They'd been instructed to take different paths, the three Corrupt Senshi, and so Lilith got to her feet, dusted herself off, and made her choice. She had some experience, and the other two looked disinterested in the western path, so she strode toward it, especially since it looked sturdy and safe.
She was glad, too, that the path seemed even, even fit here was some hostility between the General, Aquamarine, and an odd Captain who must have been one of those half-youma she only sort of knew about. But whatever tension there was there was only her problem if it had to be.
She winced and ducked away from some creatures that darted at her, but otherwise the trip was uneventful.
So when they came to the strange youma, she hesitated, staying back so as to avoid attracting its attention while Aquamarine spoke to it. Better not to cause any problems.
Sunshine Alouette
local streamer in combat boots. sorry aqua. she promises to do her best
Ilse looked briefly after Thorite when he chose the central path, but there was another Senshi with him, and they had been explicitly directed to split up, and honestly, sending three of them together did seem like it might be looking for trouble. That was a lot of Senshi in a small area, and it just seemed smarter to spread out.
So she moved towards General Jet, and the eastern path, and she huddled in on herself, especially glad for the shoes Thorite lent her. They were better than her own silly heels for traversing these mountains, and that meant that she could mostly keep up with the group.
But when hands reached out of the wall, she yelped, and jumped backwards--and went to war with herself. She wanted to run in and help, but her magic was useless and if she got too close, she might just attract its attention and make things worse...But attacking the youma was bad, too..
Ilse felt crushed under her own uselessness, in that moment. The half-youma the monsters were grabbing for had jerked away from the General's touch, and that was the only thing she could think to do.
She shivered, and watched with wide eyes, unsure of what to even begin doing.
Guine
mention + you get THIS senshi (sorry for delay! and also her general uselessness.)
Chalcanthite looked between the members of his small team for a moment before digging some rope out of his bag. “I am perfectly fine, there is no need to worry at the moment. I agree that holding onto each other can be more trouble than its worth but, we can tie down to a stable place to prevent any other falls. I think that should also be a bit more grounding for us yes?” After a moment, he found a good place to tie off his rope before wrapping the other end around his waist.
“It is a hell of a place, but there can always be worse so keep your sense keen and focus. Stay close if possible so we can get a good idea of what’s around ok?” He placed a reassuring hand on Thorite’s shoulder for a moment before turning back to his searching duty.
Fine by her, if General Aquamarine wanted to be the one to try and talk to some information out of the youma then let him have his moment. Laven, on her part, was not interested in engaging with something that could easily knock their asses off the cliff if they so much as gave it a questionable glance; something Aqua had proven to be quite good in the recent hours.
Instead she actually quite willingly continued to search for clues.
While one Lieutenant, Reidite kicked over rocks, Laven kept her eyes up; scanning the horizon and the area above the layer of mist for any odd movements while consciously keeping track of the bat hanging upside down nearby. If it decided to take flight and come at them then she would be ready to shift into her water form to hopefully mitigate potential damage.
Unfortunately, she had been looking in another direction near where Nobelite and the Corrupt Senshi, Lilith were searching when a youma came cruizing on through the small group and all she saw was the aftermath; or rather heard in this case. Even though she had no idea what Reidite was saying, his loud disgruntled outburst gave her enough reason to raise a brow and freeze in place.
s**t... she mentally hissed while praying to whatever forsaken god that would listen to a half-youma that the full youma didn't react negatively to his shouting.
Laven bought a finger up in a shushing motion while pointing towards the General. Could they afford to make it the rest of the way without Aqua if s**t hit the fan and the Bat decided that talking was for the weak and the outburst was an irritating enough reason to attack the nearest person? As much as she'd like to say yes, the correct answer was most definitely no.
The group still needed him alive and well if they were going to make it to the end of this path.
Either way, Laven was ready to engage in a fight if that was where this was heading.
Guine
Please let me know if anything needs to be edited or changed.
Sunshine Alouette
Please let me know if I misunderstood something and I'll edit my tag. I have like 4 tabs open for this thread @_@ I'm starting to get a bit lost.
