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

[Hal Henderics]

Dackly nods, and subtly- in her eyes at least -rubbed her forehead as she set them to boil, the hissing and frothing eventually giving way to a bland something-or-other.

 

Dackly then mixes this toxic cocktail with the whitish glue, pouring them both into the crackpot, where they become a bright purple liquid, glowing in the bottom.

 

"Now all we need is the Silk Ribbon, and it should be complete."

 

Gozer comments.  A drop of the liquid is poured out, just a tiny drop, and he sticks two pieces of metal with it, affixing them together.

 

"Dackly, try to separate these, if you would."

 

Dackly nods, and getting into a position of impossible leverage with her flexible spine, she attempts to rip the two pieces of metal apart.

 

Eventually, she manages it, however, the glue was not de-bonded, but rather, a chunk of metal torn off under the strain.

 

Dackly looks very proud of this.

 

"Good.  All that remains is the Silk Ribbon."  Gozer says, simply.

[Sutoratosu]

"Yes, yes, is there any particular color you want?" The spider sighed as a few strands of silk ejected from her wrist, caught by the deft fingers of her opposite hand as she began to weave. Quick, smooth motions, forming the basic structure of the ribbons as she waited for any particular request, if there was one.

[Hal Henderics]

"White or Silver.  Reflects the most light, which makes it last longer."

 

"Wide, about as wide as your hand should do."

 

Gozer bows his head at the request.

[Sutoratosu]

The ribbons quickly begin to burn with a pale, silver light as Aurora continues, eyes flaring a little as the first few strands are finished and laid out coiled on the table. Soon enough, she'd finished a good dozen or so, all of the same length, coiled up into a neat pile. The silver light died as the last of them had been woven, all now glinting with a silvery white tint, pure, polished Platinum, one might've compared their hue to. And just as the Gorgon had requested, each of them was as wide as one of Aurora's hands

      "The beast hadn't quite eaten anything Silver I'm afraid..." she began, folding her arms against her chest now that the task was done, "Red, blue, yellow... only the dyes the dragon had given her... but, with a bit of tweaking which specific kinds of light they reflected, it was easy enough to fix that..." This of course, shouldn't have been too surprising, given the very shard of crystal embedded in her palm literally functioned off honing celestial light into a deadly weapon...and the Spider's own light displays and healing bursts of radiance various times before.

[Hal Henderics]

Gozer gently picks up the cloth with care.

 

He drops it in the soup, and the Crackpot Explodes in pure white light, before leaving a small puddle of pink liquid.

This is poured onto the table, resulting in a Shining Silvery Roll, with a faint purple tint along the sides from the glue.

 

"And that's how you do a thing!"

 

Dackly says, tossing the roll of Glowing tape up in the air.  She has a strong urge to lick it, just to see what it tastes like.

[Chevaleresse]

"Huh." He couldn't say he'd ever seen that kind of magic before, which wasn't to say it was impossible. "Well, if you can do that trick again, there's a room just down the hall with a busted-up frame a lot like that one. Hell, I think I saw some mattress scraps on it, too." Masaru gestured out of the door and down the hall, where another door stood slightly open.

[Sutoratosu]

Noble's Quarters

Ghost simply walked out of the room and past the man without another word. Once she had disappeared into the other room, yet another bout of song began, muffled by the surroundings but a few snippets still just barely audible to Masaru, this one's tone and melody far different from the last:

Spoiler

 

The same golden aura poured out of the room, as the door itself began to become lost in the sacred light- as if whatever she did now, she projected it on a wider scale than just the bed frame and mattress. Before long however, the glow faded once more, and in the doors place, still slightly ajar, lay a solid slab of pure oak, it's woodwork just as exquisite as the lute the woman had played, it's gilded door knob shining softly in the light of the mystic torches lining the corridor. Ghost however, was nowhere to be seen once the song ended and the aura receded... but what there was, was a dull thud, and the whine of springs compressing in on themselves.

 

Perhaps because of the fact that she'd passed out rather unceremoniously right onto the newly restored bedframe and mattress...not even a moment after she'd gotten done with her work. Tama simply looked on, sighing in his mild annoyance. He'd told her so...and he had been exactly right.

[Chevaleresse]

Masaru followed the woman curiously, listening to her song once again. She was one of the more adept bards he'd seen in his lifetime, and didn't seem to fall into quite the same failings they tended to. He suppressed a chuckle when he heard her fall onto the bed, instead opting to walk in and double-check that she was okay. He very quickly checked her breathing and her pulse, and after determining that she hadn't just expended the last vestige of her soul in order to obtain a feather mattress, let his chuckle out, and then proceeded back to the previous room should nothing stop him.

