Lugubrious

Umbra Rose Condos

I'll be posting later today for Khalid in the lobby, interacting with Theria, Max, and Rebecca.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Dead Zone - Weeping Wastes

Lvl 14 Ms Fortune (101/140) Lvl 9 Goldlewis (54/90) Lvl 7 Sandalphon (26/70) Lvl 3 Grimm (16/30)
Midna, Junior, Rika & Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate, Sectonia & Roland’s @Archmage MC Geralt, Zenkichi & Edelgard’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet, Pit, Primrose & Therion’s @Yankee Juri’s @Zoey Boey Roxas, Ganondorf, & Captain Falcon’s @Double Venom Snake’s @DisturbedSpec the Witch’s @Drifting Pollen
Word Count: 3252

Once the Pelican disappeared into the rainstorm, the noise of its thrusters and engines swallowed by the cacophonous downpour, the two dozen Seekers were left -in quite literal sense- to their own devices. They did not set off straightaway, however. For one, not everyone was here just yet. Flying fast at a high altitude without missing a beat, the Avenger would be circling back toward the Dead Zone to drop off a round of hellpods containing the last few team members. Until they arrived, the others would need to wait so that everyone could proceed safely, sheltered by the Stable Field Emitter.

The other big reason for the group’s hesitation was, of course, the landscape arrayed before them. Muddy, mossy, rocky, and uneven, it offered no straight roads or easy footpaths. Last week’s voidout had cleanly carved the terrain into a massive, shallow basin, exposing a handful of underground tunnels and cave systems into which debris from the annihilated city had been thrown. Rivers of fresh rainwater lanced through the crater, their paths jagged and unpredictable, their currents surprisingly strong. As the downpour pounded their hoods and coats, the Seekers surveyed the environment as best they could, trying to plot out safe routes their makeshift convoy could use. Sandalphon calculated and charted better than most, but she knew as well as anyone that even the best-laid plans would go awry the minute a BB caught wind of one of the dreary realm’s spectral sentinels.

After another moment, the hellpods burst down through the clouds and plowed into the earth, suddenly breaking the tension with loud, rapid-fire slams and tremors. For a moment panic broke out, first about the sudden disturbance and then at the possibility of BTs responding to the noise, but no horrors reared their ugly heads. This spot, it seemed, was safe, so the team could take a moment to put together a game plan.

In the wake of the surprise, Juri’s jab elicited a snort from Nadia. “I’m pretty sure, yeah, but who knows? Maybe you’ll annoy me to death.” Right now, her own strategy for avoiding a voidout involved instinct and adaptation. If only she could go off on her own, where nobody else could ruin it for her. Then again, if someone did slip up and get eaten, nowhere she could go would be far enough. The feral sighed.

Sandalphon exhaled steadily, her pupils returning from concentric circles to normal. This was going to be dicey, no matter which way she sliced it. There were two dozen Seekers now, armed to the teeth, but powerless against the ghostly entities that drifted in the rain. Instead they clumped together within the Stable Field Emitter’s radius, clustered together like so many children under one umbrella. It struck Sandalphon as rather absurd, and the prospect of so many people maneuvering stealthily in an environment like this seemed impossible. Theoretically they could all forge onward with utmost caution, astringently detecting and then circumnavigating all potential threats, but time was a luxury that the heroes didn’t have. She was well aware that, being technological in nature, the Stable Field Emitter wouldn’t last forever. If it ran out of power, she and her companions would have nothing but their emergency shields and their synthetic raincoats between them and the Timefall. They would have to strike a balance between speed and caution.

The archangel narrowed her eyes. This, she realized, must be what humans called ‘anxiety’.

Edward moved to the front of the group as he outlined a tactic for BT detection. Though he seemed confident in its efficiency, Sandalphon couldn’t help but poke holes in his plan. Once he finished, she stepped forward to offer her feedback. “I respect your strategic eye, Edward. However, I’m afraid I cannot condone this policy. There is a critical problem…”

At that point, Nadia piped up with one eyebrow raised. “What does the temperature have to do with BTs?” she asked, completely serious.

Goldlewis winced, and Sandalphon’s pupils became minus signs. “...Two critical problems.”

“Oh!” The feral snapped her fingers, wide-eyed. “Ghosts are cold, right? That’s what you…uh, meant by degrees, right…?” She looked around at the others in increasingly dim hopes of confirmation, a dubious grimace on her face.

After clearing her throat, Sandalphon continued. “This strategy depends on vocal communication. BTs hunt primarily by sound. We would have to shout to be heard over this rain, and even if we whispered…” Her pupils became stress marks. “That might be too loud.”

Goldlewis scrunched up his face. “Can hardly see the doggone Qliphoth out there to begin with. Sounds like Juri’s right on the money,” he declared. ”We’ll be relyin’ on these doodads first and foremost.” He jabbed a thumb at the five-fingered odradek on his shoulder. “So keep a sharp eye on ‘em. And let’s be ready to run for it, if we gotta.” Right after Primrose nodded at Zenkichi, she got one from Goldlewis in turn.

While the others talked, Grimm kept his own scarlet eyes on the scenery. Having not accepted a shield pack, he wore his raincoat like a cloak over his unusually-shaped head, still out of sorts thanks to the SFE. Now, though, he spoke up. ”The rain is heavy, and growing heavier. We are not safe here. The path ahead may be perilous, but we must walk it all the same.”

