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Welcome! We don't bite OOC, but the party mage does IC tend to resort to lightning when spooked. :P
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Welcome! We don't bite OOC, but the party mage does IC tend to resort to lightning when spooked. :P
Lillianna
This woman certainly seemed like she stood out from even among her peers, at least in terms of clothing. Yet what rank it all meant was still a mystery to the lightning-casting mage, though it felt similar enough to academia back home in some sense. Like how differences in the robe and garb would show differences between graduating students and what they were graduating with. Whatever the case, they were being escorted into the office as the woman grabbed up the cube and tried to tinker with it using tools. Lillianna would look closely at whatever she seemed to be trying to use to pry it open, though the woman seemed even more absorbed in the object than she had initially been back on the road...at least for the moment being. Though she did raise an eyebrow at the little light lighting up the cube as the woman seemed to cast a spell, though both seemed to move differently from each other? One pointed at the cuve for the light, but the other didn't seem to point at it in this case. Hmm.
"Any theories as to what it might be?"
Well, at least after that maybe she could say something about the cube now and-
"Were you born with red eyes?" she asked, then looked up from the cube at Adam. In addition to the intrusive question, she gave an unwanted comment. "Not normal in the slightest."
-then the woman had a sudden a shift in attention span, directed right at Adam with a sudden question about his eye color specifically. Hmm. Suspicious. It was enough to get the mage's brows to furrow for a moment, though perhaps she was thinking too hard as she was observing the other woman? Did red eyes mean something peculiar in this world?
"Yes, I've had my eyes my whole life. The cube is more important though, so any help you can provide with that would be appreciated."
She turned to Lillianna.
"Didn't you say you thought you knew what it was and who made it when we were on our way to the Mazy Hillocks?"
Like Fenna, MacKensie immediately looked at Lillianna, who had warned them early on that The Witch Queen was after them.
Eh...EH?! W-Why was everyone suddenly looking at her like this?! It was enough to catch the focused younger woman off-guard, leaving Lillianna blinking back in silent surprise for a moment.
Yes, she'd said something like that back there. She could remember it even now in clear detail, just as much as she could the rest of what she'd been able to clearly percieve back there in the Mazy Hillocks. Even the memories of that sweat-inducing red-eyed stare at her in her dreams was still fresh enough in her mind that it sent a small chill down her spine, though that gaze had indeed felt the same as that far-away presence tied to the cube she had percieved as she'd tried to prod the stupid thing with magic.
Ah. Wait. This was her time to say her thing, the thing she'd been waiting to say. The thing about the cube. Her thing. The thing to tell the people at the Academy.
Shaking herself out of the surprise with the sudden realization that she could give her theory, the white-haired woman gave a nod to Fenna and a glance at MacKensie before looking back at Ms. Shields proper. She would try to speak as an academic, to give a proper hypothesis to a potential peer and then treat it as such. Not that she wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't get laughed out or dismissed, but data was data dangit! So she had to at least try her best here, success or not in convincing this person of anything she was going to say.
"Yes, I do have a working hypothesis about what that cube is after some attempting to tinker with it myself. Not that it was all rather pleasant for us in the end...."
The mage's facial features would briefly shift as she trailed off a little bit. She hated that cyborg water ninja so much she had to avoid thinking much about it. Stabbing her, party members dying after he came along, the whole stupid mess. Sure it wasn't all his fault, but if nothing else her distaste for him was very much personal in the aftermath. And she'd see him fried into a puddle of cripsy parts and components next time she saw him!!!
But back to the cube. Yes.
When Lillianna ran her fingers over the cubes surface, with magical intent in her mind, the cube shimmered for a split-second. That same Thrum she felt when she first held her staff, she felt again, but this was a very different type of Thrum.
It was a distant vibration, almost imperceptible, as if so very far away. And yet, in spite of the quietness of it, in her magically-proficient mind, she sensed immense power. But that was the only reaction from the cube she could earn.
A giant pair of eyes, staring down at her from the blackness of a void. A woman's eyes, judging by the shape...deep red were their hue.
They stared at her, dwarfing her. They marked her. They inspired fear. They radiated power.
...And then Lillianna would wake.
"While admittedly a novice of magic at my current standing, I tried pushing or engaing with it in some kind of magical sense, or such was my intent. The cube visibly shimmered, and I felt a thrum of magic run through it....but it was distant. Far away, even, nigh imperceptible. Yet at the same time, I felt immense power lying on the other end of it all.
Later, as I slept with the cube in my arms, I could see a pair of eyes in my dreams. Deep red eyes, dwarfing me and radiating terrifying power such that it woke me up in an instant.
This cube was inside of the center of a stronger undead leading a force of undead that my party members here fought before I arrived. Upon the defeat of this greater undead, and the cube falling out of it, the rest of the undead fled outright. Combined with what little I had been able to discern about the cube, the fact someone came after us shortly after these events and venturing into the Mazy Hillocks and outright attacked us for the cube, and what I experienced in my dreams while sleeping and holding the thing, I've come to a tentative conclusion...
...that this object is a means of extreme long-distance magical remote control over the undead. In particular I beleive it is a receptor of sorts, channeling the maker's magic from far away and using the host undead it is paced in as a conduit to both power it and make it woork in exerting control over a larger mass of lesser undead. This would explain the phenomenon of placing it in a stronger creation, to keep it safe and properly powered, but also why the lesser undead stopped and fled after the host of the cube was slain and dropped the cube. The magic directing them vanished at that time.
And with the obvious threat behind the masses of attacking undead being the Witch Queen, I postulate it was she who created it...in part due to her reputation and the sheer level of terrifying power I felt on the other end of the cube's 'connection' when I probed it and slept with it respectively."
