Seaside

[TeChameleon]

[Under the Sea]

"Huh. I'll have to ask the armoury pair to introduce me to their siblings, then." Eddie commented. "I've seen other goblins around the MERC HQ, but not close enough to see whether or not they've got a family resemblance to Olvisin."

Eddie nods upon being told that Frigate's 'vitals' are contained entirely in his chest. And Eddie is less a metaphorical doctor and more a metaphorical biogenetic prosthetist, to stretch a metaphor. He wouldn't really want to tinker with Frigate's innards in any situation; warsmithing was different enough from golemcrafting that the only part Eddie would be willing to touch would be the mana battery, and that only very, very carefully.

Eddie watched the strange underwater zombie procession blankly for a while when it came along, then glanced at Frigate.

"Uhm... should we do something about that? They're not animated by magic, but there's very faint traces of it in their system, so I'm guessing it's probably a disease of some kind, which we really don't want spreading. By the same token, I don't really want to risk taking that above water if they're just going to wander out to sea; odds are they're going to drop themselves down some chasm or other, or sink into the loose silty areas of the deep seafloor... assuming they don't just get crushed to jelly by the waterpressure when they get deep enough. But they might get themselves eaten by something that the disease can infect, and then we have zombie leviathans or something later this year."

Eddie is actually starting to pace back and forth, clearly agitated and uncertain, and he seems to have forgotten that Frigate has ranged weaponry that could easily disable the zombies without either construct needing to come into physical contact with them.

[Halae]

[Hiep's Cove]

"Exaltations are... unique." Hiep is still transfixed by the sight before her. "I don't really understand them myself. Not sure if anyone does anymore. But Mercury, the Maiden of Journeys, gave up a part of herself to create it. Others carried it before me and others will once I'm dead."

[Hiep's Cove]

"So it's a divine blessing... No. No, that doesn't feel right. It's like you have a piece of a grand spirit inside you, an... ah, divinity? And it's not an incarnation but more enveloping your soul. It's so strange. I don't even know what to call it," Verity says, staring with those milky white eyes at Hiep's heart. And it's clearly her heart, rather than her chest. There's no lust in her gaze, just an attempt at understanding.

[quillpleasant]

[Hunting]

Dammit, that usually works. Whoever this guy is, he means business. Instead of risking another direct clash, Hiep retreats, leaping back to get some distance and figure out her next move.

Once, there was a maiden...
...whose shadow fled from her. She chased it over fire and stone.

When she lands, her shadow springs to life around her, turning into countless black thorns that encircle her hands and limbs. She then waits for Nathair to approach, fists raised.

"So, where did you meet another of 'my kind'? We're not exactly common."

Nathair grins wickedly as his opponent gives ground. But the shadowy magic gives him pause. This might not be as easy as he first thought, but without a major change in her tactics he's quite confident that adding some spikes to her hands won't make her punches any more capable of seriously harming him.

"All magic has a certain shine to it. I met someone at GLOG with a similar look to yours," he says conversationally, "She was quite reasonable, all things considered. You should reach out- if you live that long." Then he launches himself forward, his feet leaving the ground as he flies at her, drill arms outstretched in an impaling charge.

[Morty]

[Hiep's Cove]

"I've heard it described as a divine mantle. But mostly we call it Exaltation. And... yes, there's really nothing else like it." Hiep touches her chest where Verity is looking at it.

[Hunting]

She chased her shadow to a monster’s mouth. It went right in. It didn’t know how to stop.

So there's another Exalt out here. Hiep has heard about a Dragon-Blooded monk in Vigil, but no one in GLoG. She'll have to investigate once she's done with this clown.

"Did you try to steal her shoes too?"

Then she might surprise Nathair, because she meets his charge head-on, her form glowing with yellow starlight and the wreath of shadows around her swirling in wider arcs.

One of her fists meets the drill, trying to smash into it and turn it aside in a contest of raw strength, while the other flies towards his center of mass. This one leaves behind a trail of stardust and cuts through the air unerringly, steered by something more than just Hiep's eye and reflexes. Should it hit, it will inflict a grievous wound, as if rending Nathair's flesh with a condemnation of what he is.

Up close, the shadow thorns surrounding Hiep will prove a constant obstacle to Nathair, digging into him and trying to tear him apart bit by bit.

[Halae]

[Hiep's Cove]

Verity gently reaches out, laying her own hand over that spot as well - which no doubt means it'll be on top of Hiep's own hand, "I'm fairly familiar with materium magic, and my family specializes in it, but this is well beyond me. I really do believe this was the work of an incredible divine entity. It's beautiful, and so are you. Working together makes your soul look wonderful."

