lunarwhite | NOVEMBER MID-MONTH EVENT.

Entry tags:

!event

NOVEMBER MID-MONTH EVENT.

THE JAWS OF FIRE.

WHO. Everyone.
WHERE. The Badlands
WHEN. November 16th.
WHAT. Tracking and exploration.
WARNINGS. None for now.

A SEARCH.

Urgent news has been delivered: a cart carrying valuable crystals has gone missing in the Badlands. If it is not an accident, it would be something targeted not only at the Light faction but also Spring, the destination of this particular load. As always, foreigners are called upon to assist in the investigation.

You are our only hope.

For more reasons than one.

ADMIN.

This is the log for the November mid-month event! A short write-up on what the characters will find can be read here. Participation in this log will earn your character bonuses during activity check.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them below.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bramble had shifted as well on the attack, but was keeping her distance. Louise had her bow, and the cave was big enough that Stone could shift, but not so big that he couldn't handle both predators.

But seeing the way the fire didn't even singe Philip, and, yet, Louise could still hit them, made her file that away -- so they were real, but the fire wasn't? Good to know.

Bramble took a step in front of Phillip, ready to pounce if the predators got free of Stone. "These are not good 'dogs'," she commented to Phillip.

Stone growls at Phillip for, once again, being stupid, and he hesitates when it does nothing to him. He knows the story of Moon and Jade with the illusory water in the progenitor's old city... is that what's happening here?

He leans forward and gives the nearest canine a swat with one hand, claws unsheathed. If they're really here, maybe they're edible.

Well - she's going to retreat here, thanks. The big shapeshifty types seem to have this handled.

Retreat and, if possible, take the kid with her, so she lowers her bow and steps over to reach out to Phillip and take his arm. "Let's leave this to those two. We'll just be in the way and potentially get hit accidentally."

Bramble and Stone fill up a good deal of the cave, after all, and whatever the kid is, she still works under the assumption that both of them are significantly squishier than the Raksura.

Phillip immediately opens his mouth to object when Bramble steps in front of him to 'protect' him, but is stopped by Lousie actively moving to try and get him out of the way. He is most certainly not in danger- in the way, maybe. And unfortunately, his powers don't have much that isn't 'incredibly annoying/distracting' or 'immediately fatal.' And he doesn't want to kill the dogs, even though that's probably going to happen.

A part of him also recognizes that it's probably better for him in the long run if no one knows how powerful he is, but it's so hard when he hates being protected. (At least that mostly comes off as teenage arrogance.) "Fine," he mutters with an overly dramatic sigh, moving back out of the fray. There's still some things he can do from over here if they get overwhelmed.

The fire flows right over Stone's scales, not even stopping his claws from connecting with the startled creature, the nearest of the two guardians, while it's distracted by the others. He sends it sprawling, so he can pounce on it and bite down, hopefully biting the small thing in half.

That still leaves the second one.

Edited 2017-11-29 00:36 (UTC)

Once Bramble is certain the groundlings are out of the way, she's willing to advance, trying to gage how best to quickly dispatch the creature, without giving it a shot to break free of her and Stone. She crouches, hissing at the canid, which tries to strike.

Bramble jumps to the side, going for the back of the neck with her claws, trying to quickly break it or let it bleed out. She'll worry about the illusion fire later.

Stone looks up from his kill and sweeps his tail in Bramble and her canid's direction, aiming to trip it up and send it tumbling right into Bramble's claws for a second kill. Since the fire isn't bothering him, he just sits on the first in case it isn't actually dead, claws still dug in and wings mantled a little, looking a little like a hawk that just killed something.

Bramble recognizes the move, and pounces, digging in all four claws aiming to sever the spine, or at least cut something important in the neck, trying to avoid claws and teeth.

She makes contact, adn the creature flails, but crumples.

The two guardians fall to the ground, dissipating a moment later into nothing - conjured creatures, as they were. A few moments later there's the sound of wingbeats from outside; a dragon lands at the mouth of the cave to deposit its rider. Rinzen sprints into the cave, having ditched her trademark hat - while most of the foreigners can't seem to remember what her face looks like, her clothes and voice should be familiar enough.

"What happened here?"

