trespassers [IC] ALTEREDNU

[StormLord]

Ignia steps off to the side after passing into the Underground.  She waves one hand in front of herself and summons up an archway of roiling black smoke, the interior of the archway is like burning metal, throwing off frequent sparks.  Inside and beyond is a long tunnel, pulsing the same white and black as the barrier before and spiraling into infinity.  Ignia waves at the structure again dismissively and it folds in on itself, popping out of reality.  She then returns to the party.

 

"Well I have good news and bad news.  The good news is that we aren't were I thought we were, trust me that's a good thing.  The bad news is that this place is like a blackhole of magic, and we're over the event horizon."

[Hal Henderics]

-The Threshold, Ruins.

 

Arminius walks up, Sindragosa in tow, and they open their hug-brackets in anticipation and confidence.

 

(8, 16)

 

And, EXACTLY as nearly everyone was expecting, the ground explodes as vines snap tight around the pair and their SOULs, paralyzing them directly between Flowey and the rest of the group.

 

His face melts like wax and distorts.

 

 

A circle of violently spinning ovoid bullets appear from seemingly nowhere around Sindragosa and Arminius, pausing just long enough to garner a reaction, they begin slowly closing in on the pair.

 

-The Throne Room, New Home

 

The gang, pressing forward, enters a throne room filled with what must be thousands of Golden Flowers,  In the back of the room, a white sheet covers a second throne.

 

Jun, meanwhile, snaps a picture of the archways for future use.

 

Lucine, studying the symbol, finds that it is some sort of winged orb, hovering over three triangles.  Some sort of guardian angel?

[Yours Truly]

Jun continues to snap pictures of the surrounding architecture, particularly the two thrones as she continued to generally act somewhere in between a wide-eyed tourist exploring a castle on a sketchy unguided tour, and a commando stalking through the jungle to try and surprise enemy insurgents. "Well that's....not great, does it exclusively block magic and psionics from entering or leaving, or uh, are we stuck here until we find a way to break whatever it is down?," she said as she searched the throne room for any additional entryways, and generally checked to see if this is a room that's used often.

[kj1225]

Arminius struggles in the grasp of the plant for a moment before stopping. "Can't say this is exactly what I expected... But this still works out for me." With that, the runes on Arminius' body start glowing as his magics begin to suck at the soul of the flower.

 

Sindragosa meanwhile looks rather bored as her throat starts to turn a minor shade of red.

[Projeck]

"God damn nature... Armi!"

Calvera starts trying to pull the ovoid bullets away from Arminius with a Gravity Well, attempting to pull them off as they pass by it on one side.

[DragonRage]

"Daemon!  Prepare yourself for the God-Emperor's mercy, for his servants have none for your ilk!"  Sister Rachel declares.  She levels her Inferno Pistols at the flower creature, charges forward just close enough to be in range (a distance of about 20 feet), and opens fire on what appears to be the main body.  "You shall blight this place no more!  Taste holy fire and be purged!"  Beams of microwaves, visible only in the blazing corona of heat thrown off by actually dangerous part as it scorches through the air, lance out toward the flower from her weapons, the ancient machine-spirits seeming just as eager to deliver the God-Emperor's wrath as their wielder.

[StormLord]

Ignia steps forward once it seems that Jun hasn't been instantly murdered and gives the room a cursory glance before shifting to look for another door and continue on. 

 

"We should press forward and try to find better barrings, there isn't any telling how far from the others we are.  And yes I think we're trapped in here until we find out whatever that is and how to shut it down."

 

[Powder Miner]

"Right, well, I expected that much. We have unique tools at our disposal to deal with that, at least, like the bus. I'm more concerned with staying alive in here than I am about getting out, so try not to split up, people." Nader looked around. "There's noone here right now, but that doesn't mean there won't be soon or later on. Keep on your toes. Could be that they're preparing in a further room that's less wide open in case they've got things that work better in the enclosed spaces." Nader checked each of his weapons an additional time, for good measure. "So that means that we should be keeping together."

[Hal Henderics]

-The Threshold, Ruins.

(20, 15) (70) (77)

By the time Rachel moves around Arminius and Sindragosa, Arminius has already begun pulling at Flowey, whose laughter is cut short by a series of unlikely distractions.

 

While the flower's staggering willpower initially leaves it downright immune to Arminius's ministrations, or so it seems, The blast of Maser fire leaves Flowey distinctly lacking in a body with which to hold spiritual essence inside, even if he is capable of forcing it to stay in there.

 

 

Arminius obtains the Lingering Will, he supposes.

 

Quote

Lingering Will: A collection of Magic, Memories and Determination.  The dusty remnants of a broken SOUL, it is missing key components that would make it whole and living, though which components are missing is unknown.  In their place, raw willpower binds it to survive in spite of this.

 

The child looks unsure at the sight of it, wanting to say something.

 

-Grave Hall/Grave Room, New Home.

 

Proditor finds himself going down a long, grey hallway, into a long, grey room.