Noir Songbird
Mention
Indigo_Plateau
Mention
Shanyume
Anxious Friend
Offline
Strickenized
Garbage Cat
Offline
Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2021 7:02 am
Eastern Path
Quote:
Group leader Jet recovered from the hands, but Janggungite hadn't — the half-youma Lieutenant was now gone from their group. Still, there was yet more path to tread.
For any who looked into the holes, they would find only lazy youma looking back at them, if they bothered to look back at all. They preferred to be still in those dark spaces, and had very little to do with the passing crew of officers and senshi. If Ilse peered in, however, they would grow marginally more excited. Enough to do something about her? Doubtful.
Further ahead, the path converged with the central path. Along the way, there was a clean split in their path where it sagged against the next segment. It was a short leap of some feet.
Quote:
If you choose to leap over the part of the path, roll 1d6. If the number is odd, quote Strickenized. If the number is even, nothing happens. Characters may also choose to climb the short distance; they do not need to roll in this instance.
Central Path
Quote:
Chalcanthite was smart to poke at the mucus. In most areas, the living mucus simply receded to the underside of the platform, like it had done beneath his boot earlier. But this time, shortly before the creature could scramble away from the prod, he caught sight of a brilliant orange feather that was becoming brown at the bottom. A curious find.
The path was precarious, but slowly began to widen out. Further ahead, in the distant mists, it rejoined with the eastern path, but there was otherwise nothing more of note.
Thorite, Haymitch and Lionel may be pleased to find that there were no more of those mucous things.
Western Path
Quote:
A thin membrane peeled over the bat creature's eyes when Aquamarine spoke to it. It watched with indifference as some other youma threw itself from a hole on high and responded to the order, too passionately, and flung itself from the precipice. It didn't understand the simpler youma in these parts.
Opening its wings a wedge, the creature revealed that its face was a skull, with only smatterings of flesh left on it, and a bat's unchanging rictus. Further down its body was more skin and hair, though pieces fell off in clumps whenever it moved. Radon was not unlike a life inhabiting a corpse.
It tilted its upside-down head at Aqua, then at Reidite, Lilith, and Lavendulan. They looked diligent. Purposeful. But there was a strain when the group of them was together. Now that was hopeful.
It was to Aqua that it ultimately responded. Its voice was a stuttering, pitched shriek. ".. / -.- -. --- .-- / - .... .- - / --- -. . .-.-.- / -... ..- - / .-- .... -.-- / ... .... --- ..- .-.. -.. / .. / .... . .-.. .--. / -.-- --- ..- ..—.."
While the youma was preoccupied, Lavendulan found a set of changeling's tracks. However faint in the pliant ground, they were there — a long trailing body graining a set of feet that stumbled beside it. The youma had definitely come this way.
shanyume
The answer was a knob, but a coin fits all of the hints perfectly too! Laven found a clue.
Quote:
That's 2 clues so far! You guys are doing great! heart Strick
ssbrosb
eveite
shanyume
lavendulan
a-disgruntled-dragon
leifite, haymitch
sunshine alouette
aqua, roselite
guine
jet, reidite
indigo_plateau
janggungite, nobleite, maikoh
noir songbird
ilse, lionel, lilith
genovianprince
thorite
sara draconia
chalcanthite
Guine rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2021 6:03 pm
General Jeteastern path Roll: Even - Nothing Happens
Several curses were spat when the half-youma Lieutenant (Janggungite) disappeared from view. Jet didn’t understand why he wouldn’t let him try to help. All they could hope for now was that the Lieutenant had enough knowledge and skill to be able to survive on his own until they could figure out where he was taken.
He didn’t need to remind everyone to be careful. It would just sound like nagging at that point. They all knew the risks, and they were all acting admirably so far. At the clean split in the path, Jet paused. He could see where the paths merged together, and soon they would be with General Chalcanthite again. Good. Just in case anything happened to him. Aquamarine would be pissed, but. This was the Rift.
Jet took a few steps back, and then made the leap over the break in the path.
“Easy does it. You don’t have to jump if you don’t want to,” he said to the others behind him. He didn’t want to lose anyone else.
“Arles, get out here,” Jet said, and it might have been sudden if he hadn’t been already communicating with his youma. Slinking in the shadows was a set of bright eyes and brighter teeth in an unreasonably large mouth split into a grin. The youma took the shape of a wolf, but patterned like the night sky and was bedazzled with stars. It shook out its mane as it stepped forward.