She looks around, squints at where the door is hidden from plain sight, and frowns.

Oh... hi, Rinzen. Phillip isn't entirely sure if he's supposed to let other people know he's talked to her outside of the Sanctum stuff, so he'll just answer the question as opposed to any other greeting.

"Giant, angry, fire-breathing dogs." So a day in the life, at least for Phillip.

The smell is familiar, at least, too. Stone's tongue, even longer and more snake-like, flicks out to taste the air as she charges in, and then he shakes his claws clean of the... blood that isn't actually there. He shifts back down to groundling form. "They don't even leave behind any meat," he grumbles. "Were you waiting for us to finish cleaning them up before you came to join us?"

Faces you don't seem to be able to remember aren't particularly reassuring, but not terribly disturbing, either. They do put her on edge, though.

And since everything that needs to be said has been said, in her opinion, she will instead hang back, keeping her bow strung, and watch the newcomer.

"No, I was following something else. There's magic here that should not be used by most people."

It's not exactly forbidden, only rare. And if one of those people would be using it... it would complicate things greatly.

"Someone sealed the cave's entrance. I'll open it once you're ready."

She has a pistol around her waist and a short sword in one hand; perhaps a little too lightly armed to be fighting, but it only carried hints to her other abilities. The seal takes about half a minute to dispel, revealing the cave to be at least three times as deep. The remains of a cart can be seen dimly in the distance.

"Show yourself!"

Louise put another arrow on her string, but otherwise remained where she was - towards the back of the group, shielded by the Raksura before her.

Phillip is still unarmed, his hands in his pockets, but he's refusing to be shielded and his eyes are on the door. He is very, very curious about who could be hiding back there.

Stone continues to consider himself one of the more sturdy members of this group, so he follows right on Rinzen's heels to peer ahead of them, tongue flicking out again-- less natural-looking in this form-- for a taste of the air. "There's still someone here," he says, frowning. He continues slowly back into the cave, ready to shift at a breath's notice, fingers flexed as if they might still have claws on them. "Smells like smoke."

Louise still hangs back a bit but moves closer into the room and surveys the patches of shadow that lie on the ground and walls around them. There are a number of them that would be big enough to step into if she needs it, but she'd really rather not display her supernatural abilities, so unless things really go to shit... she'll remain here, with her bow, and wait.

At first only silence greets the explorers, but after a few moments a light brightens in the depths of the cave - the light of a torch on fire, illuminating its carrier. A man steps forth, throwing his arms open in a gesture that is probably more welcoming than it should be.

"Well, well. I guess I have guests." A tattoo gleams on his forehead in the shape of a third eye. "So what will it be? Have you come to offer yourselves?"

Rinzen retrieves her gun and aims it at his head in a single, fluid motion.

"Cut the theatrics. Surrender yourself if you want less trouble."

Unlike Stone, Bramble stayed shifted as she could still speak in her scaled form. As a result, her spines, which had started to return to their normal place, just flattened. She hissed.

"Were you the one who set the creatures here? Killed everyone?"

"Where are the dragons?" Louise speaks up, finally, still standing the furthest to the back, arrow at the ready. That really is the part of all of this that worries her the most.

The man lights a small flame in one hand, blowing it out nonchalantly.

"The weak have no right to question the strong. I simply took what was rightfully mine."

To which Rinzen replies,

"You're a piece of shit."

She pulls the trigger on her gun, and a bullet flashes through the space between them... only to combust into dust inches before his forehead.

Well, fuck this asshole. If Phillip hadn't had it beaten into his head to not just kill people, he should would have tried right not. But he has, so he doesn't, and instead he just stares at the leader like he's a goddamn idiot. Which he is.

"Yeah, that's not how anything works."

"The strong are made that way to protect the weak, not to kill them," Stone growls, and the growl itself vibrates the ground a little under their feet. "Where are the dragons?" And, as an afterthought, he adds, "And the crystals they were guarding?"

The strange-looking man chuckles.

"Foreigners, how quaint. Your way of thinking doesn't hold here. You come, you play by our rules." He starts pacing around, seemingly uncaring about how Rinzen still has her gun following his movements. "I took them. Don't worry, they will be used magnificently."

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