Outside: Grass touch place

[Halae]

[Damundra Canyon]

"I've got Ambrosia's scent. Come on, this way," Emily says, and waves for Thariza to follow her. Emily doesn't look terribly happy with the shaking of the ground either, choosing to trot on all-fours rather than stand up and move bipedally - four limbs on the ground gives you a lot more stability.

[quillpleasant]

For Whom the Bell Gnolls

Octavia doesn't have much to add to the Blank hype squad, not because she doesn't care, but because she doesn't know the first thing about emotions or encouraging people. To her, it seems obvious that the shapeshifter's ability is incredibly powerful- he just needs to get creative with its use and put in some time training. But that's something he has to choose to do himself.

For the moment, she remains quiet, marching along a little ahead of the others. Her halo transforms into a telescope, which extends out as she scans the landscape for the Pit- and for any potential ambush. Most of these creatures are thoughtless monsters, but at least one has been shown to be capable of both strategy and speech, so they can't be underestimated.

[Shadowcaller]

[Damundra Canyon]

Emily walks right out onto the hole field, creating a small cloud of dust behind her as she moves forward on all fours.
But as they get closer to the holes it appears as if some of them have been filled in or covered up by blankets which then have been covered in sand. Almost as if they're actual traps.

But they haven't walked far before a strange noise can be heard echoing through the canyon. It sounds like a howl, but not from any animal Emily or Thariza can recognize. If it even was from a beast.
Then a moment later there's another howl coming from another direction, seemingly responding to the first one.
Yet there's no sign of what made either of them. Just another slight rumble as the earth shakes again.

[Zefir]

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

The Keldon wasn't old; they're naturally grey-skinned and muscular with red eyes. But that might also make it hard to assess his age, given I don't know about people in whatever world the cybergroup is from. "You should maybe check on the guy you spoke to, if he was in the same group as that guy. He might not be as... innocent as you thought. They could be directing him, as much as whatever it was had directed the knight."

Outside the Delve of Dripping Dread

I was under the impression he was an old guy, but then again i also have different images of some chars. They likly have a normal human viewpoint, thought they got a lot of cybernetics which makes it harder to identify.

"Yeah. It may be the whole groupe is out now and whatever controlls them has make them belive they should get people there.In any means they can."

With that they would leave if nothing else is up to Trogs.

[Morty]

[Damundra Canyon]

Thariza has taken her shield off her back and is holding her mace in her other hand, ready for trouble. Which seems to be near, by all accounts.

"Those dwarves weren't making it up... something is afoot here."

[Meowmai]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

Ginger does mentally note Blank not shifting back with Khannie, but doesn't comment on it. Always good to know your teammates capabilities, but it doesn't seem like the time to keep asking prying questions.

"Aha, thought so." She nods as Khannie affirms her suspicions. "Met him a little while back at Thanksmas. Small world, huh? He seemed pretty proud of you."

[Halae]

[Damundra Canyon]

With a frown, Emily pulls out her own weapons as well; while she's normally one to fight unarmed, whatever these are sound big. Way bigger than she's prepared to deal with with punches and grapples.

The sword is curved more strongly than the sort that Ambrosia usually uses, but of a similar size, meant to be a two-handed weapon that she's using in one relatively comfortably; by all accounts it appears to be a saber. in her off-hand, she's pulled a pistol roughly as long as a human's torso is tall, made out of anti-tank gun parts with a custom grip for her hand. Are they probably overkill for this? Maybe. But she'd rather be prepared for whatever this is than risk it coming at them and being underprepared.

Though, she does have to take a moment to actually load the pistol. She doesn't normally keep it loaded, in case someone tries to take it from her.

"And multiple of them, too. We should probably proceed with caution."

[Rebonack]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

"That's pretty cool. People run across each other like this a ton. They call it Nexus Serendipity in Narrative class," Khannie replies as she trots along with Blank's hand on her shoulders. "'cuz what are the chances of you just happening to run across our group? Prolly not that great."

But good for them, none the less. Having one more hero to tangle with this problem will definitely help.

Khannie doesn't comment on the bit about her dad being proud of her. That is definitely an embarrassed teen look.

