Guild Wars III Roleplay (Rated T)

[Scar]

- Mercenary Base -

DING!

The elevator door rumbled open and Scar found himself in the little waiting room outside the normally barred armory. Kicking aside the dropped cans, he strode urgently down the narrow hallway connecting to the kitchen. Earthquakes were not uncommon in these parts and even then only tiny tremors that rattled the cutlery. This one was big and he was increasingly worried about the others' safety.

"Hey, anyone in here?" he called out, poking his head into the kitchen and hoping to see the rest quivering under a table. They were not and the kitchen was devoid of mercenaries, which was strange because the mercs loved the place. Stepping gingerly past the broken plates, his keen ears picked up a distant roar coming in the direction of the main lobby.

Running as fast as he could, Scar soon arrived at the lobby where a few mercs were milling about, staring out past the front door.

"Now what in blue blazes is going on here!" he demanded gruffly, trying to push his way past. "And what's this racket -- oh."

Scar had never bothered memorizing every page of the 'Mercenary Handbook to the World' but he sure as heck would've remembered any mention of a 'big, black swirly thingy with tentacles that eats trees'. There was none and even worse it was getting closer. Worse still was the few people he assumed were mercs facing it.

There was only one thing to do in these situations, as page 42 of the Handbook stated. In this case, it involved the Osprey they kept covered up in the aircraft hangar.

"RUN!" he shouted, before adding. "GET TO THE CHOPPA"

- Brassport -

It wasn't that bad actually. He had a rather good view of the city, though he was curious to note that the castle was gone and that, hey, were those hills there before, and why was there a new river flowing through Copperfield Street and --

"Are you alright up there, mister?"

Oscar looked down at the growing group of people, mostly curious engineers as well as several children.

"Why yes I am quite alright, thank you for asking," he answered pleasantly, trying his best to bow. His leather belt gave an audible squeak of protest.

"Do ye want to come down from there, sir?" This time it was one of the engineers, who presently a rather large wrench.

"I might, what's it to you, good sir?"

The engineer, who was obviously an engineer because only engineers wore those ridiculously stereotypical overalls, scratched his head. "Cos' it looks to me ye might be rather uncomfortable hanging all the way up there by yer trousers."

When Oscar remained mum on the issue he continued. "And well, the master isn't very pleased at yer having crashed into his barge and all that and he's wanting ... erm, remunerations or somewhat."

Ah, there it was.

"Ah in that case I'd rather stay up here if it's all the same to you," Oscar replied in a jolly tone.

"What? On the rafters? Are ye daft?"

"I feel perfectly fine, good sir, and I dare say I have a great view of the city from up here."

"Do ye now?"

"Aye! Did you know that Copperfield Street is flooding for example?"

"I did not know that --"

"And that the palace, dear me, doesn't seem to be where it is?"

"Folks been talkin' 'bout that. They say we're not where we are. Transported they say. It's gone all mystical says some."

"Magic, mister!" chimed in one of the younger street rats

"You don't say," Oscar said thoughtfully.

"Now see 'ere," said the engineer. "Ye can't stay up there all day. Ye gotta come down at some point. Ye don't have anything to eat or drink up there!"

"Actually I've heard pigeons are quite edible, if a little gamy, and rainwater doesn't taste too sooty on a clear day ..."

"Now yer just pulling my leg, sir!"

"And I'm content staying up here, thank you good sir!"

"Maybe he's a magical faerie!"

"Shush child! He's no magical faerie!"

"I could well be! I did fall from the sky."

"Faeries don't fall from the sky! They ... they grow from the ground!"

"That's goblins, mister!"

"Point is," spluttered the exasperated engineer. "My boys have this 'ere net and we could catch ye if ye jump but Mister Pennybottom, whose ship ye crashed into, is making the boys and I keep the net away till ye make, erm, remunerations. Cos' he's paying the boys and I a pretty gold cog for it too."

"That's mighty generous of him, good sir."

"Oh yes sir!"

"Problem is," Oscar began amicably. "I can't exactly pay ye ... your Mister Pennybottom till I get down safely and if I understand correctly he won't let me down till I pay him."

"Aye. Quite a Catch 22, sir," replied the engineer with surprising wisdom.

"Quite. That's why I think I'll stay up here a little longer to ponder my fate, if that's alright with you good sir?" Oscar answered cheerily with a winning smile. The leather gave another creak.

