Outside: Grass touch place

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

After a few minutes of trying to find rest again the scholar seems to give up and gets up into a sitting position. "Having trouble sleeping?" She inquires in a hushed tone, not wanting to risk awaking Thariza despite knowing that she was a sound sleeper.
"I know I have."

[Sliibee]

Mountain Lake

"How old do you think I am, exactly?" Krayger was happy to take the compliment that he looks young but he's honestly not sure how old this guy thinks he is.
"Anyway, the base is that way. We'll look out for tracks on the way. If we don't find any, there's at least one sheep in the base I can buy off the boss." Krayger points in a direction before picking up his fishing gear and heading back that way. They might be moving hyper fast, but to them it's still going to be a decent hike up the mountain.

Mountain Lake

"Younger than I, I'm sure. Unless you're another immortal slumming it by taking a wage-paying job. The head of my department at the Inapplicable Sciences wing of my university was a vampire with some absolutely killer tenure." Otto chuckles at his little joke as he follows where Krayger indicated, closing up the suitcase device and snapping its locks shut. The remaining mixies floating through the air follow Krayger, but still do not land on him, surrounding him with glimmering pinpoints of soft light.

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

Utayo turns her head toward Ambrosia, but otherwise remains in place. "I am yes. I'm afraid I'm feeling ill." She admits.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

Ah, the child. Of course.

Ambrosia slowly stands up and walks over to sit besides the moonfolk. "Is this your first child?" She inquires softly. She wanted to ask what made her travel here while expecting but she also didn't want to somehow imply that she was a bad mother for doing so.

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

"It is, yes." Utayo nods. She folds her hands over her belly, though she's not yet showing. "I'm afraid I'm not fully prepared for the rigors of pregnancy. I'm told this one abates long before the conclusion, thankfully."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

"Is anyone fully prepared for their first pregnancy?" Ambrosia asks, seemingly rhetorically as she continues. "It's a life-changing commitment. More so than anything else."

She purses her lips as she hears herself say those words since she knew what would come next. But right in this moment it didn't feel like it would matter. For a near-stranger Utoya had more than proven herself already.

But why would she? Perhaps she was planted-

She ignored the voice and continued down this path. "Since I'm also expecting in a way actually. I'm having someone else carry a child for me right now. It's... a somewhat complicated story behind it but I consider the child to be worth it. A different kind of labor if you will."

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

Utayo's brow shoots up. "You have my congratulations. I suppose we'll both be new mothers soon. Perhaps we can compare notes." She says with light amusement. "Having another carry your child must have its benefits, though I'm not sure I could tolerate the distance."

[Keeper]

Mountain Lake

"Younger than I, I'm sure. Unless you're another immortal slumming it by taking a wage-paying job. The head of my department at the Inapplicable Sciences wing of my university was a vampire with some absolutely killer tenure." Otto chuckles at his little joke as he follows where Krayger indicated, closing up the suitcase device and snapping its locks shut. The remaining mixies floating through the air follow Krayger, but still do not land on him, surrounding him with glimmering pinpoints of soft light.

Mountain Lake

"Well, even immortals have to start somewhere." After all, you can be both immortal and young.
"Alas, I have committed to 'only' living to be two or three hundred. Part of my requirements for my magic was to swear not to go chasing immortality. If you're not born with it, trying to get it doesn't usually end well." Though he doesn't think he actually wants to be immortal anyway. It sounds like an awfully long time.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

"Yes, there's that of course." Ambrosia answers with a melancholy smile. But she was relived that Utyoa was familiar with the subject at least. Sometimes there was a cultural gap that she just couldn't cross which was yet another reason that she rarely discussed this openly.

"But I still feel this is what's best for me." She wouldn't get into the whole 'last of her kind' debate. It would be distracting.
She gestures to Utoya. "As I'm sure it is for you too. But speaking of distance, is there a partner of some sort involved in your situation?" Ambrosia was quite careful with her wording here. Not wanting to offend whatever cultural norms Utoya had. "Since you must be quite far away from them right now."

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

Utayo nods. "Yes, my husband is back home. I travel fairly frequently for my research, so he's used to my absences. I imagine that pattern will change in several months, but for now I thought I'd take advantage of the lack of dependency."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

So she was married.

Well, technically so was she but... she wouldn't get into that.

"Yes, it's hard to settle down when your job requires you explore new possibilities. It's almost antithetical to it really. I couldn't imagine it myself, even once I get a child." Her gaze shifts to Utayo's metal hands for a moment. "-but what exactly is it that you're researching? Since I got the impression that you work with metal. Making all those wondrous constructs that you've displayed. But that's not what I first associate to exploring new worlds. It seems more like the kind of research that you perform in a workshop if you excuse my ignorance in your craft."

