Outside: Grass touch place

[Rebonack]

[Englebrook]

Blank does a really good job of running around and leading the monsters on a marry little chase! They are VERY clearly unable to keep up with him; he'll need to pause every now and again to prevent them from getting left behind and losing interest. He is, however, doing a pretty good job of getting them nice and clumped up. Every time one of the little monsters get uncomfortably close to Blank a lance of shadow scythes through it from on high, neatly bisecting the creature.

That shadow beam trick Khannie picked up is pretty nasty.

Thing carves right through stuff.

Octavia, meanwhile, releases a cone of holy fire upon the monsters! It torches them pretty effectively, rapidly reducing them to cinders. About half the pack of gribblies is still in hot pursuit of Blank, having avoided the fire more out of sheer happenstance rather than any sort of tactical sense on their part.

Meanwhile!

One of the little monsters has continued devouring a dead cow while the rest chase Blank around. Rather abruptly it begins frothing and twitching, its body quickly swelling up like a grotesque balloon as it bulges unevenly. Just as abruptly it bursts in a shower of rancid fluid and skin, revealing a NEW horror.

This creature is roughly human sized, covered in the same yellowish spotted fur, though it has jagged bone growths sticking out of its body here and there forming patchwork armor. Several jagged bone spars stick out of its back as if someone had filled the hyena-like monster with javelins. With a malevolent cackle the monster rips one of its bone javelins free and hurls the weapon straight at Khannie with an uncanny degree of accuracy.

[Rebonack]

[A Desert]

Mister Cactiverse stumbles as the sand shifts under its feet, toppling sideways directly into Yellow's flail as she whips it around to smash it into the side of the monster's head.

And then.

Of course.

The flail also bites onto the monster's head.

Because of course it does.

Mister Cactiverse reels from the blow, staggering back a few steps before grabbing the chain and trying with futile effort to pull the chomp free of its head. Those steel jaws are like a bear-trap, however, and they don't seem interested in budging.

[Ironsmith]

[Englebrook]

Blank can appreciate the difference in foot speed, at least. While he's a bit hampered by the fact that, with him orbiting the creatures, he has more distance to cover at any given time than they do, he can at least balance that out such that-

Wait. What the hell is that?!

Blank barely has time to register the creature's presence before it starts drawing out its javelin, and that's really all the information he needs. It's going after Khannie. It has to be, it's being way too smart to pick a random target or aim at anything its little friends can already get to.

Blank jumps up into the air, shifting form mid-stride, back to the knightess. He's never going to have time to make it all the way over there, but he can still intercept the attack somehow. With a grunt of effort, he throws his shield, sending it spinning in such a way that it'll pass between the spear-thrower and Khannie.

That's good for one attack, and one only, but at least it keeps her from being caught by surprise.

[Zefir]

Near the Delve of Dripping Dread

Rolling farmland is the main scenery here, though the paddocks are empty and the nearest farm is deserted- partway through a meal, it seems, and a week ago at that. The Delve itself is a broken tower marked off with red-and-white crime scene tape, or more specifically a door in the cellar of the tower.

The drones won't find anything, if they fly during the day. If it's at night, things are a little different; the door at the bottom of the tower is open, and a knight in full plate is approaching, with a sleeping figure in a nightdress draped over their shoulder.

Near the Delve of Dripping Dread

The people will appear at day time, for obviouse reasons. First off they will see any thread and can prepare things. Also if there is anyone still living here or guarding it they might meet up with them. Eithe way they planned to observe the area for a whole day to gather informations. They also scan the area, but the scanner is primitiv due to the short time and can barly identify things, still it should detect unusual differences.

When the knight comes back and they spot him the guy who also was the only one talking in Trogs approches him. Since after all the group didn't even try to hide.

"Excuse me." he says to him. "Do you live here?"

[Meowmai]

[For Whom the Bell Gnolls]

Let's be real here. When it comes to life and death situations like these people often say something that's kind of dumb. Usually no one focuses on it too much.

Regardless!

Ginger will probably realize something pretty quickly.

These creatures have little in the way of coordination, stumbling over each other in an attempt to get at the paladin and bites chunks out of her. If they manage to surround her it won't be due to any sort of grand plan or forethought, it'll simply be because that's unoccupied biting space. These ravenous monsters don't appear to have the tactical sense of even regular hyenas, let alone something intelligent like a gnoll. The resemblance seems to be almost accidental.