The engineer rubbed the bridge of his eyes and started a hushed conversation with a tubby little man next to him. Oscar imagined that would be the Mister Pennybottom. Lovely.

And so he dangled high above the crowd, spinning slowly this way and that in the light breeze. In a way, he was more an angel than a faerie, he mused to himself.

Then a pigeon landed on the rafter above him and he could feel it pecking at his belt.

Lovely.

[Huntress]

((Woods near Tabloid Town))

"It was Hunty... It felt like a dream. But it must have been real."

Bloody Mary's eyes widened.

"What - Hunty? Killed you? Okay, I don't put it past her, she's not exactly gumdrops and sunshine when in a mood, but when, praytell? We docked in Tabloid Town just this morning, I spent the entire day hanging around on her shoulder, she spent the last couple hours doing her hair and last I saw her, she was doing-" he made something like a grimace. "Well, was a little on the busy side. Hasn't been out of the city all day. If she's learned to teleport in the meantime, she'd better tell me, my nose always itches something terrible when I'm around magic."

He huffed, feeling the rush of adrenaline pass. Dang, had he really escaped the Underdeep unscathed?

...except it was still there, looming in that cave, and still most definitely stronger than it commonly was.

"O-kay," he said. "No, I'm not with Hunty, but I really should be. Take me to the city harbor, pier 17, full speed, will you? And then go to-" He stopped. He was in no position to give orders. "I mean, um. It'd be real nice if you went to the Weewoo after that. She's one of the safest places to be in at times of excessive Underdeep. And see... you could see how many of them went to the city and maybe go find them and pick them up, if you don't think it too dangerous, I've no clue what state the city itself is in right now, there are a couple entrances there as well."

[Deleted]

Outside the Brassport Assembly Hall >> Brassporrt Aerodrome

“Asta. It’s lovely to meet you.” Again, Sarinon inclined her head respectfully. She listened to the voices of the children for a moment and gained some small understanding of the situation. The young ones thought it was a great laugh and had run to fetch their friends when they’d seen it.

Sarinon turned to Emily. “Let us talk a walk to the Aerodrome, you and I. Asta, you are welcome to follow, though I doubt we’ll be long.” She rose from her seat outside the hall and began to pick her careful way through the crowded street. She did exceedingly well for her lack of sight, not even needing Emily’s assistance to pick the best way through the jostling crowds.

She wasn’t sure if Asta had followed or not, but it really didn’t matter. She smiled as she walked, feeling a little stronger for the rest. She made a mental note to thank Emily for forcing her to sit down later on. The momentary distraction in her thoughts meant she wasn’t paying enough attention to the noises around her. She almost collided with another person, stumbled and stretched out a hand to catch herself. She grazed her palm against the cobbles and gasped in pain.

Straightening herself up, she sighed in frustration. She felt Emily at her side, knew that the maid was offering her arm as a guide, but if Sarinon’s Feberi blood had manifested in one way, it was her pride. She ignored Emily and continued on, taking care to listen extra closely for the footfalls that told her where people were.

A clamour of sound reached her ears. A band of ragged children and the distinct gruff voices of a few men. There was one other voice too, though she couldn’t make out what was being said until she rounded the corner. She had a vague impression of a group of people and Emily hurried to tell her what had bought them together. Sarinon recognized the voice of an engineer.

“Bren? Brendon Harvey?” she asked, just to be sure.

“Lady Sarinon!” he exclaimed, his gruff tone gone in an instant. “I’ve not seen you around for a long time, miss.”

“No,” she replied, not bothering to explain. Instead, she walked forward, careful to hitch up her dress as she stepped carefully over what seemed to be rubble and wreckage. There was something dangling in the air, she could see the shape outlined against the cloudy sky and knew that it was a human. She had heard that particular human talking in a suave and cheery voice. She could smell a hint of male scent and knew that it wouldn’t be coming from the band of rag-tag children or the rusty engineers. She crinkled her nose slightly at the smell as scorn began to rise in her.

She turned back to the engineer. “Bren, what happened.”

“Well, m’lady, this here scallywag owes Mr Pennybottom his cogs, y’see. Destroyed his ship. He’s a-wantin’ his remunerations.”

For some reason, the engineer’s tone had become rather sheepish. Sarinon was about to inquire how Mr Pennybottom’’s ship was destroyed when another voice cut it. She guessed this must be Mr Pennybottom, an indignant man with a perpetually whiny voice that had an odd nasally tone to it as if he had a cold.

