Dawn of the Third age/IC Logs/Session 26

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@Lob: The scale of the area was enormous. As if Autochthon was fond of showing off how huge he really was.

@Lob: Brazen flew around, looking for anything that would indicate a settlement

@Lob: but all he saw was dust, rust, actually. And beams of steel poking out like the ribs of a colossal beast

@Lob: Although the smoke made visibility difficult

@Lob: He groveled in frustration, unused to not succeeding at something as a matter of course, and landed next to the Tunnel-Runner

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe's robes have assumed a deep blue color shimmering with curiously shifting, swirling patterns of metallic blue jade alloy. Maybe that is the reason why the omnipresent smoke seems loath to get close to Hideaki, dispersing as if by a gentle breeze before it can touch him.

~Prototype: Prototype is inside the downed craft, working with the sensor crews to get a more precise bearing and distance reading on the settlement.

Wandering: Wandering walked up to Brazen as he landed she had returned to her human form the ever present smokes doesn't seem to bother her in the least despite her breathing in great lungfuls of it. "Not much to look at around here is there"

@Lob: Brazen knocked on the now filthy windows of the Tunnel Runner

@Lob: "No. Not that I blame them. This place is ass."

@Lob: "I don't see shit out here!" He snapped through the front window

~Prototype: Pro glances up as Brazen knocks on the window, then turns his attention back to the sensors and the technicians working them.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Why are we caring about that settlement again?" Nomoe inquires idly.

Wandering: "That having some more information on the area and the patropolis that attacked us would be useful" Wandering replied "Or at least thats what I think"

@Lob: "I AGREE!" Brazen yelled through the glass again. "IF ANYONE'S ACTUALLY LIVING THERE, THAT IS"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "A smart mortal doesn't get too close to something like our target." Nomoe shrugs. "But for the sake of working together I'll admit that it is at least possible they might know something of use to us."

Nomoe_Hideaki: He sighs. "If none of you can figure out a better way I'd suggest we get it over with and start flying in that direction."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "From a shorter distance this unsightly -" the word expresses deep disgust - "smoke may not be as problematic to visual detection."

Wandering: "True, enough" said Wandering and then looked around "Which direction should we start in?"

@Lob: The technicians and crew-men are doing their best to set things up so they can survive here

Nomoe_Hideaki: points. "My aerial recon indicated that direction, roughly."

Bright_Snow: exits the craft. a gasmask on.

@Lob: They have enough food and water for an extended duration. The real worry is defense. No one knows what could be lurking out there, and the pole of Smoke has an...eerie reputation in Autocthonia

Bright_Snow: "I never did have the knack for quickly learning charms to survive in other environments." She mutters irritably. "Then again I'd never needed to." Her voice is muffled by the mask

~Prototype: Satisfied that waiting longer isn't going to refine the sensor results much more, Prototype exits the vessel and makes his way over to his warstrider.

@Lob: They began travelling northward...over the rusting plains. Their steps left a path of greasy ash-choked footprints.

@Lob: But they would be eventually blown away by the uncomfortably warm wind blown by the rusting fans

Bright_Snow: "Nice to know we won't have trouble tracking our way back. At least for a little while."

@Lob: They eventually came to the spot that had been designated as the settlement area on the reading in the Tunnel Runner

Wandering: "True, I'm not sure I'd want to try tracking our way back by scent in all this"

~Prototype: Pro begins to circle, trying to peer down through the smoky air.

@Lob: It looked...much the same, albeit with a greater amount of rubble and apparently useless machinery going through the motions that started eons ago

Nomoe_Hideaki: "This place needs some serious work done to become presentable again," Nomoe agrees.

@Lob: Brazen flew straight down onto the ground, or actually a pile of what looked like steel beams the size of skyscrapers piled end over end

~Prototype: Pro guides his craft a lower, his keen eyes alert for any human motion, anything that might signify habitation.

@Lob: His weight left a massive dent in them.

Wandering: Wandering flew down towards where Pro was noting that he had seemed to have spotted something of intrest

Nomoe_Hideaki: With all the smoke obscuring sight and no good reason for him to look for things not active in the essential spectra Nomoe simply follows the blazing essence signatures of the others.

~Prototype: Pro transforms to land and investigate on foot.

Bright_Snow: Glancing about from one side of Prototype's wing, Snow deftly hops as the fighter transforms, landing on the arm gracefully. Her gaze continues to scythe the smoke, noticing dark shapes of other features of this otherwise barrren landscape.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe lands a few meters behind and to the right of Prototype, his feet barely disturbing the omnipresent ash. "Something interesting, Commander?"

~Prototype: Pro unstraps and climbs down from the cockpit. "Yes, there are some footprints - none of ours - leading into that seeming pile of debris."

@Lob: Brazen slammed down behind Prototype's warstrider, having grown into his full-size

Wandering: "Seems we might have found our settlement then" said Wandering "Or at least some other people out here"

@Lob: Brazen flexed his talons. "Alright, then let's crack this thing open adn see what's underneath!" He declared, then stepped over to try to lift the junk pile up

Bright_Snow: wanders over to a nearby pile of junk and starts moving it, obviously looking for something. "There is a hidden mechanism Brazen, so do dissist from smashing it, at least before I've determined if we can operate it."

