Guild Wars III Roleplay (Rated T)

[Rider]

[glow=red,2,300]The Saucy Elephant[/glow]

"Okay, admit it. You spiked this, didn't you?"

"Always a pleasure to be a part of someone's drunken hallucinations. I'm not even sure if I'm real myself anymore, but you see me, so I suppose I must be. I'd love to discuss this further with you, perhaps even catch up with what's happened in my absence, but as it turns out, you are in a big hurry right now to get back to the ship."

Deep breath. In. Out. Order a drink. To go, if you please. It'll take the edge off. Don't get snippity.

Then Rider was assaulted by a furry snowball made of joy. It's hard to remain snippity when one is covered in joy. Rider made a mental note to never fall in love. Too many joycicles.

"You're back! Where've you been? And -- I'm happy as anything to see you, so don't take offense to this, but why are you here?"

"I'd love to be back under better circumstances, but as it turns out, I'm here to warn you. I'm still a little fuzzy about what's going on, but... look, we probably ought to get back to the ship and report to the captain. Let her know that the Underdeep is expanding."

A pause. And, barely loud enough to be heard over the noise of the club, "And I sorta missed you."

[Celestial]

Mage Manor

She stepped out into the light, put her hands over her eyes automatically to tyr and reduce the sudden pain. Coming out of pure darkness and into light, especially with dragon's eyes, not was a pleasant experience.

But Celestial should really have forseen the dust problem. It, along with the light, was irritating her eyes horrifically. Red on blue was never a pretty spectacle and she could say she alreayd looked bad enough without that. Air currents built up around her, sweeping the dust away out of the basement, dropping it for the golems to take care of outside.

"Hey, wasn't expecting to see you back so quickly. How'd you manage to escape?" Ikkin asked them cheerfully. Celestial looked up at them blearily and shook her head.

"I have no idea... how it let us go," she stammered out. The Manor around the hole to the Underdeep began to glow. The dragon mage looked back at the darkness and watched in horror as it spilled over. She certainly did not see this coming. The Manor was holding it back but the magic dould not last forever. She knew who would fail first.

Celestial got out of the way, seeing Michelle's suspicious looks. That wasn't good. It was too early in the game for anybody to be suspicious of them. That needed to be negated as soon as possible and she didn't mind being diabolical if she had to.

But now, there was the problem with the Underdeep. She couldn't just walk away like that, it would only highen suspicions. No, she needed to help close it. The thing in her mind stirred and willed her forward.

Omni was casting the vine spell again but the Underdeep was strong enough to delay the vine's growth. They were growing...well, a bit like grass. And anybody who decided to test the addage could tell you that grass does not grow very quickly.

Celestial stepped forward beyond Omni's attempts at rebuilding the wall created her own wall made out of air that contained such strong air currents that nobody would be able to get through it. She pushed it forward, all the time willing the Underdeep to receed. It fought against the invisible wall but somehow Celestial doubted that this was real resistance. The Underdeep, just like before, was going away because it wanted to.

But it was far enough away from where the door was being built. This was good enough.

"Now Omni, hurry!" Celestial shouted at the Zafara, feeling the wall begin to dissolve. The dragon mage's power was fading and she wasn't about to take Kat's position as main Guild Wars fainter away from her.

***

The wolf man was very kind. Overlord, despite having an aversion to wolves in general owing to them being big enough to eat him, felt safe with him around and quietly listened while they discussed plans to rescue Celestial and Rikku, trying to calm himself down and not mind the emptyness.

Suddenly, the stone vines burst open explosively. Overlord looked up into the centre of the explosion, afraid of what was coming through.

Fear turned to joy as he saw Celestial. She looked terrible but was walking on her own two feet and still had her magic.

I'm so glad you're back! he exclaimed to her along the mindlink. She didn't reply. The emptyness that seemed to fade with her return lingered. He felt something was wrong. He couldn't read her thoughts anymore nor did she even get a sign of hearing him.

What happened to you in there, Celestial?

[Jina]

Tabloid Town Hospital
Halin smiled. They had been travelling for some time, but they could finally begin. The adventurers went to the stairwell, and headed down.

The hospital basement was a huge maze of corridors. There were rooms in many places, each storing something different. The adventurers were heading to a very old store room, chosen because nobody would be there.

The store room was full of old medical records, kept just in case they were needed someday. But the store room also held something much more dangerous. For days now, there had been a big hole in the wall, right behind a cabinet. The Underdeep. It had been waiting, but now was the time to act.

Sandra turned into a bear, and pushed the cabinet to the side. Shadowy tentacles poked out of the hole, and appeared to look around the room. Then, they shot out, and spread out through to hidden corners in the hospital.