“That scruffy excuse for a human being destroyed my pride and joy and I’ll not rest until he’s paid his way and worked his time. I will not have it!”

Mr Pennybottom’s voice grew squeakier the more he used it, so Sarinon decided to cut him short before only the dogs would be able to hear him.

“How much will the repairs cost you, good sir?”

“Aaah, somewhere in the region of …” he did a quick calculation of how much he could swindle off this middle-class woman. “280 golden cogs.”

Sarinon scoffed at him. “Those are some expensive repairs you’ll be having. I will pay you 210 golden cogs, no more, no less.”

Mr Pennybottom pondered her offer for a moment and then decided to cut his losses. He turned on his heel and stormed away, shouting over his shoulder to have the money sent to his mansion. Sarinon smiled at the sweet taste of one victory fresh off the field, and at the prospect of another looming nearer.

She turned back to the hanging man, ignored up until this point, gazed up at him and smiled, trying to make out his features. “Bren, why don’t you get a polenet ready and have one of your men at the strain ropes. This beam isn’t structural, we can afford for it to be broken.” Hoping that her fellow engineer had understood, she moved back and gazed directly at the man.

“One might suppose you would be an angel, only angels hold more dignity. I doubt we would see one dangling so comically for us,” she said in a very friendly manner. Bren called to another engineer who slid a knife through a support rope. The beam dropped suddenly down a few inches but remained stable and still a good way off the ground. Sarinon smiled once more. This was the most fun she had had in a very long time.

[The Horsemen]

A man was walking home over the fields, whistling a happy tune.

He was a sturdy man, tanned and red-faced, with short sandy hair and eyes that could have been green just as well as grey. He was carrying an axe and a big bundle of twigs, and he didn't seem to have a care in the world.

He looked like a friendly barkeeper, and that's exactly what he was, the owner of a small bar by the main road that led to Dunburrow. It was a good location, with forests and picturesque hills and bluebirds singing in the summers. It was the kind of place where you want to bring your children up, work on the fields while singing a song containing words like 'I'm working on the fields', and grow old with your spouse. It was the kind of happy landscape that tempts fate for horrible catastrophies and earthquakes simply by existing.

Fate stopped by every once in a while. It was always in for a nasty surprise.

The man reached his tavern, a small stone building that kept its windows open and tables full most of the time, and was about to turn towards the back door when he stopped dead on his tracks and remained staring at the horse.

There were always horses tied to the hitching rail in front of the inn. After a while you learned to predict something about the newcomers by their horses. Sometimes you saw an old, thin hack and knew that you were about to be ordered a nice big meal that cost as little as possible, and you'd add a little more potatoes and take a little less money than usual. Sometimes you'd see a proud sleek stallion with fancy bridles and knew that you were in for a good laugh on the expense of some pompous nobleman offspring. Sometimes you saw a completely ordinary horse that didn't stick out in any way, shape or form, cross-my-heart, nothing-sneaky-here, and knew that the health inspection was making its yearly raids again.

And sometimes you saw one of these.

This horse was huge. Not fat, just built on a bigger template than the average steed. It was white - and this really was white, actually albino. There was a lot of leather, a lot of iron and a lot in the saddlebags. This horse had come a really long way.

The man entered through the front door, eyeing the horse carefully. It seemed friendly. Well, that's a slight chance that the rider was in a good mood, at least.

There was less hubbub in the tavern than usually and the reason for that was sitting at the bar. It was a blonde woman in sensible half-riding, half-office clothes. Her hair was in a bun. This alone spoke volumes.

Lone women often got hit on in bars, but this one had Official Business written all over her. The customers seemed slightly hostile. Another health inspector or tax officer? In our bar?

The barkeeper, knowing far better than that, edged behind the counter, dropped his twigs and axe over the kitchen door and turned around to hang something he took from his belt on a hook by the shelves.

"Pestilence, Third Horseman of the Apocalypse," the woman's voice said behind his back.

Pestilence calmly finished hanging the white coronet, then turned around.

"Retired," he said. "Important difference, that. And we never had actual ranks either, 'sides Death."

The woman had, predictably enough, cold blue eyes and a stern face. There was an A4 folder on the counter in front of her.

"You have been sent a message," she said. "These papers, to be precise. You're expected to read them as soon as possible, sign and report to the given location."

Pestilence craned his neck. The top paper read 'Reinstation Agreement'.

"Active duty," he said, deadpan. "They're calling me back."

"Yes," said the messenger.