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

"Wait, what did you say?" Utayo asks uncertainly. "'Exploring new worlds'? How... do you know about that?" The cat appears to be out of the bag in some capacity. For the life of her, though, she's not sure how Ambrosia might have figured exactly that out in such short order.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

Ambrosia isn't sure what Utoya is referring to at first. Titling her head in confusion.
"I meant- you're not from around here obviously and I have never met anyone like you before so I assumed that you must be from, well, elsewhere." She gestures to herself. "Since so am I. Like you I am exploring this place." Ambrosia shakes her head. "It isn't my home. In fact, that's the case for a lot of people here. Though unlike me and you their arrival here seems accidental."

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

"But, no-" Utayo pauses for a moment to collect herself. "I've met exactly two people who could traverse the planes. Now you're telling me that not only can you, but many people in this place can?"

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

Ambrosia makes a dismissive gesture. "No, you got it backwards." Though she made note of this travel across different planes. "This plane is what causing people to be here. Not the other way around. It occasionally draws them in and traps them here. Though in my case it was more of a weakening between the borders of this world and mine that made be able to travel here. Which means that unlike a lot of people here that means I can return home whenever I want." Hopefully that would make things clearer.

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

"That's still... quite bizarre." Utayo continues to look perturbed, but she supposes she'll just have to adjust. At least it seems it'll be easier to blend in here than most places. "It might explain how I ended up here, though. You see this wasn't exactly the destination I had in mind. In fact, my walking felt peculiar. I hadn't had time to reflect on it yet."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

"'Walking'?" Ambrosia inquires, apparently unfamiliar with the term. "Since I, like most people here, have no natural ability to move between planes like you seem to have."

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

"Planeswalking. It's what others like me call it. We possess the unique ability to traverse the Blind Eternities, the space between planes." She explains.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

This has suddenly turned into more than just a night talk.

There were simply so many questions that she could ask regarding this as until she had heard about the nexus she hadn't even been aware there were other planes of existence. The nexus had certainly proven it but to be able to visit them all was something quite else. "That's extraordinary, I-" She rubs her chin as she hesitates.

So many questions...

Eventually she settles on a simple question in line with her original one. "-I mean, erm, so how does this traveling aid your research?" She hated asking such a boring-sounding question considering this new revelation but it was what she had originally wanted to know when she had started asking her questions about it.

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

Apparently that's a good question, because Utayo's eyes brighten. "Oh, well you see in my home plane we have a particular source of energy that powers all our technology. All of my drones are fueled by it, for instance. However I was curious if other planes might have other sources of energy with different properties. They certainly wouldn't have what my own plane does, because it's unique to its particular unique traits." Usually Utayo's voice is quite measured and even, but Ambrosia can here her enthusiasm take control.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

She could certainly recognize scholarly enthusiasm, having encountered it many times before. "So despite not having this energy your drones still function? Just differently due to these unique traits the energy of each planes have?" Ambrosia asks to see if she understood things correctly. "Since if that's true I wonder if they effect living things as well, if more indirectly." After all they consumed things native to the planes they were on so in a way they became a part of it that way.

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

"Oh no, we have battery technology... A means to store and transport energy. If my drones run out of energy I need to return home to recharge them." Utayo clarifies. "I've only recently started to experiment with utilizing the energy sources from other planes in my drones. It's a complicated topic because I'm- Well, I'm not working from scratch, but the battery technology we have is based on our own plane, naturally. Attempting to store these other forms of energy is a complicated endeavor."

[Magtok]

Tower of Oujet

A useful fact for Laz! The zombies don't appear to be armored around their necks at all. Decapitating should work, right? It always does in the movies.

"Faster Anika, faster! We have their attention now!" Laz calls out, before narrowing her eyes at the zombies ahead. Saint Lazarus's sword may be sharp, but she's not sure if it's that sharp. Still, she has inhuman strength to help her out, so maybe if she takes her hand off of Anika for a moment, using just her legs to keep steady as she swings with both arms this time, she can sever some neck vertebrae without getting her sword caught on any of the zombies. Maybe they've been dead and rotting long enough for their bones to soften and make slicing right through the cervical vertebrae a more manageable feat. I mean, why not? It's worth a try, right? Let's cut through them, one by one, focusing on whichever zombie draws closest.

[Shadowcaller]

Tower of Oujet

"Faster Anika, faster! We have their attention now!" Laz calls out, before narrowing her eyes at the zombies ahead. Saint Lazarus's sword may be sharp, but she's not sure if it's that sharp. Still, she has inhuman strength to help her out, so maybe if she takes her hand off of Anika for a moment, using just her legs to keep steady as she swings with both arms this time, she can sever some neck vertebrae without getting her sword caught on any of the zombies. Maybe they've been dead and rotting long enough for their bones to soften and make slicing right through the cervical vertebrae a more manageable feat. I mean, why not? It's worth a try, right? Let's cut through them, one by one, focusing on whichever zombie draws closest.