Already feeling antsy, Nadia nodded her head in agreement. Whatever was out there couldn’t be as bad as this dreadful anticipation. Sandalphon seemed equally keen to set off, so before too much longer, the Seekers began their trek. For the most part they adopted the positions suggested by Edward, adopting a clock-shaped formation that made the most out of the safe zone’s circular perimeter. With the Stable Field Emitter clutched tight and held high, the Ace Cadet defined the safe zone’s center, and Sectonia hovered directly above him to make use of the vertical space. Roland, Goldlewis, Primrose, and Edward took up the one o’clock, three o’clock, nine o’clock, and eleven o’clock positions respectively, their BBs as alert as they were. Their odradeks beeped, but they had yet to focus on any targets, and if one of them stopped, they couldn’t yet be sure that the eerie shapes in the distance weren’t products of their imagination.

Before the BTs, the Seekers needed to contend with a more material matter endemic to the crater before them: its steep outermost edges. From atop the precipice, where half-melted rubble from the destroyed city lay in heaps, they could see a few ways forward. To the left, rainwater poured from the sheared-off end of a former sewer system, becoming a waterfall that washed down the basin’s slope. Thanks to all the water, the earth directly ahead appeared to be mostly mud, and judging by the mucky ruins where the ground evened out, at least one mudslide had already occurred here. To the right it was all rocks, a handful big but most medium or smaller, so they could definitely shift around underfoot.

Sandalphon quickly considered the options. Jumping into the water, or sliding down it once frozen, would be fast but risky. Nobody could afford to outpace the SFE, or slide straight into a BT, and it could damage the equipment. A slide in the mud would be a little more controlled. A Seeker could slip on the rocks or be sent tumbling if their weight dislodged one. Still, it could be managed. Goldlewis came to more or less the same conclusion, and in military fashion signaled to everyone to favor the right side. Slowly, carefully, began to pick his way down the rocks, testing each one with his foot before putting his weight on them. He used his hands for extra support wherever he could, trusting in his harness to keep the BB safe despite his protective instincts. Sandalphon followed behind him, lighter on her feet. If she lost her footing, Heavensent could still slow her fall enough to give her a reliable safety net. Meanwhile, Grimm proved light enough on his spindly legs that he found firm footing wherever he went. The Troupe Master could hop down at his own leisure, limited only by the advance of the safe zone.

Rather than climb down the rocks, Nadia hung back, allowing the others to advance until she perched on the precipice at the rear of the group. As the edge of the SFE’s safe zone approached from behind, she heaved off and began to slide down the muddy slope, her claws buried in the earth behind her to control her descent. Still, her effective weight meant that the feral built up speed fast, and after just a moment she slid out ahead of the Stable Field Emitter. “Crap!” Immediately the rain began to react to her personal shield. As it spattered against the yellow bubble, it glowed brighter in response, indicating the drain on its power. Seconds later, Nadia slid to a stop against the mudslide debris at the bottom of the slope, where she found an overhang to hide under until the rest of the group caught up. Though covered in mud, she cared about the timefall a lot more.

After a few moments, the Seekers reunited. Though lagging behind on the rocks, Sandalphon closed the distance with a jump that let her glide the rest of the way. The moment one trial ended, however, the next began. Just a few dozen feet beyond the slope, Roland’s odradek chirped. It focused on a point within the muddy ruins and began to clap its sensors together at a rate of about one per second. Everyone paused, including the other carriers. First contact. Goldlewis peered inside the fallen, half-buried building, but even while connected to BB Luigi, he couldn’t see anything in the shadows. Well, no hiding in there, that much was certain.. The group gingerly veered away from the ruins, with a very muddy Nadia holding her breath as she skirted around the crumbling, mud-covered structure. Edward’s odradek reacted after he started to move again, aimed in the same direction as Roland’s, but the next moment Roland’s adjusted to another point further ahead. Primrose’s clicked on and turned that way, indicating that the group should veer farther to the right, but the next moment the activation of his own odradek surprised Goldlewis. This time his pointed to the open area in the northeast, and after a moment Primrose’s joined his. There were BTs in all directions–the only question was how far away they were.

Almost immediately, Edelgard ran into trouble. Not everyone could see, and nobody wanted to risk jostling to see. Goldlewis stopped and crouched down, peering into the rain. In silence Grimm joined him, his stance low, and Nadia paused on all fours. Luckily the incident came to nothing, but the big man kept an eye out. He thought he could see shapes among the rain, but the atmosphere was too thick out here to tell for sure. At the very least, no BTs seemed dangerously close. He looked over his shoulder at Sandalphon, who nodded. This was never a question of whether or not the team could avoid areas with BTs completely; it was whether or not the Seekers could be quiet enough to brush past them when needed. Goldlewis beckoned to the others, and the team inched forward. Foot by foot. Yard by yard.

Suddenly, the veteran’s odradek picked up speed, clapping constantly. He stopped in an instant, then gasped.

He could see them. Shadowy, particulate humanoid, like shaped smoke or insect swarms, hung weightlessly a half-dozen feet or more off the ground like drowned men. Their umbilical cords swayed in the grip of otherworldly currents, anchoring them to the ground or to one another. They did not patrol, nor prowl, nor even seem to be searching. The whole row of them just floated there, like naval mines deep beneath the sea. Waiting for someone to stumble into them.

In an instant, Goldlewis composed himself. He held up a closed fist, signaling a stop. Since his odradek indicated only the closest one, he pointed out the rest to the others in quick succession. There were too many spread out to the northeast to get around them, so the team would need to edge north-northwest, around the muddy ruins, and avoid the quicksand patches. The moment Goldlewis began to move away the BTs faded, and the next second his odradek quieted down. He let out his breath and picked up the pace alongside the rest.

