[IC] TotMV:G2: The Battered Hero

[Zetaark]

Eon

"Well, it seems these sentients are getting along. Better than more shadow variants I suppose," Eon mused to himself before floating upwards a bit and retrieving a rather large book from seemingly nowhere. After jotting a few notes, his attention is grabbed by It That Embraces. It was certainly not the type of being he ran into on a daily basis, but he wasn't too phased.

"I suppose I've yet to introduce myself. I am Eon, and that is all that needs to be said...for now," Eon announced. He was unsure as to who all of the newcomers were or what their affiliations were, so he wouldn't give them too much information yet. Still, he would observe everyone and record any particular details that he felt may be useful.

"Now then, I suppose I should see what else is around," Eon muses before floating around the area, trying to get a grasp on what was around.

((Investigates area. Anything interesting?))

Edited November 25, 2016 by Zetaark

[Chevaleresse]

Eon would note that the barren rock seems to be transitioning to some kind of ruins, with the bluish tone fading into crumbling grays and dark browns, as well as that broken clockwork becoming more frequent. Off in the distance, over the cliffs, one can see the tops of houses; it's hard to tell, but they don't appear to be in disrepair.

Oh, and there's also that bright orange and yellow chest over there.

Was that there the whole time?

[Twinwolf]

"O-Oh, hi! My name is Hikari Takino, uh... It That Embraces." Hikari says quickly in response to the rather overwhelming... being, before her.

[Zetaark]

Eon

"Well, that's something," Eon remarks, looking at the chest that's present. Seeing that nobody else has noticed it, he might as well try to open it. Which he attempts by smacking the chest with his tail.

[Chevaleresse]

The chest, somewhat improbably, pops open. It contains a map of the area.

[Strider]

Edmond caught a swift movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw the dragon, named Eon, violently slamming his tail into a chest. Huh. I must have missed that.

"You might want to be careful! What if the object contained within is fragile?"

The chest opened with a pop. Now how did that happen? Oh, a piece of paper? Well I suppose my warning was pointless then.

"Nevermind that then."

Edited November 25, 2016 by Strider

[S34N1C]

"Alright! New arrivals! The name's Theo, nice to meet ya!"

[Twei]

Was that there the whole time?

[Amusement]

Entertainment of the chest aside, It That Embraces looks to those who speak to it.

[Eon]

The self-proclaimed Primordial nods as it repeats the word in concept form. The name contains meanings of age, of timelessness, yet even it pales in comparison to the scale of '[Primordial]'s connotations. However, the 'inflection' It That Embraces puts on the concept suggests that she recognizes Eon as indeed something, by the standards of the people around them, very old, perhaps even timeless. Something that can perhaps comprehend the scale of her own existence, despite nonetheless being what she would consider a '[thin thing]'.

[Hikari Takino. Amusement, reassurance: do not fear. I am not slighted.]

'You are less than me, yes', declares the subtext of that many-faceted communication, 'but you are not beneath me'. A rather enlightened viewpoint, given that she seems to think of her companions as comparable to microbes would be to humans - ah. No, on closer reflection of the message, that metaphor isn't quite accurate. Microbes are not sentient, after all. They do not live fascinating lives or have thoughts and feelings and memories. Even though these people are so much smaller than her, they remain people, and they remain precious.

Edited November 25, 2016 by Twei

[Stalkerkain]

"So lady with the glowing eyes; do you have a name? And are you one of those vaguely evil necromancer types?"

As if that were any way to introduce one self. The fact that the person had the audacity to just walk up and ask that made her question his sanity.

"Don't say such ridiculous stuff," Magna scoffed. She wasn't quite keen on wanting to trust the others yet, as they had only just met each other perhaps an hour ago. The fact that the cloaked person had already discerned her ability was bad enough. "There's no such thing as a 'necromancer', at least not in my world. The only thing I rely on is the steel of my blade."