@Lob: Brazen moved back, disappointed.

@Lob: He moved back and looked at Prototype's warstrider. Feeling generally smug about how much bigger then it he was.

Bright_Snow: With a twist, Snow activates whatever mechanism is buried under the junk and waits

@Lob: A chain net with a curtain of rusted pieces of metal and gears and other chunks of industrial refuse attached to it rose, revealing an opening big enough for a normal sized person to fit through

@Lob: "Oh great!" Brazen snarled. "I guess I get to sit out here again."

~Prototype: "You could go back to your small form, if you want."

@Lob: "I'll light up the place for a mile if I do." He admitted, although he didn't really see the problem with that.

Wandering: "Well I'm sure we won't be too long here" said Wandering reassuringly

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Assuming peaceful interaction with the natives is the desired outcome it might be best if you stay here to guard our back, so to speak."

@Lob: "Yeah yeah fine, whatever. You go hog all the glory then." Brazen said, then sat down on a nearby throne of broken glass.

@Lob: After he melted the thing together with a beam of fire from his eyes.

~Prototype: "Perhaps I should be the first to enter? If these people are as isolated as they seem, they may not even have heard of Creation or its Exalted."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "I think you can rest easily, since I very much doubt there is glory here to be won," Nomoe says dryly.

@Lob: Brazen got comfortable in his liquid hot seat, with his tail hanging over the arms. "There's glory everywhere, so long as you have compassion to find it."

Nomoe_Hideaki: At Prototype's words he nods and motions for him to go first.

@Lob: <Keep me updated, Wanderer.>

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe shakes his head. "You can explain how you arrived at that ... interesting notion when we return, Lord Brazen Sand."

Nomoe_Hideaki: And following Prototype he enters the ... whatever it is.

Wandering: <Don't worry I will> she replied "After you then Prototype" Wandering said to the Alchimecal

~Prototype: Prototype goes down the staircase into the hidden settlement.

@Lob: The stairway was dark, only lit by guttering bursts of barely maintained jury-rigged lights with wires that occassionally coughed sparks,.

@Lob: The venting was almost nonexistent, with smoke that had accumulated over who knew how long hanging along the low ceilings

@Lob: They found a door at the end, of course. More like the seal to a vault then anything.

@Lob: It looked like it was made out of solid metal, once. But the years had taken their toll. It was covered in patches of rust here and there.

@Lob: In fact, it looked like it hadn't even been completely shut

@Lob: Sounds could be heard from behind the vault

~Prototype: Prototype cautiously reaches out and pulls the vault door open.

Nomoe_Hideaki: waits patiently for Prototype to open the door.

@Lob: The door moved an inch, but not all the way.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Far be it from him to insult the champion by offering to do it for him where it might not be necessary.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Seeing that the door isn't moving more than an inch he sighs inwardly.

~Prototype: Pro frowns and tries again, not understanding how mere mortals - mortals bereft the security and health-enhancing benefits of a Patropolis.

~Prototype: - could budge the thing if he could not.

@Lob: With a scream of rust and old broken steel, Wandering adn Prototype thrust the vault to the side, sliding it into a crevice with a sound like booming thunder

@Lob: There were a variety of dirty malnourished people staring at the group in abject surprise, utterly unprepared for what had jsut happened.

~Prototype: Prototype steps through, lighting his golden anima with a crackle of essence lightning.

@Lob: They wore "armour" that was really just rusted shards of metal that had been tied or otherwise attached to ragged ash-covered polyester clothing

@Lob: Each of them wore soulgems on their foreheads

Bright_Snow: "That was subtle." Snow says in disgust, "Maybe we should have brought Brazen after all."

@Lob: And they cowered before Prototype, dropping weapons that likely wouldn't have worked in the first place.

Wandering: "It would seem to have been the quickest way inside Snow" said Wandering "We'll make sure we didn't brake anything afterwards"

@Lob: The people gibbered in strangely accented Autocthonian, although they were clearly extremely frightened

Nomoe_Hideaki: "He'd have found a way to make things worse, I'm sure," Nomoe says in an amused tone.

~Prototype: "I am Glorious Prototype for Reunion. My companions and I are not here to hurt you, but I must ask you about this 'herald' and the sacrifices he demands."

@Lob: One of them keeps his eyes averted, as if afraid that the sight of them would visibly taint him. Although it was born from fear rather then contempt.

@Lob: "No no noooo, the herald said that the smoke will kill us all if we talk to outsiders!"

@Lob: The man begged

Nomoe_Hideaki: Having figured out the Autochthonian dialect of Old Realm back on his first visit Nomoe listens without showing his understanding.

@Lob: Meanwhile, the others fled, leaving their companion alone with these alien intruders.

~Prototype: "We will protect you from the smoke and the herald, and take you back to a city, or to Creation, if no city will have you."

@Lob: The man's hands shook, he had 2 fingers visibly missing from each hand, and they hadn't healed properly

@Lob: "I can't, he'll find me, and my family is here..." He whispered

@Lob: "And if he doesn't, then the one's from the Void-Place will come! They will make me sick and then take my mind."