"Thought so." The man picked up a beer mug and began to clean it. "Yeah, sorry. I'll pass this one."

"...What?"

"You already have four," said Pestilence. "No more, no less. Sure, TMC is kinda incapacitated at the moment, but he exists and that's what counts. I can't come in. I'd throw off the balance."

Valkyries are excellent messengers. They've been in active duty for hundreds of years and that alone makes most of their targets cave in out of sheer horror; that, and the legends about the old days that were equal parts messenger-work and bashing heads are fully true. But Horsemen have been on duty a lot longer and, as an important difference, have far more power.

"Look," said the valkyrie, starting to feel uncomfortably out of control of the situation and unsure about how much info she could reveal, "TMC is currently unable to perform his duties. Mere existence of a Horseman is no longer enough."

The cloth paused its cleaning. "You mean, an Apocalypse is coming?" Her face alone was enough of an answer. "Man, again? These guys seem to get those every single year."

"The previous one was prevented," the valkyrie pointed out. "Death overstepped his boundaries."

"I know, I was there," said the Horseman. "TMC did it first. Balancing act. If there hadn't been for him, the Apocalypse hadn't even been pending. I heard the higher-ups invited Death over for coffee over this lil incident, as it were." He started to giggle all of a sudden. "And I also heard that Death told them that if they got too hung up on this, he'd get this terrible urge to shove his scythe up their-"

"Yes," the woman said with a voice as dry as a mummy. "I know. This... doesn't concern me." Aha, backing out. "But this time it's different. Surely you've noticed that the Underdeep is expanding?"

"Yeah, I've noticed," Pestilence said dismissively. "Annoying little thing. There was an entrance in the woods nearby, made for good stories to keep the kids away from the wells and forests and mudpits. It expanded a mile or so over the last few days, so I went and closed it. Might've been bad for business."

It takes a lot to make a valkyrie lose her composure and this was exactly one of those times. The woman nearly jumped up. "You did what?"

Pestilence stared back at her. "Closed an interdimensional rift? Even cooking is harder than that."

"To the Underdeep?"

"Look, I have a copy of the retirement contract. They let me choose one perk as a sign of gratitude for my long years of servitude, I chose to keep all my powers. I'm retired, I'm no longer accountable for anything I do in front of your bigwig court, I'm on par with the humans, the humans are stupid and harmless and can do whatever they want because such is the order of the universe, everything's legal. They can't argue with that." Pestilence flashed a cold grin, something he hadn't done in at least a decade. "If I wanted to shut the entire Deep off tonight, I could."

"Now you're bluffing," said the valkyrie. "You know that they'd take steps after that regardless of-" She caught the final word at the last moment, but Pestilence's grin was already getting wider.

"Rules," he whispered. "Yes, I know. And now they want me in active duty so that they'd have de facto power over me, want it so badly that they're willing to risk the balance, should TMC find a way to break out. The Underdeep is too unpredictable even for them, and too powerful even for them, and they're taking stupid risks now." Upon seeing the sheer, unbridled fear in the woman's eyes, he softened a bit. "Don't worry, girl, no extra words ever escape these four walls. I'm one of the old boys. I grew used to working back when we still had honor." He straightened his back. "Do you know where to find the other three?"

"Of course," said the valkyrie. "But-"

"If I'm to return," said Pestilence, "they have to know. And I'm discussing it with them before making my decision. This is how it was always done, this is the rules, heck, this is older than the rules. Are we clear? You girls are good messengers. I know that you can get them here by, say, tomorrow morning?"

The valkyrie nodded as haughtily as she dared. When she left, nobody at the tavern seemed to notice her. Of course, none of them had heard a word of their conversation either.

Pestilence stared blankly at the wall for a moment, then put the mug down, turned the folder the right way up on the counter, had a look at the contract clauses and then took a pencil.

"Jerks," he muttered.

[Jina]

Somewhere Near Tabloid Town
The adventurers were in a large grassy space. They were, in fact, very close to Tabloid Town, but they couldn't see it, because the grass was just that tall.

Halin was holding a hand over his eyes, to avoid the grass from poking him in the eye. "You know, I'm really glad I don't have hay fever." Then, he stopped. The rest of the adventurers immediately got into a combat stance, realising that Halin had sensed something.

However, their weapons did little for them, since the ground opened wide, and they fell into a cave.

The Underdeep
Halin opened his eyes. Above him, the hole where they had fallen through was still wide open. It lit open the area around him, but beyond that the light seemed to be.. swallowed. He could see walls in all directions but one. He was in a dead end.