They continue to try pressing around her, completely oblivious to any casualties they're suffering. Their only concern appears to be the tender flesh hiding Ginger's armor.

While Ginger is getting swarmed by the monsters that broke away there's another busy devouring a dead goat nearby. Quite abruptly it makes a strangled laughing sound as it begins swelling and bulging at an alarming rate.

[For Whom the Bell Gnolls]

There were a few surprising upsides to fighting an unrelenting mindless swarm. The mindless part obviously means you have a few less things to worry about that you might have to when facing down a more cunning and smart opponent. But also, it's hard to miss a sword strike when every little monster is clambering over each other in a ravenous fury to get at you.

But that does also make it very hard to defend from in unique ways. More than once Ginger has to resort to using her shield as a barricade, sheltering behind it before battering the monsters aside. They might not be smart, but that didn't stop their furious scramble threatening to surround her. The champion was making progress through, hacking and slashing, cutting the creatures down.

Something weird and unpleasant is happening in her peripheral vision though. She tries to get a good look- a mistake, as in her momentary distraction a creature nearly sinks its teeth into her flesh- a last second block with the armoured part of her arm barely saving her. She's forced to return her attention to the main horde, lest she risk injury or worse.

[bc56]

A Desert
Finally, it's pinned down. Now the crystal man has a chance to attack in earnest.
"HRRAAAAAAAGH!" He raises his stone sword and strikes, darkness coiling around the blade like snakes to tear into the muscle cactus' flesh.

[quillpleasant]

Englebrook

Octavia recoils as the varmint transforms into a greater form. So that was what she sensed earlier. These things must be driven by hunger to consume as much flesh as possible, in order to trigger their terrible growth spurt. Such a problem could snowball if they found a plentiful food source- and it could be even worse if this isn't the final possible form. It has to be dealt with now. The lesser varmints can be cleaned up after.

Trusting in Blank's shield to protect Khannie, and Blank's speed to protect himself, Octavia draws her sword back, studying the demonic figure. Then she vanishes in a flash of light-

-and reappears in front of the beast, crouching as her sword arcs upwards with superhuman speed and force in an attempt to bisect its torso. The holy fire burning along the blade scorches wicked souls, and it's sharp in a way that few steel weapons are capable of.

[Halae]

[Ruined Observatory]

"I haven't got a knife but I've got these," Khannie says, lighting her horn to levitate a pair of heavy steel clippers out of her bag. They look like the sort that might be used for cutting through sheet metal. Having something to cut through heavy duty objects when you're adventuring is really handy! But mostly Khannie uses them for trimming her hooves.

Proper hoof care is really important!

She floats the tool over to Skye.

"Okay, now that we aren't being bugged by... whatever that weirdo was we can try getting a good image of whatever the telescope is pointing at. That'll probably give us some clues about what this guy was up to."

The unicorn slides the completely blackened piece of paper away from the eye piece and replaces it with a new one. Ever so slowly a pattern begins to emerge as the paper darkens.

[Ruined Observatory]

"I really hope that thing didn't have friends." Hiep rubs her temples. That encounter shook her more than most things do.

[Ruined Observatory]

"I'll leave that job to you, Khannie," Skye says as she takes the clippers out of the air with a nod in thanks. She very much needs to fix her nails, and immediately gets right on that - these clippers are somewhat larger than she's used to, but their use is fairly obvious, and she shouldn't have to delay too long with it.

And then she turns to Hiep, as she's still cleaning up her hand, "Perhaps you'd best inform us of what, exactly, you're capable of doing, ma'am. It'll help organize battle plans."

[Rebonack]

[Ruined Observatory]

Khannie, for her part, is keeping an eye on the growing image. She doesn't want it to get over-exposed after all. That would result in another black sheet of useless paper. Though she DOES nod when Skye speaks up.

"Yeah I- umm... I'm pretty sure it was Skye or me that tossed that giant boulder. So... it musta been you?" she says to the definitely normal janitor. The unicorn gives her head a shake. "The memory's kinda slippery. Must have been that dumb nothing monster messing with my head."

That's definitely it.

