No walls but those we build ourselves.

[Sierra]

<El-Cideon> Another trip across Japan, another day buried under disguises. Yomi stays in a hotel room, not wanting to be seen out and about any more than she has to be while in Japan, while the rest of the group heads out with Erin for more otherworldly investigations. Everything is just the way you left it when you get back there, the car sitting at the intersection not far from the platform.
<Erin> The place certainly does have a timeless quality, whatever else; entire underground cities, left virtually untouched for who knows how long? If something had been changed, it would be unnerving. It hasn't, so Erin moves towards the car without (much) trepidation-
<Erin> -intent on taking it back towards the alien camp, as close as she can get it.
<El-Cideon> The car is empty, motionless, and apparently uninhabited.
<Erin> The activation of the magical train occurs forthwith!
<El-Cideon> At your direction, the car floats east, out into the main cavern. "So," Nadia muses as columns flash by on either side of you, "do we actually remember how to find this place?"
<Erin> "We have a rough map, and their settlement was up against the far wall of the cavern," replies Erin. "I guess it's not precise, but we should be able to hit the wall, at least, and then just travel alongside it."
<Erin> "It's like medieval sailing!"
<El-Cideon> "Except without the sailors."
<Erin> "Or the scurvy."
<El-Cideon> Suzume speaks up: "There is a village out here? We didn't even see it when Kurou came. He didn't want to stray from the tracks. Who lives there?"
<Erin> "Creatures of the same sort Kurou killed in Beijing's otherworld," replies Erin. "Speaking of medieval, that word would sum up their conditions."
<El-Cideon> "Oh...Well, I will stay behind you and let you do the talking, if you don't mind. Their appearance is rather frightening, isn't it?"
<Erin> "Mmm, I suppose. Yomi keeps calling them demons," supplies Erin. "But she says that about a lot of things."
<El-Cideon> A nod. "She does, doesn't she? How often is it actually true?"
<Erin> "Well, if you go by a strict reading of the Pseudomonarcha Demonomicon..." replies Erin, lapsing into silence for a moment. "Anyway, the key point is that even if they're not demons, they're certainly something occult in nature."
<El-Cideon> "The what? Anyway, I haven't heard of anything like them before, but I also don't know much about monsters outside of Japan."
<Erin> "It is a fairly comprehensive handbook of most western demons, and if you pair it with the Keys of Solomon I don't think there's much left out," replies Erin. "I suppose we have a clash of definitions. I always thought a demon is something evil by nature, whereas Japanese creatures aren't quite so, are they?"
<El-Cideon> "Well, we have other words for supernatural creatures, youkai for one. They are not all evil; some are malicious, some are just mischievous, a few can actually be helpful, others just want to be left alone. Like people, I suppose."
<Erin> "We don't really have a catch-all word for supernatural beings," remarks Erin. "Oh, I suppose 'monster' would suffice. The church would have frowned on virtually all of them, regardless of their own intent. I must admit, a great many are terrible beasts, but I believe most of them- vampires, werewolves, and the like- exist in far reduced numbers than they used to."
<El-Cideon> "Yes, I think this is the case in Japan as well. Or such was Kurou's opinion. There were so few such creatures left that they may as well just be legends. It may also be that when people are enough afraid of something, they see them everywhere, and such things were never as common as people thought?"
<Erin> "It's possible. Plenty of the old folk tales don't really have anything to do with truth, most likely more than could clue us in to a real youkai. Some have adapted well to the modern world, as well, though they still remain hidden. I think it's for the best, at least for now."
<El-Cideon> She nods. "Kurou was very good at fooling people," she says quietly, then lapsing into silence. The car drifts on, and soon the cavern wall approaches, the tracks continuing on through the blasted wall that stood before the seal.
<Erin> OOC: Was it on this side or the other side?
<El-Cideon> OOC: it was on this side, since (according to the village elder) the people couldn't go past the wall without Bad Things happening to them. The wounded man you found took you north from the rails (basically to your left when you're looking out the front of the car).
<Erin> Erin brings the car to a halt near the wall, ensuring that it's at least easy to find when they need it. "We start walking from here," she clarified, brandishing a torch.
<El-Cideon> The group trails along after you, Rena with her sword out in case there's trouble.