It was a long-winded ramble with an attempted educational and professional tone and manner behind it, but she wanted to ensure eveything she knew was said about it and with proper information and context to boot. Better to be thought 'wordy' than saying too little! It was still a gamble to her, though, to see if any of these things stuck as 'proper evidence' to sway the woman. Or, well, at worst the Academy could toy with the blasted thing and get impaled by a cyborg water ninja themselves. Let them find it all out as she had. Blargh...though, well, she didn't wish bad on the place. Just the whole cube fiasco had left a bad taste in her mouth somewhat, alongside a new burning hatred for cyborg water ninjas....
...Had she mentioned that new hatred of cyborg water ninjas? Because she had one now, and it was certainly a matter most personal and which rightfully demanded the use of even more lightning than last time.
Before she could even get a chance to respond, Joji seemed to be pulled away by someone else in the building. A villager, perhaps, from somewhere else? A local? Someone coming to find help at the Guild? Whatever the case, she didn’t want to interrupt him and the one talking to him. Whatever the case was, it was certainly something to keep in mind as she turned her attention back to the situation in front of them. They had some maps, as well as some idea of the gold tier mission they’d be sent on…not that she was super happy about the group voting out common sense in favor of a singular gold tier mission. On the other hand, they were at least not splitting the party or anything far worse in terms of rashness. That much was a small relief, and more so was the acquisition of maps and information pertinent to their mission as well as her own request into the…ah…’former adventurer’. That sounded better than ‘dead guy in the Mazy Hillocks’, right?
Still, maybe they could get a moment to go relax and look at things before-
-...doing the cube thing.
Wait, hadn’t they already suggested getting rest before doing that? What was with the sudden change in plans?! Ugh. It made the mage’s head throb a small bit, enough for her to put a hand to her head despite how minor it should have been in the end. Though in hindsight, her body had been healed with magic but she'd also committed severe and life-throwing-away levels of self-electrocution to spite a robotic water ninja who’d impaled her through the torso. Soreness was bound to be something for her to deal with at the very least as she began to feel it more in her body after having woken back up and kinda-accidentally committed some minor 'surprise' arson in a medical facility. On the other hand, she would at least get to see the Academy sooner than later now at least?
...
...
...
The walk up Citadel Mountain was itself yet another chore for her already tiring body, though the mage wished she had been able to hold the cube for the final trip. It had been her responsibility, after all, and yet at the same time she didn't argue as Fenna carried it for the last leg of the delivery all the same. She hadn't been of any use back there anyway...no more than stalling at best, and the others had been the ones to get the cube and her unconcious self to carry them to Valheim proper. Of what worth was she in holding the blasted thing? It'd just get them into more trouble on this short trip if she held it, then, and that was that.
At the same time, however, her inner thoughts would be soon put on a backburner as the sights of the rising path up Citadel Mountain came into view. Vistas of building and grass, urban framaework justaposed against trees or benches to the sides of the road as they began to climb higher up, and the myriad structures forming an urban lattice of civilization alongside the placement of what seemed to be streetlights likely fueled by some kind of magic. And that was just some of it all! It was nigh awe-inspiring to behold. Indeed Valhiem, for what it was worth in the eyes of a foreign sightseer, was something of a marvel to gaze upon.
By the time they got to the top of Citadel Mountain, she could see more well-dressed people walking down on noticably more smoothed-out once-cobblestoned streets...as well as even greater colossal buildings as well as vast statuary seemed to defy the gravity of the ground they had been built upon as they scraped up against the heavens. Certainly not skyscrapers from back on Earth, that was for sure, but for being the local equivalent they stood out in their own right! How it also reminded her of the ancient Greeks, and more so the ancient Romans, was also certainly something her mind took note of as they approached the Academy. Even so, the mage was so taken up in her surroundings that she mostly just followed the others as they approached the Academy proper.
...And by all accounts the Acadewmy itself would certainly impress itself upon the white-haired girl's mind as well.
The grand arch that served as entrance had many coloured lanterns, likely also fueled by magic, which loomed well over them in a vast greeting to its ground. From here it seemed to lead in and onto a hexagon-shaped courtyard, surrounded by buildings and structural designs that reminded the mage of older European architectural styles. There was also a large fountain in the middle, with a great white basin being decorated with what looked to be sea creatures. Even more distinct was the construction beytond it, however, one that was seeming to stare upon the entrance with the stalwart and unwavering gaze of impossibly polished marble. It seemed to be the statue of a woman, whose very figure and the very statue's mystique were shrouded in enigma and mystery to the mage's eyes.
Meanwhile various tall and short, human and nonhuman, people were moving across the courtyard to one place or another in their own hustle and bustle of robes and books and scrolls and more. They seemingly didn't pay much of any heed to her or anyone else among the group's members, though she did note her own manner of dress being like unto what these people were wearing at least. Much like Fenna also saw, however, Lillianna would see a few snippets from within it all. A pair of students seemingly playing a game of chess formed from magical light, all as they sat at a stone table in the courtyard. An older man who was seemingly lecturing two younger men in front of him who had bruises on their skin and-...wait, did one of them have red skin? It was hard to notice much of anything else too distinct for the moment being, but
With the group seemingly asking for direction, the mage would follow along with them after a robed man, perhaps a teacher, who seemed to give them directions to where they (hopefully) needed to go. Maybe. However, regardless of her hope they weren't going to some basic front desk the directions would seem to lead them to a main building at the top of the courtyard, within which it was easy to notiuce a group of four talking to each other. Their attire seemed to be diffferent to most of the people she'd seen back in the courtyard, but fancier than the attire of those Lillianna (at least) had thought to be teachers or professors of some sort. Elevated. Fancier. Golden borders along the bottom of their robes, and a set of fancy and maybe magical symbols sewn into these borders, were among the features that drew her eyes to their attire to boot. Hmm...
