Apocalypse Junction

[Earl of Purple]

Abandoned Motorway

"There's not been a prophet that managed to get a following that continued to grow after their death for something like a thousand years, and the established religions report miracles regularly, but never when anyone who isn't already a believer can prove it or not. Most also only promised plague and pain if we don't follow their tenets, and generally save all that business until we die. If four people can only agree that following the teachings of three of them will result in damnation, many people didn't see the point in listening to any of them." None of the four people agreed on which of them was the one whose teachings avoided damnation.

"A few hours? It was a day. The horizon was tinted with the sign of the sun's arrival, and then it disappeared. Just gone. Should have been a full moon, but that's reflected sunlight so that went as well. From what should have been dawn until after dusk, there was no sun. And it hit everyone, the whole world. Some places got sunrise, only for the sun to disappear an hour later. Some places, the sun disappeared at midday, when it should have been the brightest. Takes twenty-four hours for the world to rotate, and for over half that time there was no sun to provide light, or warmth, and nobody knew when or if it would be back. It was terrifying and you have no idea what that was like. Even the people on the other side of the world panicked, since they didn't know the sun was going to come back and thought their night had started sooner than everyone else's." It did come back, and those on the far side of the planet may, perhaps, have recovered better than others. Then again, who can say?

[Rebonack]

[Green Goo]

Nothing quite like an exploding hellfire ball to show somehow just how much you care.

Which, in this case, isn't much.

The fireballs rain around the slightly desiccated slime and Rowan whacks a tentacle with enough force to break it using the power of GIANT NOVELTY KITCHEN IMPLEMENTS. Now burning and down a tentacle, Juiblex redoubles its efforts to flail uselessly at our heroes. This abomination really wasn't made for combat. It was meant to be an idol; an object of veneration for the followers of the Faceless God. And there's a pretty big difference between a god and the idol of a god.

Sadly Rowan's sick burn goes unanswered.


[Abandoned Motorway]

What does she do for fun?

Okay, yeah, that's gunna be a little easier.

"Well, I like helping out at Glog. That's a place people take their kids when they're working. And there's some kids there that haven't really got any parents, too."

So a daycare slash orphanage.

"And I like learning about old ruined places. That's why I was out here. To learn what happened to folks and maybe help some people in trouble. Helping people's what got me here helping you," Khannie recounts without providing the detail that Alice shooting someone for no reason was the reason she's in the camp to begin with.

[bc56]

Green Goo
Mariblex takes another deep breath and spews a giant jet of hellfire at Juiblex. They basically only have one thing in their arsenal that will hurt the slime god, so they're going to use it for all it's worth.

[Keeper]

Green Goo

Rowan responds by flinging the second conjured pie at the idol! It’s pretty cool that he has a combat power now. He doesn’t have to get into close range anymore! Which might not have been as much of a problem as he thought considering he has proven surprisingly durable…

[Ironsmith]

[Abandoned Motorway]

"That changes nothing." Alice says matter-of-factly, wiping blood from her knife. "I ha'e seen worse than a day o' darkness. The S'artans the'sel'es are a 'ad wizard's 'antasy o' creating the 'er'ect ar'y. I was 'orn tearing out a 'risoner's neck. I'e trained with the sword and s'ear and 'ow since I could gri' the'. The day our glorious city 'ell, it was to nothing less than the 'its o' Tartarus o'ening onto earth, and e'en so, hundreds o' us sur'i'ed." She gives Harmony a little poke with a quilled finger. "The 'eo'le o' your world are so't, girl. Co'laining a'out it to a wilderness that is i'ressed 'y none o' it is a waste o' ti'e."

-

"Ooh, already working with kids?" Rhiannon smiles, leaning forward a little and letting out a little giggle. "I jest, I jest. I find it far more intriguing you have an interest in ruins. I used to be an explorer, myself. It's simply incredible, how much history has gone unwritten and unread, and is just waiting for the right pair of curious hands to fall into."

She gives Khannie a gentle pat on the flank. "And like I said, that tells me a lot about you. It says that you are bold, yet sensible. Curious. And most importantly, kind. I don't think you will have any need to worry about whether I approve of your relationship with my son. You sound perfect for him. He-"

Rhiannon trails off, her cheerful demeanor seeming to fade as she tries to finish the thought, only to find she seems to be lacking the words for it. It occurs to her for the second time today that she doesn't actually know her son. Which, it seems, is not a pleasant thought.