<El-Cideon> roll 1d100
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d100 and gets 15."12 [1d100=15]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d100
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d100 and gets 1."12 [1d100=1]
<El-Cideon> ...And there is trouble! It looms out of the darkness before you have much chance to notice it, given the limited range of your vision in these caves--it's like the monster that attacked you along the staircase at Beijing, only taller, easily ten feet, and with a frightening reach to its claws. It staggers into your path as if in sheer coincidence--but one it's going to take advantage of for a quick meal!
<El-Cideon> OOC: init.
<Erin> roll 1d20+7 wut
* Hatbot --> "Erin rolls 1d20+7 wut and gets 14."12 [1d20=7]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20 Rena
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20 Rena and gets 4."12 [1d20=4]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+7 Nadia
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+7 Nadia and gets 20."12 [1d20=13]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+2 Suzume
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+2 Suzume and gets 7."12 [1d20=5]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+3 thing
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+3 thing and gets 22."12 [1d20=19]
* Retrieving #HometownHeroes modes...
* El-Cideon changes topic to '6Yomi: 72/72, Nadia: 62/62, Erin: 58/58, Rena: 68/68 Thing > Nadia > Erin > Suzume > Rena'
<El-Cideon> The creature shambles forward, charging at Rena! The stinger rears back and, with a twang like a great elastic band being struck, shoots forward at her!
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+10
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+10 and gets 24."12 [1d20=14]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d8+4 damage also fort incoming
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d8+4 damage also fort incoming and gets 11."12 [1d8=7]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+11 at least it's her good save
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+11 at least it's her good save and gets 29."12 [1d20=18]
* El-Cideon changes topic to '6Yomi: 72/72, Nadia: 62/62, Erin: 58/58, Rena: 57/68 Thing > Nadia > Erin > Suzume > Rena'
<El-Cideon> The stinger jabs into Rena's abdomen, drawing blood, leaving a sick-smelling black residue behind. Nadia gasps in horror and dismay, but leaps forward to try and help her friend by lashing out with a kick aimed at one of the monster's slender legs.
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+13 tumble, thing has reach so
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+13 tumble, thing has reach so and gets 14."12 [1d20=1]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+8 claw
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+8 claw and gets 16."12 [1d20=8]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+12 he misses, Nadia strikes?!
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+12 he misses, Nadia strikes?! and gets 21."12 [1d20=9]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d8+2
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d8+2 and gets 4."12 [1d8=2]
<El-Cideon> The creature whines as Nadia cracks the chitin of its leg, staggering it a little. OOC: You're up.
<Erin> The creature makes a fairly easy target, and by standing to one side, Erin can unleash a pair of brilliant, blue bolts of lightning towards the hulking monster!
<Erin> roll 6d6 L-Bolt 1, surging, reflex 16 half
* Hatbot --> "Erin rolls 6d6 L-Bolt 1, surging, reflex 16 half and gets 20."12 [6d6=3, 3, 4, 3, 5, 2]
<Erin> roll 6d6 L-Bolt 2, surging, reflex 16 half
* Hatbot --> "Erin rolls 6d6 L-Bolt 2, surging, reflex 16 half and gets 21."12 [6d6=3, 5, 5, 6, 1, 1]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+6 ref 1
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+6 ref 1 and gets 24."12 [1d20=18]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+6 ref 2
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+6 ref 2 and gets 14."12 [1d20=8]
<El-Cideon> Panicked whining and a horrible drone emanate from the creature as electricity sizzles all over it, a piercing, terrible cry! Smoke rises from its body all over, though it remains standing. Suzume mutters a prayer, and Rena swings wildly at the creature to bring it down before it can strike again!
<El-Cideon> OOC: party blessed, and Rena FA + Surge
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+11+2 Bless doesn't actually affect Rena, but she can flank with Nadia
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+11+2 Bless doesn't actually affect Rena, but she can flank with Nadia and gets 21."12 [1d20=8]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+11+2 surge
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+11+2 surge and gets 28."12 [1d20=15]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+6+2
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+6+2 and gets 15."12 [1d20=7]
<El-Cideon> roll 2#2d6+6
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 2#2d6+6 and gets 29."12 [2#2d6+6 = 13, 16]
<El-Cideon> Ichor flows, limbs crack. The creature is horribly mauled and turns to stagger away in a panic! OOC: It's bolting. Nadia/Rena can AoO, former first.