Still, as busy as these four seemed Lillianna turned her head to the other and began to open her mouth to suggest waiting a few seconds before trying to-
Lillianna would silently close her mouth again. Never mind. Again.
Well, at least she could wait for the people to respond before they maybe just tried to shove the cube into their hands and ran off. Perhaps she'd even get the chance to give her theory about the blasted thing before they left as well. Sure she was a newbie, but maybe it would help things on the Academy's end? Unless she got laughed out of course...and given she was a newbie it would make sense in such a case, in her mind, at least. Still, she'd see what happened next before opening her mouth properly this time.
Still, maybe they could get a moment to go relax and look at things before-
"Perhaps it would be best if we just deliver the cube. Each hour we delay could have dire consequences for the people of this country. The Academy is only up the hill and we will all sleep much better tonight if we are rid of it."
-...doing the cube thing.
Wait, hadn’t they already suggested getting rest before doing that? What was with the sudden change in plans?! Ugh. It made the mage’s head throb a small bit, enough for her to put a hand to her head despite how minor it should have been in the end. Though in hindsight, her body had been healed with magic but she'd also committed severe and life-throwing-away levels of self-electrocution to spite a robotic water ninja who’d impaled her through the torso. Soreness was bound to be something for her to deal with at the very least as she began to feel it more in her body after having woken back up and kinda-accidentally committed some minor 'surprise' arson in a medical facility. On the other hand, she would at least get to see the Academy sooner than later now at least?
...
...
...
The walk up Citadel Mountain was itself yet another chore for her already tiring body, though the mage wished she had been able to hold the cube for the final trip. It had been her responsibility, after all, and yet at the same time she didn't argue as Fenna carried it for the last leg of the delivery all the same. She hadn't been of any use back there anyway...no more than stalling at best, and the others had been the ones to get the cube and her unconcious self to carry them to Valheim proper. Of what worth was she in holding the blasted thing? It'd just get them into more trouble on this short trip if she held it, then, and that was that.
At the same time, however, her inner thoughts would be soon put on a backburner as the sights of the rising path up Citadel Mountain came into view. Vistas of building and grass, urban framaework justaposed against trees or benches to the sides of the road as they began to climb higher up, and the myriad structures forming an urban lattice of civilization alongside the placement of what seemed to be streetlights likely fueled by some kind of magic. And that was just some of it all! It was nigh awe-inspiring to behold. Indeed Valhiem, for what it was worth in the eyes of a foreign sightseer, was something of a marvel to gaze upon.
By the time they got to the top of Citadel Mountain, she could see more well-dressed people walking down on noticably more smoothed-out once-cobblestoned streets...as well as even greater colossal buildings as well as vast statuary seemed to defy the gravity of the ground they had been built upon as they scraped up against the heavens. Certainly not skyscrapers from back on Earth, that was for sure, but for being the local equivalent they stood out in their own right! How it also reminded her of the ancient Greeks, and more so the ancient Romans, was also certainly something her mind took note of as they approached the Academy. Even so, the mage was so taken up in her surroundings that she mostly just followed the others as they approached the Academy proper.
...And by all accounts the Acadewmy itself would certainly impress itself upon the white-haired girl's mind as well.
The grand arch that served as entrance had many coloured lanterns, likely also fueled by magic, which loomed well over them in a vast greeting to its ground. From here it seemed to lead in and onto a hexagon-shaped courtyard, surrounded by buildings and structural designs that reminded the mage of older European architectural styles. There was also a large fountain in the middle, with a great white basin being decorated with what looked to be sea creatures. Even more distinct was the construction beytond it, however, one that was seeming to stare upon the entrance with the stalwart and unwavering gaze of impossibly polished marble. It seemed to be the statue of a woman, whose very figure and the very statue's mystique were shrouded in enigma and mystery to the mage's eyes.
Meanwhile various tall and short, human and nonhuman, people were moving across the courtyard to one place or another in their own hustle and bustle of robes and books and scrolls and more. They seemingly didn't pay much of any heed to her or anyone else among the group's members, though she did note her own manner of dress being like unto what these people were wearing at least. Much like Fenna also saw, however, Lillianna would see a few snippets from within it all. A pair of students seemingly playing a game of chess formed from magical light, all as they sat at a stone table in the courtyard. An older man who was seemingly lecturing two younger men in front of him who had bruises on their skin and-...wait, did one of them have red skin? It was hard to notice much of anything else too distinct for the moment being, but
With the group seemingly asking for direction, the mage would follow along with them after a robed man, perhaps a teacher, who seemed to give them directions to where they (hopefully) needed to go. Maybe. However, regardless of her hope they weren't going to some basic front desk the directions would seem to lead them to a main building at the top of the courtyard, within which it was easy to notiuce a group of four talking to each other. Their attire seemed to be diffferent to most of the people she'd seen back in the courtyard, but fancier than the attire of those Lillianna (at least) had thought to be teachers or professors of some sort. Elevated. Fancier. Golden borders along the bottom of their robes, and a set of fancy and maybe magical symbols sewn into these borders, were among the features that drew her eyes to their attire to boot. Hmm...
Still, as busy as these four seemed Lillianna turned her head to the other and began to open her mouth to suggest waiting a few seconds before trying to-
“Excuse me,” Fenna said once again. “We are looking for someone called Clarissa Shields, we were sent by Lucinda Bottrill from the Adventures Guild. We have a letter for her and a mysterious cube that needs to be investigated, of which we can only explain how it got into our possession.”
Lillianna would silently close her mouth again. Never mind. Again.
