Soulriders 5.0: Legend of the Unending Games

[21:54] <Dracos> And so a month passed in training, the team honing their skills after their rough fight with the god Origin.... but soon they felt it was time to move on, and so they gathered once more at the inn.
[22:05] <Jan> "Hm. Cid managed to patch up the car somewhat so we're good to go, I say."
[22:09] <Dracos> "Where are we headed from here? We should probably get back on the trail of the oracle's prophecy,' Fizban suggested.
[22:10] <Leets> "You mean those mountains? What's along the way to there?" Leets asked, glancing to Fizban's bag of maps.
[22:13] <Jan> "The gravesite where we can get that whistle to calm the spectral wolves."
[22:14] <Felix> "Remind me. We know anything about the whistle and this gravesite it's at?" Felix asks.
[22:17] <Dracos> OOC: Last leets comment cut.
[22:21] <Dracos> "Well, we don't really...just what Origin told you...that it could calm the wolves. It's supposed to be a large graveyard of spirits, where a man was burried with it....and it would calm the wolves."
[22:22] <Jan> "The wolves are related to Pandora's Box, so that man was most likely the hero that came before us."
[22:26] <Dracos> "That's a possibility." Fizban agreed.
[22:26] * Shukuen (~Dinh@c-24-6-70-63.hsd1.ca.comcast.net) has joined #wasteland
[22:28] * Leets (Dinh@c-24-6-70-63.hsd1.ca.comcast.net) Quit (Ping timeout)
[22:28] * Shukuen is now known as Leets
[22:29] <Leets> "We're being chased by ghostly wolves, and the only way to get rid of them is dig up a grave," Leets groaned, slumping. "I hope we don't unleash a zombie horde when this is over with."
[22:31] <Jan> "Best not linger on things for long. It'll just lead to an ulcer." Jan replied as he lead the way out.
[22:34] <Jan> Getting into the Phoenix, the negotiator started it up as the others got into the automobile. Once everyone else was in, he started off towards the mountains to the west.
[22:38] * Felix (Merc@cpe-72-181-117-211.houston.res.rr.com) Quit (Ping timeout)
[22:40] <Dracos> And so they were off, though it was only a couple of nights before they noticed the howls of the wolves, chasing them as they drove... Aside from that, it was uneventful. Uneventful and hot. The car didn't particularly like driving on the desert sands either.
[22:46] <Dracos> At least until...
[22:47] <Dracos> As Jan was driving, he noticed a huge shadow ahead, moving pretty swiftly towards them along the ground.
[22:49] * Felix (Merc@cpe-72-181-117-211.houston.res.rr.com) has joined #wasteland
[22:54] <Jan> Jan swirved to the side to avoid the shadow.
[22:54] <Leets> "Hey!" Leets protested the sudden movement as he was nearly thrown to the side. "What gives now?"
[22:55] <Dracos> He'd have to swerve a lot. It was huge... like city sized ...and now going over them as the place got quite dark.
[22:56] <Jan> "And here I thought something was going to swipe down on us..." Jan trailed off. He leaned out of the car through a rolled down window and looked up towards the sky as he slowed the car down.
[22:58] <Dracos> He saw a gigantic spinning..wheel? Seemed to be made of steel or something as it floated over them. Huge though as it blotted out the sun mostly as it traveled over them.
[22:59] <Jan> "...great, now we have aliens added to the mix." The negotiator reported to the others in the car.
[22:59] * Leets stared at the cause of all their swerving. "On second thought, cut loose, go wild." That was followed by a tightening of buckles.
[23:01] <Jan> "Well...it hasn't attacked us yet..." Jan started as he started slowly creeping the car forward, even as he continued looking mostly at the sky.
[23:02] <Dracos> The vessel slowly passed over them, daylight returning as it continued on the other way.
[23:03] * Felix (Merc@cpe-72-181-117-211.houston.res.rr.com) Quit
[23:04] <Jan> "Shall we go on?"
[23:05] <Dracos> Fizban, to merit, had slept through it all.
[23:05] <Dracos> Mary whistled. "Aliens?"
[23:13] <Leets> "I hope they don't attack at all," Leets grumbled, watching the ship float away. "Let's just keep going. It's not like we'll see them again."
[23:15] <Jan> "Unless we can ever borrow an airship, that is."
[23:15] <Jan> The negotiator continued driving, eyeing the futuristic ship through the rear view mirror once in a while as they continued driving.
[23:19] <Dracos> More dust. More desert. It's been over a week at this point. Quite a drive and starting to give reason to question seeing it as uneventful.
[23:21] <Jan> Jan was on the passenger's side at this point as he looked out the window. "So what did you learn, Leets?"
[23:21] <Dracos> Luckly the car was holding out well as leets saw something moving in the distance... hard to make out but he was sure he saw motion.
[23:24] <Leets> "Enough," Leets replied, squinting at the object in the distance.
[23:24] <Dracos> The top of a tower maybe? Seemed to be as he was driving...but it was moving.
[23:26] <Jan> Jan noticed Leet's distraction. "What's wrong?"
[23:26] <Jan> He looked towards the direction the boy was.
[23:26] <Leets> "What do you suppose that is?" Leets asked the others warily, watching the 'tower' seem to move along with them.
[23:28] <Dracos> As they drove closer, they could see more of it...before finally clearing a sand dune and seeing a...city in the distance? A moving one, hard to make out details from here, but it was moving swiftly through the sands on what appeared to be a small hill.
[23:28] <Jan> "Nothing normal, that's for sure. Maybe we should avoid it too..."
[23:30] <Jan> "Do you think that hill would count as a mountain?"
[23:30] <Jan> "Magical mountains could probably move cities..."
[23:30] <Dracos> The hill was made of rock... shifting through the sands... taller than their car.
[23:32] <Leets> "Well, whatever it is, it's in the way." Leets glanced at the city in the distance. "Another unmappeded location? What do you suppose the odds of that are?"
[23:32] <Dracos> It seems to be moving, but not nearly as fast as their car.
[23:32] <Dracos> It'd be pretty hard to keep up with on foot probably.
[23:33] <Jan> "Well, we're the pioneers here, so pretty high."
[23:33] <Leets> "Darn. And here I was hoping we can buy lotto tickets."
[23:33] <Jan> The negotiator was in the middle of scribbling notes about the latest oddity on their trip.
[23:34] <Jan> "Drive near it. Not too close, though."
[23:35] <Jan> "Maybe we can see what they have to offer."
[23:37] * Leets nods, moving the car closer to the City. "Let's hope their as friendly as the last few places we found."
[23:38] <Jan> "Doesn't hurt to check." Jan continued jotting notes down on the city.
[23:40] <Dracos> The city seemed much larger up close...somehow humming through the sands with nary a care.... It had a stairwell down, but with it moving it'd be very hard to catch on foot. Not a sign of anyone on the side they were viewing. Just old buildings.
[23:41] <Leets> "That's pretty neat. Think they could give those Vaulties a run for their money techwise?" Leets commented, then frowned at the state of the city. "Looks almost abandoned though."
[23:41] <Dracos> Well, at a glance, probably not. The buildings seemed a lot older in style than anything in vault city. More ancient ruins type than anything else.
[23:43] <Jan> "Dunno. Looks pretty run down. Hey, Felix, take the wheel. Leets and I are going to hop on."
[23:48] <Dracos> Felix nodded. "Sure, though it looks pretty risky..."
[23:48] <Dracos> They stopped, switching and then driving after it.
[23:49] <Leets> "When hasn't it?" Leets asked rhetorically.
[23:52] <Dracos> "Okay, near the stairs? Or want to try the sides?" He drove close to the sides.
[23:53] <Jan> "Sides are better."
[23:53] <Leets> "Yeah. And it gives us more places to look around."
[23:53] <Dracos> They seemed a bit steep...but he was holding steady near them.
[23:56] <Jan> "Let's make holds in the side of the wall with the car's cannon."
[23:58] <Jan> The negotiator slid up to the roof of the car, sitting down on the seat welded on the roof and swiveling the roof cannon towards the rock face and began opening fire in specific spots to punch some gripple holes for their climb.
Session Time: Sun Jun 04 00:00:00 2006
[00:02] * Leets watches, memorizing the grips Jan created. When the last shot was fired and the car was close and stead, Leets took the first hand hold and began scaling the cliff. "See you up top, Smith."
[00:02] <Dracos> Leets' thief training served him well as he scaled the moving rocks. It was tough and rough going, but he got up to the top.
[00:02] <Dracos> Soon jan could see him standing up there on the edge of the city.
[00:03] <Jan> "G'luck." Jan waited for the next opportunity to present itself before he started scaling the cliff side. He idly remembered his last experience. 'At least the world didn't die on me when I wasn't looking this time.'
[00:07] <Leets> "Need a hand?" Leets asked, kneeling at the edge and watching Jan climb.
[00:07] <Dracos> damn, it was harder than it looked...nearly falling more than a couple of times, he was eventually able to catch leets hand.
[00:08] <Jan> "Man, I'm not really made to lead this kind of lifestyle." The negotiator puffed and huffed as he reached the top of the rocky side.
[00:09] <Leets> "This was your idea," Leets said pointedly, glancing in the direction of the stairs they decided not to use.
[00:10] <Dracos> "INVADERS....oh fuu, what are you doing here anyway?" A deep and booming voice asked from behind them....Jan seeing a... Huge tunnel of wind and mist? It seemed to almost form a face and a mouth against a twirling ghostly green smoke.
[00:12] <Leets> "Uh... we're sort of explorers. Nice to meet you?" Leets greeted, rather lamely. Mafia, knights, talking animals, and now talking fog. The sad thing was, he didn't even feel shocked anymore.
[00:14] <Dracos> "Explorers? And you didn't even come up the stairs." He sniffed a bit.
[00:15] <Jan> "We would've been rolled over by city if we had tried it."
[00:15] <Jan> The negotiator was also sadly used to things like this.
[00:15] <Jan> "And I couldn't let the kid scale the side alone..."
[00:16] <Jan> "I'm Jan Smith. My friend here is Leets."
[00:18] <Dracos> "hello. I am Mist."
[00:18] <Dracos> He looked more like fog really.
[00:19] <Dracos> "I technically am supposed to stop you...but it's quite boring here."
[00:19] <Dracos> "I really don't see why anyone would want to come."
[00:20] <Jan> "Hello, Mr. Mist, and we have to see everything we can."
[00:21] <Leets> "Besides, wouldn't you be a little bit curious yourself if you ran into a place like this?"
[00:22] <Jan> "What is this place anyway? I'd like to add it to my notes if you wouldn't mind."
[00:24] * Leets half-listened for Mist's response, taking the time to look around their immediate area and take in some more detail.
[00:26] <Dracos> "Mmm? This is Wisdon...or at least it used to be."
[00:31] <Jan> "What happened here?" Jan curiously questioned.
[00:33] * Shukuen (~Dinh@c-24-6-70-63.hsd1.ca.comcast.net) has joined #wasteland
[00:34] * Leets (~Dinh@c-24-6-70-63.hsd1.ca.comcast.net) Quit (Ping timeout)
[00:35] * Shukuen is now known as Leets
[00:37] <Dracos> "Mmm, well, it died out...think it was in a ware. It was so terribly long ago. Hard to remember at this point really."
[00:39] <Jan> "I see. Pretty sad, that." Jan admitted. "Do you know what's going on right now, though?"
[00:39] <Dracos> "Mmm, wandering. Possibly a direction change soon. Hard to tell these days."
[00:42] <Jan> "Well, I don't know if you care much, what with being foggy and all, but I'm going to tell you. Most likely you aren't in your native world now."
[00:43] <Dracos> "Oh, that's a new one I suppose...not that it makes too much difference."
[00:45] <Jan> "The world's core is a demon?" Jan tried. He was feeling very disturbed that this spirit didn't seem to mind too much about what others were so shocked over.
[00:45] <Jan> It made a guy feel kinda sad.
[00:48] <Dracos> "A demon? You don't say... well, I suppose that's pretty important." The fog seemed vaguely interested.
[00:50] <Jan> "And if it's allowed to go unchecked, the world will dissolve away to nothing?" Jan was genuinely trying now.
[00:51] <Dracos> "Probably not..." He floated back, around the various semi-wrecked houses.
[00:51] <Dracos> They noticed there was a large temple-like structure towards the center of town.
[00:54] <Jan> "So, why is this place wandering around randomly, anyway? Someone put a curse on it? I doubt that, considering you intially acted like you were guarding something."
[00:54] <Leets> "What's that place?" Leets asked, feeling weirded out by Mist's apathetic attitude.
[00:56] <Dracos> "No, not really... hmmm, can't remember to tell you the truth." They noticed a few others, wandering around the city.
[00:56] <Jan> "Geez, how long were you guys guarding this dump?"
[00:58] <Dracos> "Dump?" One took offense. "Why...oh, I suppose it is now... Well, a long long time?"
[01:00] <Jan> "Sorry, it was probably a very lovely city in its prime." The negotiator replied.
[01:01] <Dracos> "Yes...such a beautiful city...we took...care of it? I think."
[01:03] <Jan> "Hm. Is there any way we could convince you spirits to help us?"
[01:05] <Dracos> "Not really." "Nope" "For a bowl of spagghetti?" "You don't even like spaghetti." "So?" "what is it anyhow?" "I'm not sure!"
[01:08] <Jan> "Nothing at all we can offer?"
[01:08] <Jan> "Maybe we can find out why you spirits are here in the first place..."
[01:08] <Leets> "And has anything in this place survived?"
[01:13] <Dracos> 'Well, what's here is here." Mist responded.
[01:14] <Jan> "Try exposing them to the starstone, Leets."
[01:16] <Leets> "All right." Leets popped open Pandora's box and went in to retrieve the starstone. Moment's later, he popped out with it in hand.
[01:21] <Dracos> THey didn't seem to be paying attention by this point, wandering around again.
[01:21] <Dracos> It glowed softly, but didn't seem to do anything.
[01:22] <Leets> "So much for this side trip." Leets sighed, returning the starstone to the box.
[01:23] <Jan> "Well, they probably won't mind if we look around, right?"
[01:24] * Leets glances around. "They don't seem to mind anything at the moment."
[01:24] 4Disconnect notice: Disconnected from psx-dude.net. Attempting to reconnect in 30 seconds...
[01:24] <Jan> "They've probably been existing long enough to not care anymore. C'mon, let's check out those temples."
[01:25] <Jan> The negotiator started towards the closest one.
[01:25] <Dracos> OOC: Temple. Singular.
[01:32] <Dracos> Heading in, they found it quite dusty...as if no one had entered here in a very...very...very long time.
[01:32] <Dracos> Old statues worn away by time... pictures faded beyond any recognition marked the decorations.
[01:32] <Dracos> There was a stairwell in the back.
[01:37] <Jan> "The desert didn't treat this place kindly." The negotiator let out a low whistle as he started towards the stairwell.
[01:38] <Leets> "They did say they've been here for a while." Leets followed, keen eyes used to spotting anything useful scanning the rooms they passed.
[01:39] <Dracos> Nothing interrupted them as they stepped into what felt like hallowed halls, heading for the stairs.
[01:41] <Jan> Jan's footsteps sounded terribly loud in his ears as he continued down the steps at a slow pace.
[01:44] <Dracos> Heading down them...gah, the air here feels old... but no dust...not even cobwebs here as he stepped onto the fine tiled floor.
[01:44] <Leets> "That's strange."
[01:52] <Jan> "Magic?"
[01:52] <Jan> Jan shrugged as he continued, coughing slightly as he was repulsed by the air a bit.
[01:57] <Dracos> Heading in, they felt a bit light headed, wandering the corridors until... They saw her, a tall woman with the lower end of a long green snake. A beautiful woman dressed in a purple robe with a grey sheet over her, apparently in deep sleep on a stone slab, a passageway leading into the room she was sleeping in.