[Hal Henderics]

--Smithy--

 

Mar Stalks his way into the forge, he looks tireless as always, and intent on doing yet another strange project.

 

Even on the way there, he seems to be manifesting a blue-grey metal in his hands, a small chunk, slowly growing.

 

--Kitchen--

 

Dackly and Gozer Bow, having finished their project.  The two of them Patrol the entire castle, picking up garbage and generally cleaning, putting it all in a giant plastic bag from the kitchen.

 

Dackly whistles a cheery tune as they work on spring cleaning.

 

Minutes later, Dackly's Deranged Laughter Peals through the Castle, followed by an explosion of horrible odor, coming from the Alchemy Lab.

 

Anyone near it would see a Twisted Stone Monster, in a pool of bubbling acid and a horrible acrid scent of melting garbage, held inside a strange Glass Contraption with Articulate Glass Legs, a Giant Jar, and Metal Wheels.

 

It looks like if someone made a Spider out of Sculptures of garbage.

 

At the same time, Dackly Shoves a Giant Glass Jar with a Tiny Earth Fire Snake in front of Aurora.

 

"Made you a present! be careful, this fella can burrow through solid rock!"

 

They promptly leave, leading their Spider Abomination away.

 

Edited April 28, 2017 by Hal Henderics

[Sutoratosu]

"Uuuummmm..." Aurora doesn't even bother asking, at this point. She could not help but look on in pity though, as the two of them had created that... that thing and brought it to life- or at least, whatever farce of a life it's current existence qualified as. No spider should ever have to be relegated to...sliding around like that, artificial or otherwise. And the thing stunk like hell too.... like someone had taken the stench that faintly lingered throughout the castle, condensed it into one place, and then amplified it ten fold. Or a thousand fold, as acute as her senses were- which for the first time, Aurora actually wished they weren't.

 

As they left, she looked into the jar. The snake just eyed her, from deep in the bottom. Not really sure what to do, Aurora reached her hand in to try and grab it- and like that, the Serpent had actually sprang up and coiled itself around her arm, clinging on for dear life to the only avenue of escape available. Aurora tried to remove it, to no avail, the thing simply coiled harder, and if she applied her true strength, she had a hunch the thing would easily break apart from the stress. 

 

"What, are you that desperate to get out?"

     The snake briefly lifted it's head, looked at the glass jar with disdain, and nodded at her. It coiled even tighter around her arm in urgency, as if afraid the receptical would leap up and swallow it whole again... or that she'd toss it back in herself.

     "Fiiiiine... since you won't let go either way, I might as well take you..."

 

and with that, the goddess herself left the room, new snake bracelet in tow...

[Hal Henderics]

--Kitchen > Smeltery > Outside--

 

At the same Time, Dackly and Gozer are busy at work, this time, dealing with matters they should have taken care of much earlier, gathering rice and iron, one for sacrifice, and one for construction, the pair create an iron altar, and Dackly turns it to stone, as Gozer turns the stone to the darkest color he can.

 

Scraping can be heard along the halls as Dackly Drags the Stone Altar outside, under the moon's Full Light.

 

--Mar--

 

Mar's Sphere Explodes in a massive and loud conflagration of white light and energy, leaving floating shrapnel in the air, glowing purest silver, and radiating pure energy.

 

Mar collects (20) Tier 3 Level 20 Small Moon Silver Shrapnel Shards: Shards of Glowing Silver, Synthesized by intense magical and lumal pressure by concentrating magic and a full moon's light onto silicon, this material seems to completely defy gravity, at least at night, it also glows with an earthly light.

 

 

Edited May 2, 2017 by Hal Henderics

[Aurorix]

Hayle Aster

 

~~Throne Hall~~

As the darkness slowly faded away Hayle would soon realize that she was on the floor of a strange throne room. ”Huh... where am I?” This was definitely not that place she was before and why was she here? Maybe she was just having a strange dream, yea that was most likely it. She tried to force herself awake by pinching herself but all she felt was pain. I guess this is real. Well, just lying on the floor won't get her anywhere. She slowly got up and swiped off any dirt on her robes, mainly focusing on the white sections as muck tends to show up easily on white. She wandered around a bit before calling out, ”H-hello? Is anyone else here?” Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to be speaking out loud since she doesn't know if the people around are good or not. But, eh, it's already too late.

[Hal Henderics]

--Throne Hall--

 

Dackly slithers between equipment, while Gozer assembles himself into an innocuous pile of blocks nearby.

