Marching off, they made their way towards Vault City, the notable fortress in the desert standing proudly before them. There was only two entrances from the outside. The external office and the gateway to the city.
Dracos
"Explain it to me ," asks Mei-Ling, of Jan. Here was someone who seemed to have a head on his shoulders.
"Why is opening the tower important, again? So far, the only reason I've managed to discern is 'because Darx wants to'."
Jan waved for Mei-Ling to hang back with him as the group marched ahead of them. He continued in a low voice. "It's basically that, not even I have decided to interfere with that place in all my time here. I wanted him to see it was tightly sealed to dissuade him from constantly tempting fate and running there whenever an opportunity presented itself. There are very dangerous creatures running through there most of the time."
He coughed. "A bit of negative reinforcement, let's say."
The negotiator waved a hand grandly over the fortress as he decided to change the subject before said subject noticed the discussion. "Anyway, you need to go through the office and take an exam if you're going to be allowed into that city, miss."
But what will you do if he finds the star?
"An exam? What's on the exam?" asks Mei-Ling, shrugging. "I can just as easily go to New Reno.."
Jan didn't quite know how to respond to Mei-Ling's quiet question, "I'll have to find it first." He murmured in response.
Shrugging, he continued. "You have the look of a well seasoned traveler. I know Vault City has a lot of tools, maps, and assorted other things that will benefit you. Besides, this area only has the three towns. It's probably best to not ignore one of the three."
"Anyway, the exam is them asking you fairly simply questions about your background. They give you a personality test to make sure you aren't psychotic. And a blood exam if you're *really* odd."
"This is where we part for now," Leets said, watching Jan explaining the to Mei-Ling before breaking off from the group and heading towards the entrance.
"Where are you heading off to, Leets?" Jan questioned the youngest in the group.
"Oh. That shouldn't be too difficult," replies Mei-Ling, nodding. "Hmm. I'll enquire about that now. Perhaps we could meet later... "
She shrugs at that, and heads towards the entrance (coincidentally, after Leets).
"There's a contact here from my employer I need to check on," Leets said.
"If I had known Darx was going to drag us into searching for stars, I wouldn't have invited him along."
"Well then, I have to go to the engineer's guild to ask them some questions. On your way?"
"Yeah, I think it is," Leets answered as they reached the gates. He pulled out his pass and held it out to the guard.
Jan/Leets:
You see the young woman heading off with a starstruck gaze as she explored the nearby stores.
Dracos
Poor Ryder, left out camping once more since she's not welcome in Vault City...
"Damnit, why did I have to tell about spending time in jail..." she mutters unhappily as she sets up "camp."
When Mei-Ling reaches the guard, she faces him, and says, "Ah, sorry, but I don't have a pass. I was told there was an exam one could take to get one?"
Darx smirks, walking up behind Ryda.
"Stuck outside again, girl?"
"You have to go inside for the citizen's pass. We only give day and week passes here. What's your business inside the city?"
Dracos
"Premeptive measure birdbrain... I wasn't about to cause them trouble."
Ryda mentions with more than a little distain in her voice.
"Mind your manners, girl, or I'll take off inside and leave you alone out here."
"Gee, why the concern Darxie?"
"Because I'll need cannon fodder like you once we enter that tower."
"You know, how about you do something smart Darx. Like, I dunno, NOT ENTER THE TOWER. There's a reason that it's all big and demonic and shit... I mean, do you REALLY wanna end up like Farnham?"
"I'm planning to acquire some equipment and supplies," replies Mei-Ling, brushing off a fleck of dust from her kimono. "I'm also interested in doing a little geographical research. A week pass would be sufficient, I think."
"Meh, if to become like Farnham is my fate, so be it. I won't be happy til I discover what is inside that tower."
"A week pass. Any weapons to declare?"
Dracos
Ryda scoffed a bit and went back to putting up her tent.
"You really don't get it... I mean, there are some doors that should not be opened, and that's one of them. If you wanna die so much, then just do it..."
"A tan- er, a knife," replies Mei-Ling, producing a small, beautifully carved sheath, the hilt of the blade seamlessly slipped in at the end.
"I will, once we find that star."
"It will have to be bound. Any usage of weapons within the city by guests or citizens is strictly forbidden."
The man lifted up a device and scanned Mei-ling. "Let's see. No radiation issues. Fifty for the filing fee?"
Dracos
Mei-Ling digs out the requisite amount of cash, presuming she has it.
Checking a few more things and going over various rules, Mei-ling was eventually let into the city.
Dracos
Mei-Ling... looks around?
OOC: Come'on, Drac, my whole character concept is built around seeing new things. >_>
The steel gates hissed open, rolling out of the way as she stepped into... an idyllic paradise. The roads, and there were roads, were made of some kind of stone and kept pretty darn clean. The atmosphere was peaceful, young and old walking around the large, well ordered city of stone and steel buildings. Most were dressed in a kind of blue skintight outfit. The city nearby clearly appeared to be a more business centered area, with plenty of shops around it. Notably, she could see a number of devices that were totally beyond her.
Dracos
Mei-Ling stared.
New Brunswick had hinted at a world populated by very different people than her own, it was true. Sheeted iron used for buildings, and.. lightning used to light dark rooms seemed a novelty.
But a city like this.. Mei-Ling felt she could spend weeks, months, years, here, just.. watching. Learning. *Seeing*.
Out of the question, of course. But it was a nice thought.
A week, here, then, she thought, still kind of blown away by the city before her.
She started to walk down the street, looking in particular for something that look tavern/inn-like; she was very hungry for some *real* food, at this point.
There were dozens of food stores, a few inns.
She even spotted a side shop that seemed to be serving some kind of meat on a bun.
Dracos
The desert soon grew cold for Ryder and Darx outside the walls as night fell.
Dracos
Parting from Leets' company, Jan entered the nearby Guild of Engineers. Waiting in line for a few moments, the negotiator made his way up to the counter and blinked in recognition at the woman from before.
"Work here all the time, eh? I've come to ask if you knew where I can purchase some tools or hire someone to remove a crystal casing from something I've found."
Leets, meanwhile, headed towards the residential area to meet with the contact.
Mei-Ling approached the stand, and looked for a menu or some such.
"Hmm.. please, could I have the.. 'Double De-Luxe with Bacon', please?"
It sounded delicious, for some reason!
Jan:
"Well, what do you need work on?" The young lady asked.
Dracos
Leets:
After a bit, he found the guy, working on loading some stuff into a vehicle.
Dracos
"Sure thing. Would you like fries with that?"
Dracos
It had to be done.
"Sure!" replies Mei-Ling, ever eager to try new things. Did she really *need* to know what she was doing? After all, an experience can only be diluted when you're armed with secondhand knowledge.
A few minutes later the man traded some cash for a steaming 'double deluxe with bacon' with what looked like fried yellow potatos or some such on the side on a platter.
