Session Start: Sat Sep 15 21:45:27 2007 Session Ident: #lunar-iog2 * TheStoryteller changes topic to '-= Chapter 52: Viejo Mundo | Location: Atlantic Ocean | Pool: 2 MXP =- http://storen.rpgcafe.net/IoG/ =-' * TheStoryteller sets mode: +m == SESSION START == Fresh from the landing site, the first waves of explorers scout the surrounding plains. The remains of several ruined cities of the old world from long ago dot the landscape, which is now overgrown with a light savannah brush extending all the way to a mountain range to the north to leads deeper into the continent. The largest of these cities is still well preserved, as the group decides to investigate... The Destiny and Mikel's Stormrider make excellent time through the grases, as animals scurry away from the rumbling noises. There's no roads to follow here, just a general direction towards the remains of tall buildings and disused residential complexes. * Angie tilts her head out the window, watching the scenery roll by with mute fascination. * Vytor has got Tanan's new box in his hands, and he continues to work dilligently at making the requested modifications. * Mikel keeps his vehicle going at a steady pace, ahead of the Destiny but not too far ahead just in case trouble of some sort looms. He lets the lack of talk continue for only some time until finally flicking the radio on. "Once you get past the series of ruins and all that this place looks like a rather nice area to set up shop, doesn't it?" * Saki is hitching a ride on the Stormrider, purportedly for when "Mikel inevitably crashes, and needs someone worth a damn to defend him". She's perched on the back, having made quite sure she's secure, and has her eyes front and forward, frowning at the ruins as if looking for something familiar. * Ryllan keeps the Destiny on course, having long since learned that it's simply quicker to let Angie investigate than to dissuade her. He sends a click of acknowledgement over his radio, but makes no other response. >> You'll thank Angie when we're all rich from treasures. * Saki frowns a little more, possibly at some building that's gotten very petulant at her, and pokes at the radio held carefully in one hand as it grips a support bar. With a hiss and a crackle, "--t feeling anything from the--" comes through from the 'push to talk' amateur. What did she day? * Ryllan sighs, raising his radio again, "Saki, didn't recieve that, try again." * Mikel looks back at Saki, snickering before saying something that doesn't carry over the radio. Then his eyes are back to facing their destination. * Those on the Destiny can probably see her give the radio a sulky stab. "... I'm not feeling anything from them. Radar's not picking anything up. ... can't say it's not worth a look." * TheStoryteller changes topic to '-= Chapter 52: Viejo Mundo | Location: Europe, West | Pool: 2 MXP =- http://storen.rpgcafe.net/IoG/ =-' The outlying areas of this large city look like at one time they were posh suburban villas for the rich folks of the day, but the walls and lawns of the places are all but overcome by nature and the erosion of thousands of years of ice and wind. Might be worth a look. * Mikel flicks his own radio again. "Old world ruins are always worth a look. Maybe we'll find some way to sink that boat while sipping a cold drink." * Trune is quiet, looking out towards the city in deep thought. Occasionally there is a soft mew from one of his large pockets in his overcoat. Hey Tanan? Can you test some of these levers for me? * Saki frowns at mid-air again, pausing to ride out a nasty bump before poking hers again. "... Then where to after this?" * Mikel offers his own reply over the radio. "I still say the tower. It's closer and less chance of, you know, ending up having to melt another cannon dealing with Emiria and Leah." * Angie pulls her head back into the vehicle so that she can hear what people are saying. She continues to keep her eyes on the scenery, however. * Ryllan hits his own radio, "Because it's not likely at all that they'll hit us on our way there." Some of the larger more sturdily built houses look to be turned into the dens of roving animals, most notably a species of large cats. Packs of some type of gazelle also roam free, grazing. «ooc: nuke the cat! *psst!* » The city center draws closer, as the grasslands begin to show some signs of transition to broken asphalt and cobblestones. «ooc: Aw, no cat? Woe./ » << there is cat! Wah >> * Mikel pushes the button again. "They'd have disembark and start chasing us. We'd at least have a headstart. I mean, if they could teleport why didn't they hop onto the Polaris and just kill us?" * Angie sighs. "I'm eager to finish up this elementalor thing, but I admit that I am totally not relishing the chance to fight yet another crazy magic person." «ooc: OKAY THERE IS A CAT I DON'T CARE IF IT MAKES NO SENSE. :) We continue » Frankly, Ang', I get the feeling we'll find up fighting crazy magic people wherever we go. Whether they happen to be the personification of magic or not. * Saki nods slowly, but it's lost given her distance from the Destiny. At length, she clicks the radio back on. "... Yuriko told me there's something far east that may help me. I think it's Saturn, but..." A burst of static's probably one of her huffs. "... the tower's on the way. And rather more important." I dunno. This tower is abandoned, so it'll probably be like ghosts or robots or something. You know, a few months ago I hadn't fought a ghost OR a robot. Well...you guys probably know which way I'm leaning. * Tanan finally speaks up. "There are probably guardians of some sort, if it's really a relic of before the war. Still, I can't imagine Lucia would direct us there for nothing after finally coming clean. If she says there's useful things there, I imagine there are." Shiro leans his head out the window of the Land Cruiser, looking happy to be on land again. Oh, I'm sure there are useful things there. I'm also sure there's plenty of guardians there. I'd rather have the full force of the Elementalors behind us before going there. * Angie leans back and folds her arms. "I don't trust Lucia," she says, scowling sulkily. * Vytor raises an eyebrow at Angie, "You don't?" I'm with Angie on this one. I trust her not to lie directly to us. Any farther than that... * Saki smirks over the radio, and it's almost audible. "... nor me. But if we're going past it, might as well smash the thing to pieces." * Mikel flicks a button. "Is one Elementalor really gonna make that much of a difference? Nevermind the whole Fragrach issue. Next time we run into her we're in trouble unless we get a new trick." It's absurd to go the whole way to where Saturn is first, though. We'll have to pass the tower and carry on three times as far and then come back. Besides, * Tanan sounds a little off. "...the elementalors were around once when this all went down, and they didn't do anything then." Maybe they couldn't at the time. I'd like to find Saturn, really. To think that there wouldn't be guardians in Lucia's shiny tower is rather foolish. There's gonna be. I want ammo, personally. If they're powerful enough that they would have toasted us when she pointed us towards here, what was the point of mentioning it in the first place? Tch. There'll be guardians where Saturn is as well, not to mention Saturn herself. I would assume she isn't sending us off to die and everything. Yes, Tanan, but like everyone is saying. The Tower is the obvious place to go. It's shinier. Closer, Lucia told us to go there. * Saki scratches at her head with the antenna of the radio, thankfully with the comms off, then speaks into it again. "... Johnathan's still chasing her. If this tower's got something to do with it, are you sure that's wise taking such a long way around?" You don't think everyone else will expect us to be there too? Until they get their system up there fixed, we're not going to be able to call them down en masse anyway, and it's not like they're any more powerful than one of us. Good to wake her and reunite her with her siblings, but I hardly want to go days out of the way to complete a weapon system that didn't do any good the first time around. I don't expect it to just be the Tower's guardians. So let me get this straight -- you think this could be a potential trap or something, Ryllan? * Mikel taps the radio. "...then /who/? Leah and Emiria attacking us at sea makes no sense if they knew." Pandora's still running