[Morty]

[Hiep's Cove]

Hiep blushes, grateful that Verity probably can't see it. She's normally very difficult to fluster, yet here she is.

"...thank you. I'm called hot pretty often, but rarely beautiful. And most people can't look straight into my soul. I don't really know how Exaltation works. Few people do anymore. The first person to get mine lived... must've been thousands of years ago."

[quillpleasant]

Hunting

Nathair laughs in exhilaration as Hiep meets his charge, colliding full force with drill against fist. The warrior woman rivals him in raw strength, so rather than trying to force the drill through, he allows it to skid off to the side, hopefully scraping some flesh from her in the process. Then he-

Is sent reeling backwards. What is this? Rather than the simple yet powerful punch he was expecting, she's just hit Nathair with some sort of deadly magic that burns away at his oil. A large chunk of his torso is boiled away into nothing by the blow.

"That actually hurt! Oh, you are fun," he exclaims, melting back as the thorns try to rip at him. Overpowering her in melee will be very difficult. Good thing he doesn't care about making this a fair fight.

As the Nathair she's facing backs away, a faint hum will be the only warning that they're not alone. Four sleek metallic drones hover about thirty feet above the combatants, each about three feet circular and mounted with machine guns. A moment later, all four open fire, sending a fully automatic hail down at the martial artist.

Notably, since their bullets are made of nanobots, they'll curve to home in on targets, making dodging particularly difficult. Of course, her iron skin can resist them- but for how long?

[Earl of Purple]

Under the Sea

The difference between a warsmith and a golemcrafter is one of focus. The first specialises in making weapons, some of which are self-animate; the latter specialises in making things that are self-animate, some of which are weapons. Pontius Dathrii, whose shop in Mallside sells constructs of various sorts, could still make a magic sword- it just won't be as good a sword as the cutlass Frigate carries. And likewise, Frigate isn't as good as any one of the constructs made by Pontius.

"I be doubtin' th' disease be able t' jump t' leviathans, since yon fish be fine. Mayhaps it be able t' infect merfolk an' such, though, an' if'n they get caught in a net they may be trouble yet." Frigate calmly raises his arbalest and looses a quarrel at the group, the heavy bolt slamming into the back of the cyclist's head, splintering the plastic helmet and the skull beneath. He's reloading it quicker than a person might, but still has to do so whilst walking as the zombies are still getting further away, before shooting another, the bolt parting hair and skull of the ex-swimmer, also cutting the goggle's strap so they fall free of their owner's head.

[Morty]

[Hunting]

The maiden caught her shadow in a deep cave full of ghosts. It turned into a ball of thorns that wrapped around her. When the ghosts pricked their fingers on the thorns, they came to life.

This didn’t make anyone very happy.

The drill does rake across Hiep's arm, drawing blood. It doesn't look like her skin is actually metal - it's simply resilient like one, but this resilience can be overcome.

As such, she doesn't have much time to do something about the flying machines assaulting her. She grabs a nearby heavy wooden log and flings it at the drones with prodigious strength. It spins through the air in improbable angles to swat all of them out of the air. If it misses, its shadow will repeat the attack to try to hit them this time.

[TeChameleon]

[Under the Sea]

"Okay, right, right, fair point..." Eddie said, calming himself.

"Forgot you had a shooter with you. For that matter..." the little golem continued.

And ripped a boulder the size of a truck out of the seabed, running forwards to smash the lead trio of zombies under a few tonnes of stone, cutting the number of fisherman-ish zombies down to five.

"There we go. Disabled and interred in one go." he commented, casting about for another boulder of appropriate size.

[quillpleasant]

Hunting

"So you do bleed!" crows Nathair triumphantly upon seeing the wound on Hiep's arm, "I was almost getting worried." He watches, eyes narrowed as Hiep throws the log.

The heavy length of wood flies through the air, smashing into the drones one after another. Rather than crashing or bursting into flames, the machines disperse into clouds of glittering black dust- before beginning to reform, the nanobots coalescing back into a solid form. Unfortunately, the shadow hits the reforming drones, further delaying them from continuing the attack.

But the moment the log is out of Hiep's hands, Nathair is darting forward, using her attack against the drones as an opening. He leaps through the air, drills raised- but at the last moment his form shifts and billows, becoming a heavy metallic blanket that seeks to engulf Hiep like a net. If she's grabbed, he'll begin to constrict around her, stiffening like iron around her arms and legs.