Grimm quietly dashed from the right side of the group to the left, closer to the ruins. The SFE’s safe zone would be roving over them, and while nobody dared duck inside, the direction of Edward and Roland’s odradeks convinced him that he could climb atop the structure and still be safe. The Troupe Master skittered up the nearest tilted wall, his black claws easily finding handholds. When he reached the top, he was pleased to find himself still inside the safe zone, albeit barely. Using the roof as a shortcut he could get across while the rest worked their way around the quicksand. After a few steps, though, Grimm heard one of the odradeks down below pick up the pace, and when he glanced down he spotted its light pointed his way. If it was indicating proximity from that distance, though…

A noise like a windy wail reached Grimm’s ears, and the Troupe Master turned to his left. Nothing met his eerie gaze, but after a moment spent scanning the roof, he thought he spotted something strange. By the time he confirmed the next one, it was too late. Black handprints were appearing one after another, some sort of sticky substance that didn’t wash off in the rain. As the trail neared Grimm, the Troupe Master stood stock-still and silent. He watched as the handprints paced around, coming within inches of his leg, but still he couldn’t see or feel any presence. After several tense seconds the trail veered away. Without a word Grimm turned, hopped off the dilapidated roof, and slid back down toward the others. He landed beside Nadia, who’d just extricated herself from a quicksand pit, and his sudden appearance making the excited feral’s hackles rise. She calmed herself, though, and peered up at the spot he came from. “See anything?” she whispered.

Grimm shook his head. ”Nothing at all.”

Cognizant of the light cast by her elaborate halo, and of her less-than-stellar physical ability, Sandalphon hung toward the rear of the group as they pressed on through the storm. The archangel hadn’t had long to acclimatize to her newfound emotionality, and so far this mission was already giving her nascent heart a workout. For someone accustomed to information warfare, whose powers of perception and coordination could decide the outcome of battles from the comfort of home base, being unable to pinpoint the threats around her made her feel helpless and frustrated. Still, even knowing that she couldn’t see the BTs, she continued her habitual monitoring until she stepped on a rock wrong and nearly twisted her ankle. “Ah,” she declared, her voice too flat to make it an exclamation. Only by quickly planting the barrel of her gunstaff did she prevent a fall. Of course, Zenkichi showed up the next moment to lend her a shoulder so that needn’t put pressure on her ankle to keep up. “My gratitude,” she breathed, glancing back at the edge of the safe zone. “For you, and these boots. I can scarcely imagine how much more difficult this would be in heels.”

Up ahead, Goldlewis encountered an issue of his own. When his odradek began clapping again, he ducked down in order to spot the BT responsible. It was close, but alone and off to the side, so no need for concern. Still, out of an abundance of caution he decided to move forward while crouching, and that turned out to be a big mistake. Immediately both his knees popped, eliciting a raspy snarl from the BT, and in that moment the tension got the better of the man. “Dammit!” he growled, covering his mouth with his hand a fraction of a second too late. With a moan the BT seemed to dissolve, and as its dark essence hit the ground a handprint splashed in the dirt. As his odradek went into a wild spin, however, the veteran got a hold of himself. Working his old but well-trained muscles, he quickly-crouch-walked out of the patrol range, and after another moment the alerted BT got left behind. He let out an exasperated breath as he stood, more angry at himself than anything. After that, his heart would be pounding for a while.

Remembering his BB, Goldlewis looked down at his pod and tapped on the glass. “How you holdin’ up, partner?” BB Luigi was wide-eyed, shaken but not so scared that he’d start crying just yet. The veteran gave him a thin smile. “Don’t you fret now,” he whispered. “We’re gonna get through this.”

Nadia made her way up to the front of the group, joining Roxas in between Roland and Primrose. Continuing on all fours for maximum silence and stability, she made her way forward until a new obstacle confronted the Seekers on their path. Up ahead, a huge fissure scarred the crater, its jagged length arcing in the approximate direction of the Qliphoth. As she neared the edge, the feral became aware of orange light emanating from within, and a quick look down confirmed the presence of lava deep within the ravine. It brought to mind her adventure with that ‘doom’ guy through the demon-infested part of Redgraccoon City, especially the fight against King Minos in courthouse above a lake of lava. Maybe some of the horrors plaguing that city had been buried so deep that not even the voidout annihilated them.

She also saw a number of ledges along the ravine’s sides that someone could conceivably walk along, or beneath, to take shelter from the timefall. Still, she didn’t entertain that thought until Goldlewis identified another pack of BTs along the ravine’s right side, where the Seekers were. The team could go around it to the left, into it, or maybe even over it. Nadia knew she could make that jump with a pressurized launch plus airdash, but the others might not be so fortunate. “We could go through there. Fis-sure looks like a shortcut to me,” she hissed, pointing down at the ravine’s sheltered ledges. The hazard of falling into lava spoke for itself, but she felt compelled to point out the other potential issue. “Gotta watch out for demons though. Could be in for a hell of a time.”

Sandalphon’s attention lay on the landmark to the left of the crevasse. A large crashed ship of extraterrestrial design lay in a field of tarry black earth and spikes, slowly deteriorating beneath the pounding timefall. Maybe the vessel had strayed too close to the Dead Zone in passing and lost power among the storm clouds, plunging down into these rain-drenched wastes. Its existence here rounded out the last of the team’s three options: BTs and tricky terrain, a shortcut through or across the ravine, or the long way around past the derelict spacecraft. By now the Qliphoth could clearly be seen through the rain, but this trip would get worse before it got better.

Umbra Rose Condos

Khalid is going to be very disappointed when he finds out “Slick” is literally just a pet snake.

@Massasauga

Embarrassed, too, about psyching himself out over nothing. Though that, in turn, will make Rebecca even more mysterious.

