ioduanlogs | [EVENT] STRANGERS AND SHADOWS

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[EVENT] STRANGERS AND SHADOWS

Characters: Anyone and everyone
Date: May 10 - 30
Location: Cape Averi, Bejichi Town, Mas'Inge River Basin, and Sulhat Maf
Situation: The manhunt for Chihuelan insurgents begins in earnest and across the archipelago - but more mysteries than enemy intruders are at hand.
Warnings/Rating: Combat violence, death, illegal drugs, body horror, monstrosities and significant skulduggery.

In the early morning hours after the incident at the docks, Sentry and Alliance officials make an announcement confirming that there are Chihuelan insurgents in the archipelago and a massive manhunt is being organized. Unfortunately, no one knows exactly how many Chihuelans have slipped into the archipelago. More concerning still is the possibility that these people are not themselves Chihuelan, but are allies and sympathizers. The port is shut down except for Sentry use, as is the trading port of Bejichi Town. Quite suddenly, people in Aifaran do not know who they can trust.

Owing to the assistance Dreamfolk have recently provided investigating certain incidents, and due to the… insatiable curiosity many of them display, the Sentry would rather coordinate efforts than be at odds with them. Search teams will be dispatched to several nearby settlements along the coast, including Cape Averi and Bejichi Town. Others will be directed inland and towards the mountains, where vulnerable areas have been identified.

Dreamfolk willing to participate in the search will be briefed on where the Chihuelans are suspected to be fleeing to and given a choice of location to pursue. A grave-looking member of the Aisling Tower will join the briefing to inform everyone that while the Chihuelans' military technology gives them a significant advantage, they are also suspected to be utilizing some kind of planar magic. Exactly what and how, no one knows - only that their appearance and the recent incidents around Aifaran are potentially correlated.

The goal is to capture the Chihuelans and anyone who may be helping them - the use of deadly force is permitted only if there are no other options. Bringing them back alive could be the key to avoiding an all-out war.

I. CAPE AVERI

Cape Averi is a close knit seaside fishing town. Everybody is about two degrees of separation from everybody else and it's the kind of place where no one locks their doors at night. Or it was, until the storm wrecked most of the settlement. The idyllic little town is in ruins - what few buildings remain impossibly intact carry the scent of ocean and lavender - and the lighthouse looms offshore, eerie and implacably strange. The Sentry here are working closely with those from Aifaran, however, they're woefully inexperienced in this sort of thing. Those who aren't obviously out of their depth are over-eager to help - often to the point of jeopardizing the job.

SNEAKY PETE: Fortunately, someone who had been living at the settlement was an inside informer is offering a few different plans to capture the wayward Chihuelans, helping them infiltrate a small band of smugglers, of whom have mentioned that they've met with Chihuelans before and know where their suppliers wait offshore. This is probably one of the Sentry's most solid tips and will largely pan out.

A small schooner, oddly enough not of Chihuelan make, is anchored among a protruding sea stack. It's well hidden by the rocks and navigating there is difficult. One can take the long way around in a dingy under the cover of darkness- definitely safer and you'd be harder to spot, but there's only a handful of you and if spotted, the schooner is close enough to open waters to get away far faster than any of you can paddle after it.

The quicker, albeit more dangerous route involves taking a Sentry schooner. More people would be with you and you can easily catch up to the other boat even if they spot you coming - but to get there in time, you need to navigate the maze of rock formations and the dangerous reef.

If you are able to reach and board the schooner, there will be a brief tussle. There are no Chihuelans aboard it - only group of sympathizers. Interrogations won't get much out of them. One has to have a vial of poison wrested from him and be promptly restrained before he can take it, and the others are just sullenly quiet. Characters can take multiple routes to interrogation. Most of the sympathizers will crack at the threat of violence, though the present Sentry may encourage a more lawful approach. If characters have powers of mind reading or truth potions or w/e, they can apply those skills here and get around the whole process altogether.

