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Post by Bippwatt on Nov 8, 2016 5:32:00 GMT
"And what if they don't see a ship break the rules? Like, oh, they're busy dealing with another ship while a ship ganks us?", Eliora said, increasing the throttle.
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Post by Spartan 999 on Nov 14, 2016 0:37:54 GMT
Hakim eyed Kilroy warily as the spell was cast. The grating, almost painful demonic tongue was something even he had trouble deciphering, and the method itself was unlike anything he'd used before. He couldn't help but stare in semi-morbid fascination at the rift as it expanded and engulfed them. The “astral realm of swift travel” on the other side was...intriguing as well. And mildly disturbing, but not in a visceral or eldritch geometry way.
“...I've never even heard about this place,” he muttered to himself. “And I've heard of a lot of places.” The Ash Lad glanced at the bound demon. “I suppose that comes with you being a Demon and all. More well acquainted with Other places.”
And then Eliora's question came. She was wary of this place, and rightfully so.
“If they're half as terrifying as Kilroy makes them out to be, I don't imagine a ship would stall them for very long,” Hakim mused. “And if only one of them is needed to destroy an attacking vessel, then that would mean three ships would need to start attacking goers-by at the same time. Although that's not counting whatever...magic or other abilities they may possess.”
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Post by recoveryfive on Nov 14, 2016 2:12:10 GMT
"Then they will be cursed." Kilroy stated in a disturbingly blunt manner, standing back up and returning to Eliora's side. "Yes, pirates may attack this ship and slay us all if they wish. But once they have done so, they will never escape. They will be hunted down by the children of Mir and Vrall in a neverending cycle of death and rebirth, until the last star in the last dimension turns to dust."
A small silence reigned over the boat's passengers as what Kilroy told them sank in.
"...Fuck." Bonnie mumbled shakily as the ship fully entered the realm. "That's, uh...pretty horrifying, I guess. Better stay out of their way, yeah?"
"Agreed." Gerlach said, looking around at all of the different ships. He retched at the sight of a particularly bio-organic looking one, eyeing its wings as it flapped through the void.
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Post by Bippwatt on Nov 14, 2016 5:11:55 GMT
"Damn. That's some Greek level punishment shit right there.", Deidre said with a frown. "In fact, that...sounds remarkably like a Greek tragedy, actually."
Eliora just shook her head. "Doesn't matter. As long as they don't think we're doing something bad, we'll be fine. I can cloak the ship to hide us from most eyes. I'm sure Mir and Vrall can see right through it, but it should make it harder for others to do so."
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Post by recoveryfive on Nov 15, 2016 21:33:04 GMT
And so they were off, sailing through the realm of swift travel. The occasional cacaphony of screams, crashes, and explosions rang out here and there as Mir and Vrall punished a rogue ship, but it was overall a very uneventful trip save for an accidental near collision with a ship shaped like an iron centipede. They soon arrived at the exit and soared out of it, arriving at the mountain range.
"That was pretty tense." Gerlach remarked after losing his lunch again over the side of the ship. "But I'm glad we made it out alright..."
Kilroy nodded in agreement, closing the portal to the realm behind them. "Leaving that open would most likely be a bad idea." he replied to Eliora's inquisitive look. "Also impolite. Dimension ettiquette and all that."
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Post by Spartan 999 on Nov 15, 2016 21:59:16 GMT
“Yyyyesss...” Hakim nodded gravely. “Dimension etiquette. Very important to remember.” He unstrapped himself and stood to walk up to the map, which had reconfigured to show the mountainous terrain. “The tales said that he dwelt in some sort of tower or keep. Unless it's heavily cloaked by illusion, it shouldn't be too hard to find. Just time-consuming.”
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Post by Bippwatt on Nov 15, 2016 23:57:27 GMT
As they floated a little more, they rounded a large nearby peak and a huge, stone and metal edifice could be seen upon the next mountain down.
And between them and it were six airships, most smaller than them...but one of them was clearly large and bristling with guns.
"Or it will be in plain sight and have an entire strike squadron of airships guarding it...", Eliora said, slamming a large red button, sending the crew to battle stations.