Well, at least she could wait for the people to respond before they maybe just tried to shove the cube into their hands and ran off. Perhaps she'd even get the chance to give her theory about the blasted thing before they left as well. Sure she was a newbie, but maybe it would help things on the Academy's end? Unless she got laughed out of course...and given she was a newbie it would make sense in such a case, in her mind, at least. Still, she'd see what happened next before opening her mouth properly this time.
<Snipped quote by Lucius Cypher>
Get a disease and/or parasite, speedrun Any%. Let's go.
All hail the Neurax Worm. We love the Neurax Worm.
XD
Seraphilla
Sunday, the 21st of the Third Pyric Moon, RY 3418
As she patiently waited her turn to speak, the younger woman's stomach would let out a small but distinct growl in the process. It was enough to get her to breifly put her hands up to her stomach, before letting out a quiet sigh and putting her hands back by her sides. Hungry? Certianly was after all of this waiting around for others to ask their questions and so forth. She could see plenty of her peers rushing off to get food, if not already digging into it, and was tempted to try to fashion a quick tiny golem to bring her a snack. Not that the poor thing would be large enough to do anything but get stomped on most likely. Hmm.
Whatever the case would be in that theoretical situation, the answer to the other boy's question seemed to be interesting enough at least.
"The deeper tunnels that lead to the subterranean portions of the old city are off-limits and entrances to such sections are clearly marked, if not blocked off entirely."
"If you turn down a corridor and the magelights aren't on, that's usually a good indicator you should turn around. There's plenty of old rocks for you to look at in the accessible parts of the ruins, so please, for your own safety, don't be difficult."
So there were accessible areas underneath the school, yes? Interesting. Most interesting indeed. It piqued her own interest noticably as she quietly listened on, trying to fight back the growing hunger in her stomach as she waited to ask her own questions. She wanted to know a few basic things before she simply ran off, so that if anything did go awry she knew where to go at least. Etc, etc, etc. She didn't much case who was from where right now, she simply wanted to get things done and eat before she had to use magic to steal some of the blasted food from here-
However, as the other boy turned to leave she noticed his eyes turn right to her. Or so it seemed, at least. She had looked at him, breifly, at least, but his gaze felt almsot just as grating as the air he seemed to put on. Not to mention his troublesome, even if personally-interesting, question otherwise. Ugh. She wasn't here to, well, er, 'judge', but it certainly wasn't a fond first impression she was getting of him either right now. It was enough to make her raise an eyebrow back at him, but just as soon as he glanced at her the boy seemed to leave and move over to where the food was without another word. Even stole some food from someone's plate, if she saw him out of the corner of her eye correctly...sheesh.
Professor Galenos turned his attention squarely the remaining girl that had been waiting for him.
"Do you have a question?"
He still didn't seem particularly excited, but whatever weariness Phoebus had drawn out of him was gone, replaced with stoic indifference once again.
Well, the overseer of her cohort certianly seemed to go back to how he'd looked before in a hurry. At the same time, she didn't react to it either. If this was how he was, she just had to get used to that unless proven wrong otherwise. Eh? It was less headache in that sense, though it didn't mean she'd be any less respectful in a general sense either. Didn't want to make a big fuss or mess on the first day, given she'd still have to see who some of her teachers and such were as well. If she had questions she didn't want to get a door slammed in her face either. No please!
...Not that this underground area the man had mentioned wasn't interesting. Not at all. Maybe she could send some tiny golems down there to draw little maps for her so she could go down there one day herself.
Mmm. Anywho!
"Yes! I simply wish to ask where I might find the teachers outside of regular classroom hours, and if there's anywhere we might be able to generally do some practice with our magic? Ah, other than that I would like to ask if there is a shop or such place on-campus to procure futher magic-related materials for our own use potentially?"
Her tone was respectful, though seemed to perk up a little as her turn to speak finally came along. Aaaah~ She could smell the warm buns from here, not to mention the meat skewers and-...ahem. She needed to continue to focus, yes. As soon as she had her answer, though, she'd be headed over to the food as quickly as her legs could carry her in this instance and maybe get to meet some more people to boot as she got a bite to eat.
@Scribe of Thoth@Hero
The United Republic of Arhas
Private Booth, "The Upper Crust" Bar, Capital City of Eosia
....They had known about the potential for some time, all of them, and yet today the grand display screens of the underground city were all displaying the same news feed. The same live new feed, coming directly in from a media spacecraft sitting out there staring down the biggest possible event of the last three centuries. Bigger than the uniffication of the planet, the rebels, any of it. Because now it wasn't just about them anymore, about the local matters and issues and concerns and all of the other drivel below that.
"Mayor Varten, is that-...could it really be?"
A woman in a slim but form-fitting wine red dress, adorned in jewelry, would pipe up to break the silence with a voice filled with shock and near-disbelief at it all from where she sat. It could be seen as a representation, perhaps, of how the rest of the Mayor's party guests felt as their eyes were drawn to the windows more and more as well. Many had even begun to push and shove to get to the windows of the room, looking down from the bar's position near the top of the vast underground city and at the large display screens placed at higher and lower levels. Excited whispers, complaints of those being pushed out of the way, and the like could be heard...but all in a hushed manner as all seemed to regard what they were seeing with some general sense of awe at least. Indeed, it didn't much matter which screen or screens they looked at, because in the end it was all the same thing.