[Earl of Purple]

Under the Sea

There's a fair few boulders about this region of the seafloor, though many bear faint traces of having been worked a long time ago. The one that Eddie just used, caught at the right angle, seems to have a heavily-eroded face, as though once it were the head of a statue.

The zombies still don't react to Eddie and Frigate's actions, though the fish that were following the ambulatory buffet have dispersed. Frigate looses another quarrel at the zombies, hitting one of the businessmen in the upper back. The point erupts from the corpse's neck, but as it missed the brain and spine, it continues on its march. Frigate reloads and shoots the bloke in the Hawaiian shirt.

[Halae]

[Hiep's Cove]

Hiep blushes, grateful that Verity probably can't see it. She's normally very difficult to fluster, yet here she is.

"...thank you. I'm called hot pretty often, but rarely beautiful. And most people can't look straight into my soul. I don't really know how Exaltation works. Few people do anymore. The first person to get mine lived... must've been thousands of years ago."

[Hiep's Cove]

Verity tilts her head, looking at the working in Hiep's soul for a moment, "They pass on when you die, then, and find a new person to bear the power? I suppose that makes sense, with the way the soul flies apart when you die."

Ah yes, necromancer.

"I'd love to study that phenomenon, but preferably after we've both lived out or past our natural lifespans."

[Morty]

[Hunting]

The maiden made a ladder from the ghost’s bones, but it only pointed downward.

“Why go on?” her shadow asked.

“I can’t quit now,” said she.

As Nathair approaches, Hiep backs away and is suddenly... further away than she was a moment ago. It's like a glitch in reality occurred, or some unseen hand decreed that she's not going to suffer this fate in this moment. But Nathair can see the sweat on her brow and the intensifying glow around her.

Indeed, the danger of this situation is clear even to someone as bullheaded as Hiep. Having evaded Nahtair's attempt to snare her, she simply turns and runs. She moves quickly, but doesn't seem to be using any powers that enhance her flight for now.

[Hiep's Cove]

Hiep chuckles nervously. This got morbid all of a sudden.

"You're free to study is as much as you want while it's still here inside me."

[Halae]

[Hiep's Cove]

That gets a sly smile out of Verity, "Oh? You promise I'm allowed to study every inch of you, hmm?"

[Morty]

[Hiep's Cove]

Hiep blushes again, which is altogether far more blushing than is normal for her. Usually she makes people blush and stammer.

"Yep. Every one, inside and out. I have nothing to hide."

[Halae]

[Hiep's Cove]

Verity leans forward, and gives Hiep a quick kiss, her extremely soft lips most likely leaving a tingling sensation on the Sidereal, "I'll hold you to that, then. You're fun to mess with, you know that?"

[TeChameleon]

[Under the Sea]

Eddie hoisted another boulder and smashed the remaining fishermen under it. Then he fished the map out and glanced over it, making a note of where they were. He could 'feel' the shape of the boulders when he lifted them, and had made note that the first one seemed to be worked stone.

An underwater garden of giant statues seemed like it would be interesting to re-visit, and maybe he could even convince some wealthy type back on shore to fund recovery and reconstruction. He said as much to Frigate, pointing out the odd shape of his first boulder, and the almost-face that could be made out on it.

"Any guesses as to what the deal with these zombies is?" he asked, once he'd pointed out the statues. "I've never had to deal with a zombie outbreak before, thankfully, but the rumour mill in the guilds always had someone's cousin or the friend of a friend or whatever having to defend a village or whatever from one. Always made it sound as if they were all-but-impossible to stop, and spread like wildfire in an oil storage. But these are just... kind of pathetic. Looking at them, I'd be surprised if they survived the fish for more than another few miles, even if they didn't drop down a crevasse and get stuck, or something."

[Earl of Purple]

Under the Sea

"Mayhaps they be nigh-impossible, were they int'rested in us. They're not, be they? Ignorin' us completely." Indeed, even as the herd is being destroyed, none of the zombies react to the attacks. "E'en if'n they were interested, they'd be unable t' harm us, aye? So it be dependin' on how quick it do spread, an' how it be caught. An' fish don't fear people, not like gulls do. I been on beaches after a shipwreck, corpses washin' ashore. Gulls land t' eat, but fly off again when livin' people get near. These be dead, aye, but they be walkin'. Gulls might not tell the difference, whilst fish don't care. Humans don't hunt fish th' same way." And without scavengers harassing them every step they take, they'd last longer.

[quillpleasant]

[Hunting]

The maiden made a ladder from the ghost’s bones, but it only pointed downward.

“Why go on?” her shadow asked.

“I can’t quit now,” said she.