Everyone else was still unconcious from the fall. He stood up, and carefully tried walking down the dark passageway. Soon, he couldn't see anything at all, but he could feel something right next to him. He tried grabbing it, but touched nothing.

Then he realised that there was something wrong. He had thought he was still in a single passageway, but he felt no wall around him. He carefully tried turning completely around on himself, but there was a wall in front of him. Everything had changed...

There was a pair of eyes. Or something. He didn't exactly know how he could tell they were there, since everything was still pitch black, but there was definitely something nearby. He didn't draw his sword, not trusting the walls not to get in his way. Instead, he tried to pounce on the eyes. He jumped through nothing. Something was behind him. He turned, but it was gone.

And then there was light. Or, at the very least, less darkness. He started to make out shapes around him. He saw some kind of an imp, with huge horns.

Oh gods, those things possess people...

The other adventurers were behind it. All awake. But there were imps behind them, too, and his precgonition told him they were about to attack. "Look out!"

The other adventurers turned around, only for the imps to go straight into their eyes and take control. And the imp in front of him... didn't attack. It just sat there. Something was up. It knew he could see it coming...

So they had surrounded him. He could see it now, the imps all flying in, all trying to get at him. He threw his fists around a few times, trying to hit something, but nothing worked. He felt his thoughts get pushed to the back of his mind. Something else was in here, and it had taken control.

The last thing he saw before he was completely without anything but his thoughts was the cave, rearranging itself into a staircase so that the newly possesed adventurers could go out into the world, and destroy...

The Saucy Elephant
Hello everybody, my name is Goosh, and I will be your pilot for today. Thank you for taking Godmode airways. We will be taking off for Tabloid Town in just a few minutes. I would like to remind you that there is no smoking, and that you should be buckled up whenever the seatbelt light is on. There will now be a short safety demonstration.

((Don't worry Goosh, I don't mind. =P We needed to move somewhere anyways. >.>))

Jina was at the bar, apparently. However, between this being one of them high end fancy clubs, and her having forgotten her fake ID, she wasn't allowed alcohol. So, she ordered the most complicated drink without it that she could think of, just to annoy the barman. It tasted horrible, but it was worth it.

She looked around and spotted Zylaa and Goosh heading out a side door. Then she ordered another drink, decided she was bored, and got up to walk- or, rather, get pushed- around.

Annoying the barman was more fun, so she went back to the bar and waited for Zylaa and Goosh to come back.

Brassport Assembly Hall
Owen arrived at the Assembly Hall, and looked around for someone he knew. When that plan failed, he looked around for somewhere to stand around. ...Why is this place so busy, anyway? He picked a spot, and relaxed, waiting for Mr. Blackstone to arrive.

[Deleted]

Ninja Dojo

"Well, we should probably get going, then. Since you offered to be the leader, Kovaran, perhaps you should lead the way..."

This was met by a grin and a nod from the huge reptile, although Kovaran's face was more serious than before. Perhaps that was a good thing. He, Cital and PFA had a mission, and it was time to get moving.

"Yes. Let us!"

(At least one Ninja NPC facepalmed at Kovaran's complete lack of contractions.)

Leaving the assembly room and (presumably) leading the other two in his team, the Big Loud Lizard purposefully walked towards the exit of the Dojo. Soon, they would reach it and leave the Dojo, and then...

Only now did Kovaran realise he didn't know where he was supposed to be going.

This train of thought didn't get the chance to get started, though, as some strangers walked into the dojo. They looked at him with rather wide eyes.

"Um, excuse me," one of them began. Kovaran looked at them.

"We are messengers from Dunburrow. We came here to investigate if the Dojo took any damage from the earthquake."

And Kovaran's sharp, leader-like response to that?

...

"There was an earthquake?"

Well, that explained why it hadn't bothered him.

--

Tabloid Town

One of the people had managed to kill the creature - with one knife thrown into the eye. If she'd had lips, Kwoiffei would have whistled. Now these were the kinds of people she'd been looking for... or were they? You never knew who someone really was until they were under pressure.

Well, this was a time when people were under pressure.

The people began talking amongst themselves, wondering how to make sure that the beast was well and truly dead. At first the shapeshifter had the idea of turning into giant bird of prey and ripping it apart with giant talons, but then one of the humans suggested grabbing the lamp from a nearby lamp-post and bringing it over.