for the damn hills from Headmaster Hylan. * Tanan now sounds almost pleased. "You think Leah and Emiria might go there? Oh, by all means, then, let's face them without that thrice damned destroyer of theirs." We can't be sure of that. There's no knowing when or where we'll meet her again. The villas are left behind as the group picks out remains of few ancient marketplaces and business centers. A pair of tall glassy skyscrapers remain standing, however portions of them are missing, as one has fallen over onto the street nearby. How many servants did Zophar have once? How many might have been reborn? "That's what I'd like to know!" interjects Angie, stabbing the air with a finger. "I asked Lucia but she wouldn't give me a straight answer." If he needs to gather his forces before returning it'd be nice to know just how many people we're talking about here. Our intelligence is - sadly - lacking. But we can't assume that he only has those servants who've tried to fuck us directly or we'll get surprised again and again. And they're gonna be clueless about Saturn? If he knows what Leah and Emiria know they know there's another Elementalor out there too. To the north is the dome of a governmental palace of some type, at the head of a long thoroughfare, likely a beautiful tree-lined avenue back then. A sign on a nearby corner says "Welcome to Madrid" Has Zophar actually really shown that much of an interest in the elementlors so far compared to like...everything else? * Ryllan breaks in the conversation suddenly, "Want to work through the tall building, if it seems safe?" It probably depends on what counts as a servant. How many people cheerfully obeyed Bree without thinking about what she was doing? The number who directly helped him try to destroy everything? Probably not that many. * Saki blinks at it, and clicks on the radio to interrupt whoever's talking. "... looks like a good spot." She lightly kicks the back of the buggy as a signal to Mikel. * Mikel brings the Stormrider towards the huge building, nodding. "Looks important. Let's check it out. And if they're setting a trap for us, Trune, I'd expect one there too." * Vytor watches the city approach with interest Farther east is the remains of a glorious set of theaters, built in a style that seems to be ancient, even for the world before. Baroque statues in various states of repair catch your eye. Besides, from what Webbly and the elementalors have said, that war was fought with machines. The elementalors were an experimental superweapon... and we're a match for them. No, I can't imagine he had many supporters who would be of much account to us now." * Ryllan takes a wider turn, but follows Mikel's course towards the skyscrapers. I don't think we're using the elementalors correctly. To really take advantage of their power they'd need to operate while tapped into properly aligned elemental wells. Curious, some of the building have a definite look of the old age, but some of these others look downright anachronistic. * Mikel shrugs. "That'd involve either setting up the appropiate elemental area or luring the enemy to where we found them then, wouldn't it?" * Angie peers at the distant edifices. "Something like that," she says, voice far-off. "Or get them to project from there. I guess that's what they were trying to do when the world ended." Mikel - you can split yourself into a pair of elemental beings. I think we can set up a decent pot of elemental energy if we try. * Trune huhs and looks at Angie, wondering, "You think a person could set up an appropriate elemental area or infuse them with power or something?" * Ryllan pulls up to the skyscraper and triple-parks. What the hell, the lines are quite faded, and it's not like there's anyone else around to bitch about it. * Tanan sounds amused now, and a little flippant. "Ha. A person, power a weapon like them? I can't imagine something like that." Well, why not? * Mikel raises an eyebrow. "With a /lot/ of work I might be able to set up for Neptune and Jupiter. I'd also probably kill myself in the process of replicating that." He brings the Stormrider to a stop, switching it off. * Saki falls silent, draping against the roof of the buggy and dully watching the city come closer. As they near the skyscraper she all but lets herself fall off the buggy in a sudden rush of movement, a few running steps bringing her down to speed. They are full of elemental energy? Wouldn't augmenting that in some way make them stronger? * Tanan sighs theatrically, earning a dirty look from Niri. "...you're not very bright sometimes huh." «ooc: er, take away that first ? » I'd assume so. Of course it can be done. Man, you don't have to be a jerk about it. * Ryllan hops out of the destiny, "Come on you two, make yourselves useful while you have it out." Ryllan can certainly triple park.. there's even a few wrecks of compact cars that once operated these streets. A bus too, lies wrecked as it crashed into another not far away. Down the way is an entrance to a underground subway as well. ...yeah, but when I describe my exact situation and then said "nope can't happen" you're really not supposed to believe me. * Trune grumbles and shuts up. Take is easy Trune, I think Tanan is pulling your leg. The skyscraper must have had a grand lobby at one point. One one piece of broken glass lies the words 'Banco Popular" I never really know with him, to be honest. << er upon >> * Mikel hops out, grabbing his staff and sliding the radio into his jacket. "Now now. Let's scope out some important buildings and then kill each other." * Saki frowns up at the edifice, talking almost to open air. "... no-one has answered my question. Are you prepared, if we go to Saturn, to leave John chasing the Prophetess however many days longer it takes to get there and back?" ...I'm all for whichever leads to a dead Prophetess faster, really. ...First you have to explain how the other option influences that situation at all. * Saki blinks across, as if it were self-evident. "... it's a tower," she adds to the look, then continues on. "A tower related to all of this. How can it not?" John and the Prophetess can be wherever we are in an instant. Plus, like, they're time mages, so for all we know the next time we meet them will be before the last time. ... ...you're going to give me a headache pondering time magic, Angie. Yeah I don't really even try. * Mikel peers at one building and then the other. "Speaking of which, any progress with that book?" * Saki shrugs lopsidedly. "It's not my decision where we go," she adds utterly offhandedly, "... but it's worth bearing in mind they're still out there fighting." She turns towards the large governmental building, and starts off to head inside. * Mikel starts after Saki, stretching his arms out over his head and beginning to hum a tune. Saki, what the fuck is the matter with you? * Angie bends over, flips open her travel bag, and digs out the book. "A little!" She fans through the pages with her thumb. "It looks like it's keyed to star magic. If we can find an area infused with star magic -- really infused, like you'd feel it -- it'll match the polarization on the book and we can read it." She frowns, then looks over at Niri. "Tanan, do you think you can do that? I'm not sure how good you are but nobody else h * Trune blinks and looks at Saki strangely, "Uh..." * Mikel is suddenly a couple of steps over to the side. This may be to clear the path between Saki and Ryllan. He looks towards Angie, hrming. "Star magic? Why is it always Star magic?" I'm not sure how good you are but nobody else has any star." * Saki doesn't actually stop, but throws a confused look over her shoulder as she resolutely heaves on a thick and heavy door. "Hm?" That has got to be the most insane rationale for anything I have ever heard! "It's a tower so obviously it means we can help Hylan if we go there!" * Vytor watches Saki's efforts, waiting to see if she needs a hand. * Tanan sounds dubious. "I could try. I don't know about filling an area. I usually just... you know. Blast stuff with it." Really, no matter which direction we go in, we're going to help the headmaster. I don't see the difference. * Saki ponders it, and heaves on the door again with a noise of effort. "How comparable is that to taking two weeks extra travelling time to somewhere beyond where we're going? ... tch!" she looks across to Vytor. Just the tower... is well, on the way. Basically, yeah * Vytor sheathes