Dracos
Mei-Ling finds a nearby seat, and sits down to both eat and take a look around.
Being out of place was fairly normal for her, but this was the most distant she'd felt yet. Especially with regard to clothing; what everyone was wearing seemed so.. efficient.
Bland.
It was hard to tell people apart. A uniform might be a virtue in an army, or in work, but to the citizens of a city? It seemed a waste of potential colour and creativity.
Not a major concern, maybe, but it told Mei-Ling plenty about the sort of place she was in. Musing on that, she started to chew away at her meal.
It might also say a bit that no one really bothered her while she was eating, except for the occassional odd look.
Dracos
Then again, that wasn't so unusual, either.
Once she finished her meal, she paused to look at the remains of the platter.
"Greasy," she mutters, before standing up to go look for that most exciting of buildings- a library!
It took a while, and eventually using that archaic method involving asking for directions, but soon she found herself in the public library.
Or what they said was it. It seemed to have a distinct lack of books. It did have an old man tending to some kind of reception desk and a few strange machines.
Dracos
"Hello there," Leets greeted the man politely. "You're Mister Wright's contact, aren't you?"
"This is a crystal box I need to have opened somehow." Jan offered the sealed chest to the engineer.
I WILL not gape. I've done enough gaping today.
"Excuse me, but, ah, could you show me where to books are?" asks Mei-Ling of the old man, looking aroudn curiously.
"Books? Another one is it? We don't keep books here. Everything is stored on computer for better preservation."
Dracos
"A what?"
Darx wraps his wings around himself, shivering.
"It's getting a bit chilly out here..."
"Another one? How do you folks even manage to get over here." The man said somewhat exasperatedly.
Dracos
"Hmm..." She tapped it a bit, checking it out. "This may take a couple of weeks. If you want, you could leave it with us."
Dracos
"Is there no other way to get it opened?" Jan asked the engineer.
"Well, we could stick it in front of a cannon and see if that blasts through it?"
Dracos
"Mmm? You've got to work a bit on your subtleness there." He whispered as he glanced around. "What's up?"
Dracos
On the other side of the makeshift camp, Ryda is pretty cold herself. While she could use her plasma to keep herself warm, it would also drain her completely after a while, and that's not something she wants to happen in the desert of all places.
"Achoo!"
Then again... getting sick might not be much better.
Darx looks up at Ryda.
"Didn't expect the temperature to fall this low...how did you survive out here the first time?"
"Why, through the helpful citizenship of this town, of course," replies Mei-Ling, innocently. "I've never met people more willing to help a stranger."
The old man sighed a bit a bit, and began to delve into the basics of what a computer is and how to use it.
A couple of hours later, he left her, a little befuddled but having possibly grasped the basics of these strange mechanical devices, to her research.
Dracos
Re: Darx/Ryder
The temperature, while cold, is not so terrible that it gives them much more than a shiver.
Perhaps though they would be served well to do something besides sit in the desert sands all day.
Dracos
Mei-Ling stares at the screen, pondering over exactly what she wants to attempt to look up.
It *seemed* easy.. after a while. But it wasn't natural. As a tool to store information, Mei-Ling felt it wasn't as accessible as a book, where whatever you needed could be accessed by a turn of a page.
With this thing, there was so much.. clicking, and it felt harder to concentrate.
Not to worry. Mei-Ling starts (attempting) to look up information on local history and geography, discerning whatever she can find about the area.
Starting on local history, she found that from this computer it was mostly secured. What it did tell is about the exodus from the vault in 2038, ressurrecting the city on the surface with the usage of a GeCK (which was a secured link). From there, they had discovered that the geography had been seriously altered from the expected records, as if during the exodus from the underground vault, the world had shifted, changing itself, despite the fact that earlier scanning had shown little sign of this. From here, Vault City had been formed under the leadership of the former vault commander, President Val Sinc (A link here). Vault City has since been expanding and slowly researching this new face of the world. Strangely, they've found a number of smaller and larger cities around that do not appear to be vault oriented.
Dracos
Mei-Ling bravely decides to multitask, and tries opening.. multiple windows.
It was like having a desk, with paper strewn all over it.
She looks up information on this President person, as well as attempting to locate links on the other nearby cities.
Ryder/Darx;
You hear the howl of wolves in the distance.
Dracos
Darx looks towards the sound of the howling and growls.
"Great.....just what we need, wolves."
He looks back to Ryda. "You in fighting condition, girl?"
Nodding as she stands up, Ryda unholsters her gun and twirls it a bit.
"Yeah, I'm ready..."
"Sorry," Leets sheepishly whispered, "Forgot about what this place was like."
"I'm checking up on the boss' intercity businesses while I'm travelling."
In the distance, they could see maybe a half dozen wolves.
Dracos
"Fine, fine. I'll leave it here. I need to check out some things here, so I may as well get myself an extended passport while you work on it. When should I check in on the progress?" Jan asked the engineer.
Darx draws his sword, his devillish grin returning to his face as he unfurls his wings.
"How many do you think you can take, girl?"
Re: Mei-ling
Opening simply the 'nearby' cities bit gave a map of the local area with several names strewn about it, along with zoom in for more detail, divided into quadrants using Vault City as a center.
To the west, there is New Reno, and some scattered forests and villages preceeding a large desert and a larger city on the other side. Continuing west of there is a massive mountain chain, listed as unknown. A bit south of New Reno, New Brunswick can be seen before the map cuts off at a massive 'estimated' area behind a misty barrier.
Continuing around to the south east, running along the misty barrier, there's a large mountain far to the east, with a large city a ways to the north of the mountain.
Moving inland from that point and heading closer to directly east is a series of valleys complete with a large castle and city in the center. Heading further east is another large city alongside an ocean.
Moving towards the north east, there exists a tremendous forest on the map, followed by what seems to be another large city bordering the ocean.
West of this city, nearly straight north is a larger village followed by relatively barren plains before another city is noted along the edge of north ocean.
Notably, the majority of these are unlabeled, as if they had not actually made real contact with the cities to find out. The scales are a bit odd, but the farthest of these could be months of travel by foot.
Val Sinc's profile was fairly...bombastically propagandistic. It detailed her long leadership of the vault and her guidance over the formation of the city. The woman herself was apparently in her late sixties, thin and with a pretty fierce glare if the picture used was any indication.
Dracos
Re: Darx
The wolves slowly started moving in, large with grim purpose as they surrounded the cocky duo.
Dracos
The man checked around surrepticiously and then talked in code, slipping it between casual discussion of life here. Perusing it...
"Things are going slowly, but pretty well. Lots of security around here, but then they're in need of trade as it stands, so they've got room to work with."
Dracos
She quickly created a claim ticket. "Check in every week or two. Shouldn't take too long."
Dracos
Mei-Ling stares at the map for a moment, before heading to the librarian, somewhat sheepishly. "Ah, you wouldn't have any paper and a quill, would you? I'd like to copy down some information.."