[Earl of Purple]

Abandoned Motorway- Alice's Camp

"It was more than a city that fell. It was a whole world. People went mad, everyone changed somehow. The Pope burst into flames halfway through a speech to try and reassure the Catholics. The stars moved, electricity failed and had it lasted much longer, the planet would probably have died. It was a global calamity. The British parliament sealed themselves into a bunker and never reopened it. The police joined in the rioting and Manchester burnt. You're a soldier, right? Bred as such, you said? I'm not. I was thirteen, my sister was nine. Dad got in his car, turned off the lights and drove off Ludham Bridge. Mum killed my sister's assistance dog and started to eat it raw. I got lucky, my eyes shifted. I can see heat and other stuff, it's how I could get my sister out. She could move small stuff with her mind if it was in arm's reach." Very minor telekinesis, but still surprisingly useful. Gave her an extra hand or two, ones which can't be seen and could do other things. "The sun's disappearance wasn't the cause of the mayhem. It was just the most obvious symptom."

[Rebonack]

[Green Goo]

Rowan can still slap things with his staff. He shouldn't undersell himself! He might be a cartoony dragon but he's still a dragon.

The second pie, combined with the flames, are simply too much for the idol. The horrid thing burns. And as it burns so too does the corrupt connection to the Slime Pit. Almost immediately the slime coating the walls begins to dry up and die.

That was...

Strangely anti-climactic?

But often times that's how adventures can be. The source of corruption isn't always going to be some massive powerful monster that takes a great deal of effort to thwart. Sometimes it's just a gross booger ball weeping ooze everywhere.

"Haha! That's that!" Mariblex says, brushing a flake of dry slime off their head. "We've found our treasure and saved some people and burned the bridge to the Slime Pit! Once all the slime dries up people might even be able to move back!"

Of course, everything organic has been eaten in the city already. No wood to speak of, which has done some real damage. But that's better than nothing, right?

Or who knows.

The city might remain abandoned.


[Abandoned Motorway]

"I mostly help with crafts and activities and stuff," Khannie admits, trying not to look TOO embarrassed at the implication. At the talk of ruins her ears perk up. "Yeah! There's a whole lotta people who are gone and nobody knows their story. That sucks and I wanna find those stories so they aren't forgotten. Even if the only people that know are a couple historians or whatever. If SOMEONE knows that's good."

The smiles at the kind words, though the smile falters when Rhiannon does. "What's wrong?"

[Keeper]

Green Goo

”Well, we found some treasure.” He’s currently wearing a magic hat which is a lot. But they haven’t found a ton of things he can sleep on uh. That they can easily divide and store appropriately in a bank. Aside from the three sacks that were being carried when they met.
”You don’t suppose there’s any more shinies lying around?”

[bc56]

Green Goo
"We did it! Let's get our treasure and then go home to get fixed." Mariblex is thinking of that enchanted dress and some of the jewelry. Although that's not really wearable in their current state.
"We don't really want to look around for more treasure right now, getting back to normal is more important."

[Rebonack]

[Green Goo]

"There's probably more treasure around still, but we have plenty for now," Mariblex reasons. "We have three sacks of mundane loot and the magical items. And since the slime is drying up we can come back and explore when it's safe before looters realize that the danger is gone."

That's definitely a start, right?

"Let's get out of this dungeon."

Which they will!

Thaddeus and Eesha will be waiting for them outside. They were thoughtful enough to drag the magical trinkets and clothing out of the palace. Mariblex will point the way back to Inside for Rowan and then-!

They really need to get back to the Scorching Depths. Surely Mum will know how to fix this problem. Mariblex was really careful to make sure that their soul wouldn't get corroded. Now it's just a matter of peeling them appart again which shouldn't be too hard, right? Slimes are meant to split after all.

[Ironsmith]

[Abandoned Motorway]

"I mostly help with crafts and activities and stuff," Khannie admits, trying not to look TOO embarrassed at the implication. At the talk of ruins her ears perk up. "Yeah! There's a whole lotta people who are gone and nobody knows their story. That sucks and I wanna find those stories so they aren't forgotten. Even if the only people that know are a couple historians or whatever. If SOMEONE knows that's good."

The smiles at the kind words, though the smile falters when Rhiannon does. "What's wrong?"

Abandoned Motorway- Alice's Camp

"It was more than a city that fell. It was a whole world. People went mad, everyone changed somehow. The Pope burst into flames halfway through a speech to try and reassure the Catholics. The stars moved, electricity failed and had it lasted much longer, the planet would probably have died. It was a global calamity. The British parliament sealed themselves into a bunker and never reopened it. The police joined in the rioting and Manchester burnt. You're a soldier, right? Bred as such, you said? I'm not. I was thirteen, my sister was nine. Dad got in his car, turned off the lights and drove off Ludham Bridge. Mum killed my sister's assistance dog and started to eat it raw. I got lucky, my eyes shifted. I can see heat and other stuff, it's how I could get my sister out. She could move small stuff with her mind if it was in arm's reach." Very minor telekinesis, but still surprisingly useful. Gave her an extra hand or two, ones which can't be seen and could do other things. "The sun's disappearance wasn't the cause of the mayhem. It was just the most obvious symptom."