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Post by recoveryfive on Nov 16, 2016 1:34:01 GMT
"Hold on a minute!" Gerlach objected in alarm. "We have no idea if those ships have hostile intentions or not! We should study them from a distance and try to contact them befo-"
"No shut up though ship battle time now let's go go GO!" Bonnie yelled, vaulting over a crew member and manning one of the guns. She looked all too eager to shoot someone or something out of the sky, an enthusiastic grin on her face.
Gerlach sighed and manned a gun next to Kilroy, grumbling about how they were being entirely reckless about all of this. The bound demon patted the boy on the shoulder in assurance, sensing his frustration. The wizard-in-training quietly thanked him before turning his attention back to his gun.
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Post by Spartan 999 on Nov 16, 2016 19:42:27 GMT
Hakim rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as the red alert sounded. “I swear Coyote is laughing at me...,” he muttered under his breath. Still, he took a seat at one of the primary guns and quickly familiarized himself with the controls. “I don't suppose they're contacting us to discuss a parlay or something?,” he said over his shoulder at Eliora in a dry voice.
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Post by Bippwatt on Nov 16, 2016 23:49:09 GMT
Just as Hakim finished asking the question, the larger ship disappeared behind a cloud of multi-colored smoke. However, none of their guns could be seen aiming at them.
As everyone stood staring, two of the smaller ships practically disintegrated into splinters. The other three smaller ships suddenly wheeled about, responding to what seemed to be a turncoat ship.
Those guns boomed again as the two closer ships charged in, their own guns popping, seeming to do little to slow or hinder the larger ship.
As those two were easily turned to scrap, the final ship turned and charged away, apparently barreling straight for them. Perhaps they thought to either escape by going through them or board them and use their ship against their opponent. It became clear that they had hostile intent towards them when the guns on the smaller ship puffed and several hard knocking sounds thudded against their hull. Fortunately, the hull was made from ironwood and magically reinforced. The enemy's guns had little effect on their better protected ship.
However, their wickedly sharp ramming spike on their bow could probably be a problem if they hit them at a high enough speed.
Eliora slammed the ship into full reverse, slowing them down drastically.
Hakim and Bonnie both laid the ship in their gun-sights and fired. Each of them controlled a section of the Sidhe airships guns, which was four guns each. Thanks to clever fey magic, those guns were heavier than they could have been on a mortal airship and more potent for their size.
The eight shots sounded nearly as one, creating a whiplash crack of booming artillery. Six of the eight shots were on target...Bonnie's eagerness to fire had led her to fire before all four of her guns were aimed, causing two of her shots to miss.
However, Eliora had adjusted several controls and the cannons were firing their most deadly rounds. Annihilation shells. Each shell had enough magic bound to it to power a Sphere of Annihilation for about three seconds.
About a microsecond after the six shots impacted, their spells activated and six huge chunks of the ship simply ceased to exist, leaving less than a quarter of the ship remaining, which slowed rapidly, just as their own ship began moving backward now, and fell down to the mountainside below.
Eliora slammed the throttle back to a slow forward crawl and they came to a stop again, then began to inch forward.
"Well, that happened.", Deidre said. "Remind me not to fuck with a Fey airship."
"Don't fuck with a Fey airship.", Eliora reminded her.
"Thanks...", the dry reply fell on deaf ears.
"Wonder who the last ship is and if they are friendly or not..."
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Post by recoveryfive on Nov 17, 2016 1:38:31 GMT
As if in response, the other airship began moving towards theirs in return. The group waited with bated breath, Bonnie taking her hands off of the guns to avoid firing them on accident. Slowly, Large Ship #2 began moving to the right of them. Unsure as to what she should do, Eliora decided to stop for now. They seemed to be trying to come aboard, and since they had proven not to be hostile for now she would give them the benefit of the doubt. Sure enough, LS #2 halted next to them, the group hurrying over to where their would-be allies were going to enter. A gangplank extended and reached the other side, the sound of footsteps getting closer to them all.
A young woman stepped into sight, her purple hair and yellow eyes almost shining in the daylight. She wore something akin to a classical pirate outfit, only without a tricorn hat and with her own...unique style, which apparently meant dark purple stripes on her shirt and pants. The buttons on her shirt were unbuttoned fairly low, and a mischievous grin was visible on her face.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" she spoke with a clear cockney accent. "Three lovely ladies, two fine gentleman, and...some sort of cute little munchkin, I believe?"