Darx quickly moves so his back is facing Ryda's, that way they can each keep an eye out for the first move of the wolves.
He speaks softly. "Wait for them to strike...we can launch our counter afterwards..."
"Quill and pen? You are clueless. Just hit print. You can get it from the printer." He pointed to some strange machine.
Dracos
"Thank you. Have a good day." Jan slipped out of the guild in search of lodgings for the day, rubbing his arms at the sudden chill he felt.
Odd.
Shrugging it off, he decided to change tracks and go to a nearby bar for now. Maybe he could pick up some work while he was here. The whole town seemed vanilla enough that they probably wouldn't need him, though.
Re: Darx
The first wolf rushed Darx, leaping towards him as two came quickly behind from below.
The others swarmed Ryda, hungrily rushing in.
Dracos
"Oh. Um, ok," replies Mei-Ling, rolling her eyes. No tip from *her*.
Though this whole service seemed to be free, which was really quite neat. Musing on that, she hits the print button, then goes to the machine to see what happens.
Walking towards the bar, he noticed the old man, leaning relaxedly against the side of a building, reclining in the sunlight.
Dracos
"Hey, it's you. How are you, old timer?" Jan made the way up to the storyteller.
The old man yawned and blinked. "Oh, what are you doing in Rome at this hour?"
Dracos
A few minutes later, she got the printout of information on the local area, precisely how she'd seen it.
Dracos
Mei-Ling nodded to herself. Whatever magic this was, it was very efficient-and so easy for everyone to use! No wonder this city was so prosperous-looking.
And this must only be the beginning. No doubt the more powerful wizardly types had even more brilliant devices to work with. Could the whole world be like this, or was this only a small part?
Mei-Ling took the copy and headed back to the computer, rapidly entranced once again. This time, she tries to look up reports on the tower, or the mysterious star.
The tower, while clearly listed, had no expanding information on it. It was as if they'd just ignored it. Equally so, the computer didn't even understand the query about the star.
Dracos
Mei-Ling assumes either the information on the tower wasn't supposed to be open to the public (duh), or that they really didn't know anything. Both seemed equally likely.. and it didn't matter, anyway, because she was most assuredly not going near it again.
If she could help it.
Standing up and heading to the librarian again, she decided to try and strike up conversation. "Ano, I'm planning to stay here for a week. You wouldn't know of anywhere that would.. er, give room and board in exchange for a bit of work, would you?"
Darx gives his wings a mighty flap as the wolves rush in, taking off into the air and diving back down, his blade slashing at one of the wolves as pulls back up, continuing his diving attack pattern.
Re: Clyde
Another day at Vault City as he awoke, finished a quick breakfast and headed out to continue his studies at the library, coming across an odd sight, the adventurer Jan was there, outside the library. He hadn't seen him in nearly a month.
Dracos
Clyde pulls up short at the sight of Jan. "Jan? Is that you?"
"Well, if it isn't the professor himself. How are you doing this fine day?" Jan smiled, eyes lit up in recognition as he pulled up short of the time displaced genius.
Clyde broke into a broad smile. "All the better for meeting an old friend, Mr. Smith. How goes the traveling these days?"
"Pretty good, working on solving that little problem with that crystal box I found a few months ago. Right now I keep running into the ol' storyteller from New Brunswick." So saying, he half turned to said old man.
"We aren't in Rome, sir. We're in Vault City." He gently explained.
He leaned close. "You sure? I mean, the streets. They say every street leads to rome and the streets are all clean...mmm, probably for the best though. Those legionaires would get in the way."
Dracos
Leets listened in, mentally noting everything said and filling in proper responses in code.
"I'll be sure the boss gets this full report as soon as possible then."
Re: Darx
The wolf's back tore open bloodly with his sword...and then sealed right back up as it fell, the wolf shaking itself and getting back up as the others leaped at Ryda's back.
Dracos
"If you say so. What brings you here, ol' man?" The negotiator curiously asked the storyteller.
Mei-ling:
"Mmm, wrong place to ask. I don't really know. Could ask at the travelers center or one of the guilds."
Dracos
The man nodded, continuing his work.
"Anything else?"
Dracos
"Mmm. Fair enough. Well, thank you for your help," says Mei-Ling, giving a slight bow and turning around to leave, in search of the travellers centre.
"up to... Up to?"
Mei-ling walked out to see the old man pondering in front of the library, complete with the other out of place companions.
Dracos
"Ah, hello again," says Mei-Ling, brightly. "Isn't this place fantastic? I was just in the library, but they don't even use books! You just.. find what you need on the.. computer.. and print it off! It's brilliant!"
"No, thank you for taking time from your job."
Leets shook the man's hand in thanks and headed towards the business area to resupply.
"And what'd you find, clever girl?" The old man asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
Dracos
"A map, for one thing," replies Mei-Ling, thinking. "And, oh, this and that. But.. no wonder this place is so prosperous," she muses, aloud. "I wonder what the other cities on the map are like?"
"There's no other towns. Just these three ones." Jan casually responded.
"My map disagrees," replies Mei-Ling, fishing it out. "If it's wrong, I'll be sure to correct it."
"It might be right for all we know. But there's something that map doesn't have charted out. A giant wall of mist that keeps this section of the Wasteland sealed away for all we know." Jan frowned in a connection made itself in his mind's eye. "Probably because of that Tower?"
"No, that's not true," replies Mei-Ling, showing Jan the map (http://www.soulriders.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1994&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=73). "See, they've marked an estimated misty portion, but there's plenty left open."
"It's just an estimated area beyond that veil of mist. We definately know about the mountain range that runs along the barrier, but beyond that we just don't know enough."
Mei-Ling muses over this.
"What happens if you try to cross the mist?"
"No one's tried it that I've heard of. This city's high end equipment allows them to map it out, but we don't know what could be in that thick mist. Demons and vicious mutants and who knows what else are lurking in there."
"And nobody really knows what causes the mist," finishes Mei-Ling, thinking. "I see... there must be some way to cross it, if not raise it. I wonder.."
She gives a small shrug. "It bears thinking on. Hmm. What were your plans for now?"
"We'll figure it out over lunch. I'm hungry. Let's go to a bar and grill or something." Jan led the group off for lunch stuff.
"Lunch sounds excellent. You know, I know a good tale of a lunch." The old man yammered a bit as they walked, arriving at a semi fancy fajita joint.
Dracos
Darx gasps in shock as the wolf heals up, but quickly heads back into the heat of battle, swinging away at the ones attacking Ryda.
"There's a side benefit to travelling all over the world," announces Mei-Ling. "You get to taste a million different kinds of food."
Ryda doesn't need much help herself, as she quickly teleports out of the way of a lunging wolf.
She reappears on the other side of the pack and fires off as many stun bullets as possible.
"Darx, I need to be airborne if I'm gonna load this thing with the good stuff!"
"Gnn, alright!"