Umbra Rose Condos

When sitting in idle anticipation, awaiting the arrival and subsequent help of someone else, the mind tended to wander–especially if that mind belonged to a writer. A mind often leveraged to conjure forth intricate narratives, loquacious verbiage, romanticized mundanity, and highly descriptive scenes could seldom sit still, so while the writer’s body remained anchored firmly in place, his consciousness couldn’t help but range far afield through the uncharted realms of imagination. As he waited Khalid reminisced, waxed poetic, made mountains out of molehills, and generally got lost in thought. Agonizing over his current crisis wouldn’t solve anything, after all, so like dough he kneaded his beleaguered brain in an attempt to coax out character concepts, plot points, and compelling turns of phrase he could use later. Whether they generated any usable material or not, these mental exercised made the minutes fly by, but this frenzied daydreaming also occupied the thin man to such an extent that even as he stared at the complex’s front entrance, he didn’t notice the unfamiliar silhouette approaching the doors until they swung open to admit her.

Khalid straightened up, blinking repeatedly as the sudden disturbance stirred him from his absent-minded reverie. His eyes, fixated on a vista so distant that nobody else could possibly see it, refocused on the foreground and allowed him to witness the newcomer for the first time. In an instant Khalid realized that he’d never seen this person before, and if not for his well-practiced composure, he would have raised both brows in puzzled surprise. Of course, in terms of appearance there was nothing strange about her–and that was what was so strange. For all intents and purposes, this woman looked one hundred percent human, with not even subtle monstrous features or behaviors to betray a true nature breaking through the facade. It went without saying, though, that no human should be able to so brazenly stroll through those unassuming doors. That paradox could only mean that there was more than met the eye to this woman. Khalid hypothesized that he must be looking at a very convincing shapeshifter, or a powerful illusion. It did occur to him that he might be looking into a mirror, and that another practitioner of the arcane arts had managed to penetrate this place. Regardless, and much to his chagrin, it seemed that this woman’s true nature lay beyond his powers of perception right now.

Stumped by the question of what monster this woman might really be, Khalid took another tact, and opted to re-evaluate her as a human instead. Just what sort of person was he looking at? A quick examination made the answer crystal clear, but even without the telltale tags on her clothing that identified ‘Holloway’ as a US soldier, Khalid might have been able to guess. Though women in the army didn’t need to cut their hair if they wore it up, hers had still been cropped to a military-authorized trim, and despite growing out a little since then it gave no indication of styling. There was a world-weariness etched into her face, far deeper-seeded than that of the sad-sack salaryman or unemployed doomscroller. Those stony features had no doubt been hardened by terrible trials, evidence of an equally hardened heart, and those bandages were just icing on the cake. Even the way she moved across the foyer, her posture rigid and straight but too powerful to be called stiff, suggested a sense of discipline so thoroughly drilled in that it had become unconscious and involuntary. Her eyes were vacant, almost glassy, like she wasn’t all here, and some part of her remained on those distant battlefields. When those eyes roved over Khalid, he wondered if she even saw him.

He didn’t necessarily mind being ignored, though. When one thought of United States soldiers and middle easterners, the association was seldom positive. Of course, he had neither family history nor personal grudges to hold against her, and there was nothing about his place of origin -political, societal, or spiritual- that commanded any particular allegiance from a non-practicing Muslim like him. Still, Khalid did not like any being that might think to command power over him. No one, monster or man, living or dead, was entitled to the respect of Khalid Alhazred. No one.

Of course, for all Khalid’s overthinking, what actually happened in the lobby was very uneventful. Holloway entered, walked right by the thin man in his chair, and stopped at the vacant front desk. Under normal circumstances he might have objected to someone cutting the line, but she could go first this time. Right now he happened to be very interested to know more about who -or what- this newcomer was, in part because of something that happened right after she passed by. His stone talismans, dangling from his belt, shuddered and opened their eyes. They peered after Holloway as she receded from their owner, their enchanted lids only sliding closed again once she got a certain distance from them. That was all the confirmation Khalid needed to know that there was some sort of magic in play. “Curiouser and curiouser,” he quoted beneath his breath.

Since it would be rude to stare, Khalid turned around again and settled in to wait. Luckily, neither he nor Holloway had to wait long. The rhythmic sound of large scutes sliding across the floor announced the return of Miss Theria Lasthena to her post. If she was perceptive, she might notice Khalid scoping out her arrival with what looked like a pocket makeup mirror. Once he confirmed that her glasses were on, though, the mirror vanished just as quickly as it appeared. “Good morning, Miss Lasthena,” Khalid replied as he rose, turning to face the gorgon without a trace of anxiety on his face. As always, he spoke with measured, grammatically perfect English, flavored with a noticeable but hard-to-place accent. “Please, take all the time you need.”

In short order, his business cards and posters were printing. “Thank you,” he told her with a respectful nod of his head. It was polite of her to not say anything about the eldritch smell that tended to cling to him thanks to the Shoggoth. He did think it strange that Holloway didn’t remark on the odor either…perhaps army rations had dulled a couple of her senses? Or perhaps the smell of a Shoggoth simply wasn’t all that extraordinary to her. Khalid gave Holloway a wide berth as he waited for his papers to finish printing, listening to her exchange with Theria. People like you, hmm? Her words backed up what her appearance suggested about her not being on active duty, implying that she needed somewhere to hide. That same desire brought most Umbra Rose tenants here, but her military trappings made Khalid wonder just what she might be fleeing.

Then the cover slipped, and Khalid did not fail to notice. A creature emerged from Holloway’s clothes, a serpent that she identified by name and command as a separate entity, rather than a part of her. Slick, eh? It receded the next moment, leaving Khalid with more questions than answers. Before he could ponder much, however, his satchel stirred. The Shoggoth within bubbled up like bread in a baking oven, threatening to spill through the gap and into the public eye. Momentary panic spurred Khalid to turn away and grab his spray bottle in order to spritz Horace through the opening. After a moment, the unsavory sludge relaxed again, but Khalid remained alert. “What’s gotten into you?” he murmured, more to himself than the creature. Once he made sure that the Shoggoth was placated, the eruditionist returned his attention to the ladies. Just what was this 'Slick', to have prompted a reaction like that…?