"I am not a munchkin! I am a demon!"
The girl let out a short and playful laugh. "Right, my mistake." she apologized sincerely, making a small theatrical bow. "The name's Cheshire. I've a feeling we'll get along fairly well."
She glanced over her shoulder, hands on her hips. "Captain! They don't seem to be with the Courts!" she called out to an unseen person on board.
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Post by Spartan 999 on Nov 17, 2016 2:33:15 GMT
“Now I know Coyote's laughing,” he grumbled. Hakim put a hand on the hilt of his sword as the gangplank extended and the...colorful girl walked over. When she called back to the Captain and mentioned the Sidhe Courts, the Ash Lad's eyes—and only his eyes—flicked to look over at where Eliora still was before sliding back to again stare at Cheshire.
His hand relaxed and he removed it from the Ash Sword's hilt, but Hakim didn't let down his guard entirely. He was still ready to defend himself if the need arose.
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Post by Bippwatt on Nov 17, 2016 3:02:39 GMT
When the girl who had named herself as Cheshire called out behind her, another woman stepped across, two inches shorter than the first one.
This woman was rather striking, with dark mocha skin, her eyes almost startling, with their intense, almost glowing green. The apparel she wore was obviously functional, yet also had some aesthetic appeal. A long skirt, which stopped just above her combat boots, revealing a small slice of her shins. It was clearly designed to be loose and free flowing, providing comfort, but not impeding movement. The fabric of the skirt matched the black fabric of her blouse.
The woman appeared to be unarmored, save for the pauldron on her left shoulder. A black french cocked hat sits upon her head, with a rich purple feather plume sticking up out of it. Her cutlass is hung upon her right hip and her pistol is holstered on her left hip, the butt facing out, in easy grabbing position for her right hand. Finally, her grappling hook is hung upon her belt just behind her pistol, the chain coiled and ready for action.
"Thank you, Cheshire. I suppose that probably means they are here for rather similar reasons. Would I be mistaken in assuming you all were here for a myth of a man named Koschei?"
Eliora came out of the flight cabin at this point. When her and Cheshire's eyes met, they both realized that the other was touched by the Fey.
"Hello, there. Has anyone told you that you have lovely eyes?", Cheshire said with a rather charming smile.
Eliora, however, was so concerned that this was some spy of Eris' that her though processes crashed into a brick wall at this. "U-uh...excuse me?"
Deidre rolled her eyes and spoke to the captain. "Yes. We are indeed looking for Koschei. The name is Deidre Callahan.", the wizard said, reaching out a hand.
"Captain Mia Fukku. It's a pleasure. Are you the captain of this vessel?", Mia asked, giving Deidre's hand a single firm shake.
"Me? No, no. That would be her. The one your assistant is flirting with.", Deidre said hooking her thumb in Eliora's direction. "But if you ask me, that one is running this whole group.", she said in a stage whisper, pointing to Hakim.
"Ah. I see."
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Post by recoveryfive on Nov 17, 2016 4:16:14 GMT
"Guilty as charged, luv." Cheshire answered Deidre, raising her arms in mock surrender. Her eyes slid over to Eliora, and she made a subtle tilt of the head that meant she was asking to take the other girl aside for a private discussion. Eliora reluctantly agreed, leaving Bonnie to stare quizzically at the two before turning to Mia. "Er, I'm Bonnie. Bonnie Scarlet." she introduced herself.
"Gerlach Kellovitch, Wizard-In-Training."
"Not a munchkin..." Kilroy mumbled, receiving an elbow nudge from Bonnie when he failed to respond at first. "I am Kilroy Robin Allison Tolkien Pratchett Spielberg Ryan King Catherine Lawrence Smeckledorf Bitchface Granger Bonnie Rachel Brandy the 1st."
"You can just call him Kilroy. It's what we've been doing." Bonnie interjected.
Meanwhile, Cheshire and Eliora stood a good distance away from the others. "Now, I believe I know what you're thinking." Cheshire began with a serious expression. "'Who's this strange fey-touched woman in front of me? Can I trust her? Should I run her through before she sells me out?'" The first mate promptly switched to a reassuring smile after finishing the last sentence. "Rest assured, I don't plan on harming you or your friends at any point. And even if I did somehow have access to them, I'd never turn over such a nice and pretty young lady to the Winter Court, Miss...?"