Cloud Castle- Skeleton Carriage

"It's a pleasure to meet you, as well. Yes, we can understand you. I did not realise we had travelled far enough away from our home to be considered foreigners here, however." Benedict won't bow in the same manner, but will still dip into a shallow bow as his wife curtsies somewhat awkwardly. Benedict's bow isn't deep enough to suggest subservience, and is possibly a bit too shallow to be entirely polite- especially considering Benedict's status as a hereditary landowner with no seperate title.

Cloud Castle- Skeleton Carriage

The man seems somewhat taken aback by the way Benedict speaks but masks it by bowing once again, seemingly out of reflex. "My apologies, I didn't realize you were from the empire as well. You looked... so different." Then he quickly decides to change the topic.
"But, as I said, I am Geun Namgung-" He suddenly hesitates and looks between them, but he relaxes again as they don't seem to recognize the name. "-and I am a scholar of this library. As I said, it was a long time since I saw a human face so you have to excuse my lack of manners. So what brings you here? Are you with the, ah, people on the second level?"

Tower of Oujet

Faster?!
Anika was already going as fast as she could!
Laz was really starting to sound like Blanche during some nights now.
But still, she wasn't going to let anyone down today so despite already trying to give it her all she tries to do what Laz asks and go beyond her own bearcapabilities.

[A Sleepless Night]

"Yes, 'energy' is a word hear quite often even while on the topic of dragons so I know that there must be several instances of it in this world. Thus, you might encounter something of a problem here as it seems like the nexus doesn't just draw people, it drags parts their worlds along with them. So there are 'energies' from different planes all intermixing within this one. I don't know what that means for your research but I imagine it must make it more difficult to study." She could think of instances where that wasn't the case but she wouldn't try to make this more complex than it already was.

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

"Oh I'm quite certain. This plane appears to be very odd. That said I do typically spend some time in a new environment before delving too deeply into my research. It's a good idea to get a lay of the land first." Utayo replies. "And of course I'll need to find an actual location I can work."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

Ambrosia had a feeling they would get onto this subject eventually. Setting up a base of operations was crucial to any serious research operation. "Mm... yes, there's a few to choose from actually. One tend to come across them in my line of work after all. You've already been to VIGIL of course but what probably wasn't clear is that they have a science division and the head of it actually researches planar travel. I imagined she'd be quite taken by someone with your abilities."

"Then there's HALO which is an organization specifically dedicated to science and research for the benefit of this plane. I don't know as much about them but I've heard a lot of good things."

There's a longer pause before she brings up her next option. "Then... there's Skyside. It's a flying city, thousands of buildings kept in the air by a gigantic flying platform. In theory a lot of it is dedicated to science in that there's a lot of scientists living and working there. But it's unrestrained by ethics and often in service to the various cooperation that control the city as they fuel it with money. Not something I would recommend but it's an option."

"Then there's always the possibility of setting up shop in one of the other major cities around here. Inside might be best for that as it's the largest and most metropolitan. I believe it best represents this plane too if you're interested in researching it."

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

"I appreciate the information. I expect I won't get too tied up in local organizations. It won't be that long before my excursions are more constrained. At least for some time." She lays a hand over her belly. "I'd hate to create any expectations of me that I couldn't fulfill. But I will take your suggestions under advisement. Thank you."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Sleepless Night]

"There's that, true. Though they would know more about this place than I do so you could always simply ask for their help without getting tied up with them. Scholars tend to help one another after all and they would be curious about you no doubt." She nods to Utoya. "Since so am I admittedly. Specifically, there was this question of a bit more personal nature I had." Ambrosia gestures to the moonfolks hands. "Since your people aren't born with those, correct? Felt it was safe to ask but they look as artificial as my armor."

[Gullara]

[A Sleepless Night]

Utayo looks down at her hand. "Oh, that's not personal at all." She holds it up and articulates the fingers. "This is an enhancement I received several years ago. I've had several useful functions built into it. I was able to collaborate with a remarkable prosthesis engineer on its design." As she speaks the pointer finger folds open at the tip and emits a small blue torch flame. "It's operation is entirely neurologically linked."

[Rebonack]

[Tower of Oujet]

There's an artifact housed in the tower that the evil forces behind the zombies want, no doubt for evil and bad reasons. So it's the job of our heroes to get in there and secure the artifact before the bad guys can get it!

Easy, right?

No problem at all.

Just gotta...

Charge through this increasingly dense mob of undead.

No big deal.

With Laz shouting about Anika just reaching deep down inside herself and finding even more bear! Just a deep wellspring of bearness. They charge forward together, Laz swinging her sword through zombie necks and Anika... being... a bear? I guess. They chew their way through the mob of undead, the gross mutated monsters swinging at them as they pass but really these things are the slow clumsy sort of undead that really aren't a threat unless they dogpile you. There's nothing stopping our heroes now!

Up ahead it looks like a bunch of the obsidian zombies are... ritually killing themselves and spilling corrupted blood everywhere?

Weird.

Saves the VIGILanties the trouble, right?