What they can learn:

MOST UNORTHODOX
Another man, an elderly Dreamfolk who has been on the archipelago for decades may pull you aside, with the suggestion that the Chihuelans are hiding out there - specifically in the lighthouse. The man is clearly unhinged, and doesn't really belong at the camp, but the Averi Sentry claim that they have searched the broken town and lighthouse and have found nothing. They've kept him for questioning just in case they can get anything useful out of him, but that prospect seems bleak and they assure you he'll be escorted to the temporary communal shelters where the rest of the residents of Cape Averi have been staying.

If you decide to investigate the town anyway, you will find a dead lightning tree growing out from the lighthouse. The settlement is like a ghost town and there's no real evidence of a struggle except inside the lighthouse itself, which has…unnervingly impossible dimensions. The size of the inside and outside don't match, and seem to shift slightly every time one enters and leaves. The smell of sea salt and jasmine hangs in the air. Light shines down heavy in through the windows and shadow leaves one's hands damp. The Sentry catching you may not be your worst problem, it seems.

You see, the old Dreamfolk man wasn't lying when he said the Chihuelans had been hiding out in the lighthouse. And they're alive.

...If you can call that alive.

The three Chihuelan fugitives have been fused together in a tangled, grotesque mass of a flesh abomination. They're barely sentient now, let alone capable of answering questions. The kind thing to do would be to put them out of their misery. Their possessions may hold some clue as to what happened and what they're planning.

II. BEJICHI TOWN

Bejichi is a fortified sea-side city that resembles the wall around it - glittery and ornate at first glance, but its foundations are rotten and crumbling under all the glitz and glamour. The streets are a three-dimensional maze - this is a city that expands up, not out. The literal upper echelons are quite lovely to behold - tasteful and elegant buildings made of white concrete with only a thin patina of green moss beginning to grow. The further down you go in the winding and crisscrossing skywalks and paths, the more run-down the place appears. Shady deals go down in the narrow alleys. The buildings are made of crumbling brick and rotting wood - at least every other business one passes is a sketchy bar, a brothel, a pawnshop, or all three. And if the civilians weren't shady enough, the Bejichi Sentry has them all beat. Crooked cops is an understatement and they're almost all, to a one, corrupt. They don't like their Aifaran counterparts nosing around their jurisdiction, but Bejichi is a great city to hide in if you're up to no good and it's the main place smugglers do their dirty dealings.

It makes sense - back when the Archipelago first formed, a large portion of the money to build Bejichi came from the notorious gang - The Snakes. While the gang fell from power nearly two centuries ago after a lengthy reign, their influence is still prominently felt throughout the city.

There's no solid lead that the Chihuelans are here, but you'll be accompanying Sergeant Ilkana who has a chip on her shoulder and a feeling in her gut that there's at least a few who are hunkered down and hiding out in some dank, slimy corner of Bejichi.

FOLLOW THE LEADER: Following Ilkana's lead is… difficult. She's hard to work with, and stubbornly does everything by the books. Which isn't good in a city that's apparently allergic to anything legal. Anyone she questions clams up instantly, and the Bejichi Sentry seem to be getting in her way any chance they get. Nothing overt, but the small obstructions start to add up.

While patrolling the docks looking for any lead on Chihuelan smugglers, you notice that there is someone tailing you. They're not in uniform, but if you manage to get a good look, they resemble one of the Bejichi Sentry back at the briefing room, albeit in plain clothes.

>If you slip away and confront him without Ilkana knowing, he'll run. If Ilkana is left alone, she will be killed under highly suspicious circumstances that the Bejichi Sentry will try to pin on your group. None of the charges will stick once the Aifaran Sentry gets involved as any "evidence" will be found to be completely bogus. But it does make for quite a diversion from the task at hand, and if there were Chihuelans in the city, then they've had more than ample opportunity to vanish into the ether.…

>If you confront him with Ilkana, he'll call in back-up or if you carry on without mentioning the follower, you will be ambushed and there will be fight. If you manage to take someone alive, interrogation can lead to the revelation that there is a small group of Chihuelan sympathizers working within the ranks of the Bejichi Sentry.