She decides to distract herself from her own feelings of self-consciousness by focusing on Blank instead!

"Okay that kinda cool, my illusion didn't have my horn but you've got it now," Khannie says, looking over at Blank's forehead decoration. "I bet if you really gave it a shot you could get some of the really basic magic to work. Like the shadow bolt. That's basically just focusing power in the horn and then letting it go. It's super easy."

Meanwhile!

Octavia gazes off into the distance.

She'll be able to spy the Pit afar off, its mouth ringed a wall of spiky looking bone shot through with abyssal purple crystals. The place seems to be crawling with gnolls and biters. Definitely looks quite a bit more fortified than one might have expected.

[Ironsmith]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

Blank blinks. "...Huh?"

What's Khannie talking about? She totally had the horn, didn't she? He can't remember the last time he saw her without it. She's never not had the horn, has she?

Blank frowns and pats at his own forehead, feeling around to confirm the feature, only now there doesn't seem to be anything to that effect up there. Which, of course there wouldn't be, if Khannie didn't have it before. He must've imagined it.

Except he couldn't have, as Khannie just pointed it out. Unless his imagination is contagious, she saw it up there, too.

Did it appear there because he imagined it? If it did that, why did things he wasn't imagining come to appear on him when he borrowed somebody else's shape? Is Khannie somehow special in that regard, among so many others?

"...Huh." The shapeshifter eloquently comments, lowering his hand back down as his bangs fall over his forehead.

[quillpleasant]

For Whom the Bell Gnolls

Octavia's halo pops back into its usual camera form as she considers what she's seen. This isn't going to be an easy extermination, this is a full on assault on a protective fortress. Much more dangerous than what they've seen so far.

-apologies for breaking up the conversation, but i have critical information: the enemy has a fortified position and great numbers. and that's just what's above ground- she announces. -we will need a better plan than simply charging in the front gate and fighting our way through-

It's worked so far, but they've already had some pretty close calls. Who knows how many gnolls are lurking underground?

-i suggest we try to bombard them at range. their javelins are relatively easy to evade, and staying out of close quarters combat as long as possible before engaging will improve our chances of survival. blank, you must put aside your doubts for the time being. copy me and i can instruct you on basic detonating invocations- She's switching into full strategy mode now, and her tone is very authoritative considering the fact that she's a teenager in a too-big jacket.

[Meowmai]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

"Ahh. Huh. Now that is interesting" Ginger had been in the Nexus long enough to get to grip with the basics, but sometimes you still learn something new. Definitely a weird place. The rules made more sense to her back home, but she didn't mind it. She had never been the type to try make sense of things in the first place.

She does grin as she notices Khannie's embarrassment though. Mission accomplished.

The Kholo's eyebrow raises a bit as Octavia seems to take command. It is slowly dawning on her that two of her party members are teenagers which is a weird thought. It's not bad tactical advice though. "I'm not much use in a bombardment, if I'm honest. It's the Clerics of Sarenrae who get to throw fireballs. I can sit here and watch the show though, perhaps play a little defence with my shield when needed." Her chastising divine flashes require the foe to be close up. She does have one other defensive tool, but that one is for dire emergencies only. It's distinctly unpleasant to use.

[Rebonack]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

Ugh.

Why has everything with Blank gotta be so confusing, anyway? Did he have the horn just 'cuz he was expecting her to? Maybe? She's got no idea. But since they're a ways out they may as well figure out the bombardment idea, right? A plan is beginning to form in Khannie's mind.

"Okay that's prolly a good plan, Octavia. So here's what I'm thinking. You and Blank start shelling 'em from out here, right? I can veil me and Ginger and we can sneak in while the gnolls are all stirred up like a nest of ants. I can definitely feel the heart of this corruption down there. This place is an open pit mine so it should just be a big hole in the ground. We get down to the bottom and Ginger stabs it with her holy sword and I'll bet that'll break whatever gross thing is down there letting the gnolls into the land of the living."

She thinks that's a pretty solid plan!

They'll just need Blank to have some self-confidence!

Easy.