Umbra Rose Condos

<Snipped quote>

Who is roleplaying as the slime queen janitor?

@AlmostEternity

There are a number of staff NPCs, such as the dryad doctor and assumedly the slime janitor, who can be puppeted by anyone as needed if I recall correctly.

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Lewa

Compared to the tension that build up during the slow, wary descent into the depths of the magic shop, the ensuing brawl against the otherworlders' skeletal attackers was more of a relief than anything. These undead foes certainly didn't pose much of a challenge, and while he was glad to contribute for once, Lewa couldn't claim much credit when it came to nullifying the threat. Not with Fran, Remilia, and Anne around. The presence of such raw power really rendered the ambush anticlimactic, and the realization that he'd been the only one affected by the spooky atmosphere left him with a sheepish smile once the one-sided fight concluded. Why should they fear, after all? Sure, Anne made an effort to rally a proper defense, and Remilia seemed upset, but even that effort seemed wasted when they could swat these rattling bones like gnats. To them, it was just an annoyance. Of course, they were probably not the skeletons' intended targets, but Lewa couldn't help but wonder if this world had anything that could make these people sweat.

Well, with that over, the group had a choice to make. Given the presence of so many enemies in lieu of the man they'd come here to find, it seemed clear that they would return to the quest-giver empty-handed, with nothing but bad news to offer. However, the reveal of that rocky passage and the pitch-black caverns beyond told Lewa that their visit here wasn't quite over just yet. Confident, intrepid, curious, and almost certainly unsatisfied with the prospect of going back now, the others would probably want to delve into the once-hidden cave system in search of answers. And in truth, Lewa would be lying if he said he wasn't curious himself. While the whole concept of large-scale architecture was still fairly new to him, it seemed unlikely that someone could build a basement right next to such a big underground space by accident. If his ragtag crew could find out what really happened here and why, they would be able to offer Serena more than their condolences.

Lewa allowed the shaft of his axe to slide through his fingers, adjusting his grip upward toward the bladed head. Its balance in this position allowed for easy transport during travel while still keeping him armed. Even if his group had little to fear in these parts, he doubted they were out of the woods just yet. If the Great Spirit could fall victim to Makuta's treachery, there were few beings out there that a sufficiently devious sneak attack couldn't fell, and he was resolved to not let that happen to him. Or the others, if they could help it. As long as the little fae remained in their care, her safety was the real problem whenever any combat occurred. Lewa nodded to Fran when she spoke, indicating that the berserker could take point as they continued. "Let us leave no stone unturned."

Umbra Rose Condos

If Theria isn't getting back to the front desk this next post, I will go ahead and make a smallish Khalid post today or tomorrow mostly about Rebecca, since she walked right by him in the lobby.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

@AlmostEternity Hello and welcome. I'm glad that World of Light has grabbed your interest. However, before you get any farther, I have to tell you that the character you're planning isn't viable. Only characters that originated from games are allowed. Just being in a game when they originated elsewhere isn't enough, I'm afraid.

Edit for clarity: the above sheet was edited to be a different character after this comment.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

The Avenger - the Dead Zone

Lvl 14 Ms Fortune (97/140) Lvl 9 Goldlewis (50/90) Lvl 7 Sandalphon (22/70) Lvl 3 Grimm (12/30)
Midna, Junior, Rika & Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate, Sectonia & Roland’s @Archmage MC Geralt, Zenkichi & Edelgard’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet, Pit, Primrose & Therion’s @Yankee Juri’s @Zoey Boey Roxas, Ganondorf, & Captain Falcon’s @Double Venom Snake’s @DisturbedSpec the Witch’s @Drifting Pollen
Word Count: 3520

When she took her leave of the mess hall, Nadia jogged back toward her room to gather everything she might need for the upcoming equipment. On the way she wondered if she’d find Blazermate back where she left her, seeing as her roommate had opted to not go to breakfast even just for socialization, but when she slid the door open the feral found no sign of Blazermate within. With a shrug, she began to collect her things.

First she donned her belt, slipping it through the loops of her shorts before attaching her four pouches. Ever since she acquired them back in that classy Home of Tears leather shop, these enchanted (and deceptively roomy) storage spaces had been lifesavers. As far as she could tell, each one could store any one item no matter the size, and one still contained that magical lemonade pitcher that refilled itself after use. It did take a moment of reaching into and rummaging through the pouches to work out which one Free Lemonade happened to be in, of course, and once she found it she stowed it in the left back pouch. Into the front right pouch went her Bait Launcher. Between the lemonade and the launcher’s stock of raw steaks, the feral’s weapon stockpile happened to offer a lot of remarkably imperishable food and drink should she need it. “If only I could pocket a grill,” she said aloud with an amused smile. “Guess I missed my barbe-cue.” Into the left front pouch went her Ripened Heart, which she handled with the ginger reverence of a holy relic on account of how many times its healing saved her bacon, and the right back pouch got her wallet. Finally, she jammed her twin Athame daggers into the middle pouches on both sides. “Girl’s gotta accessorize.”

Nadia then threw on her sporty navy-blue jacket, followed by her rigging pack. For as much space as those mechanical arms could occupy once deployed, they somehow contrived to fold up into quite the manageable pack. Thanks to her fusions, the rigging from the shipgirl Massachusetts also contained the extra disposable blades that fit into those special hilts…what were they called, again? The one-eyed proprietor of Seam’s Pawn Seap in the Home of Tears referred to them by some long and complicated name, but they looked like giant box cutters, so that’s what Nadia called them. Nadia stashed the lightweight hilts themselves in her jacket’s inside pocket for quick and easy access. After that, she slipped on Havel’s Ring to lighten her equipment load, then pinned the Blue Dancer’s charm to her lapel opposite the silver fishbones that represented her gang. Now all her strikes would pack extra punch while she stayed light on her feet.