"Eliora." the young woman replied, blushing at the compliment. "But how'd you-"
"You have the face of someone who's been trying to get away from the Winter Court for a while now. As someone who escaped that place once, I know it all too well."
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Post by Spartan 999 on Nov 17, 2016 4:24:34 GMT
Hakim arched an eyebrow at Cheshire as she led Eliora away, but nonetheless turned his attention back to Mia after a second or two. “Hakim,” he supplied his name for the maybe-pirate Captain. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Fukku.”
Hands clasped behind his back, he stepped up so he stood a little closer to the dark-skinned woman. “...As I'm apparently the one who runs this whole group, may I ask what your interest in Koschei is and...why you just blew those other airships out of the sky?” Hakim's head canted slightly to the side. “It was a fairly unexpected development, all things considered.”
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Post by Bippwatt on Nov 17, 2016 5:07:31 GMT
Mia raised an eyebrow at the question. "Why I seek Koschei should be apparent, Ash Lad." She smirked at his expression. "Aye, I know of your ilk. Ran into a couple Ash Lads a few turns back. Those two were downright unfriendly, though. At any rate, it should be obvious why I want to find Koschei. It is rumored that he is wealthy beyond compare. In fact, he's one of two leads we have on enough riches for me and my entire crew to retire, letting each of us buy our own private island. Based on the stories we've heard, he's the less dangerous of the two, though."
Deidre cocked her head at this. "Who's the other one?"
"A man that I can only find referenced as one of the Dark Ones. Heard of them?"
"Hmm...sometimes either vampires or particularly egotistical wannabe sorcerers are referred to as a Dark One. Though the latter is usually a case of self-bestowal."
"Well, that's more than I've been able to find. Anyway, he's universally regarded as being dangerous. In fact, it's said that to go to him is tantamount to suicide. So, Koschei was first. We managed to track him down to here...but we were followed by the ships we destroyed. In fact, there were about five times as many before we'd thinned them out. We took some damage and so I cloaked the ship as we rounded the mountain, then brought us to a dead stop, letting the remaining ships close the distance. Unfortunately, the ripple effect of your ship crossing dimensions disrupted our cloak. But it worked out. We got the drop on them, what with them being all distracted by your ship. Fey airships are rarely seen on the Material Plane, after all."
Mia took in a deep breath. "Anyway...I don't suppose you all want some additional back up? Everything we've gathered on Koschei says he's invulnerable to virtually all harm...but I have a feeling over fifty spelled heavy cannon shot would be something even he would have a hard time getting through, just in case we need to back up our demands with some firepower. You know what they say. Artillery brings grace and dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl."
Meanwhile, Eliora stared at Cheshire. "I didn't escape...or at least not the way I think you mean. I was released. I was a stupid fool and got myself into a load of trouble, then tried to make a deal with a Sidhe. I apparently didn't learn my lesson. But I had a purpose. So, I made a deal with Eris and got myself screwed over. What about you? Did you do a stupid and then got caught up in some Faerie bullshit? Or was it just wrong place, wrong time?"
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Post by recoveryfive on Nov 17, 2016 5:32:29 GMT
"Sounds good to me." Bonnie gave her opinion, arms crossed and looking over at the other two. "What do you two think?"
Kilroy frowned before nodding in agreement, seeing the virtue of having numerous cannons at once immediately. "It would do us well to have help." he said, eyeing the captain and the feather in her hat. "She seems relatively trustworthy."
"No complaints here!" Gerlach said, shrugging before adjusting his hat. "Turning these guys down wouldn't be very smart, especially after the traps Koschei laid out for us. Multiple heads are better than one and all that."
Meanwhile, Cheshire nodded at the 'wrong place, wrong time' part. "There was a lower-class member of faerie royalty who happened to...how do I put this...take a liking to me. I met him after I was spirited away to the Winter Court by that Eris woman. He practically begged Eris to allow him to marry me, saying that I was the most beautiful mortal he'd ever seen. For whatever reason, she agreed. I thought it wouldn't be so bad at first...oh, was I wrong."