The woman who had spoken up saw a hand come up, cutting her off gently in this instance as she softly fell silent once more from where she felt stuck in her seat from shock. The one who had put up the gently silencing hand himself was likewise sitting there, adorned in a dark blue suit, white button-up shirt, formal red tie, four rings worns across his two hands (one of them being a wedding ring), and fancy black shoes amonng other small trinkets such as a gold watch. His face, despite his age of forty five, was the sort of chiseled, refined, smoooth, and well-shaped just like the rest of his figure...frankly like an ancient Old Earth roman statue formed from the finest marble, among those who knew of ancient history. Even so, it was still the manufactured look of one of the "Purified" who had partaken of the refinement and purification of the human genome.
Soon, however, the man himself would speak as well as his eyes turned to the woman as his tone became noticably somber.
"Yes. Yes it is, Delilah. The very thing everyone's been talking about for the past few months at that, which our ancestors thought would never come back again...
...and we're here to witness this very day with our own two eyes."
Third Common Room, Northside Ruins, Rural Town of Cibara
To say the rebel base at her location was anything but dismal in shape and condition was an understatement. They had people working day and night to keep it held together by whatever they could muster, even placing broken or obsolete frames in position to hold up some portions. Soldiers and even herself as their local officer slept on old-style cots and sleeping bags placed on the concrete floors, cooked food in communal fire pits, used basic curtains and hand-washed sheets to care for the wounded alongside stolen or self-produced medical supplies, and in the end basically scavenged for anything they could use to make use of the parts of among the ruin and wreckage of the former periphery construction site they'd procued here in the more rural-type underground town of Cibara. A place far from the capital, hidden from the hostile planet above, and located near a smaller underground sea from which it fished alongside its local farming community...as well as having ruins to its north from a large-scale but ultimately failed expansion project meant to encourage more people to live in the area. It was in these ruins that her section of the PCM had set up shop, trying to lay low after what had been a disasterous combined defeat with the operations of two other officers back near the capital some months ago.
They had attempted a push to cripple one of the government facilities of the tyrants that ruled over the planet of Arhas, the first major push close to the capital in a long time that they had been able to amass the sufficient forces to try. A major armed forces facility, from which their cruel and violent 'military police' operated out of and were organized...a place that was better off left in ruin, for all she cared about it. Better to make it a ruin and reminder of a thing she and her comrades desired be destroyed one day, for which they and many others had fought and bled and died for.
And yet? So many were becoming more and more complacment and accepting with the status quo and existing 'government' and so forth, more so now than ever before. More and more they gave way to the stupid propoganda that denied them their freedoms as human beings. More and more they let themselves be stomped over and subdued by those who had taken the world over by bloody and raw force. Long gone were the far less oppressive days of independent cities and towns forging their own path, uniting in trade or the like at times to see their interests made manifest, but autocratic and facist tyrants had managed to take it all away and place it under their ironclad grip.
Of what use was this 'government'? A republic? No, a regime was what it was at best. What had they done when her mother was killed, after being in the wrong place at the wrong time during a government sting against the Cartel as she'd been coming home from work? Their people had been the ones to put the bullet in her in the first place! Then when her father had sued for justice, and pressed for something to be done to help them without that second income in the family in their lowest-levels home in the capital, they'd been given a simple lump sum and a 'letter of apology' and command to stay silent about the matter in their emails before the government went silent on them. Money, a half-hearted apology, and a demand for 'silence' for an operation that shouldn't have taken innocent lives in the first place! It had been the point from which she and her father had begun to support the cause for freedom, to eventually come into contact withh it before he disappeared and she'd been forced to flee her home and into the arms of the PCM as a teenager.
Now? Now she wasn't that little girl who couldn't to a thing against the system that had screwed her and her family over. She was a proud officer of the PCM, having been hand-selected by one of the Council of Six as one of their officers after the prior one had died five years ago. She was also a leader. A soldier. A freedom fighter. A logistician. Someone who had proven herself capable enough in the field under her group's former officers over the years, all as she'd learned the ropes of life under the radar on how to operate as part of the group.
"Commander! We sent someone to call you in here, but....can you believe it?"
Today, however, she was just as floored as the other member of her area after being brought in by a seemingly excited but equally as panicked messenger who had been sent to her office. The request to come to one of the common rooms, where her soldiers relaxed and rested outside of combat, had been not entirely an odd one. On certain occasions she went to break up overly-heated arguments or the like, that much was a given in her position's day to day, but after the installation of screens to covertly pirate and watch selective 'republican' news and media feeds to their own advantage or entertainment respectively she'd hoped the soldiers and supporting staff would be better distracted than they'd been like before. In fact she'd been in the middle of sending a report back to the Council of the month's operations and gains and losses, veins in her head pounding from it all before she'd been called away so suddenly.
...Despite suspicions of another issue to handle, which had left her almost barking at the poor underling who'd been sent to get her at a time like this, she'd ultimately held her tongue and followed them to the third common room instead. Wasn't worth taking her headache out on others, and really she'd hoped whatever the problem was would take her mind off of the pain of her beauracratic work back in the office for a moment. Give her a moment to switch gears and all as she walked into the room, people parting before her as-
...
...
...
"By the cities-!!!"
After a moment of her mouth silently moving, yet failing to find words, finally something found purchase as it came out of her mouth in a semi-hushed almost-shout. Even the other soldiers that had been there, and others who had seemiungly croweded into the room to boot, could not help but silently stare at the display screen hanging and displaying images in four different directions from its mounted position on the room's reinforced concreete cieling.
The impossible. The incredible. Something her own mother had joking talked about in the past, and which even her people had been mumbling about after the last few months of Gateway-area activity out there hit the tyrants' own airways and media channels.
Live Transmittion from the Keldek News Vessel #7, Mid-System Space, Eos System
"This is Reporter Adrian Sores, from Keldek News Vessel Number 7, coming to you first and live with the biggest news story of the last three centuries.