As Nathair approaches, Hiep backs away and is suddenly... further away than she was a moment ago. It's like a glitch in reality occurred, or some unseen hand decreed that she's not going to suffer this fate in this moment. But Nathair can see the sweat on her brow and the intensifying glow around her.

Indeed, the danger of this situation is clear even to someone as bullheaded as Hiep. Having evaded Nahtair's attempt to snare her, she simply turns and runs. She moves quickly, but doesn't seem to be using any powers that enhance her flight for now.

Hunting

Nathair allows himself a brief, satisfied smile. After the fiasco with the dragon, he was actually... well, he'd hate to admit it, but he was starting to doubt himself. The repeated failures were really playing havoc with his self esteem. Seeing such an obviously powerful fighter fleeing from him is just the thing to restore the old confidence he's been missing.

Of course, she's just cutting her losses. He has no doubt that if pressed, the warrior will do everything she can to fight back, and she's already proven herself capable of actually hurting him. No point in pressing things, as long as he gets what he wants.

Floating in the air above, watching the scene unfold, the prime Nathair reaches out with his gold hand, fingers making a precise grabbing gesture. No need to access its full power- he wouldn't want to damage his prize. A carefully controlled telekinetic force reaches out, tightening around the warrior's magical shoes in an attempt to quickly wrench them off her feet as she runs.

Meanwhile, the dispersed drones finish reforming, swiveling their guns to track the fleeing woman. Just so it's clear what awaits her if she should decide to continue the fight.

[Morty]

[Hiep's Cove]

Hiep returns the kiss, making it a bit longer, before huffing in an exaggerated manner.

"Normally I'm the one flustering people and messing with them. But here you are, turning the tables on me."

[Hunting]

Wrenching Hiep's sandals off her feet proves difficult. They cling on tenaciously. But when she feels them try to escape her feet, she realizes what's happening and quickly surmises what will happen if she resists. Fuck. She'll get this son of a bitch someday, when he least expects it. For now, she kicks the sandals off her feet and keeps running, barefoot.

[TeChameleon]

[Under the Sea]

"I don't know." Eddie frowned, grabbing another large boulder. "It'd have to be pretty nasty, infection-wise, to really get a grip- way more than any natural disease. Like, multiple orders of magnitude more."

The boulder came slamming down, taking out another few zombies in a cloud of sediment.

"I suppose I'd have to see how these reacted to stimuli that didn't squish them instantly, I suppose, or class as mineral and thus irrelevant to them." the little golem commented. "Wonder where these came from, anyhow? They don't seem to be deviating from their course much, if at all, so theoretically we could just go in a straight line back the way they came and find out that way. Might be worth noting on the map, honestly- if something similar pops up, we would have a starting point to track them."

Suiting actions to words, Eddie pulled the map out once more, carefully marking where the zombies were now, and their direction of progress, using scratches in the plasticized surface of the map since he didn't have a pen or anything of that nature. Unfortunately, the map was entirely of underwater areas, so he couldn't really check to see if there was anything on shore.

"Any rumours of disease-type undead floating around MERC that you know of, Frigate?" he asked.

[quillpleasant]

Hunting

Nathair's magic draws the discarded sandals inexorably up towards him, reaching out to pluck them from the air. Zooming in with his golden eye, he watches their previous owner run away across the dunes. He could try to take her out from range, but... no. She was an honorable warrior, which is more than can be said of most, even some of those Nathair counts as allies. If their paths cross in the future, then he'll relish the chance to fight such a woman again.

Turning his attention to the sandals, he smiles. These are quite powerful. Depending on what they do, they could save him from having to give up his hand. But he won't present them without fully identifying and analyzing their properties. No more mistakes, no more humiliation.

Of course, there's also the matter of Sestrie, and there's no sign of her here. Better report that to Svartha and see about looking elsewhere.

With a last glance at the strange barrier of aversion, he summons his drones to him and takes to the sky, soaring out of view of the beach.

[Earl of Purple]

Under the Sea

"Aye, they be comin' outta Apocalypse Junction some times, amongst other stuff. I ain't been there, though; ye're best bet be findin' Sian an' talkin' t' her, she's the one what told I of it. Stake out th' range, I reckon, she'll show up sooner 'r late. Not th' armoury; she don't ever need powder 'r lead. Or mayhaps ask Olvisin; I be thinkin' Olvisin knows where Sian be sleepin'." My character, as it happens, Sian's a mercenary from Skyside with her own helicopter. Also something I'd quite like Eddie to have a look at.

The zombies, at this point, are pretty much dealt with I reckon.