Feeling properly kitted out, Nadia took a deep breath and jogged back out of her room, pausing only to close it up. Next on her itinerary was the training center, just across from the cafeteria and down the hall. Inside, she did some quick stretches (in some cases stretching her muscles tissues well outside her body) then set her sights on the combat adjudicator. The Battle Royal Rumble yesterday proved that she could definitely still scrap, but after a week mostly spent fishing in the Blue Hole, the feral wanted to squeeze in some time to practice her combos. According to Sandalphon’s briefing the team’s first order of business today would be sneaking around nuclear ghosts, which they should not under any circumstances even attempt to fight, but it wasn’t like the feral could sit around doing nothing.

Once limbered up, Nadia got to work. First, she did what she knew best: fighting with her natural weapons. For all her extra equipment, her sharp claws and fierce kicks were what she relied on the most, so any time spent practicing would pay off. She worked the basics, starting off with simple strings but quickly moving on to extended combos. As a magical training dummy that could be combo’d, launched, and juggled without ever suffering permanent damage, the Combat Adjudicator was perfect for perfecting her execution, no matter how many times it took. It couldn’t react like a person would to her mixups or fall for her resets, but Nadia drilled those too. Instant overhead, empty jump low, double jump, air backdash for the double cross up…the feral might not hit anywhere near as hard as some other Seekers, but she had enough dirty tricks up her sleeve to make anyone’s head spin, and once a she got a combo started it was her job to keep up the heat until her foes were well and truly cooked.

After working through her natural abilities, Nadia got a bit more experimental and brought her new powers into the mix. Charge plus Battery had been a staple of her game plan ever since she gleaned them from Cat-5, but Battery’s critical hits caused too much blowback to not drop the combo. Charge by itself let her zip after a launched opponent to keep the party going, though, but the spacing was tough. Using Fluffy Soft to transform her arm or leg mid-combo offered a lot more potential; the withering slash of her tiger claws dished out extra hitstun and momentarily boosted damage taken. Smart usage of Fluffy Soft mid-combo could extend her beatdowns even farther, but it would take getting used to. That went double for her assists, neither of which were easy to incorporate into her combos. For one, the Harbor Water Demon was much too big to even summon in here. Rhodeia, meanwhile, would take some getting used to as a Striker. While fused with the Oceanid, Nadia had commanded her Hydro Mimicry herself, which offered more control at the expense of extra concentration. Now, Rhodeia’s Hydro Mimics were fire-and-forget, but Nadia had to issue commanders during their construction that could not be deviated from. Nadia’s combo practice, especially with Hydro Mimics (thanks in part to Rhodeia’s cooldown) ended up taking a long while, and before Nadia knew it, her time was nearly up. “Drat,” she muttered, wiping her brow. “Forgot about the Armory. Oh well…I’ve got more than I need already.” With that, she scampered off toward the Hangar.

Goldlewis, meanwhile, did not forget about the Armory. After breakfast he headed there first, not rushing too much on the way so as not to disturb his digestion. Upon arrival, he looked over the stockpiled weapons, curious as to what the Seekers and Lost Numbers had managed to amass. Unfortunately, he did not come away impressed. The miscellaneous items ran the gamut from fantasy to science fiction, including a handful of melee weapons, casting catalysts, accessories, attachments, power supplies, and guns. He even saw an unclaimed robotic drone. Some of it looked usable, but to his disappointment the shotgun had only five rounds in its magazine, with no sign of extra ammunition anywhere. The Deepcore assault rifle, meanwhile, was actually empty. If nothing else, he supposed that the Armory had a good variety. While his Skyfish minigun packed a lot of punch, its inclusion in his coffin’s Security Level system put a few conditions on its use. It would’ve been handy to have a traditional weapon that could be used anywhere, anytime, and by now he was pretty desensitized to Black Tech, anyway. After that, he inspected his other new weapons, the shotgauntlets. Their power and mobility would be a serious help in close quarters, assuming that the team ran into enemies other than BTs. To Goldlewis, that seemed inevitable; for today’s mission, reaching the Qliphoth was only half the battle.

For Goldlewis

New ability:
Chain of Command
Goldlewis can now spend a Security Level to cancel one Behemoth Typhoon into another as long as it has the same direction of rotation. This allows him to repeatedly chain guard-busting, high-damage coffin swings together to knock enemies around like a child’s plaything, although the limit on his maximum Security Level caps this out at three repetitions

Confident in his equipment, the veteran walked next door to the Hangar ahead of schedule. There he found the Pelican undergoing the final steps of its fueling and maintenance procedure, attended to by the engineers Shirogane and Lulubi. That surly pink nopon wasn’t the only one present, though, since Goldlewis quickly spotted Tora as well. The rotund little inventor seemed to be working with E. Gadd on a handful of last-minute test cases and adjustments for the Stable Field Emitter, and as always Poppi wasn’t far away. “Howdy there, Tora, Poppi,” Goldlewis greeted them, followed by a respectful nod to Gadd. “That thing ain’t gonna crap out on us, is it?”

“No way!” Tora protested, flapping his free wing dismissively. “Emitter just little…pernickety, meh! Needs lots of Tora attention, all day and night. It make Poppi jealous!” he grinned

Not used to being the one on the receiving end of some teasing, Poppi reached over and flicked her Masterpon on the head. “If Tora getting attached to emitter, maybe Tora should go down with friends and have all to himself.”

Wincing, Tora shook his head. “Poppiii, Tora just kidding!”

Goldlewis chuckled. “Y’know, I can’t help but wonder. Back in the Sandswept Sky, y’all were fightin’ alongside the others on the front lines. You were mighty fine fighters down in those Al Mamoon dungeons. You two really okay sittin’ on the sidelines after all that?”