There are seven caskets in the room, each adorned with a colorful heart.

The only one he could access without climbing over has a red heart imprinted on the top.

It's empty.

 

-Crossroads, New Home.

 

Looking down both paths, one leads into some sort of long, golden hall, while the other leads down a dark, grey hall.

 

Actually, there seems to be a plaque on the southern wall, where nobody would be able to read it normally.

 

It reads "Judgement Hall < > Human Grave"

 

 

 

[Projeck]

"Armi! You okay?"

Calvera jogs over, and looks concerned.

[Yours Truly]

Jun takes one good and long look at the plaque placed prominently on the wrong wall, and stifles her inner interior decorator instincts for just long enough to say, "Uhhhh, I don't think we're in friendly territory guys, or at least I can't think of a good reason why a castle would need an entire room for human graves that doesn't come off as being unsettling anyway." Of course, despite saying that, Jun still decided to walk down to the judgement hall by herself, deciding that her own stealth capability should suffice for now.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Proditor

 

For the most part, there hadn't been much to really catch most of Proditor's attention. He had already seen the area thanks to the vision, and he didn't need to spend time looking over the field of flowers. However, that changed when they had arrived at the crossroads, one path leading down a golden hall, the other leading to a dull, grey one. In certain situations, Proditor would've completely ignored the hall... If not for the feeling he got when he looked down it, along with the sign that marked it as 'Human Graves'.

 

Said feeling, to put it bluntly, was a sense of despair and sadness, etched into the walls.

 

"... I shall return shortly. I would like to investigate these 'graves'" Proditor informed the group, floating off before he could get a response. Sudden, yes, but he felt like he needed to see what it was about.

 

Needless to say, his first glance at the room left more questions than answers. Seven caskets, seven hearts, the final one being completely empty. Why was this room specifically made? What purpose did it have? It was as if this was a ritual of sorts, but why?

 

Thoughtlessly, Proditor floated up to one of the graves, placing a hand on its door, seeing if he could sense anything within... Besides a dead body, of course.

[StormLord]

Ignia looks between the two halls and the sign for a minute or so before Proditor decides to move along.

 

"I've seen plenty of graves.  I'm going this way."

 

She gestured to the Judgement hall before starting to make her way to that direction.

[Chevaleresse]

The symbol wasn't that dissimilar to the original look of Opal, before she'd made her modifications. They were different enough that it was probably coincidental, but it still stuck out to her. She interrupted her gazing at it to glance sideways - and noted the group moving on. She pulled herself away, but didn't quite make her way after either of the other two yet. There was still more of interest in this room. Lucine glanced about furtively, looking for any signs of booby traps or similar, then walked towards the sheet. Was that a chair under it? Or, a throne, she supposed. This looked a little like the castle back home, at least. She reached out tentatively. . . then tried to tug the sheet off the throne in one motion.

[DragonRage]

"Excellent!  The daemon has been vanquished, and Arminius is saved!  What happened?" The armored nun purses her lips, a bit confused, "You certainly acted as though you had a plan, but by the way it grabbed you I'm not certain it went as intended.  Not that plans ever survive first contact with the enemy."

[kj1225]

Arminius stands himself up and brushes off while Sindragosa looks aside and spits, leaving a small burning puddle where the liquid lands. "Well, two things of note didn't happen the way I expected. Firstly, I thought that it'd try to absorb my soul, but as I have counter measures against such things I thought it'd be fine. Really didn't expect the whole, normal magic and squeezing me thing. Second, I have discerned that that... thing, doesn't have a soul to begin with. Now, I don't think I need to explain this to you, but nothing that seems that obviously intelligent should have some form of soul. I'm not sure what to think about that, but... that's probably not a good thing."

[Projeck]

Calvera looks at Arminius with a look of joyful confusion. Like she really wants to understand what he's talking about fully, but isn't quite putting it together. She shrugs. "I'm completely out of my area of knowledge here, guys... sooo... I guess it's safe to say not everything down here is going to be friendly... not that I expected that..." She scratches the back of her head out of embarrassment, and pulls her braid back down over her shoulder, and does a little finger gun motion with a snap included. "You know, I think I'll just leave the serious stuff to you two, let me know if you want any input." With that, Calvera started idly walking past where Flowey was, and kept going forward, easily letting anyone that walked along to pass her.

[Hal Henderics]

-The Threshold, Ruins.

 

 

The child questions Arminius firmly.

 

(5, 2)

 

Calvera, meanwhile, walks into the next room, where she encounters someone who had been listening at the threshold in what seems to be horror, if their covered mouth and wide eyes are anything to go by.

 

The extraordinarily tall Goat-headed creature retreats at the sight of Calvera, stepping back once, then, again, and finally, turning around entirely and walking away rapidly.

 

In the room after that, Calvera would only see a sealed door, and, to the side of it, a plaque and 5 buttons, arranged into an X shape, no trace of the purple robed creature.