[quillpleasant]

Shattered Isle

Not so long ago, a terrible fight rent the sky, the sea, and the rocky island that used to stand in this place. Now, rather than a solid landmass, smaller pieces of stone jut from the water here and there where the shattered remains of that island came crashing down from the sky.

Like bolt from the blue, Nathair dives down, landing on the largest chunk. It seems a fitting place to conduct research on his new prize- covering the rot of failure with the yellow wallpaper of success. Creating a plinth of nanobots in front of him, he places the newly one magical sandals on top.

"Let's see what makes you tick, hm?" he asks aloud, smiling as his gold eye zooms in on the artifacts to study them on a molecular level.

What follows is a comprehensive battery of tests, examining the physical, metaphysical, temporal and thaumaturgical properties of the sandals. This initial probing is meant to discover what kind of magic the sandals have, what they're capable of, how to activate them, and if there are any potential negative side effects to doing so.

That last bit is important. Nathair doesn't want that warrior woman suddenly teleporting in to ruin his day.

[TeChameleon]

[Under the Sea]

"Wonder what they're doing this far out at sea?" Eddie muttered, giving the last boulder a bit of a kick.

"We should make our way back to shore quick-like; if there're zombies this far out, then either we've got a swarm building, or somebody trying something nefarious with them, or something I haven't thought of, but if it involves a zombie plague, it's probably not going to be great for anyone."

Eddie made an irritated face. "Yup, just a simple recovery job. A bit of shark-fighting, some random giant sea monster, and now a potential zombie outbreak."

The frown went wry. "... by our standards, this is a simple recovery job. That's a bit depressing."

[Earl of Purple]

Under the Sea

"Be optimistic; mebbe they be remnants o' a horde what got washed out an' th' rest be fishfood, an' now th' problem be sorted." Eddie did note this patch would not have likely lasted more than a few more miles, as fish ate more muscle than they could move without and disintegrated.

"I reckon this went easier'n I were expectin'. Ye still got the map, aye? Then we be not lost." And Frigate's sense of direction is so poor that getting lost was something he fully expected to occur.

[Morty]

[Shattered Isle]

The sandals are, even at a cursory glance, expensive and luxurious according to purely mortal standards. Made of mahogany, adorned with mother of pearl, bound with golden cords. They would be fit for a king, even without their other traits.

Deeper examination reveals that they weren't made by mortal hand, because they're in fact a faceless, secretive shapeshifting creature that was tricked into this shape and bound with nails of starmetal a very long time ago. Hiep is undoubtedly not the first person to wear them.

The combination of starmetal and the creature's own nature gives the sandals' wearer power over distance and space, as well as helping them evade detection. The exact powers seem malleable and dependent on the wearer's nature and relationship with the sandals.

Regardless of anything else, they're nigh-indestructible and it'd take monstrous strength or powerful magic to even dent them. If worn while kicking something, they'll also endow the wearer's blows with great power and tenacity, fully able to punch through solid stone. The combination of Hiep's own strength and the sandals would have caused a lot of damage to someone lacking Nathair's resilience.

In order to use the sandals, the wearer needs to impart some of their spirit and power into them. Currently they're bound to Hiep this way, but this connection can be broken with sufficient skill or power. If it's not, it will dissolve on its own within a day of being separated from her.

[TeChameleon]

[Under the Sea]

Eddie made a bit of a face at Frigate. "I'm having a hard time shaking the feeling that optimism and zombies aren't a great combination."

Then he chuckled faintly. "And no, we're not lost- land is still that way..." he pointed... "and we should arrive at our jumping off point... or wading-in point, I guess... pretty close to on schedule. Should be good to put a call in to Sian once we get back to the HQ, and maybe someone would be willing to pay us to go zombie-stomping. Thinking I might still go in any case, but being able to eat, or re-fuel or whatever you want to call it, afterwards would still be nice."

[quillpleasant]

Shattered Isle

A shapeshifting being? Nathair shakes his head in wonder. Being trapped in the form of a pair of shoes... what a terrible fate. And people say the phyrexians are bad.

Well, they're certainly powerful. Manipulation of time and space seems to be the winning ability here- not that kicking really hard is anything to scoff at. The customization is nice too. Perhaps if the owner was suitably powerful, then the shoes would match them. Like, for instance, if they were owned by a god.

And a blessing too that the binding will dissolve on its own. Nathair isn't known for his patience, but waiting a day sounds a lot better than struggling to break through an ancient magical binding.

All told, these seem like exactly what he needs. He smiles down at his golden hand. With any luck, he'll be able to keep it around for a good while longer.