“Well, that not case, meh.” Tora scratched his head. “Would like to help, but after Poppi got lost in Valley of Ruin, we also lose one-of-a-kind ether furnace that allow us to function as Blade and Driver. New Poppi body not bad, but very weak in comparison, and without ether channeling, Tora’s weapons not work.” The nopon shook his head sadly. “Meh, meh. So without ether, Tora and Poppi just liability.”

“That why we do all we can aboard Avenger to make sure rest of team have smooth sailing,” Poppi chimed in, patting Tora on the head.

Tora nodded, brightening up. “That right, meh! Next project is special camera, so friends can take pictures of cool-cool things and bring back for Tora and Poppi to see! That way, it like we right there with everypon!” He held up a round device with a camera lens for Goldlewis to see.

The veteran nodded, crossing his arms. “Sounds like a plan. Finish that doohickey up and I’ll take it with me next time. Knowin’ y’all have our backs means I can breathe easy down there.” He and the others continued to chat until the appointed time.

Sandalphon spent the bulk of her time much further down in the Avenger, in the Mysticenter. She sidled up to the spellcrafting station amidst a handful of elemental shrines, taking stock of the magical ingredients and resources available for use. While she had yet to obtain a magical firearm that could make use of the spell bullets made here, it would be prudent to be stocked up in case she did acquire the right weapon, and the spell bullets’ unique attributes also begged the question of whether or not they could be used other ways. Fire Bullets didn’t take much explanation, but when paired with Oil Bullets the results could be devastating. On the surface Poison Bullets might seem like a waste, but if she could use her research to establish a Disease Shrine, bullets could be made that would consume poison stacks to induce unique effects. Order Bullets interested her the most, as they could allegedly repair whatever they hit. The archangel ended up making a handful of Fire, Oil, Order, Freezing, Water, and Stasis Bullets (the latter of which, amusingly, only took ten stones apiece to craft) and carefully packed them away for future use, making sure not to exhaust any one type of resource.

The process took more time and effort than expected, so after finishing Sandalphon decided to head back up to the Hangar. On the way she triple-checked her weapons, starting with her gunstaff. Though unremarkable, it remained a dependable mainstay for mid-range combat and casting. Today she also wielded the Eye of Sol for deadly long-range firepower, but she’d elected to leave the Aether Lance from Skywave in the armory. Its lobbed projectiles, whether to harm or heal, were simply not as effective or practical as her other methods. There was no use holding onto any piece of equipment in the face of empirical fact. About the time she wrapped up her examination, she found herself accompanied by that red-eyed shade from the Forbidden Kingdom, Grimm. Though he walked and talked enough like a man to be more than a little creepy, this bug was practically inscrutable, his thoughts and actions a mystery. Sandalphon walked alongside him in silence, unable to get a read on him despite all her powers of perception. If Goldlewis vouched for him and the Witch, she was in no position to object, but a team lived and died by its ability to communicate. Hopefully his actions would speak louder than words.

For Grimm

New ability:
Threading Needles
Grimm can animate the strands of his cloak and bury them into the ground around himself. After a moment, their tips will emerge as spikes from the terrain within 50 feet, before extending into twelve-foot lances. This attack can inflict a lot of damage over a wide area, but it’s more effective against larger, less agile targets, and it anchors Grimm in place for the duration

As eight o’clock drew near, the Seekers amassed in the Hangar on the Avenger’s uppermost level, itself the second-tallest chamber after the spacious Engine Room. In front of them sat the Avenger’s dropshop, the stout and solid-looking Pelican, its rear ramp down to admit the team into its troop bay. While it featured only five seats alongside either wall, its floor space offered enough room for about ten more to stand. Goldlewis wouldn’t have a problem finding space, but squeezing Sectonia in might be a real challenge. Luckily, Sandalphon had thought ahead. “If there’s not enough space, the Avenger can perform one hellpod run over the landing site as the Pelican touches down to deliver four more. A hellpod can fit any one occupant, after all, which does disqualify anyone with a BB.” The archangel had donned her long white coat, worn properly rather than off-the-shoulder this time. “I myself will warp down to join you upon your arrival. We are approaching the designated departure point, so please climb aboard or descend to Deployment.”

One by one, the heroes marched past the equipment table, grabbing synthetic raincoats and personal shield packs. Since she was already wearing a pack, Nadia had to make a tough choice. She took off her rigging pack and set it down, followed by her boxcutter hilts. Naval warfare wasn’t a high likelihood in the Dead Zone anyway, but it looked like she’d be down her swords as well. Primrose, Edward, Goldlewis, and Roland carefully accepted a BB and its accompanying equipment from Deadman, while Ace had the honor of receiving the all-important Stable Field Emitter from Tora and E Gadd. Big Band, Dante, Cerberus and a few others were on hand to watch the Seekers go before they went about their own important tasks. Nadia trotted up the ramp and found herself a corner to ride in, while Goldlewis and the other BB carriers enjoyed some of the limited seats. Once everyone was aboard, the bay doors closed, and the floor began to rise. Overhead, the Avenger’s rear hatch slid open, revealing pale blue skies. After another moment, the Pelican was flying free, left in the dust by the mothership. Bound for the turbulent sea of murky clouds below, the aircraft began its descent.

Within a few moments, the Pelican reached the cloud layer. It began to shake and rattle right away, the sensation far more visceral than the gentle, mitigated sway of the Avenger, The passengers were jerked and jostled, many obliged to seize a handhold if they hadn’t already. After a moment, Sandalphon’s sigils glimmered into being beside the heads of those linked to her network, and her calm, steady voice filled the troop bay. “You’ve reached the clouds. Ever since the voidout, the atmosphere in this region has been polluted by chiralium. According to bridges, long-term exposure to chiralium can cause poor sleep, nightmares, depression, and suicidal thoughts. You will not be here long. It’s time to activate the Stable Field Emitter.”