He sheathes his sword and quickly swoops down, grabbing Ryda from behind. He flaps his wings hard, trying to quickly rise away from the wolves.
As soon as Darx lifts her high enough to be out of the range of the wolves, Ryda closes her eyes.
"If I get a little hot, it's normal..."
And with that she holds her gun out at a 90 degree angle, it glowing an erethreal white as plasma slowly pours into the gun.
The wolves circled them, separate and apart, but ready to leap should they land.
Dracos
"Gn...damnit....hurry girl, you're slipping! I can't hold on much longer!"
"I'm hurrying... this shit takes time birdbrain."
The Firestorm pulses 3 times with it's white glow.
"OK... I'm loaded, give me a plan."
"Plan? Why do you need that? Just blast the damn things!"
"Whatever..."
Ryda then grins and teleports right out of Darx's grasp...
... and she reappears on the ground behind the wolves and fires off a bullet right at one of the wolves' heads. The kickback sends her flying backwards like usual though...
Darx just floats there, watching.
"Idiot..."
Into a pair of other wolves who quickly clawed at her, tearing painfully into her skin.
Dracos
"Indeed!" The old man sat down, the group circled around a table with fajitas at the moment.
Dracos
"Damnit!"
Darx swoops down, his blade lashing out at the wolves.
"Get off her, damnit!"
"Ahh, Mexican cuisine. It's been quite a long time since I've had the chance to sample this," Clyde replies with a smile. "Before the war, actually - commerce between Pennsylvania and the Southwestern regions was far from simple."
He seats himself at the table, looking up at Mei-ling. "Have you had an opportunity to sample many different cuisines yourself, young lady?"
"Mmm," replies Mei-Ling, nodding. "Eating a local special, I've found, is a little like.. gambling.
I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself," she adds, with a start. "I am Mei-Ling, and you are..."
Clyde doffs his hat to the young woman. "Professor Clyde Hornsby, at your service," he replies with a smile. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Mei-Ling. I assume you're travelling with Jan?"
Leets:
Your purse lighter, you find yourself now in possession of a few weeks fresh supply.
Dracos
"It's more that we happen to be travelling in the same direction," replies Mei-Ling, with a smile. "Not that I don't enjoy your company," she adds, hurriedly.
"And next on the agenda is..."
Leets pondered as he continued following the path, before deciding on researching their next move.
"To the library then."
The old man laughed. "Isn't that what we are all doing...now, let's see...I had a name once. It was a good one...what was it though... Mmm..." He seemed to be pondering hard.
Dracos
Leets:
Leets arrived at the library without trouble. The place peaceful and, in fact, rather empty at this time, only a young girl reading in a corner and the old maintainer around.
Dracos
Mei-Ling chuckles. "What are names here, Old One? If you can't remember, or do not like your old, cast it aside, and take up a new one!
I doubt that figures from the past will come to call.. no, coming into this world, it is to be born again."
She sounds positively thrilled at that.
"To one who wanders seeking absolution, it is true that here one may find it...but perhaps, young one, this is not what you seek." The old man pondered back.
Dracos
"I have kept my name," replies Mei-Ling. "As ever, all I seek is knowledge. And this world is full of it.. full of knowledge that I doubt I would ever find in my own."
"What I just want to find what is inside that damned crystal box so I can move on with my life." Jan grumbled as he leaned away from the table.
"Crystal box?" Jan was made aware that not all those present had seen or heard what he was talking of.
Dracos
"Pet project of mine. I'm trying to crack open a crystal shell over this treasure box."
Leets approached the old man and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, sir?" he quietly prodded, while gazing at the sterile surroundings. "These computers are free to visitors, right?"
"Interesting." The old man murmured. "Not a common seal."
Dracos
"I didn't find it in a very tourist friendly place. That box was back in the wolf village. I want to know what it was they were protecting so desperately."
"Mmm, that one..." he seemed to ponder for a moment, letting the others talk.
Dracos
"Yes, the computers here are free for public usage," Clyde commented, keeping an ear in the old man's direction. While he'd like to get a look at the box himself, if the old fellow had any better ideas it would be best to leave it to him first.
"Mmm. The public works here are better than anywhere I've been before," replies Mei-Ling, likewise keeping an ear to the old man.
"How do you plan to break the seal? I would imagine that breaking crystal would be an easy task for the people here..."
The old man murmured 'perhaps it is time' under his breath, barely audibly.
Dracos
Leets:
The old man nodded. "That's right."
Dracos
"And I can find just about any subject on these? Like, say, history? Or mythology?"
"The engineers here are using their machines as we speak to break the seal on that chest. Shouldn't take more than a week or so. Until then, I'm going to stay here."
Leets:
"Yes. Just look it up." The old man nodded, telling him.
Dracos
"Thank you."
Leets approached the nearest terminal, looking over what was working.
"You must stop by and say hello, then," Clyde said. "While my time spent here has been far from fruitless in the way of learning, company has been minimal at best. I should like to have a time to sit down and hear more of what you've been doing when we have more time."
Leets:
It shows a search prompt. Simple enough to understand.
Dracos
Leets began a search for some of the known oddities repeating in Wasteland, as well as the time frame between each occurance.
Leets explored for a bit in the database, finding the tale Mei-ling had discovered earlier of the emerging from the vault. When he continued on, searching for myths, he discovered plentiful legends... all familiar to him though, as they stemmed from cultures of his own world.
Dracos
"Guess their library isn't as extensive as they advertise," Leets muttered, checking to see if he could search for images.
Searching around some more, he found a distinct lack of useful images of the type he was looking for. He did find a new overview of the tower, but it looked like the kind of stuff a mapmaker would use rather than a legend bit.
Dracos
Leets sighed, and printed what little he found useful. He soon left the library and went in search of the others.
Finding them, they managed to secure lodgings, trading tales of their adventures or lackthereof for the next several days before...
"There's a message for a Mr. Jan here?"
Dracos
"Yes, what can I help you with?" Jan responded easily enough, hand reflexively straying to where he used to keep his revolver. He winced as he managed to stop himself before it became obvious.
Bad habit he had developed as of yet.
"The engineering guild summons you." The messanger responded. "Do you need directions?"
Dracos
"Yes, that would be nice." The old man coming behind them stated, as the group was lead to the engineering guild into a tech room and behind a shield where they could see, through the transparent shield, the box, almost broken open, held up in a metal support. The old man seemed a bit grim watching.
OOC:
Posting delays will be rectified.
Mei-Ling, having followed along with Jan (hey, nothing better to do), looks around at all the equipment, highly interested.
The gravity of the situation prevents her from asking many questions, save one- "Is that the box, Jan? Hmm. What did you find?"
"That's what we're going to find out in a moment," Leets said, watching the box intently.
The box was blasted again, splitting open to reveal...
A floating creature? It was small, with a giddy face and wings that shouldn't have supported it, but did. There was a hint, more than one, of magic floating around it as it yawned. "That time already?"