 

Whenever Hayle's attention waivers, the blocks get closer, shifting over slightly, and the black shape out of the corner of her vision slithers by.

 

Eventually, Dackly makes herself known, leaping up atop Gozer in full form right behind her.

 

"Hi there! Welcome to the Gang!"  she shouts suddenly.

[Aurorix]

~~Throne Room~~

 

Hayle felt uneasy walking alone through the empty halls. It didn't help that she felt she was being followed or maybe the blurs she's seeing is just her mind playing tricks on her. Then Dackly made her spontaneous introduction from behind her and she jumped scared out of her mind. She let out a loud scream before falling on her butt and spewing out magical frost into the air above her which then turned into snow that fell all over her. Hayle looked behind her to see the a snake women towering over her. She pointed her ice staff at the monster shakily and spoke meekly, ”Y-you better s-stay back! I'm warning y-y-you!”

[Hal Henderics]

--Throne Hall--

 

Dackly screams too, spinnging around rapier already twirling in a way no real fencer would twirl it in.

 

"Who's there, you stay away from my new friend!"  She shouts, immediately assuming someone was behind her, rather than the logical conclusion.

 

The Stone Being underneath her clamps a face firmly to it's head.

 

"Dackly, she is clearly referring to-"
 

"Not now Gozer, our dear friend is currently under attack by some horrific invisible monster, and I won't stand by it!"

 

Dackly shrieks, miming a parry over and over.

 

Gozer looks deeply emberashamed.

 

"Please Forgive us, she does not know the meaning of Tact, or Personal space."

 

"Gozer, please do not demoralize the girl, I know all about tactics, I snuck up on her and spooked the shit out of her didn't I?  Now excuse me while I try to find this invisible assailant, their ability to keep quiet must imply ninja shoes, which I want.  I want those shoes more than life itself."

 

She does not have feet...-

 

She hops off Gozer's Back and begins her arduous search, combing, poking, and prodding the Throne Hall's various buttons and leavers, searching for an invisible being that is clearly not there.

 

Gozer has the presence of mind to look sheepish, his Green Flame staring into Hayle's eyes.

 

"So, you are an Ice mage?"  Gozer Asks Awkwardly.

Edited May 3, 2017 by Hal Henderics

[Aurorix]

~~Throne Hall~~

 

Her fear slowly started to diminished and turned into confusion as the snake women start failing her rapier around. Maybe they didn't want to kill her? Then she got a bit ticked off after the snake admitted to trying to scare her. Who does that? She ought to freeze her where she... stands... slithers? Ah you get the point. But she restrained herself, she shouldn't freeze her even if she was being an annoyance. But then blocks and a green flame... spoke to her? This place is all types of weird isn't it. ”Uh... yes... I suppose so...” She spoke a bit confused and daunted by whoever or whatever she's talking to. ”What exactly are you, if you don't mind me asking?”

[Hal Henderics]

"I'm an aspect of Earth's Pure Essence, an Earth Elemental Being.  My true body is this flame, while the rest of my stone components are merely a useful shell."

 

"I am Gozer, and my Dim! Witted! Companion!"

 

Gozer pauses to yell to Dackly, who hops to attention and comes over.

 

"Is named Dackly, and she is a Gorgon whose flesh has been transmuted to plants, and whose face has been cured of it's inherent petrification by Actor Training to make it look better and put her facial muscles under her control, which paired with her pliable plant matter face, enables stunning transformations."

 

"And she is going to apologize and stop half-pretending she didn't just prank you."

 

"I just couldn't help myself, All humor is derived from fear and confusion, after all!"

 

"I'm Dackly!"

 

Dackly says, holding out her hand with a cheerful close-eye'd grin.

 

"I already introduced you."  Gozer says and is promptly ignored at Dackly's Convenience.

[Aurorix]

~~Throne Hall~~

 

Hayle sighed. She didn't know where she was and now these two obnoxiously introduce themselves. Oh well, it could be worse. Hayle grabbed Dackly's hand and lifted herself up. ”While I could've done without the scare my name is Hayle, H-hayle Aster.” She brushed whatever snow that was left on her off. ”So do you know where this place is and is it anywhere near Ostia?” She asked the pair hoping they'd have some insight into their current location.

[Sutoratosu]

Entry Hall

 

With her new serpentine companion in tow, Aurora had returned to the Entry Hall before long. The little bugger had moved from her arm to settling just around her collar bone, like a scarf almost... a petrified, fiery scarf that smelled reminiscent to the soil of a forest floor, that is. She didn't really stop him though- not like he could choke her. It was a lot harder to strangle or Garrote something when it's neck was protected by a hard Carapace, after all.

