Onboard the SS BadSurprise - RPLOG
Participants
Date
7/8/477
Log
The little forest clearing is crowded with beings, including members of the guard, a pair of machine priests, a few anxious scholars and the genderless form of Hedge, the otherworldy servant of the fled Creator fugitive Joe Preston.
Town guards usher those who have responded to the call to where a goat wearing a captain's badge waits with Hedge to give them their instructions. From the side of a nearby hill juts an uncovered door of steel.
Cassidy drops from the sky to land in the clear with a light thud, cloak draping down over her form in a most dramatic fashion. She rises up to her full height, all four-odd feet of it and adjusts her top hat before dipping into a bow. "Good evening! I have arrived to help."
Scarf pulled up over his plague mask, wearing his coat and hat with his full assortment of weapons, Thelergramor steps into the clearing. Shortbow in hand, he walks toward the captain. No words, too focused on finding and killing the fugitive; regardless of whether anyone wants him alive.
Sara emerges from behind a dense copse of foliage, her arm stretched out to bend a low branch out of the way only momentarilly before she passes by and lets it loose. After making her way to the general group the lizard woman lowers the hood of her cloak and looks to the captain who gets a brief nod of greeting, "Hello, you sent for us? What do you need?" following afterwards before she looks to the others that had reached the area before her and offers both Thelergramor, and Cassidy a brief, yet rather friendly wave.
Noosha, the obnoxiously pink Hyena, scampers to heed the call. More state-sanctioned chaos! Maybe this time she could find something of more worth than a whirring sceptre. And if not...there was the patronize of sobs bloodletting, and she was curious to see how these Creators worked...
Perhaps not the best fit for tracking a criminal, Selena makes her way through the area at a steady pace - clearly not in a rush to be there despite the crowd of beings already falling in to ask questions of the one who put up the call for help. The questions of those already present seem to cover the bases she was interested in anyway, leaving her to wait for a response and nod in acknowledgement to the beings she was familiar with.
Jera makes his way into the clearing, looking at all his friends and looking over the area to study the scene for a minute. He finally folds his hands across his chest, blowing a soft huff. "Tons of treasure hunters, huh?" The vulpine taps his arm as he joins up with the familiar group. "Evening, friends."
Natska walks up to the clearing as well, having landed farther away than Cass; she touches the brim of her hat and nods her head in greeting to the assembled team, both the Freeswords and the officials. "What's the situation?" she asks, stopping next to Cass.
The officious looking goat nods to the gathered volunteers. "I am Captain Greyloch," he says, "I have been placed over the investigations concerning the fugitive Creator." He steps aside to show where the nude, genderless form of Hedge is standing with two other guards. "The rabbit will brief you on the contents of the vault," he says gruffly, "All we expect from you is to clear the way for our retrieval team. You will be payed well for your efforts."
Hedge looks nervously at the group, and then at one of the machine priests attending him. The priest hold out a hand, revealing a small, white sphere and the rabbit relaxes. He begins to talk, his words garbled and unintelligible, but a moment later, the voice of the machine spirit picks up. "I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have a TRANSLATOR instead of having to Butcher your language!" the rabbit says, "I felt like such a SAVAGE." It is obvious that the rabbit is using a number of phrases that the machine can't translate perfectly. "Mister Preston has managed to land and hide several of these her on PROMISE," he continues, "But this is the only one I know the location of. I can open the door for you, but it will be up to you to disable the SECURITY DEVICES. The easiest way will be to disable the POWER SOURCE located in the front of the ship." He looks around at the gathered beings, much more at ease, now that he can communicate. "Any questions?"
Cassidy gives a warm smile to Natska behind her mask, nodding. Jera and the others get a tip of the hat as well, before she listens to Hedge explain the situation. "Hm. Sounds simple enough. Front of... The ship. Where will we be entering? The 'side'? it would help to know which way the front is, if you could tell us."
Thelergramor shakes his head. "What kind of security systems. And you said several of these? So we're not actually sure he's in there." He then coughs behind his mask, looks to the others. "I'm killing him if we find him. If no one objects, of course." Still owes Joe for a few days of pain and a couple scars from his homes security.
Sara only tilts her head as the rabbit begins to speak the first language, her oblivious expression only showing the confussion as to what the creature had been speaking. Though it soon softens as it turns to common, "Indeed.. as Cassidy had mentioned, where will we be entering?" she then cranes her neck to look to the metal door and points, "There? Or is there another, safer entrance? But other than that, what can we expect when inside? I suspect golems? Any other sorts of traps? And furthermore, will you be following? Or at the very least offer some way of translating what we'll see in there? I'm not sure about the rest here, but I'm a bit rusty on the subject."
Security devices, eh? Noosha swaps soul gems with a deft motion of one hand, checking through the inside of her blouse worth the other. Razor, hatchet, lock picks, a keen-edged dagger or two. Everything is in order. Her preparations finished, she squeezes between the legs of taller folk, popping out toward the front of the line with her ears pricked.
Selena chuckles quietly at jera's commentary as the kit fox arrives on scene. "Not all of us are here as Treasure hunters, and I don't see Bite anywhere. I think it's safe to say there's a little bit more seriousness in the group." The wolfess watches on as Hedge makes his comments.
"Pardon, but what exactly are they here for in the first place? You mention Preston managed to land them, but to hide them implies an agenda beyond the tourism and visits that were discusses in our courts, if I recall correctly." She asks, apparently less concerned with entry and the security system than why such things were a concern in the first place.
"Mmhmm. Keep in mind we...don't exactly know much about your world. Well, compared to what you know about ours. I'd..." Jera swallows a bit. "I'd rather not have our world destroyed to curb black market smuggling, you know."