The adventurers made their way out of the building. The big hole had been dug, now it was time to kick people into it.

The Saucy Elephant
Rider said something, but all Jina heard over the noise in the club was "...you are in a big hurry right now to get back to the ship."

Zylaa appeared at the bar. "You're back! Where've you been? And -- I'm happy as anything to see you, so don't take offense to this, but why are you here?"

"I'd love to be back under better circumstances, but as it turns out, I'm here to warn you. I'm still a little fuzzy about what's going on, but... look, we probably ought to get back to the ship and report to the captain. Let her know that the Underdeep is expanding."

"...Is that like saying "Hey, we found an island full of treasure!" or "Hey, we annoyed some dude with tentacles for a face and now we're being chased by a gigantic squid!"? 'Cause I'm kinda hoping it's the first one."

[Ian Wolf-Park]

Mage Manor

When the dragon mage did not accept the Weewoo, Lupehunter had a suspicion that something was wrong as it seemed like Tthe mages that had been pulled into the Underdeep had somehow had something done to them. However, he decided to not to tell anyone about his suspicions yet as the time was not right. As well, he knew that attacking the mage would probably make the others suspicious, which was something that he did not want to do.

As the Underdeep began to expand, Lupehunter withdrew one of his daggers and began slashing at the tentacles that were beginning to appear. It was not an easy feat, considering that he was still holding the Weewoo in one of his hands.

"Whoever you are, it looks like you're going to have to put up with me for a little bit longer as it seems like your owner isn't responding to you." he told the Weewoo in its own language, hoping that it would understand it as he was slashing and avoiding the tentacles.

[PFA]

Ninja Dojo

"Oh," Kiddo said, "Sensei. That's... silly. Don't call me that."

"Er... sorry," PFA fumbled awkwardly. The last time PFA had seen Kiddo, she was the ninja sensei, but ever since her absence... Kiddo wasn't considered a ninja anymore.

Neither did Kiddo herself consider herself a ninja anymore, as it became apparent in the ensuing conversation between Kovaran and Kiddo. It also became apparent that Kovaran, being one of the newer ninjas, did not recognize Kiddo, nor did he trust her.

"I... um... Kiddo," PFA spoke, not exactly sure what she was trying to say. "I'm... not really sure why you were sent here, but if I had to guess, it has some relation to the danger the Superior warned us of. As Kovaran said, we're supposed to go out and investigate it. Maybe you're supposed to... erm. Maybe you can come with us to figure out what's going on?"

PFA grinned sheepishly, fairly confident in saying that this wouldn't go over well, especially considering Kovaran's distrust. But she wasn't about to take it back now.

---

Leaving Mercenary Base

Jernath climbed into the choppa along with the rest of the mercs, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. All that running was a bit of an adrenaline rush, and now was a good time to calm himself down.

What could that thing even be? he wondered silently. It looks like some kind of magic, maybe... the Mages might know something about it, but I don't know if--

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of an explosion. A shock wave shook the Osprey a bit, bringing Jernath's panic levels right back up. He turned to look out the window, wondering what the heck had just happened.

When he saw the Mercenary Base going up in flames, he felt his heart sink a little. It didn't look like it was the doing of the darkness, meaning that someone had probably hit the self-destruct button. It was probably for the best, Jernath realized, but at the same time it was sad to see the base go. It may not have been much, but it was home, and now it was gone.

As he watched the flames fade into the distance, images flashed through his mind. Memories, which he promptly forced back. This was not the time to be thinking about that.

"Tabloid Town sounds good," Jernath said in response to Scar, turning away from the window. "And I'm Jernath... in case any of you don't know me already."

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

Vyt seemed to be enjoying the moment he was having. The creature was still squirming up and about in vain. The catboy kept his firm grip on the dagger's handle with a smile on his face.

"It's feisty!"

But alas, he was being ignored again. Amneiger still continued with the plan of getting some light to observe his prey, while Shade turned her attention towards another shapeshifter. This time, the creature in question was able to speak, and even introduced itself as "Bird".

Turning his head to look at Bird (since he was still busy wrestling down his victim with the dagger), Vyt looked skeptic about it not knowing what was happening. "I'm not a very good thinker, but I wouldn't consider this guy-" he pointed at his prey with a sideward nod, "-and your appearance coincidental. Something's happening here, and I demand a very good answer!"

Through the dagger's handle, the catboy could feel the creature's struggle becoming weaker and weaker. "And if you don't, you might just be the next one who'll taste the sharpness of this blade."