FEAR AND LOATHING IN BEJICHI: There's nowhere better to blow off steam than in Yunxu Casino - and dealing with Ilkana's stubbornness in this city creates a lot of steam. Besides, the Yunxu Casino has a reputation for being a center of black-market deals. If you're going by intuition, this is a good place to check.

This stately structure overlooks the entirety of Bejichi and is not only one of the oldest buildings here, but on the entire Archipelago. The interior is richly carpeted, every support pillar gilded and ornate as red silk lanterns float serenely through the air trailing gold tassels. There isn't a lot of activity during the day, but a few notorious gang bosses and wealthy merchants are sharing drinks or talking business.

IIIa. MAS'INGE RIVER BASIN - THE TREES

The deep fissures that have appeared in the river basin are more than just geologically interesting - though that's not to say they're not. The soil is rock-hard, with the footprints of small animals frozen in it, and the impressions of unlucky plants that had pressed into the mud before are still there, clear as day. It's almost as if the area near the delta was flash-fossilized.

The roots within the fissures are potentially more of interest to the investigating parties. They're thick and persistent, and seem to glisten even in the darkness of the underground canyons. As the investigators continue onwards, they'll soon discover why. The roots are part of a series of lightning trees that have established themselves. With a little bit of study, it becomes obvious that when the trees initially took root, they needed so much energy so quickly that they essentially fossilized the area.

Further down into the plains, a quarter-mile from the initial discovery of the root systems, the soil returns to normal, and the fissures shallow out. The lightning trees stand tall against the sky, except for one that's girdled by what even from afar looks like a nasty strangler vine.

As any groups get closer, they'll be able to see that Al'Amar, one of the crewmembers of the Narrakra, is tending the vine. Her eyes are glassy and she doesn't respond to external stimuli unless someone tries to remove the strangler or take her away from it, at which point she will become violent.

SAVE THE TREES: Despite Al'Amar's violent tendencies when anyone attempts to interfere with either her or the strangler vine, the party may wish to remove her from her curious fixation with the tree. If she is interfered with more than twice, she will suddenly take out a wicked-looking serrated knife and begin stabbing at the nearest individual, her eyes still glassy. Any wounds inflicted by this knife are a combination of what one would expect and chemical burns, and anyone wounded will soon complain of a high fever.

If and when she is finally subdued and taken into custody, the party may then attempt to dispose of the vine. It's tougher than it looks, and after some trial and error it is discovered that the only way to destroy it is with fire. People will have to stay with it in order to ensure that the burn stays controlled until the vine is eliminated.

SNAKE IN THE GARDEN: If the party chooses to back off and leave her to her gardening, whether permanently or with the intention of returning, three hours later there will be a grating sound of stressed metal that is loud enough to hear for miles, and all of the local lightning trees will suddenly die.

Later that night, there will be an earthquake. It won't last very long, but it'll leave the scientists and researchers ashen-faced.

Anyone hoping to take Al'Amar in for questioning after that will only find her dead. An autopsy will reveal that she died approximately at the same time as the trees did, but there isn't a mark on her.

IIIb. MAS'INGE RIVER BASIN - THE CHASMS

No matter what happens with the trees, the fissures are still left to explore. Before they shallow out near the plains, there are exposed cave systems, which any enterprising adventurer may explore if they so choose. But the Arybar earth scientists, when made aware of the cave system, warn people about entering, because the fissures have likely made them unstable.

It doesn't take long for a search party to find two disturbing things in the caves: one, a hastily-abandoned camp, likely kept by Chihuelan insurgents or sympathizers, and two, evidence of unusual geological activity. The Arybar scientist accompanying the party is speechless for a moment before putting her head in her hands, and it takes a little bit of prodding to get her to talk.