Trouble already? the youma asked, and while it did not speak out loud, those around Jet could hear the youma’s thoughts as if it were speaking next to them. Its voice was a low growl, but amused and almost sing-song in nature.
“I need you closer for now,” Jet said, and then gestured to the youma as he looked up at everyone else, including the joining path. “This is Arles. He’s my personal youma. I’m asking him to help keep an eye on things since it’s already hard enough to see.”
Quote:
Everyone from the Eastern and Central paths get introduced to stardog. He likes sniffing butts. Sorry.
The porcupine youma earned a frown. Then, after eyeing the sputtering Reidite, Aquamarine watched the porcupine throw itself over the edge.
“Thank you for your service,” Aquamarine called after it, only half serious.
To Reidite, the moody General said, “Maybe that’ll teach you to take your mission more seriously. One would think you’d be eager to reunite with the other teams.”
The bat youma (Radon) presented a problem. Aquamarine returned his steady gaze to it, but winced and flinched back at the shrieking.
“The <********>,” he said, momentarily covering his ears. After a ‘tsk’ of aggravation, Aquamarine lowered his hands and tried again, mustering up what little patience he possessed, “I’m afraid I don’t speak in whatever odd shrieks you've made your language. Is there no other way you can communicate? We’re looking for a certain youma. Feathered and scaled. Unless it’s gone and changed its shape.”
Plot twist: it was the porcupine.
No, that would be too ridiculous.
The bat, however, earned a frown and a mildly suspicious stare.
“Help us find it.”
This time, the command in his voice was more firm.
Guine
Spoke to Reidite
Shanyume
Proximity to Lav
Indigo_Plateau
Proximity to Nobelite
Noir Songbird
Proximity to Lilith
Strickenized
Rolling normal d10 command and crossing my fingies!
Lieutenant Roselite - on the eastern path leaping HP: 50/50
That poor Lieutenant.
Roselite hoped he wasn’t dead. He hoped so hard one might label it a prayer, only it’d been a long time since he’d bothered to pray to anything. (No one ever seemed to listen. Maybe this time would be different.)
Ignoring the tears in his eyes, Roselite continued the only way he knew how: by focusing on the mission. The youma they were looking for was here somewhere, up above or down below, or… hopefully not actually here. Roselite was afraid to face it no matter what, but their split groups might be a weakness if it were somewhere among the mist.
Don’t think about it, he told himself. You’re going to freak yourself out.
Fortunately, the grasping arms did not return, and nothing else jumped out at them from the holes, inside which passive youma seemed to dwell. And, to further improve their situation, their path met up with the central one just ahead.
Relieved by the thought of joining their numbers again, Roselite followed Jet and lept.
Reidite was busy trying to figure out just how deep the spines from that damned youma went into his arm, as he growled more curses but this time under his breath. For the moment, he decided to leave the barbs sticking out from where they were in his upper arm. He didn’t have the time nor the tools to extract them. And doing his own first aid would be difficult.
“What, you don’t speak bat?” he mocked the General still under his breath, already reminded how angry he was that he was essentially being blackmailed to follow orders. He would like to get back to the other teams, but only for one reason. The person he cared most for in all of the world was somewhere in the caves above them, and he could only hope that the distant rumbling he thought he felt was nothing to be concerned about.
Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2021 7:07 pm
Sometimes all it takes is just the right angle, and Roselite found that angle. When he jumped, a piece of the path broke off beneath him as he made it to the other side. The length of path that fell to the crags below was a sizable chunk, at least six feet in length, but no hindrance to cross for any of the Negaverse officers present.
If Roselite looked back at the now-severed path, if he checked the exposed portion nearest himself, or if anyone else checked there, they would find something else of interest.
That something else looked like ichor. Not yet entirely dried, either. And trapped in it looked like bits of fur, with a few residual barbules of feather, nearly indistinguishable from the fur.
With a gasp and a jolt of his heart, Roselite heard the ground crumble. He wheeled back around, nearly white in the face to see the chunk of path now missing.