16:29] <Leets> "That's... different," Leets commented. Whether he was refering the the woman or the fact she was sleeping in this tomb-like temple wasn't entirely certain. He stepped closer; slowly, as to not disturb her if possible.
[16:30] <Dracos> As he did so, a bolt of lightning struck down from the ceiling, blocking his path, ozone thick in the air.
[16:30] <Dracos> "I remember now. Can't let you through, nope." Mist appeared, two other ghosts beside him.
[16:30] <Dracos> "None may pass through to awaken the sorceress."
[16:32] * Leets coughed, waving off the smell of burnt stone. "Anything else you remember that you'd like to share?" he asked sardonically, a bit annoyed at the near electrocution.
[16:32] <Jan> "Convenient timing." Jan replied.
[16:34] <Dracos> "Thank you." The green one responded. "Probably a trigger, really..." The blue one retorted. "Oh hush, we just like our dramatic entrances. We only get to do them once every few hundred years."
[16:36] <Jan> "So, this was all built just for this sorceress?"
[16:38] <Dracos> "Hmm, probably." "This building was." "Certainly the bed."
[16:49] <Leets> "Are there any other forbidden places then?"
[16:54] <Dracos> "That's an interesting question." "Is it really?" "Well no one's ever asked it before." "True." "We should answer it." "No." "What do you mean no." "Shut up, I was answering." "Oh, sorry." "Stupid fog." "There are no other ones, only here. At least in the city."
[16:54] <Jan> "So, did this sorceress cause the war?" Jan added his own question.
[16:55] <Jan> "Or is she the one being guarded?"
[17:12] <Dracos> "War?" "I think there was a war." "Didn't she end it?" "She's being guarded though." "So she can sleep, yup."
[17:16] <Leets> "How long has she been sleeping?"
[17:18] <Dracos> "Longer than you've been awake." One responded.
[17:19] <Jan> "So, she's a goddess then?"
[17:19] <Jan> Jan looked over at Leets. "Didn't Origin say there was a god to the west?"
[17:20] <Dracos> "Goddess?" "She's the sorceress."
[17:21] <Leets> "Asleep that long? She's going to wake up to one bloody stiff neck then," Leets muttered, rubbing his own neck uncomfortably at the thought.
[17:23] <Jan> "Man, learning magic must be pretty bad, then. I wouldn't want to be asleep that long."
[17:27] * Retrieving #wasteland modes...
[17:27] <Dracos> The ghosts were silent at that, not haing anything clever to say.
[17:31] <Leets> "Well, we'll just keep exploring then and leave your sorceress to her - ah, nap." Leets smiled pleasantly as he backed away from the forbidden room; eyes half on the ceiling for more lightning bolts.
[17:32] <Dracos> None seemed to be appearing.
[17:33] <Dracos> "Goodbye then..."
[17:37] <Jan> "You guys should really like make sure she doesn't die in her sleep or something. Routine wake up calls wouldn't hurt." Jan shook his head at the spirits as he started the climb back up the stairs.
[17:38] <Dracos> "Oh no...she wouldn't like that." "Verily." "And clearly she's just fine."
[17:38] <Leets> "I can't tell if they idolize or fear her," Leets said quietly to Jan when the two were out of earshot of the ghosts.
[17:41] <Jan> "Probably both. At least we managed to remind them of what their duty was."
[17:42] <Jan> "Let's give this place a quick glance for anything else noteworthy, then we go back to our job."
[17:43] * Leets nods, resuming their quick study of the city for any points of interests.
[17:45] <Dracos> Wandering through, there was clearly a lot of history here, not that it was easy to make out as the city was quite old.
[17:54] <Jan> "Pity the ghosts are so...weird. Maybe we could've asked them what their homeworld was like."
[17:56] <Leets> "Maybe they're naturally like this at their homeworld." Leets shrugged, not seeing anything at the moment. "Maybe we should head back now," he said, retracing their steps back to the car.
[17:58] <Dracos> Felix was still keeping the car nearby, within shouting distance.
[17:59] * Leets eyed the cliff walls, the car's positions, and considered. "Say, Smith. Do you suppose golems would survive freefalling from here?"
[18:04] <Jan> "I can make it, sure. It'll probably rattle me something fierce, though."
[18:05] <Leets> "It's sand you're aiming for. Worst case scenario, you end up buried to your golem hips."
[18:05] <Jan> "Before we do something suicidal, though. Let's see if we can manage to convince the spirits to stop the city for a second."
[18:06] <Leets> "Or maybe we could find those stairs again and walk down."
[18:06] <Jan> Jan walked up to one of the ghosts. "Excuse me, don't mean to intrude on your ...existing and everything, but I was wondering if you could stop the city for a bit so we can climb down the steps and get out of your fog."
[18:08] <Dracos> "Oh? Well...I suppose." "DOn't make a habit of it..." The city stopped for a moment.
[18:10] <Leets> "Thanks." Down the stairs they go before one of the ghosts forgot why they stopped the city.
[18:10] <Jan> "Have a good day." The negotiator thanked the spirits before following after Leets.
[18:13] <Dracos> And so they made their way out of the ancient city and back to the car...