"It's impossible," she says. "They can't be separating this fast."

IVa. SULHAT MAF - THE CLIMB

The city of stonemasons and where most of the archipelago's natural mages come to learn and practice is nestled high in the Orolis Mountains. A small contingent of Chihuelan insurgents were spotted in the foothills about two days after the incident on the docks. The individual responsible for carving one of the ships is believed to be among them. The path that the group was last sighted at leads to Sulhat Maf, and the Sentry believe they are heading there to disrupt the archipelago's largest gathering of natural mages.

On foot, the trek will take close to a week under ideal conditions - but the search team is warned this may be anything but ideal. There is no intel on how well-armed the Chihuelans are, nor how well they know the mountains, and so the assumption is to hope for the best and expect the worst. What the search teams do have going for them is numbers: there are estimated to be 6-8 Chihuelans, and the search team will have close to 30 (which will split from time to time for scouting and overwatch duties).

Three days into the trek at a narrow, steep section of path that offers scant cover, the search team is ambushed. To the Dreamfolk sensitive to such things as souls and with enhanced sense, they will not be detectable until just before the attack - as if they came out of nowhere. It quickly becomes obvious that the Chihuelans are well-armed with energy weapons, but do not utilize any explosives. The terrain limits movement and options to those below

GIVE NO QUARTER: With the search team pinned down, the easiest way through is to clear the path forward. This plan does not leave room for error or mercy:if the group chooses to take this option, all of the Chihuelan attackers will be killed. As a result, there will be no one left to question for more information, but the bodies can be searched for clues. There are seven people in total; four Chihuelans, one kedan and two Castians. The team will find detailed maps of the mountains, including topography and a geological survey. One will have a journal that is full of inanities, suspected to be coded. Another has a strange compass-like object attached to their belt; it resolutely refuses to point north, or in any consistent direction, and has markings unfamiliar to the archipelago around the rim. All of their communication equipment is native to the archipelago and none of the Chihuelans have identification on them; the other three may be identified if their bodies can be returned safely to Aifaran (which will be possible but difficult). Further forensic investigation may yield more information in the future. Their weapons may be collected; Dreamfolk will not be permitted to keep them permanently but they can arm themselves for the remainder of the mission.

This plan will also result in the death of three search team members, major injury to two, and moderate-to-minor injuries to another ten.

CAPTURE OVER KILL: The primary goal of this mission was to bring in as many Chihuelans alive as possible. Capturing any of them is going to be the most difficult plan, with the highest cost - and the highest potential reward. Two Chihuelans and one Castian will be captured with minor injuries; the other Chihuelans and Castian are killed, and the kedan escapes. The Sentry will split them up for the remainder of the trek up the mountain, intent on interrogating the prisoners once they reach the safety Sulhat Maf. For now, they refuse to speak to anyone even when coerced, and the team leader orders that at least two people must be with a prisoner at all times. When searched, the prisoners will each have maps of the path to Sulhat Maf, but no topography or geological survey. The journal is damaged but retrieved, and the compass retrieved undamaged.

Part of the urgency of reaching Sulhat Maf is to seek medical attention. Seven members of the search team are killed, five seriously wounded, and another ten have moderate-to-minor injuries. The team will lose a day of travel due to the slower pace but arrive in Sulhat Maf without further incident.

JUDICIOUS RETREAT: This plan will save the most lives, but no intel or clues can be gathered from the insurgents, who will disappear by the time the team reaches Sulhat Maf. When the search team withdraws to a safer location, at least two hits are confirmed on the Chihuelan party, meaning there are injuries among them. There is no way to tell if any were killed and the mountains do not yield much in the way of tracks or trace evidence.

One member of the search team is killed, and five have moderate-to-minor injuries. No one in Sulhat Maf reports seeing the Chihuelan group.