Dracos
Mei-Ling squints at the.. creature. "Time? Time for what?" she mouths.
Just when you think you've seen it all...
The creature was promptly in front of her. "To wake me up silly. Are they always this slow?"
Notably, the whole set of barriers between them and it didn't seem to mean much as it now floated on their side of the protective barriers.
Dracos
Leets recoiled back when the creature seemed to have teleported out of the barrier to hover before them.
"Wha... who are you supposed to be?"
Then the creature's words sunk in, raising an additional question.
"And wake you up for what?"
"I'm Yomi." He answered, a matterafactly.
"And you opened Pandora's box."
Dracos
"What?!" Jan's eyes widened as he stared at the creature in dull shock, the name instantly ringing alarms in his head as the wolves' vicious defense of the crystal box suddenly became clear.
"No way, how can Pandora's Box have arrived here, that thing is nothing but a fairy tale!"
"I assure you I'm quite real." Yomi chittered amusedly, apparently undisturbed.
Dracos
"So are you the great evils locked away?" Leets questioned suspiciously, a cautious glint in his eyes as he watched the creature.
"You certainly aren't what I'm expecting Hope to look like."
Forcibly maintaining a hold on the situation, he fired off. "If you're hope, no wonder the world was destroyed ten times over."
"Great Evils? Hope? You humans come up with such amusing myths. I was once the guardian of the weapons of the hero, but his time has come and gone, though his spirit wanders still. Needless to say, all that occupies the box today is me. Yomi."
Dracos
"Well, there has to be something extraordinarily special about you if you were sealed away, and guarded to the death by an entire village." Jan smoothly responded.
"Probably because I know too much." He yammered. "They put me back down in that hole did they? Figures he would. No appreciation, nope nope."
Dracos
"But everything was said and done, wasn't it? If the hero is gone, he must've gotten rid of the evil, right?"
"Yes, he did... slew it and buried it deep within the darkness. Yet..." the creature seemed puzzled.
"Why would people be so anxious to find where you were sealed if things had come to a head?" Jan suggested.
"Anxious? I know not of this, or what has passed since I was gone. At least not yet." His voice was playful.
Dracos
"Hm..." Jan eyed the creature dubiously. "I suppose we should just seal you away again, then."
"hey now, that's not very nice. You should be more polite to your betters. And you wouldn't have even gotten me out of there if you weren't on a quest of merit. Strange though, this world is. I wouldn't have thought a place like this could exist on top of the grave."
Dracos
Jan blinked, "On top of a grave? Wait, are you talking about that demon?" He decided to ask about that quest of merit later.
"Demon? How rude. I'm not a demon. I'm Yomi." He seemed positively insulted.
Dracos
"Man, now I know why I didn't like old myths when I'm a kid." Jan rubbed at his eyes.
"Okay, let's get this clear. You mentioned the world as a whole and how strange, then you said 'on top of a grave', when you had previously mentioned your former owner or whatever killing a great demon and casting them down into the earth below. Therefore, I ask if you were talking about that demon."
He sighed. "I wasn't insulting you." The negotiator peered at the weird little creature closely. "You kinda look it, though." Jan fired off partingly.
"I look as all did at first...and will likely at the end. Before any changes, before any growth, before the even the concept of man, I was there. I was how all was. I predicted, around the time of the hero, that man would come again to be like me, but this hasn't happened yet and may not for millenia to come." He responded.
"And...you don't know? You can't feel it?" He asked, seemingly honestly confused at this.
Dracos
"Can't say I feel anything at the moment, no. Earlier I had felt something foreboding in the air, but not anymore. What are you feeling?" Jan wisely decided to lay off sniping at the odd little creature for now, feeling that mocking it so much within such a short timeframe would anger it.
"All I feel is unease," chimes in Mei-Ling. "Unease.. and magic. The creature is not lying, Jan. It is truly very old.
Old, and portentious."
"Ah, at least one of you isn't blind, I suppose. This place. It sits atop the grave of the one the hero fought long ago." It said matter of factly.
Dracos
"A tomb?" asks Mei-Ling, curiously. "Or a mere grave? How large is it?
I will ascertain the truth of this."
Yomi laughed. "You misunderstand. How big? This entire land sits upon it. Everything. It surrounds the void left behind when the dark one was slain."
Dracos
"Well, the demon is gone, so there's no real big deal. It probably explains why everything got drawn here when worlds are destroyed, though."
"The demon...should be gone." Yomi agreed. "But...this is strange. I sense the towers... they too, should be gone."
Dracos
"The towers? You know what they are?" asks Mei-Ling. "What.. why are they so full of darkness? Who built them?
What.. are they?"
She folds her hands, looking rather pained at the memory.
"So that Tower is connected to the demon? A pathway to it, maybe?" Jan added on. "A explorer I know went in there once, was driven mad by the sights of it. Claims that demons were inside..."
Yomi looked agitated a bit, its wings fluttering as it looked at them.
"Mmm...to understand them...one must understand a bit of the dark one, for in a way, they are manifestations of its will. Long ago, there was a world, barren save for two beings which strived over it. One of light and one of darkness. Both of them, in passing, used the same weapons in their battle...change and souls. The hero of legend was a soul that could not be directly influenced. He could be manipulated, tricked, but he could not simply be willed into something by either spirit. When the hero came into existence, they fought over it, the dark one eventually grabbing part of it and yanking it down into its realm. The spirit of light, worried over the world, willed it into hibernation, seeking that even if the dark one was to corrupt the hero, that the world would be safe. So, the dark one created a mirror of the world and...the towers. The towers were tools of change created by it for use by the hero, so that the hibernation of the world could be undone as it wished without the spirit of light being able to block it. In other words, they were tools of change that shouldn't exist with the dark one gone."
Dracos
"Light, huh," murmurs Mei-Ling.
"Darkness is a static state. Whereas Darkness is the absence of Light, Light is not the absence of Darkness. It is just something that.. covers it up. Pushes it back for a time. You need to create light, but without work, it fades...
And if these towers are manifestations of darkness.. and your story is true.. then it stands to reason that both entites are still active. In some form."
"Hold on a minute," Leets interupted Mei-ling's ponderings.
"You keep talking about the Towers in plural, but there's only been one found so far. Now if what you say is true and these things are important, then where would the other Towers be?"
"Probably past the veil of mists near the mountains." Jan chimed in, sighing a moment after.
"Ugh, I can't believe I'm actually letting myself be dragged in this. Bad enough I made an enemy out of those spectral wolves." He looked around with a sigh.
"At any rate, we need to get out of here. I think the engineers might freak out if they found out Mr. Demon Alien Thingy here was hanging around their utopia."
"I don't know." Yomi answered.
Jan was quite correct as they could hear alarms ringing behind them, a few investigators in protective suits heading in.
Dracos
"Is Pandora's Box important for anything, now? I'll have to rush in and grab it for you if it is." Jan began hustling everyone out of the room even as he quickly spoke to Yomi.