[20:36] <Dracos> At the end of last session, our bold adventures, needing no real recap, had just finished exploring the ancient unknown moving city of the sands...
[20:36] <Dracos> Stopped nearby with the car, they we're ready to move on!
[20:41] <Leets> "At least it was a short detour this time," Leets said as he climbed back into the car, watching the moving city start off once more into the desert.
[20:42] <Dracos> Heading off, they continued west under the burning sun. Many nights and days passed in mostly silence and off-key singing... Until finally, they saw it. The mountains in the distance, slowly peaking up over the horizon.
[20:45] <Jan> "Aliens, societies of scatterbrained lightning flinging ghosts, geez..." The negotiator sighed as they arrived at their goal.
[20:47] <Dracos> They saw, in the distance towards the base of the mountains, what seemed to be a mid-sized town.
[20:48] <Jan> "Bets on what we'll find there?" Jan questioned the others in the car as he drove on.
[20:49] <Leets> "Pickaxes," Leets said flatly.
[20:49] <Dracos> It seemed to be a tribal type village as they approached, lots of wood and stone buildings.
[20:53] <Jan> Jan looked annoyed for a second as he pulled closer to the village. "Hm...so much for getting the car serviced." The man sighed as he stopped close enough to walk on foot.
[20:54] <Jan> "C'mon, let's not freak out the locals."
[20:54] <Leets> "Who knows? Baron was medieval, but had flying boats."
[20:54] <Jan> Getting out of the car, he repled. "Yeah, I guess we shouldn't judge by looks alone." He admitted.
[20:55] <Dracos> Mary and Fizban joined them. "Looks kind of indian really from here." Mary pointed out a couple of the buildings were more tentlike, then went and checked his guns a bit.
[20:59] <Felix> "If so, I'm hoping they don't want our scalps," Felix jokes morbidly.
[21:01] <Jan> Jan reached into the trunk of his car and pulled out a handgun. Checking it for a few moments, he grabbed an extra two clips before stowing them away in his vest. "Well, that's what we have weapons for."
[21:01] <Dracos> They saw a few darker skined individuals towards the edge of town look and head inward as they approached, soon a towering 30ish man heading out to greet them, indian sort of, dressed in a vest and long woven slacks with something slung in a holster on his back. "Greetings travelers. Welcome to Baskar."
[21:02] <Jan> "How do you do? My name is Jan Smith, and these are my companions."
[21:03] <Leets> "They call me Leets." He nodded in greeting. "It's a pleasure meeting you."
[21:06] <Dracos> "Greetings. You'll pardon the greeting. We don't see that many visitors out here, but the town elder wants me to know your business before you proceed further."
[21:08] <Jan> "It's a typical response at this point." Jan replied. "I kinda feel bad for anyone else that's wandering around this messed up world right now."
[21:09] <Dracos> "Hmm? You're from far over the desert aren't you? How is it there? I haven't gotten over there in years. Sorry, forget my manners. I'm Gallows." He offered a broad and rough hand.
[21:09] <Felix> "Felix," the magician introduces himself with a flourish of a bow.
[21:10] <Leets> "It's pretty bad," Leets said. "Do you suppose we can meet your elders and explain what's going on directly?"
[21:10] <Jan> Jan took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake. "Well, I can give you the reader's digest version here, though."
[21:10] <Jan> "The world is in bad shape because something pretty bad is at its core. We're going around looking for stones to fix it."
[21:12] <Dracos> "Again? Doesn't anything stay together anymore." He shook his head. "Well, in that case I better take you to the elder. First though, promise too start no fights while in the village?"
[21:12] <Jan> "Works for me."
[21:12] <Leets> "Though we won't promise we won't finish fights that find us."
[21:13] <Dracos> Gallows eyed leets, considering the boy frowning.
[21:14] <Leets> "Something's been following us," Leets added in explaination, returning the stare evenly.
[21:14] <Jan> "Forgive him. We've had plenty of bizarre runs in lately."
[21:14] <Jan> The negotiator stepped between the two with a smile on his face.
[21:16] <Dracos> The man considered. "I can understand that. Makes one testy it can, but we're a pretty peaceful folk, and appreciate that being respected while you're here. Come on." He turned and lead towards a large wood house further in the village.
[21:17] <Jan> "Have you seen a flying ship nearby?" Jan idly asked as he followed after Gallows.
[21:18] <Dracos> "A flying ship? I do not believe so."
[21:20] <Jan> "Oh, do I have stories for your people, then..."
[21:20] <Dracos> The man lead into the house, a nice warm atmosphere with an old, practically ancient woman dressed in handmade clothes sitting before a fire. "Elder, I have brought the visitors."
[21:20] <Dracos> He greeted and sat down near the elder.
[21:21] <Dracos> There were some benches nearby on the floor, around the fire.
[21:23] <Jan> Jan waited for the elder to recognize them before he took a seat, gesturing for the others not to rush to seat quite yet either. "Hello, my name is Jan Smith, and these are my friends." He pointed to the others that had caught up.
[21:25] * Leets bowed respectfully to the elders. "I'm known as Leets.
[21:25] <Felix> "Felix," Felix introduces himself simply, again bowing.
[21:26] <Dracos> "Greetings travelers. What brings you to the village of the guardians?"
[21:35] <Leets> "We were told to come here in our search," Leets said, carefully chosing his words. "Do your people know of jewels called "starstones"?
[21:36] <Dracos> "No. I've never heard of such."
[21:38] <Jan> "Leets, show them the starstone." The negotiator turned to address the two. "Don't be surprised if it looks like the box eats him. It's a feature, not a flaw."
[21:39] * Leets ceremoniously opens Pandora's box, blanking out the familiar shift of perspective as he was sucked in. Moment's later, he returned; a glowing gemstone in hand.
[21:43] <Dracos> "A stone of spirit?" The old woman gazed at it considering.
[21:43] <Felix> "Do you recognize it now, then?" Felix asks.
[21:46] <Dracos> "No, but I sense it is tied strongly to the spirits."
[21:46] <Dracos> "Who are you to carry such a stone?"
[21:48] <Leets> "We were just the only people who stuck around to do a job." Leets added a breath later, "To seal a demon to repair this world."
[21:49] <Jan> "The starstones are key to fixing the state of the world. We only have four more to go."
[21:51] <Dracos> "And you have come here in search of another? I know of no such stone in the village...hmm..."
[21:51] <Jan> "We were sent to the mountains in the west in search of the mountain king."
[21:51] <Jan> "He has the next stone."
[21:52] <Dracos> "I know of no mountain king...but you are welcome to stay here while you search the mountains themselves."
[21:55] <Jan> "Thank you, elder."
[21:59] <Dracos> "Gallows, show them to a room. He can guide you while you are here."
[21:59] <Dracos> He stood, gesturing for them to follow. "You're lucky, she's in a good mood today."
[22:01] <Jan> "Oh?" Jan followed after Gallows.
[22:02] <Dracos> "Yeah...usually, well..." He made that kind of gesture. "Anyhow, you can stay here. It's not much but it's nice enough." He gave them a small room in the house.
[22:03] <Jan> "What are the guardians, anyway?" The negotiator asked Gallows.
[22:04] <Dracos> "Ancient spirits of the land or s omething. Anyhow, they look over the land. If you want the fancy shtick, you'll have to ask the elder."
[22:07] <Leets> "Do you think the Mountain King we're looking for could be one of your Guardians?"
[22:08] <Dracos> "Could be, but I don't know any called that..."
[22:09] <Jan> "Hm. Did this area suffer from any earthquakes recently?"
[22:13] <Dracos> "Earthquakes? Not for a while no..."
[22:15] <Jan> "Hm. When was the last time it happened, out of curiousity?"
[22:18] <Dracos> "Years ago."
[22:19] <Dracos> "Anything you need? I've got to get going."
[22:20] <Leets> "No, we're okay. Thanks"
[22:20] <Jan> Jan waved Gallows off.
[22:20] <Jan> "Thanks for all the help."
[22:23] <Dracos> and so they were left to their devices in the room.
[22:26] <Leets> "So where do we start looking?" Leets asked gesturing to mountains outside. "that's a lot of ground to search."
[22:27] <Jan> "We have a starstone detector."
[22:27] <Jan> He rapped on Pandora's Box to annoy Yomi out of it.
[22:27] <Leets> "A rather lazy one," Leets muttured under his breath.
[22:28] <Dracos> "Yeah, yeah, now you think about me." Yomi popped out. "It's never "Yomi, let's get some beers." or "Yomi, let's head to this concert." Just "Yomi, starstone get!""
[22:28] <Dracos> he yammered.
[22:29] <Jan> "It's hard to find beer in the middle of a desert." Jan consoled.
[22:30] <Jan> "And I played cards with you back in Baron."
[22:30] * Leets eyed Yomi, imagining him as drunk as Mary usually got after a day at the bar, and grimaced.
[22:30] <Leets> "Should you really be drinking at your age?"
[22:31] <Dracos> "That was weeks ago. And what are you talking about kid?"
[22:32] <Jan> "I let you out sometimes, but you always whine during the trip."
[22:33] <Leets> "I'd just thought you'd care more about your age when you're passed 1 million years old."
[22:33] <Leets> OOC: Replace "age" with "health".
[22:34] <Jan> "But fine, I'll let you out more often. Leets, hand me over Pandora's Box. It'll probably be better if I have it. The wolves'll zoom in on me instead."
[22:35] <Leets> "A'right." Leets handed Jan the box after making sure his weapons were back in his own bag.
[22:36] <Jan> "There, you big primordial baby." Jan secured the box in his pack. "I'll just bang the box when I want you out."
[22:38] <Dracos> Yomi, if anything, snorted.
[22:38] <Dracos> "So...Yes, there's a starstone nearby."
[22:39] <Jan> "You shouldn't throw a hissy fit, Yomi. It's not dignified for someone of your age."
[22:40] <Dracos> "Dignity is for the young."
[22:40] <Jan> "Anyway, you can float along with us for now. Who wants to stay here and rest for now while the rest of us go to the mountain king?"
[22:43] <Dracos> "I'll come." Fizban offered.
[22:45] <Jan> The negotiator nodded at Fizban's offer. "Okay, anyone else coming along?"
[22:45] <Leets> "Sure. Besides, who knows what lurks up there at night."
[22:48] <Felix> "Might as well. Two magicians are always better than one anyway," Felix adds.
[22:49] <Jan> And so, having assembled the party, the group bid Mary farewell as the gunman had decided to stay for a while longer.
[22:49] <Dracos> "I'll stay here and man the fort." Mary responds as they head off.
[22:49] <Dracos> OOC: Flip those
[22:51] <Dracos> Heading out, they headed right up the mountain?
[22:55] <Dracos> Heading off, they traveled to the mountains, seeing a couple of trails, a few along the lower ends, and a harder one heading high up the mountain.
[22:58] <Jan> "What are you getting, Yomi?"
[22:58] <Dracos> "It's close...but moving. Within 5 miles at least."
[22:59] <Felix> "Moving is never good," Felix says with a sigh.
[23:01] <Leets> "Maybe we'll be lucky and it'll be small?" Leets suggested hopefully.
[23:01] <Felix> "When are we ever lucky?" Felix retorts amusedly.
[23:02] <Jan> "I guess we should go up to the top..."
[23:04] <Dracos> "That's the tougher path though." Fizban looked up it. "Shall we start?"
[23:06] <Leets> "Yomi, can you tell in which direction it's moving at least?"
[23:07] <Dracos> "Not quite that precise, sorry."
[23:08] <Jan> "Well, if you guys want, we can split up. I'll go up the harder path, and whoever else wants can go up the other. That thing is moving, afterall..."
[23:10] <Dracos> "That may be wise," Fizban agreed. "Groups of two?"
[23:11] * Jan nods.
[23:11] <Leets> "How do we signal the others if we find something?"
[23:13] <Felix> "I can cast lightning out towards the sky," Felix offers.
[23:18] <Jan> "Who'll go into which group?"
[23:18] <Felix> "Well, unless you and Leets have some way of signaling, probably Fizban and I should be in separate groups, and we can attract the attention of the other group with our spells," Felix suggests.
[23:19] <Jan> "Works for me."
[23:19] <Leets> "Well, I'll go with Felix then. You and Yomi could probably protect Fizban better then I could anyway."
[23:20] <Dracos> "Well then...who takes the high road and who takes the low road and which will get to swissberg in the morning?"
[23:23] <Dracos> Fizban looked at them.
[23:24] <Jan> "Best if you go the low road, Fizban."
[23:24] <Felix> "Actually, I would suggest your team goes the high road. Jan, you would have an easier time going down than going up if you have to transform, right?"
[23:25] <Jan> "If anything, I'd be the one to survive a fall from the high road, though."
[23:26] <Leets> "So long as you don't land on us anyway."
[23:26] <Leets> "And don't create rock slides either."
[23:26] <Jan> "Anyway, I'll go the low road, then. No problems." Jan shrugged. "Leets is more agile than me, so he probably would have it easier going up."