[Abandoned Motorway - Alice's Camp]

Rhiannon is silent for an uncomfortably long time. If it were possible to stretch out a moment into several weeks, she seems to have found it, entirely by accident, staring down at an otherwise nondescript patch of grass nearby.

Then she blinks, and looks back up at Khannie with a small, tired smile. "...Apologies." She says, shaking her head. "I... must not be entirely lucid yet. I haven't had a thing to eat in... some time." She grimaces. "I expect I will be fine, once I get back to civilization and can resume having a steady diet." She reaches out and puts a hand on Khannie's shoulder, or as close as she can manage. "...You pass, incidentally. Arthfael is lucky to have a friend such as you."

-

"That sounds 'ore like a 'ro'er challenge." Alice agrees after a moment. "Hold still, this is going to hurt."

There's a little squilch and Alice withdraws her hand, holding a small, hard granule, which might have otherwise been mistaken for a large pebble, if not for Alice's having elaborated on what it was.

"...There it is." She mutters, turning it over briefly in her fingers, before casually tossing it to the side and setting about the process of getting Harmony patched up... "properly" this time, with more conventional bandages.

[Hraithre]

[Somewhere in the Desert]

"Why aren't you helping me? I'm hurt, and lost, and scared. Please help me." The figure begins to cry, sobbing disconsolately. There's not much movement beneath the sands. A faint shift as something vast breathes, but hard to notice. It notices Hoshiki's movement, though, and the figure looks up hopefully. "Can you get me out of here? I'm hurt, and scared. Please help me."

Probably not the response he's hoping for; perhaps it can't hear him. Or perhaps it can hear him, but isn't smart enough to know what the words it uses actually means.

The latter thought does occur to the swordsman. He's seen similar things before: evil spirits that are so far gone they can only mimic human voices, feigning injury to lure in unfortunate people, but without any understanding left of what the words they say mean.

This creature, too, could be such a mimic, even if it appears to be chiefly of the material world and not a spirit. That poses a dilemma: on one hand, it may be just an exotic animal trying to eat. The swordsman can hardly fault it over such a thing. But on the other, it is clearly dangerous to humans. Who knows how many other scavengers it has already lured to their doom?

He considers. It seems he could still just walk away. This is not the famed krayt dragon and there is no direct promise of loot or reward for taking care of it. Even if he kills it, there might be no gain to himself. After a moment, he reaches a decision. "I know not if you have the capacity for it", he speaks to the sands, "but forgive for the violence I will inflict on you." Then he strikes to cut the lure in one swift motion.

[Gold]

Ruined Motorway- Rapid Robots

So TALBot experiments with levers! There's not many buttons, the Martians preferring to wrap a long finger around a lever and pull or push than jab at buttons, especially when manipulating things they aren't exactly looking at. The only button is behind TALBot, on the engine- and pressing it will start the tripod's motive generator. Without that button, all of the other levers are locked in place and refuse to move.

One lever moves a nozzle under the vehicle's cockpit, and it has a trigger. Pulling that trigger shoots an invisible (unless TALBot can see microwaves, anyway) beam that... doesn't do much so long as it's pointing at the burnt-out wrecks of cars, although some sparks may be produced. If pointed at the undergrowth and trees off the side of the road, they burst into flames as the heat-ray does what it's supposed to do. Moving is also possible, especially if TALBot has extendable arms; there's a lever for each of the machine's three legs, so it's awkward and clunky and unless he's lucky there's a decent chance that TALBot will overbalance the machine whilst trying to move it- especially if he discovers the legs are independently telescoping before he figures out how to move them.

[Ruined Motorway - Rapid Robots]

TALBot notices and presses the control panel's singular button soon enough, starting the Martian machine's engines.

TALBot luckily finds the movement controls next, and while the craft might start to tip after he pulls one of the levers to retract a leg a bit too far, the robot would manage to quickly intuit what's happening and right it again. Alien as the system is, TALBot's previous piloting experience makes him better equipped for situations like this than most people. Slowly and carefully, he'll manipulate the levers to try and walk the walker off of the road, though he has to lean over since his arms are only proportional to his body. If he wasn't still hungry for violence, he'd simply float up to reach the levers from above.

TALBot sees the trigger on the other lever and is apprehensive about trying it, but his curiosity compels him to at least move it a little. He does, and notices the nozzle under the cockpit move in response, heightening his curiosity. The robot searches for a safe target to point the nozzle at - that tall tree over there will do - and squeezes the trigger, activating the heat ray and causing the tree to burst into flames as expected. TALBot is somewhat disappointed to learn it's a heat ray, since attacks that rely purely on electromagnetic radiation don't energise him very much compared to anything physical; on a less disappointing note, being equipped with just a heat ray could suggest that this craft was used to fight robots like himself, which is both interesting and ironic.