For over three hundred years, we've been involved in our own matters and politics and internal operations for the most part. Our world uniting under one banner and ending an era of bloodshed, the decades of chaos that followed prior to that, none of this compares to what we are seeing here today from this news vessel. Upgrounders, lowgrounders, wherever you live I would dare say that this is something that will come to affect us all in one way or another. Months of rumors, speculation, and whispers about what could come to pass will finally be put to the test, now, as the advent of a new age opens before our very eyes.
...This, ladies and gentlemen, upgrounders and lowgrounders and spaceborne settlers alike, is our own, and newly reopened, Gateway to the stars."
Lazash
Skill Gain:
[Fire Bolt] - Rank I - A basic elemental bolt of fire magic. Hurl or shoot a magical projectile roughly 30 feet in a straight line. It travels at roughly the same speed you could physically propel a small rock. Upon striking a target, the flames spread over it in a small explosion; highly flammable targets may spread the flame for up to 10 seconds.
Perfect. Something to use to be able to set fires at will, albeit unless she ran out of magical juice or stamina or whatever it took to cast it most likely. It was also a start into learning and casting and coming to understand magic in this world, which was self-admittedly an exciting prospect on her part. To what extent could this be used? What could be achieved with what she knew alongside these things she was delving into for the first time? Ah, that would certainly be educational and fascinating to pick apart and determine to a greater level of certainty over the long-term.
“Did the Japanese give it away? I’m from Miami, but my parents are both from Tokyo. I’ve never been there myself, but I know the language.”
A mostly quiet but light chuckle, of all things, would come out of the beautiful female's mouth before she back to Akeno once more.
"Actually, to my ears what you said sounded as if it was English. A curious implication for things in this world, I believe.
Ah, but back to your question. It was the mannerisms before you ate and your apparent martial arts skills being what tipped me off to the potential of you being Japanese admittedly. You seemed genuine and earnest in it all as well."
She had once worked with a Japanese-raised associate of the same company before her untimely demise. A very hard worker, rather respectful, and while friendly and good to work alognside and toss about ideas with....could admittedly drink more than people over twice his weight. Haha. Ah. Tch. That was right, he was involved on the same project she'd been carrying before dying as well. Sent him a copy as a backup, thank goodness, so perhaps he would get handed what remained of her last grand project to finish. Certainly had the aptitude and work ethic to at least finish it, compared to most of her other now-former coworkers, if not his own ideas to be able to inject into the design to tweak it with his own sentiments.
Eh, but that was all in the past now unfortunately. Not that she'd be forgetting any of it even if she could actually do so.
To throw away everything from before, simply for the now and the new? No. No no no. In fact, her past was going to be the foundation for what came next and whatever she could build up in this life. Certainly it would not be easy to make it all work out eventually, the darker of the two spirits who had talked to her seemed to be looking forward to that at least, but it would be something that would be hers and which she'd ensure would be worth it in the end. That much could be counted on if she survived and lived long enough to get that far.
Though if she could get her hands on some rudimentary pain-killing herbs or roots or such, then at least the throbbing headache of new knowledge going into her mind could be aleviated in the physical sense. Would at least be a minor quality-of-life bit if nothing else, hmm?
"Eating over one hundred percent doesn't net anything extra. I'm going to have a random chance of sickness, or I might magically discharge, which is explosive....do I even have magic?"
Lazash would look simply over at the male orc runt before speaking once more.
[color=silver]"If we all had the same options for Elwet skills, then I'd assume we can all theoretically learn magic if we could all potentially gain that Fire Bolt skill."
Then came Esfir's voice to her ears, as wizened and old as it could sound given their shared age as Orc Runts at least.
"Caves next. Camazots, yes?" She could only imagine them as bears or wolves. Good prey, if one could get over how they were predators. "Any of you recall anything of them?"
"Nooki make dens in the caves down here in the forest, seeming to indicate they might be mammals. Meanwhile Cazamots make nests farther up the mountain and in caves, so they could be flying creatures or maybe something like unto a bear. Of course that's all merely cohnjecture at best until we actually see them.
it was implied that they only dare to come out at night for a reason though."
It was her best cuurent working theory, if nothing else, and she wouldn't go on beyond that. But she had told the group and Esfir what she had been told by the Head Warrior about them at least. If they ran into a daytime predator along the way, then, they'd have to handle the situation as best as they could at such a juncture. Of course they were acting as a group, for now at least, and had each just gained a new skill at that. It would be more of an advantage for their side in such a case, then, as compared to running into such a daytime predator alone.
Still, the female orc runt would take cues from Esfir and Grunthor as she used her rag-clothes to create a rudimentary bag to carry her load of items and equipment. She would even tie it up at the top, then, to make it easier to carry around on her right shoulder. Could switch shoulders to give each arm a break as they went along to boot. Hmm. Yes, that would be acceptable for the time being.
The four began bundling up their belongings in preparation to head North, to the Camazotz caves---but just before they were about to leave, two more Runts entered the clearing. One of them was carrying the remains of a snakelike creature, and the other had a primitive looking stone hatchet...
Ah. Seemed that the fire had drawn some other runts to their location. She was surprised more hadn't arrived to try to glean any pickings from them or the like. Then again, many had seemed to run off and talk as if they'd be doing this task all alone out here. To see two seemingly cooperating fellow runts, then, was certainly something...but at least they were not foolish enough to attack a larger group either. Hmm. Not notable enough overall to talk to them about it, or to the others about it right now in passing, and beyond that Esfir would proceed to say anything she might have felt worth saying to them. Lazash would also give a nod to the newcomers before moving along, but all that was left were any remaining scraps of Elwet not brought with them along with whatever was left of the dying if not mostly-dead fire by now.