[21:08] <Dracos> And so the group parted on the mountainside, Jan and Fizban taking the low roads, hanging down the lower sides of the mountain, where  the trail was easier and there was indeed some foilage along the sides of the path.
[21:08] <Dracos> "Mmm, the mountains are nice this time a year."
[21:09] <Dracos> Fizban mused as they walked along.
[21:15] <Jan> "I suppose." The negotiator replied back distractedly.
[21:17] <Dracos> "Something occupies your mind, young friend?  Take heed, for moments of peace can be all too rare in a journey such as this," Fizban advised, keeping the pace.
[21:20] <Jan> "I'll rest when I'm dead. Since I'm on the clock, I have to worry about all those loose ends we keep running into."
[21:23] <Dracos> "Well then, speak what troubles your mind."  The old man marched on with his cane.
[21:25] <Jan> "We didn't find the grave of the hero along the way."
[21:28] <Dracos> "This is true...  but worry not, these kinds of things have a way of working themselves out.  The villagers surely have some that have explored the nearby lands.  Perhaps they will know."
[21:29] <Jan> "I think I'm starting to suffer culture shock. They're getting a bit too bizarre to handle."
[21:31] <Dracos> "Mmm, I find it rather exciting myself...so many different walks of life.  Did you get a chance to talk to the bards of Baron?"
[21:34] <Jan> "No, that's the thing. I'm focusing on just the end goal to keep myself stable."
[21:35] <Dracos> "What then though?" The man wondered as they walked along in the warm day.
[21:37] <Jan> "When those spirits have their peace." The negotiator replied. "I wronged them unintentionally, but I'm not going to give myself over to them to rip apart, and the world needs Yomi."
[21:38] <Jan> The man looked about the surroundings. "I might even leave you guys when that happens."
[21:40] <Dracos> "Escaping destiny can be a harsh journey." The man meandered as he walked, seeming in thought.  "But I never believed much in that myself."
[21:41] <Jan> "My destiny isn't that grand. I don't belong out in the country fighting demons. I'm just a simple negotiator, and that's it."
[21:43] <Dracos> "You remind me a bit of someone I once met.  A son of a peasant."  The man responded enigmatically as they traveled.
[21:44] <Jan> "I think it's enough that I guided the others. People can't be expected to give so much of themselves that they lose their own identity." Jan replied.
[21:48] <Dracos> "Hmmm, possibly.  Think to go back to the city then?"
[21:48] <Dracos> The path was getting narrower as they walked.
[21:49] <Jan> "It's where I belong." Jan replied.
[21:50] <Dracos> "Belonging is important." The man intoned, going silent as they walked, as if a decision was made.
[21:55] <Dracos> The trip was quiet...as eventually they got to a point where they either had to scale the sheer cliffs..or turn around.
[21:56] <Jan> "And here we thought this was going to be the easy way."
[21:57] <Dracos> "Hmm...Well...it might be an important way none the less." The older man stroked his beard, looking out onto the lands far below.
[22:00] <Jan> "Do you want to wait for me here? Maybe my golem body could carry the both of us up the cliff sides." Jan tried to gauge the area he had to work with.
[22:00] <Dracos> "Wait a moment and look.  Do you see it?
[22:02] <Jan> "What?" Jan already had a back up plot as he started taking Pandora's Box out of his pack. He looked about.
[22:02] <Dracos> The old man pointed down, way down the mountain side, towards ... an arrangement of large rocks?  They looked a bit odd though.
[22:04] <Jan> "Just a bunch of weirdly positioned rocks to me." The negotiator blinked. "Don't see what the big deal might be."
[22:05] <Dracos> "look closer...Those aren't rocks.  Unless rocks are whitish in tone and bear the shape of a skull."
[22:08] <Jan> "Wow. I hope I got your kind of eye for detail when I get older, Fizban." The man looked surprised as he narrowed his eyes to observe. "Down we go?"
[22:10] <Dracos> "I don't really fancy breaking my neck...probably better to travel out here later, on ground."
[22:11] <Jan> "There's always Pandora's Box." Jan humorously replied. "Although, I wonder if a golem can survive that big of a fall."
[22:13] <Dracos> "I'm not chancing it." The older man turned to head back.
[22:22] <Dracos> It was getting dark by the time they reached the earlier pass.
[22:25] <Dracos> "So...what now?  I can summon a bit of light to head up." He looked a little tired though.
[22:26] <Jan> "No point to it. We'll fall and break our necks with how things are."
[22:29] <Jan> The negotiator began setting up camp for the two of them.
[22:31] <Dracos> "Mmm, why not head down to the village?  It's only a short walk there, and we'll probably find more comfort?" The older man suggested.
[22:32] <Jan> "Doesn't feel too fair for the others. They might need help."
[22:36] <Dracos> "Fair enough." The old man found a spot on the ground and waited, offering a bit of help but mostly resting his weary bones.
[22:37] <Jan> Once everything was set up, Jan offered his extra blankets and such to help pad the ground for the old timer.
[22:39] <Dracos> "Thank you Jan."  And they settled down to wait.