his hammer, and moves over to help Saki. Worst case, if we're in over our heads we can bail and come back with Saturn. * Angie hefts her instrument box and steps out of the cab, pulling out her glass ball to take a reading on the ambient elemental energies. "Blasting it might actually work," she says, "But it'd do the actual blasting too which would be not so good." The seocnd building is in much worse shape and might not be structurally sound to explore, considering how chunks of it are strewn about the pavement in a massive wreckage of metal and concrete. I could maybe blast stuff near it? OK Saki, on three. Ready? Angie finds the levels of energy here to be very level and normal. There's a slight leaning towards Earth. I don't suppose you could try like... making a ball and just holding it in place? * Saki nods, grabbing onto her side of the door with one hand and bracing herself. Then hold the book near it? * Ryllan sighs, turning away from Saki, "If you can blast something random, Tanan, I could maybe grab onto some of the energy and... uh, spread it around a little? THe metaphor doesn't really make sesne." * Mikel shrugs helplessly. * Vytor readies himself, "One. Two. Three!" * Vytor heaves! I.. could try that. I guess there's not really a whole lot of difference between that and a ball of light, and that's easy enough * Saki pulls on the door with an angry grunt of effort - with only one hand. As she does so the other fist arcs to smash against where she hopes the ancient lock is. >> The glass ball doesn't move much. Angie raises her arm until it's hanging at eye level and squints at it. Finally she rolls up the cord and puts the line away. "No strong elemental energies here -- or at least if there are they're cloaked. It was probably just like a normal city and not a military center or something." Saki and Vytor manage to force their way past the barricade that blocks the bank lobby from access, sending dust and gravel sputtering as the pile of junk is disturbed and a path cleared. Whew! Nice work Saki. << Governmental complex, Stor! >> Inside is a deserted desk and a line of stalls that once conducted monetary business. There are stairs leading up to the offices above, as well as downstairs to a secure area. << change that to the government lobby. fundamentally same result though!) >> * Vytor draws his hammer, and takes a quick look inside the building, making a quick look at the support structures before heading deeper inside. Huh. Looks stuffy. A knocked over line of rope that once demarcated waiting lines and a security checkpoint are relatively undisturbed * Angie sets down her box of gear and pulls out her gun, loading a handful of shells. She bends over to take her case up again and advances cautiously into the building. "Hello?" she calls out. Saki, I don't... believe... that going to the tower will directly connect to the fight between Johnathan and the prophetess. I think it's much more relevant to the battle with Zophar. The structure looks fairly solid, but let's not test that theory. * Mikel follows Vytor into the building, staff resting on his shoulder. "Don't think we're gonna start blasting it. As for stuffy... well, thousand years would do that, Trune." I would assume that a lot of the support structures here are not what they once were. * Mikel begins poking at this and that in the typical Mikel fashion. This building is quite intact. Stairs leading up can still be used. there is no power however, and the elevator bank is rather useless. Well, yeah I know, but you know me, stating the obvious and all. * Vytor walks inside slowly, listening and watching for potential trouble spots. * Angie gives a peeling stone wall a kick. "I figure if it's stayed standing for a few thousand years it'll last another day." * Mikel makes for the stairs if nothing else immediately catches his attention. "Try not to break it with those mighty kicks." * Saki almost casually boots a heaving lump of rubble out of the way, and shrugs expansively again, shaking her head without words in Tanan's direction. Here and there you notice little craters in the tiled floors, like something put great weight on them while it was walking... Interesting. That's weird. What's up with the craters? On the other hand, if there's something there that I can take in, that could help. As much as I.. hate.. to admit it, I'm probably not a match for more than one elementalor right now. Footprints? * Angie walks over to the crater and kneels by it, running her fingertips along the split tiles. "Could be," she says. It looks like whoever designed this place did so around the idea of trying to set up the structures so that if they collapsed, they would press inwards to try and limit the collpase of the structure. But its pretty clear that this building was meant to handle earthquakes of some magnitude. The little broken tiles lead towards the stairs downward. A broken, lighted sign once said this was to the "records vault". ...hmm, records. Upwards is the "congressional chambers". * Saki puts her foot up against one of the potholes, trying to match their size. * Mikel looks at each staircase in turn... then starts towards the records vault one. Mikel finds nothing too much of interest other than a lot of shredded documents * Angie stands up and points down the stairs with her gun. "Let's go that way! It looks more dangerous." Screw the dangerous bit. Records means information. I would imagine anything they kept on paper would be useless by now. Only one way to find out! If only we had more working computers. I bet they have lots of digital records. * Mikel goes down, undeterred in the slightest. * Saki snorts with laughter and nods. "... don't push Mikel down the stairs in your haste and excitement," she adds, pacing after them. * Vytor picks up a piece of concrete with a few bits of rebar sticking out of it, looking it over. For a supposed age of great technological wonders, this material isn't much different than stuff that's used at the labs. * Angie follows Mikel and Saki. She dips her hand into a trashcan full of yellowed strips of shredded paper and pulls out a big handful of them. "Well, it's survived a long time. That's pretty impressive." Maybe we've already caught up in some respects. * Angie teases out a single strip of paper and holds it up line a fortune cookie fortune, reading the useless scraps of text. * Saki peers down at the bundles, poking them and watching a corner rot. "... mm. Anything look useful?" That could be true. Or maybe the ancients were highly advanced in areas that didn't see common use. The yellowed scraps are almost disintegrating to pulp at this point. What is readable makes it look like a form of some type. AH ancient buracracy.. From what we saw in that northern valley, and Emiria's destroyer, and the launching mechanism near Mercury, it seems possible. They weren't as powerful as people are now, individually. But they had... very interesting creations. * Angie pulls off a piece of the paper and chews on it, eyes wandering in thought. Stepping down the darkened stairs, you are greeted by a set of iron bars and another checkpoint. You path ends here... or it would've, had the bars not been bent and mangled. Something large forced its way inside. * Mikel raises an eyebrow. "I get the feeling something's been here." * Mikel then slides through the bends in the bars without a second thought, staff raised the moment he's clear. * Saki blinks twice at the barrier, then absent-mindedly starts working off the remains of those bars most in the way, opting not to squeeze through it so much as deform it more. "The city probably got sacked by robots during the war," says Angie. She steps through the mangled bars, looking at them with surprise. "Robo-sacked," she adds. * Ryllan groans good-naturedly. * Mikel siiighs. * Trune smacks a palm against his forehead, "Agh, Angie!" * Vytor walks over to what looks like a collapsed ring of crumbled junk, and extracts a piece of metal from it. He swipes some of the dust and dirt from it, and reads aloud, "Hmm...Information. That would have been useful if its wasn't a time-wrecked heap." All the good stuff probably got taken when they broke in. ...whoever "they" are. I guess we can't be sure that this city wasn't on Zophar's side. * Vytor sets the metal back down, and follows after the spelunkers. As soon as ANgie mentions robots, you begin to see the scraps of some type of machines. Long ago security