One of them (the male) seemed to greet them in German, though, and asked about joining in on a hunt. Joining in? Well numbers could be a boon, but too many of them and it'd become a mess trying to divide up the meat and spoils and bringing anything back. If it were up to her she'd say 'yes', at least as far as it took to get them to the caves, before suggesting a split for hunting so the four of them and the duo could do their own things. Mmm. She'd let Esfir make the call on this particular situation, as much of an unofficial leader as she had seemed to become in all of this thus far. Meanwhile, she hadn't heard anything from the female runt yet in turn.
The four of them that had already banded togeher for now had to get kills to bring back to the camp, after all, to fulfill the quest given to them. Daylight was burning quickly, and they couldn't be out here alone forever like impetuous idiots without worse troubles likely coming to them in all eventuality. They couldn't afford to slow down or stop again right now, one way or ther other. Worst case scenario in the best case situation, perhaps, they ran into more stuff along the way and got stalled before killing and bringing it back before nightfall so they could go off to the caves tomorrow or on another following day.
@Zeroth@Kazemitsu@ERode@King Cosmos@Lucius Cypher@Unkown58
Lillianna Steiner
"Second Chance?"
"A second chance is what we have - Being here."
"A second chance is what we offer - With that cube."
"Not sure there's anything more perfect to define us. I'd say we've found our team name guys."
"I like it"
She had to concur, after a breif moment of thinking about it all. Wasn't every day that someone got another chance at life, in another world not less, even if it had all occured so suddenly and out of the blue. Or, well, in her case coming at her like a beach umbrella to the face on a very windy day at the beach. Close enough? Close enough.
"'Second Chance', hmm? It has a nice ring to it, I think. Agreed."
A fitting name indeed, though the conversation was far from over as the elven woman answered the first of her own questions.
"That would mean that you have an affinty for both Air and Light Domain magic. It's quite rare for any mage to be specialize in twin elements. Looks like you've been dealt an extraordinary hand. Kudos to you. You should go to the Academy, if you've not been already. I'll bet they'd love to meet a twin-element mage that's just started her journey as an adventurer. I'm guessing you must be highly intelligent for The Source to bless you with two Domains, so if you like books, tomes and scrolls, you should do quite well there."
Such a pairing elements was that extraordinary? Curious, most curious indeed. This 'Academy' place seemed to be a place of magical learning, as far as she could glean from it all, and in that vein she wished to go visit it as the other woman had reccomended. Yet the promise of books and tomes and even scrolls to read and study was certainly something far more tantalizing. Would she be able to read the material of this world without learning it? They could certainly speak the local lingo somehow, and understand it all in turn, so it was certainly a promising prospect at the very least for someone interested in academic learning and having a bit of a love for fantasy as a genre.
Whew. No. No no no, she didn't need to go nuts here with anticipation...even if she really kind of wanted to right now. Like she could barely contain the geeky energy inside for a moment. Yet while she seemed to visibly get an excited twinkle in her eyes at the mention of the 'Academy', and frankly even more so at the mention of new reading materials, the white haired mage visibly tried to calm herself back down all the same.
It was also around this time the second answer made it to her ears as well.
"Hmmmmm... died in the Mazy Hillocks, did he? Not a nice place to meet to your end."
"Sorry, I can't think. I'd need a little more, I'm afraid."
...Curses. The poor soul who'd helped them back there hadn't even a chance to give his name either, which wasn't helping anything. Though dead, he had managed to save her life at least. Seemed to be a kind person wanting to assist some lost and most woefully outmatched novice adventurers, even after his own horrible death and wandering around that place. Argh! He had mentioned a few things about himself, at least, which perhaps would be something to look into as scant as they were. Maybe if she added those it would help Lucy get a more specific memory? Hmm.
In the meantime, she would listen as James tried to fill Lucy in on their situation and showed her the cube, until the point that-
"By the Quinity, am I reading this right!?" she exclaimed. "You did kill Aurok." She looked at Adam, who was the one who hinted to it earlier. Then peered around the rest of them. Early, unascended adventurers, all of them. "Aurok the Maneater... How!?"
That was what she wanted to know as well, though give the lack of two party members being among the living still...it came at a great cost indeed she imagined. Even so, the elven woman would seem to move on to describe the situation, as well as reveal a message for them that seemed to be currently well out of reach, and it wouldn't be good to leave that unchecked. Couldn't they check it some other way than having to gain silver rank? They'd all just nearly died out there after all of this, and while she had to admit a good cry was more than needed back there at the hospital it didn't mean she wasn't worried about how the others were doing still as well. Concious as they had been back there, she'd no idea fully of what had happened to them back there in the Mazy Hillocks as of yet. It was...vexing!
Heh. She hadn't gotten to use that particular word in a little while.
"A friend bravely sacrificed himself."
...So her theory held some water, it seemed. Though for that matter, Adam hadn't seemed to be doing too well either now that she noticed. Zell's antics had kept her mind occupied outside of some personal thinking along the way, but she felt that she still did care in the end. On the other hand, she hadn't had to watch anyone die out there either. It...hmm...curses.
"I'm good with whatever you all decide to do next."
He wasn't going to pitch in on this? Really? It was important to everyone that they all get a voice in this one, and he was a valuable part of the group! It was enough to get the white haired mage to walk over to the red-eyed man and tug on Adam's sleeve before looking him in the eyes (after he'd had his moment to speak to Lucy too of course). Even if she felt her own idea was perhaps the best one, he had a right to say something too! And in this case she wasn't going to sit silent on that particular thought.
"Adam! You've just as much right as anyone else here to help decide. Besides, if anyone decides to do anything rash we-"
"Gold is lower than Platinum right? If we take a gold contract, you won't be sending us anywhere like The Mazy Hillocks"
"Good. I say take the gold, but I'll leave you guys to make a more thought-out decision. I need a beer."