She grimaced. "He turned out to be a clingy lunatic after a few days. He let me eat and drink, sure, but he also never let me go too far from our room or talk to any of the Knights. Said that they'd just steal me away from him or something like that. In the end, I decided enough was enough. I managed to make a mixture of alcohol strong enough to knock him out and made a run for it. It wasn't easy getting past the guards, but I managed. Met the Captain a few weeks after that, and, well...here I am."
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Post by Spartan 999 on Nov 17, 2016 6:52:14 GMT
“Must have been a mostly bad batch this generation, then,” Hakim remarked on the matter of Ash Lads. As for the rest, he listened and nodded when appropriate until Mia had finished. “I see. Well, if the stories we've read are true, even your fifty cannons won't phase him. Well, not much.” He sighed and ran a hand over his hair as he looked over at the vaguely ominous tower reaching towards the heavens from its place on the mountainside. “...I hope that it's not true or we won't need them in the first place. Preferably the latter.”
The Ash Lad turned and slowly made his way towards the bow of the fey airship. He came to a stop and rested his hands on the railing, eyes narrowed as they studied the tower. “...Well, shall we both be off?,” said Hakim over his shoulder to the pirate Captain. “The sooner we're moving, the sooner everyone gets what they want.”
Hopefully.
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Post by Bippwatt on Nov 18, 2016 2:21:18 GMT
"Yikes. That sounds rough. Mine was at least a little more civil than that...I summoned Eris improperly, not knowing what I was doing and she bound me to her service for a year on their side of the planes. I did alright for myself, but then I cut a deal with Eris. The deal I had wanted to cut when I originally summoned her. I wanted her to heal my mother, who was sick. We reached an agreement. I would give her some aegis over some of the debts I was owed in exchange to be able to control the power she wanted to store within me, and she would heal my mother. When I returned and my mother was something else inside her body, I assumed Eris had loopholed me. I ran. But recently, I learned that it may have not been Eris' fault. It might have been something else." Eliora shrugged. "But I'm determined to get my mother back."
"Yes, lets!", Mia said after Hakim suggested they get a move on, with a wink at the Ash Lad. She turned on a heel and trooped back onto her own ship, Cheshire following. Rapidly, the two ships began moving again, towards the castle.
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Post by recoveryfive on Nov 18, 2016 15:32:31 GMT
Cheshire stood by as Mia gave orders to the rest of the crew members, looking up at the tower as a boy walked up to her and checked his pocketwatch. "Lovely day to search a tower, huh?" he said, casually leaning against the ship's mast. "Any bets on if we'll find a leprechaun in there or not? Maybe a pot 'o gold to sweeten the whole deal?" He put on an exaggerated Irish accent for the last sentence, which caused the first mate to chuckle.
"This is a tower, Jack, not a rainbow." Cheshire responded, watching as the boy put his pocketwatch away. "Thought you'd know the difference after your little escapade with that blind ogre."
"Must you always bring up the ogre?"
"Well, someone has to." Cheshire said, playfully punching him on the shoulder. "Otherwise, you might get too big for your britches. Besides, that story's funny as hell. He kept telling us to get out of his swamp when we were nowhere near a swamp!"
"Ah, fair enough." Jack admitted, standing up straight again. "So...that girl you were talking to. What was she like?"
"Very pretty. She seemed confused when I complimented her, but that's probably just because she thought I was a Winter Court spy or something. Her name's Eliora."
Jack made a small grunt that indicated he thought that was a nice name.
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Post by Spartan 999 on Nov 18, 2016 19:21:07 GMT
“That ship's just full of flirts, isn't it,” Hakim remarked off-handedly as he reentered the flight cabin and returned to his seat. “...But it's better than the alternative, I suppose.”
As they drew closer, the crews of both ships could get a better look at the keep. Well, it was mostly composed of a single towering tower. There was a structure at its base resembling part of a castle, but it was dwarfed by the aforementioned tower. Overall, it was a mean and tough-looking thing, all hard and cold and tank like; it looked like it could withstand a large bomb and come out unscathed. It wasn't exactly a pretty or showy thing, as its design was much more utilitarian and practical. There weren't even any windows in the tower proper, let alone arrow slits.
