kest, they’d have to go out with a bang -- something to let the world know that Kest had been the greatest in the Mercenary ranks before going rouge and killed half of the mercs sent after him.

One of the shadows was abnormally close, so Gamma pressed his power down the barest of levels; even his breathing subconsciously shallowed itself. The moment the shadows passed, he moved through the trees, and reported what he saw to Beta and Alpha. “Man, these guys, they are unlike anything I’ve seen. Kest seems to know them and they seem to worry him a great deal.”

“Yeah man, we are about to have to get ready for the fight of a lifetime.”

BOOM!

Kest had fired a shot, this time towards Lux and his little savior; he would let his presence be known. If he wasn’t making it out of here, then surely neither was his captive and his saviors. He loaded up for another shot, and that’s when Alpha strung up Aven, whom had been caught just moments before. He was being hanged and left for Kest to deal with.

“Move, Alpha,” the boss barked, just as the shadows landed all around the group. One had been behind the body, when Kest fired another cannon shot and literally tore the body from the hanging head. The heat seared the man whom stood behind it. Kest retrieved his sword and prepared himself, just as a tree branch flung out and attempted to bring the shadows down.

The Fight of the Royals had started, and Kest was damn sure he was going to take some of them with him when he died.

[blazinvire]

Valerie said nothing in response to Sonneillon or Adeline after the tension had lifted, only offering slight hints at concern in her expression as her eyes went distant for a moment before turning about to face Ramza and Maxwell.
Her eyes widened slightly as Ramza's condition was made apparent, slightly gnawing on her bottom lip as she felt a little stupid for prolonging her fight back there for so long when one of her new party was injured.

"I'm sorry I wasn't a little more swift," Valerie said, standing properly and attempting to look at Ramza closer before glancing back at the way out of here.
With practiced ease that Katarana had drilled into her, Valerie pelted one harpoon into the ceiling above the other side of the extensive hole in the floor, and then stabbed her other harpoon into the ceiling over her side in a way to keep the chain relatively taut.

"If only you hadn't been a Pawn I might have been able to keep up-to-date on your condition with Telepathy," Valerie said with some regret in her voice, "I should go last so I can keep an eye on everyone."
Valerie simply indicated her harpoon chain that tracked across the ceiling to the other side, ready to follow after everyone was across.

[Heroguy]

Alexi smoothly drew his pistol, aiming it expertly at Parvati's head. "Yeah. Don't move and I won't headshot you into oblivion." In truth, Alexi's gun wasn't particularly accurate, and just as likely to hit James as it was Parvati or the floor. The woman didn't know that, though. Alexi smirked confidently, but his heart was pounding. If this didn't work, there would be two dead librarians in this little shitsplat town. He advanced a bit closer, one step, two step. He had a feeling he could guess Parvati's next move. All the while, he kept a sharp lookout for enemy reinforcements. The longer this standoff continued, the more likely her beasts would show up.

Jus' shoot th' blasted wench! I can't, I'll miss. W'll, wit' a'n 'ttitude like that'n, anyone would. Alexi focused on his aim instead of the voices in head, generally a smart plan. Especially if the voices are annoying pirate captain voices. His accent was really grating on Alexi's already frayed nerves.

[Alta]

Rug for the Fireplace

“Thanks... Heh...” Lux leaned on Salia, “They trapped us, you know. Shot Will from the sky; knocked him outta the big blue. Soon, Daniel and I found them, but Daniel was cocky... Charged right in. Kest, their leader, he charged right through Daniel. Took him only one attack, Kest's a big shot for such a small man... Heh...”

Lux looked back, and something about their side of the illusion had faltered. In the corner of his eye he could see something faint... Aimed at Salia and himself. As quickly as he could, he grabbed the shoulder he was leaning on and threw his weight to the ground; causing the two to tumble... Hopefully out of the cannonball's way...

Your Local Pharmacist

“Aren't these plants peculiar?” Eowyn asked. “Or mushrooms of course.” She quickly added. Nuka and En seemed to be much more knowledgable about their environment than Eowyn was herself and she wondered what her role could be in this mission. Truth to be told, Eowyn was a little afraid everything in the swamp was poisonous. It surely looked like it was.

Determined not to be a burden, Eowyn scanned the environment; even though it was hard to do so thanks to the yellow mist. Nuka had already seemed to have set his eyes on the swamp grass and she noticed the hills... Were those the dead piles of flora they had been briefed about?

“Nuka,” Eowyn began, “I'm sure you can see those hills over there. Would it be a good idea to let your spirit scout ahead while we gather the swamp grass?”

[Valeric]

Vologhn started to weave a threads of mana on the surface of the ground. To anyone watching him, it would merely look like he was flexing his fingers, albeit at an unnatural pace. Thin threads of magical energy was actually being formed from his finger tips and flowed down to the floor, where it spread into an intricate network. They served no other purpose than to expand Vologhns senses; through the web he is able to sense minute movements that would have otherwise been missed by his dull human perception. The density of magical energy in the air was even thicker than the yellow mist that obscured his sight. He could practically breathe in the smell of raw mana.

“Nuka,” Eowyn began, “I'm sure you can see those hills over there. Would it be a good idea to let your spirit scout ahead while we gather the swamp grass?”

"If it can see through the mist, that would be great," Vologhn replied. He took out a large transparent container from his bag, and headed into the swamp. Vologhn felt strangely calm in this wilderness untouched by civilization. His threads picked up the movements of countless creatures that crawled through the swamp, the thousands of vibrations that were impossible to keep track of. Occasionally he would detect a larger creature, but all Vologhn saw was a shadow darting through the leaves.