With the terse comment being said, she sped up her pace, to get away from the hooded man. The chances of others overhearing is high, and she would prefer not to have a conversation regarding her anatomy or occupation in such close quarters. The arachnid she had been talking to seemed to have disappeared. Pity. For the ones that cannot talk, tend to be good keepers of secrets. The corridor opened up to a more open space, where there seemed to be more signs of life. There were, however, more bodies than there were souls, indicating that there were two non-humans among the group. There was a particularly large soul that consumed up most of the space. A being of myth, a dragon. She knew she shouldn't be surprised at other oddities like herself, but it was massive. She bet its soul would taste delicious.

Yet again, everyone seemed engaged in friendly banter. It seemed as though the situation were just surreal to them, despite not knowing each others' intentions. Already some were splitting off from the main group and observing from afar. She determined it would be wise to do the same. If she were boring. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for an adventure! Except for the fact that she was already dead. But that never stopped her before! There were already people splitting off from the main group, and they seemed to be perfect candidates for making 'friends'. In particular, the person who identified themselves as 'Hellfire Knight' had already started branching off after introducing themselves. She had a tiny soul, from what Magna could tell, but it burned as brightly as anyone else.

"Hey cutie~" referring to Hiroki's soul, as Magna addressed her. "What are you doing all the way over here?"

[Shamitako]

Katsuo

Gwaedu swung back and forth angrily.

"I don't think I should translate that." Katsuo said worriedly.

Gwaedu spun about and then spoke in a robotic monotone, "My Master is not my servant, shouting whore."

Katsuo was unsurprised at the AI's rather forceful defense of him, but the fact that she actually bothered to speak that was more than a bit of a shock.

"Uhhhm." Katsuo found himself grasping for something to say as damage control, "She, doesn't usually talk because, um, there's... There's a glitch, yes, there's a glitch in her speech program that makes her say strange things. Very strange things. So if she actually talks please ignore everything she says."

Gwaedu strained in Alexandria's direction. Katsuo had no doubt that she would find a way to strangle Alexandria if she got free, despite having no appendages with which to perform the strangling.

"Calm down girl." He whispered hastily, to no effect.

He was vaguely grateful for her defense of him, even if he didn't really understand why she got so antsy. It was probably his fault, an Intelligent Device played off its master, and with how aggressive he tended to be, she was bound to pick up on it

(OOC: You have pressed the mace's berserk button. Please consult chapter thirty-three of the operations manual: Preventing Strangulation by Flying Earring)

[Strider]

The presence at the center of the group was rather overwhelming. Turning away from the dragon, Edmond introduced himself to It That Embraces.

"I'm Edmond Cooper. Should I just call you It That Embraces, or is there something shorter that you might prefer?"

[Zetaark]

Eon

"A map? Well its something useful at least," Eon remarked before picking up the map with one of his hands. His arms, while small compared to his total length, are still comparable, if not a bit longer than the standard length of human arms.

"As for me...Edmond was it? It appears these chests are mostly immune to impact. I doubt a little tap would be likely to damage the contents. Now then, lets see...it appears that those houses aren't a complete mess. I suppose something still lives there. Should that be our destination?" Eon decides to ask the nearby group. It seemed that they were mostly friendly, and they might be curious to know where they are.

[Chevaleresse]

The figure visibly stiffened at the word "cutie." The cowl turned to face Magna before the owner replied in their artificially modified voice. "I am not sociable. Or cute." The voice changer did a good job of hiding the sudden spike of anxiousness. One wouldn't normally call a cloaked figure with a robotic voice cute, so did this individual have some way to pierce her disguise? She supposed it wasn't entirely improbable given the last few moments, but that didn't exactly comfort her. . .

[Sutoratosu]

The grinding of teeth stopped at the white being's gesture. Aurora's attention immediately fixed on the... whatever the hell it was, she knew naught, only that even from here, something felt... off about it. Like... it was almost not supposed to be here, like something... was wrong, not unlike the same sensation she got from the shade beasts she'd once been hoping to devour. A similar concept, but yet, of a different kind of spectrum altogether. And this time, one that felt far greater in magnitude...