Natska gives Cass a small smile and then coughs once into her gloved hand and levels a serious look at Thel. "Only use lethal force if it is absolutely necessary," she chides the wolf. Her ear flicks, and she listens for answers from the rabbit. "Oh my. We're going to be *on* a Creator ship! What a rush!" The last thing that Jera says catches her attention, though, and she freezes. "Waaaait, what?"
"Oh! Yes," Hedge says, "This is the rear hatch of the ship. I believe that he used some sort of EARTH MAGIC to bury this vessel when it landed." He leads the group over to the exposed hatch, accompanied by a guard and a machine priest. "I do not believe that Mister Preston is on this vessel," he says, "As it has no actual flight capability on its own. This is only a NO SUBSTITUTE FOUND and is only for dropped deliveries. You would need a NO SUBSTITUTE FOUND to launch these back into space." The rabbit slides aside a panel and carefully inputs some sort of code. "I only have codes to open the hatch and disable defenses in the crew quarters here at the rear of the vessel," he says, "It will be up to you to get past the DEFENSE GOLEMS and SCORCHERS and any other nasty traps Mister Preston has developed. I do not even know what he has hidden in there." With a WHOOSH of air, the hatch slides aside, revealing the ship's dim interior. "I don't really know why these drops were made. Maybe just things for the CREATOR'S comfort. Any other questions?" he asks.
Cassidy takes a deep breath and folds her hands behind her back. "Yes, that sounds fine, then. Would anyone like to take the lead? And I do hope all of you take caution," she says, looking towards Thelergramor and Noosha in particular. "I would rather someone not trigger a trap in their frenzy and impatience that gets us all injured. I don't think I have to tell most of you that, though."
The machine priest with Hedge steps forward. "This mission is led by the Church in cooperation with Mister Parson to detail the crimes of Joseph Preston," he announces, "All items inside must be brought before the church. As for reading the signs inside, all you need to know are these." He then produces two scraps of paper with strange creator writing. "This one will point you toward the front of the ship," he says, handing over one scrap, "And this one is a standard emblem for a power source."
Thelergramor shrugs, adjusts his mask, slings his shortbow over his shoulder. "I'll go first." Another cough before he mumbles to himself: "...No sense sending the 'good people' in first..." Thel moves forward slowly, watching for anything that might trigger a security device. Pulls his axe from his belt.
After pulling a pistol out of her belt and pouring some black powder, adding a patch, a shot and pressing it down into the barrel, and then doing the same for another pistol, does Sara look to the rabbit and then to the Machine Priest and his piece of paper and nods, "Alright, I guess that'll have to be enough. Would be better if we knew more than the basics. Ah well." Once readied Sara reaches out, snags the paper, and makes her way up to the now opened hatch and while still standing outside the hatch, she peers inside, her crimson gaze looking inside the darkness.
Noosha's ears flap as Cassidy gives her warning. "Are you speaking to this one?" she chirps innocently, blinking those big golden eyes at her. "You couldn't be, because this one triggered no traps and caused no structural damage last time!" she concludes triumphantly, skipping to the hatch, her carefree manner belying a watchful gaze as she readies a dagger, as both defense and a makeshift tool. Ears pricked, she follows behind Thel, listening for aught of interest.
Selena raises an eyebrow. "Well, then. I hope Parson will have a statement to make about those crimes soon." She notes, peering at the pair of scraps as they're passed around. "Given these are creator devices, what should we know about deactivating them, exactly? It's one thing to say it would be easy to turn them off, but if we don't know what... thing turns them off, it could end badly." She notes, watching as the others move forwards.
"Also, if you'd like I can send an elemental ahead of us to scout out area ahead without risking any real limbs. It's possible it won't trip any alarms we would, but probably worth a shot."
"Wait wait wait. We're not.../all/ going in, are we?" Jera turns around and makes a vague motion to the crowd. "T-That just sounds like a recipe for trouble. More people means more likely to trigger traps, after all. Especially if Preston was anticipating that he'd be caught."
"Scorchers, huh?" Natska asks, checking to make sure her gloves are snug. "Yea, I don't mind going first if you guys want." The jaguar's tail swishes back and forth, a grin spreading across her face. "Heck, that sounds pretty fun, testing myself ag... oh, OK, Thel. Noosha. If you want! I'll be right behind you two then to keep an eye on things; let me know if you want to swap." She follows after them, a small wind tugging her jacket hem back and forth in time with her swaying tail. "I'd hold off on the elemental, Selena, unless it is capable of rational deduction and delicate precision. We'll be fine!" She gives Jera a small wink as well. "Do you want to sit out here and watch, then?"
Hedge looks from the machine priest to Selena and begins to talk. A moment later the machine spirit kicks in. "I am not sure how to deactivate the POWER SOURCE," he confesses, "I am only a DOMESTIC SERVANT and know little about these vessels."
The machine priest says nothing in response to Selena's question, but looks rather uncomfortable. Seems he does not know much more. "I would recommend against the use of an elemental," he finally says, "Many Creator artifacts react poorly to heat." He turns to Jera. "No," he says, "The retrieval team will not enter until you return and report success. We wish you good luck."
The inside of the vessel is cool and dimly lit by tracks of light that run along the top of a short hallway ending in a closed door much like the hatch on the outside. On either side of the short hallway is a single door, both standing open.
Cassidy glances over at Jera and grins behind her mask. "Well, of course we are! What did you think we were here for? To stand around outside and watch? No, I am eager to go inside of a creator ship! I have never been in one before." She filches around in her satchel for a moment, making sure she's got her pen and field journal. "This will be kind of exciting, don't you think, Natska?" She adjusts her hat and moves in after Noosha and Thelergramor. "I figure when we find it, I can probably break it with a zap of lightning or something. We shall see. How hard could it be to break?"