Most of the injuries experienced in the ambush are cauterized wounds and mild burns from the energy weapons, some of which are resistant to magical healing if it's available. If the bodies of any of the dead are left where they lay instead of brought to Sulhat Maf or buried, they will have vanished when the team heads back to Aifaran.

IVb. SULHAT MAF - THE CITY

Once in Sulhat Maf, the team will be welcomed and given lodgings; injuries will be tended and any prisoners secured. One of the town leaders will explain that while they're free to pursue investigation, entrance to the workshops and learning halls is not permitted without escort.

The leader will also explain that there's another archway here inside a massive lightning tree grown directly from the mountain, and they take team members who are hale enough to hike a bit to see it. The tree is not white but a multitude of colors, crystalline and stone and yet still a living tree. It towers over any others that have been seen in Aifaran and the mages say the tree continues to grow (although the arch stays the same size, wide enough for a car to drive through). The archway has flickered once or twice with light, coinciding with the time when the ship archway was carved, but nothing else had come of it.

The stonemasons and mages will also express concern about the ridges where the young continent turtles are joined - that they may be weakening in a way that's unexpected, particularly here in the mountains. The turtles will of course separate eventually, but that should take thousands and thousands of years. This pace is wrong; thus far, they haven't been able to determine the cause as the problem was only noticed a few weeks ago.

The Sentry team leader does not intend to linger here; those with severe injuries will be cared for in Sulhat Maf and retrieved in the near future. Anyone who can make the trip back to Aifaran is ordered to be ready for departure in three days.

TALK TO THE TREE: Don't expect it to reply, however. It lives up to it's stony appearance and behaves much like Melias' ships - for those sensitive enough, it will acknowledge an attempt to communicate but only give vague impressions of being too busy to engage. If touched, the tree will feel slightly warm. If any Dreamfolk who went through an eddy touch it, the tree will vibrate slightly beneath their fingers. Later, the azure part of their tattoo will have expanded by another few millimeters.

TALK TO THE PRISONERS: Mum's the word here, too, if one can even get past the Sentry. Even with the assortment of Dreamfolk abilities that may be on hand, the Sentry team leader in charge doesn't want anyone to have access to the prisoners right now. There is a great deal of missing information that other teams may supply upon return, and in any case the prisoners haven't said a single word since being captured. Any magical means of interrogating them will leave one with the sense that something is twisted awry deep within each of them. Attempts to sneak around the Sentry guards will not be met kindly if caught.

---

OOC Notes: For most of the encounters, the characters must choose as a group (i.e. the group cannot fight the Chihuelan ambush to Sulhat Maf and also retreat from it), but outside of combat the characters may split up and explore on their own. Please remember characters do not have all the OOC info available here when considering their options.

The choices characters make will have an impact on the information and events moving forward. Mods may also intermittently tag into threads as we see fit to provide additional information or necessary response to queries. Please use thiscomment in the OOC post for questions.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

THE TREES:

This felt more like errantry than the last two months had combined... though that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Finding out that the cracks were part of the investigation made it somewhat obvious which facet Nita should join.

Kneeling in the dirt, Nita stopped just short of touching one of the roots. Sure, she was wearing gloves, but it still didn't seem wise.

/What brings you this far out, Cousins?/ Nita muttered, wondering.

Save the Trees?

Nita felt horrible just watching - but, not entirely consciously, she was walking closer to Al'Amar, the vine, and the tree.

Someone might want to stop her.

THE CHASMS

And if the trees had been weird, this whole thing with the cave systems was distressing. If the turtles were analogous to tectonic plates...!

"I know this may sound hasty," Nita spoke up, after swallowing nervously,
"But what if someone's forcing it? Can their separation be forced, at all?"

"Whoa there, partner, hold up," Aly said, reaching for Nita. "Don't go walking your face right into danger, that's my job." She was joking, sort of, but there was also an undercurrent of warning to her words. She had no idea what was awaiting.

Nita stumbled to a stop, eyes clearing.