“Anyone else think this looks really ominous?,” Bonnie remarked. “No one? Just me? Alright.”
“Ominous or not, this is our best lead.” Hakim gave her a grim smile. “'Course, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be cautious.”
There was a single open courtyard in the castle-like structure large enough for the two airships to land side-by-side and still have some room to spare. Eliora and Mia parked their respective ships flawlessly, allowing everyone to disembark who wanted to.
After a little bit of looking, they found the door. Which...hadn't been there last time they looked, right?
Regardless, the heavily reinforced door was easily opened wide. The hallway inside was long and lit by sporadic torches along the walls; the dim illumination and cold, carved stone really served to make it even creepier.
“...So.” Hakim gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, eyes narrowed as they scanned the dark-ish hall. “Shall we step into the dangerous sorcerer's castle?”
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Post by Bippwatt on Nov 19, 2016 4:40:18 GMT
"Well, geez, Hakim. Put it like that and suddenly, this all feels rather idiotic! Let's just go home and throw all the work we've done so far in the toilet and flush it down!", Eliora said with a deadpan expression.
Hakim shrugged. "Okay. Let's go home then." He turned around to head back to the airships.
Eliora glared at him, then erupted. "I WAS BEING FACETIOUS, YOU-YOU...DORK!"
"Yikes. Meltdown, much? Who knew someone with ice powers would be so hot headed.", Deidre snarked.
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Post by recoveryfive on Nov 19, 2016 17:51:02 GMT
"Ellie, relax." Bonnie said to her friend, patting her on the back a few times. "Not everybody understands sarcasm." She activated her night vision to combat the tower's lack of light, feeling a bit bad for those who didn't have it.
Kilroy tapped his foot impatiently, a low growling noise coming out of him. "We've no time for foolish arguments of humans courting each other." he hissed, staring at the end of the hallway as if he could see something in it. "We need to find the sorcerer and make him grant our wishes before he decides to escape!"
"Well, someone's eager." Cheshire commented, standing alongside Bonnie and Eliora while Jack, Mia, and Gerlach brought up the rear.
"Eager to incite pain upon my captor, yes!"
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Post by Spartan 999 on Nov 19, 2016 18:45:06 GMT
“I know.” Hakim pivoted on his heel and shot Eliora a pleasant smile as he walked back to the door. “I'm not a totally helpless dork.” With that, he stepped past the doorway and into the hall. “Come along, then,” he called to the others without even looking back.
As soon as the last person (or at least the last main character) had crossed over the threshold, the torches along the walls flickered and died, quickly followed by the door closing or vanishing behind them. A prickly-feeling gust of wind rushed down the length of the hall to the group, and that's where things got weird. Any sort of illumination or nightvision anyone had was promptly extinguished or rendered practically useless by...something. The gust of wind? It had happened when said gust met them.
All thoughts on the matter was quickly replaced by panic as the gravity abruptly shifted, sending them sliding blindly along the floor. Gravity continued shifting, and within a few moments it went from a confusing slide to an outright drop straight down a vertical passageway.
Fortunately, a light was visible at the bottom they were quickly falling towards, so they knew when the impact was coming.
“FUUUUUUUUU-!!” Bonnie flailed in the air as she fell headfirst towards the floor below.
As for Hakim, he didn't waste his breath on useless swearing. He weaved a minor spell that would soften the fall for himself, Bonnie, and another person or two who were close and needed it. Between that and his not-quite-superhuman strength, he was able to twist around, grab Bonnie, and land on his feet.
When the others descended, whether with a strategy in place to arrest their fall or not, they would see the large circular chamber they had descended into. Bright torches lined the wall, giving the place good illumination that helped with the ominous factor, and five doors (similar to the first one in the courtyard) lined the wall at equidistant points. As for the hallway-turned-vertical-drop that they'd fallen through? There was no sign of it on the ceiling.
“...I think the phrase 'We are trapped in here with him' is apt at this point,” Hakim muttered as he scanned the doors.
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Post by Bippwatt on Nov 20, 2016 1:11:49 GMT
Eliora spread her magic, creating a number of small stepping stones of ice, which broke almost as soon as she stepped on them, but it was enough for her to make the one long fall more of a series of falls.