She silently hissed in recoil as she backed further into the shadows on the wall, a bit louder than the growl had been. She knew nothing of what this... entity was, or where it had come from, but she didn't care. The warnings within her own headspace were enough for her to make up her mind; she wanted nothing to do with the creature...

and so she stayed there, deeper in darkness, hoping it would take it's attention away if she simply stayed still long enough...

[Yours Truly]

The grey cloaked man stares at the dragon, and he mutters "Never make a deal with a dragon" under his breath.

He notices the giant book the dragon had opened, and he made a mental note to find out the name of it; maybe he could summon it and figure out whatever draconic secrets were contained within.

The grey cloaked man looks at the glowing humanoid with a bored expression, but he noted the slightly condescending words the creature had used.

But the grey cloaked man looked at the robotic woman with much more interest, and he said

"Hello, you seem to be the only newcomer that wouldn't be greeted by a cleansing barrage of laser fire in my world; what is your name?"

The grey cloaked man was momentarily distracted by the dragon slamming it's tail on the chest; he was not very surprised when it opened to reveal a map.

'yes leave it to a dragon to find the one thing it needs to gain control over the entire group'.

[Twei]

[Assurance: I am simply It That Embraces. Sound is not my native tongue.] A simpler, less dramatic response to Edmond: he is, he says, an engineer; the concept implies an appreciation for not making things more complex or dramatic than they need to be.

Then the white being turns her head to look at the -frightened, now - spider-woman. She stares for a while, eyes winking in and out of existence from time to time. Examining the spider from other angles not available to the human mind.

Quietly, carefully, she 'speaks' again. Perhaps as though she is addressing a frightened animal, for the spider certainly has traits of such.

[Assurance: I mean you no harm. Can you speak?]

Speak: use the spoken word, the default communication in this area, rather than 'speak' as It That Embraces herself does.

Edited November 25, 2016 by Twei

[DragonRage]

"Ah. My apologies. You were constructed by one of those societies," Fans begin to whine audibly deep within Alexandria's chest, venting enough hot air to noticably warm her surroundings. "I suppose we can never entirely escape the intents of our programmers. As this seems to be your choice, I shall not interfere," She turns to Katsuo, a bit of anger bleeding into what had before been a mostly inflectionless voice, "But while I have no desire to associate myself with such beings, I will be keeping a very close eye on you. Treat her with kindness, and we shall have no further interactions. Fail to do so, and I shall enforce the legislation I have forced through three separate parliaments to date. That you are not under those parliaments jurisdiction is irrelevant."

[OOC: Congratulations! Alexandria thinks you're a dirty slaver, and wants to hammer you like a tent peg. Words like "master" coming from artificial beings are not the way to her nonexistent heart.]

She turns toward the grey-cloaked guy, all traces of anger vanishing like smoke in the breeze, although the ground shakes slightly as she heads in his direction. "Hello. I am Alexandria, and my people would also be highly unlikely to destroy you on sight. I am honored to make your acquaintence."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Snow, The Lady Ashford.

"Damn... fighting is over. Bartimis's buttcrack that suuuuuuuuuuucks."

The warrior lamented this, cuase they might try and talk to her now. The only talking she wanted to do was swing her blades. The fangs biting into flesh was the only sound she wanted to listen to at the moment. After she had just had a fight she was only itching for the next. Soon this stupid humans might ask her what her name was... or something stupid like what colour her underwear was. They asked some really stupid questions in that asinine thing called "small talk". She was never a fan.

"I don't know about all you, but this small talk shit is bollocks. Introduce yourselves all you want but the only thing that matters to me is if you can fight well. Otherwise... I really don't give a shit"

[Yours Truly]

"Yes well sapient mechanical creations are very common back in my world; they tend to squirm too to make good targets, but their metallic shells are especially useful when recycled as bullets"

The grey cloaked man continues walking down the path.