[Ironsmith]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

"Except last time we tried that, I ended up yeeting Octavia directly into the gnoll we were trying to fight and she kinda got a little bit absolutely trashed as a direct result of that, and it's maybe not a great idea to risk that when half the plan relies on her being a constant threat and distraction. So maybe the better play would be to have me run the distraction play we know works, by imitating her to get the gnolls to attack the wrong position, and between the two of us we might be able to distract them long enough for you and Ginger to go in and finish them off."

...That's what Blank would probably say, if doing so didn't involve going directly against Khannie. Instead, all he can really do is mutter "Yeah, okay..." and rub worriedly at the back of his neck, as though that was going to do something about the pit forming in his stomach.

[quillpleasant]

For Whom the Bell Gnolls

Octavia gives Khannie a thumbs up, quite pleased with this plan. Any doubts that the others might be experiencing aren't noticed, because she really hasn't gotten very good at reading facial expressions yet. Faces in general are a little weird to her.

-excellent plan, khannie vallarm. but if you two are spotted by the gnolls in there, you should give us some kind of signal, and we can come in as backup- She's confident in Khannie's illusions, but it'll still be quite risky for her and Ginger.

Turning to Blank, Octavia holds out a hand for him to take. -don't worry, it's easy. when you transform and we're ready for the plan, just intone 'heavenly meteors break the earth' and then aim at the gnolls. if any of them get close, say 'daybreak spear sanctifies the monstrous'. you'll do just fine- What happened before was a fluke caused by not knowing the correct invocations.

Surely.

[Shadowcaller]

[Damundra Canyon]

There are more howls, sounding like some kind of exchange. But there's nothing attacking them.
Do they continue walking or do they stay put where they are?
Furthermore, where is their attention aimed at? Since it feels like they're in danger here.

[Morty]

[Damundra Canyon]

Thariza turns around to look behind them, shield raised defensively.

"I'll bring up the rear and keep my shield raised in case something jumps us from behind. We should stick to the walls or other obstacles do we don't get surrounded, too."

[Thursday Violist]

[Riftline]

Zefir remains in the tank for a bit, preparing the tools for a blood transfusion. The henchman assists him. So he steps out a bit after Violeta got her chance to talk to her family.

He nods to them in a greeting . The thing with the tal might just be a gender thing. After all his current evidence is One Tail male, two Female. Thought it is strange that foxpeople got more then one, at last thats what he thought. Still he is no expert on the antropomorthic people area.

Assuming they are inside "Hello, she told me about a curse." he does look at the kid and should properbly feel the curse if its like she said. "Befor I do anything you might wanna ask me some questions? I understand that a stranger offering help might raise some suspicions."

[Riftline]

While it is strange that they have two tails each, the fact is that the majority of the people in that home have two tails.

The two grandparents (Violeta's parents) greet him in return. One of them shakes their head, "No, if our daughter trusts you then we'll trust you to do whatever you need to," they say.

As Zefir comes in and looks at the toddler, he'll notice that the curse is largely as thought: the magic inside the child is much more powerful than her body can handle right now, The child, as a result, has an extremely dangerous fever as well as several other issues making her weak.

Violeta, meanwhile, is kneeling down and holding her child's small hand, and touching her forehead to feel how intense the fever is now. "Hey, don't worry," she tells her daughter, "you're going to start feeling better soon."

[Zefir]

[Riftline]

While it is strange that they have two tails each, the fact is that the majority of the people in that home have two tails.

The two grandparents (Violeta's parents) greet him in return. One of them shakes their head, "No, if our daughter trusts you then we'll trust you to do whatever you need to," they say.

As Zefir comes in and looks at the toddler, he'll notice that the curse is largely as thought: the magic inside the child is much more powerful than her body can handle right now, The child, as a result, has an extremely dangerous fever as well as several other issues making her weak.

Violeta, meanwhile, is kneeling down and holding her child's small hand, and touching her forehead to feel how intense the fever is now. "Hey, don't worry," she tells her daughter, "you're going to start feeling better soon."

[Riftline] (Or another place)

Well there he just misses the knowledge. Thought he does know there are 9 tailed foxes, but those are a Myth and if he's not mistaken they lure men away and drain there lifeforce. Maybe thats just how it is in his homeworld.