... This is PERFECT. No way am I going to pass this up!

First, Kwoiffei - still disguised as a brown-feathered bird of prey - screeched the stereotypcal eagle's cry to get their attention. After a few seconds, she took flight. In little time she reached the lamp, grabbed the top of it with her talons, and--

It was fixed to the post.

She hadn't thought of that.

Kwoi did manage to save herself from getting hurt, luckily. Landing fairly roughly on the ground, the not-a-bird grumbled inwardly. That was a nice way to mess up your grand entrance, that was for sure. And they'd probably be suspicious of the timing, too.

*

"Why did you betray us?!"

"Don't talk to me like that! You know what you did -- you betrayed me!"

"Wh--"

"I know what you're going to say. Making a promise and then breaking it behind my back counts!"

I want revenge.

I want to run away.

I want revenge.

I want to r--

Nasue's head bumped against something. Almost automatically she lifted her arm to rub where she'd hit her head--

Wait. That felt like she was moving her arm underwater.

She allowed herself to open one eye.

...

Oh. Hell. No.

What do you know -- she was underwater. It was hard to see anything, but a quick look around showed that she must have sunk a fair way; the hulls of dozens of boats and ships were above her, blocking their shares of the fading light.

For some reason the coati wasn't on the verge of panic. This was likely a good thing, considering that she'd done enough panicking to warrant a species change to "rabbit" in one day. Also, there was the very real risk of drowning -- a risk which was a bit too close for her liking.

Taking another look around, she finally saw what it was that had knocked her conscious. And her jaw dropped.

No, really, her jaw had very good reason to drop. Because what she saw was downright unbelieveable.

What the HELL is a giant lobster exoskeleton doing here?!

The enormous arthropod stared at her from below. If lobsters could blink, this one would have been unable to, for it would've lost its eyelids. But since Nasue didn't know anything about crustacean anatomy, she wouldn't know if a total lack of blinking was normal for these animals. Regardless, it was creepy.

It went without saying that the blue-furred one was surprised. Even more so when it gently grabbed her and moved her close to a cable next to a white ship's hull. Once it let go, she looked down.

An anchor.

A second later the coati started climbing -- climbing -- vision getting blurry -- almost there--

Air! Breaking the surface, Nasue gulped some much-welcomed air. Then she started coughing up water. Clutching the cable with one hand and with the other on her chest, she somehow made the effort to keep above sea level while emptying her lungs of sea water.

Shh--my ribs!

But she couldn't remain there forever. She knew that.

Climbing back into the water, she dog-paddled her way over to a nearby pier. One climb later, the coati was kneeling on the wooden planks, still coughing up water and clutching her chest.

Three guesses what the white ship's name was, and three guesses which pier it was close to.

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

“Any ideas on how to make sure it’s dead?”

Vyt gritted his teeth. He did not like being ignored at all, but most especially when he was being compromised. He shouted, "I said MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"

Finally losing his patience for the two, Vyt barged right between Shade and Amneiger's 'conversation' and whizzed through them. His hands shone with that familiar yellowish white glow. Noticing something jammed by the creature's head, he immediately went for the dagger stuck on it.

If Shade wanted to make sure the creature was dead, he will try to make that happen.

"Just a little more push..."

Vyt brought both hands together, fusing the two lumps of pure energy he was able to concentrate earlier. He reached out for the dagger and, feeling the handle with his fingertips, forced it even deeper in.

The creature now looked like it was nailed through its head into the ground. The catboy somehow found his grip by the dagger's handle and did not let go. He wanted to confirm its death, the constant squirming that sent its force through the dagger telling him it was still alive.

"Shhh," Vyt mocked the creature. "It'll be all over soon..."

[Kiddo]

Of all the places... Kiddo warily crawled into a crouch, casting quick looks about the room. Apparently no one had touched it. There was a pile of debris that used to to be the ceiling that she was kneeling in, and the cloud of dust was slowly settling over even more dust. Hell, she even supposed that if she checked the teapot, there would probably be some sort of sentient mold that had evolved from any leftover tea from the time she had left. At least they'd left her weapons alone. She knew by now that the spear she carried was useless... to her, at least.

Moving quickly, she grabbed some gear. Sword. It hurt where the strap rested over the remains of the wings but she had long ago resigned herself to that. Knives. Shuriken. Caltrops. All the gear she was used to carrying. It felt awkward. It'd really been that long? For a moment she hesitated, eying the closet. No. She didn't have time to play dressup. Besides, it wasn't like she was about to play for subtlety here. They would just have to deal with a ragged, smelly, Kiddo who looked like she'd just crawled out of the grave. Repeatedly.