"While I am loath to admit it; the constantly angry woman whose name eludes me is right; dragons are generally bastards, and standing around talking is a very odd thing to do when death might be sliding over to meet us"

The grey cloaked man pauses for a moment as he takes a moment to look at the scythe carrying necromancer.

"Perhaps all too literally".

Edited November 25, 2016 by Cronos5010

[Sutoratosu]

"........." was the only response the spider gave to the thing. Though the subtle growl from earlier started back up as a subtle rolling in her throat. So much for trying to hide, obviously that did nothing so far. She couldn't really back up much more without exiting the area entirely, and well... though this entire situation was the most frustrating hunt she'd ever been on, she could tell from what she'd already seen that there probably wasn't much in the way of food here... aside from the strangers... which she couldn't fucking kill and consume any of because there were too damn many. She was quite literally damned regardless what she did...

The silver pools that served as her eyes narrowed on the being, another hiss coming from her mouth... though an actual voice accompanying it, barely more than a faint whisper.

"S...T...A....A-A....W....W...." the discomfort on her face was obvious, every syllable strangled, as the mere act of vocalizing actual language was like gargling iron filings. The burning in her throat grew ever worse with each sound, and before long she quit the endeavor and went right back to growling instead, brandishing both sets of her fangs in a last ditch effort to avoid further interaction- more an act of pure instinct than anything else by that point. Like a cornered animal, really...

[Twei]

It That Embraces is having none of this edginess from the walking suit of armor (not that it's obvious to most people, but she is not most people), or from the nameless grey cloaked man. Though her words touch on the argument between the Device wielder and the machine-woman as well...

[Disagreement. Team cohesion increases battlefield effectiveness.]

It's not quite as certain as her earlier statements. Like it's something she knows, academically, but hasn't experienced, and therefore knows she can't convince certain stubborn individuals that their opinions are bad and wrong.

That's a distraction, however, from the feral spider-woman hissing and shuddering, a far more important thing to attend to- and indeed, It That Embraces forgets the edginess around her, to focus on the spider, her eyes soft and sympathetic.

[Assurance: I will not hurt you. Please, come here. Allow me to assist you.]

Slowly, carefully, she steps towards the fearful creature. Very, very slowly, with her eyes locked onto those of the spider.

Step by step.

Closer, and closer.

Until her long, dimensionally-confusing arms are close enough to wrap lightly around the creature's human torso, letting warmth wash over it and cleanse its mind and soothe its body, healing it in a strange and metaphysical way that's just about as strange as everything else about It That Embraces, but... much like the rest of her existence, not unpleasant once one is used to it.

[Assurance: It is alright. I will not harm you.]

Edited November 25, 2016 by Twei

[Empiricist]

Izumi Kurosawa

Appearance: With an athletic build and youthful complexion, Izumi Kurosawa exudes a sense of energy and vitality, energy and vitality that are nowhere to be found in her tired eyes and weary face, the makeup barely covering up the cuts and bruises. Her eyes are the same color as the whiskey that she reeks of, her hair is sable, and rests just below shoulder height upon the pale white polymers of a form-fitting outfit. Traces of red rise upwards from the boots, while sparse plating covers the torso region, as much for the sake of the wearer's modesty as their protection. A pair of detached haori sleeves are secured to it just below the shoulder, concealing the empty mechanisms lying along the blades of the arms.

~A Short While Ago~

Help. It seems like everyone needs help these days. Maybe even more than help, a hero - a knight in shining armor. Someone to stand between you and a whole world's worth of miseries. Someone to tell you that everything's okay. Even when it isn't. Me? I've found mine. They come in convenient little bottles. Just twenty-nine ninety-nine a pop.

But not everyone's as lucky. Some just don't like drinking. Some just haven't found anything strong enough. And some, well, some need someone in the flesh and blood. And that someone is m- Hah! No, I can't say it with a straight face. Job description says it's me but, it says a lot of things. Mostly just to make us look a little better in the eyes of... Not actually sure who. Can't be the public, they definitely don't buy it. Someone seems to at any rate, wouldn't be here otherwise now would I?