 

-Grave Room, New Home

 

(16, 5)

 

Proditor detects no life remaining in these empty corpses.  He is made aware that none of them are adults, however.

 

But...  The empty one, upon further inspection, is filled with something like... Mummy wrappings.  There is a faint sense of something there.  Like the remnant of a remnant.  The residue left from third-hand contact.

 

How bizarre, that the only coffin with any sort of psionic presence would be the empty one.

-Throne Room, New Home.

 

Lucine pulls back the cover, revealing... another throne.

 

This one seems fitted to someone of smaller stature.

 

It hasn't been touched in a long, long time, judging by the dust coating the golden throne.

 

The strange vibe given off by this room is palpable.  Aside from the flowers and thrones, the room itself is bare.

 

If the throne were unused, why keep it?  If it were intended to be forgotten, then why leave it in the same room as the well-used throne?  If it were intended to be remembered, why cover it up?

 

-judgement hall, new home

 

The golden hall that Ignis and Jun enter into looks completely unlike the grey stone of New Home.

 

Ornate, stained glass windows depicting the winged symbol fill the hall, shining so brightly that whatever source is lighting them can't be discerned.

 

Marble pillars line the shining hall, and, in the distance, one might even imagine the sound of birdsong.

 

With a tense feeling in the air, it almost seems like there should be someone here...

 

But nobody came.

 

Nothing else of interest is in the room, aside from a box.

 

There's a note on the box!

 

Quote

"Feel free to put things in this box if you don't think you can carry them with you!  Don't worry about having to come back for it, the same box will show up later.  Sincerely, a Box Enthusiast."

 

[Projeck]

"Oh crap... wait, she didn't seem like she wanted to kill me..."

Calvera mentally perks up, because hooray for a non-threatening person! Hopefuly. Assuming the others are with her, she approaches the door and looks at the plaque.

[kj1225]

Arminius frowns in thought. That was actually a really good question in this case, but he shouldn't say that. He takes a moment to glance back at Rachel before deciding that being casual about this would be least likely to get blasted by her. Besides, there was a kid here, she wouldn't risk traumatizing a kid right? "In a way, he is dead yes. At least his body is. But... hm, you know how he was just talking about souls then? He is right, everyone has a soul which is the essence of what you are. And currently I have his. So while yes his body is no longer living, he's not actually dead. We just need a suitable body for his soul." Arminius didn't mention the fact that Flowey's "Soul" was rather incomplete if it was actually a soul at all rather than just some particularly stuck together essence.

[Chevaleresse]

Lucine wasn't sure what she'd expected to happen when she revealed the throne. She puffed out her cheeks and blew at the dust on the thing, then when that didn't make a sufficient dent, used the cloth that had been covering it to wipe at the seat. After a brief hesitation that ended in a mental shrug, she climbed up and sat on the thing. If nothing else, she could pretend to be Queen of the Underworld - or whatever this was. Queen Under the Mountain? No, that was . . . dwarves, right? It didn't matter, she was still Queen.

[Powder Miner]

Nader sighed upon watching everybody go off their own separate ways -- he had expected this was going to happen at some point, but ideally it would have not been immediately upon coming across the Judgement Hall and Human Graves. His lips curled into a snarl under his mask, one that could be quietly heard by those near him. It left him with no doubt at all as to what was going on. They were attracting (somehow) and killing humans -- with the hole on that end, and on this end with this "Judgement Hall". Sickening. Well, they sure as fuck weren't going to get him -- the moment they sprung their little trap, whoever "they" were, they were going to get fucking shot. "Try not to go too far into the "Judgement Hall" - it is almost certainly where they prepare the traps to kill humans." He checked, for the third time, that his guns were ready to let loose, and then he noticed that one person --specifically, the child in the group-- hadn't left the throne room.

 

He watched Lucine play around with the throne and then sit on it, then he approached her. "Lucine, you shouldn't be alone in this place. It's already bad enough that we're split up in here, but when they trigger their trap, it's better that at least you're by somebody tough like me, instead of on your own."

[Hal Henderics]

-The Threshold, Ruins.

 

Upon hearing this, the child relaxes noticeably, and, with a nod, walks after Calvera.

 

Calvera reads the Plaque.

 

 

Arminius hears the voice narrate from the other room.

 

The child, meanwhile, looks at Calvera, waiting to see if she tries to solve the puzzle.

 

-Throne Room, New Home

 

The Throne is uncomfortable, Lucine finds.

 

[Yours Truly]

Jun looks around the place for signs of life, trying to do that thing where she reaches out with her psychic power stuff to see if literally anyone was lying in wait to take the box away, before she turns to look at Ignis and says, "This place is...creepy to say the least, it makes me feel a bit expectant".

 

Afterwards she will examine the box for any signs of danger or traps, and see what's currently inside of it.

[Hal Henderics]

Not only is the box un-trapped and un-waited-on, it seems to have a pink glove in it!

 

It's a very tough looking glove, if the color is anything to go by.