"Well, it is kind of my home." Yomi responded indignantly.
Dracos
"Fine, stay out of sight while I try and get it back."
It frowned...and vanished as the inspectors stared. "Are you all right?"
Dracos
"Yes. What was *that* all about?" Jan asked the men as he mimicked an expression of shock on his features. "Felt like the whole place was about to come down!"
"We're still not sure. Something broke out of there, but we couldn't tell what it was. It blasted most of our sensors."
Dracos
"Is there anything we can do to help the guild along?"
"Not that I can think of, though we'd prefer if you stuck around. Where'd you get such a thing anyhow?"
Dracos
"Out in the wastelands on a trip a month ago. Would you terribly mind if I could take it back?"
"Well..." They looked a little hesistant. "It really would be best if we could keep it here for study..." They protested weakly.
Dracos
"But if it's mine, and I'll be staying nearby anyway, there's no harm if I kept it, right? I have been anxious to see it up close all this while." He reasonably stated.
"Well..."
They frowned.
"I guess that works."
They lead the group into the secured area, bringing out the box and handing it to Jan.
Dracos
Shortly afterwards, the group managed to make its way outside, after having a promise extricated from it to stay in the city for a bit.
They did, however, manage to keep the box.
Now where'd yomi head off to though?
Dracos
Well, it had said that the box was its home...
Jan opened the box and peered inside.
And was promptly sucked inside, the box floating there as the others looked on.
Dracos
Clyde did a doubletake as Jan was apparently ingested by the small box.
"What in God's name just happened?"
Leets boggled, staring at the spot where Jan was before and the box floating in the air.
His first impulse was to demand What just happened!?, but since Hornsby had just asked that, he nervously asked instead:
"Why couldn't Darx be here to volunteer to look in the man-eating box?"
Inside...
Jan found himself floating a bit above the floor in a fine british study.
Yomi appeared before him. "Need me already?"
Dracos
"What the *heck* is going on here?!" Jan demanded, trying to keep his tie from floating in front of his face as he faced down the demon...alien...thing.
"Well, this is my home, of course." It responded matter of factly. "You came here."
Dracos
"Well, how do I get out? This isn't the time to chew the fat, considering I was just outside of the Guild when I checked this box."
"oh, just ask silly."
Suddenly Jan found himself standing outside the box, the others looking on in shock.
Dracos
"Well...that was surreal." Jan tugged his tie back into its proper place as he snatched the box out of mid-air and walked past the others. "C'mon, I need a drink."
"Did you meet that creature again?" asks Mei-Ling, peering at the box. "What was it like inside?"
"Yeah, he told me how to get out of the box after I was drawn in. It was really a home, like Yomi said. Has rather tasteful furniture, if I do say so myself." Jan commented. "I figure the fatal flaw is that the box stays floating outside if someone goes inside, leaving it unguarded."
"So it makes sense to have companions around to guard it," muses Mei-Ling. "How intriguing. The thing is, can people move or damage it whilst it's floating? We were so surprised, we didn't try."
"Don't know. We can always ask Yomi later, I suppose."
Mei-Ling nods. "We should speak with him again," she says. "Somewhere more private, perhaps."
"I really hope they aren't paranoid enough to bug our rooms though," Leets muttered as the group headed back to the hotel.
Once there, Leets glanced at Jan and suggested they go to Jan's room as "I doubt they'd trust me enough not to have surveilance on my room."
After getting through the paranoia, the team got set up in a room, the box on a table for all to gaze at and discuss.
Or eat. If that was their way.
Dracos
"Can you come out?" asks Mei-Ling of the box, feeling a little silly.
Nothing happened.
Dracos
Her feeling is justified!
"Well. If he won't come to us, we should go to him," she says, inspecting the box. "So..."
She opens the lid, and looks inside. "You did it like this, right?"
And similarly was Mei-ling sucked into the box.
Dracos
Mei-Ling looks around, trying to get her bearings, and in particular look for a sign of Yomi.
"How does that feel anyway?" Leets asked, looking at Jan curiously.
As those outside talk, Mei-ling finds herself floating in a british styled study, a bit above the floor.
"More guests? Oh the sensitive one." Turning, somehow, towards the voice, she saw Yomi floating there.
Dracos
"Hm. For what it looks like, it's remarkably tame. Just a sensation like chills up your spine." Jan responded, casually offering Leets a cup of coffee as they waited.
"She'll bring Yomi out, most likely."
"No thanks," Leets said, keeping an eye on the box with some interest.
"It's decorated like a British home. Anyway, we should go follow. I figure that's the most private place to hold a conversation in." Jan peeked into Pandora's Box as well.
"Sensitive? If you say so," replies Mei-Ling, wandering to one of the bookshelves of the study and looking at the covers.
Leets blinked, then followed after Jan was pulled in.
Dozens of odd books, mostly in languages she didn't recognize.
"More guests I see." Yomi commented, a moment before Jan appeared floating about in the same room. Leets appeared a moment after that, right beside him.
"Going to crowd my little study?"
Dracos
"Hey there, you little winged ball of primordialness you." Jan easily greeted as he took a few steps towards the center of the room. "Anyway, this is the perfect place to talk about things, I figured."
"Things?" It said amused. "Why not?" It waited patiently.
Dracos
"Like exactly what's inside that tower," adds Mei-Ling, picking out one of the books in a langauge she *can* read.
Mei-ling finds herself holding "The art of sewing"
Dracos
"And maybe what help you can give us if we have to go inside said Towers?" Leets added, glancing around the room in further study of what else was in there besides books.
Clyde took a deep breath and took a look inside the box.
"The towers..." The creature seemed to ponder.
"Well, the towers originally were only open to the hero... I don't see...mm, maybe if you had one of the starstones, you could get into one. There were five of them, as I recall."
Clyde appeared just in time to hear "Five of them, as I recall."
Dracos
Ryder:
The mists cleared from your mind as you awoke in the desert in a cold sweat, a vague memory of Darx saying he was heading off to explore a couple days ago. All you can remember at the moment though was that vivid dream of the wolves, chasing, hunting, tearing at you.
Dracos
Clyde approached the rest of the group, deciding not to interrupt for the full story until later.
"A starstone? What's that?" asks Mei-Ling, putting the book on sewing back and looking for something more interesting.
Panting heavily, Ryder looks around for signs that the incredibly realistic dream was just that.
"Shit... that scared the fuck out of me..."
"Well, therein lies a tale. I don't believe anyone has ever asked me where they came from. No one is ever really curious." He seemed to smile at that. "Lightside and Darkside have warred for many ages, and at one time they did so also in physical terms, tearing the land beneath them. Oceans were formed, mountains smashed flat, the land sliced open down the center, deserts left behind where once life did flourish. One of these places was a desert that came to be known as the graveyard of time. Here, the dark one dealt a blow to lightside that for a moment drove it back, sheding five drops of blood. These drops crystalized the moment they struck the air, forming...the starstones. These jewels bore great power, and in a way were a symbol of the hero, for much power could be called when they were brought together in that same graveyard."