Thelergramor glances around after crossing the threshold of the ship. "Exciting, yes. Just keep an eye out." He takes a few more slow steps, figuring it's a shitty idea to go first, but, goes first. He moves to walk close to the wall, he carefully works his way towards the open door on the right. He glances towards the other door, then turns towards the one he approached. Looks in the doorway.
"Wouldn't hurt to send an elemental in. Not sure if the golems would react to it, but it never hurts to try.. right?" Sara calls over her shoulder, her eyes fixed on Selena as she speaks. Though it doesn't last before she looks into the dim lighted room again and says, "Well.. in anycase it /does/ sound pretty exciting. Never really seen much regarding creator tech aside from the decayed stuff in the tunnels underneath the waste tunnels." After speaking Sara grips her pistol a little tighter, looks to the paper in her hand, and makes her way into the ship, right behind Thelergramor.
Selena rolls her eyes a little at the comment about heat effecting creator devices. "The way I see it, it would be a more effective way of scouting out the ship than risking direct injury. Or do you consider a being's life to be worth less than some technology? I don't see a situation in which we'd be gutting the entire vessel's worth of technology before reaching the power switch unless something goes very wrong." Cassidy's suggestion promts her to shake her head. "You've seen burns from lightning. If we're not supposed to be exposing the machines to heat, then we certainly shouldn't be exposing them to that much electricity." She notes, moving over to the others and conjuring forth her magmaesque doppelganger. "I've used my elemental enough times there. We're not going to be damaging the steel at all with the heat it puts out." she replies to Sara, moving the apparition down the tunnel before walking behind it. "If there's something that looks particularly valuable then I will remove the elemental. But until then I'd rather not remove the option of an expendable body."
"I trust you two, then. I must admit I'm here because of. Well. I couldn't not be here, could I?" Jera admits, not familiar with Creator devices /at all/, much less dangerous ones. "And...well. If the elementals don't work I volunteer Thel to go first anyway. He looks far more durable than the rest of us."
Natska gives Jera and Selena's elemental both a decidedly sour look. Her ear flicks, and then she turns up her nose, but she can't keep it up for long; she falls in alongside Cassidy with a mumbled "Whaaaaateveerrr~", then pats Cassidy on the shoulder. "Yes! I am very excited to see it. If mom and dad there will let us."
Noosha's large ears flap a couple more times. Blinking lights, metal echoes...nothing of worth, though. Not even traps. Odd, the last one had locks and tripwires, at least...Noosha continues to skulk down the hall, tracking towards the left door down the hall...
The two side doors lead off into tiny little sleeping cells. There seems to be nothing of interest in either of them. They are identical with only a metal slab of a bed jutting from the wall and a small table and stool sprouting up from the ground.
The machine priest looks after Selena as she conjures her elemental. "I meant that it might set off defenses in a ship made to travel between stars," he calls after her, but it is too late. As Selena enters the ship with her elemental the door behind the volunteers WHOOSHes shut and the lights turn red! A female machine spirit's voice echoes through the cabin. There is another WHOOSH of air and the fire elemental flickers out of existence as the oxygen in the cabin is expelled through unseen vents!
Cassidy blinks a little in surprise as the oxygen is stripped from the room. A curse is mumbled under her breath as she quickly enacts a bit of air magic to halt her own suffocation, before looking towards Natska to make sure she is likewise fine. Confirming such, her attention turns towards the buttons on the panel. Not wanting to waste oxygen with speech, she simply points.
Thelergramor hears the door shut, then the oxygen leaves. Being trapped with no air is the only thing the wolf fears. Panicking, he uses the only knowledge of air magic he has; accidentally pulling the air from his lungs as Thel begins to choke. Grasping at his mask, he stumbles into the room he was looking into, in a blind panic slams against the wall.
The noise of rushing air, and the flickering elemental doesnt hit Sara until it's too late and most of the air had been removed, leaving Sara attempt to suck in a breath only to begin choking on the thin remains that had yet to be sucked out. Her eyes soon go wide as she panics and lets her gaze turn to anything that would help. Spotting a panel next to the rooms from earlier Sara rushes to it and frantically begins pressing the buttons, hoping atleast one of those six buttons would return the oxygen, and remove the burning feeling from her lungs!
Just as Noosha was getting disappointed with the lack of action, the blare of the klaxons nearly scare her out of her pelt, eyes going wide, ears pinning back and bottlebrush tail twitching about. As the whooshing of air and the pressure of lungs burning to breathe, she incants an air magic spell worth done success. Ah, here we go!
But what's this? Her favorite partner in crime, falling to the floor gasping! She darts over to Thelgramor, hoping the same air that sustains her husk will keep him around. Suffocation would be a wasted death--better to keep him around as a living shield...
Selena visible chokes a little as the room is converted into a vacuum by the ship's fire removal mechanism - luckily managing to collect herself enough to secure a little air for herself, taking a deep breath before cursing softly. "That is NOT something you say after the matter. You'll have to excuse me once the ship's back open, I have a machine priest to tech a very important lesson to." She growls to nobody in particular, shaking her head as she moves over to Sara, a gesture of her hand stretching her air pocket to the lizard at the cost of effectiveness and effort - but better than none. "'Damage the technology' is far different to 'cause the ship to choke everyone in a room', and the damn being knew something would happen."