Wandering: Wandering doesn't follow the conversation but the tone of the man was obviously frightened by more than just there appearane.

~Prototype: "We will protect you all, but I need you to tell me what you know," Prototype says, his voice reassuring but still containing the iron of command.

@Lob: The man began to cry

@Lob: "I don't know where to start. I've always lived here, we've lived here since the beginning of time. The herald told us that we came from the oil ocean and the smoke-man made us into humans to serve him and feed him. In exchange he keeps the Void-Place away from us!"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "The Void Place," Nomoe cuts in when Prototype remains silent, apparently deep in thought. "Has it always been here?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: His command of the Autochthonian dialect has improved since he first learned it, but he is still obviously not a native speaker.

@Lob: The ragged man looked at Nomoe. His obvious health and cleanliness made him stand out in this filthy, wretched place. but he had no soulgem...

@Lob: "The herald said to look out for people like you...people without souls!" he said, pointing at his forehead

@Lob: "He told us about the grey people who drink blood and work for the Void-City now. They don't have souls either!"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Answer the question, mortal." Nomoe's tone is cold.

@Lob: he fell onto his back as if he had been slapped by Nomoe's words

@Lob: Tears rolled down his prematurely aged face, leaving tracks of bare skin on his ash-covered cheeks

@Lob: "As long as anyone can say, as long as anyone can say!" He said desperately to the terrifying cold-eyed man.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Where is that 'Void Place' located? What forces does it command and how far do they reach? What is it doing?" Nomoe shoots further questions each one no more than breath after the man has finished answering the previous one.

@Lob: "It's the thing that the Herald needs sacrifices for, to make sure that it stays away from us!"

@Lob: "It's far away in the north, over the teeth-walls! It's all-powerful and evil, and I don't know all these things, I don't know please don't kill me please don't kill me!" He wailed

Wandering: Wondering looks between the man and Nomoe "Deliberator Nomoe whats going on? What did he say? What did you say to him?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "How far? Do you or anyone here possess a map or can give accurate directions?"

@Lob: "All we know is that it's to the North, that's where the Herald takes the sacrifices to the smoke-man! If we try to follow him then he brings them back, but wrong!"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Apparently this mortal knows of our target, calling it 'the Void Place'," Nomoe explains to the others. "It is north of here, at some distance, and some figure he calls 'the herald' delivers sacrifices to it to keep it away."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "The herald, who is he?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe asks of the mortal in Autochthonian, turning back to his comrades before he can answer.

@Lob: "He comes when the call for sacrifices rings out in here. Through it's divine mouths." The man pointed a quivering finger at a grill surrounded by black and pitted plastic on the roof.

@Lob: "It's made out of metal and people. A riding cage with wheels. The people go in the cage and never come back!"

Nomoe_Hideaki: --The call for sacrifices?-- a mere gesture of one hand continues to inquire of the mortal.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "That herald seems to be some form or void-tainted automaton, perhaps a servitor of the patropolis," he meanwhile explains to the others.

@Lob: "It speaks through the mouths! Then we all have to go out and the people are chosen!"

@Lob: "But now I'll be chosen for certain!" he said.

Nomoe_Hideaki: --Is the herald capable of speech and thought?--

~Prototype: "He won't kill you," Prototype reassures the man.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "He takes sacrifices from the local populace."

@Lob: "It just points a ray of divine light to mark it's chosen sacrifices. It is not for us to know the workings of the smoke-man!"

@Lob: Suddenly, a gravelly staticky sound barked through the speaker on the ceiling

Wandering: "Wonderful" Wandering grows "Can we find out if its likely to be back soon?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe shrugs. "Might as well see if we can extract an exact location out of that so-called herald rather than just continue to travel north. What do you think?"

@Lob: One can hear that the same sound is playing in other rooms

~Prototype: Prototype looks up at it.

@Lob: The man wailed in despair and fear. "How did it know? How did it know?! Did my friends tell it?! Did the speaker tell it?! Oh Maker nooo!"

Nomoe_Hideaki: --Is this the call for sacrifices?--

@Lob: The man nodded, quickly crawling into a fetal position, rocking back and forth.

Nomoe_Hideaki: smiles a predatory smile. "In fact that's him coming over right now. It seems we are in luck."

@Lob: People started moving into the hallways, all of them in various degrees of malnutrition and illness

@Lob: One of them, only 40, walked with a limp from a useless, obviously gangrenous leg

Wandering: "Excellent, I suppose we have a few volunteers for the sacrifice then said Wandering smiling ferally "But it won't be what this herald expects"

@Lob: "You can't fool the Herald! It'll see into your heart and know that you are foreigners!"

@Lob: "Oh no, my children! I have to see them!" He said, getting up, then stopped

@Lob: "No wait, I can't go, then I might taint them!"

Nomoe_Hideaki: --Where does the herald appear?--

~Prototype: Prototype stood up. "Fear not!" he tells them. "None of you will be taken this day, or any other day from now on.. Go to your children, to your families, and remain here. We will face the smoke-man."

@Lob: "Near the Trail of Fire!"