And nothing else.


[Englebrook]

Octavia teleports and neatly bisects the larger monster! It looks quite a bit more ferocious and cunning than the little balls of fur and teeth, but it really didn't have much of a way to deal with someone appearing right in front of it and chopping it in half.

There's a resounding clang as the bone javelin bounces off Blank's shield, causing Khannie to start in mid-air. Oh heck that was way too close. Apparently these dumb things can evolve if they eat enough? Definitely way more bloody and less shiny than the sorts of evolution Khannie is familiar with. Now that she knows what to look for she's carefully keeping an eye on the little biters rather than just blasting them casually. That thing made a pretty distinctive sound when it ballooned up and burst, so if another starts evolving then-

Whoop.

There goes another one over there.

Khannie gathers an orb of shadow at the tip of her horn and lobs it at the 'evolving' varmint, the orb hitting the ground nearby and detonating in a roiling wave of scything force.

There aren't that many of the little furballs left, but suddenly the ones still eating on the cattle are more of a threat than they were previously.

"We've gotta stop 'em from eating stuff!" Khannie calls out from on high.

[For Whom the Bell Gnolls]

While the rapidly thinning swarm is busy attacking Ginger the monster over there finishes its terrible transformation in a spray of skin and melted insides. What stands in the monster's place is a gnoll, or at least something like one. A vaguely humanoid hyena-like creature. Except it has patches of bone armor protruding through its skin and a collection of bony spikes sticking out of its back in a disordered jumble. It's face is a chaotic mismatch of teeth with impishly clever eyes peering out at the world with full of open malice.

Barking a vicious laugh, it grabs one of the bone javelins sticking out of its back and rips it free, taking careful aim at Ginger for a moment before hurling the weapon at the paladin. The monster then drops to all fours and begins loping toward her, cackling the whole time.


[A Desert]

Alright, that does it.

With a single overwhelming blow the sand-wizard beheads the cactus monster. The brute slumps to the sand, falling still.

Yellow shakes the cactus head free from her mace and just casually eats the thing whole.

What?

No reason to let snacks go to waste.

Holding her flail under one arm, she pulls out her slate again and writes out another message.

Glad you aren't helpless. Good work.

[Ironsmith]

[Englebrook]

Oh, it's just as easy as that, is it?

Blank swears as he turns to face the oncoming horde, or rather, what's left of them. His stunt with the shield had cost him some time, and therefore his lead, and if he doesn't act now it seems likely he'll be the next item on the menu.

The knightess makes a little flourish, and the shield disappears from its resting spot, and pops up on his arm, just in time to be used as a bludgeon against the nearest of the critters.

"I'm open to suggestions!" He yells out to the others.

[quillpleasant]

Englebrook

Octavia takes a moment to study the fallen monster. She's never killed anything demonic before today, and it fills her with a deep sense of melancholy. If only she could understand and help them instead, then all this slaughter could be avoided.

But they're dangerous, and hurting people, and there's not a lot of other good options. Plus, since they seem to have no defenses against her attacks and barely react to her presence, it seems she's naturally suited to this particular job.

Perking up at her companion's shouts, she wheels, pointing her sword at the evolving varmints. -suggestion: we kill them all- she says, before teleporting into the midst of the creatures once again. This time she follows it up by spinning in a tight circle, the sword releasing a concentrated fire jet around her to burn anything that doesn't drop or leap.

[Rebonack]

[Englebrook]

Yeah, just kill them all like Octavia said!

Easy, right?

Khannie's shadow bomb obliterates the mutating monster and the carcass it was snacking on, halting that threat before it can metastasize. Blank's shield bash is sufficient to crush one of the gnashing monsters and Octavia's fire spin sets the rest alight.

It looks like that's all the monsters nearby?

Khannie lands in the grass, her wings folding back into a magical cloak as she eyes the big monster Octavia killed. She studies it for a few moments, then with a start her eyes widen in recognition.

"Oh heck I think these are gnolls. Like Ticktock, except still crazy," Khannie says.

Blank may recall Ticktock, the gnoll Magical Girl. While her Wish had stopped the last outbreak dead it would appear as though the abyssal plague of teeth has cropped up again.