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+12+2+1 bug squashing
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+12+2+1 bug squashing and gets 30."12 [1d20=15]
<El-Cideon> roll 1d8+2
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d8+2 and gets 3."12 [1d8=1]
<El-Cideon> Out of sheer reflex, Nadia lashes out one more time as the monster turns away, smacking it soundly on its misshapen head and sending it tumbling to the ground in a heap of fractured limbs. OOC: free act.
<Erin> Erin shakes a couple of sparks off her fingertips, and swiftly advances to take a look at Rena's ugly-and-possibly-infected wound.
<El-Cideon> Rena sways a little, wiping the strange gunk off her wound and looking irritated. OOC: going to treat injury it?
<Erin> OOC: Yes
<El-Cideon> OOC: go ahead and roll then, target 15
<Erin> OOC: Can I take 10 for 16? Will do if so
<Erin> roll 1d20+6 otherwise
* Hatbot --> "Erin rolls 1d20+6 otherwise and gets 10."12 [1d20=4]
<El-Cideon> OOC: book makes no mention of time involved for treating poison, so I'll just say yes
<El-Cideon> roll 1d20+11+4 fort
* Hatbot --> "El-Cideon rolls 1d20+11+4 fort and gets 25."12 [1d20=10]
<El-Cideon> Erin soon has the wound cleaned up and, while still ugly, at least it looks like the German won't suffer from infection by any foreign substances. "I dislike the wildlife more every time we come here," she says, eyeing the newly-made hole in her dress.
<Erin> "It doesn't do much to credit itself," Erin finds herself saying. "At least they aren't pack creatures, but solitary predators."
<El-Cideon> "One of them is disgusting enough!" Nadia agrees.
<El-Cideon> You continue to follow along the cavern wall. It takes some walking, but you do manage to find the village without any further interruptions. As before, guards are on patrol around the circumference of the settlement. A pair of them seem to be waiting for you, probably drawn by your light. "You are back," one of them observes, adroitly. It waves its companion away, and the other heads into a tent.
<Erin> It takes a moment to invoke her spell of facilitating conversations, but afterwards, Erin opts to wait outside the tent.
<El-Cideon> You are shortly ushered inside, and again sat before the elder Whisp. "Welcome back," he says. "Our humble village has little to offer, but there is meat and water if you so desire." He gestures to bowls filled with strips of...something...and water. "I would ask what brings you here but, alas, I cannot understand you. I can at least offer you our hospitality, of course."
<Erin> "Ah, I have resolved that issue," replies Erin, inclining her head.
<El-Cideon> He looks surprised, insofar as you can read the expression of something with a fanged muzzle for a mouth. "Yes? A quick learner, then. I approve."
<Erin> "There's a particular contrivance I'm using to be able to do this, so it would only last for about an hour," replies Erin. "Your hospitality is, er, appreciated, but I really came to ask some questions, as you might imagine. Of course, I'll reciprocate if you have anything yourself."
<El-Cideon> "You are the only creatures like yourself we have ever met. My questions are nearly boundless. But we are in your debt for saving one of our own, so you will ask your questions first."
<Erin> "I wanted to ask about your history," replies Erin, bobbing her head. "We've explored some of the cities we've found underground- as far as I can gather, there was some kind of great civilization, followed by an invasion that wiped them out."
<El-Cideon> "History...well, this settlement is a new one. I remember still when we came here. The city is as we found it then: empty. We might choose to live there were it not for the abundance of the corrupted souls residing within. We can fight them when they stray alone into our caverns, but in numbers, no. You speak of an invasion--what was it that you think did this?"
<Erin> "I believed it may have been the indigenous creatures we've found wandering around outside, at first. But I can't believe such simplistic creatures could overcome the powers of those cities- they are quite sophisticated, you know- on their own."
<El-Cideon> "The corrupted ones are adept at imitating those whom they slay, but I would not call them organized. That is our talent alone, or so I thought before you arrived. There are many fearsome creatures in these caverns, though few work together. Oh, the howlers may hunt in packs, but they are simple creatures, truly. I cannot conceive of such beasts laying waste to a people who could build stone cities such as that."
<Erin> "It may interest you to know that the cities may have been built by humans- that is, our race, if not your people," replies Erin. "In another city, we discovered a human ghost occupying a tower. A soldier, to be certain."