He is a bit confused to see the grandparents so at ease. Assuming Violeta told them his name he assumed at last one or two questions about himself.having been in AMEN didn't seem to have any bad reputation. Or he was so bad at beeing bad none took him for seriouse. Kinda disapointing.

Back to the topic at hand, he goes to the child and starts grabbing into the air around it. His face seriouse as he mumbels. "As I thought. Hitting it would mean hitting her." He's obviously not acounting the others around who micght think it's strange that he planned to hit a child, but they just don't know that a Genie made him able to break spells with his bare hand, by hitting it. Very combat efficient, but not here.

He then goes and takes a bloodsample of the kid with the assistance of the henchman. He sure is skilled, not a doctor, but he had to use first aid on himself more then once. They even got a microscope at hand Thought Zefir has informed the henchman befor he called them to gather it. If there is nothing to strange in the blood he will start to prepare the blood transfusion, meaning they will likly take some of her blood and then replace it with Zefir's. I'm not that deep into the materia, So I just go for the Bottle needs to be emptied so you can put something else in. He sure knows about the kids state so they will likly process slowly to prevent the kid from getting more sick.

[Meowmai]

[For Whom the Bell Gnolls]

Not a bad plan. Risky for her and Khannie of course, and she didn't know enough about Blank to know if he would be able to get the hang of stuff and help Octavia with the bombardment, but she sure didn't have any better ideas. And taking on risk was sorta her thing. The more she took risks the less others had to, and the thrill of risk-taking did excite her, she had to admit.

"Seems as good a plan as any. You better have some good illusions though, miss Khannie, I've never been one for sneakin'." Ginger rapped her plate armour for emphasis. "If we need to signal, I'm sure Khannie can do something, or else I find a way to let off a hell of a sunbeam." Not normally something she has up her sleeve, but if her Goddess is watching at the right time...

Overly Adventurous

"Time sure flies, ain't that the truth?" Atreyu mutters, giving Kestrel a somewhat heavy-handed pat on the back and starting to stroll in a seemingly arbitrary direction. "Ain't done a lot, ta be honest. Helped a few werefolks. Grew a few trees. Did a lot of explorin'. Simple stuff. And you, Missy? What's got a little lady like you out wanderin' the wilderness?" The werewolf pauses, considering his surroundings. "Well, ain't that wild just here, I guess. Reckon yer goin' somewhere worse though, bein' the adventurous sort."

Overly Adventurous

Kestrel stumbles forwards under Atreyu's hearty pat, feeling just a little breath leave her body. She does her best to recover and act like nothing happened. She's unsure where her old friend was heading, but follows without comment nonetheless. "All of those are nice, though!" The birdgirl nods cheerily. "I guess, like, while I haven't done a lot, quite a bit has happened on my end. I adopted a wolf cub for one! Thought about naming him after you, but went with calling him Silver." She flashes him a cheeky grin. "But mhm, you're right. Got some ruins to explore, looking for some amulet or other." She hadn't been paying the most attention as to why. It had seemed to be about some inscription translation or something, which was well beyond her. "No time limit though! So I'm in no rush. Was enjoying the scenery, but then, y'know."

[Halae]

[Damundra Canyon]

There are more howls, sounding like some kind of exchange. But there's nothing attacking them.
Do they continue walking or do they stay put where they are?
Furthermore, where is their attention aimed at? Since it feels like they're in danger here.

[Damundra Canyon]

Thariza turns around to look behind them, shield raised defensively.

"I'll bring up the rear and keep my shield raised in case something jumps us from behind. We should stick to the walls or other obstacles do we don't get surrounded, too."

[Damundra Canyon]

"Can't," Emily says. Instead, she moves deeper - if you can't take cover, you should move inwards, her experience with boxing tells her. It'll disrupt the incoming blow if you stay moving, "Stay on the move, don't let them pin you down!"

[Shadowcaller]

[Damundra Canyon]

As they start moving forward, going especially slowly since Thariza is forced to keep up the rear, Emily will suddenly feel that her next step seems to be out right out into nothing. While her eyes tell her there's nothing but solid ground, her feet tells quite the different story. If she had been moving any faster she would have walked right out into nothing for sure.