[Ironsmith]

[Englebrook]

Blank lets out a little sigh of relief as the last of the creatures goes up in smoke. Thank Absum the robo-girl was so good at killing these things. If he'd been left to his own defense for much longer he almost certainly would have gotten munched.

"...Wait, these things? Gnolls? Aren't Gnolls supposed to be, like, hyena people or something?" Blank asks, nervously edging away from the furball he'd squished under his shield. "...Did... did we basically just kill a bunch of-"

...He's not finishing that thought.

"...Gonna be hard to talk to Tock after this." Blank grimaces. The two weren't much more than acquaintences anyway, but this certainly wasn't going to draw them any closer.

"...Are any of them big enough to use as a focus?" Blank asks, trying to change the subject.

[Gold]

[Chaos]

Almost satisfied with the flurry of blows he's inflicted on Riacan, TASBot decides to disengage by climbing up onto the warrior's bruised head and leaping off of it with a jump that also doubles as a powerful kick. He jumps in a direction that puts Riacan between him and the oncoming mudslide, landing awkwardly on all fours before scrambling to his feet and rushing to the side to get out of the way of the mudslide just in time.

From the opposite side of the partition left in the woods by newly-molten rock, TASBot watches the bear stride towards Sineran and Savath. Normally, he would be more than happy to fight one off, but the child's fire has (presumably) heated the area to a degree that would reduce the robot's combat efficiency, and judging by the ease with which the bear traverses the area TASBot thinks there's a good chance it might have a firey trick of its own. All in all, the situation is literally getting too hot for TASBot to handle.

Without much way to intervene directly, TASBot watches cautiously from behind a tree, hoping someone will drive the bear away before it hurts the kid or skaela.

[Morty]

[Ruined Observatory]

Bugger. Well, no avoiding it now. She was hoping to let Skye do the heavy lifting and support her indirectly. But this place has already proven too dangerous for that. Can she at least pretend she's just a very strong fighter?

"Mostly what you've seen. I'm a lot stronger than I seem. I was hoping I wouldn't need to use it."

[Earl of Purple]

Greater Sattleborough

Samantha nods as she listens to Jubilee's words, listening and absorbing them. She lets her hand be raised and thinks of her brother, Krod, and all the petty annoyances and aggravations he put her through. The magic builds up and the window nearly cracks- and then she loses it, with a memory of a barrel, gurgling, and muffled thuds. So she starts again, her father this time, every petty put down, dismissive comment, every time he ignored her in favour of her brother...

An old musket, abandoned in the back of the store, falls over, pointing at the pane of glass and landing on its trigger mechanism. By some miracle, the weapon was left loaded, and the powder hasn't degraded much. The musket fires, sending a lead ball straight at the window and hitting it straight in the middle. The ball then continues on, but has lost a lot of its force; the window shatters, the glass almost disintegrating. Ordinarily, there'd be larger pieces left, but there's no repairing it.

Sudden Cave

"Lies! Lies and mistruth, creature of deception! You would say anything to save your foul hide, and the only reason you have not tried seducing me with honeyed words is because I challenged your motives and methods before you had the opportunity!" The masked man turns around, putting his back towards Lia as he tries to find the weapons that are still lying on the floor. He's been heading in the wrong direction, and they're several metres away.

Near the Delve of Dripping Dread

The scanner might be able to tell the stone of the ruined tower is basalt, and rather unusual; it's extraterrestrial in origin. There's certainly no deposits of similar material nearby.

The knight will stop and drop the unconscious passenger as the group approaches, hand resting on the hilt of a longsword at his waist, before lifting his visor so he can look them over better. He's human, with black hair, green eyes and quite pale skin. The left side of his face is horribly scarred by a childhood infection, the flesh there grey and stone-like in consistency. "I do. For now, at least. Why do you visit? Do you wish to serve the masters?"

[Murkus]

[Chaos]

Riacan is, for the moment, kicked down, plowed over, and buried. The poor fellow disappears into the rockslide. Then the slide is melted, to make matters worse...