Deidre, however, lashed her staff around her and chanted her pseudo-latin spell words for her Evocation magics. "Latum pressionem procella!" A whirlwind of air suddenly whipped upwards supporting her and most of the others who hadn't gotten their own landing strategy.
The only one who managed to not get anything was Kilroy. He landed on his rear but seemed none the worse for wear.
"Trapped is putting it mildly. I feel like this was a bad idea.", Deidre said as Hakim stated the obvious.
A ringing scrap sounded as Mia drew her cutlass from its scabbard. When everyone turned to look at her, she had her sword in her left hand and gun in her right. "I suggest we get a move on. Koschei doesn't go lightly on intruders who linger, from what I've heard."
"She's right.", Eliora said with a nod, pulling her rapier forth. "Which door do we use?"
"I assume splitting up is out of the picture?", Deidre said, her pistol in one hand, staff in the other. Almost everyone looked at her with a "Really, Deidre?" expression. "Okay...I was just asking. Jeez."
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Post by recoveryfive on Nov 21, 2016 4:59:42 GMT
"We should also be wary of anyone we come across in this tower." Gerlach wisely pointed out to the others. "It could prove fatal if we decide to trust them."
"Why? Is Koschei some kind of master of disguise?" Jack asked, looking around casually.
"That's...an oddly specific choice of words. But yes, he might be. Which means that need to be very-"
A loud crashing noise came from beyond the fifth door, with what sounded like muffled swearing coming from beyond it. The voice was decidedly female, but there was no clue as to who it was beyond that.
"The hell's that?" Bonnie asked warily, drawing her knife. "Is someone already here?"
"It appears so." Kilroy answered her, slowly creeping up to the door to check things out. "I'm going to put my head against it. Be ready for anything."
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Post by Spartan 999 on Nov 22, 2016 0:21:23 GMT
“It was always a bad idea,” Hakim replied to Deidre. “We're just desperate.” He started walking around to the wall and the doors set in there. “...And none too smart,” he added self-deprecatingly.
The crash behind one of the doors drew his attention, and he approached it while Kilroy put his ear against the door. The bound Demon jumped when Hakim knocked loudly on the door and opened it, apparently completely ignoring any danger that might be on the other side.
“Pardon the intrusion, but are you alright in here?,” the Ash Lad asked as the door swung open inwardly. “And would you happen to know the way to Koschei?”
The room was fairly large, evidently a cellar or storage room. That's what it once was, anyway. The majority of the crates, barrels, and other assorted contents had been moved and assembled into something that resembled a hybrid of a bar or lounge. It was fairly well put together, too, except one of the shelves a hammock had been strung up between had crashed to the floor, and there was someone struggling to get out from beneath the hammock. A few broken bottles littered the floor, oddly-colored contents apparently some sort of alcoholic beverage.
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Post by Bippwatt on Nov 22, 2016 5:22:11 GMT
"What the hell?", Eliora blurted, as everyone apparently threw caution to the winds.
"Ooo, is that a good bottle of Devonpeak rum?", Mia said, slipping inside the room and lifting a bottle which was miraculously intact from it's fall. "Oh, now that is my kind of drink. This Koschei guy knows his booze."
"Excuse me! That's mine!" The person tangled in the hammock finally freed themselves. "Didn't your mother teach you not to touch things that aren't yours?"
"Actually, no. My mother was too busy teaching me how to pick locks and lift a coinpurse from someone without them noticing to teach me such useless things as that.", Mia retorted glibly.
"Okay, what the hell is going on here?", Eliora said, peeking into the room. "Who's this?"
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Post by recoveryfive on Nov 22, 2016 7:53:42 GMT
"I'm fine, thank you for asking. And my name," the person announced a little indigniantly, standing up in all her 5'9 glory, "is Rosani. I've been living in this tower for a year now. More or less stranded, come to think of it." She stepped over to Mia and took the rum out of her hands, pouring her a fairly tall glass of it instead. "I take it you're here to pay Koschei a visit?"
"Pretty much. We-" Bonnie began before stopping and staring at her. "Wait a minute, you're a demon too?"
"And just what the hell's that supposed to mean?" Rosani asked, looking as if she would have flipped her hair over her shoulder if it wasn't in a bun. Now that she was in plain sight, it could be seen that she was wearing a long-sleeved blue blouse for a top with a long and swishy skirt for the bottom. A pair of glasses rested on her face, making her look for all the world like a sexy-ish take on a librarian or a secretary.