measures were destroyed at this point. * Saki takes a step back as, with a squealing noise, one of the bars is twisted off in her hands. She blinks at Angie for a moment, apparently mildly lost, then continues along on the path. "... it's eerie," she concludes. Beyond the battlefields of junk and destroyed automata is a gigantic circular vault, and a sealed room of computer terminals. There's a gigantic hole burnt in it. Someone obviously wanted in. * Mikel prods a piece or two of machinery before he continues along... then gives the vault a stare. "No kidding." Strangely, there's also the smell of animals, and some footprints of dirt and grass tracked onto the floor. Who can say they were on Zophar's side or not? For all we know it could have gotten caught up in a crossfire. War's gray, afterall. That would explain the colorless pictures we found in some of those old books... * Mikel frowns, crouching to pick up a blade of grass. "...Tanan, stop it. Also the hell is grass doing in here?" Yeah seriously, can you not mock everything I say? Nature moves in on its own if not stopped. * Angie sighs. "I wonder if we'll have a war," she says. Her voice has that far-off tone she reserves for speaking to herself. "Between people, I mean. Not with Zophar or anything." * Saki barks a staccato laugh. "... or nature moves when it's patron pays a visit." Oh come on, that was funny. * Mikel drops the bit and then goes to poke his thread through the hole in the vault. "Well yeah, but we had to break in here. So there's another way in or something pretty small tracked that in." << ...thread? head >> << wow typing >> My sense of humor was clearly designed superiorily. Does that mean Headmaster Hylan's a sarcastic jackass? Oh man, the ego meter just went off the scale, folks! * Vytor chuckles * Saki frowns, poking at the grass. "... sense of vocabulary, too. ... think Saturn has been here?" she asks Angie to one side. Mikel pokes his head in through the vault's hole, which is actually quite large enough to squeeze through. Inside he finds a ransacked room of many drawers, half of them laying on the floor in a mess. To the east is a shattered doorway leading to a room of terminals to access archives. He also notices something else too... Careful Mikel. "That'd be convenient," says Angie, but her tone makes it clear that she considers it a long shot. She cups her free hand to her mouth and shouts, "HEY, SATURN!" The mass of junk, paper, valuables and drawers appears to have been sued like a den, as a group of 5 brown large feral cats immediately stare at him with shock << used >> ...oh, joy. "Rawrrr!" they growl and hiss at the intruder to their home! Godammit. Oh shit! What the deuce? << Goddessdammit even, I guess >> * Saki dutifully keeps an ear out, which is why she catches the oversized caterwauling and gets up to her feet. * Mikel immediately starts to back up. "There appear to be big cats making their home here." * Angie gets in the car. How big, MIkel? Mikel finds it hard to be nonchalant as he's pounced on and forced backwards out into the foyer ... Real-AUGH! Oh, that big. * Vytor jumps forward to block teh cat's progress! Mikel! Mikel! Get back! * Saki winds up as Mikel slides back; a foot whips out in a sweeping roundhouse to try to boot the cat off him. The party is suddenly faced with the five animals, their skins brown and mottled andclaws sharp. the one that latched onto Mikel yelps and mewls as Saki removes it forcefully. Those're big. Remember! Cats don't like fire. Or... so I've heard. I mean. Stories. You know. * Ryllan steps forward to get between the cats and the more squishy members of the group, as he hits his radio, "Angie! Get in here!" * Mikel scrambles back, checking for any wounds. "Dammit, and here I don't even have any fish." * Saki sweeps around to a halt, returning the growls with a feral grin of her own. "At least we won't be bored." Well, this will be a first for me. o_O * Angie follows the sounds of trouble, gun in hand. "Maybe we should try backing off!" They don't look too happy, and aren't about to let you raid the place they call home without making you pay in blood. The leader growls and leaps into action, follwoed by his pack! * Trune draws his athames, and then quickly looks down at his overcoat as it begins to...mew? "Oh damn, you'd better not kill it!" >> COMBAT! I think they want some dinner. Vytor! I could really use those signs about now. I'll have to get back to you Tanan! >> Enemy Front: Mountain Cat A-C >> Enemy Rear: Mountain Cat D-E >> Round 1 >> Declaration Phase. >> Cat E gives a mighty growl to encourage his family! * Saki tosses a look back at Angie. "... start moving back, if we should. I'll distract them." * Angie backs off, slides her gun back into its holster, and prepares a spell. >> Cat D begins to summon up earth powers directed at Mikel. >> A & B pounce at saki! It might be too late. Maybe we can scare them away. >> C charges at Vytor! ...Wonder what these things eat here. * Mikel lifts his staff, starting at the cat aiming for him. "Okay, kitty, let's play then. I need to test this out anyways." * Mikel smirks as a bit of water starts to take shape around the silver rod. Lots of vermin can live in the trash of a civilization. A test, Mikel? Sounds interesting. Let me help. * Vytor prepares to intercept cat C. * Trune quickly traces a pattern in the air with his athames. There is a soft yellow color left behind as he does so, "Stop egging them on, Mikel! Geez!" * Tanan glows a faint red as a pool of water slowly begins to form around Niri's feet. Like they understand what I'm saying? >> Battle Phase. >> Mikel get sa Jolt! React up! Well...no...but...nrgh! >> Saki's action. * Saki slides forward in some vague lunge then switches leading feet to launch further into the melee, intercepting but not attacking the two cats coming her way. Her movements are fast and unpredictable as she all but dances around them... not egging them on at all. Really. >> Saki shifts into Stormy Winds stance. AGi, Dex up... Mus, Sta down! She << she's now redirecting missed strikes >> >> Mikel's action. * Mikel swings his staff towards the cat that's decided to take a potshot at him, grinning as the water around him disappears... and then suddenly from below the creature water rushes up to engulf it and zips past everyone else to go right past Mikel. "Bathtime!" He sticks a free hand into the stream, hrming. "What've we got..." >> Mikel uses Thieving Tides, as Ryllan boosts his output! 503 damage! The waters sneakily steal a Quake Stone from the creature. (1E: Earth attack (moderate). [S 800]) * Mikel yanks out the stone, examining it for a moment before pocketing. "Not a bad catch." >> Cat D gets angry, as it hates a bath. :( >> It lets out a eerie hiss as a chunk of the floor erupts around Mikel and encases him in a layer of concrete and tile. 125 damage. STONE for 2 rounds! * Mikel goes very still. >> Cat E roars, as the front row's Stamina is up by 33%! What the heck kind of cats are these?! Scary cats? >> Cat A and B twin team the martial artist, scratching wildly Mutated, just like everything. You should be careful with your little friend there, Trune. >> One hits for 141! But the other is dodged, sending it reeling into its brother for 77 damage! Willforce as a hunting aid. * Trune frowns as a worried look flits over his face, "Yeah, I know." * Saki takes a long scrape down one arm as the first catches her, but as she drops and spins away in a long roll the second is left only to plough into it's mate. Some distance away, Saki whirls back up to her feet. >> Vytor blocks the worst of the second cat's bite, but not before he is injured for 117. * Vytor swats the cat away! >> Vytor's action. * Vytor charges at cat C and slides low beneath its fangs and claws. With a powerful heave, he right himself and slams his shoulder into cat C's chest, pushing it up on its hind legs. Without missing a beat, Vytor slams his hammer into the cat's body, sending it sprawling backwards! >> Vytor's hammer buts up against the thickened hide, but he pays the cat back in double.. 110, 122! >> Niri's action. Take the hint kitty! >> Tanan's action. << both at once or whatever ^^ >> * Tanan sends the water forward, washing over the enemies with an amused "Bathtime, was it?", as a fire bursts from the ground under the paws of the first few cats. Right behind this, Niri sends a gust of air towards the cat that stoned Mikel! >> Tanan executes Steam Rush! Twin streams of fire and water buffet the mean kittens! A:299, B: 340, C: 301, D: 327, E: 290! >> Mountain C is KO'd! Nice. << er D I meant >> >> Niri casts Whirlwind on Cat A! It's weak to AIr attack.. 