[Deleted]

<<Brassport>>
"Oscar Featherstone, Gentleman Adventurer, ladies and gentlefolk." He went into a flowery shower of words and boasts, and turned to speak to Asta. "And I do believe I have now answered your inquiry as we --"

Asta watched the 'Gentleman Adventurer' fall to the ground like a lump of wet snow, sort of squishy and not very graceful. She clapped a hand over her mouth and managed to muffle the shaking laughter that threatened to ring out. She did have a problem turning down the volume knob on her voice, laughs included, but that could be managed.

“I won’t need help because I won’t be paying it. You, Oscar, Gentleman Adventurer, owe me 210 golden cogs and your life.” Sarinon stepped towards the man and said something else to him, then stood and stalked away with all the grace and dignity this Oscar did not have. Asta smiled and shook her head. Too bad for you. she thought with a grin, glad that she wasn't in his position. Though she had to admit, he was doing better than she would have expected, given the circumstances.

Still, though she doubted he was going to be skipping away any time soon, he did seem like he might be the type to try. She stepped through the engineers and others gathered around the man and looked him over, holding out a hand. She quickly reconsidered and crossed her arms instead. "If you say you 'answered my inquiry'," she said dryly, "then you should probably do it in less of a roundabout way. I'm Asta. Now, Sir Gentleman Adventurer, whence do you come and where do you aim to go? 'Cause if you expect to scamper away, I'm going to have a fun time playing with you."

She looked back--Sarinon was gone. Remembering how they'd met just earlier, Asta guessed where she went. "I'm betting I missed getting something," she muttered, turning towards the Assembly Hall. "Well?" she called back to Oscar. "I think I have somewhere to be. Where are you running off to?"

[Draco]

<<Seconds Away From Merc Base Crater>>

Draco, with his three followers behind him, begin to see the outline of the Merc Base in sight. "We're finally here. Let's see how they are do-" The base blows up... Draco blinks in amazement. Draco turns around and faces one of the ninjas, "Look what you did. You killed the Mercs. You deserve some kind of punishment for it." He was saying this half jokingly of course.

The other two turn and stare at the accused ninja, while the accused looks up to see a helicopter fly away. Before he could say anything about it a flaming table crashes down on him.

Draco looks at the other two ninja, "Does that punishment work for you two?"

They nod in agreement, eyes wide with shock.

Sighing, Draco looks around. "Tabloid Town?"

Once again the two ninja nod their heads, and the three take off in that direction.

[Rikku]

Mage Manor - Basement

Celestial blew open the doors using compressed air or something. Rikku grinned and said, “Neat.” It made sense, seeing fire wasn’t all that helpful down here. And while the explosion was a bit dangerous, mages were more than capable of looking after themselves.

Rikku, however, was another matter. She walked through the new opening, trying not to stagger. She then leaned heavily against a wall, crossing her arms casually so as to make it look like she didn’t need to lean heavily against a wall and was merely doing it on a whim rather than because otherwise she’d likely collapse. The darkness roaring like that didn’t help. She left her fellow magefolk to seal the gap, reasoning, quite rightly, that even at the best of times her magic didn’t really lend itself well to that kind of thing. The others could handle it better.

She didn’t like the guarded looks some of them were giving her and Celestial. Rikku didn’t blame them, not really, but after being kidnapped by creepy made-of-fear tentacles, to be given suspicious looks as though it was her fault was a bit much. It was even worse than that time way back when, when she’d been passing through that village and the horses had sprouted -

Wait. That was obvious filler. Never mind.

[Huntress]

((Tabloid Town harbor))

The blue raccoon-ish critter - Hunty's knowledge about land-dwelling animals was selective at best - stared up at her with the general adorable-ness all small furry animals possess by nature to a certain extent. Then it opened its mouth.

"I-I was running away from a--a--you know, it didn't even deserve to be called a creature. It was just a thing. So I was running from it--across the rooftops--then I-I jumped across the sails and the... things sticking up from the boats--then I saw a white boat and fell in. I guess I was knocked out. Th-then something knocked me conscious a-and... It was a--a--a giant lobster exoskeleton. H-helped me out of the water for some reason. So, uh... I... don't know?"

There was a pause of the very strongly cricketchirping variety, then Hunty turned her head ever so slightly.

"Bloody Mary, did you by any chance hear that too?"

Bloody Mary raised both eyebrows.

"Hear you conversing with a small blue furry critter? Dunno about that. You haven't been eating funny mushrooms lately, have you?"

"Yes, yes, alright," Hunty grumbled, barely having time to feel embarrassed before the more attentive parts of her brain prodded her, having selected some crucial pieces of info. She turned back to the coati.