Lidoro flits from his perch to the ground in a puff of smoke, seeking Riacan, calling the other man's name. With another puff, a thin, silver-headed lance drops into his hand. He lurks on the rubble higher along the hill for a moment, glancing around, then puff--

He appears twenty feet past TASBot. He whirls to reorient himself. "Riacan is going to be thrilled, I think," says Lidoro. He must have spotted the path of TASBot's escape from his higher vantage. "It's not often he's troubled in battle like this. But we don't have the time, patience or energy to indulge him right now." The thin man in the half-mask and half-cape whirls the spear, the sound like a helicopter blade. "I need to ask you to leave. You're too quick and cause too much trouble. This isn't any business of yours. You don't know that girl - what she's done. What do you even care?"

Savath, Mensei and Sineran are briefly stunned at the sight of both Asami's power and the sudden approach of the giant bear. They still seem unsure if these things are connected. Savath isn't too keen on finding out.

"I-- we do not need your help, little demon!" Savath shouts at Asami. "Begone! Child or spirit whatever you be, we have no need of your help! The only thing I need is to interrogate this skaela, then, perhaps, we'll have answers. There will be no need of a search. If you value your life, stay out of our way. If you turn your fire on us, I'll strike you down. Mensei!" Savath shoves Sineran into Mensei's arms. "Watch her. Hold her. If the girl interferes, stop her. I don't know what's going on here, but I'll cut us a way through. When I take the beast, you take Sineran away from here. We'll catch up."

"Savath, did you see what she did--" Godsblood, did he see what the bear had just done? "There is a god here! Perhaps more than one! And Riacan--"

"If she wanted to strike us, she would have by now! Do as I say!"

Savath steps toward the approaching bear. His armor writhes and gnashes and rips, the teeth along the mask rippling, forming jaws and rows before clacking together. The suit all together makes a sound like corn stalks snapping in the wind. He holds the green-tinged blade before him, and the very air around it seems rank with poisonous blight. His eyes narrow in the haze of heat and iron-tinged breath from the monster's maw.

"The only God here is my Lady." The blade pulses, becomes a rod of solid glowing green. "Allow me to demonstrate. Puppet!"

A funny little leather-sealed head emerges from the ground beneath the bear. It rises in a spreading pool of purple ripples, stone and lava somehow transmogrified into liquid. The X-eyed antlered 'Puppet' reaches out and tries to touch the bear's forelimbs - which, unless they can somehow resist, will also treat the ground as liquid for a few moments. Like dropping into a sinkhole hidden by a rain-puddle.

Lunging for the opening, Savath will wheel back his weapon in a crescent-arc of acidic emerald light and bring it down for a savage overhead blow on the bear's skull. The artifact weapon can cleave stone and metal as easily as flesh or bone, leaving terrible boiling toxins behind, but a particularly hardy or supernatural creature might resist a killing stroke.

[Shadowcaller]

[Damundra Canyon]

Damundra is what the place is called on a map but if you mentioned it to any local they would have no idea what you were talking about until the words "dragon graveyard" or really just the word "dragon" were mentioned. Then they would point you here, probably along with a warning about kobolts and dwarves.

But as this place is now being described, you belong to the group who either never heard these warnings or promptly decided to ignore them.
But perhaps you will change your mind now as a barren canyon of natural spires extending out of the rock bed can be seen before you. It's like a great unhealed scar into the very womb of mother nature herself.
And the metaphor is appropriate since while the rocky landscape you crossed to get here was hardly crawling with life there was life. Dry bushes, the occasionally tree, even a tumbleweed or two. Yet only the faint remains of such life can be hinted at here even to the most casual observer.

Instead the landscape is dominated by one thing and one thing only, bones.
They come in nearly all sizes and forms but plenty of them must be downright huge as they can be seen even standing here at the edge of the canyon. You'd probably have to get closer to get an idea of what enormous creatures left these remains but the locals seem to have at least made up their minds about it.

There's another point of interest however, since while this canyon seems to be without animal life someone has built a stone structure at the edge of it. It looks like some kind of fort.

And if you're Thariza and Emily, that's probably where you're supposed to be as its the only way to get into the canyon without climbing down the cliff-face.

[bc56]

A Desert
"A Stalker is never helpless," the stranger replies cooly.
"You are strange, but also competent," he admits. "What is this dead land? It is unlike anything I have seen."

[Rebonack]

[A Desert]

Wow.

Wow.

That is a really edgy name.

Yellow could almost cut herself on it.

A stalker? Really?

Sure.