"Apologies for my friend's...outburst. She didn't mean anything by it." Eliora jumped in, saving her friend from embarrassment. "It's just that you have purple skin and white hair and all-black eyes just like a bound demon we're traveling with does, and-"
"Hold on a minute." Kilroy said, weaving through the group until he could get a good look at the she-demon. Once he did, the two sized each other up for a few seconds.
Finally, Kilroy's facial expression became something akin to minorly horrified. "S- sister? Is that you?!"
"...Helvetica?" Rosani said, snickering in near-disbelief. "What...I don't...I..." The snickering gradually evolved into full-on laughter as Kilroy's expression became angry in a strangely cute way. "Oh, Hylial, this is too much! Which one 'a tha was the one to bind him?"
Kilroy pointed at Eliora sullenly, leading to the she-demon raising her hand in a high five gesture that the ex-lady in waiting confusedly returned. "The woman of the hour!" Rosani said, her laughter dying down now. "What would your name be, miss?"
"Eliora."
"Good name." the she-demon responded, seemingly in a good mood now. "So tell me, dear brother, how'd this happen?"
"...I got lost and then I was trapped in a chest." Kilroy explained bluntly. "Then I got out and nearly killed five of this lot before I revealed my true name out of anger like an idiot."
"Well, it serves you right, ya arrogant little bastard." Rosani replied, putting the bottle of rum down before it ended up breaking somehow. "Anyway, back on topic! You said you wanted to find Koschei, yes?"
"That's right." Hakim said.
"Well, since you all helped Miss Eliora bind my fool of a brother, I'll do you one better: I'll accompany you myself the entire way up, if you'll have me. No tricks from me, no purposeful traps of any kind."
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Post by Spartan 999 on Nov 22, 2016 21:37:49 GMT
“Would you swear to that?,” Hakim asked Rosani.
“Yes, yes, I swear to do no harm, to not purposefully lead tha into danger, etcetera etcetera.” Rosani moved her hand in the air to trace out a strange symbol and spoke in that guttural language that made people's skin crawl. The symbol flared in brightness before quickly fading out.
“Alright, excellent.” Hakim nodded and smiled at the second Demon they'd encountered that day. “...So, which way 'up' to Koschei?”
“Hell if I know.” Rosani, sister of the Demon-Formerly-Known-As-Helvetica, shrugged. “Mostly it's luck and not being crushed, burned, melted, impaled, or tickled by the architecture and traps.” She strode over to the door they'd just came through and kicked it open.
Cold air blew through the door and natural sunlight shone above their heads. They were on one of the castle's parapet walks, and the massive tower loomed ahead of them. However, there was a...strange thing in the air over the parapet.
“It's covered,” Rosani explained at Bonnie's inquisitive look. “The roof and walls of the parapet are transparent from inside--here--and look normal from the outside.” She gestured at the distant courtyard to the far left where their airships had been parked.
“...Okay. That's weird.” Bonnie blinked as she watched some snowflakes falling past the outside of the parapet's covering.
“Hey, I don't judge.”
“You're a Demon.”
“Exactly.” Rosani stopped at the door seemingly leading into the tower and put a hand on the handle. “Are tha ready?,” she called over her shoulder. Before anyone could answer, she pulled it open. “...Oh fuck, it's this room.”
Utter chaos met their eyes. The “room” was a gigantic void where pieces of architecture, furniture, and the occasional bladed pendulum flew about. The materials' style wasn't consistent, as it seemed to be drawn from all time periods, both from Validor and Earth. Shiny railings and an advanced, sleek-looking lamppost might come together along the edges of a platform made from ancient-looking brick and marble parts, which would shortly thereafter shatter apart when an old-fashioned locomotive crashed into it, only for each of the pieces that constituted it to join with another group to form a new room or platform or sphere or...something.
At the far end of the “room” was a single door. Fixed, unmoving, it was the same design as all the other doors in the keep and tower. That was evidently their goal.
“...I am suddenly keenly aware of my own mortality.” Hakim's wide eyes scanned the area, looking for any openings or patterns in the chaos.
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