"A thing, you say? This was either one of the less integrated demons or some Underdeep business. Or maybe that one watchman from the city guard." She scowled. "I don't like this. With this many people all in one place, it'd only be a matter of time until word got out that something's wrong and then there's panic all over the place. Which is kinda the Underdeep equivalent of saying 'ding dong, dinner's up, extra fries'. And it'll be dark soon."

"I give it forty minutes before it gets properly dark," said Bloody Mary, squinting at the sunset with an expert face. "We should be out at sea by then if we're to increase our chances. 'course, there's that lobster thing to worry about, but I reckon it's only down there because the blarf hasn't noticed it yet."

The captain nodded, then fell in thoughts. She looked at Nasue. She didn't usually do this sort of thing - you never knew who you were dealing with - but she believed in strength in numbers. Usually in reference to crossbow bolts, but all the same.

"Name's Huntress. I'm a pirate, that white ship over there is mine. Care to come with us? You'll be as safe as it gets under the worst-case scenario circumstances and we're currently a little shorthanded."

[Goosh]

((The Heavily Marinated Pachyderm))

Goosh took one last look at the pretty view before following Zylaa. So much for a quiet night.

A voice in the back of his mind asked why he had a quiet night with Zylaa, and why he hadn't invited Jina along. Goosh told the voice to shut up.

He scurried down the stairs and shoved his way through the crowd, heading toward the bar. If Rider was here, then that's where she would be.

He was right, of course. He pushed through a flock of glittery women to join, catching the end of Rider's speech. "I knew you couldn't stand to be away from us for too long," he said, moving out of smacking range. "Also, there's a problem in the Underdeep? It never ends, does it? Twenty shinies says an ancient evil has risen and it's up to us to restore relative peace and order to the land." He paused for a moment. "We should be getting paid for this."


((Merpo's Lab))

Kassandra waited politely as the man stopped crying and finally noticed her. He looked a little unstable, especially when he thought she was some kind of gargoyle. But he seemed to calm down a little, and asked her the golden question. The one that made her ears tingle whenever she heard it.

"I am Kassandra Amethyst Moonbeam!" she said triumphantly, brandishing her sword and throwing back her hair. " I am a half-elf quarter-royal warrior-mage. I am the guardian--former guardian of the Temple of the Sea Dragon A'elia. And I--uh, I guess I could get you the wrench." She grabbed the wrench he had indicated, a slim chrome thing, and handed it to him.

She looked around the lab, especially at the strange machine. "So, what exactly is it that you're doing in here? I mean, I don't know a whole lot about mechanics, but that's an FF-579 proto-receiver, and you would only need the 579 if you were collecting a lot of juice. And your source-definer isn't augmented properly, see how its wave pattern isn't lining up right?"

He was pretty old, she noticed. Old enough to be a mentor.

An idea began to grow in her mind. "I can help you," she said. "I've been down there quite a while. I know where the power is. And maybe you...maybe you could help me find someone?"

[Rider]

[glow=red,2,300]The Saucy Elephant[/glow]

"I'm sorry, Jina, but Mr. Genre-savvy is right on this one," Rider said. "Also, if you're looking for your fourth wall, it's getting smashed at the bar. By the way, we're vulnerable sitting here, surrounded by so many minds, as as a matter of fact, yes, I am a little jumpy. Tends to happen after one's gone toe-to-toe with Death. And lost."

She drained her glass and shot the barkeep a tip across the counter. "I know it sounds odd, maybe a little unreasonable, but you'll have to trust me on this one."

((Leaving this open. If you follow me, follow me, if you don't, don't.))


[glow=red,2,300]Tabloid Town Port[/glow]

Rider felt a little dishonest, spying on Hunty from a distance. Well, she was a pirate. She always felt a little dishonest. However, this was different. this was... what was the word... wrong.

It's only natural, one part of her brain said. The last time you saw that stripey lady, she was trying to kill you.

No, said her rational mind, the last time you saw that stripey lady, she was fighting by your side at Spacefleet. And, as I recall, taking a lot of crud on your account.

"Riiiider, what are we waiting for?" Shiva whined.

"Shh, shut up. What is that thing she's talking to?"

"I dunno, is it food?"

"Shut up!"

"You just asked me a question."

Rider was very aware that Hunty could hear her. If she couldn't, the captain's hearing was going at a younger age than she thought.

[Deleted]

Tabloid Town

So far, not so good. One of the people was indeed suspicious of "Bird", and was demanding a very good answer - otherwise she could probably forget about living as well as infiltration. Oh hell! I shouldn't have spoken. Too late to go back now...