[21:15] <Dracos> Meanwhile, watching their friends head off down the easier path, the two men looked up at the path heading up the mountainside, a bit of a craggy twist but heading mostly straight up for the early part of it.
[21:18] * Felix sighs as he looks at the workout ahead of them. "This should be fun," Felix mutters besides Leets as they proceed to go up.
[21:18] <Leets> "You know, I just realized we never asked what this 'Mountain King' looks like," Leets said, striking up an idle conversation as he tightened the laces of his boots before starting the trek up the path.
[21:18] <Felix> "It probably shouldn't be too hard to figure out, I imagine. Besides, have you ever met a king who doesn't enjoy his title?" Felix asks.
[21:22] <Leets> "That's if this king isn't some ravenous, flesh rending beast who strikes terror into the hearts of all that lives." Leets eyed their surroundings conspiratorily. "Of course, if that were the case, those villagers would probably know about it."
[21:23] <Dracos> The winds blew over the lands with a whooosh as they walked up the slow path.
[21:25] <Leets> "Ah, the great outdoors," Leets muttered, keeping a tight grip on his cap as the wind rushed by. So far, they haven't encountered anything worth noticing. Alive or otherwise. "After so many weeks of it, I'm starting to miss civilization."
[21:26] <Felix> "Only now starting to miss it?" Felix replies. "I've been missing it since the moment we left."
[21:27] <Dracos> Felix noticed some small squirrels running about as they carried on.
[21:28] <Leets> "I grew up with the concrete." Came the retort. "After six years of smog and grey walls, I thought wilderness would be more interesting, but it's been nothing but deserts and forests so far."
[21:30] <Felix> "And mountains now too," Felix adds with a small smile as he looks up and ahead to estimate how much further they could go.
[21:32] <Dracos> They clearly had miles and miles ahead of them, though they noticed the brush thinning out...then vanishing as they proceeded upwards.  These were no mere hills they climbed, but true mountains, massive enough to remind man of their place in the world.
[21:36] <Leets> "At least all that smog makes me use to low oxygen," Leets mused outloud as they continued their long hike up; the path seeming to become rougher with less plants holding the soil together.
[21:37] <Dracos> Soon the path stopped heading up, leaving them a few options, a rougher looking path heading to their left...one weaving a bit down the mountain also to their left, and one that looked rather easy heading almost straight along the mountainside along the same direction Jan and Fizban had traveled.
[21:39] <Felix> "Which way do you want to take?" Felix asks Leets.
[21:41] * Leets shrugged, studying the three paths for a moment. If there was something living here, maybe they could simplify things by narrowing down their choices to trails still in use.
[21:42] <Dracos> The wind wooshed again, a bit harder it seemed...  he couldn't tell though.  The ground was rough, and his eyes not used enough to picking out animal trails to tell the difference between them and simple wear and tear by the winds.
[21:45] <Leets> "Do you have some spell that can sort out trails, Felix?" asked Leets, finding nothing in the windwashed soil, "we just need to know what trails are being used and what aren't."
[21:56] * Felix shakes his head. "Sorry, but no. We'll just have to pick a path at random."
[21:58] <Leets> "Right then. The old fashion way it is." Leets sighed, digging a small coin out of his pocket. "Heads, the left path. Tails, the right path." Up flew the coin, somersaulting in the air.
[22:00] <Dracos> and it landed on it's edge...until the wind WHOOOSHED and blew it over.  Heads.
[22:01] <Leets> "Well, that was odd." Leets retrieved the coin, then began the journey up the indicated trail. "Still, left path it is."
[22:03] <Felix> "Left path it is," Felix agrees as he starts moving again.
[22:04] <Dracos> The path was narrow and rocky, they'd have to mostly stick to single file.
[22:05] <Leets> "If you have to shoot a spell at something in front of me, yell 'duck' so I don't get zapped," Leets said dryly, eyeing the trail in distaste.
[22:10] <Dracos> The trail was not fun to traverse but after a while, they noticed it was starting to rise up, leading up the mountain again.
[22:13] <Dracos> It was  beginning to get dark as they traveled, the path harder to see.
[22:15] <Leets> "Bugger. I hope we don't have to camp up here." A tired glare at the fading daylight, as if he was willing a few more hours.
[22:16] <Felix> "It would be a bother to have to go back down and then go through this all over again," Felix agrees.
[22:17] <Dracos> It was soon hard to see as they traveled..far up now.
[22:19] * Felix mutters some incantations before grabbing a rock, which soon begins emitting light for them to have a bit more light. "Looks like we might have to camp. This spell won't last forever..."
[22:23] <Dracos> Light flowed over them, letting them spot...something watching them from a distance...  a large dog...or wolf perhaps?   no, a bit big for that.
[22:26] <Felix> "Well...looks like we have some company for the night," Felix mutters.
[22:26] <Leets> "Darn. I was hoping I was hallucinating..." Leets stared at the wolf behind narrowed eyes, wondering where or if there was a pack in reserve.
[22:28] <Felix> "We're going to have to scare it away, or it'll think we're dinner when we go to sleep," Felix comments.
[22:30] <Dracos> The creature watched them, and then headed off, a hint of orange/red fur before it vanished further up the mountain.
[22:31] <Leets> "That... was too easy," Leets muttered. "Do you have any warding spells handy?"
[22:36] <Felix> "It probably went to get the rest of it's pack," Felix replies with a frown. "I have an alarm spell that'll warn us if something breaches it, but nothing that'll actually keep the beasties out."
[22:38] <Leets> "What? No wall of fire?" Leets asked in disappointment. "Well, guess knowing where and when they're coming will help us fight or run."
[22:39] * Felix laughs. "I'm not that good yet, sadly enough."
[22:42] <Leets> "Don't you have sentries in your bag?" Leets asked hopefully.
[22:44] <Dracos> OOC: Checking the ooc channel yes.
[22:46] <Felix> "Sentries? No. Remember, I only recently started learning magic. I haven't exactly had time to learn the full spectrum of possibilities," Felix says as he concentrates and casts the alarm spell with as large a radius as he can centered from a spot that looks good to set up camp in.
[22:49] <Dracos> A spot that looks good isn't soon in coming, though they find a bit a little wider that they could rest in.  Totally undefensible, but at least they've got a bit of room.
[22:51] * Leets began to clear up the bits of debris in the field. "Okay, you set up the alarms. I'll start making camp."
[22:52] * Felix nods as he quickly finishes casting the spell and helps Leets set up a camp of sorts from what they've got.
[22:57] <Dracos> The night was peaceful despite the gusty winds that pilfered the paths up high in the mountains...
[22:57] <Dracos> They slept well enough for the rocky terrain, waking early at dawn.
[22:59] <Felix> "Brr, that was a cold night," Felix says once he awakens, shivering a bit. "Glad the animals didn't try to sneak in at least."
[23:01] <Dracos> He noticed...something watching in the distance...  A large..Lion?  He seemed to be watching over them almost...and on his neck something glimmered.  The magnificant creature noticed him stirring though, and soon enough bounded up the mountain, taking paths they wouldn't darre.
[23:03] <Leets> "Yeah, there's at least that," Leets agreed, half-awake. He paused, watching the apparation running. "Is that... the mountain king we're looking for?"
[23:05] <Felix> "Well... I certainly wasn't expecting Aslan to be the mountain king," Felix mutters.
[23:07] <Leets> "Aslan?" Leets muttered. "Nevermind. We better signal the others."
[23:08] <Felix> "Reference to a book from my world," Felix replies before nodding and casting a lightning bolt out to the sky, hopefully getting the others' attention.
[23:19] <Dracos> Hours passed while they waited...