She turned behind her, giving Aly an odd look - never mind that the calling out had been deserved.

"We can always do it together?" she wagered, though from the looks of the rest of the party that didn't sound very encouraging.

"So, I'll walk my face right into danger, and you spot me," Aly said, a wicked spark in her eyes. "Considering you can do that shielding thing, which is not my forte, we can form a pretty good offense/defense if need be."

Nita gave Aly a full-on Look, now.

"... That's true enough, I guess."

She looked back at the tree, which still seemed to be suffering somehow.

"Can I at least try and see if any of them are responsive, first? I want to try and get some reason out of that vine, if nothing else."

The Narrakra crew member appeared to be in a dream-like state, which wouldn't be helpful just now.

"Sure," said Aly. "You give those plants a good talking-to, and I'll be here in case something needs to be immolated."

Is she kidding? Maybe she's kidding. (She's not kidding.)

"Riiiight," Nita responded, partly sarcastic, but mostly serious.

(Fire, as an element, did normally trump greenery.)

She went ahead, stressing out most everyone else watching, and slowly let her mind open to whatever could be found of the tree's intelligence, or the vine's, or-

The hunger struck her first, rooting her to the ground temporarily with its sheer intensity. Nita gasped, mentally trying to reach for something else-

And the fear of the tree brought her to her knees, and her hands to the ground to steady the rest of her.

Aly immediately hit Panic Mode when Nita collapsed to the ground, and a crimson fireball appeared in her hand.

"You okay, Nita? Say the word, and I'll Trogdor the daylights outta these things!"

Nita kept fighting for air, crushing soil with her fingers.

"The vine-" she managed, after what felt like minutes of being blinded inside her own mind.

"The vine's killing the tree. All the tree is- is afraid...!"

She couldn't make herself look up again, though she did try.

"I got- I got nothing from her," and here she managed to gesture upward in a vague sense. Hopefully process of elimination made it obvious whom she meant.

"Okay, so you want me to get this vine or what? Tick tock, Nita!" If the tree was scared, then there wasn't much to do but take care of the problem. Aly didn't care much for nuance, not when she was like this.

"G- go f-for it..."

Though she was going to need to back up herself, and quick.

Someone drags Nita back - just as well, because that's not Aly's skillset. She's not the healer in their little group, she's their rogue. And in the absence of Annie, she can be the tank, in a pinch.

She cracks her knuckles, takes a deep breath, and flicks her wrists. Blood-red fire sparks into being around her hands, and she winds up one arm like a pitcher ready to throw a fastball.

"Yeet!" The fireball speeds towards the vine, and when it makes contact, the vine seems to do its best to avoid it, pulling up root from where it's insinuated itself into the tree. It looks like more than just a plant. It looks like something sapient.

Now that Nita's out of the way, things can burn.

What's left to animate her muscles cringes in sympathy with the vine once it's hit.

There's not just hunger and fear, now, but pain.

"Wh- whassit doing?"

She's being held back, but that's not going to stop her from trying to rearrange herself so she can see what's going on, if Aly's in danger.

If they've just substituted one person for another, here.

"Gotcha," Aly mutters, her focus on the vine rather than Nita. "Leave the tree alone. Want to pick on someone your own size, you little bitch?"

The vine separates where it was burnt in half, detaches from the tree, and slithers towards Aly.

"That's more like it!" she whoops, and makes a finger gun. "Bang!" A small fireball shoots from the end of her finger, and the vine dodges. "Bang!" It dodges again.

It seems like Aly's more in it for the thrill of the fight than quickly defeating it right now. She's been wound so tightly, and she wants to let loose.

There's some pushing, shoving, and fumbling going on as Nita tries to straighten herself up.

"Aly-" Nita calls, voice weak even now but strengthening.

"Aly we have to get her out of here."

Because there's still someone at risk - Al'Amar, listlessly holding her place.