     "Hmmm.... I suppose you need a name now, don't you?" the Spider has said idly as they entered the hall, hidden in the rafters above, "Hmph. I don't recall any good names for a serpent, off the top of my head... especially not one like you. Hmm, just calling Snake if a bit too basic for my tastes; a name should mean something afterall, but the one thing you can identify with, even when everything else is gone..." yes, yes, quite. She knew well enough of having only a name- the less refined side of her did, at least.

 

Much to her surprise though, the construct immediately perks his head up at the word "Snake", flicking his fiery little tongue about eagerly. "Oh, what? You actually want Snake as your name? You sure, don't want to find something else or give it some more thought?"

      The serpent shook his head adamantly, hissing with confidence. Something about it... just felt right. Like a glove that fit perfectly...

      "Alright then...Snake it is, I guess..."

 

Pride. The Serpent practically exuded it as he spread his hood outward in satisfaction. Just as he did however, something gleaming a deep and brilliant yellow in one of the darker corners of the room, a flash of amber visible with each glitter of crystal. Aurora followed his eyes, already knowing what had peaked his interest

     "ah, that thing... yes, the beast noticed it several times before, but well, she didn't quite have the aptitude to mess with it very much. Ignored it mostly, since it seemed to do nothing. Though... perhaps..."

 

The goddess descended from the ceiling without a single sound as eight legs met the hardened stone below, spread perfectly to distribute her impact. She skittered closer to the machine, eyes seeing just what it was for the first time. That archway, the crystals, this strange box attached to it. She'd seen the archway shape before at least, a couple human sorcerers once thought it was a good idea to build a giant one out in the woods, long long ago. The thing was nothing but moss covered ruins when they'd found it and camped there for the night, but... Ajax had mentioned something about it, while they were there. Some... functionality as a doorway between planes, probably to let through Primal Spirits the builders sought to imprison... he'd had a bit of skepticism as to whether it had worked though, given obviously it had been abandoned at some point.

      Still, as she examined the strange device now, she could not help but be reminded of the Squid's words. Snake meanwhile, noticed something peculiar, and took it upon himself to reach out his tail and slap something on the strange box attached to it, making the whole thing shudder for a moment before a tiny square flared to life with light before Aurora. Ironically, whether by coincidence or intentional design, it was written in a tongue very similar to Common- she could read it with little difficulty aside from a few foreign sounding words and phrases, at least.

 

"It all makes sense...." she muttered to herself "Portals... to get to and from places this keep has already travelled without wasting the time on an actual return trip... fascinating, Ajax would probably give the world to give this thing a good once over." 

      Snake hissed in agreement, before slapping his slender tail on yet another key. A different filled the screen now, some sort of... diagram? hmmm... Durable Materials... that obviously meant things that would withstand the elements well, they probably had ample stone and scrap metal somewhere onboard. Power Source, she was a bit iffy on the exact specifity, but perhaps it meant something like an artefact that could give off it's own energy, or perhaps a spell or enchantment? 

 

Mechanical Parts though... nothing came to her mind though, honestly. Perhaps if she weren't a mere shell of her former lay knowledge, or if Ajax might've been able to shed light, but... well she'd already come to accept the fact that for whatever reason, alot of her memory was gone, and the Squid was not by her side in this strange odyssey. Snake pressed another key though, and wallah, a second diagram appeared, a rough sketch of small metal disks with rectangular teeth sticking out of their sides, levels and pulleys... almost immediately, something clicked in Aurora's mind, as if a layer of dust and fog had been lifted

      "Oooooooh, those... well they look very similar to the devices used to operate the gates and some of the doors in Dour, hmmmm... yes, I suppose a fortress like this would have some lying around too... Alright, I'm more than Curious now, come... let's see if this thing really works. And if we can find the Orc while we're at it, he can probably decipher the plans better than I..."

 

Aurora and Snake head to the Smithy and takes enough Durable Materials, potential Power Sources, and Mechanical Parts out of the Communal Inventory to sufficiently Create one Relay Portal according to the Blueprints. They then go and Find Mar to tell him of their discovery in the Entrance Hall.

 

[Hal Henderics]

--Throne Hall--

 

"I assure you we are, for better or worse, further away from that place than is possible within a single universe.  For we are in another universe entirely, if you are not native to this one."

 

"What that big lunk means is that you've been zipped away from wherever you were to help us and ours defeat monsters that threaten all extant creation!  They are such big baddies that I can't even make friends with them. That's how bad they are."

 

She nods, crossing her arms.