490 damage! It goes down mewling in pain before lying still. >> Angie's action. * Angie interleaves her fingers and cups her hands in front of her face, closes her eyes, and blows softly into the cavity formed by her folded hands. The rushing of her breath seems unusually loud, clear even amidst the melee. Angie finishes exhaling, but the sound continues, becoming louder and louder until it roars like a hurricane in the mouth of a sea-cave. Blue and green lights shine from between Angie's fingers. * Angie thrusts her hands forward and spreads them apart, releasing a ball of sky-blue light. It explodes in to a rushing torrent of air interweaved with long, twisting streamers of energy. >> Angie unleashes a Tempest in a Teapot upon Cts B and C, nailing them for 297 and 320 respectively. Mountain Cat C is blown into a wall and ceasese to struggle. >> Trune's action. Highway of the storms, fist between the clouds! Begin your howling dance of destruction! Vortex Wing! * Trune circles his arms wide and outward, then spins them back around and forward with plams facing out. As he does, he creates a whirling vortex of air that explodes forward and slams into his target with concussive force! >> Trune delivers a coup de grace via his Vortex wing to the last front row feline, delivering 394 damage! >> It's KO'd! >> Mikel has 1 round of Stone left. AT least he gets 13 Mp back... >> Round 2 >> Declaration Phase. >> Mountain Cat E becomes the front row. * Vytor gets ready to attack again. >> Cat E prepares to desperately lunge at Saki! * Ryllan focuses to regain his strength - this battle is over. * Saki is still a blaze of movement, but her path takes her directly at the cat coming her way. * Tanan goes quiet as Niri readies her sword, but not before murmuring "I doubt you'll get a chance" >> Battle Phase. >> Saki's action. << er >> << focus fun first >> >> Tanan focuses, regening 73/26 for Niri! Ryllan does likewise for 61/22. Angie restores 57/18 and Trune 45/25 >> Now Saki beatdown. * Saki races at the cat coming her way: as it leaps into a raking lunge she drops and skids underneath it. One foot drives into it's belly, then she kicks up to launch the thing flying. >> Saki lands a solid strike as the creature is smashed painfully into the ceiling, reeling... 178, 165! >> The Mountain Cat leaps with bloodlust and latches onto Saki with its teeth and bites down hard, refusing to let go. 301 damage! >> Vytor's action. * Saki snarls at the thing, growling at it at point-blank range. Cursing, she whirls it towards Vytor's direction. * Vytor leaps at the cat and punts it away from Saki, then whipping around to slam the cat back through the hole from which it came! Session Time: Sun Sep 16 00:00:00 2007 >> Vytor barely manages to get a piece of the cat as it's driven back for 123 damage. It's on its last legs... >> Niri decides to finish the job, delivering a hit for 99 and putting it to sleep for good! >> VICTORY! * Vytor puts his hammer away. Shiro runs in and bites one of the cats a little late, trying to look intimidating >:E So I was wrong. Hrm. Nice technique, Angie. * Mikel remains standing there, a stony effigy of the power of felines. * Trune sighs and wipes some sweat from his head, "All in favor of never pissing off wild cats again say aye!" * Saki nurses a vicious and quite bloody hole in her arm with a constant stream of cursewords. * Angie smiles at her reflection in Tanan's glossy surface. "Thanks." You OK Saki? * Angie puts a hand on Saki's shoulder and wills healing energy into her. * Tanan glows for a moment, pulsing a bit of healing energy Saki's way in technical danger of Niri's life and limb at using willforce on an angry S- no he doesn't. >> The group finds that in the vault is various pieces of silver ingots worth about 750 silver each, not to mention some other goodies. * Saki smirks, and nudges the effigy with her foot. "... fared better than some--thanks." She nods, as Angie heals her, then regards the stoned Mikel with a sudden and alarming smile. "... think it'd work if I punched him out of there?" * Mikel would be shaking in fear. No wait, wait... Let's see what Shiro does. * Trune grins. * Angie spends a while digging through what remains of the city's records, but comes up empty. It should wear off in a little bit. Probably not. You'd likely bang him up some. Let him be. Now's the time to mess with him though, I suppose. Be nice. Yessir. We could perch the cat on his head or something. You aren't touching my cat. * Saki hauls herself up, experimentally tests her arm, and leaves Mikel be after another experimental poke to instead hop through the hole. That's just mean. He'd crumple th- Oh, Trune's cat. Yeah! * Vytor keeps watch while the party loots. Trune has a cat? * Mikel rocks back and forth from the poke. You mean you haven't noticed my jacket is mewing yet? Niri found one wandering the outskirts of the camp. Little kitten. Rather cute. Yeah, it was a birthday present from Niri. Be careful. Normal cat, not one of these bastards. * Angie looks up from the pile of shredded papers. "Ooo! Let's see." It might grow up into one of these things. The stony Mikel eventually cracks up and is freed from STONE. * Huw is now known as Huwnap Uh, hang on. * Mikel staggers for a step or two as he breaks free, shaking his head. "...man, that /sucks/." You OK Mikel? * Mikel starts examining himself, brushing off bits of dirt here and there. "A... bit banged up, nothing serious though. Hey, Ryl!" >> ANgie also heals Saki for 310 HP! How'd your experiment work? Shiro! Good Shiro. Do not eat the kitty Shiro. [Shiro] ARo? * Mikel flicks something out of his pocket and lobs it towards Ryllan. "A success all around." * Trune gently reaches deep into his pocket and slowly pulls out a small, tortise-shelled kitten with large eyes. It mews once and begins to rub it's head against Trune's hand. * Angie squeals and holds her hands to her mouth. "Oooh, she's such a pretty." No eating. Saying hi, yes. Eating, no. Is friend. Isn't she? I haven't figured out a good name for her, though. I'm just calling her cat. Sooner or later she's going to be offended. * Ryllan snatches the bauble out of the air, looking at it before whistling, "...Mikel?" Yeah? You are a fine mage and a wonderful addition to the team * Saki blinks in mild confusion at the hubbub around the cat, and turfs through some more drawers frowning at things. * Mikel ...blinks, staring at Ryllan. If we go back to the settlement before we head out we should give her some fish. * Ryllan slips the bauble away into his bandolier. You... you serious? Nah, he's fucking with you. Way to get stoned. Yeah, I fed her some last night. She looks hungry again though. ...of course he's serious! You got him a new toy. Are you saying Tanan he only loves Mikel passionately because of material things? Saki finds this to be a safe deposit room of some sort. Many drawers have been emptied and the contents destroyed by either the natural actions of the cats or time itself. There is what looks like a collection of keys that are mostly intact. No. That'd be weird. I'm saying he approves of things that get us new toys. Actually, I'm quite serious. He somehow turned cat into earth-elemental crystal. I'm quite impressed. These are like magic cats though. So who knows? Yeah.. I.. uh... I was sort of joking around so I didn't have to consider the implications of that. Hey, are you sure that's not a magic cat too? * Angie points at the new friend. * Mikel just blinks a couple of times, rolling that over in his mind. "Well... thanks, Ryllan." He still looks a bit stunned for a couple of moments before he starts poking around the place as well. Soon enough he's through the hole to continue investigating further on. And is far more wary of more cat attacks. Hey....you leave the cat out of this! She's much cuter this way. * Vytor looks the room over, on the offchance that some strauctural damage was done during the fight. Mikel finds that beyond is a secured comptuer access room. * Mikel gives the door a try to make sure it isn't about to fall over or anything, hrming. Some terminals are destroyed, but two appear to be working. They are in locked cubicles, and require a key. << Oh, misread. Strike! >> * Mikel