[IC] TotMV:G2: The Battered Hero

[Code: PIRULUK]

"Oh, hello~"

Kagari was pleasantly surprised to note that their fledgling alliance apparently included the Hellfire Knight, the person who was apparently friends with an alternate Koizumi Kagari.

"Pleasure to work with you~ 'The Hellfire Knight' is a bit of a mouthful, though. And I don't really want to call you HK... hmm... Aha~ I'm gonna call you Hel-chan! Sounds cute, no?"

Kagari grinned as she bestowed this new nickname upon her newfound friend.

"Well then, let's get going. We've got monsters to save and universes to slay! ...Wait, I meant that the other way around. Monsters to slay. Slaying universes is bad. Whoops."

Even as she babbled, Kagari kept a careful eye on the Hellfire Knight, watching its reactions. The figure was an enigma, and any hints about it would be welcome information.

[LucidRain]

Visrii kept watching as the group turned around a tight corner, the man with the halo still watching carefully. He was being too slow - the group was walking out of line of sight! He sprinted up and attempted to reach the nearest rock, not seeing an innocent looking rock on the pathway. He unceremoniously tripped and smashed his head on the path, breaking his nose and sending him ploughing...right in front of the watcher's feet. Shit. Kill me now, he murmured into the dirt as his conciousness slipped away.

(Will be away for a while. My character's knocked out so do whatever with him while he's out. Please don't kill him doe D;)

[Yours Truly]

The grey cloaked man couldn't help but feel a little smug on his flying platform, as he quite literally looked down at everyone in the group, well, almost everyone; the Dragon was still flying next to him; it's mere existence violating the square cube law, 'it must be able to manipulate gravity' he thought to himself, 'or maybe it's all just an illusion, and the real Eon is a small bald man hiding behind a pit of fire'.

The grey cloaked man stifled a laugh, and he made a mental note to not ask the "dragon" for a soul.

He was quite worried about the growing size of the party; there were about twenty of them marching towards the village; it would be a nightmare trying to keep track of all of them during combat, and he made a mental note to try and talk to the group about the strategic benefits of creating separate parties; four groups of five can do a lot more exploring than a single twenty member party after all.

He wondered about the less human members of the group; the robot lady seemed alright; even though her people seemed a little creatively sterile for his taste; he wasn't sure what kind of literature their world would produce; although the robot did mention Homer as existing in her dimension; the engineer with the nifty plasma gun seemed to have a working knowledge of him as well, which has some rather interesting implications which another man might have pursued.

The glowing entity seemed dangerous; no matter what anyone else thought of it; anything that primarily converses by invading the mind of others might be problematic later on.

He had noticed a new one too, an... Arachnid that exists in the shape of a woman; a drider; yet another word for something that doesn't exist, well... At least not in his dimension; the drider seemed to be very close to the glowing entity... How odd.

The grey cloaked man wondered about the scythe carrying woman; it was obvious that she had necromantic powers, but he wondered why she would wear the mask, it doesn't seem to fit with her grim reaper theme; perhaps she's just self conscious? It might have something to do with her eyes; either way it might be more than a little rude to ask.

The gray cloaked man eventually noticed that the "angel" had started to fall behind the rest of the group, and the grey cloaked man decided to try and see what Jezhreal was doing.

[Twei]

[Amusement]

Radiating her general sense of entertainment at the shenanigans of mortals (and some immortals), It That Embraces drifts back for a moment to pick up the red-headed man (Visrii) who had so unfortunately dashed himself upon the rocks. Seeing as he doesn't wake up even after some healing, despite his clearly being alive, she elects to carry him forward such that he does not get left behind.

As it turns out, she's surprisingly good at carrying people.

Speaking of which! It seems they are, officially, heading to the town where sustenance can be found now, after a few false starts. They only needed a native to pull them on the way. His explanations, while a bit sad, are not unexpected, and enlightening at the very least; his favor should not be much trouble, and it will give them a direction to move forward in in any event.

[Gratitude, assistance]

Edited November 27, 2016 by Twei

[Yours Truly]

The grey cloaked man notices the entity carrying what looks to be an unconscious human wearing a brown cloak; the grey cloaked man notes the presence of yet another new arrival, and he reluctantly walks towards the entity.