Jera has been taught the ancient art of turtle breathing, and the sudden removal of air barely makes him flinch. He draws his focus to keep some of the air around him, his echoes helping with the air swirling around his body...perhaps the sole beneficial function it has shown so far. He quickly makes his way over to Thel to share his air.
Natska braces herself as the ship suddenly begins sucking the air out of the room. She takes a deep breath and then lets her mind drift, snagging her tamed breeze and fighting to keep it with her despite the attempted banishment. The jaguar glances over at Cassidy and then Jera, making sure they were fine as well, then gives Selena a stern Look. However, it seemed that Sara, their tech specialist, had a handle on things so she patiently waits for whatever is next to happen.
After a terrifying moment, the lights in the hallway turn green and air WHOOSHes back into the room. The lights return to their incandescent white.
Sara's panicky button pushing does not seem to produce the desired resulting in the lights in the little room flashing on and off, a wall compartment opening and closing and a thin hatch opening along the bed where a thin cushion slides out. That was certainly exciting!
Cassidy exhales softly as the air comes back in, dropping the air magic 'bubble' around her. "Yes. No more fire, I think. Is everyone okay?" She takes a moment to adjust her bowtie before nodding and glancing towards the panel. "Push them one at a time, yes! Find the one that lights the light crystals."
Thelergramor coughs a few times as air returns to his lungs, due to the assistance of both Noosha and Jera. The wolf manages to shout a few, well, many, explatives and strings of creative cursing. Standing, he drops his axe and kicks over the stool in the small room. Picking up said stool, the wolf slams it against the wall. Hard. Afterward, he drops it. "...That sucked. When I find Joe, he is going to die. Slowly." He walks past Noosha and Jera, "Thanks." And advances back into the hall. Rage practically fumes from the wolf.
As the lights turn green, and the air rushes back into the room Sara raises a shaking arm to the ceiling and utters an weak sounding cheer before dropping to her knees and over, the darkness that had encroached around the sides of her vision closing in and the lizard woman passes out. Her chest however still rises and falls making it seem as if she had been safe, and only having just blacked out.
Thelergramor coughs a few times as air returns to his lungs, due to the assistance of both Noosha and Jera. The wolf manages to shout a few, well, many, explatives and strings of creative cursing. Standing, he kicks the stool. Hard. Causing him to bruise his shin. Ignores the pain. Afterward, he slams his axe against the wall, chipping the blade. "...That sucked. When I find Joe, he is going to die. Slowly." He walks past Noosha and Jera, "Thanks." And advances back into the hall. Rage practically fumes from the wolf.
Noosha watches Thel survive a near death from suffocation, only to turn around and vent his rage in the inanimate items in the room. The perfect heavy--all tightly-wound anger and violence! Her high, brittle cackle echoes through the chambers as he passes--"HEEEEEhehehehehe!"--only to be interrupted by the sound of Sara hitting the floor.
She ponders this development for a moment, eyeing her fallen form with neutral curiosity...probably too many around to check her over, and anyway, it's an enclosed space with no place to flee. Instead, she begins to emit a pitiful whine, stretching those golden eyes wide, trying to get Thel's attention once more. "Oh, won't someone help this one? One is too small and fragile to carry our poor friend alone!" she cries out, in a tone of well-rehearsed sadness. With Thel's help--that is, with him doing the work while she keeps the head from bouncing too hard--she manages to get Sara out of the way, and back down by the hatch they initially entered.
Selena mutters under her breath, the wolfess moving back to the (shut) door and quickly pressing the button nearest it - and a few moments later slipping outside as the door miraculously enough opens for the irate wolf - though she does pause to look over Noosha. "In a moment. She should be fine now there's air in here." After a few moments of looking for the machine priest, the wolfess smiles and moves over to them before taking a stern, uncompromising tone: "Now. You just said that fire would damage equipment. You forgot to mention something a lot more important, and I'm damn sure you know what I'm talking about." She seethes, pointing back at the door. "If you ever neglect to mention that something might activate 'defenses', lethal or not, so help me I will have you put in the same situation you should have taken the time to prevent. Again - If you telp a being not to try and keep themselves safe because that manner of keeping themselves safe will put them in more danger, you tell them exactly that. Not some woefully unnecessary complaint about damaging something." The wolfess turns back to the ship. "Is there anything else you should mention before I head back in, or will I have to contact the church and have a more pointed talk with you later?"
Jera releases his spell the moment he feels air restored in the creator ship. He decides to follow along behind Thel, getting worried. Somehow always feeling like he needs to keep an eye on the wolf.
Natska flicks her ear, calmly waiting out the storm of excitement that followed the lack of - and the return of - the air supply. She gives Sara a worried look, but smiles when Noosha and Thel take care of her. With everyone else occupied, that leaves the jaguar to conquer the puzzle of the door leading further into the interior of the ship and she saunters up to the button-panel, flexing her fingers. Grinning, the cat begins pushing buttons, methodically, one at a time. She notes the results, angling to discover the icon-button for 'lights' and 'open the door please'.
The panel of buttons seems quite simple to operate, one button to light the crystals along the room's ceiling, one to turn them off, one each for opening and closing a compartment by the bed and another pair for revealing and hiding the surprisingly soft pad for the bed.
Outside, the machine priest, a graceful clan otter glowers at Selena's upbraiding. "I tried to warn you that it might react to the fire you awful woman!" he says, maybe just a little smugly, "If you had just listened nothing would have happened! I have no further advice for you." He seems to know of Selena's reputation and has no qualms about her contacting his superiors in the church. Having put in his two crowns, the priestly otter turns and walks away to talk with Captain Greyloch.
