[IC] TotMV:G2: Val Habar and the Terrible Tigrex

[Chevaleresse]

"It's, uh, a country." Masaru was as confused as Liliya about what the orc had just done. Rightly, that should have been impossible. . . you couldn't make something from nothing, unless there was some sort of stray soul floating around somewhere. . . "Way back when, it was called Choukosui, and lots of people still call it that. I've no preference, personally, but depending on who you ask it matters a lot." He shook his head. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

[Astrorious]

"Alright. I was looking for some answers myself. Also was looking for a shower if this place has one..." Vora said as she followed Ghost.

[Sutoratosu]

???>Grand Hall

"...Shower?" the albino asked, looking back at the alien "what, have your kind figured out a way to make it rain on command whenever you like? Do you dry up and die if you go too long without proper water then?" She laughed a little at the jest, not terribly concerned with the possibility that the joke might've actually been on the money and currently trivializing a very real issue for the alien. Likely because The Mer of her world actually did suffer such fates when they dragged themselves too far from a body of water... but then again the Mer were also seaborn predators who had a nasty penchant of leading Vessels to run aground or wreck on the rocks with their songs, and feasting upon the flesh of their passengers afterwards. She herself had heard countless tales of naval captains who had hunted down, captured, and slowed Sunned many of the fishy bastards as a means of retribution for lost imperial ships... so much that after a certain point, in order to command a ship they instituted the clause that an officer had to also be a Godspeaker... and even that sometimes fails to stop it.

      "well either way, as old as this place seems, I doubt it has much of anything left in it. neither Food stores, equipment, adequate lodging conditions...at least the inside doesn't look quite as decrepit as the exterior though. It's a close race, no doubt, but it looks like most of this place could still be reclaimed from the sands of time... if one cared enough to put in the effort." 

[kj1225]

Andre waves at the two women, cannons still on his shoulders. Maybe he could just throw them at enemies. That would really fuck them up.

[Astrorious]

Vora looked at Ghost in amazement. "huh... would have never guessed that she would not have known what a shower was... how primitive was the world she came from? And does the outside of this thing really look that bad?"

"I don't exactly need one, but I would like it if I didn't smell so bad... that and It would probably help calm my nerves a bit after what has happened to me today. I had figured that they wouldn't but you can never be too sure."

she looked over and saw that Andre guy waving at her.

"ugh, not this guy again."

[Hal Henderics]

Mar Tracks down Andre, Deciding that if he can't dissuade Andre, he should help him.

 

Provided he finds him, Andre would almost certainly note his approach.

[Sutoratosu]

"...Uh huh..." Ghost trailed off at the sight of the brawler carrying too massive iron barrels.... she'd only seen weaponry the likes of them once before, and both their design and the special powders they were powered by had been the product of only the finest mind Jahan had to offer, and had made as big and as bloody a statement to Sumurs as they could've mustered during their defiant stand. The fact that whoever had owned the castle prior had obviously come up with something similar didn't surprise her though- it was the fact that a mortal man was carrying two of the god damn things over his shoulders like they were sacks of flour.

     "Where in the seven hells did you find those things?" she put her inquiry out with blunt efficiency, looking the weathered weapons up and down from where she stood. Yup, just like the rest of the keep, they looked like what she imagined the Blasttunnels of Jahan would in a few decades or so, if the Mahul was to just drop dead and leave no instructions on their proper maintenance and repair behind...

[kj1225]

Andre notes the orc and offers him a single warning.

"Yo Mar, catch."

Andre tosses one of the cannons to the orc before turning to answer the girl's question.

"There were some all at the top of the castle. I figured since the were busted I'd just lug them down to the smeltery for someone to fix up. Or if no one wanted to do that I had some plans to make them into a weapon... Maybe combine it with my hand wraps. Make them cannon and canon."

[Hal Henderics]

Mar is forced to dodge, at over 100 tons, he would be crushed to paste instantly.

 

"I'm too old for that, sadly."

 

"I came because whatever you are about to do with those, we should sort the parts first and foremost.  Divide up the usable parts from the worthless detritus."

 

"Might I suggest we take it outside?"

[Strider]

Liliya-Servants' Quarters

 

"No, no. It's fine. Need to know as much as possible if I'm gonna survive here. I'm from Kharkiv. City in Ukraine. Anyway, I guess you're from a land of magic?" She was judging this based on the fact that there had been figures with seemingly magic abilities, and his somewhat medieval garb. "Magic isn't a thing where I'm from..."

[kj1225]

Andre shrugs.

"Sure sounds good."

Andre starts to haul his barrel outside like Mar said.

[Hal Henderics]

When outside, Mar begins to separate Parts into two piles, in one, anything that looks simply unusable, just completely ruined and unredeemable.  In the other, things that aren't just completely worthless.

 

"Could you bring out more loads while I do this?  Working together, we can finish sorting these into useful and useless."