Dracos
The desert winds blew cooly in the early morning around her. The Vault City walls nearby, with her camping in the shadow of it pretty much.
Dracos
"Would one of these starstones look something..."
Leets grabbed a scrap of paper, doing a rough sketch of the object he seen weeks ago.
"...like this?" he asked, holding up the drawing to Yomi.
"Glimmering like the sun a bit? Yeah, that'd be it."
Dracos
Ryda smiled as it seemed that her dream was just that, a dream. Unfortunately for her, this meant that she was still stuck in one hell of a dilemia. Thanks to her silly mouth and her need to brag to Darx about SOMETHING, she had gotten herself permanently kicked out of Vault City, which is where everyone else in the party just happened to be.
"Fuck..."
They couldn't be too much longer in the city... could they?
"I've seen that stone before, like I've mentioned to Clyde before. When my world went kaput, I saw a lion carrying it."
"These stones get around a bit, don't they?" says Mei-Ling, turning to have a look at Leets' drawing.
Ryder:
It was kind of boring out here. The size of the city pretty much ensured all the minor dangerous creatures stayed away. Safe, but not particularly a good place to hang out.
Dracos
"Hmm? Oh yes, now I recall," Clyde commented. "I remember it being an odd coincidence because of the lion carving I received on my way here."
"Considering everything that's happened so far, I think it just isn't coincedence anymore."
Sighing at the calm, Ryda reaches to her right and grabs her guitar.
Now, at most times, this could be considered a bad thing. When weilding this guitar, Ryda's been known to kill, maim, destroy, and possibly even kill. It's a weapon, and that's just how it's previous owner intended it to be.
However, in this case, it's probably a good thing that she has it. Music calms the soul, and keeps one's mind busy.
Or, it can be used to play angsty music about not knowing who you are. Either way, it's beautiful and haunting, especially since Ryda's singing voice is quite good, despite her assertions to the contrary.
"At least a lion is relatively safer to get the starstone from," Leets sighed, placing the sketch down.
"This little gem was being worn by New Reno's crime boss."
"And he has top of the line assasins slash bodyguards with him at all times."
"Tough, Tough." Yomi answered.
Notably, the old man hadn't joined them in the box yet, staying outside.
Dracos
"Perhaps he would be willing to trade it?" muses Mei-Ling.
"That's only two we have confirmed so far. We still should find the other three."
"Hm. I wonder why the old storyteller hasn't joined us yet?"
"I guess I'll go check."
Leets glanced around curiously. "How do we get out of this thing?"
"Eh. It can wait. What I want to know right now is what those starstones could do for *us*." He turned pointedly towards Yomi.
"Mmm...besides open the doors to the towers, potentially, you mean?" Yomi answered.
Dracos
"Yes. Besides, if those things are shut, who are we to open them?"
"Well, for one... someone is using them certainly. They're not inert. They are, in a way...weapons for good or for ill. The use of one could restore and heal the land around. Or it could tear it to shreds, dragging it down into the depths."
Dracos
"Hold on, did that old man ever mention if he had a starstone?" Leets asked Jan.
"Uh. Not that I recall. Why do you ask?"
"Well, he claimed to have gone inside before, didn't he?" Leets pointed out.
"So that means either he has a starstone, used to have a starstone, or knew someone that had one, doesn't it?"
"Hm. A valid point." Jan agreed with Leets. "We'll ask him in a bit, first I want to explore around this place a bit, if it's alright with you, Yomi? Is there anything here that might help us out?"
Mei-Ling nods at that, and glances around the study to see if there's anything more to this place.
"Here that can help you out? Mmm... I suppose you could borrow one or two of the sticks he left here. But other than that... just me and my books." Yomi responded.
Mei-ling saw a few doors to the room.
Dracos
Mei-Ling opens a door at random, and has a look inside. "I don't suppose you have any pertinent books?" she asks, as she peers around.
"pertinent to what?" It asked amused.
Inside she found a pantry. Filled with lots and lots of food apparently.
Dracos
"Our situation," replies Mei-Ling, trying one of the other doors.
"None as good as me, I supose."
Opening another, she found an entryway to ...an armory? Well there certainly was a lot of spears here.
Dracos
Mei-Ling glances over the racks of spears, shaking her head. "Why did he have so many?" she asks, walking through the armoury, doing a mental count of the weapons.
"He was a warrior, and a warrior can never have enough weapons lying about." Jan explained as he turned to look at Yomi curiously.
"I have a question, if what you say is true about this world being on top of the demon's grave, do you think it was its fault that we all wound up
here?"
"Mm...it could be. It would provide sort of a void... Random junk could end up drifting and getting stuck against it."
Dracos
"Well this piece of junk is wondering if this demon has an unhealthy obsession with Chickens," Leets muttered, going through the books for anything of interest.
Perhaps a history book or journal belonging to the Hero.
"Chickens...well, the hero liked to throw them...other than that I don't know."
Dracos
"Hm. Do you think you could use the starstone to bring some semblance of life to this world? Or would it take all of them to do that?"
"Mmm...to bring life to a portion of it... a tower could do it. The starstone could be used as a key and the devices at the top of the towers could stabilize the surrounding area."
Dracos
Leets:
He couldn't find any of those...among the books he could read. There were really a lot of languages represented here, so it is very likely such a book existed among them.
Dracos
"Hm. Interesting. I wonder how much I could get for a job like that."
Leets picked out a book at random, skimming through it to see if it had anything that correlated with the stuff he and Mei-ling had collected in the Libraries so far.
Yomi laughed.
Leets found that the Koran in the original Arabic was a very pretty book.
Dracos
Leets replaced the book and turned to Yomi.
"Say, can you tell us a bit of what you and the Hero did back in the day? Anything at all?" he asked amiably. "It might help us out if we go with this 'resurrecting the towers' plan."
"Me? I mostly hung out, answered questions, organized the stack of blades. That sort of thing. He went out adventuring, healing the world and such. By the time I met him he pretty much had his shtick down. See, he'd been working with my own dark clone for a while."
Dracos
"What about the hero then? What were some of the things he did to heal the world?"
"He used the towers and then proceeded to drive off the demons that were feeding on the world. Though...there's something different about this one. Almost...dreamlike."
Dracos
"Hm. And what's this about dark clones? The demon could make dopplegangers?"
"oh quite. It was very powerful. It created a whole copy of the entire village where the legendary weapons were stored. Myself included. All to guide the hero to its whims."
Dracos
"...and you're certain it's dead, right?"
"If so, then what else could be raising the towers?" Leets edged a bit closer to the armory, tempted to borrow a something if there was something worse out there.
"Legendary weapons, huh," mutters Mei-Ling, trying to sense if any of these spears were magical.
"Well that's just it...only it can."