That's when the three clouds of dust appear behind them and from within those there's a flurry of movement as a group of small figures aim to dash right into them. Possibly toppling the two into the hidden hole in front of Emily.

[Morty]

[Damundra Canyon]

"What in the- look out!" Thariza hunkers down, putting her shield up as a field of force shimmers around it. It will briefly block attacks directed towards her - not for long, but maybe enough to stop the charge.

[Rebonack]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

Khannie can definitely tell that something is off with Blank.

Should she press him about it? Or will that just make him MORE uncomfortable? He's prolly worried that he's gunna mess up. But then, Blank is usually worried that he's gunna mess up. Only way to fix that is by trying, right?

"Yeah I'm pretty good at 'em. Baffles aren't hard. Especially when the baddies are distracted by something else. We're gunna circle around to the back of the pit and find a good way down. We'll move in once you guys start shelling," Khannie says as she points her horn straight up and causes a curtain of shadow to fall over herself and Ginger. From the inside the world seems darkened and muffled, like looking through tinted glass. From the outside, however, it looks like there's merely empty space where Khannie and Ginger were.

The baffle will shimmer like a mirage as they move, but otherwise it doesn't appear as though anything is there at all.

"All sensory whatever coming outta here's gunna by quashed. So you haven't gotta worry about noise or smell or anything," Khannie says as she starts off toward the pit. "Just stick close to me, okay? This shouldn't be too hard."

[Ironsmith]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

-r... right- Blank shuffles nervously as his girlfriend disappears and he's left apparently alone with the damaged angel and instructions he's already forgetting. This is going to go badly, he can tell. He's going to mess this up and Khannie's going to get hurt and she's going to hate him for it and she'd be right to because he's being a clumsy idiot.

How? Yet to be determined. But it seems inevitable.

-right. could you say that again? 'heavenly meteors break the'-

Oh. That's how.

[quillpleasant]

For Whom the Bell Gnolls

Octavia salutes stiffly as Khannie and Ginger head off for the rift. She's well aware that they're taking on the biggest risk in this plan, and their mortal bravery would warm her heart, if she had one. As is, she simply wishes them kept free from death and dismemberment.

Then she turns to Blank, ready to instruct him on the art of ballistic trajectory, but it seems that he's ahead of the learning curve, already trying out the invocation. Luckily, it seems to fizzle, an unfinished command without enough emphasis. Of course, that might be a little embarrassing in its own right.

-you didn't do it right- she says, not unkindly, -it's just just the words, you need to mean them- Which is how she was able to explain them a moment ago without starting the bombardment.

-follow my lead, and say it like you mean it. Heavenly Meteors Break The Earth!- As she speaks, Octavia crouches, and her halo warps into a glowing golden cannon, extending down from her shoulders to balance on the ground behind her and forming a tripod with her legs. A moment later and the first glittering shell shoots high into the air with a whistling sound, coming down by the rift and detonating in an explosion of cleansing holy fire.

[Meowmai]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

Ginger tries not to look uncomfortably as the shadowy illusion cloaks her and Khannie. It was weird to look out at the world with the dark filter over it, especially to a worshipper of the sunlight.

"Ahh. No need for me to worry, then." The gnoll tries to wave at Blank and Octavia as they head off, before sheepishly lowering her hand. Right. They couldn't see her now.

For now, she just followed Khannie's lead, trudging forwards with sword in hand. She is quite taken aback as Octavia's halo begins to fire though. That was a hell of a cannon. When she said bombardment, she really wasn't kidding, huh?

[Murkus]

[Fleeing Chaos]

The trail Sineran takes carries her ever deeper into the forest, the undergrowth waxing thick and wild with every passing step. Far from hindering her, the plants seem to bow aside, giving plenty of space for the little pudu before weaving shut behind her. Given the overwhelming thickness of the thickets, brambles, shrubs, and vines it will be terribly difficult for the Hands of the Queen to follow on foot. They could, perhaps, but they would be battling against the forest for every step.

The pudu girl's trek will be a long one, but the Hart of the Forest has a destination in mind, the incandescent trail of spores providing both a guide and gentle encouragement.

Mensei, however, isn't being encouraged at all.