Wait wait wait, what?! Wasn't it clear that they'd already been in over their heads with all of this so far?! It was enough that, to her at least, it seemed clear that choosing the two silver contracts would be the best call. The safer call, less likely to get them jumped by angry enemy monsters well above their bronze-tier and otherworlder expertise! They had no business running out there suddenly again, not without getting some footing around here, maybe a place to live, and getting an idea of what they could each do better. Or at least taking the time to practice some kind of formation or the like to use out there!
"I'll tell you what: If you go there, ask for a woman named Clarissa Shields. Tell them you've been sent on Adventurer's Guild's business." She took a small piece of parchment from behind the desk, wrote some words on it, slipped it in an envelope and stamped it with a wax seal and pushed it forward on the counter. "That should get you in the door to someone high enough."
Well, she did want to go see the Academy in person now. On top of that, they'd needed to go bring that cube over to the mages of this place anyhow. So it all worked out in that sense. Stupid thing had given them enough trouble, and-...ah! Yes, she had a working theory about the object based on her limited experience with it. Certainly wasn't something she had been given the time to tell everyone, however, but perhaps she could bring it up at the Academy! Certainly it could be a potential boon to figuring it all out, right? Well, if anyone would listen to a peculiar theory coming from the mouth of a novice mage. Maybe. Then again, not everyone was likely not as trusting as this group she had become a part of either.
"In ascending order; Bronze, Silver, Gold, then Platinum and finally Diamond." She reassured the others. "I believe, looking at your stats, history and abilities, that you will be able to handle a gold contract. I've been in the Guild for more than while now and seen all kinds of parties. I'm a pretty good judge of these things."
"I warn you though. Ascension and abilities will only get you so far. What seperates the best parties from the rest is teamwork, decision-making and spirit," she lectured them. "Be courageous, be virtuous, be smart. Learn eachother. Trust eachother." She smirked. "Even the idiot."
To be honest he was a useful idiot, at least, and had been among those who had gotten out of that hellhole that was the Mazy Hillocks at least. Also seemed friendly and brave and kind enough to boot, based on what she'd seen of him thus far. In that vein...yes, she did need to be nicer and give him some slack. But if the name "Zell's Angels" had passed, or he managed to name someting of the group's that inane at a future point, she would be hitting him with a basic lightning bolt. Not that she'd have the first chance, if MacKensie got her hands on him first in such a scenario perhaps. Heh.
Party idiot indeed.
"I also think we should take a gold contract."
"We have business at the Academy and a promise to keep to the town of Hommas. This must come first. And we must take an evening to - how you say - decompress? Find a hotel or something? Mentally, I think it would help."
"But I feel in my bones that this message in that computer is so important for us. And I wish to see it as soon as humanly possible. Zell is right; we are all stronger than before. Much stronger. I know this. And after going through The Mazy Hillocks, I feel I am ready for anything now."
Oh no. Oh no no no no no! They were NOT taking a single dangerous gold contract, just to speed this process up! What in the world was MacKensie thinking?! She was the chosen one! Her ally! She was destined not to suggest bad ideas, but to destroy them! Nooooooooo!!!
...But the purely mild dramatics conjured up by her internal frustrations being set aside, she agreed on most of the other woman's points for the most part. Some rest, some time to mentally let go or relax, etc. She wanted to see what was on that computer message as well, as odd as that seemed to be to acknowledge that existing in the first place in a fantasy-type setting as they had seemingly been pulled into. Yet even, so she would speak once more as she turned around to face the remainder of the group who were still standing there.
"I do agree that...I feel some extent stronger than I was before. At the same time, I feel taking the two silver contracts would be out best and safest choice in this situation. It would allow us to get acclimated with this world better, as well as get more accustomed to this adventuring work and local fauna more before we try to tackle anything more dangerous."
The mage would speak with a somerwhat exasperated tone near the end, though the stoic expression and worried tint in her voice would betray her somewhat perhaps. She didn't want to just jump in on a big, dangerous mission again without preparation! Did they want to end up as all the dead souls wandering around the Mazy Hillocks had become?! Then again, she had no idea if anyone else had seen them other than herself, really...hmm. Maybe James? He seemed to have an affinity for the divine, if his clerical inclinations hadn't been clear enough to her so far, so she needed to ask him.
In the end she would go with whichever choice the group overall decided to take, but she also likewise hoped they would see some kind of sense at least...
Oh! Right, those detials to tell Lucy in one last attempt to trigger some kind of memory in her head about the poor boy back in the Mazy Hillocks. To that end, she would try to get Lucy's attention once more in a more polite and formal manner before speaking once more (if she got the chance to that is).
"I do remember a few more things about the dead man, I believe...perhaps it is worth a shot at least to mention them if nothing else. Just to attempt to get an idea of things.
His torso seemed to be clad in a basic gambeson type of armor, with a shirt of chainmail covering this as well as his torso and upper arms. He wore woolen pants covered his legs, a pair of boots, and a helmet rounded on top with a brim around the outside of it on his head. He had on a pair of leather gloves and pair of metal bracers, used a polearm I believe, and ah...hmm!
He had messy and roughly-cut, as well as short, sandy brown hair. Said he came from a small village as well, and that his sister was trained by the local church in his small village since she could see the dead as well."
If you want to vote on Second Chance's next course of action by OOC or by PM, you can do so. Or if you want to write out your vote by way of story in IC, you can do that too. Whatever each of you wants do.
Lillianna: "The two silver contracts, because I do not wish to die any faster than last time. Or the time before that. Also, it gives us time to look into more things outside oof the contracts, such as looking into groups or places that might interest us in-between."
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