Cassidy glances around the cabin, tucking her hands in her pockets. "Well, settle down there, Thel. Don't hurt yourself. Getting angry at the ship isn't going to solve anything, you know." She glances around and moves off towards the direction she believes the front of the ship is in.
Thelergramor grumbles while dragging Sara out. Heading back in, he heads to the far door, caution abandoned. "I know Cass. I don't like to be trapped and unable to breathe." Dropping his axe back through his belt loop, he looks for a way to open the door. Having no idea what he's looking for, the wolf puts a hand on it and tries to push it open. Likely, with little success. "Friggin creators and their... fancy doors. Anyone got any ideas here?" He rubs at his shoulder; slamming into that wall probably lead to a bruise later.
Natska's careful examination of the door and Thelergramor's useless pushing don't reveal much. The door seems to close in the middle, sliding open in both directions. While Natska's button pushing on the lit panel by the door produces a delightful show of beeps and lights, nothing cohesive seems to come of it. Maybe someone else would have more luck? Or maybe they should try to pry the door open with something?
On seeing Sara attended to, Noosha heads back to the door that had everyone puzzled. Drawing a dull old nail she keeps on hand as a wedge (and shiv, if need be), she attempts to find purchase to attempt to pry it open at least slightly. Creator technology or not, there's always a way (besides the legal ones) to get through a door...
Selena shakes her head as the otter turns from her, snapping her fingers as she pulls the air from the their lungs in a way similar to the depressurization the group had just experienced in the ship. "I have given you your warning. Use that brain you were so gifted with the next time you're in this kind of a position, or I will have you personally answer for negligence. The church doesn't accept technology at the needless expense of life. You had ample time to give a real reason for the use of that elemental, and you did not. Incompetence is no excuse for ignorance, and you have demonstrated an inability to give full information where it is needed." She reprimands, before turning back to the ship and the rest of the group. "I suggest you answer questions properly next time they're asked - "You may damage the technology" is not a description of a potentially lethal reaction." She shoots over her own shoulder before continuing on her way back to the rest of the group.
The machine priests topples, gripping wildly at his throat, eyes bulging. This is really not how today was supposed to go. Guards and priests hurry over to help the struggling otter and one priest gives a dark look over to Selena and waves his had perfunctorily to dismiss her air magic. This insult would not be forgotten, nor would it be forgiven.
"Y...You think she was out to get us in trouble, huh? Might warrant some investigation." Jera murmurs softly, deciding to stay away from the traps for a while. He presses the button to activate the bed, crawling up on it and relaxing. Searching under it for a brief moment before he watches the rest of the crew toy with the traps!
Natska gives the door-pad a stare, then smiles at Noosha and nods to the tiny hyena. She takes a couple of steps back and rests her hands on her hips, watching.
While Natska's careful button mashing has produced no real results, Noosha has managed to slide her bit of metal between the slats of the steel door. Perhaps a good wrenching would make them open? Meanwhile, jera's idle searching bears fruit! His questing fingers catch on some sort of hard card! Maybe it could be useful!
Cassidy touches a hand to her chin and hums in thought, before glancing over to Natska playing with the buttons, and Noosha trying to get the door open. "Need help over there?" She calls out, turning to face the hyena, but not yet making her way in that direction. Instead, she turns her eyes back up towards the ceiling, just sort of... Looking around for anything interesting. Well, exceptionally interesting. This was -all- pretty neat to her.
Thelergramor takes his sword from his belt, slides it into the gap Noosha managed. "Right, you pull left, I'll go right. And, watch for golems or some other shit once the door opens; Don't think it should be this... easy." Noting Jera left the room, he shrugs, never thought of Jera as a slacker, also seeing Cassidy's distraction: "No, really. Keep an eye open. Don't need to die today." With that, he pulls his sword, an attempt to pry the door open.
Noosha squeaks in delight as the door gives an inch...but given the short length of the shiv and her size (damn this size!), she can't get a lot of leverage, and at Thel's orders, she gives a toothy rictus--he was proving to be quite the useful thug! If she ever got around to establishing that cabal, he would officially be promoted above 'cannon fodder.' As it is, she redoubles her efforts in prying the doors open, laying a big cloverleaf ear on the door and listening for any sounds from the other side.
Selena sighs quietly as she makes her way back into the ship with the rest of the group, quieting her approach as the other make the more covert nature of the next section known. "... Have I missed anything too important?" she asks the collection of beings before looking back out of the vessel. "Hopefully the priest learned something about being specific and forthcoming with his information." She notes. "I'd suggest just staying clear of the door for a few moments, but for now..." she sighs, briefly clasping her hands in front of her as a wave of subtle water magic rolls over the group.
Jera catches up to the rest of the group after deciding the bed was too soft for him! Bringing the card he found with him. "Found something, guys. A solid card of some sort." The kit fox smiles, cheered up quite a bit after the earlier scare.
Natska looks over at Jera from her supervisory spot in front of the door, giving the kit fox a grin as her tail swishes. "Oooh, yea?" she asks. "Does it have any markings on it?" Her foot taps as she waits on the door, but the card is at least a slight distraction.
Jera's discovery comes a bit late to help. With a heave, Thelergramor and Noosha wrench the door open and it slides away to either side with a hiss. It must not have been made for security. Or maybe it was. The outer door slams shut once more as the overhead lights turn red and a whooping claxon starts ringing through the area. From the corridor ahead, two spider drones, much larger than the ones from Joe's house, drop from the ceiling, red-lit eyestalks scanning the corridor before charging!
Cassidy raises her brow and looks at the cabinet she saw! She starts to head in that way before the sirens click on and her brow furrows. "Really?" She snarls and pulls up a throwing knife from her thigh holster. Turning to face one of the spider drones, she whips the knife towards what she assumes are its eyes.