"Does he have any weapons? It might be prudent to strip the unknown from anything he could use to harm himself by trying to attack us"

[Twei]

Solomon, that is his name. He gave it out a bit earlier. The Primordial shakes her head, still holding the unconscious man close, letting her particular brand of peace and contentment roll over him in his sleep.

[Amusement, disagreement. If he attacks, I will restrain him.]

If she can calm down an animal, she can probably calm down a human.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Twei

[Yours Truly]

"Restrain? Assault his mind with your powers? That should only be a last resort; brainwashing is never a good way to introduce people to the group; have somebody take the staff he's clutching in his arm; judging by his current unconscious state; it doesn't seem to have been used to assist movement"

[Twei]

[Disagreement. Restrain: hold back, not assault. Disagreement: Minds are not separate from bodies. Manipulation of the mind does not require telepathy. Disagreement: not taking staff, sign of trust. Trust vital for team cohesion. All are together.]

There's something sad about that last part. Everyone's in it together because they all have a common foe. Something that makes It That Embraces shudder ever so slightly just touching upon the concept. Something that she must unite people against.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Twei

[Yours Truly]

"Physical restraint is acceptable; subject is wearing a brown cloak obscuring most of his body; hands look red; almost... Bloody; can you move his cloak a bit? I want to check the subject's arms for injury"

[Twei]

The cloak shifts ever so slightly. Not much, but enough to get a better look. A polite gesture, given that the Primordial doesn't need to actually move it to look at him - as seen by the eyes blinking in and out of reality.

[broken nose has been healed. Old injuries on hands and arms... contemplation. Injuries on hands and arms follow veins cleanly. Repeated, consistent application. Injuries self-inflicted? Medical knowledge limited, but it appears odd for a wound... like it was split open from inside... overuse of channeling magic or life force through own blood?]

Edited November 27, 2016 by Twei

[Yours Truly]

"Ah.. well that is interesting; most practitioners of blood magic use the life force of others to power their magic, but you sir, you sir are more than a little bit unhinged aren't you? Heh, I wonder what drives a man to do such a thing."

"Embra can you tell me when he wakes up? I would rather like to have a chat with the young man; try and stop him from bleeding out; it would be such a shame for him to die in such embarrassing circumstances"

Edited November 27, 2016 by Cronos5010

[Twei]

Embra: a shortening of the simple translation of the Primordial's name. Similarly constructed to 'ember', suggesting fire. Given the limitations of the spoken word, it's an acceptable designation/pseudonym/nickname, even if she dislikes the one who originated it. His current words do not endear him to her any more. Self-sacrifice more dangerous than taking life from others? It's his life to give, rightly or wrongly.

[Acknowledgement.]

Which is to say, she hears him. Yes, she technically can do it, but she's not going to. She can take care of the man, and Solomon seems like a person who only takes care of himself, at best. They're older injuries, anyways, it's not like he's bleeding out right now. That would be a bit absurd.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Twei

[Yours Truly]

"I wonder if he could get infected; the man does have several open wounds, and this place might still have some living bacteria and viruses floating around; can you... Check his bloodstream for them? I think I'm going to go on ahead; I don't think that I'd have to remind you to watchout for some of the 'heartless' wandering around here".

The grey cloaked man clambers onto his platform and he continues heading for the village.

'mental note: keep an eye on the new subject; the entity seems untrustworthy and might attempt to prevent me from coversing with the subject'

[Zetaark]

Eon

Eon had been watching the proceedings regarding the new arrival with some interest, though it seemed that for now we were going to simply carry him until he came to. Looking over to...Solomon was it, he had to question his use of books. He had seen some forms of combat using books before, but those were usually either tomes or very specific books meant for combat. Deciding to ignore the potentially questionable usage of books from him, he decided to turn his attention to It that Embraces. He found her to be a curious existence, the likes of which he rarely ran into in his own world. As such, he wanted to at least learn a bit more about her. Though with Solomon still not particularly far, he didn't feel like directly speaking. Luckily, he had an alternative to that means of communication.

"Are you able to hear me like this?" Eon thought to It that Embraces, testing the telepathic link to make sure communication would go through,

[Twei]

Unfortunately, It That Embraces can't read Solomon's mind, nor any others. Otherwise, she would appreciate the supreme irony of his thoughts.