@Lob: The man looked at Prototype with something approaching hope

Nomoe_Hideaki: --Elaborate.--

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Maybe this part of the expedition was no mistake after all ... are we all in agreement as to our course of action?"

@Lob: "The Herald goes on a track, and the track is full of divine energy. Anyone who touches it twitches like an epileptic and then bursts into flame for their hubris!"

Nomoe_Hideaki: --Where precisely is it?--

@Lob: Then he looked at Prototype. "The Speaker hid a piece of parchment in her room, she showed it to me once...It talked about Champions of the Maker who burn with golden power, like you do! maybe...maybe someone has coem to save us at last!"

Bright_Snow: Nomoe catches just a part of a thought from Snow */...en here the people are dependant on champions, how dissap.../ she seems regretful /*

@Lob: Everyone stops when they hear Prototype, his words and power igniting a feeling of hope that had long since guttered out. perhaps for the first time in generations.

@Lob: They walked to the Champion and bowed to him, crying tears of joy and confusion at the strange emotion that was hope.

@Lob: "Can...can you really help us?!" An older woman carrying two sick children asked.

@Lob: "The smoke-man said the Maker abandoned us and threw us across the Oil Ocean. That we're the only mortals left!" Another man said.

@Lob: "The trail of fire is a day away on foot, to the east!"

Wandering: "Prototype can you convince these people to let me treat them? I should be able to help them a little before we go" said Wandering

~Prototype: "No, there are other mortals. Whole cities and worlds of mortals. And if the Maker had abandoned you, would I be here today to help you?"

@Lob: "We...we just...Oh Maker we were so lost!" One of them says and then begins to cry, collapsing into Prototype's arms like a child who had finally found their parent after being lost in the dark

~Prototype: Protype holds the tunnel dweller gently, and looks at Wandering, and in Old Realm answers, "I will do my best. It will help if you light your caste mark so they know you have a soul. In fact, all of you should do so," he adds to the rest.

Wandering: "Very well" Wandering answered and focused her essence for a moment causing her caste mark to glow with a bright silver light

@Lob: Other people reached out to touch the Champion, seeing him as a long-lost relic that had travelled here to bring them salvation.

@Lob: Some of them stared curiously at Wandering. How could someoen without a soul show a caste mark, just like the Champions of myth were said to do.

~Prototype: Brazen smiles and reaches out a hand, glad to be of comfort. "There is more! I spoke of other worlds of mortals, those worlds have Champions of their own, and those with me are among their number." He nods to Wandering. "This is Wandering, a skilled healer. She wishes to help you."

Bright_Snow: "I am not fond of doing so, Champion." Snow says with irritation, "at least publically but if you insist."

@Lob: At the sound of a healer being there, people gasped in amazement and rushed to the Lunar. The first one was the woman with her two children. They were caught in a smoke-storm that got through the ventilation and now they couldn't breathe properly.

Bright_Snow: The light of the moon fills the hall with eerie radiance, a shifting changing moon upon Snow's brow.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Not one to be shadowed Nomoe ignites his own castemark, though that should hardly be necessary to mark him as a divine being.

@Lob: Other people lined up behind the woman, desperate to be seen.

@Lob: Other people stared at Nomoe with fear-tinged awe

Nomoe_Hideaki: */Have you ever seen a society that did not need champions? Soldiers to fight for the farmers that tend the land? Speakers to give voice to others?/ curiosity /Maybe that is my failure, but I have difficulty imagining a place where the concept would not apply./*

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe doesn't really expect an answer - Bright Snow has always been secretive when it comes to the results of her research - but he asks nonetheless.

~Prototype: Prototype begins to explain, in simple terms, the nature of Creation, the Incarnae, and their Exalted: "Long ago, the Maker and his siblings, those who you know as Breakers, cooperated to make a great Creation, and they filled it with all maner of living creatures. To protect and maintain it, they created the Incarnae, a group of mighty gods like the Maker's Divine Ministers."

Wandering: Wandering places her healers bag down on the ground next to her and makes a motion to check the women will let her examine the children when she nods Wandering gently picks a child up and listens to her breathing and then reaches into her bag to extract something and passes it to the women "Prototype tell her to use this on the childrens chests twice a day it will help them breath"

~Prototype: Pro pauses to pass the message along to the woman.

Nomoe_Hideaki: just watches Wandering and Prototype move among the dirty and desperate people, making no move to take part himself

@Lob: The woman understood what Wandering meant by her motions, and even if Wandering can't understand her words, she's clearly incredibly grateful. She cries and hugs the Lunar, thankful that her children won't have to die.

~Prototype: "But like the Maker, the Incarnae saw that the Breakers were cruel and destructive, and so from the Maker's designs, the Incarnae fashioned Champions from the mortals of Creation to fight and overthrow the Breakers, and they succeeded."

@Lob: The people nodded in child-like awe at Prototype's story.

Wandering: Wandering continues in this fashion trying to heal people through mundane means and when that fails she turns to her charms to aid her, even reparing damged limbs with a sweep of her hand

@Lob: "But wasn't the Maker one of the Breaker's?" one of them asked, then twitched as she realized the blasphemy that had passed her lips

@Lob: By the end of the line, Wandering is held in almost as high esteem as Prototype. One of them even bringing her a rusted wrench that was nevertheless one of their only personal possessions as a gift.