Dracos
A detect magic spell quickly determined the whole place was magical, including a few of the spears.
Dracos
Mei-Ling starts to inspect the magical spears, trying to either get some hold of how they are enchanted, or at least mentally catalogue them. Not that she expects to take one, herself.. but her friends might.
"So then, logically, if nothing else CAN raise the towers, then it must be the demon," Clyde said. "Now, whether it's doing so consciously or involuntarily is probably not something we could answer at this point, but if we're going to be investigating these towers, ascertaining that distinction may become very important.
"It basically comes down to: are we taking advantage of a fortuitous situation, or playing into some sort of larger scheme with results we may not be entirely comfortable with?"
"The problem is, either way, there doesn't seem much we can do about it," replies Mei-Ling, thoughtfully. "Any steps we take are fundamentally part of an information-gathering exercise. Events that we trigger due to our actions should more be considered side-effects, until we're sure of what we're doing."
There's quite a few. Several enchanted to increase combat prowess, some with various elemental enchantments and even one or two with the power to slay the dead.
She also detects something powerful in Leets bag.
Dracos
"Anyway, let's wrap up here soon. I want to go talk to the old man about what he knows about the starstones, and whether or not I can get Vault City to fund this little adventure for me." Jan made his way past the others that were checking out the armory in favor of the books. He wondered if there was anything in the books about earth elementals and the like.
Maybe he could find out what could take down those damn ghost wolves.
"A number of these spears are enchanted," comments Mei-Ling, hefting one in particular- not a spear at all, but a long, brown staff, skillfully carved. "This one, for instance, is attuned to the elemental sphere of Earth.
There are others with elemental powers, too- fire, ice, and thunder.. as well as some capable of slaying the walking dead, and others with more.. general enchantments.
I can point them out to you, if you wish..."
She leaves the armoury, but glances at Leets for a moment. "Um, were you aware that there's something.. potent in your bag?"
"Hm?" Leets blinked, glancing at the aforementioned bag curiously. "What do you mean 'potent'?"
He opened his bag, ruffling the stuff inside curiously. The others saw a cache of food, medical supplies, clothing, a pair of handguns, and the hilt of his sword.
Mei-Ling looks with some distaste at the sword, but points it out, anyway. "You don't know? The sword you have is also enchanted," she says, inspecting it.
Leets stared flatly at Mei-ling for her comment.
"I may be a recent believer in magic," he said, pulling the scabbard out of the bag and regarding it closely. "Doesn't mean I can sense it."
"In any case, what's so special about this sword?"
Finding nothing that he could understand, Jan poked Yomi. "The others seem busy, tell them I'm going out to get Ryder. He should be here for all this."
So saying, he vanished to the outside world to gather the rest of the group.
"It is a divine blade," replies Mei-Ling, musing. "I believed that if you had used the weapon, you would have seen it's effects, but I am mistaken. Most of the blades magic will only come into effect against.. profane foes, perhaps?
It is wrapped in protective magic, as well. Quite a prize. Where did you find it?"
Jan:
You are standing by the box in the hotel room now.
The old man smiled. "Welcome back."
Dracos
"I found it when I first arrived, half buried by the desert sands."
"And half stabbed in some poor bloke's mummified remains," Leets coughed, looking at the blade with new appreciation. "Haven't used it since it's been undergoing repairs for the last few weeks."
Mei-Ling frowns at that. "Magical blades do not generally require repairs," she comments. "How.. mysterious."
On a whim, she heads to the library again and looks for a book about weapons. Even if she can't read it, maybe it'll have pictures!
"Why didn't you join us in there?" Jan asked as he snatched the box out of mid-air. "The others are in there talking about some kind of demon grave and other topics that would interest you."
He raised an eyebrow. "We found out something interesting about you too. It seems not many are allowed into the towers without a starstone."
Mei-ling found some information about the spears, or at least pictures of them in some odd language.
Dracos
"Can you translate this?" she asks Yomi, showing him the book.
"I try to stay out of things that suck you in. Bad for the back, you know." He responded. "Mmm, starstones you say..." He pondered, as if trying to remember. "I knew a story about starstones once."
Dracos
"Bah. The boring notes on those old sticks?" It responded.
Dracos
"Well, it was rusted beyond use. Unless I was planning on clubbing monsters to death."
"Don't suppose you might recognize this?" Leets asked as he glanced at Yomi.
"Tell it to me on the way, sir. We need to pick up another friend at the gates of town." Jan lead the way out. They finally had a way to keep Ryder close at hand that wasn't risky.
Imagine that.
They reached the gates with no trouble, slipping out of the city where they spotted Ryder playing her guitar.
Dracos
"Ryder! Where's Darx?" Jan walked up to the slightly odd member of the group. Then again, due to recent arrivals, she wasn't nearly that bad at all.
"Yes," replies Mei-Ling, flatly.
"He went off exploring somewhere or another... told him not to go, but he was his usual self." Ryda mentioned softly while she continues to strum a bit on the bass.
And so progressed a long explanation of spears and such, putting most of them quite to sleep.
Leets then got a chance to reask his question.
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"Well...damn. Just when we had discovered something important." Jan sighed. "At any rate, we found a magical artifact that'll let us get you or anyone else in and out of places easily."
Lifting up Pandora's Box, he continued. "It draws you into another world. Everyone else in the group is in there already."
Leets yawned, stretching a kink out of his neck from the long explaination.
"So, I ask again. Can you please tell me anything about this sword, Yomi?"
Ryda stops playing in mid-note.
"Jan, you're telling me that that tiny little box is a gateway to another world where we can go to hide?"
"That's about the right of it." The old man chimed in.
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"That...I don't know about. It is quite powerful though."
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Ryda smirks a bit and plays the last note of the song she was about to finish anyway.
"Alright then... help me pack up this camp and we'll head off to Narnia then."
"Narnia? What's that reference about?" Jan curiously asked as he helped Ryder gather everything up. "At least we won't ever have to worry about physically lugging our stuff anymore."
When they were done, they dropped the stuff into the box. "You want to join them? I'm going to start towards New Reno with the old timer. When we're done, you can boot someone else out to take my turn."
"Meh... I probably missed alot. But then again, I don't trust any of them to give as accurate a story as you." Ryda mentions as she finishes up her end of the camp.
"Oh, and Narnia is this book series I think I read..." Ryda answers.
"Well, thanks anyway. Guess I'll have to find out about this thing elsewhere."
"I'll explain on the way, then. C'mon." So saying, Jan dropped their packs in the box and started leading the way onwards.
Ryda shrugged as usual, slung her guitar over her shoulder, and marched on next to Jan.
"So, what did I miss while I dealt with severe boredom?"
"I think that's all I can ask for now. Thank you for all the help, Yomi."
"So, can I please leave?" he asked politely, bracing himself for the sudden shift.
"Sure," Yomi responded, Leets finding himself standing beside the two next to the box.
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