At least, I hope, they buy it. Because if they don't, then they really have to be that desperate, and that, I don't like the sound of.

I glance at my glass in my hand. Half-empty. Didn't even give me a chance to finish it. Must've been in a hurry.

I glance at the others around me. Displaced. Disoriented. Disorganized. Just like me.

They really are that desperate, aren't they?

Almost immediately, Kurosawa drains her glass completely and tosses it aside, letting it shatter against the ground. She really was too sober for this.

---

~Now~

I press the barrel against the corpse, and pull the trigger. Bang. Sort of. Close enough. Heard a shotgun before? It's not quite quite a bang, but if there's a better word for it, I haven't heard of it.

It's, not getting back up from that. Not that it was in much shape to the first place. But that's not the point. The point is, when I pull the trigger, bad things happen to what it's pointed at. And here at least, that happened.

Lovely.

My gun works right against the dead it seems.

"Sif." That isn't his name. But he'll answer to it. He'll answer to any name really. Of course he will, most spreadsheets have more personality, most at least won't avoid it. Says that it's unbecoming of a god or something, they all do, doesn't matter who makes them. It's hardwired. Built into the template. Something like that. They say it's a matter of civil security. Funny that, I didn't think they still cared about it.

Flying, descending, from somewhere, from nowhere, a dove appears. As lands on Kurosawa's arm, acknowledging its summons with a voice ethereal and hollow.

"Kurosawa."

"Well? Anything?"

"No. Your position remains unknown."

Edited November 25, 2016 by Empiricist

[Yours Truly]

(the grey cloaked man examines his surroundings, is there a painfully obvious way to move forward?)

The grey cloaked man notices several odd hissing and growling sounds, but he tries to ignore it; whatever it was making that noise, should probably be too preoccupied with snacking on the rest of the group to notice him running firmly in the other direction.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Snow, The Lady Ashford.

"Look... If I could chosen to do this on my own I would've. But I'm not your pal and I'm not going to be. It's not my objective here and if y'all wanna be all "ah, look at us, we're all friends!!! The power of friendship makes us unbeatable" and all that crap... be my guest. Cause I rather don't care. I didn't become the avatar of a god sitting on my ass conversing with children all day and being friends with people. So, the sooner we get this over with and I can get away from all of you the better. Cause you're really not doing any favors for the headache I'm getting. I can't even get those but daaaaaaaaaaamn you mortals are frustrating."

Man... she couldn't wait to be back in Graterras...

[Code: PIRULUK]

Kagari noted that the new batch of potential allies they had run into were the source of the fighting. Since the shadow beasts were no clearly dead and on the ground, that meant there was no imminent threat. Noting as such, she released her transformation, returning to her regular swimsuit-clad form. The less time she had to spend suffering Apocalypse Collider's passive-aggressive reprimand, the better for her sanity.

Among the new group there were certainly a very diverse distribution of individuals. Several were clearly mechanical beings of some sort. One dragon. One strange thing with a presence and vibe that made her feel like a baby slime again. Interestingly enough, it was the dragon that caught her interest. Kagari had only known one dragon throughout her life, and that was one of the lizard-shaped types. This dragon was more snake-shaped, and reminded her of the Eastern dragons she had seen in fiction. Strange.

She decided to talk to someone. The question was who. She didn't quite feel up to the task of speaking to It That Embraces - the excessive length of its name aside, she'd rather avoid having to speak to something with such a distinct presence. The dragon seemed interesting enough, and Hiroki was standing on a side talking to Magna. She did kind of want to speak to the Hellfire Knight again, but she felt a social imperative to at least try to get to know their new allies a bit better.

Making a decision, she strode over to the dragon, standing with both hands behind her back, grinning amiably.

"Hello~ Name's Koizumi Kagari! Pleasure to make your acquaintance~"