The tree fern doesn't attempt to crush her, merely hold her in place. But when the water demon manifests again it will quickly find itself under attack by a hail of cottony thorns launched at it by a suddenly sprouted garden of ghostly white thistles. One might think that a thorn is of little threat to such a creature, but when they begin draining away water at an alarming pace the intent of the thirst thistles should be clear enough.

[Chaos]

Unable to escape.

Unable to avoid its fate.

The bear is beheaded. The beast slumps, molten blood fountaining from the wound and setting the earth on fire where it splashes.

The threat is dead.

And with its death a terrible curse descends upon Savath.

Savath is now Despised by bears. Even docile bears will attack him on sight.

[Fleeing Chaos]

The Hands move quickly to pursue Mensei and Sineran, leaving the dead creature bleeding in the earth. Savath is cursed - and bears up under it the same way he has every other trial.

What's one more curse, after all?

Mensei, meanwhile, will cease her struggling when the water demon starts to be absorbed - she'll either wait until Solahart contacts her again or releases her, or her friends catch up and do the same...

[Gold]

[Fleeing Chaos]

TASBot continues to follow after Sineran as closely as he can while trying to remain out of sight of her pursuers. This has gone from a fight to a stealth mission, it seems.

The forest doesn't seem to be impeding or encouraging his progress as it's doing for the others - save for becoming thicker as they move deeper in, which he can circumvent through his agility and relative immunity to plant thorns, as well as by using tree branches to keep above the forest floor wherever possible. Either way, the lack of unpredictable movements, helpful or hindering, is probably a positive for TASBot, especially since he's not all that used to dense forests in general and wouldn't be the best judge of, say, which tree branches are strong enough to support his weight.

[Rebonack]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

The arsenal of heaven has always got the coolest weapons, hasn't it?

Khannie seems to pick up on the gnoll's discomfort, one of her ears swiveling in a Gingerly direction. "Shadows, not darkness," Khannie says. "Shadows are good. Like the shade of a nice big tree on a hot day. They're just part of the light. My shadow magic doesn't work right in actual darkness 'cuz it hasn't got any shadows. You gotta have light to have shadows at all. The stronger the light, the sharper the shadows it throws."

The distinction is very important to Khannie. She doesn't wield gross oily darkness magic. She wields soothing shadows.

Hopefully it makes Ginger feel a little more comfortable about the situation.

And then the shelling starts!

Or at least one shell goes whistling overhead and explodes against the bone wall surrounding the pit.

A whole bunch of howling and yowling and cackling rises from its depths, but there's no other immediate reaction. It'll probably take the gnolls a bit of time to mount some sort of response, chaotic creatures that they are.

Khannie will circle around the edge of the fortification with Ginger, looking for a good way in. Several options immediately present themselves. There's an archway with a single gnoll guard standing near it, the creature craning its neck toward the recent explosion on the other side of the compound. They could slip in there with it distracted probably without too much trouble? There's a rock outcrop rising up behind the fortification that they could scale and climb down into, following the zig-zagging path that had been cut into the stone by the miners. Or they could try the main gates, but those will be thrown open wide with lots of gnolls pouring out in the near future.

[Ironsmith]

[For Whom The Bell Gnolls]

Blanktavia lets out a low whistle as the bombardment begins. Octavia could do that? Wow.

...Oh. And she seems to expect him to be able to do that.

That... seems like a tall order. And probably not an altogether comfortable sensation, turning his head into a cannon and ejecting... something at high velocity over a long distance. Presumably his brain matter.

...Either that, or it just won't work. Can he actually make stuff appear out of thin air like that? He hasn't tried it with anybody else's body yet. There shouldn't be any reason why he couldn't, if he really thought about it... how much of a weight difference was there already, between his normal shape, Khannie's human form and the Paladium Knightess he kept defaulting to (who had to be wearing at least, like, a hundred pounds of armor)? Manufacturing a bombardment shell should be nothing in comparison.

-okay, here goes- Blanktavia clears his "throat" and tries to point himself toward the opposite end of the camp Octavia hit. They want to cause maximum disorder, right?

-Heavenly Meteors Break The Earth!-

...Heh. That actually sounded pretty good. Octavia must have a lot of fun like this.