<El-Cideon> "A soldier? Hrm. No good comes of them. We have no one to war against here. It is our one blessing. Did this ghost assault you and try to take your soul, as the ones in our caves do?"
<Erin> "Er, yes. But it was quite friendly about it, which surprised me."
<El-Cideon> His lips pull back from his teeth, though there's nothing about his tone that suggests anger. More bitter amusement. "They often are. Just long enough to reach you. The dead are not to be trusted, ever. This is why we were so upset that Grashk, whom you saved, left on his own--had he been slain alone, with no one to note his passing, he could've been made one of the corrupted with us unawares, the shade then using our ignorance to surprise us and take its own victim. They are a pestilence."
<Erin> "They do not seem so numerous- we've only encountered two. Some have unusual powers, whilst others merely have a draining touch. I would suppose they vary wildly," replies Erin, grimacing. "Hmm. So, this is a settlement from a larger colony?" she asks, curiously.
<El-Cideon> "They do not need to be numerous. They are difficult to destroy and make a perversion of our friends and loved ones when propagating themselves. What they are is enough." He moves on, sounding glad to do so. "We lived in a larger cavern once. Much larger than what you see outside. Hundreds and hundreds of us. Too many, in fact." (more)
<El-Cideon> "Though more bountiful than our own, food became scarce in time. People struggled against one another to secure more for themselves. Rifts formed. Factions. Fighting broke out between them. Some of us left for unknown caves instead. I was young, but I remember."
<Erin> Limited resources leading to the spark of war... "I assume there were multiple groups of colonists," she remarks. "Do you know if all your people came from the same city, at first?"
<El-Cideon> "I cannot say. I was not well-versed in our history at the time we left. I know there are other tribes in faraway caves, or at least were at the time of our exodus. Travelers were rare--there are so many barren caves, even moreso than ours, that offer nothing whatsoever to eat, that only the truly courageous or stupid regularly strayed." (more)
<El-Cideon> "We did encounter strangers on occasion, however. They looked like us, though, all of them, not like you. Near the end, they became unwelcome, more mouths to feed. A priestess came once, with a guard armed with strong weapons--like those you gave us--trying to spread the influence of her Golden Goddess of love and strength or some such thing." (more)
<El-Cideon> "Our leaders became annoyed and had her killed. There was little patience left in us by then."
<Erin> "Ah, is that so," replies Erin, briefly dismayed by this revelation. "They couldn't be just thrown out?"
<El-Cideon> "Various people wanted the priestess's possessions and her guard's weapons. Anything that would give an advantage. She also made unflattering remarks about our leaders--little of which was incorrect in my opinion--and went on about how we would all be better off under her Goddess's guidance."
<Erin> "If their religion can send out exploring preachers, they must be well-equipped and based themselves," replies Erin, curiously. "Do you know the location of other settlements relative to yourself?"
<El-Cideon> "We entered this cavern through a tunnel now collapsed, as I have said. You could find the entrance if you followed the cavern wall west for some time but, as I said, it is filled with rock now. Our journey took us south for five days, if this helps at all." Your translator stumbles a bit here, eventually rounding alien time units to something more familiar. (more)
<El-Cideon> "I remember hearing talk of a city suspended in the air above a bottomless abyss, though I never saw it myself. This would have been a few weeks of travel from my old home, to the southwest. The strange priestess came from even further, many more weeks to the southwest."
<Erin> "It must be difficult to navigate these caverns," remarks Erin. "Especially in numbers- it feels like it might be easy to get lost or seperated."
<El-Cideon> "Very. We don't travel often for this reason. And there are few places to go, besides. One day we will likely have to search beyond the city to expand. The Wall of Death bars us in the other direction."
<Erin> "Ah, that. We don't suffer from passing through it," replies Erin, thinking to herself. "And the man of yours we rescued didn't seem to, either- we didn't know it by that name while we were exploring. Is he still in good health?"
<El-Cideon> "He is. This is most curious. When we first arrived here, several people died simply trying to approach the wall. It was forbidden thereafter. Grashk surely would've been killed if whatever poison caused this still remained. Hrm. This will bear investigation."