The doors to a room that had long been shut burst open in yet another poof of dust. For a moment Kiddo stood there, then stalked down familiar hallways towards the courtyard. She slammed the spear against the ground and it seemed to resonate, like a musical note.

"ALRIGHT," she shouted, her voice loud and hoarse from unuse, "Who the hell is in charge here and what is going on that the Gray Lands would dump me here!"?"

Through the roof, no less.

[Ikkin]

Ikkin listened as the other mages discussed the possibility of going back into the Underdeep to rescue the two who had been taken, and mused about how little she could help, even after all the time she spent there. It wasn't so much that she lacked knowledge, though; there was simply only so much one could do when one's opponent wasn't even real.

However, when Omni started talking about the way the Underdeep worked, Ikkin felt she had to cut in.

"Knowing the Underdeep, it's something from fears," Omni said. "That's what the Underdeep does, it finds your fears and makes them real. And they're usually invulnerable. Even if we found a weakness, I wouldn't go in there without a mind shield... Which I can make. Still, I don't want to go in unless we're sure, and probably not from here."

"Actually," Ikkin said, "The Underdeep itself doesn't have the power to make your fears invulnerable, if you're not afraid that it's invulnerable. The problem is, it draws from our collective fears, rather than any particular person's... and if you have enough people, someone's bound to fear invulnerability."

She paused, remembering just how well that knowledge had served her during her long stay there.

"If we're going to attempt a rescue, we're going to need to have our rescue team be as small as possible. Preferably, it would be two people," she said. "I'm not sure if this would work, but... it might be possible that one person's fears could be dominant in what the Underdeep sends, if they were a lot more scared. In that case, it might be possible to keep the Underdeep's creations to a manageable level."

Then again... "I'm not entirely sure that'll still work, though... the Underdeep is just so much stronger now."

[Ian Wolf-Park]

Mage Manor

Lupehunter listened carefully to what the other mages had to say. It did make sense to him that the Underdeep relied on fears. However, there was one thing that kept on bothering him, so he decided to ask just to be on the safe side.

"Would the Underdeep do the same thing to an animal?" he asked, specifically looking towards the mage with the phoenix. He had something in mind, but he needed confirmation.

[Ikkin]

"Would the Underdeep do the same thing to an animal?" asked a guy who Ikkin wasn't familiar with, but had a strong aura of wolf about him. She suspected she knew why he would ask that kind of question.

"It'll do the same thing to anything that's capable of fear, at least," Ikkin said. "And I'm not positive that's even a requirement. I've never seen it react to lower life-forms, but that doesn't mean it can't use something there, too."

[PFA]

Outside Mercenary Base

The response Jernath got to his question--from both Sytra and Scar--was to RUN AWAAAAY. At this point, Jernath certainly wasn't about to protest this. Because as much as he'd like to, there really wasn't much he had up his sleeve against ominous black voids that were now spitting out living fire.

So RUN AWAAAAY was exactly what Jernath did. Scar had indicated the choppa, so that's where Jernath decided to go, beckoning the others to follow. "Hurry!"

---

Ninja Dojo

There were some messengers from Castle Kestrel at the door, asking if the Dojo had sustained any damage from the earthquake. Kovaran seemed completely unaware that there had been an earthquake at all, interestingly enough. PFA wondered how he could have possibly missed it, but then decided not to dwell on it.

"I'm not aware of the Dojo taking any damage," PFA piped in, "but then I suppose I haven't really looked... maybe you can take a quick look around, just in ca--"

PFA was interrupted by the sound of hoarse shouting coming from the courtyard. She blinked. The voice seemed familiar somehow, and yet... no, perhaps it was just her imagination. Or was it?

"Uh, maybe we should check that out," PFA suggested, heading toward the courtyard and beckoning anyone who wanted to to follow. Someone was there, she realized, and they didn't sound happy. And that was never a good combination.

Upon arriving at the courtyard in question, what she was greeted with came as a surprise. It was almost hard to tell, since she looked so worn down, but their visitor seemed to be...

"...Kiddo-sensei?" PFA asked, incredulous.

[Omni]

Spacefleet - medical bay

"Hello, this is Professor Amneiger. I can't talk right now; if you need me, I'm in Tabloid Town on personal business."