Bright_Snow: */ You presume... I think it best if Mortals learn to fend for themselves. Their champions should be their own. Otherwise when we are busy or elsewhere they do nothing, complacent, dependant. / her mental voice is cold /*

Nomoe_Hideaki: */Ah, I see. Champions from among them rather than appointed by divine decree?/ thoughtful silence*

~Prototype: "The Breakers are the Maker's brothers and sisters, and so their natures are similar, but the Breakers bore no love for the Maker and often tormented him and his works."

@Lob: Everyone nodded again. That made sense.

Bright_Snow: Snow wanders amongst the people, loathing the fact that her Caste mark is lit and that she does not, for once, fit in. */Those observed only show their best nature / she thinks sadly/*

Wandering: Wandering accepts the gift gravely indicating that she values the gift and what it represents

@Lob: The man nodded and smiled at her, bowing as he left

Bright_Snow: She eventually sits, quietly off to one side, content for the moment to watch and to wait.

Nomoe_Hideaki: After a while Nomoe joins Bright Snow where she sits, asking permission with an inquiring gesture before he sits himself. His mantle of presence is muted, drawing no more attention than any foreign figure would among these people. If he has to wait while the others go about their business, he might as well sit here.

Bright_Snow: She nods in response and continues watching, closing the gap very slightly between them as he sits down.

Nomoe_Hideaki: The time until their departure passes in silence.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Silence where no words are expected is not uncomfortable to Hideaki.

@Lob: They all followed them to the door as the Circle left, waiting to see if they had any last words

~Prototype: Prototype turns to them. "The blessings of the Maker and the Incarnae are upon you all. The man of smoke, and any who ally with him, will threaten you no longer, once we have faced them."


@Lob: The people waved at him as they left, settling all their hopes on the Champion's, and his allies', shoulders.

@Lob: Brazen met them outside, clearly extremely enthusiastic about fighting for the oppressed. In such a strange land, this was finally something that he understood

@Lob: "You know where we're going?" He asked them

@Lob: He rose out of his glass throne and stretched his muscles and wings

~Prototype: Prototype nods to Brazen as he climbs up to the cockpit and begins strapping in. "They say it's a day on foot to the east, and that there's some kind of trail or track made of divine fire."

Wandering: "So go see this herald and make it tell us what it knows about whats happening around here" Wandering said as they got ready to depart

@Lob: "I think I'd rather kick it's ass for what it's doing to these people!"

~Prototype: "I agree with Brazen. Not that we shouldn't see what it knows first."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "So long as it can still be made to speak after you are done I have no objection," Nomoe states. "And once it is of no more use to us ..."

Wandering: "Agreed" said Wandering "I'm sure we can deal with it then"

@Lob: So they travelled to the East

@Lob: although they made extremely quick time, it was obvious that the path would have been extremely harsh for mortals travelling on foot

@Lob: Eventually they came to a track that seemed to be made out of adamant, with lightning coursing through it at irregular intervals, stretching faaar off to the North

@Lob: and ending at the "meeting point", as if it had been made specifically for carting off sacrifices.

@Lob: Brazen touched the track and a blast of lightning traveled up his claws

@Lob: Which Brazen looked at idly until it dissipated

Wandering: "What a strange sight" Wandering murmered "I've never seen anything like it in my travels. What about you snow" she asked the other Lunar who she knew had traveled far

~Prototype: Prototype's gaze darkens. "I expect that settlement isn't the only community being terrorized by this thing."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "I believe there are a few places in Creation where such trails have been newly created or remnants reactivated. Not in Sanken, though."

@Lob: "How's it work? It's like some kind of road...but how the hell would anything travel on this without getting fried?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: */Not yet anyway/*, Nomoe adds in his thoughts.

Bright_Snow: shakes her head in wonder. "Not at all."

Bright_Snow: "This trip is worth it alone for the wonders we have seen."

Nomoe_Hideaki: Such conveyances would sure prove beneficial in the long run, despite the vast resources they'd require.

~Prototype: "I imagine some sort of vehicle hovers above it and follows it, perhaps drawing its motive power from the track."

@Lob: Vibrations can be felt in the ground, coming from a distance

Bright_Snow: */Improvement on improvement you make to Sanken, could it survive without you, do you think? / Curiousity /*

Bright_Snow: raises an eyebrow at Nomoe

Nomoe_Hideaki: */It would be an improvement accomplished by the people of Sanken, even if I spearhead the project. I am no artificer, no technician. But ... if I am to take a lesson from history, then I'd have to say no more than a thousand years past a second Usurpation./ sadness, but hope too /Of course, it might turn out better than that.*

Bright_Snow: */ You did not live that time, much did not survive even the Usurpation. /*

Bright_Snow: */ You say a thousand years, I would hazard ten /*

Bright_Snow: */ Sadness fills her at that. But she feels it is a realistic estimate / Assuming of course no other chosen steped up to fill the gap/*

Nomoe_Hideaki: */It is true, in making a comparison to the Usurpation I assumed the continued existence of Terrestrial Exalts. Without that ... I'd probably have to set my estimate lower./*

Nomoe_Hideaki: */But even so ... as I said, things may turn out better than before this time. Since we do have the advantage of being able to learn from that history. We will see./ determination and measured hope*


@Lob: A booming horn can be heard.

