> Sigh and follow... at a distance.
To my companions: "One might almost think they don't want help."

Roll 258 - 7
____________________


(dragonxp)
Cihas [ - ] = -
>

You paddle your way to where it sounds like Isaac(?) went, and feel your feet hit land underwater. Climbing up, you're now at least out of the water waist-up, and it sounds like Maargral and Feiar swim over and get on as well.

Well, you're now in a dark, stinking, flooded sewer. Could be worse.

__________


(TorrentHKU)
John Freemaneth [ - ] = -
>

"A party will be heading there soon, yes.
Who, may I ask, are you?"

???: "Deiimor, Kyros. Pleased to meet you. These are my friends and allies..."

Koa Tsinthula, magic canceller.
Ettiin Enku, armored marauder.
Rudo Liimas, thermal elementalist.
And Uugram, a dragon.

"Alright.
But who are you aside from several chirop and a dragon?"

Kyros: "Essentially? We're a group of soldiers - survivors. We met in various places. We came here to find reinforcements in order to aid the Magister, who went with a large force to Magusalto not too long ago."

"And you want to come to Venari."

Kyros: "If we can pick up more help there while clearing out the corrupted, it's killing two birds with one stone."

"Can your group stand up to corrupted? A city full of corrupted?"

A hit of annoyance creeps into his voice.

Kyros: "Can you?"

After a brief pause, he composes himself again.

Kyros: "... We have fought battles before, I assure you. And if it's our resolve you're questioning... well, I suppose I can only speak for myself, but I'd rather die trying than sit idly by. I have little other purpose at present."

"I've fought swarms of corrupted, cut the head off that dragon that's currently flying over the city, and put a hole in Ultima's chest.
If you want to come along, feel free. Every able hand is welcome."

You turn and head back towards the west gate, the lead chirop and his allies following a distance behind you. Reaching the gate, you see that Aucupe and Mist are there, waiting, and soon Vattii glides over and lands by your group.

As Kyros and his party arrive, you notice that Tara and the chirop messenger aren't here.

The great metal dragon leans his head down to the party's head level.

Vattii: "Tara is occupied with aiding in reorganizing the humans. She says that she trusts you will return with Atra. I feel that I should stay here, in the event that the Ultima weapon returns. I can imprison the weapon for a period of time, holding it longer than any single one of the other weapons, though it will inevitably escape.

However, should you have a differing plan, I am willing to listen."

He does the eye thing again, where it looks like he's staring at someone with the empty eye socket, this time it being Kyros.

__________


(Roast Veg)
Paradox Mist [ - ] = -
>

You look around, and you guess your help isn't needed.

Aucupe soon walks over, the armor she's wearing looking more angular and dragon-like. Soon, John arrives, followed by four chirop, a small (in relation to Vattii) green dragon (it's still large enough for two people to ride on its back), and then soon enough Vattii glides over and lands.

Vattii: "Tara is occupied with aiding in reorganizing the humans. She says that she trusts you will return with Atra. I feel that I should stay here, in the event that the Ultima weapon returns. I can imprison the weapon for a period of time, holding it longer than any single one of the other weapons, though it will inevitably escape.

However, should you have a differing plan, I am willing to listen."

He gives the tallest chirop a stare with an empty eye socket, and you're pretty sure there isn't actually an eye in that armor.

__________

(Nighthawk)
Kyros Deiimor [ - ] = -
>

???: "A party will be heading there soon, yes.
Who, may I ask, are you?"

"Deiimor, Kyros. Pleased to meet you. These are my friends and allies..."

Koa Tsinthula, magic canceller.
Ettiin Enku, armored marauder.
Rudo Liimas, thermal elementalist.
And Uugram, a dragon.

???: "Alright.
But who are you aside from several chirop and a dragon?"

"Essentially? We're a group of soldiers - survivors. We met in various places. We came here to find reinforcements in order to aid the Magister, who went with a large force to Magusalto not too long ago."

???: "And you want to come to Venari."

"If we can pick up more help there while clearing out the corrupted, it's killing two birds with one stone."

???: "Can your group stand up to corrupted? A city full of corrupted?"