<Erin> Erin muses to herself for a moment, and then briefly glances at their Japanese priestess- "Suzume, did Kurou suffer from any maladies while he was exploring this caves? Specifically around the.. er, power cores? Seals? You know what I mean," she asks.
<El-Cideon> She nods. "He could not approach them. He was stricken with a terrible headache within several hundred meters. He couldn't even investigate the object until Hoshi had broken it."
<Erin> She turns back to Whisp- "I can confirm exactly what the Wall did. Or, rather, it's not the wall, it's what lies within it. Underground, we've found there are several cores of power, most located in what were probably once secure areas. They must emanate a kind of aura, or field that can damage, er, supernatural creatures, such as yourselves." (More)
<Erin> "But the one beyond the wall of death was sundered, and no longer emits this hostile effect; hence it is safe to travel beyond it. There isn't much there, though. What I want to ask, I suppose, is if you had ever encountered anything like it before."
<El-Cideon> "There was nothing like it in my old home. Sometimes there would be...bad air, that chokes or erupts when excavated, but this would disperse shortly. The Wall's effect was persistent."
<Erin> "The field was probably intended to protect the cores from tampering, and it was likely very effective, at least until humans showed up. No, humans must have built it in the first place," ruminates Erin. "To ward against their invaders. It must have been many generations ago... I wonder if they migrated to the surface themselves, and became our ancestors? Hmm."
<El-Cideon> "I could not say. You are the first of your kind I have seen or even heard of."
<Erin> "Well, I hope to not be the last, but it is a tough thing," replies Erin, rubbing the back of her head. "Ah, I never asked. But what do you call yourselves, as a group?"
<El-Cideon> "We are Whorl's tribe, as I have noted. If you mean *us* as opposed to *you*...well, this is a distinction we rarely have to make. We are people, intelligent, all else are animals, uncomprehending. There has been little cause to refer to ourselves at all, you see." (more)
<El-Cideon> "I remember in the oldest stories, however, the ones only half-remembered even when mentioned to me as a young child, there was another word used sometimes instead of such-and-such leader's tribe. Grahl." Erin's in-house translation faculties turn this into Uprooted. Whisp shrugs, a gesture he hasn't made before and seems to have picked up from you. "I know not its origin or significance."
<Erin> Erin much prefers the English name to the low-sounding grunt Whisp has attributed to himself. "Alright. That's enough questions from me, for now. About us, what would you like to know first?"
<El-Cideon> "The obvious question is 'Where do you come from?' And, although I find it irrelevant, this is a point of some confusion amongst us: which of you are male and which of you are female?"
<Erin> "Uh, all of us here are female. We're independant women, you see," replies Erin, rubbing the back of her head. "We're from surface of the world, far above these caves, I believe. We were able to get here through the use of stationary portals that provide a link from there to here, by use of the proper contrivances."
<El-Cideon> "As I said, it is not an important question, but those in the village who had seen you were unable to make a proper guess. It is not a distinction I find important between us. Our females hunt when their men are injured, after all. Why shouldn't others travel? This word, though--'surface.' I am not sure of its meaning."
<Erin> "Uh, well, from what our scientists tell us, the world is a sphere," replies Erin. "It might be hard to visualize, but we live on the top of the sphere, whilst I presume you live in caves deep inside. The top is a different place- wide open spaces, with no walls but those we build ourselves. It's much vaster than these caves, and instead of a stony ceiling mere meters up, we have the sky-" (More)
<Erin> "-from which the sun sheds light across the world. The surface refers to the land, as compared to the caves, which are by necessity underneath. Maybe a diagram..." murmurs Erin, withdrawing a notebook and sketching a cross-section of the underground, the surface, and the sky.
<El-Cideon> He watches, looks up at you. "It is difficult to imagine. It may be something I can only see for myself."
<Erin> Erin rubs her head. "I would offer you a chance to visit our world, but I'm sad to say that it is a bad time. Most humans have never seen anything like you, just as you haven't seen us. Unfortunately, I can't say the rest of my species would welcome you so warmly. There's a fear of things that are different..."
<Erin> "...but I can at least promise to bring you some books and references," she adds. "I may be able to arrange something in the future, as well."
<El-Cideon> "I have seen my own at their worst as well. We are equally fortunate in encountering each other rather than some others of our kind, it seems. I would welcome the chance to see new things, though as always I can offer little more than our hospitality."
<El-Cideon> ~