"Told you." The wolf stands low in the door way, giving an angle for anyone with a ranged weapon to fire past him. He attempts to set his claw trap in front of the door. Then, remains there to hold the drones back. "Come get me, assholes!" Taunts likely have no effect on drones.
The little pink Hyena lets out a whoop! of alarm and dives behind Thel--with all he's bene through, he seems like a pretty sturdy sort. She urgently works to summon her water elemental--after all, two shields are better than one, right? That taken care of, she hastily swaps out her secondary soul gem while taking cover behind Thel.
Selena quickly ducks back around the corner of the corridor as more sirens go off. "... Really indeed." She mutters as the servitors begin scuttling towards the group, lining herself up briefly before shifting to the side. "I'd rather not risk hitting anyone at the front if anything goes wrong." she notes, letting the others take their actions, and preparing one of her other spells - a modified calcified flesh - for use on one of the beings in the corridor should they get too close or start attacking.
Jera blinks, discarding the key and drawing his bow. He notes Cassidy's target and then aims for the othe, pulling out an enchanted arrow from his black steel gauntlet and then sliding his glove off after. Inserting the arrow and securing it into the inner catch, he takes aim, and fires his new, much heavier glove-arrow!
Natska cocks her head to the side as the lights go red and the alarms sound. She turns her attention back down the hallway, looking over Thel and Noosha, and grins as she sees the spider-golems drop to the ground. The air around her grows chilly as she works some math of her own, dagger-length shards of ice forming in her hand. Shortly after she flings them the pieces shatter into even smaller projectiles, a wave of frozen flechettes guided by a gust of wind.
Cassidy's knife flicks through the air like a silvery fish, striking true on the leading golem's glowing red eye. The eyestalk goes dark, but that does not stop the automaton's charge as it crashes through the open doorway on top of Thelergramor. Skittering to a halt, the other spidery golem carefully orients it's eyestalk and fires a searing beam of red light directly at Cassidy! That eye is immediately darkened as Jera's heavy bolt strikes home, tearing the delicate machinery away from the servitor's body. Neither golem is down though! Hatches appear on the sides of both golems as they produce a pair of spinning blades each! It seems their eyes weren't their only method of seeing!
Natska's brutal shards of ice rip through the cabin, pelting the spider golems and finding little chinks in their armor to bury themselves into. Unfortunately, those flying bits of ice don't distinguish between friends and foe!
Every the show-off, Cassidy leaps out of the way of the laser with an acrobatic cartwheel. Just after she lands, she produces two more knives, one in each hand, and flicks them towards both of the spinning blades on one of the spider golems.
Thelergramor is slammed into by the charging spider golem. The force of the impact throws him back towards Noosha. Though, she fortunately gets out of the way, somehow. The wolf hits the ground, rolls to stand back up. Taking a few running steps towards the golem, Thel swings his life drinker vertically upward at one of the golems legs.
Her gem switched and her assistant summoned, Noosha is able to press off the wall and spring away, in time for Thel to get knocked back. With a high, ululuating laugh, she takes to a knee, aiming her wrist-mounted crossbow and its energy-overloaded bolt at the nasty-looking weaponry sticking out of the golem and firing.
Selena raises an eyebrow somewhat at Noosha's reaction to the initiation of somewhat closer combat, releasing her steelskin spell to Thelergramor - readily becoming obvious that the name isn't literal as the effect manifests much like any other calcified flesh spell would, keeping an eye on the machines for a clear opening to launch an attack through.
"Ooooo, I had wanted to try that one live fire," Natska says as she draws her rapier and her heavy parrying blade. "I like it!" She takes a moment to gather herself, and then the jaguar rushes forward in a blazing lunge. She takes a few quick steps to gather momentum, then hops past Noosha and launches a quick flurry of thrusts at the closer spider-drone.
Jera preps a second shot, though he takes his time to line it up this time now that he knows the drones are much more durable. Readying a wind spell to go along with the arrow...
Cassidy's knives strike home as the golem raises two spinning blades to strike out at the prone Thelergramor, lodging themselves in the mechanisms and bringing them to a screeching halt. Taking advantage of the respite, Thelergramor's attack hits, wedging the blade of his black sword into a joint of one of the golem's four spidery legs. Even Noosha gets in on the action, firing a bolt into the machine's inner workings through its weapons hatch! Finally, Natska's powerful strike is the last straw as she manages to shove her rapier deep into a leg socket. The poor abused hulk starts to sputter and spark before collapsing heavily toward Thelergramor!
But even all of this does not stop the other golem from lashing out at the exposed Noosha!
With one golem down and a number of people still crowded over there, Cassidy decides to lay off on throwing sharp things, and instead draws her sidesword to leap into the fray, herself. She backs against the wall, brings one of her legs up, and kicks off with a bit of air magic to try to drive her sword through the core of the second golem.
Thelergramor blinks at the golem about to collapse onto him, he rolls again. Standing, The wolf pulls his knife into his left hand, tries to stab downward into the part of the golem where its weapons emerged from.
Noosha scowls as her attack seems to draw the attention of one of the spider-golem. It doesn't get any better as she tries to reload...but misjudges the speed of its approach and backs up too late, taking a nick on the left forearm she throws up to protect her face.
With another strange, uncanny cackle, she withdraws the small sabre from its loop and brings it upward with all her tiny might, aiming to sever one of its metal legs.
Selena tsks quietly, her usual repertoire of back-line spells and tactics not a particularly good fit for narrow corridors of metal where fire isn't an option and crowds make offensive air magic a problem.