@Lob: Brazen turned in it's direction. "Ah hell, here it comes."


~Prototype: "I believe, however, that we are about to find out for sure."

~Prototype: Pro readies his cannon.

@Lob: A massive blocky evidence shot towards them, spewing Smoke from vents all along it's front. It had no face, and seemed to be partially made out of Soulsteel

@Lob: The lightning from the track played along it's shifting wheels

Bright_Snow: "I will refrain from activating anything too obvious so long as Brazen, does not alert it prematurely." She whirls the direlance around slightly. "Once he does all bets are off."

Wandering: "What in Luna's name is that thing?" said Wandering "The Herald? I suppose?" interest glowed in her eyes

@Lob: Brazen spread out a bit and leaned forward, ready to leap at whatever came..., while fire burst from his pores.

@Lob: The back of it carried a feeling of almost palpable despair

@Lob: Ash-blackened greasy wired cages instead of cars, coming one after the other...far too many cages for even the entire population of that one tiny settlement.

~Prototype: A targeting reticule appears over the approaching vehicle in Pro's vision as he tracks it.

@Lob: "Holy shit...what IS that thing for!?" Brazen snarled as if the thing's existence offended him.

Bright_Snow: The area around Snow shimmers slightly a rainbow of colour now shimmering through the smoke. Snow stands ready.

~Prototype: "Collecting people," Prototype says grimly.

@Lob: As the thing slowed to a stop, Brazen leapt at it, no longer able to suffer what it represented.

@Lob: With a heave, he threw it off it's tracks and onto it's side

@Lob: Then began pounding on it with his fists, even though the soulsteel was able to hold against his blows

~Prototype: Subreticules blossomed as Prototype identified possible vulnerabilities in its design.

@Lob: The car bleated in Old Realm

@Lob: While a pinpointing laser spread out to take in it's surroundings

Nomoe_Hideaki: His arms hidden in his sleeves Nomoe watches the thing's approach and Brazen Sand's preemptive attack.

@Lob: A trail of fire burst from Brazen's claws as he tore at it with feral abandon. "LET'S LOOK INSIDE IT, SEE HOW THIS SON OF A BITCH LIKES IT!"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Remember that we want to ask a few questions, assuming it can even answer," he points out, audible over the din of Brazen's attacks without raising his voice.

@Lob: "*MORTALS*" It spat in Old Realm, even as it was on it's side, and seemingly unable to move.

@Lob: "*THEY CAN DO NOTHING BUT BETRAY!*"

@Lob: It spoke at an ear-splitting volume from horns placed around it's body.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Walking slowly Nomoe approaches the pinned thing. "We have a few questions. I suggest you answer them."

@Lob: "*OR WHAT?*" It spat.

@Lob: "OR ELSE I'LL PEEL YOU LIKE BARK OFF A FUCKING TREE!" Brazen snarled

Bright_Snow: "You seem to think this is a conversation, this is not. And Brazen don't be rude, we'll strip its mind to pieces first. That way we get our answers." She says matter of factly

@Lob: It blasted out a scream of static, then spoke sullenly. "*SPEAK*"

@Lob: "*JUST KEEP YOUR PET BREAKER ON A LEASH!*"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Where do you bring the mortals that you ... gather?"

@Lob: "*TO MY MASTER, OF COURSE! AS A JUST REWARD FOR HIS SERVICE TO THE MAKER!*"

@Lob: "*ALL MORTALS SERVE THE MAKER, THEY ARE NO DIFFERENT*"

Wandering: "Who is your Master?"

Bright_Snow: "So it does its job then, it is not serving the void tainted patropolis?"

@Lob: "*OBERASHTI*"

@Lob: "*OF COURSE IT DOES IT'S 'JOB'*

~Prototype: "And what does Oberashti do with the mortals you bring?"

@Lob: *"YET IT OFTEN DESIRES TO SPEND SOME TIME LOOKING AFTER IT'S OWN INTERESTS, IT'S OWN HOBBIES. DOES IT NOT DESERVE SUCH AFTER MILLENIA OF SERVICE?*"

Bright_Snow: "You did not answer my question about whether it served the Void-Tainted Patropolis elemental?"

@Lob: "*IT KILLS THEM, OF COURSE. IN DIFFERENT WAYS, DEPENDING ON IT'S MOOD.*"

@Lob: "MAGOG IS IRRELEVANT."

@Lob: "*IT PLAYS IT'S OWN PART, AND THE MASTER SAYS THAT IT IS NOT FOR ME TO EXAMINE IT FURTHER. I ONLY SERVE, AS THE MORTALS SHOULD.*"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Speak to us of this 'Magog'."

@Lob: "*NO*"

@Lob: "*YOU THINK YOU CAN DISRESPECT CENTURIES OF TRADITION, CENTURIES OF DELIVERY THAT HAD RUN LIKE A WELL-OILED MACHINE!*"

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe smiles coldly. "Quite so." His tone becomes icy. "Speak. Now."