hrms a bit, considering. "Don't suppose anyone's a lockpick on the side or something." * Saki looks expectant. The room's still largely intact, meant to survive these kinds of events... ... No, Saki * Angie hops out of the mess of papers and comes over to have a look. "Can't we just bust it?" * Mikel looks at Saki. "...no breaking the doors. Might damage whatever is inside." Not if there's machinery behind it. * Saki continues to look expectant, and settles for rifling through another desk. * Mikel starts digging around, hrming. "Maybe the key's around. Maybe." * Vytor continues to keep watch while the party loots. I wonder if these things could read that disc. Someone has looted or destroyed every single item that might have ben of use here... ...aha! * Mikel plucks out the keys from a little cat pile, examining them for a moment before heading back to the door. "Let's see now..." The keys aren't like normal tumbler design, rather have sets of magnets in a row to match polarities and make it difficult to copy. How they were missed is a mystery, but it looks to be a match for the lock. ...weirdest keys ever. Oh well! * Mikel gives them a go. *kaklink* The lock on the protective glass-like bubble is unsecured. The entry can now be slid open and the computers smartly begin powering up. Aah. Jackpot. * Mikel goes about sliding the door open to start checking out what's within. * Trune does likewise, "Neat trick." * Saki leans on the desk, watching dully as people get to work. Compliment whoever made the keys. "...generators Low.. Conserving Power to Display..." "Welcome to Spain National Archives. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited by law -- Please select database you would like to search." * Mikel raises an eyebrow. "Uhm. List databases?" "-Depts & Services Records -Historical Material -Security Logs -Civilian Surveillance Reports" Security Logs. * Mikel taps a foot. "Se-" * Mikel snickers. * Vytor (DNW@c-67-160-220-94.hsd1.ca.comcast.net) Quit (Quit: ) The terminal bleeps as the screen dims. The backup power here is very sketchy. Will it last? "Please press 1 for English, empuje 2 para el español" * Mikel frowns before pressing '1'. Para whatisit now? Hopefully it won't die on us too fast... "See if you can get a printout," interjects Angie. Another language, I think. Press two for spanish. Someone start taking notes if we can't. I'll see about that, You and Vytor see if you can't find the power source and... I don't know, rig something. Apparently a language here too. We've found a number of old texts in the language. It bears some similarities to the one we speak, so it's not too hard to learn. Well. Probably. Even if we can get printouts going, we'll need as much time as possible to get as much dropped. * Saki chips in knowledgably. "I'll take care of standing around looking pretty." "Please enter your query, or select a choice from daily logs below..." The screen pops up a list, which strangely ends with a final entry on June of 2012" * Mikel frowns. "...well, let's start with the end. June of 2012." Hmm...should we check out the last entry? Who knows how much time we've got. Quite. * Ryllan selects the final entry carefully, using the archaic controls. << my bad. I meant January of 2013. new Years Day. >> << Select that then! >> << Well, whenever.>> * Mikel peers over Ryllan's shoulder as he works the keyboard, watching the display. * Tanan is apparently quite happy rambling to himself. "A few books in both the old 'english' and this 'spanish', especially one of their religious ones that cropped up a lot. Made figuring it out a lot easier when we had a comparison." Mm. That Bible thing? The system pops up a map of the complex with several red dots at the entrance and vault highlighted. "At 12:00 am on New Years Day, a squad of UN SWAT members breached security perimeter and aprehended all government officials including Premier Castillo. The vaults were compromised, and all security codes to the military unlocked. National sovreignty passed to the UN hands and Secretary General Zophar." Yeah, that one. Ah, our good friend. So that's when this all started going to hell in a handbasket, then. He must still have been human at this point. And very much in charge. Huh...was it just this city, or many that this happened to? Reading between the lines here... looks like he was forming an empire. "Intelligence reports indicated this event was syncronized worldwide, along with the announcement of the One World Government initiative in jerusalem." This... UN, whatever it is. ...wow, hostile takeover. ...Well, there you have it. Dr. Webbly made it sound like he controlled a lot of the planet. Yeah, whoa. Right crazy bastard, even back then. Hrm...Jersualem? << Jerusalem, even >> * Tanan sounds matter-of-fact. "I'm rather looking forward to lighting his heart on fire." "Alll systems were deactivated and placed in standby. This is the final automated entry --" * Mikel glances at Ryllan. "Should we check the historical stuff?" Not if we want information on Zophar, I don't think. For this machine.. That's the present day. Well, if they have recent stuff it might be useful. I wonder where that city where the announcement was made is. Something to ask Webbly, maybe? It can't really hurt to look. Maybe there's information on here we haven't heard yet. Also about this One World Government and the Un. Must have been an important city of some sort, if something like that was announced there ...I also want to ask about Razgriz. Wonder how long until Bree might have tried something like that... Well, do it fast! We don't know how much power there is. * Ryllan escapes out to the root menu, and selects the historical record, going with the popular vote. "*beep* error, database damaged. Archives prior to 2005 are unreadable. Proceed anyway (Y/N)?" ...No real ancient history for us, then. Y * Ryllan hits the Y key, rather. It'll help us keep focused anyway. "Please select the year you'd like: 2055,2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012" << er 2005 >> * Mikel hrms. Last again? Work our way backwards, I think. * Ryllan selects 2012. "2012: The last of 3 years considered the "Tribulation". Signifcant events:...." * Mikel hrms. "Tribulation..." * Trune frowns, absentmindedly stroking hte kitten as he watches the screen. "In Italy, a major Volcanic eruption rocks Rome, causing it be be partially destroyed and the pope dies. The emerging sect led by Althena help to evacuate who they can and restore the Holy See northwards in the Alps, constructing a large tower there. !!! ...so, taking bets that's the same tower. No bet. "A well known young diplomat & decorated WWIII veteran named Zophar becomes Secretary General of the UN forces maintaining world peace. ALthena's sect protests this change vehemently, but to little effect." Wow, they made a tower in that quick a timeframe? Unreal. Always Althena versus Zophar. It seems to be the trend. Still... it sounds like they both started out human. "United Sino-Russian-Indian scientists unveil the first successful subjects of the codenamed VILE (Vostok-Indra-Laodong Experiments) of evolving humanity to cope with severe earth changes. " Evolving humanity? Subjects? * Ryllan can't help but chuckle, "You'd think they would have noticed the implication of the /name/." "Secret intelligence reports indicate the defeated United States is developing a counter-project to create psychic supersoldiers and retake its former dominance." ...oh. ... And the Elementalors. There's others, besides the elementalors? Oh my. ...that has to be the Elementalors. "A large group of comets approaching Earth is confirmed by many scientists worldwide, as weather patterns and climate conditions continue to worsen." * Trune 's face grows serious, "No, I think that's the Elementlors." * Mikel raises an eyebrow. "Comets... Those ruins in the south." "End abstract summary." Yes, yes, but they were made in response to these other things? It sounds like they were just going to be tools of conquest, doesn't it? I think we're reading Zophar's side of this, at least a little. Look at the description of him. * Mikel frowns. "Maybe... let's see what the other years say." * Ryllan tries one year back. 2011 "2011, Significant events include..." * Tanan hmmms. "I'm sure these people wouldn't have made him a leader if at least the military didn't like him." Charismatic doesn't mean you're a good guy. If he was a diplomat he had to be