A hit of annoyance creeps into your voice.

"Can you?"

After a brief pause, you compose himself again.

"... We have fought battles before, I assure you. And if it's our resolve you're questioning... well, I suppose I can only speak for myself, but I'd rather die trying than sit idly by. I have little other purpose at present."

???: "I've fought swarms of corrupted, cut the head off that dragon that's currently flying over the city, and put a hole in Ultima's chest.
If you want to come along, feel free. Every able hand is welcome."

The human heads off to the city's west gate, and you give a sigh.

"One might almost think they don't want help."

Uugram seems unreactive, and Koa gives you a shrug.

Koa: "These are trying times. We cannot expect everyone to maintain themselves."

Your party follows a distance behind the man with the halberd, until he reaches the western gate. There, waiting, is another human in plate armor as well, but resembling a shark, and what looks like a polearm with a large spear head or a glaive.

Also waiting is, from what you can tell, a short, merely 4 foot tall pure white chirop in brilliant white armor with heavy dragonic designs, the helm resembling the head of one of the great fliers. Sheathed on her back is the golden hilt of a longsword. Her eyes are an unnatural sky blue, and her facial features don't quite resemble your race.

And, as if the strange party could get stranger, the great grey dragon above the city glides beside the two parties. Now that it's up close, it looks like a giant grey metal suit of plate armor made for a dragon at least four times the size of Uugram, completely hollow where you can see into the mouth and eye sockets. The suit lowers its head to the level of you and everyone else, before letting out a low, rumbling voice.

???: "Tara is occupied with aiding in reorganizing the humans. She says that she trusts you will return with Atra. I feel that I should stay here, in the event that the Ultima weapon returns. I can imprison the weapon for a period of time, holding it longer than any single one of the other weapons, though it will inevitably escape.

However, should you have a differing plan, I am willing to listen."

The suit then turns its head, eying you with a large, empty eye socket, and you're not sure if it's actually looking at you or not.

__________

Also for anyone that doesn't view the Art Dump.

CC says that Torrent doesn't have an EVISCERATOR MODE but screw that noise I am assuming direct control.

Roll 259
____________________


(dragonxp)
Cihas [ - ] = -
> You create a light arrow and hold it in your hand, illuminating your surroundings.

You're in a sewer alright, a suspiciously spacious one at that.

There are two walk-ways along the walls, and you, Isaac, Feiar, and Maargral are on one side.

The water you're all standing in is a murky brown, and looking up and down the tunnel, there are things bobbing in the water here and there.

The darkness of the tunnel is untouched further down in both directions.

Conditions :
- Burned Face
- Missing Eyebrows




(TorrentHKU)
John Freemaneth [ - ] = -
> "For this, a smaller strike team will probably be better, so yeah, it makes sense for you to stay here. LucidAucupe will come with us, we'll probably need the power.
Paradox... I need you and Torrent to synergize better. Practice a bit, beat up some corrupted maybe, hell, spar with each other like Whirlwind and I did. I don't know or care how, but you two need to increase your combined combat effectiveness. Friggin... learn to fight together.
If you think the best way to do that is to come with us to Venari, then please do. Otherwise, stay here and do what you have to do. Venari is important, but with Kyros's group here, we'll be able to handle it, and it's much more important to have you two fighting at your best when we face Ultima."

Mist: "Torrent and I will learn as we travel. You're right, we need to be better, but we need to go with Aucupe."

Aucupe: "We can take care of ourselves."

Aucupe's voice sounds like it's being overlaid with a deeper tone, and her voice comes out as a growl.

Vattii stops staring at Kyros, but doesn't seem to pay Aucupe or Lucida any mind.

Vattii: "I will remain here, then. You should hurry, the faster you travel, the less time the Ultima weapon has to attack again."