What the Primordial could certainly do, however, was hear Eon's telepathic speech. And indeed, she could respond to it, 'speaking' directly to him instead of blindly broadcasting [Meaning] through the world around her. In fact, if she just... did things slightly differently, then...

"Yes! Testing, testing. Hrm. This may be useful for overcoming my lack of vocal chords."

[Zetaark]

Eon

Eon was pleased to find that the link was successful, and even more amused by how her thoughts were not in the same broadcasting speech he was used to from her, but rather seemingly normal speech. Something to investigate later.

"Indeed it might. I'm just glad I got this old skill functional again. It's been a while since I needed to converse like this. I am curious though, what is your take on the mess we've gotten into?" Eon thought, curious on how she interpreted the events around her.

[Twei]

The Primordial's telepathic voice, as it happens, sounds something like a kindly maternal figure- although most maternal figures aren't nearly so ancient, 'grandmother' perhaps implies less direct comfort and more sage wisdom, so motherly it is.

"What we are getting into...? Oh!"

Her subject matter, however, is anything but kindly and comforting. A certain thunder rolls into her voice, though it's... somehow more like she's channeling someone else's thunder than actually using her own feelings to sound that way? Making herself more commanding than she naturally is? Odd. It's certainly her own rage by the end, at least.

"I was created for this. The fabric of existence - no, Existences, the fabric of all existences tears and shudders and calls for aid. Not just this world, but all worlds are under threat, and I will not allow them to be destroyed as I was. Never again."

It That Embraces trails off, her body shuddering with that uncharacteristic righteous fury... which slowly fades, to reveal sheepishness in her eyes.

"...though I do not know what this place requires of us in the short term. But I assume we are here for a purpose."

[Zetaark]

Eon

"I see. That may explain why so many people from varying worlds are all gathered around. Though whatever forces are organizing us clearly didn't bother to give too much in the way of indication for our exact goals. I do wonder if that will cause trouble later on. I've seen too many smaller scale incidents of people calling for help from others without giving any real form of explanation at the start. A few managed to work out when the goals of the help were aligned, but when they weren't...let's just say that those messes took some time to clean up." Eon responded, recalling some of the instances he saw civilizations on the brink call for extraterrestrial aid. Eon almost never responded to said calls most of the time, but he did observe the worlds that did have others come to their aid. Of course, sometimes he had to interfere when the fate of the system and even galaxies were at stake. But that's another matter.

"So then, was that also what you did primarily when you were in your own realm?" Eon decided to ask, curious of the origins of the entity before him.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Zetaark

[ElfCollaborator]

Visrii kept watching as the group turned around a tight corner, the man with the halo still watching carefully. He was being too slow - the group was walking out of line of sight! He sprinted up and attempted to reach the nearest rock, not seeing an innocent looking rock on the pathway. He unceremoniously tripped and smashed his head on the path, breaking his nose and sending him ploughing...right in front of the watcher's feet. Shit. Kill me now, he murmured into the dirt as his conciousness slipped away.

(Will be away for a while. My character's knocked out so do whatever with him while he's out. Please don't kill him doe D;)

--PAST--

Sachi runs towards them, tilting her head.

"H-hey! Are you.....o-oh."

Unconscious. Damn. She looks around as ItE approaches....

--PRESENT--

Sachi sticks close to ItE, looking around.

[Sutoratosu]

Aurora just stared at the general chaos around her. It seemed another fleshbag had emerged from the settlement in distance and closed the ground between himself and the strangers who'd already begun heading for the place, drawing the others to follow suit... while another commotion had come behind as she -very clearly-picked up the scent of human blood ever so briefly, before the being in white noticed as well and investigated the scene. A shame really, she'd been hoping that who or whatever it was that snuck up, they'd feed them to her if they were killed.

The there was the space dragon, seeming to have noticed the strangeness as well... though she herself didn't bother going to check at that point. The foolish fleshbag who rode around the place on some contraption made of... paper, had caught her attention far more than the sneaking fleshbag who'd bled. He seemed to talk in nonsense, from the snippets she overheard, and his odd spell reminded her of a giant bird almost. It was just too bad she couldn't shoot it down like her curiosity prodded her to, that would probably make the White One mad at her, what if he burned to death during the fiery crash... and she ate him afterwards, which in all honesty, she very much knew she would've tried given the opportunity.