[Chevaleresse]

"Ukraine? Never heard of it, but I suppose that's to be expected if we're from different worlds. And yes, magic exists where I am from." She'd probably be able to note that Masaru was also a possessor of supernatural ability, judging by the weapon he still carried with him that appeared to weigh over twice as much as she did. "So what's your world like, then, if there's no magic? I'd think it'd be hard to build bigger settlements without terraforming magic."

[kj1225]

Andre shrugs and goes back for more.

[Sutoratosu]

"Four of them? All that big!?" Ghost watched the orc and the muscle man leave with the ruined weapons in relative silence. Fucking hell, back in the desert they could barely scrap together enough Iron on such short notice to construct two that were even a fraction as beefy in comparison, yet this place had at one point obviously had enough resources to fully arm this fortress with it's own quartet of vastly scaled up artillery. Mahul would've gone green with with envy from his feet all the way to his beady little eyes if he were here...

    "On second thought... perhaps watching them take these apart will get us some of the answers we're after anyway." and with that she had started to follow the the duo out into the desert sands, only to recoil and step back into the castle proper when the outdoor light hit her directly in the eyes.

"Your eyes, woman, have you forgotten what you are?"

"yes, thank you, as if the searing pain in my corneas aren't reminder enough..."

Tama had a point though. Even with the sun's might beginning to wane in the heavens, this desert's rays were no weaker than the ones back home. Without something like her facial wraps and cloak to diminish how much she was exposed to, it still hurt like hell.

 

"Or perhaps you should go out and ask instead, I could hear any conversation just fine even from here, if I really wanted to. From what I've seen and experienced, the green-skinned one seems like he's the closest thing to a leader present right now, so... you may want to try him first."

[Hal Henderics]

"Dusty... Twisted... Mangled... Only a bit mangled... I can't tell what this is anymore..."

 

Mar meticulously sorts each part by hand, he seems to be a very patient person, in direct contrast to his impatience previously.

 

It may be a different factor that leads to behaviors like that from him.

 

In any case, there he sits, Setting parts to either side in an increasingly high pile.

[Strider]

Liliya-Servants'-Quarters

 

"Not really. I mean, my city has more than a million people, but it's not even one of the largest? Cities on earth can go to like 30 million at the top end. I dunno how large your settlements are, but some of the cities always felt huge to me." Just saying that they had large cities probably wasn't enough. Masaru was curious about the actual method by which they made large settlements, oddly enough. Liliya continued: "I mean, we've got buildings as big at the bottom as this castle that go up two hundred floors. I think that's impressive...Anyway, terraforming? That's changing the land planet on a big scale, right? Most of the stuff we do is small...Machines and stuff that help level parts of the earth for building, machines that can drill holes or put down concrete--kinda like rock. How many people in the large settlements where you live?"

Edited April 16, 2017 by Strider

[Astrorious]

Grand Hall

Vora also winced at the light from outside.

"So, you don't like bright light either? looks like you and I are not that different."

Vora put two fingers on her temple, and her eyes went dark. "I can't see well like this, but at least I can go outside without burning my eyes." 

"Lets go talk to that one... Mar, right? maybe, as she said, he will be able to give a better outline of what exactly this place is, what is going on, and how the hell I got here."

Grand Hall >> Outside

"So, I have asked Andre before, but I figured I could get a clearer answer from you... what is this place, how did I get here, and why am I here?" Vora questioned Mar as he sorted through the rusted metal.

[Hal Henderics]

Mar pauses.  He turns, stopping his work, and explains.

 

"By what I know, you have been brought here to save a lot of worlds from a deadly and monstrous type of foe, one that threatens all creation, and which somehow, we are able to combat."

 

"I believe you were brought here by some sort of teleportation? I do not know what it's exact nature is, I'm neither a Mundanus nor a true Magic User."

 

"We are currently near Val Habar, a desert city in a world filled with massive beasts which are hunted for safety and profit.  More specifically, you are near The Castle, a vehicle we found and repaired, which has the ability to travel the void between worlds, allowing us access to places plagued by our true adversaries, and places where we can grow in strength and scope to be better prepared to fight them."

 

"Even  more specifically, you are outside, where I am sorting these cannon parts for when our Technologically minded friends return from their own trials in other worlds."

[Astrorious]

Outside

"Hmm..." Vora's mind was trying to understand what had just been said by Mar. Apparently, it wasn't a 'warp engine' but rather, a more theoretical engine; a fully functional extra-dimensional drive... something she knew that would make Hygerian scientists very excited.

"So, you are telling me that all of reality is sentient to some extent and is just ripping beings out of their universes and to more of the same to save itself?... seems a bit far-fetched, but its more than what Andre had given... in fact, he even called your castles engines a 'warp drive'... quite an inaccurate description. I am no scientist, but I know enough about my universe's tech to know the difference between a warp drive and a theoretical extra-dimensional drive... anyway, thanks for filling me in. I would offer to help, but I fear I would get in the way, my eye sight out here is not exactly the best."