Taking a brief moment to try something different - trying to generate a magnetic force around the base of the marauding machines. It does work to some degree - though the woman's expertise doesn't extend to creator metals and it quickly shows - exerting force on the less advanced metals of the area before the spell is cut short by an intrigued wolfess. "Well, creator steel isn't very magnetic. Shame." She mutters to nobody in particular, her initiative spent for the time being.
Jera is rewarded for his patience once the first drone goes down. His second shot puts quite a bit more of an air magic kick behind it as he draws his bow until it creeeeeeeeeeaks and then aims down to try to pin the drone straight to the ground.
Natska growls at the remaining spider as it draws far too close to her, but luckily for the jaguar it appears to be distracted. She coils as she pivots, then launches another set of piercing thrusts at the construct, hoping to drive her sharp steel blade through a weak spot in the carapace and into something vital inside.
The first of the two golems crashes to the ground, narrowly missing Thelergramor. The second golem is the unlucky recipient of a joint effort as Jera's air-powered bolt, Cassidy's sword and Natska's rapier skewer the construct, smashing it backward down the now clear hallway! Noosha's attack also hits its mark, though it is not strong enough to sever a limb from one of the steel constructs.
Even though the golems are down, the emergency klaxon continues to blare as the female machine spirit's voice drones over the wailing. Best get a move on!
The hallway is lined with several doors, mostly sealed closed, but the one at the end is the only door bearing a keypad. That must be the front of the ship!
Cassidy perks her ears and goes a little pale. "We need to hurry. Now. This thing is going to explode, I think!" She doesn't know how those keypads work, she doesn't know if the card is the key, and right now, she doesn't care! She needs to get that door open in all due haste! "Those of you who can, lend me your help with this magic! I'm going to try to force it open." She summons what magical force she's got to try to force that door open with her air magic.
Thelergramor sheathes his knife and sword, the alarms making him unsure of whether the air is going to be sucked from the room again. He goes to grab his trap, before adding -very- little magic to aid Cassidy.
Noosha never learned much in the way of Creator lore, but somehow she could make out a single word from the alarms blaring, and it wasn't a good one. At that, she hastily re-sheathes her sabre and takes to the opposite direction of everybody else, bolting down the corridors with a mirthless, whining sound halfway between a giggle and a scream. Look out exit, here she comes!
Selena raises an eyebrow - "Explode? Excuse me?" She asks somewhat incredulously. "... That's another thing I should add to my list of reasons to be annoyed with that priest." she grumbles. "Well, might as well join you for that, Cassidy." She replies, conjuring up her own air magic for the task with markedly less control than she would usually afford in favor of more raw power - as much as she can muster to help the fox with her task.
Natska's ears perk at the claxons and the voice's message. She frowns, then shakes her head... whatever it was couldn't be good. She easily slides her rapier back into its sheath, dropping into a ready stance as Cassidy and Selena wrench at the doors at the front of their ship with their magic; as soon as she's safe from being caught in the aerial turbulance she takes off, sprinting down the hallway at top speed.
The dual power of Cassidy and Selena's air magic screams down the hallway, flinging the shattered remains of the defeated spider golems against the far door, blasting a hole into the metal. That is one way to open a door.
As Noosha reappears, shrieking and wailing from the hatch, she finds that she is suddenly the center of attention for the entire clearing full of beings!
Jera is busy putting his glove back on and salvaging it from the mangled wreck of the golem! The alarm bells catch his attention and then he takes up the key card again...and then stops dead in his tracks, hearing the massive boom as the door is completely wrecked. He blinks, calmly wandering up to the door and swiping the card on the keypad where the slit goes.
After Jera swipes the card through the little panel, the ruined doors open up fully with a soft hiss and the alarms give way to silence as the red lights fade back to their neutral white. The machine spirit's voice says something that sounds pleasant and the corridor is silent once more.
With the door open and her part done, she should probably flee, herself. But she doesn't. Instead, Cassidy nods at Selena and smiles. "Thank you." She turns, then and starts to take off after Natska, stowing her sword back in her scabbard as she goes. When Jera swipes the card and the alarms stop, she just huffs and leans against the wall. "Well. That works, then." She rubs at her ears and glances over her shoulder. At least that gives her time to check out that thing she saw earlier! Figuring that, with the rush over, she can go back and look at the cabinet she saw, she does just that.
Thelergramor blinks as his magic created a small breeze around him. He shrugs and walks up the corridor with hands in his pockets. "Heh. Nice, Jera. At least we know for next time." He tries to pat him on the back as he passes the fox and steps into the front of the ship.
Just as Noosha reaches the hatch, the panicked alarm terminates...and given the lack of horrific explosions, it probably means they weren't about to explode, and she would look like a coward! Well, nothing for it--she swipes the bloody gash of her forearm across her forehead as if trying to shield her eyes, leaving a bloody, matted mess behind, as if she'd been wounded--best she could do on short notice.
"Oh--oh--it's awful!" she shrieks, working herself into hysterics. "Ssome sort of trap--and machine spirits--and they were saying they would destroy us--and--and--oh!"
The tiny pink Hyena wobbles, her face pulled into a mask of despair, hoping to add some crediblity to her excuse for abandoning the team.
On the other side of the doorway is a dimly lit room, apparently with the same half-power that is present in the rest of the ship. All sorts of buttons and dials and control panels flicker in fascinating ways around the room, but the goal of this expedition obviously lies at the center. A metallic looking ball floats serenely in what appears to be a pool of green-tinted light in a metal bowl. It even seems to be engraved with that symbol the machine priest showed everyone before they entered!