[23:09] <Dracos> the next morning as they were getting up, they notices a bolt of lightning flashing up from the mountain way way up there.
[23:14] <Jan> Jan quickly began putting things away as he gestured for Fizban to start up the trail. "I'll catch up later."
[23:14] <Dracos> The old man nodded, heading up the trail as best he could.
[23:17] <Jan> And so, a good while later, Jan was up and following after!
[23:19] <Dracos> Soon enough, for values of soon measured  in hours of long and tiring travel, they spotted their friends.
[23:20] <Leets> "Hey guys. Took you long enough," Leets waved to Fizban and Jan as they approached.
[23:22] <Dracos> The old man nodded tiredly. "It was a long walk."
[23:23] <Felix> "Good to see you guys again. We think we may have found the mountain king," Felix comments as the two approach.
[23:26] <Jan> "What was it?"
[23:26] <Leets> "Funny thing, it was your lion, Jan."
[23:31] <Jan> "Come again?" Jan blinked, thrown off balance by the statement. He offered the old timer a cloth to wipe away the sweat on his face.
[23:31] <Dracos> Fizban took it gratefully, wiping his head.
[23:33] <Leets> "Or it looked like the one you described. Even had something sparkley on its neck."
[23:33] <Jan> "Anyway, let's go after it. We shouldn't waste anymore time. We'll find out soon enough if it is or not."
[23:35] <Leets> "It went up there," Leets said, pointing helpfully as he packed up their camp. When that was finished, they followed the trail up the mountain top.
[23:40] <Dracos> Heading up towards the tops of the mountains, it was getting quite cold, the path seeming to fade as they were left to climb along rough hewn chunks of land, half walking, half sliding to continue along.
[23:40] <Dracos> No sign yet of the lion they'd seen earlier.
[23:43] <Jan> Jan made sure to keep an eye out on Fizban as they moved along, helping him out whenever it looked like he was lagging behind.
[23:44] <Leets> "I hope we didn't lose it," Leets muttered, picking their way through the trail, and keeping an eye out for signs of mane or gem.
[23:48] <Dracos> No such luck...did they break for lunch...or try retracing their steps?
[23:50] <Jan> "I think we should eat now. We're burning our energy now that we're up here."
[23:54] <Dracos> As they stopped to eat, Jan's eyes chanced up, further up the mountain...spotting their qurrey mid meal.
[23:57] <Dracos> The proud lion was watching them from higher up, observing those in his domain
[23:58] * Leets swallowed, noticing Jan freeze. "Is something wrong?" he asked, following Jan's gaze and spotting the lion. "...nevermind."
[23:59] <Dracos> The lion didn't immediately flee this time...  but then, finding a path up to it wasn't clear.
[23:59] <Jan> Jan's eyes narrowed as he tried to place the creature, comparing it to the year long memories.
Session Time: Sun Jun 11 00:00:00 2006
[00:02] <Dracos> Odd though it might be....he thought it might actually be the same one.
[00:04] <Jan> "Well, fancy meeting you here." The negotiator admitted after a few moments to digest the concept. "Nice to meet you again." He called up to the lion as he rose to his feet and began walking closer towards the lion.
[00:07] <Dracos> The lion looked silently down at Jan, not saying anything, a sort of quiet noble presence on the mountainside.
[00:09] <Felix> "Are you the mountain king?" Felix asks bluntly while looking at the lion before looking at his companions. "Figured it's worth a shot to ask."
[00:09] <Dracos> The lion, being a lion, didn't answer, even though he looked clearly at Felix, starting to make his way off in a slow gait.
[00:10] <Jan> "You've moved up in the world. I'm glad that you found your niche in this world." The negotiator gripped the side of the cliffs the lion was standing on and with a grunt, began to climb it. He kept his eyes on the lion the whole while.
[00:15] <Dracos> The lion turned, noticing and watching his climb.
[00:15] <Dracos> It wasn't looking to be an easy one though, the rocks were mostly smooth and he had not anything in the way of equipment.
[00:19] <Jan> Jan briefly toyed with the idea of calling on his power, but disregarded it for now as he continued struggling up. Didn't feel quite right to rely on that power in front of the lion from his memories.
[00:22] <Dracos> The lion moved as he finally reached the top, glancing back and heading further, down an odd path.
[00:24] <Jan> The negotiator huffed, arms shaking from the strain of lifting himself up the cliff. Shaking his head, and taking in a deep breath, he followed after the lion as old memories of doing the same thing before came back to his mind.
[00:26] <Dracos> And up they went, swifly leaving his friends behind as he chased the cat up the mountain...eventually reaching the frost tipped peaks, where the lion finally stopped, turning to face him.
[00:27] <Jan> "This time I made it all the way." The negotiator questioned as he waved an arm at the frigid land around them.
[00:29] <Dracos> The lion looked at him, standing nobly in the snow and waiting for him almost.
[00:31] <Jan> "Mountain King...please let us have the starstone. The world needs it to be reborn." Jan moved closer to the lion, and knelt before it.
[00:33] <Dracos> The lion paused, looking into his eyes...before licking him once, standing still and letting him get at the star stone.
[00:35] * Felix is now known as Merc-zzz
[00:36] <Jan> The negotiator smiled, reaching over and giving the lion a hug first. "I'm glad you're safe." Reaching over, he pulled the star stone free from around the king's neck.
[00:40] <Dracos> The glistening gem shone in the noontime sun.
[00:40] <Dracos> It truly was a beautiful thing.
[00:43] <Jan> Jan looked over the lion to see if he was alright.
[00:45] <Dracos> The lion stood there watching him, alive and well.
[00:57] <Jan> "Is there anything I can do for you?"
[00:58] <Dracos> The lion quirked it's head and turned, heading away..then glancing back to see if he was following.
[01:00] <Jan> The negotiator rose to his feet and began following after the regal lion.
[01:01] <Dracos> The line lead to a hole in the ground and seemed to stop there.
[01:03] <Dracos> OOC:*Lion
[01:03] <Jan> "What is it?" Jan stood behind the lion.
[01:05] <Dracos> Looking down into it, he saw darkness.  No, wait, not quite darkness...  More like...Nothing?
[01:08] <Jan> "The world is coming apart at the edges.." Jan frowned. "Don't worry, now that we have two stones, we can repair this." He promised to the lion.
[01:10] <Dracos> The lion nodded and turned away, climbing swiftly back down the mountainside.
[01:10] <Jan> The negotiator followed after the lion.
[01:11] <Dracos> The lion paused near where he had climbed before, stopping where his friends could see.