When she's called strange Yellow gives her eyes an exaggerated roll. Whatever this guy is sure isn't normal, either. And really as far as Yellow goes she's the most normal thing anywhere nearby! You know what's REALLY strange? Humans. That's what's really strange.

Yellow erases her message and quickly writes a new one. In spite of her big dinosaur hands she's actually pretty dexterous. Comes with lots of practice.

Some desert. Don't know the name. Hunting a sand shark.

'Sand shark' is something of an undersold title, considering what she's actually after. But whoever this guy is really doesn't need to know that.

[[brackets lover]]

[Chaos]

Asami raises an eyebrow at Mensei, half-commitedly following them if they do indeed flee. "His tactics are questionable. Are you sure you got your captive secured? Should I come with you?"

Strangely enough, Asami actually seems to be worried about everything going on. Thus, she takes a moment to feel around with her spiritual sense. She wouldn't be able to tell much in particular, only get a rough idea of much raw spiritual energy there is floating around in the environment and in the auras of those in the area at large. Picking out anyone in particular was difficult for her due to the sheer overwhelming energies of the Nexus and its inhabitants, but an absence of energy sticks out like a sore thumb.

[General Shrimp]

Overly Adventurous

The moment that familiar voice reaches her ears Kestrel lets out a sigh of relief, though one laced with heavy surprise. "Atreyu!?" She exclaimed. Sure enough, the familiar figure of a werewolf drops to the ground besides her, who further confirms his identity by wasting no time in teasing her. "Hey, I had it covered! ... But yeah, thanks, I'd like that."

Unfortunately, they didn't have a ton of time for catch-up conversation. Though Atreyu is doing an excellent job of keeping the shadow at bay, they still have a fight to finish! Kestrel moves backwards, spending a moment to catch her breath after that blow, before steadying herself and loosing an arrow at the wolf mouse's head. Hopefully, anyways, as she's still a little shaky. "So this bark spell thingy was you then? Thanks!"

Overly Adventurous

Atreyu chuckles. "Had it covered, huh, little Missy? Sure ya did. I-" He blinks and growls, taking a half step back as the shadow senses a gap in the light, jabbing at him, only to be repelled once more as he refocuses the light from his claws to force it back. "Grr, stay where I can see ya, ya slippery little-"

Whatever else Atreyu was about to say is cut off as Kestrel lets another arrow fly. The wolf mouse decides to make one more attempt at its would-be prey, snarling and leaping, ensuring the arrow doesn't hit. Well, doesn't hit its head at least. Instead, with a thunk and a squelch, it embeds itself in the wolf mouse's belly, causing it to fall and tumble back onto its side, gasping for breath.

The shadow quivers and withdraws, rapidly reducing back to an appropriately wolf mouse shaped form.

"Huh. Nice shot, Kestrel. I think ya got it."

[bc56]

A Desert
It's not a name, it's a job description!
"What manner of beast is a 'sand shark?'" the stalker questions. His faltering diction betrays that he's never heard the word "shark" before. He bends down, examining the sand. The magic he used disturbed it a lot, but he's still going to see if the cactus left any tracks.

[Rebonack]

[Chaos]

Asami may be able to feel a psionic presence here, but it's diffuse. Spread through the soil and through the trees. There's a knot of it in the bear, pushing it forward in a hallucinogenic haze. It doesn't seem like the psionic power is coming from any one place; it's everywhere. All around. And it was definitely related to the wall of fire.

Speaking of the bear?

It's touched and stumbles.

Typically that would leave it easily open to attack, but it reacts... strangely. So say the least. Glowing spores like embers from a wildfire come pouring out of the bear's fungal armor, filling the air around it quickly and billowing further away. The heat from them is intense, hot enough to ignite clothing at five paces distant from the cloud itself and leaving the air wavering like a mirage. As if that weren't enough, the spores form into strange loops with the bear at their center, loops that rake through the surroundings like incandescent jellyfish tentacles. The powerful magnetic field yanks Savath's sword off target and cleaves through some of the armor plate on the bear's shoulder rather that splitting it's head.

Still, the bear doesn't seem very happy about this.


[A Desert]

The cactus doesn't appear to have left any tracks. At least not in the traditional sense. If the wizard is able to sense the cross-bedding in the dunes below the surface he might be able to track the path it took given how it disturbed the sand below the ground.