@Lob: "*WHEN OBERASHTI FINDS OUT THAT HE HAS BEEN BETRAYED, THIS SETTLEMENT WILL BE MADE AN EXAMPLE OF!*"

@Lob: "*DID YOU DO THIS, CHAMPION?*" It said, the light-beam waving to Prototype

Nomoe_Hideaki: "We have the means to unmake you entirely, creature of Smoke. You really should reconsider your stance."

@Lob: "*THEN WHEN I'M GONE, OBERASHTI WILL SLAUGHTER THE PEOPLE YOU THINK YOU'LL SAVE FOR THEIR IMPUDENCE!*"

Wandering: "He would not know since you will not be able to tell him"

Bright_Snow: "Settlement? What Settlement? We found a track and an evil looking thing, with cages." She sounds confused, puzzled.

@Lob: "*HA. HA. HA. HA.*"

~Prototype: Prototype ignores the thing's question. "I should listen to Nomoe, were I you. Unless you truly wish to have one of the Solar Exalted as an enemy."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "I care not for your threats or any people you might pretend to hold hostage. Speak."

@Lob: "*MAGOG IS THE GREMLIN CITY OF THE POLE OF SMOKE, LIKE A CANCEROUS LUNG, IT SITS BEYOND THE RANGES OF OBERASHTI'S SANCTUM.*"

@Lob: "*IT IS A CONVENIENT PIECE FOR THE MORTAL'S BELIEF SYSTEMS. FOR OBERASHTI'S EXPERIMENT IN INCREASING MORTAL DOCILITY.*"

@Lob: "*HE BELIEVES THAT THE TIME TO FIGHT THE SPREADING SICKNESS IS OVER. IT IS TIME TO HARNESS IT*"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "What do you know of its alliances with the servants of the fallen Primordials? What of the gate piercing the Seal of Eight Divinities?"

Bright_Snow: "So he is trying to use the Void-Taint? I wonder what Ku would think of that?"

@Lob: "*WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?*" It said to Nomoe

@Lob: "*DON'T ASK ME SILLY QUESTIONS!*"

Bright_Snow: */ Shall I grant it, its safety if it chooses to ferry us to this void tainted place?/*

Bright_Snow: "Better to let Ku handle his own traitors."

@Lob: "*TRAITOR? YOU DARE CALL OBERASHTI A TRAITOR!?*"

@Lob: "*HE IS A VISIONARY! THE ONLY ONE BRAVE ENOUGH TO KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE!*"

Nomoe_Hideaki: Without missing a beat Nomoe backhands the train with destructive strength belying his merely human frame. "Please remember to stay polite when speaking to your betters," he says pleasantly.

Bright_Snow: "For harnessing the Void-Taint? What other word would you use? What other word would the Ministers use?" She turns to Prototype, "What word would they use Prototype?"

~Prototype: "Apostasy."

~Prototype: "Gremlinism."

@Lob: A dent was left in a piece of steel in the shape of Nomoe's hand

@Lob: It tottered from the force

@Lob: "*YOU CAN'T STOP HIM! KU RECOGNIZES HIS USE! HE IS FAR TOO USEFUL TO DESTROY, EVEN IF KU IS YET TOO COWARDLY TO UNDERSTAND HIS METHODS!*"

Bright_Snow: "You seem to know alot about what we can and cannot do Gremlin."

@Lob: *"MAKER DAMN YOU, YOU SANCTIMONIUS CREATION-BORN FUCKS!*"

@Lob: It screamed petulantly

Bright_Snow: Sarcasm drips from her words, her tone calm.

@Lob: "*I HAVE TRAVELLED THIS ROUTE AND MANY OTHERS BEFORE YOU WERE EVEN CONCIEVED!*"

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe's eyes narrow at the thing's petulant screams and insults. This time his answer is an open-palmed strike trailing golden light. "I *told* you to watch your tongue, elemental," he hisses.

@Lob: This strike sent the car up in the air a few feet, with a blast of soulsteel shrapnel and metal pieces raining down from the force of Nomoe's blow

@Lob: The train landed with a massive crater left on it's front, like a massive beast had bitten a chunk of it.

Bright_Snow: "So I slew your brothers and sister on the fields of Red Glass. I choked the life from the Skorliandor, Minister of Hegra. I watch the air drown thousands and the waters below burn flesh when we assaulted the Flame that Marches against the Sea. You think I am IMPRESSED by your pathetic THREATS! We have crushed the like of your time since near time immemorial, you would do better to know fear."

Bright_Snow: Her voice never rises above her normal speaking voice throughout, her voice icily calm. Speaking as if she was talking to any of the others

@Lob: *"SSSSSST...YOU...SSST...I'M NOT THE LAST...STT*" It said, popping sounds in between words

Nomoe_Hideaki: "I'm sorry, I didn't make that out? What did you say?"

@Lob: "*WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? KILL ME! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF I DIE!*"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "But we are no finished with you," Nomoe says, affecting puzzlement.