Conditions :
- Whirlwind Armor (+2 Physical Actions, +1 Movement/Dodging)
-- (Energy: 50/50)




(Roast Veg)
Paradox Mist [ - ] = -
> John: "For this, a smaller strike team will probably be better, so yeah, it makes sense for you to stay here. LucidAucupe will come with us, we'll probably need the power.
Paradox... I need you and Torrent to synergize better. Practice a bit, beat up some corrupted maybe, hell, spar with each other like Whirlwind and I did. I don't know or care how, but you two need to increase your combined combat effectiveness. Friggin... learn to fight together.
If you think the best way to do that is to come with us to Venari, then please do. Otherwise, stay here and do what you have to do. Venari is important, but with Kyros's group here, we'll be able to handle it, and it's much more important to have you two fighting at your best when we face Ultima."

"Torrent and I will learn as we travel. You're right, we need to be better, but we need to go with Aucupe."

Aucupe: "We can take care of ourselves."

Aucupe's voice sounds like it's being overlaid with a deeper tone, and her voice comes out as a growl.

Vattii stops staring at Kyros, but doesn't seem to pay Aucupe or Lucida any mind.

Vattii: "I will remain here, then. You should hurry, the faster you travel, the less time the Ultima weapon has to attack again."

Conditions :
- Torrential Armor (+4 Casting/Attacks)
-- (Energy: 50/50)




(Nighthawk)
Kyros Deiimor [ - ] = -
> You stare unblinkingly into the emptiness of the armor, and it stares back.

Halberd human: "For this, a smaller strike team will probably be better, so yeah, it makes sense for you to stay here. LucidAucupe will come with us, we'll probably need the power.
Paradox... I need you and Torrent to synergize better. Practice a bit, beat up some corrupted maybe, hell, spar with each other like Whirlwind and I did. I don't know or care how, but you two need to increase your combined combat effectiveness. Friggin... learn to fight together.
If you think the best way to do that is to come with us to Venari, then please do. Otherwise, stay here and do what you have to do. Venari is important, but with Kyros's group here, we'll be able to handle it, and it's much more important to have you two fighting at your best when we face Ultima."

Glaive human: "Torrent and I will learn as we travel. You're right, we need to be better, but we need to go with Aucupe."

White not-chirop thing: "We can take care of ourselves."

The chirop's voice sounds like a somewhat deep child's voice being overlaid with a much deeper masculine tone, and her voice comes out overall as a growl.

The dragon armor eventually stops staring at you, and looks around the group.

Vattii: "I will remain here, then. You should hurry, the faster you travel, the less time the Ultima weapon has to attack again."

Conditions :
(none)




(Harzipan)
Isaac [ - ] = -
> Isaac creates a light arrow and holds it in his hand, illuminating your surroundings.

You're in a sewer alright, a suspiciously spacious one at that.

There are two walk-ways along the walls, and you, Cihas, Feiar, and Maargral are on one side.

The water you're all standing in is a murky brown, and looking up and down the tunnel, there are things bobbing in the water here and there.

The darkness of the tunnel is untouched further down in both directions.

Conditions :
(None)






(NPC)
Aucupe
[ - ] = -
> ~



Conditions :
- Lucida Dragon Armor (+6 Actions, +3 Defense)
-- (Energy: 39/60)




(NPC)
Vattii
[ - ] = -
> ~



Conditions :
- Ultima Armor (+3 Actions, +3 Defense)
-- (Energy: 54/180)








(NPC)
Ettiin Enku
[ - ] = -
> ~



Conditions :
- Wing-bone Claws
- Bruising (-2 movement)




(NPC)
Rudo Liimas
[ - ] = -
> ~



Conditions :
(None)




(NPC)
Blizzard
[ - ] = -
> ~



Conditions :
- Blizzard Armor (+2 Physical Actions, +1 Movement/Dodging)
-- (Energy: 40/40)





(NPC)
Uugram[/b]
[ - ] = -
> ~



Conditions :
(None)




(NPC)
Feiar
[ - ] = -
> ~



Conditions :
- Sprained Ankle




(NPC)
Maargral
[ - ] = -
> ~



Conditions :
(None)






World Events:
Time of day: Night





Maps
Combat Maps


World Map

Torrent, totally interrogating me and then being polite to the NPCs. :P

Oh you.

> Chill. Dig through my limited memory to see if I can find any fragment of information on "Ultima."