Yellow, meanwhile, works on a new message.

Big. Swim in sand. Very bite-y.

She has a real way with words.

[bc56]

A Desert
"Ugh," the stalker stands after a moment. "This land is dead. I cannot Meld properly with it. I cannot track anything." Again, talking about the land being dead.

"To hunt your beast, we will need to find other signs."

[quillpleasant]

Sudden Cave

"Lies! Lies and mistruth, creature of deception! You would say anything to save your foul hide, and the only reason you have not tried seducing me with honeyed words is because I challenged your motives and methods before you had the opportunity!" The masked man turns around, putting his back towards Lia as he tries to find the weapons that are still lying on the floor. He's been heading in the wrong direction, and they're several metres away.

Sudden Cave

Okay, this man is crazy. Or so zealous that he refuses to listen to any kind of reason. Either way, there doesn't seem to be a good way to convince him, and Lia has to be very careful right now. In a moment, she dims the lights, her phosphorescence winking out like a candle in the wind.

Lia can't see in the dark, but her hearing and touch allows her to navigate it much more easily than a human. She swiftly scuttles to the side, her bare hands and feet making scarcely more than a rustle against the stone.

"I have no interest in seducing you, or lying. I know nothing about you. You should be be grateful that I saved your life- if I wanted you dead I would have let the fungi have their way."

She keeps moving as she talks, making sure not to give away her location. "If you're dead set on inflicting violence on your savior, then I will simply leave peaceably, and hopefully never see you again. But I suggest you reconsider. It would be easier to find our way out of this cave if we worked together."

---

Englebrook

As the last beast falls Octavvia spins gracefully, her sword turning into light and then reforming as the usual white video camera above her shoulders. She gazes around at the destruction that's been wrought, and sighs wistfully. Killing these things is a necessary evil, but an evil nonetheless.

-i know not what gnolls are, but these are not just people. they are formed from demonic energy. slaying them is a mercy- At least, she hopes so. Certain things are starting to make her reevaluate what she's been taught about demons in the past.

-please share what you know about gnolls. any information might be helpful in understanding where these things are coming from, and why- It's the why that's the real question. Something must have happened recently, and she's guessing there's an intelligent mover behind it.

[Zefir]

Near the Delve of Dripping Dread

The scanner might be able to tell the stone of the ruined tower is basalt, and rather unusual; it's extraterrestrial in origin. There's certainly no deposits of similar material nearby.

The knight will stop and drop the unconscious passenger as the group approaches, hand resting on the hilt of a longsword at his waist, before lifting his visor so he can look them over better. He's human, with black hair, green eyes and quite pale skin. The left side of his face is horribly scarred by a childhood infection, the flesh there grey and stone-like in consistency. "I do. For now, at least. Why do you visit? Do you wish to serve the masters?"

Near the Delve of Dripping Dread

The weapons of the group are rather high tech and a knight or someone from a lower tech world might not notice them. Still all their sets have a simularity. A range Weapon, A shield, and a meele weapon.

The tall guy got a shield build in his arm which isn't showing now, but he wears a handgun on is belt and a rifle on the back. (His Handgun has an energy knife attached.)
The second guy got a heavier version of the rifle and a knife on his belt. His belt works as a shield, since he needs both hands for his weapon.
The third guy has an energy sword and ashield that resembels a tower shield in addition he got a small gun just in case.
The woman has an energy whip and two handguns.

Only the third guy has his shieeld up when the knight puts a hand on his hilt.

Question in case do the scanners identify the man? If it is a mind thing they might not find him.
"We were told some scary things went on here and there was a monster sight." the man explains. "All teh buildings seem to be abonded, so I wonder why you are here and take guests with you."
He looks at the body the knight droped, his eye trying to scan if the person is a living beeing and still alive or not.

[Ironsmith]

Greater Sattleborough

Samantha nods as she listens to Jubilee's words, listening and absorbing them. She lets her hand be raised and thinks of her brother, Krod, and all the petty annoyances and aggravations he put her through. The magic builds up and the window nearly cracks- and then she loses it, with a memory of a barrel, gurgling, and muffled thuds. So she starts again, her father this time, every petty put down, dismissive comment, every time he ignored her in favour of her brother...