Outside >> Grand Hall

Vora made her way back inside, and started toward Ghost. 

"Well, this is kind of strange," she explained," but I am sure its not the first strange thing you have heard today... turns out we are in another universe, not just another world as I had originally thought. None of them appear to be form this place either."

She continued, "This castle apparently is also space-fairing and has fantastical and what should only be theoretical engines on board that allow it to go between universes..."

Vora chuckled, "Apparently the collection of all universes in reality are being attacked by something and we are here to save it all... kind far fetched, but that's all Mar had to say."

[Sutoratosu]

Grandhall

"I heard..." Ghost muttered. She herself was still trying to sort it out, but isolating and amplifying sounds in order to eavesdrop on distant conversations was a relatively simple technique for Godspeakers. So far the explanation had been a modicum clearer than what the spider originally told Tama, but... "this is basically a traveling mercenary company then, from the sounds of it. Except unlike most conventional ones, it seems they obviously aren't restricted by the boundaries of their homerealm or driven by the promise of coin... interesting. Question still is however, who exactly was it that brought them together to begin with, and what even are these enemies they're training themselves up to eventually battle?" the last one bothered her especially, having had to spend countless hours in the field commanding a campaign. Surely someone here knew what they were going to actually be going up against, right? Why the hell would any sane individual sign on without having such basic information disseminated first? An army who did not know precisely what they were fighting was just far more likely to fail than-

....

....

....

A pair of Green Eyes glowered down at her from the Rafters.

 

Ghost looked up at the area, trying to find the head and body they were attached too, but failing against such a heavy cover of shadow. Tama knew though...

    "It's the Spider...something seems different however... compared to last time. Feels almost like... Another Deva is nearby. A Full one, ghost..."

    The caller was briefly taken aback by the assessment. But soon enough, she herself picked it up it as well. The energy signature emanating off the arachnid was indeed similar to what they felt whenever another Deva were nearby... if said Deva was near the height of it's prime somehow, despite all the others having fallen from grace and losing their power long, long ago. And yet even then, it felt like her power was still somehow... incomplete. Flawed. Like a once pristine gem that had been chipped one times to many over the years...

     

Soon enough the presence had words to it though. A fine, even alto of a woman's voice, surprisingly calm despite Ghost's... previous experiences with the arachnid. 

    "So you wish to know the truth?" the question echoes down from the ceiling with an almost ominous reverberation, seemingly addressed to both the women standing below

[Astrorious]

Vora nodded, "yes, I would... though, how much more information do you have than Mar has shared?"

"If this thing indeed had more information, then why wasn't this creature the leader of the group?"

[Chevaleresse]

Masaru went increasingly wide-eyed at Liliya's description of her homeworld. "A million? The largest city I've ever heard of had two hundred thousand people, and I can barely imagine what a city that size would be like. And you made space for this without a drop of magic. . . That's impressive, to say the least." He thought for a moment, the expression of surprise fading slightly. "My hometown had twenty thousand people living in it, and it's one of the largest in the region." 

[kj1225]

Andre pauses to look at the people discussing population sizes. He looks rather surprised to say the least.

[Sutoratosu]

"I can tell you the exact wording of the dead man walking who first told us..."

 

Ghost hesitated for a moment. Something was still unnerving about this sudden duality the primitive arachnid displayed- actually articulate and proper in her speech compared to the broken mess earlier and pitiful improper use of the third person to describe herself... but regardless, she nodded. 

     "Fine. Who was this man who gathered you then, and what did he originally tell you about the mission?"

     "I know not his name, nor where he truly came from. But when he did come, it was on the other world, the place of barren, violet stone and nary a wild plant or animal to be seen in any direction for miles around. It was only after we had gathered there, inside of this castle after taking it back... that he appeared. He told us little, but of this little, he mentioned trans-dimensional beasts. The multiverse. Worlds being eaten and swallowed by abominations that had found their way out of some sort of... former incarceration, presumably.

      Trespassers, he called them. He told us all that... we were here because the multiverse was slowly dying from within. That the Trespassers were growing stronger and stronger the more they ate. He mentioned... a 'she'... someone who was supposed to have been with us already... as a guide, presumably. Who the 'she' was, we still do not know, but regardless... the knight in battered armor told us... we were not anywhere near strong enough to even hope to prevail... that we must remedy that... by seeking out safer worlds. Worlds not as heavily touched by the Trespasser's influence yet... help to solve their conflicts, and grow stronger in the process... only then, he said... would he return to guide us to the true fight... and then, he walked away from us. And vanished, like a ghost...and then, not long after, the locals had repaired this keeps... transportation methods. And we left that world and did as he said, dropping into other ones, letting a few off... moving on again, to come back once they were done... that is why this place was so... empty before the rest of you new fleshbags arrived. The others are all out in other worlds... fighting other battles... to prepare..."