"You're right," Kwoi called, trying to project her voice. "It isn't a coincidence. If--" Nonono, asking this woman to get off me isn't gonna work. "Okay, I was watching you guys fighting that creature for a little while. So I was on one of those roofs when one of you - the one with the lamp - suggested getting the lamp. Thought I'd help, but I kinda... didn't think of the lamp possibly being stuck."

The not-bird paused, deciding to wait for the others to speak before she did so again.

*

The human woman was quiet for a moment, before briefly talking to a small blue furry critter about small blue furry critters. Hang on. Since when am I a "small blue furry critter"? I know about blue and furry, but-- Nasue lifted her arm to check.

No sleeve. Her hands and fingers were the wrong shape. No watch.

She looked at the rest of her. No clothes. Her entire body was the wrong shape. The stuff in her pockets - and the messenger bag - was most likely gone with where the clothes would be. And she didn't remember being this small...

Oh. [EDIT]. No.

But there were more pressing matters to attend to, like the human speaking to her again. And this time it was filled with bad news. The Underdeep? Impending panic? Demons? More of those things? It was going to be dark soon - in roughly forty minutes, no less? The lobster?

Don'tpanicdon'tpanicdon'tpanic! Don'trunawaydon'trunawaydon'trunaway!

So on top of somehow being transformed from a sapient humanoid coati who wore clothes into a regular coati with human-level intelligence and the ability to speak (it might've had something to do with the water), Nasue was hearing about impending doom, her ordinary world being threatened, having to leave that ordinary world (which she'd done before), no longer being able to enjoy fried bugs, and--

An offer to escape?

"Name's Huntress. I'm a pirate, that white ship over there is mine. Care to come with us? You'll be as safe as it gets under the worst-case scenario circumstances and we're currently a little shorthanded."

The coati looked at the White Weewoo, then back to Huntress, then into space, clearly trying to think it over. But when it came to fear and safety, some people were easy to convince.

"O-okay. I'll--I'll come along."

With that, she awkwardly managed to stand up. Nasue nearly stumbled - she wasn't used to walking quadrapedally - but she recovered fairly quick.

"Nasuella Lagan, by the way. P-people call me Nasue."

[Bacon]

Merc Choppa

Clint was only slightly fazed by the explosion. Sure, he lost his home, but he was used to loss. Besides, it was only number four on the list of the most intense escapes he'd ever made; number five if his pre-service life was included.

"Tabloid Town sounds good. And I'm Jernath... in case any of you don't know me already."

Clint nodded. "And I'm Clint, Clint Thunder. Nice to meet you all." Turning to Scar and Jernath, he abruptly switched subjects. "I disagree. Tabloid Town is a civvie area, we need to find more fighters. There's something going on here, and I sure don't want us to be all on our own in all of it. I suggest finding either the Knights or the Mages and see if we can come to some sort of pact or treaty."

[Moonlight]

~Skies above Merc Base~

Wilhelm got comfortable in the window seat, looking out said window at the destruction of the forest below. Still didn't know what the thing was...But that question was getting old.

He though about the (meager)money he had in his room, still in the bag. The books, too-

-insert realistic explosion sounds-

Well, that would solve the problem if the clamor was what he assumed it was. Unfortunately. Glancing around the copter for the first time and stiffening himself at the jolt of the explosion, he realized there weren't as many fellow mercenaries as he thought there was. And, now they were introducing themselves.

"I'm Wilhem...Wilhelm Bennett," he added to the list of introductions, laying the black staff on his lap(his only possession now, it seemed), "Though I'm new, so admittedly I don't know a lot of you that much." He looked at Scar, Jernath, Clint, and the other two who hadn't introduced themselves yet.

"Tabloid Town, huh?" he murmured to himself. Wilhelm hadn't been there very often, and the few visits he had were rather short. But, who knows?

Perhaps they could find some information there. And with talk of mages and knights and all, the more confusing it was getting...

----------

~Mage Manor~

Standing back alert, Liyer shook himself free of the remaining debris. "You know, I'd ask what's going on, but I don't think I'd really get a helpful answer," he said, actually somewhat frustrated for once.

But that could probably be attributed to being smacked into a wall at high-speed. Thank goodness nothing broke, huh?

He glanced warily up at the two figures from the basement, who obviously looked relieved, if a bit surprised, that they were now free. Good for them.

Liyer was about to walk closer to examine everyone else, but only managed a few steps farther before feeling the world turn all the way upside down, getting darker when he took focus off of it. Well, frankly, that's not good.

Then he crumpled to the stone floor in a furry heap before being able to think another word.