In the little alcove, Cassidy finds a little doll. It is nothing fancy, but it seems to be a little white rabbit in a fancy blue dress. Very fine work for such a simple thing though. Perhaps it was Creator made?
Selena raises an eyebrow as Jera opens the door, making her way down the corridor while 'dusting off' her sleeves. "Well, that certainly works too." She notes, making her way through the severely damaged door. The odd power source prompts the wolfess's curiousity, though she doesn't immediately touch it - rather, she readies the same calcified flesh spell she had previously used before, casting it on herself before nudging the ball tentatively with her pact-acquired baton - better not to inadvertently kill herself for lack of information from the 'priest'.
Natska skids to a stop as the doors open for her and the ship calms down. She takes a slow, deep breath, then lets it out as she looks around the cabin; absent the threat of her friends being imminently roasted to a crisp, she takes her time to peer at the various sights, switches, lights, and whatnot. She is still contemplating the power core when Selena walks up and pokes it, and she smiles, waiting to see what happens.
Outside a concerned looking beaver guardsman hurries up to the poor little hyena girl to prop her up. "I can't believe they'd send a lil' thing like you in there!" he says, "Y'all gonna be alright, sweetheart?" It looks like the softie would even pick Noosha up and carry her if she asked.
The ball seems benign enough. No sparks, no threats from the machine spirit, just gentle bobbing in the light.
Cassidy reaches out to brush her gloved fingers over the doll, a frown creeping across her face. Somehow, seeing such a thing brought a melancholy feeling over her. She sighs gently and removes her hat before scooping up the doll. She gives it a few gentle strokes before putting the rabbit in her hat, and then the hat back on her head. She could pull it out later. For now, she moves back towards the main chamber, and then off towards Natska and the others. She'll leave when they do!
Thelergramor whistles as he walks nonchalantly over to the ball. Taking it, and assuming it doesn't explode, or otherwise incapacitate the wolf, he nods to the others nearby as he makes his way outside.
As the wolf scoops up the orb, there is a sound throughout the ship, like a sort of mechanical sigh and the lights and control panels all dim, while the doors out in the hallway seem to give out a slight hissing sound, as if something has changed within them. Looks like that did the trick!
Noosha wraps an arm around the leg of the guard--taking the opportunity to switch soul gems once more with a deft motion and a loud sniffling snort to misdirect those nearby. "This one--one thought one could handle it, but--it was too much!" She hears a murmur and looks up with those big gold eyes--to see the Wolf ruin her story by coming out unscathed. Damn these people, they were making her job difficult!
"Thel!" she squeaks, letting go of the Beaver and dashing towards him. "You're alive! The others? Are they alright?" She clings to his leg tightly. "Oh, it's a miracle! You must tell this one how you survived!"
Selena keeps a close eye on Thelergramor as he removes the ship's power souce, sighing quietly. "Well, that was anticlimactic." she notes, watching Noosha's hysterics. "... Ye of little faith." She mutters as she makes her way out. "Well, Thel was it? I hope you're planning to hand that on to someone that knows what they're doing with it." she comments, rubbing her cheek. "Though I suppose there are some things to discuss with the church about these vessels as well. More misinformation isn't going to help anyone if there's more of these around the place."
Natska gives Selena a small nod, then turns to smile at Cassidy. "Well done, dear." She offers the fennec her arm, then makes her stately way down the hallway and out of the ship to make sure that the priests needed nothing else.
As the party reemerges into the light of day, the crowd of gathered beings pushes up close. Some to congratulate the group on accomplishing the job and many others intent on pushing past them to get their own work done within the vessel. Captain Greyloch harrumphs and approaches. "Very good," he says, waving a hand boredly, "Couldn't have done it without you, you've earned your salt, etcetera, etcetera." He waves the group off toward a nervous looking weasel sitting on a money chest. "Willerby will take care of your remuneration," the old goat says, returning his attention to the beings flooding the deactivated Creator vessel. It looks like Thel's little acquisition might get a ride in his pocket before a loud cough draws the group's attention to the Otter Priest. "The power source, please," he says roughly, holding out an inscribed box. The beaver guard watches little Noosha with concern.
Cassidy smiles gently and offers a tip of the hat to the others outside, and stops by to collect her payment before she sets off for the manor with Natska. "Nice working with all of you. Thanks again for the help, Selena! And farewell to the rest of you, and good night."
Thelergramor puts the orb into the box. Shrugs, heads over to be payed. Looking to Noosha, who is still wrapped around his leg and doing nothing to stop him from walking: "You're bleeding on me." The wolf aquires his payment from the one known as Willerby. He then leaves, heading to the freeswords inn, coughing again and rubbing his shoulder.
Noosha giggles manically as Thel--still in her grip--is approached by the grumpy Otter that started all this. All in all the trip was a bit of a disappointment--no good 'proceeds' from this one, not like the last time around.
But she got to sharpen her performance skills, and make her name as a handy rogue to have around, and that's always good, right? At Thel's laconic farewell, she releases him, flashing a toothy grin at the Beaver...though given the way it looks like an imperfect imitation of a normal grin, it's hard to tell wheher it's meant to comfort or further unsettle him...
Selena nods back to the wolf as he passes on the orb, looking back to the priest. "I am curious where you intend to put that to use, but that's neither here nor there. I'll send in a report of what I noticed while inside the ship to the church when I have time. I trust you'll find it useful, given the information you gave before this expedition." She notes simply, turning to Greyloch. "Keep the payment, or pass it on to the Ironsoul's coffers.. I'm sure there are things you could better spend the crown on. It was... Interesting enough being in the creator vessel, albeit for a short time." That said, she begins to move off, back to the city.