If there aren't any more levers of interest, TALBot will get to dismounting the craft. The ladder he'd used to get up here will have clattered to the ground as he moved the ship, so the robot will get down by climbing out and under the cockpit and gracelessly trying to slide down one of the legs. After that, he'll look up and around himself to see if there's anything which might make his next goal easier, which is clearing the road of car corpses.

[Earl of Purple]

Alice's Camp

Harmony nods and grimaces, though she still screams as Alice pulls out the cocoon from her gut.

Somewhere in the Desert

The lure-tongue is easily cleaved by the swordsman's blow, the hallucination disguising it falling away to reveal its revolting truth, as stinking green ichor spurt from the wound. There's a bellow not just in Hoshiki's head but also under his feet, as the sand vibrates and the white stones move, more emerging from the sand as a pair of immense jaws snap shut. Hoshiki has a moment to dive clear as the stump of a lure grabs at him, or he'll be sealed into the mouth. The lips follow the teeth, and form an effective seal as the desert angler's gullet opens and sucks everything down.

Abandoned Motorway- Rapid Robots

Heat-rays are effective against more than just robots, and this one is responsible for the destruction of all the cars across the road. And also now that tree, which is crackling merrily. Another possible method to dismount the craft, since the legs are telescopic and the pilot's corpse looks too ungainly and awkward to have used a ladder, is to simply figure out how to contract them and lower the vessel's cockpit to the ground.

Down the road a bit and on the other side of the central reservation there's a section where it was once being repaired, though now many of the associated vehicles are as damaged as the rest. But a large dumper truck served as a shield for some smaller vehicles that might still serve; a rather small digger sat in a transport trailer and a diesel road-roller with an articulated front drum and two wide smooth wheels at the back.

[Hraithre]

[Somewhere in the desert]

The swordsman could flee. Indeed, it would be easy. But, it does not feel necessary to him. He is confident he is just as able to cut this creature from within as from without.

So, he lets the massive beast swallow himself. Then, inside its gullet, where no-one else is there to ser it, there is bright white flash, as the swordsman make a single, perfectly circular cut - one that seems to escape physical limits of his blade and continue until the desert angler has been split in two.

[Earl of Purple]

Somewhere in the Desert

A lone gunshot sounds out as one of the swordsman's temporary companions tries to shoot the desert angler, to no visible effect; though the beast groans. It groans because it is dead, bisected by its would-be morsel. Depending on if he reached the stomach, the swordsman may be twenty metres below the sand's surface, or anywhere between there and the air above, but regardless of where he swung there's a large blood vessel near its gullet and so it will rapidly bleed out, even if it hasn't been decapitated.

[Rebonack]

[Abandoned Motorway - Alice's Camp]

"Thanks," Khannie says, smiling back. "So... uh... I learned from Arthfael that people that got cursed by the thing you did have gotta eat stuff that's still alive."

Like that poor two headed crow.

"Which is weird but I guess not the worst-"

Then screaming!

Yay screaming!

Khannie starts at the sound, whirling around to face the others.

"What the heck are you DOING!?" she demands. Usually things that cause people to scream aren't great.

[Ironsmith]

[Abandoned Motorway - Alice's Camp]

Alice looks down at Harmony, then up at Khannie, then down at the chest wound she's treating and the heated knife she's using.

"...Is it not o'vious?" She asks, half sincerely, half mockingly.

[Earl of Purple]

Abandoned Motorway- Alice's Camp

"Alice is removing her sister's egg, the one that tipped the arrow she used. As I don't want to be eaten from the inside, I'm letting her." Of course, the medical nanobots of the super-bandages Khannie used already sterilised the wound and killed the egg, but neither Alice nor Harmony knows that. And even if they did, Alice doesn't trust the bandages because she believes them wizardry.

[Hraithre]

[Somewhere in the desert]

The swordsman is indeed quite deep. It takes a while for him to dig himself out. His ride home might've given up hope and fled by then. Nonetheless, after some time, there is a burst of sand and flesh as he emerges from the downed beast's belly, covered in blood and dirt and unmentionable things. The only clean things, soon, are his blades, as a flick of a wrist is enough to shake all stains off them.

[Earl of Purple]

Somewhere in the Desert

They have, unfortunately, abandoned the Swordsman. They're grateful to him; they also think he's dead. The cloud of dust kicked up by the tracks is still visible, in the distance, but only just. Not long before they go over the horizon.

[Hraithre]

[Somewhere in the desert]

The swordsman weighs his options. He cannot really blame them for leaving them. But they are his best bet to find his way to civilization as quick as possible. So, he breaks into a run. He caught up to their vehicle before, he can do it again. He isn't even in a hurry. He just needs to be there when the aircraft arrives to meet with them.