An old musket, abandoned in the back of the store, falls over, pointing at the pane of glass and landing on its trigger mechanism. By some miracle, the weapon was left loaded, and the powder hasn't degraded much. The musket fires, sending a lead ball straight at the window and hitting it straight in the middle. The ball then continues on, but has lost a lot of its force; the window shatters, the glass almost disintegrating. Ordinarily, there'd be larger pieces left, but there's no repairing it.

[Greater Sattleborough]

Jubilee smirks. "There we go." She congratulates, giving Samantha an affectionate hair ruffle. "It might not look overly impressive, but I assure you, that's more magic than is within the capabilities of most people your age." She watches as the building starts to buckle under its own weight, the support beams weakening and cracking from the heat and flames. "With practice, I can see much potential in you."

The building finally gives way, collapsing into a pile of flaming rubble, giving and empathic woosh as its remains are consumed by the flame.

[Rebonack]

[Englebrook]

"It's kinda like demons or dragons or whatever. Since it's the Nexus there are a buncha different things that have the same name but are different," Khannie says as she trots over to the slain big gnoll. "I think usually the gnolls in the Nexus are just people? But these ones are some kinda demon plague; they aren't people. They're unnatural animals made for killing and ruining stuff. I guess Ticktock was kinda unusual 'cuz when she got ate by gnolls her soul survived somehow. Usually it gets gnashed up along with your meat."

Ticktock was lucky the gnoll that devoured her didn't chew well or something.

The unicorn lights her horn again, waving it over dead creature. "Yeah, I got something. Right about where the liver would be in a normal animal there's a really strong source of corruption magic. I think that'll work as a sympathetic focus. Could you get it out, Octavia?"

Since Octavia is pretty good at dissection.

Should Octavia do so she'll extract... Well, it looks like a transparent purple crystalline starburst with a horrific realm of corruption and destruction visible through it. A riftstone. Clinging to the stone is a mass of pale, pulpy, undifferentiated tissue akin to the little numerous masses in the biters. Just bigger, more concentrated, and directly connected to the Abyss.

Looks like this ISN'T their final form.


[A Desert]

Yellow shrugs, then begins heading for an oddly shaped rock outcrop in the distance. Huge, dome shaped hills of sandy brown stone that look suspiciously like they have eyes. Those are just crevices in the rock of course. Because the hills don't ACTUALLY have eyes. Right?

As she walks she writes out another message.

Was looking for signs before you dropped in.

Then that's erased and another message written.

What do you mean 'dead'?

[Halae]

[Damundra Canyon]

Damundra is what the place is called on a map but if you mentioned it to any local they would have no idea what you were talking about until the words "dragon graveyard" or really just the word "dragon" were mentioned. Then they would point you here, probably along with a warning about kobolts and dwarves.

But as this place is now being described, you belong to the group who either never heard these warnings or promptly decided to ignore them.
But perhaps you will change your mind now as a barren canyon of natural spires extending out of the rock bed can be seen before you. It's like a great unhealed scar into the very womb of mother nature herself.
And the metaphor is appropriate since while the rocky landscape you crossed to get here was hardly crawling with life there was life. Dry bushes, the occasionally tree, even a tumbleweed or two. Yet only the faint remains of such life can be hinted at here even to the most casual observer.

Instead the landscape is dominated by one thing and one thing only, bones.
They come in nearly all sizes and forms but plenty of them must be downright huge as they can be seen even standing here at the edge of the canyon. You'd probably have to get closer to get an idea of what enormous creatures left these remains but the locals seem to have at least made up their minds about it.

There's another point of interest however, since while this canyon seems to be without animal life someone has built a stone structure at the edge of it. It looks like some kind of fort.

And if you're Thariza and Emily, that's probably where you're supposed to be as its the only way to get into the canyon without climbing down the cliff-face.

[Damundra Canyon]

Emily is in the lead at the moment, taking the fore for them. She's not skeptical about the threat of 'giant creatures bones', given necromancers exist, but she was somewhat skeptical that they belonged to dragons, and is looking down into the canyon curiously as they approach the fort.

"I get that Ambrosia wants to test us, but this still feels like an odd situation to put us in," she says, hand working at the pommel of her sword, "A vague directive to investigate isn't like her."