[20:13] <Dracos-GM> At the end of last session, our bold party had discovered the second star stone, meeting with the mountain king and retrieving the precious artifact.  Shortly afterwards, they regrouped on the shakey path that they'd followed up, high into the frigid mountain peaks.
[20:16] 4Disconnect notice: Disconnected from DejaToons. Attempting to reconnect in 30 seconds...
[20:16] * Disconnected
[20:16] 4Disconnect notice: Disconnected from psx-dude.net. Attempting to reconnect in 30 seconds...
[20:18] * Rejoined channel #wasteland
[20:18] * Topic is '#wastelandOOC up | <Jan> Bikimono. | Kweeeeh. | There are no gunblades here. | Jan chose to stand!'
[20:18] * Set by Dracos on Sun Feb 26 00:30:52
[20:18] * ChanServ sets mode: +qo Dracos Dracos
[20:21] <Leets> "Well, at least we got an easy starstone," Leets said as the party picked their way down the mountain path. "Where's the next one?"
[20:23] <Dracos> "Check the tablet?" Fizban suggested as they made the long walk down.
[20:26] * Leets mumbles, and reaches for Pandora's box; giving it a sharp rap. "Yomi! What's the tablet say about where to go now?"
[20:30] <Dracos> Yomi popped out "Do you mind?" He handed Leets the tablet.
[20:39] <Leets> "Looks like we go South," Leets commented after studying the tablet. "Well, this is cheery. Do you feel up to challenging crime lords or visiting hell?"
[20:41] <Dracos> "Hell, I'm told is nice the time of the year you don't go to it." Fizban, rung in as Yomi, a bit quickly, snapped right back into his box.
[20:44] <Leets> "East sounds right cheerful too. City of Skulls," Leets muttered. "Why couldn't the powers that be send us on a quest through something more normal then a "city of skulls"?"
[20:46] <Felix> "Because it would be too easy if they sent us to the City of Chocolate Cupcakes," Felix says with a sigh.
[20:48] <Jan> "I think Yomi is jealous."
[20:49] <Jan> The negotiator rapped on the box.
[20:49] <Felix> "Why would he be jealous?" Felix asks, raising an eyebrow.
[20:50] <Jan> "He doesn't like being just used. Guess he wants us to talk with him more.
[20:50] <Dracos> the box opened slowly, Yomi seeming a touch nervous. "Yes?"
[20:51] <Jan> "Can you sense it? Or are you being weird for no reason today?"
[20:53] <Dracos> "Yes.  Yes I can.  It's close."
[20:54] <Jan> "We're going south, people. It's time we activate one of the towers. We can get the star stone from the kingpin on the way too."
[20:54] <Jan> The negotiator paused his step to look at the others. "The Mountain King showed me something pretty bad when I followed him."
[20:55] <Felix> "Did he? What was it?"
[20:56] <Jan> "Nothing. The demon inside the core of this place is fraying at the edges, and the mountain here is showing signs of some sort of void creeping in."
[20:57] <Jan> The negotiator frowned at the thought of the lion having to stay near. "Maybe we can fix it if we activate a tower soon."
[20:58] <Leets> "Or we could be making it worse," Leets said pointedly. "You're right though. Better to do something now then let it get worse later."
[20:58] <Dracos> "A risky proposition...It might stir the demon if it notices us closing in...but I suppose we have no better alternatives." Yomi chimed in.
[20:59] <Jan> "That void can't be allowed to spread."
[21:01] <Dracos> They were approaching the bottom of the mountains now, another ten or twenty minutes would put them back in the village.
[21:01] <Jan> "Should we check out those bones we saw on the way up, Fizban?" Jan questioned the old timer.
[21:02] <Dracos> "I don't see why not.  It may be that graveyard you were searching for."
[21:05] <Jan> The negotiator nodded. "Let's go while we still have some daylight left."
[21:05] <Leets> "Lead the way then." Leets gestured for Fizban and Jan.
[21:05] * Felix follows silently behind
[21:10] <Dracos> OOC: OOC important =p
[21:10] <Dracos> They made their way back to the town...
[21:10] <Felix> "Let's find Mary and see what he's been up to while we were up there," Felix comments.
[21:11] <Jan> Jan took note of the time, trying to make sure if they'd make it to the graveyard in time.
[21:15] <Dracos> They'd make it to the graveyard around evening.
[21:16] <Dracos> Possibly just after dark if he guessed right.
[21:22] <Jan> "We'll get there too late. I'd rather not face the wolves out there." The negotiator pitched his idea to the others. "Let's just stay here and rest for the night. We'll try in the morning."
[21:23] <Leets> "Probably the safest bet." Leets agreed. "Besides, after hiking all day, we all need a break."
[21:24] <Dracos> And so the party took gracious advantage of the room they'd been allowed, in the morning, they noticed a lot of work being done towards the center of the village, strange structures being put up.
[21:29] <Jan> Jan went to look out of curiousity.
[21:30] <Leets> "What do you suppose is going on?" voiced Leets as he watched the activities curiously.
[21:31] <Dracos> "A yearly festival to the spirits."  A stern voice behind them answered.  "Bit of hogwash but the village insists."
[21:32] * Leets glanced behind. "I take it you don't believe in this?"
[21:36] <Dracos> Gallows stood there, heading up. "Yeah, something like that."
[21:36] <Jan> The negotiator yawned a bit as he cleared the morning fog out of his system. "If they're good spirits, I don't see what the problem is with celebrating them."
[21:38] <Dracos> The man brushed his chin.  "I suppose.  Feels like supersticial hogwash to me.  The elder sent me to tell you you're welcome to stay for it though."
[21:40] <Felix> "Is there free food involved in the celebration?" Felix asks with a small grin.
[21:43] <Dracos> "Well, yes," Gallows laughed.  "it's a big feast."
[21:45] <Felix> "Well, I'm up for staying, after having spent the night out in the mountains," Felix says to his companions.
[21:45] <Leets> "Doesn't it last all day?"
[21:46] <Felix> "Well, we don't have to stay for all of it of course," Felix notes with a shrug.
[21:47] <Dracos> "It's a starts in around sunset, and lasts all night." Gallows informed.
[21:47] <Leets> "Well, that simplifies things. We can finish that errand and enjoy the rest of our time here."
[21:47] <Jan> "If you all want, you can stay the day, I'll get back for part of it."
[21:55] <Dracos> "I'll come." The oldest, Fizban, mused.
[21:55] <Dracos> "Hmm?  What errand are you folks up to?  More mountain climbing?"
[21:56] <Felix> "I'll come with you if you think you'll need me, otherwise, I can't say I wouldn't mind a nice short break to party," Felix comments.
[21:57] <Jan> "Going to just combat spectral wolves." Jan idly replied. "If it comes down to it, they can't hurt me, so best if I go alone."
[21:58] <Leets> "It will go faster with extra hands," Leets said pointedly. "And if they do show up, you can keep them busy while the rest of us look."
[21:59] <Jan> "I'd rather not have the lot of you be chew toys while I look."
[22:00] <Jan> The man calmly replied.
[22:00] <Dracos> "Wolves out here?  I'd think the desert would get them." Gallows folded his arms.
[22:01] <Leets> "They're not regular wolves."
[22:02] <Jan> "Not these. They're souls of people slaughtered to protect something important to them. Their duty changed them into wolves even in the afterlife." The negotiator waved an arm at the desert. "They're out there, and I have to put them back to sleep."
[22:02] <Dracos> "I see...  Sounds like nasty mojo... but nothing a few shotgun shells shouldn't fix."
[22:02] <Leets> "Believe me, we tried. We might as well have been throwing pebbles."
[22:03] <Dracos> "Really?  I've found a good shotgun blast  pretty much deals with anything."
[22:07] <Jan> "Don't worry about it. This is my job. I'll see you all later." Jan nodded at the others, before rushing out of the village towards the car.
[22:07] <Dracos> "In such a rush..." The old man didn't try to follow Jan's pace.
[22:15] <Dracos> "You rushing off too?" Fizban turned to the younger ones, noticing leets already springing after him.