Only not so much, now; she has a knife, and a look in her eyes that Nita does not like at all.

"Someone, get her down!"

Before Aly gets stabbed, preferably.

Aly's so beyond listening to anyone right now. She's been itching with the urge to do violence for weeks if not months, ever since she woke up with the blood on her face, and she's got a perfect target.

"Come on!" she shouts, a strange guttural quality to her voice. She's talking to the vine, but Al'Amar seems to take that as a goad, and rushes forward with the knife.

Someone - a few someones, even - rushes to get in Al'Amar's way, diverting her attention.

Nita is being carried away by other people, but she still has enough of a view to give her own input on the (increasingly dire) situation:

"On your right!"

Al'Amar may be skilled, but her will is compromised, and she can only fight so many targets at once.

Hopefully that will be enough; Nita does not want to lose more friends here, not today!

Lucky for Nita, Aly's not particularly interested in dying again. It's not so much fun.

She spins as Al'Amar manages to get through the people who are trying to divert her (a few well-placed elbows seem to be a universal constant), and Aly focuses her attention on the new target. Which means she's forgotten a cardinal rule: never lose your situational awareness. The vine wraps around her ankles, tripping her, and Al'Amar leaps--

Aly roars and a blanket of crimson flame flares up around her, just for a moment, enough to burn the vine enough to make it shrink back, and enough to cause Al'Amar to shriek and drop the knife, suddenly consumed with her own burns.

Edited 2020-05-25 19:04 (UTC)

There are tactical mistakes happening all throughout this fight today, but what else is new on the archipelago, really?

Nita is not an active participant, still, but the people who've joined the fight have had time to recover due to the fiery distraction-

They move to restrain Al'Amar, presumably an easier task now that she's dropped that knife, and to prop Aly herself back up once that fire dies away.

If it does.

It's got to be something in the air that makes everyone here an idiot.

The fiery cloak dies away, and Aly accepts the help, looking more worn out than someone might expect. That Human Torch impression did take a lot of power, and she's not exactly able to draw from her usual source.

"You guys got her?" she wheezes, and when she gets the affirmation, she returns a thumbs-up and braces her hands on her thighs.

Nita's forcing herself to her feet, to much chastening and admonishment, just so she can get a real look at the aftermath herself.

Fighting off thoughts of uselessness, even if technically she did do SOMETHING, she comes over to join Aly's supporters and get another look at the tree.

"Seems like we're getting things handled here," she replies, in tired voice.

"As long as you're sure you got that vine..." She trails off, glaring at the vine as if that alone could pull it off the tree.

"Oh yeah, I got it," Aly says with an exhausted grin, snaps her fingers...and the vine is the one enveloped in flame, just for a second, until it burns away to nothing. Then she sways, and the only reason she doesn't collapse is that she's being supported.

"Had to throw a little flair in there," she wheezes. "For the Vine." Not just the vine. The Vine.

Nita watches the vine burn with satisfaction.

(It's not typical of her in the least, but something about it had just been wrong. Maybe it was the hunger, or the way it had puppeteered Al'Amar.)

Aly's line, though, draws one last baffled look from her.

"'Fraid I haven't heard that one before."

She's from a time before Vine, Aly. Forgive her.

Meanwhile, getting this tree sorted and getting these two back to the city seems to have become someone's priority, and that someone is very firm.

"It is my cruel fate for my genius to pass unremarked upon," Aly says loftily, and then lets the very insistent kedan who's trying to shepherd them to at least get water and food before they both collapse.

At least the tree is safe.

The last thing he remembers is going to find Steve. Steve had been taking on Thanos, trying desperately to not only save the universe, literally, but also to save Vision.

He doesn't remember anything after saying Steve's name. Looking down at himself, he sees the new arm is still there, along with everything else. That's good. He still has his kimoyo beads as well. Weird.