What if he’d fallen through that? What if someone else had fallen through that because of him? What if—
What’s that?
Heart in his throat, Roselite approached the edge of the severed path and crouched down.
There, something like blood, not so old as to have dried out. Roselite plucked a piece of fur from it, then backed away to safety so he could examine it.
“Sir,” he called to Jet, voice near a whisper, too quiet to get anyone’s attention.
Roselite turned, drawing closer. He stopped when he noticed the wolf-like youma, glanced at it nervously, then looked at the piece of fur he carried, thoughtful.
“Um… Sir,” Roselite tried again, louder. “I… I’ve found something. I think… If you look closely, um...” He wasn’t sure of himself. Roselite stopped and swallowed, heart pounding. “It just… it looks odd, Sir. Would… Um…” Another pause, another nervous glance at the starlit wolf. “Would… Arles?... Can he track scents?”
Was that rude to assume? Was it rude to speak about Arles instead of to him?
Guine
Guine generated a random number between
1 and 2 ...
2!
Jet’s heart nearly stopped as well when the Lieutenant Roselite looked like he might be falling through the path, and then looked like he needed to crouch down to try and still his heart (or maybe that was how Jet felt). But he frowned curiously, even before he could hear Roselite calling to get his attention.
“What is it?” he asked, how eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully when he looked at the piece of fur that Roselite found. “Good job. And I don’t know. Can you track scents?” he asked, turning from the Lieutenant to Arles, who looked like he was in the middle of trying to scratch interstellar fleas from his ear.
I have an impeccable sense of smell, Arles answered in the thoughts of those near them, the voice sounding like a smirk might have been meant instead of bared teeth.
As Arles slinked along the shadows of the wall to where Roselite held the piece of fur, Jet pulled out his communication pen, and opened up the tablet.
Quote:
Found something that looks like fur that was recently torn out. Don’t know if it’s relevant. I’m having Alres track it just in case. Wanted to check in with your teams.
He sent the messages to Kamacite, Faustite, and Aquamarine. The fur looked strange, like it might have had a feather or two in it. If they were chasing something that could change its appearance, it might actually be something worth looking into.
Thorite had grabbed and squeezed Lionel's hand briefly, grateful for the reassurance. He felt like he really needed it right now. So much... just plain bad stuff was happening, and he was so afraid.
Then Chalcanthite rested his own reassuring hand on Thorite's shoulder and he felt much, much less alone in his distress about all this. He took a deep breath and relaxed minutely. He was going to be okay. And so was, he hoped, everyone else.
"Trust me, I'm not straying too far," he joked as they looked around, "The last thing that should be done is us splitting up further. I watched too much Scooby-Doo as a kid, man."
His pet wisp cuddled up to him under his chin in its own cutesy, reassuring way, and he cooed at it, giving it a little love and attention while he kept an eye out for...things, he supposed.
The poor half-youma Lieutenant--he was gone, dragged away by the grasping, monstrous hands of this awful place. Ilse put her hands over her mouth to muffle a cry of horror, and she trembled, briefly.
But there was no space for hesitation. Not if she didn't want to be next. So she strenously avoided the holes, and jogged forward, until she reached the jump point--and she leapt across, flailing a little on the landing but ending up fine.
She blinked at Jet's youma, with some curiosity, but didn't approach; she didn't want to upset one that was very definitely on their side.
But the central path was converging and there was the nice Lieutenant who had given her better shoes, and she moved over towards him and gave him a jaunty little wave, shoving down her fear.
"Everything go alright for you all?" She asked Thorite with fake cheer.
At least the rest of their walk was relatively safe. Lionel kept a gentle, steady hand on Thorite as they walked, since apparently he was Designated Babysitter now, which....wasn't the worst thing, he guessed.
God, Thorite looked like a kid. He probably was a kid.
Lionel's first concern, though, was holding onto Haymitch;Chalcanthite looked well and secured, which was good, because having one of their generals take another header seemed like a s**t idea, but Haymitch was small, and riding Lionel's shoulder for safety, which made Lionel feel thoroughly responsible for him.
When they made it to the end of the path, he let out a breath.
"You alright?" He asked Haymitch, once they wer eon steady ground and meeting up with the eastern path team.