@Lob: "*I WON'T PLAY YOUR SILLY GAMES!*"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "There are a few more questions you'll be required to answer, for one."

@Lob: "*NO!*"

@Lob: liquid smoke leaked out like life's blood out of an animal's heart.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Like ... the precise location of Magog and the way to get there. Anything you know about its defenses and capabilities. And more about Oberashti's plans to harness the sickness."

@Lob: "*I'M DONE TALKING WITH YOU. KILL ME AND GET IT OVER WITH, OR LEAVE. BUT I'M NOT GOIGN TO BETRAY MY MASTER!*"

Nomoe_Hideaki: turns to Bright Snow. "What do we say to that?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: */I might be able to coerce it into obedience, though it would tax me. Or we could kill it. Can we torture it - I don't know./*

@Lob: A spear of shimmering green light, hot enough to burn with it's light alone appeared in Brazen's hands.

@Lob: "Let's give it what it wants. I don't see a reason to let this piece of shit exist any longer!"

Bright_Snow: */ I could consume its heart's blood, though its form sickens me. /*

@Lob: "*AH, MY ONLY REGRET IS NO LONGER BEING ABLE TO FULFILL MY FUNCTION.*" It mused

@Lob: "*TO FEEL FULL OF MORTAL SUBJECTS, KNOWING THAT MY PURPOSE FOR EXISTENCE IS BEING DONE.*"

~Prototype: "Well, if you cannot force it to speak, then let's kill it and be done. The people it has terrorized deserve to be free of its blight."

Wandering: "I don't think it will tell us much more what ever we do" said Wandering "Even if I used my acids to make its flesh burn without killing it"

Nomoe_Hideaki: " 'I wouldn't say I cannot, yet. But at this point ..." Nomoe shrugs. "Why bother."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Let's not tarry here any longer. We have a mission."

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe raises his bare hand slightly, the gesture carrying about the same menace as Brazen Sand's giant spear of green light. "Who wants to do it?" */Do you want its form?/*

Bright_Snow: */ It will be useful to us. Even if it is ugly. /*

~Prototype: Pro's trigger finger itches, and he raises his stutter cannon to point at one of the several weak points he's identified while the conversation went on. "I volunteer."

Bright_Snow: "Rejoice, you get to live on in a way." She strides forward with purpose, changing as she does so before leaping into the gaping wound. After a few moments there is a frenzyed noise and splash of smoke and oil and the deed is done.

Nomoe_Hideaki: */Duty is heavy as a mountain .../* Nomoe lowers his hand again.

@Lob: The thing screams and dies as Snow tears it's mechanical heart out of it's engine-car

Bright_Snow: A little while later she wipes herself down and climbs back out of the thing, looking faintly embaressed. "I apologise, that is never pretty,"

@Lob: Brazen looked at her with wide eyes. "holy shit."

Nomoe_Hideaki: watches, a deep and dark part of him enjoying its suffering and death

Bright_Snow: She wipes her mouth with one hand picking soulsteel out of her teeth. "I'm going to be pulling that out for weeks", she sighs miserably

Nomoe_Hideaki: "There is beauty in efficiency," Nomoe waves away the apology.

~Prototype: Pro riddles the dead corpse with a burst anyway, just to vent.

Bright_Snow: Looking at the track, she turns, "Lets give this a go then, or rather an elemental." And a few seconds later the train again bestrides the tracks.

@Lob: Brazen tried to follow it from behind, eventually chosing to shrink down and then sit in the front car, which was enclosed

Nomoe_Hideaki: is quiet for a moment at Bright Snow's transformation. "Permission to come aboard," he then asks.

Wandering: Wandering waits for premission before she climbs onto the train "This is a little strange really" said Wandering "I don't think I've ever ridden inside someone else before"

@Lob: "Try hanging out in Malfeas." Brazen responded. "You get used to it."

Bright_Snow: *YOU THINK THIS IS STRANGE FOR YOU.* She says in the trains voice, somewhat horrified. *JUST GET ONBOARD*

@Lob: "Hey, Snow..." Brazen said

Nomoe_Hideaki: inclines his head slightly, then leaps aboard, the touch of his feet light as a feather.

@Lob: "Indoor voice." Said with a grin.

Bright_Snow: *FUNNY*

Bright_Snow: She accelerates back the way the train came

@Lob: "Nomoe-San, I'm just going to go to the front car, so no one can see me, and I can push your mate's buttons."

~Prototype: Pro flies overhead, following Train!Snow along the rails.

Nomoe_Hideaki: gives Brazen a *look*, then pointedly turns away. "If you think that's wise." His tone is unreadable.

Nomoe_Hideaki: *a mental sigh /If he gets ... more annoying than usual, just run him over. I'm sure Wandering will understand./*

Bright_Snow: */ Don't worry, if he does come up here and do so I may not stop at just that / Her tone is restrained but she is not pleased. Not pleased at all, she doesn't like this not any of it. She feels exposed, vulnerable/*

Nomoe_Hideaki: *sympathy and appreciation /You don't have to do this. Certainly not all the way./*

@Lob: Brazen actually opened the "conductors" section and merely sat down on the floor, alone with his blinding anima.

@Lob: He actually lightly pet the wall.