able to put on a friendly face of some sort. Exactly. He could have fooled them all until it was too late. "Disputes erupt as the election for the new leader of the United Nations heats up. Among them is the front-runner Zophar, war hero of the Third World War in the Middle East. Attempts to slander his campaign from christian fundamentalists who call him a "fake and a killer" are lodged." * Mikel raises an eyebrow. "...Middle East, Middle East. Hrrm." "Backlash from the WW3 CRusade mentality continues, as a schism becomes more pronounced in the Catholic Church. Althena, known for her miracles during these trying years, is elevated to leadership of a growing cult, predicting a great planetary calamity if people do not change their ways." "Global climate continues to become more chaotic, and radioactive dust strom saturate the Middle East's former battlefields. Global famine looms." "End summary." Miracles. Maybe she was more than just human at least? Sounds like the last few years were horribly cheery all around. Hrm, interesting. If only there was a way to get all events in which a given person was mentioned..! Is there some way to search? The power levels look increasingly unsteady, the display pulsing in and out. There does appear to be search terms. << er a input box >> * Ryllan tries a simple search query across the historical logs for 'Zophar'. "Zophar. Searching.... done. Datfile for Secretary general Zophar, aka Damien Zophar"" * Mikel hrms. "Search for Razgriz when you're done with that one, if it doesn't die on us." "An immensely famous war hero on the western side during the WW3 conflict in Iraq and surrounding areas. Said to have singlehandedly turned the tide of several terrorist incursions by the Islamic Liberation Front. Later in life renounced warfare and became the broker of the Great Armistace that banned all future warfare, enforced by himself eventually as UN head." Until he took over with his soldiers, of course. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. How do you enforce a ban on warfare. It's a great plan, really. When you're the only one with any army left. By having enough ways to kill the oth- yeah You shoot anyone who starts trying to organize an army. * Mikel shakes his head. Yeah, but that's war there, too. No one thought of this? "Though public record was impressive, many dark rumors circulated about on the unsecure Internet of his dabbling in a plethora of black arts, and secret dealings with the mega-conglomerate Razgriz Industries weapon conglomerate." Well... no. obviously some people did. * Mikel peers, pointing at the word Razgriz. "Bingo." << er strike las conglomerate >> I still wanna know though...how'd he turn into the monster seen and told in history books and stories? He was human, wasn't he? Maybe those black arts. That had to be some serious black arts. * Angie shakes her head. "There's nothing so bad that a person won't do it," she says flatly. "The real question is how he got so powerful." I can't think of anything else that'd turn a human into a prophecied form of destruction. Mikel finds he can click the word Razgriz for more info on it. * Mikel looks towards Ryllan for permission before doing so. * Ryllan nods. * Mikel clicks it. Let's see what other little gems there are on you, Emiria. "Razgriz Industries - A weapons manufacturer and R&D company that made its fortune supplying hardware to both sides for WW3. It was given the official contract for all military supplies for the UN Security Forces army created by Zophar, a net worth of billions of dollars and unprecidented clout in global security solutions." * Mikel frowns. "...so, how many of those weapons survived the Devestation then I wonder." "It had numerous undisclosed project that were rumored to exist, among them the prototype Anti-Ground satellite Laser Marduk... however its existence has not bee proven." Marduk... Confirms what Hiro said then. Lovely. "CEO Emma Razgriz was considered by some to be Zophar's second in command, often seen on numerous official functions in a consulting acpacity." * Mikel ...stares at the screen. Emma. Corrupts delightfully, doesn't it. So she was his right hand man. Woman. Thing. ... Pun excused. Lovely. Why do I get the feeling the chances of turning her about are slim? Then maybe, if we're lucky, we'll get a chance to beat Zophar to death with her corpse. Ah, Tanan, always keepin' it real. * Mikel grimaces, glancing around to make sure Vytor isn't around. I am utterly serious. I know. Vytor gets his shot still... but if she doesn't see sense I'm not holding back. I wonder if they've got any indepth info on her. I know you're serious, Tanan, but... Try to avoid saying that around Vytor, alright? He's got enough on his plate. * Mikel looks to see if 'Emma Razgriz' is clickable. Tch. It is. Doing so results in the following short entry: * Angie leans forward. "See if it has more on the tower," she says. I'll give him his chance, but if she won't turn away, his creatures g-... nnng. Fine, Niri, sorry, I'll shut up. The tower! If Althena built the place, there might be the right conditions for that book of yours there, Angie. Tanan- We will have to kill her if she won't turn. We all know this. Repeatedly articulating it in bloodthirsty terms is neither going to bring us closer to that goal nor will it help Vytor's mental health. "Emma Razgriz. CEO of Razgriz Industries. Took over the reigns of power from her father, Lucas Razgriz, the founder of the company in 2005. Guided policy in the resulting profiteering off the constant warfrae of 2005-2009, trusted as a neutral third party in military contracts of all stripes. Credited with the push for weaponization of space intiatives, as well as numerous lesser patents." I wonder if we can make her trip up by mentioning tidbits of her life. * Ryllan turns back to look at the screen, "Yeah, that's our girl. Alright, I'm going to make one more important search, then we'll try for that tower, alright?" * Ryllan types in Althena. * Tanan almost snarls, biting out an angry "A person like that doesn't deserve-" before Niri apparently quiets him again. SHE doesn't. Vytor does. * Mikel nods. "...tower probably will come up in relation to her, anyways." Do him that courtesy. * Angie folds her arms and scowls at the screen. Yeah, think of Vytor at least, Tanan. We know you hate Zophar and everything about him, but don't extend that hate to include Vytor in there as well. Even if you don't mean to. "Althena, full name unknown. Called by some the 'Second Messiah", she came to fame curing disease and ending hunger in Europe in the wake of the end of WW3. her miracles could never be scientifically prove, though it was said a mere song from her could raise the dead." "Established a sect within the Christian community that eventually split from and saved Rome following the eruption of multiple volcanoes in the Italian range." * Tanan shifts shape a few times in rapid succession, falling silent. * Mikel raises an eyebrow. "Well, she had to be more than just average human at least then." "Was known to have a close follower named Lucia Benedict, who helped care for and spread her teachings following an encounter with the living saint that cured her of cancer." Lucia...cancer? What? * Mikel ...reaches up to rub his forehead, murmuring. "Well then." Huh. Well, how about that. Hey, maybe it has something about Dr. Webbly. "Addendum: A known opponent of Zophar, denouncing him at every turn as one would a devil." It... really isn't surprising considering everything else. That's... like, the same Lucia though? Could be. I wouldn't be surprised. If it is we really need more answers out of her when we get back. Jeez. Hrm. Lucia or the tower next? Quickly. * Mikel pulls out a coin of silver, flips it. * Mikel catches it, flips it over and peers. "Hrmf. Lucia." * Ryllan clicks Lucia's name! This is SO COOL. "Lucia Benedict - Considered the 'Peter' of Althena. A poor peasant girl who had been given 24 hours to live from rapid onset lung cancer in Ivrea, but was miraculously cured by listening to Althena's hymns. Rumors abound that she was given some powers from this event, as she follwoed her savior." "One of the only members of the Cult who could allow entrance and exit to the Crystal Spire." * Mikel blinks. Well! Crystal Spire, huh? * Tanan speaks again, tone clipped and formal. "Althena built that tower. Can we afford to pass it by?" I suppose if you want a devoted follower that's the quickest way to get one... Crystal Spire... thaaat's where Hiro crossed over." Let's see what they have to say about this spire, shall we? * Ryllan clickity. "Crystal Spire-- a mysterious tower made of crystalline rock in the northern Alps that served as a fortress for the Althena cult and later the Vatican refugees. Many mysterious swirl about how it was suddenly built; some fanatics insist it suddenly appeared before them as if it was always there." "Contains a vast array of security measures disguised as statuaries and mythical dragons. Inside is said to be highly advanced crygenic technology and medical bays." * Mikel frowns. "Guardians." Mmm. I figured Althena and Zophar got their powers the same way, but it sounds like Althena had some magic to begin with. We knew that. True. * Mikel shakes his head. "Least we don't have to fight a Star Dragon to get in or anything." * Ryllan looks at Mikel a little oddly, "Mm." Hmmm...medical bays and technology? My dad would kill for this shit... It would be good to think that she is all right. With any luck, we will be able to restore the old seekers. * Mikel shakes his head. "Something Emili told me. S'what they did before the crossing over..." BEEP BEEP. 