Ethan's expression changed as he listened to the recording. "Tabloid Town. That means he's planetside." He turned to the Frycook again. "Sorry."

*****

Mage Manor - near basement

"Actually," Ikkin said, "The Underdeep itself doesn't have the power to make your fears invulnerable, if you're not afraid that it's invulnerable. The problem is, it draws from our collective fears, rather than any particular person's... and if you have enough people, someone's bound to fear invulnerability.

"If we're going to attempt a rescue, we're going to need to have our rescue team be as small as possible. Preferably, it would be two people. I'm not sure if this would work, but... it might be possible that one person's fears could be dominant in what the Underdeep sends, if they were a lot more scared. In that case, it might be possible to keep the Underdeep's creations to a manageable level."

Omni blinked. "Really? Well, even so, I think mind shields might help keep it from reading more fears and making them real." She paused. "It's too bad it doesn't seem to only make one kind of thing at a time. I think we could do pretty well against an army of half-slugs.[/i]

"I'm not entirely sure that'll still work, though... the Underdeep is just so much stronger now."

"Yeah... Even with mind-protection, I don't think we'd have much protection against what's already there." She paused again. "It's gotta have some sort of weakness, though. Light... Hope..." She looked over at Sev. "Phoenix song, maybe?"

[Deleted]

<<Mage Manor>>

Aly gritted her teeth. If I fear anything, it's not something anyone but me can fight.

Lika's right...I really am egotistical, thinking thins like that. But still, if they could do something..."I'll go," she said abruptly, thinking up her reasons about as quickly as she spoke them. "If someone can produce fears stronger than mine--something material, preferably--then we're good to go. If not..." she glanced down at the Felyr by her side, "...then Lika can rein me in." The cat nodded in agreement. "Anyone else?"

<<Brassport>>
Asta did follow, trailing after with her hands stuffed in her pockets. She shivered again, and wriggled her shoulders to try and get some warmth into them. Dang. Maybe she'd come into contact with more harmful substances than she'd guessed. I'm not eating until I've scrubbed my hands for a good half-hour, she thought. At least that.

Sarinon fell, and Asta started to reach out and help to pull her up, but her attendant was quicker and the woman didn't seem to want the assistance in the first place. Shrugging, Asta stayed a few steps back and watched the other guild member. A little proud, she guessed, but she seems to be nice enough, so it's not bad. The young woman tucked it away in her mind as a note.

She couldn't help but burst in laughter at the sight of the 'hanging man', though she did have enough sense to swiftly stifle it with a hand. Sarinon was off and speaking to another man, another engineer from the looks of it. At another newcomer's arrival, Asta felt a tic of irritation at hearing his voice, automatically pinning him as a pompous ba--no, probably shouldn't continue with that. She sighed. Sometimes, she wasn't sure if her moodiness was her own thing, or the result of messing with mercury too much. Probably both. She really did hate guys who complained so loudly.

Sarinon negotiated with him quickly, finishing the deal before Asta remembered the capsules at her waist. She had gold cogs in a pouch as well, collected from payment for her work as well as trading some transformed gold. True, she did try to keep it to alchemical or mechanical uses, but on the other hand...

For a moment, the young woman considered handing over some gold cogs to help with the costs, but stopped her hand as it reached for the pouch. Sarinon hadn't wanted help earlier, and she if she was struggling financially, she didn't show it. Do I want to insult her pride...

She shrugged and made the offer anyway, glancing at the man who was currently being lowered as she spoke. "If you're going to make an offer of goodwill, you might want to give the rest of us time to pitch in," Asta said with a hint of wryness to her voice. "I kinda have some cogs to spare." She smiled. "Think this guy is a member of the guild? Because this beats about any formal introduction I could think of. " This weirdness was almost worth it if spectacles like this happened.

[Kiddo]

For a moment, Kiddo just stared at PFA, her eyes unfocused. She finally blinked and gently shook her head.

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

She looked around the courtyard some more, as if seeing it for the first time. Finally she turned her attention back to the other ninja. It was plain to see that her wings had been decimated at some point. Whatever had cut them off, it had not been a clean job of it. Feathers still clung to scars that were still healing.

"Did you know the Gray Lands has a little bit of sentience?" she said, holding up her hand to illustrate, fingers close together, "It can be influenced by those inside it, or those on the fringes."

Kiddo narrowed her eyes.

"Or, when hell breaks loose, it can decide based on the currents of emotions that aren't even touching it. So who broke something?"