At her command, the control module on the emitter’s shaft could be used to turn it on. It was a simple affair, with a dial that could only be turned when the safety button was held down. Once its dial was turned and locked in place, the emitter began to hum and glow. Its pylons began to spark like tesla coils, and a spherical bluish-white field expanded out from its core. The pulse washed across the Seekers, touched the bay walls, and faded, but the emitter remained online. Nadia shuddered as a dreadful feeling overcame her, caused by the suppression of the magical Life Gem that kept her alive. It wasn’t weak enough to be quashed completely, but she knew that her healing abilities would be much worse as long as she remained in range. She gave a nervous laugh. “I guess this is about as normal as I’ll ever be.”

The next moment, everyone heard the rain. It pounded their ship’s hull, so loud that the passengers could scarcely hear themselves think, let alone talk. Goldlewis wasn’t bothered either by the emitter or by the ride so far, but he noticed that Sandalphon’s sigil had faded, cutting her off from the rest of the Seekers. He also noticed that the emitter -or maybe just the tumultuous flight- seemed to be affecting Grimm rather severely. The Troupe Master, ferreted away among the compartments above the seats, lay like a wounded beast, his dimmed eyes wide open. “Hold out just a li’l longer, partner,” Goldlewis called up to him. “Won’t be long ‘til we’re back on solid ground.”

Luckily, Goldlewis was right. After about a minute, the Seekers felt the Pelican begin to decelerate. While it did not land, it continued to slow down until it hovered just above the ground, where the bay doors began to open. Ahead of them lay a barren, rocky landscape, its stone and soil so dark that they might as well be black, with nothing but fuzzy green moss in terms of vegetation. The rain was heavy and loud, so thick in the air that Goldlewis couldn’t even see the towering Qliphoth that lay about a mile dead ahead. Nor could he see any signs of living -or unliving- things, but he knew they were out there. He looked down at the BB strapped to his chest, questionably safe in his bright orange pod as he peered out at the scenery, eyes wide. Thanks to Baby Luigi there, he would be one of the privileged few to lay eyes on the BTs himself. He, Primrose, Roland, and Edward would be taking point in this operation, which was more than a little terrifying even to a veteran soldier like himself.

Goldlewis pulled up the hood on his raincoat, not caring if his pompadour got mussed for once. Protection from the timefall was more important. Unlike some of these whipper-snappers, he didn’t have an abundance of years that this rain could wash away. If he could help it, Goldlewis wasn’t going to lose a single hour.

Though normally the type to sprint headfirst into danger, Nadia pawsed at the bottom of the ramp. Ears flattened beneath her hood, she glanced at the Stable Field Emitter, then up at the sky. “So, uh, how do we know it’s workin’, again?”

Grimm still seemed a little sickly, but his eyes were as sharp as ever. ”Look.”

He pointed with a sharp black claw, and when the others followed his gaze, they spotted something remarkable. Beyond a certain distance from the Stable Field Emitter (about twenty-five feet), the rain was causing something to happen when it hit the ground. Green sprouts, flowerbuds, and blades of grass shot up from the earth, grew to full maturity, spawned, withered, and died, all within seconds. When Ace descended the ramp, emitter in hand, the zone that defied this anomaly moved with him. The hairs on the back of Nadia’s neck rose, but she put on a brave face and pushed forward. After the last person stepped off the ramp, the Pelican -now on a timer without the Stable Field Emitter to keep it safe- rocketed away, and as it retreated Sandalphon warped in. Her hood was up, and she held her gunstaff in hand, more for use as a walking stick right now than a weapon. She nodded at the Seekers. “Let us begin.”

The terrain left behind by the bombed Dead Zone was treacherous, a bowl-shaped expanse of stony rubble left slick by the constant deluge. Rivers of rainwater carved furrows down the downward slope with unexpected force, forking and diverting at random. Forget about the BTs–just maintaining one’s footing around here would be a challenge. But the Seekers could not just forget about the BTs. There were strange noises in the rain. Within a minute of setting off, something spooked the BBs, and through their synergistic link their carriers shuddered as chills ran down their spines, and the odradek devices on their shoulders turned on. Once raised into position, the odradeks deployed their five sensory fingers and began to scan for danger, chirping whenever their linked BBs clued them into a new source of otherworldly matter. If they begin to click their fingers rapidly, focused on a particular point in space, a BT is within thirty feet. And if one’s odradek locks up like flower petals and begins to spin, emitting a high-pitched mechanical whine, a BT is close enough to hear one’s breathing.

You are now being monitored
The BTs can only be seen by BB carriers when standing still
An odradek can show others where a BT is, but it only points toward the closest one
The BTs will alert to sufficiently noticeable movements and sounds in their proximity
If alerted, the BTs will vanish completely, enter search mode, and begin to patrol as tarry handprints
If the BTs confirm your presence in search mode, they will attack

If you fail to take proper precautions, there will be consequences

Umbra Rose Condos

Shoggoths specifically are a genetically engineered servitor species made by and for the Elder Things, which were actually enemies of Cthulhu, so there's nothing specifically 'outer god' or 'great old one' about them. So it's not that they're too powerful to dispel, but there's nothing about them to dispel. We definitely wouldn't want anyone dispelling the Elder Sign enchantments keeping the Shoggoths in check, though!

Now, if we were talking Dark Young, then yeah, they're essentially unholy emissaries of the Black Goat, which is described as a eldritch goddess. I actually have characters drawn for a number of lovecraftian beings, including Dark Young and Black Goat, but I don't know if I'd share them lol. I'm not much of an artist, so even showing off my scribblings for Khalid and Trip is a little intimidating.