The gun rests easily in his arms as he looks around. Back alley, somewhere, definitely not the verdant greens of Wakanda. Creeping to the corner slowly, he looks out. He's in some sort of slum. Well, not his first time, but it's been a while. He looks around, carefully stepping out into the street. This isn't going to go well, at all....

Edited 2019-05-16 15:03 (UTC)

'Not going to go well'? That's one way to put it.

Miles is walking around with his camera - normal, normal, normal, JESUS CHRIST A GUN. He looks at the person holding the gun and blanches, just slightly. Gun and robot arm? Well, this probably isn't good. For anyone.

The nanites prickle under his skin at the surge of adrenaline, and he forces them down. "Uh...hi there."

Gun, robot arm, and honestly more than a few hidden abilities. But that's okay, because Bucky isn't going to be shooting anyone anytime soon. Not if he can help it. He'd told Steve he doesn't do that anymore.

He'd been quite happy farming in Wakanda.

Slowly he lowers the gun, watching the man. "Who the hell are you?" And where is he? This isn't Wakanda.

Edited 2019-06-03 23:26 (UTC)

MOST UNORTHODOX

After catching him snooping around and quite reasonably concluding that they wouldn't actually be able to stop him, the Sentry had recruited Tony to assist in the investigation of the stricken town of Cape Averi. A number of other Dreamfolk get the same idea and have the same offer extended to them, and that's fine with Tony, because it means he's not the only target of the Sentry's rather pointed attitude of resigned annoyance.

The downside is, that means he has to be a team player and do things by the book. Not his greatest strengths. The sedate pace of the investigation is just starting to chafe when an old man approaches him and starts insisting that the Chihuelans are hiding in the lighthouse – the lighthouse that the Averi Sentry had supposedly cleared. The Sentry are quick to shuffle him off again, apologizing to Tony for his unhinged rantings and explaining that he's being kept for questioning, but they're not counting on getting anything coherent out of him.

"Right," Tony says, nodding agreeably as they corral the man. "People don't just start spouting cryptic but useful information after being driven crazy by an encounter with rogue magic. That's definitely never happened around here before, ever, and it would be really silly to investigate something like that."

The sarcasm is completely lost on them.

Once the old man's chaperones are out of earshot, Tony looks around to see if any of the Dreamfolk are on the same page as he is. "Cool," he says to no one in particular. "So, who wants to go check out the spooky abandoned lighthouse?"

"Do we have a choice?" Gene says sarcastically, but it's clear that he's just as interested. It's been a while since there's been something else to explore; the last shunt had coincided with Tony's return.

"Although I'm not sure what we're expecting or hoping for with that." Damn, Gene, sometimes you just have to do this for fun.

"Sure you do. You don't have to come. It's just that it's really, really boring here right now, and according to Mister Screw Loose, there might a bunch of Chihuelans plotting our downfall in the spooky lighthouse, and that sounds way more exciting. But, hey, it's up to you."

Tony grins. He already knows Gene's going to come with him. He likes to complain about Tony's dumb ideas, but he usually still goes along with them. Because Tony is an idiot, but he's Gene's idiot, and someone needs to keep an eye on him.

Edited 2019-06-01 04:28 (UTC)

"Like hell you'll stop me," said Gene, knowing that Tony's goading him, and being goaded anyway. "Someone has to keep you from getting into trouble you can't get out of."

Do you really think you're the guy for that, Gene?

"Besides - it's been five hundred years. The Chihuelans' technology may have developed beyond yours."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[EVENT] STRANGERS AND SHADOWS

MAS'INGE RIVER BASIN

Save the Trees

Re: Save the Trees

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Should we mention a scientist coming over to help drag Neets back to safety?

THIS BITCH EVIL, Y E E T

YAH YEET!

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... Think this one's actually approaching wrap-up? o.0

Yeah we about on wrap

/VICTORY MUSIC PLAYS

/puts a bow on it almost exactly a year later

Fear and Loathing in Bejichi

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ICON KEYWORDS

Cape Averi

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