At last, among other oddly shaped vegetation, were tufts of glass colored a vibrant shade of blue. Vologhn gripped a bunch of the swamp grass and tugged it out with minimal effort. They were soft and moist, the feeling very different from the regular grass he was used to. Vologhn set to work, emptying the area of any blue swampgrass he could see.

[tirgesfu]

As Nuka looked around and became distracted by the nature of things, Eowyn politely reminded him of their true task. Yes, business first. He had to appreciate a partner that kept him on task. Instead of verbally answering Nuka turned slightly and lifted his chin. The muscles around his eyes tightened and his jaw clenched shut.

Tsenahale, Nuka sent his call out. Tsenahale. He paused for a few minutes not noticing those around him but sending his thought through the haze. Tsenahale, Deeya Wi-ta Tsenahale Come, there is game for your taking and I have need of your aid.

You always have need of my aid Hokolesqua, Nuka. You stand in a swamp.

Where life streams under my feet.

The air is heavy

Too thick for you Tsenahale?

Nuka was answered by a screech through the yellow mist. Nuka slowly turned to Ecowyn with a small nod. Then he pointed to the hills ahead. Tsenahale flew swiftly toward the shadowy rise.

[Kestrel]

Your Local Pharmacist

Suddenly, Vologhn's web noticed something odd; it was as if there was a deep heartbeat underneath the surface. Alas Vologhn did not get much time to think about what it was; as she could feel another problem arise...

Amidst the swamp grass, something was walking... But it was particularly difficult to see. Unbeknownst to the librarians, it was a chameotops; a crossbreed between a chameleon and triceratops. It was the size of a horse, but moved much lower to the ground. The chameotops was a vegetarian species, but nonetheless very territorial and it did not take kindly to Nuka gathering it's food.

It's camouflage skin made it exceptionally hard to spot the monster in the thick mist; it was almost as if it was invisible; but it charged at remarkable speed at the librarian... Whose spirit had just left to scout!

Tsenahale on the other hand, approached the hill of dead flora. After circling them a few times it could clearly spot a red hillweed. It also spotted dozens of tiny creatures crawling through the hill; it was one big insect colony.

The Y-files

Parvati could spit at Alexi and McKenzi, but she didn't. Instead she did exactly what they told her not to; she turned James in the line of fire and moved backwards; anticipating a shot. If Alexi kept his word she would drop James and instantly take a turn to avoid further fire by seeking cover behind the walls. Meanwhile the drogans were circling above; waiting for anyone to leave the house and strike!

A Clayman's Tattoo

Valerie, Ramza and Adeline managed to escape the temple, dragging Maxwell along. The golem on their tails, albeit at a safe distance, but it seemed to have turned back to clay. What could possibly be happening? Valerie would have enough time to execute her plan, but what would their move be right after?

[Valeric]

There was enough swamp grass to cover the bottom of the container, but their client wanted a full box of it. Vologhn got ready to explore deeper into the swamp to find another patch of the materials. The first two items on the list did not seem like much trouble, but the final item will probably be something difficult to obtain. In the worst case scenario, they would have to go back with the mission uncompleted.

Vologhn's senses tingled at that moment. Something big had triggered his web. His eyes snapped in the direction of the disturbance, but saw nothing but silent trees. However, the vibrations of his web continued to insist that something was moving through that spot. Vologhn chose to trust his sense of touch than his sight. With a few deft motions of his hands, he started to weave the web upwards so that they covered the ground level in crisscrossing threads. Previously he was only able to sense the creature's footsteps with the web spread through the ground surface; now he could feel the whole creature passing through each strand. He couldn't sense any details other than the fact that it was roughly larger than a human, and walked on all fours.

It was moving swiftly past Vologhn, nearly out of the range of his web. A quick prediction of his trajectory clearly showed that it would collide with Nuka, who was a short distance behind Vologhn. Alarmed, he shouted a quick warning to him.

"Nuka, something is charging at you! Be careful!"

[Alta]

“Sleipnir!”

Floating rocks formed out of nothingness and gathered to form the shape of a horse. The clash of stones generated an unnatural heat; which became the glue between the rocks and the colour of it's eyes. Eowyn's spirit materialised right in front of Nuka.

“Get on!” Eowyn yelled at her comrade. She had no idea what direction the monster Ling En warned them about was coming from and her spirit wouldn't be much of a shield if it didn't shield the the right one...

[tirgesfu]

Nuka didn’t see anything. But he heard the cries and then the grinds of rocks forming something right in front of them. It was the sliding of well crafted stone being stacked and shifted to find a form. Nuka would have enjoyed the sight more had he not caught the edge of Eowyn and En yells. He reached his hand up and found an edge to grab swinging his body up and his leg over. Quickly he leaned forward and found a spot trying to edge himself close to the horses’ neck. He urged the spirit forward with the press of his legs and the gentle nudge of his heels in its side. He looked out over the swamp to see what might be coming.

Was the attacker close to Eowyn? He looked to her and reached in her direction to help her mount if she was needed. Nuka looked hard to find any shift in the grasses. Whatever it was moved well hidden in its own environment. Nuka looked over to En who had wandered a bit away into the marsh. En looked concerned more for Nuka than trying to protect himself. “Do you see it?” Nuka called to him.

But his calls might have been lost in the sudden loud slosh of water and mud as something almost splashed at Sleipnir’s feet.