'Warning. Power level Critical. Auto-shutdown in 5 minutes. Please save and close your open programs." If you can get him yo kill Zophar for it, we can go home. Hiro said he had to fight one to go over as well. Fuck! Okay, any other requests before this thing dies? * Angie steps back, straightens up, and looks around. "I wonder if there's still working power anywhere in the city. If they use nuclear reactors we might be able to get them up and running again." She sighs and rubs her face with both palms. "On the way back, I guess." Jerusalem. * Ryllan typity. If that's where he ran the show, there has to be more info there. "Jerusalem -- A Holy City that has been fought over for almost a millenia, and a flashpoint for the WW3 events in Palestine & Israel that drew the rest of the world into purpetual war for over 6 years over resources and religious extremism. The place where the Great ARmistice was signed between the Allies and the Liberation Front, symbolically ending the bloodshed for good." Come on, give us a map or something... "Zophar declared this a world heritage site and moved UN operations here when he assumed power. Supported the reconstruction of the Temple Mount, though why remains questionable." Temple Mount. That could be important. Anything strange he did - anything without reason way back when? That's interesting. * Mikel nods. "It is rumored that a secret cult resides here and worships him as a living, walking God. Sources cannot be verified." * Trune takes out a piece of paper and begins to scribble something down. * Mikel frowns. "...well, that probably relates to his whole becoming some force of destruction. Get a location on that too so we can check it out I guess?" There's also a little map of the globe, and it shows an arrow pointing to the location. It's east and south of where you are, across the Mediterranean. "Warning: Travel to this location except on official business is not advised. Surrounding areas are still highly dangerous." Gee thanks. * Mikel frowns. "...that's...where Saturn is, isn't it?" Same area, at least. Convinent. And... that's all I'm gonna get from this. It sounds as though you might need to watch out for radiation there. Are you still in posession of any of those suits? * Ryllan watches as the last seconds of the count down timer tick away. Even after all this time? Vast portions of the icefields are still. The power sputters and dies... * Mikel racks his mind for a couple of moments. "Can't say. We'd have to check the Destiny's cargo bay and see if we have the spares from Raculi." * Angie sighs and looks around the darkened ruin. "Well," she says, "Want to try the bank?" May as well. Maybe they had some silver back then. There's a joke about robbing a ba- man No no. When the bank is years old, it's /exploring/ it. * Trune continues to scribble things down on his piece of notepaper. The kitten, who has now been placed (or hopped) on Trune's shoulder paws at the paper experimentally. * Mikel eyes Ryllan as he steps out of the cubicle. "I'll keep that in mind. Don't want to check out the upstairs of this place then?" It looks like it's been worked over pretty heavily. We could give it a shot, though. We can try, but... Eh. * Mikel shrugs. "True enough." It's pretty collapsed, and it could go down more at any time. I'm not really a fan of riskin' folks when we don't have to. As Ryllan speaks there's what sounds like a distant muffled explosion. ...uh-oh * Mikel starts moving it. Somewhere below, an old generator apparently failed dramatically. Suddenly Vytor runs by the stairway from a flaming mess. o.o ...Vytor! What the? Vytor!? Case in point. Everyone out of the fucking building! Now! * Ryllan hits his radio as he says this, making damn sure everyone can hear him. The supports on the cieling suddenly seem a lot less sturdy... that might not be a bad idea. * Mikel just nods, already starting the mad dash to get out of the building. "Let's /move/ then!" Shiro sees everyone running and tries to drag a dead cat with him! Unfortunately, they're too large and he has to run away empty handed. :( * Trune blinks and quickly puts the kitten and notes in his pocket, following behind the group! * Mikel just picks up the damn mongrel as he runs. * Ryllan takes up the rear, ushering everyone out ahead of him as best he can. In a brief moment of chaos, everyone manages to get out of the basement and through the lobby as the upstairs gives way and slams down violently. The dust is belched out into the street and washes over them as a quarter of the dome has sunk down into the basement as something sparks. * Ryllan takes quick stock of the group, "Everyone here?" I'm here! I'm part of everyone. * Mikel hacks and coughs as the dust hits, raising up his jacket sleeve to try to stop the dust from completely getting in his face. "Here and nice and dusty now." Vytor is a little singed but OK. Niri is also accounted for, being sued to this sort of ancient ruin collpasing thing with dad. << used >> * Trune sighs, reaching down and gently petting a now shaking kitten, "Accounted for." Saki just barely makes it out in time, diving out and getting a faceful of dirt and rocks. * Mikel coughs a bit more, trying to brush off his face with some success. "Well, that was a nice way to end the history lesson." We'll have to mention it to the professors at the academy. No kidding. I wish that place hadn't caved in. If we could have fixed that generator... Damon and his team will likely be quite interested. Who knows? Maybe there's another just like it in another ruined city. Shiro whimpers as he's held by one of his two tails by Mikel I'm hoping there's one in Jerusalem at least. * Mikel lets Shiro go. In Shiro's mouth is a small piece of glowing brown mountain cat fur. * Mikel ...blinks, crouching in front of Shiro as he tries to take the glowing fur. "I don't think magical cat pieces are good for eating, Shiro. Let it go." >> Mikel swipes it from Shiro, feeling it pulse with a little bit of willforce. Gained 5 MXP! * TheStoryteller changes topic to '-= Chapter 52: Viejo Mundo | Location: Europe, West | Pool: 7 MXP =- http://storen.rpgcafe.net/IoG/ =-' * Mikel blinks. Magical indeed. * Angie peers at the fur, adjusting her glasses. "Ooo. I bet if you skin them, you could make like magic leather." So! Let's go ro-, er, explore a bank? ...huh. Interesting idea. Maybe we can try it out if we find more. I'd kinda prefer not getting pounced again. Well then don't stick your head into holes. You can look into things without sticking your head inside, you know. I'm pretty sure they'd have seen me either way. Nah, we don't have the right stuff for it. You need all kinds of chemicals and stuff. * Mikel shrugs. "Suggest it to Mel at some point. They can start a business." * Mikel starts heading for the bank if it's nearby. If not he makes for the ATV. "Onwards and such, then." And so the group makes a final scout of the vaults that may still be intact in the Banco Popular. Though it seems they've already unearthed the greatest treasure of the Old World. Into which fray will the bold explorers throw their lot in next? Heaven and Hell wait patiently for them, both. == SESSION END == >> 20 XP! Session Close: Sun Sep 16 02:23:12 2007