But damn if the temptation to do it anyway wasn't strong... she kept passing a few glances at the hovering book thing, every now and again, though eventually her attention was more drawn to the Fleshbag from the Settlement. She had the feeling she'd truly been right about being able to just drop down and pluck one of them up with the others being oblivious earlier, but at least this fleshie seemed to have a bit more brains than some of the one's she'd already scoped out. That, and the peculiar weapon in his belt... odd as it was, the handle was the strangest part, yet nevertheless looked vaguely familiar.

Hadn't a few of the strangers had devices like it as well?

[Yours Truly]

"Why do you have a giant blade sticking out of your gun's barrel? I don't think that bayonets are supposed to be that big".

The grey cloaked man had resolved to spend some of his time bothering the tour guide they had encountered earlier.

"Also, what are we supposed to help you with anyway? I assumed it would involve fighting some of the 'Heartless' you have mentioned earlier, but let's face it's going to involve farming isn't it? Village people are obsessed with farming."

[Twei]

Eon

"I see. That may explain why so many people from varying worlds are all gathered around. Though whatever forces are organizing us clearly didn't bother to give too much in the way of indication for our exact goals. I do wonder if that will cause trouble later on. I've seen too many smaller scale incidents of people calling for help from others without giving any real form of explanation at the start. A few managed to work out when the goals of the help were aligned, but when they weren't...let's just say that those messes took some time to clean up." Eon responded, recalling some of the instances he saw civilizations on the brink call for extraterrestrial aid. Eon almost never responded to said calls most of the time, but he did observe the worlds that did have others come to their aid. Of course, sometimes he had to interfere when the fate of the system and even galaxies were at stake. But that's another matter.

"So then, was that also what you did primarily when you were in your own realm?" Eon decided to ask, curious of the origins of the entity before him.

"The fabric of existence may or may not be intelligent at all, so..." She gives something like a mental shrug. It can't be helped.

The Primordial's reaction to what she did earlier, though, is... strained. "...no. I do not want to speak of it more than I need to. Not yet. Apologies."

...also, what even. She gives Aurora a pet on the sidelines, at least two of her arms still securing the unconscious man, but seriously. What even, Solomon. Why would you even think that, much less say it?

Edited November 28, 2016 by Twei

[ElfCollaborator]

"Don't be so rude!" Sachi chides the grey cloaked man, frowning. "We don't know this place as well as them. We can't just dismiss them like that."

She turns to the tour guide, sputtering a quick apology.

"So, what can we help you with?"

Edited November 28, 2016 by ElfCollaborator

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Snow the Lady Ashford

"THE UNIVERSE WOULDN"T BRING US HERE FOR faRMING YOU DOLT! BY SEEKER"S ASS CRACK!!! Like,... were you born this stupid... or do you try at it? Probably the latter, unless those books you're reading are poor poor quality... cosndiering how you use them... I can iamgine there are if you would rather drop them on people than read them. BUT DON"T BE DUMB AND INSULT THE PEOPLE WE"RE HERE TO HELP!!!" SNow yelled, bonking the man on the head with the pommel of her sword.

"Ignore him... he doesn't speak for this group."

[Sutoratosu]

Aurora

she purred as the white one returned and pet her, almost sensing the being's vexed regard of the flying fool. Honestly at this point, it was more amusing than anything else, how utterly bullshit most of what she'd heard from his mouth was, and it only got even better when the silvery armored being reprimanded him. She couldn't help but wonder though, why didn't they just skin him at this point? He hadn't been that much use in the fight, he seemed to make pointless contraptions out of paper, talked gibberish and he didn't make much sense as a representative.

Honestly, he'd be put to better use as a meal than wasting space like he was now.... but damn if she didn't have the White One watching right now. Some other time perhaps... when she wasn't watching and the moron was actually on the ground. Not that she couldn't reach him even up there- she could, incredibly easilyy, just a leap and rebound off the cliff face and he'd be dead...

Later... yes, later...