 

"We are currently in a location known as... I never actually asked.  It is a large Desert, with some foreign named town nearby."

 

--Smithy--

 

Considering she has to enter the Smithy to gather those materials, she easily Finds Mar in the same place, and having shown him the ingredients and the blueprint in the Entrance hall, finds him Poring over them with a frightening intensity.

[Sutoratosu]

Smithy

 

"So... do you think it will work as described?" The spider asked idly, with the old green giant examining things like his life depended on it "or rather, I guess the better question is, do you think you can put it together with what's on hand? I'm not really one for... tinkering with things and all. Only so far I could probably get on my own."

[Hal Henderics]

"I think I can handle the... "Power Supply", And I am on the cusp of understanding the mechanical components."

 

"It is lucky that these records are so explicit."

 

He comments, hand to chin in pondering.

 

"I think I can try."

 

"And I would not discount the sheer power that simple cloth and thread can hold.  One of my brethren was injured by a seamstress who used constructs of cloth that boggled my mind and made me question just how a mundanus extremus could manage such a thing without using magic or magical material."

 

He shakes his head and looks at the materials before him.

[Aurorix]

~~Throne Hall~~

 

”So they summoned us to fight powerful m-monsters in other dimensions?” She says intimidated by the whole situation. She clenches her staff in both hands in fear. ”But why me? S-surely there are way better people for this kind of task than me from where I come from.”

[Sutoratosu]

"Constructs of.... cloth? Fully-woven Cloth, not strings or...?" She idly pulled a few strings from her wrist as she asked the question. One of them gleamed particularly bright under the light, a fine edge highlighted by the blaze of the forge, could've easily torn a jugular or other major artery apart with a mere sweep of her hands. "Hmmmm... cutting men apart with Strands of Silk, I can understand- I think I've even done it before, infact... but... an entire cloth? What, did she attempt to smother him, or perhaps rolled it up to form some type of makeshift a noose?" She stopped and paused for a moment "Though I suppose with a great enough amount, one could crush another to death... but creating enough to do that... well it seems silly, much easier to just cut them up with strings and be done with it...but without magic? What world do you hail from, Orc?"

[Hal Henderics]

--Throne Hall--

 

Dackly's grin grows softer.

 

"That's the best part hun, you didn't get picked in spite of it being you, you got picked BECAUSE it was you.  If you don't think you are up to the challenge, I wouldn't worry, because in this situation, we need people who have room to grow, more than we need people who are already stuck protecting their own worlds."

 

"Sorry if you got caught off guard though, that seems to be a common theme, and I'm pretty sure only the first few people even got a real pitch for it, you know?"

 

Her grin grows manic.

 

"Besides! You're a cryomancer, that's so cooooool! You can make cold, I know that does not sound like much to you, but there is just SO much potential, for one, you seem to be making your own water, you have a staff already, which implies that your magic is focused externally, which opens all kinds of beautiful potential ritualistic doors, Snow Walls, Diamond Dust, Pycrete weapons and tools!"

 

"Tell me Hayle, do you know what Pycrete is?"

 

--Entry Hall--

 

As Mar gets to work, he explains.

 

"She broke his leg with a stiff canvas, held in a solid log through tight wrapping.  She had constructed an entire giant simulacrum from it, using twisted rope for it's energy and stiffened canvas as it's bones, she may have had some device to twist the ropes to build up this power, but needless to say, the construct lasted for hours and hours from the energy stored in the tight ropes, and the stiffened cloth mesh was more than hard and heavy enough to crush a man flat, and with the various woven strands and cables and ropes, she had complete control over the adamant doll, and enough speed from a method of cutting her own ropes to release sudden tension, she was able to use the silk covered fists of the mannequin to shatter trees with it's punishing blows."

 

"And indeed, the entire thing was made more deadly by the traps the seamstress had set, through the use of pitfalls laced with nooses, and strands of string strung up like webs, which became cutting blades after a blow from her toy."

 

"Since then, I have never trusted a tight roll of coarse cloth as a safe object."

 

"My world has a boon for those who forgo magic in a given study, if you practice a craft or trade through your own solid and unaltered efforts, you will never reach your limits.  Wood Carpenters carving wood in dimensions we cannot perceive, glassblowers making windows able to see the past and future, miners able to make drills that harvest space and time, and pierce the heavens themselves.  Their devotion to a craft one day lends them knowledge beyond knowledge, while never utilizing a thaum of magic as a requirement. Of course, what turns this from pseudomagical to outright anomalous is that their works are replicable, their students as potential filled as they are."

Edited May 3, 2017 by Hal Henderics