And so Leets and Jan hurried off to the car, finding it much how they'd left it, thankfully sturdy enough to take the desert sands and heat, though they might want to let the old thing air out a bit before driving in it.

Dracos

To Mary, Felix:

Mary and Felix, meanwhile, were left behind in the village as Jan and Leets hurried off.

"Young people these days, no patience at all."  Fizban said, somewhat with a smile.

Dracos

"So what did these skulls look like?" Leets asked Jan, hopping into the passenger seat and rolling down the windows. The pressure in the car lessened as fresh air moved into the opening, making the interior more comfortable to be with.

"No, but there's five of them. Arranged around something, so it'll be noticable."

"Well, hopefully it won't take long if there's only five of them."

"That's youth for you," Felix replies to the older man with a shrug, before slapping him in the back (lightly of course...he -is- older after all). "C'mon, let's go get festive while we wait for them to come back."

To Mary/Felix:

"Well, it's not starting for a while, though I suppose you could help setup or watch." Gallows admitted, leading the others towards the village center.

Dracos

Jan and Leets drove on.

Jan and Leets drove on.

Driving out over the hot desert sands, it wasn't long until they saw the graveyard in the distance.  Five large skulls marked it, but no lack of bones littered the ground around it.  The winds were decisively calm here...a sense of ancient peace...or perhaps foreboding filling the area.

Dracos

"Well, this is the place, huh." Jan slightly frowned as he parked the car nearby the gravesite as he shut off the engine. Getting out of the automobile, he swagged towards the center of the site with Pandora's Box in tow.

Leets quickly followed, enough paranoia filling him to avoid being left too far back. "Odd. Out in the middle of the desert, you'd think they'd be eroded away by now."

To Leets/Jan:

The Skeleton heads looked solid enough.  Indeed, they all bore a strange feature, one eye was sealed with stone, and the other eye was open, about the size enough to fit a rock or a small hand in.

The bones crackled as they walked over it.  The place was a bit of a mess.

Dracos

"A grave for a true Hero should be something more than a normal one."

"True Heroes get skulls as their grave markers?" Leets asked pointedly, studying said markers. He felt chills listening to the wind moaning through the cracks and eye sockets of the skulls; almost like voices the otherside.

"What do you suppose those are for?" he asked, gesturing to the skulls with their one-eyes sealed.

"You have to admit this place leaves an impression." Jan simply replied. He tapped for Yomi's attention. "We're at your old partner's grave, pop out of there."

To Leets/Jan:

Yomi came out. "Ah, the Graveyard...he got himself buried here huh.  Mmm, I wonder if these still work anyhow." He meandered.

Dracos

"hm. One eye open, and there's five of them. Big enough for a star stone." Jan sighed. "Let me guess, we need five star stones?"

"We only have two so far. How exactly is that going to help find this whistle that's supposedly here?"

To Leets/Jan:

"Well, admittingly, this is a spot of destiny.  I'm surprised it's still around.  Ark met well...Ark here.  Brought about by the skulls, as you guessed.  And I suspect it might be better to start digging for that."

Dracos

"Well, no harm trying...hey, Leets, get the star stones and put them in the skulls. I'll look for that whistle." Jan set out to do just that.

Leets nodded, absently retrieving the stones. He spared a moment to compare them to the skulls' eyes, trying to see if there were any special order or place he should put them in.

"Places of destiny should be a bit more grand than this, though." Jan replied ten minutes later, dust covered and a bit annoyed as he continued looking for the whistle.

To Leets/Jan:

Leets placed the stones easily enough, the two rocks glowing ominously in their eye sockets.

Standing towards the middle of them, suddenly, was a vaguely visible figure... fading in and out and seeming to speak at them....but inaudibly.

Jan found it was going to be a long task.

"Hey, Leets. Look there." Jan finally noticed the spirit after a few moments. Rising to his feet, he dusted his pants off of all the smut clinging to them before he turned to gesture at the spirit.

"Is that the legendary hero, Yomi?" The negotiator questioned.

Looking at what Leets had done with the stones, he nodded. "Guess these skulls work as a mechanism to letting us talk to spirits here."

Quote from: DracosTo Mary/Felix:

"Well, it's not starting for a while, though I suppose you could help setup or watch." Gallows admitted, leading the others towards the village center.

Dracos

*nods to Gallows*

"I ain't no stranger 'ta a bit 'a work. I'm needin' a bit 'a relaxin'. Ain't been ta a fair since I was still on my ma's apron strings.... There is goin' ta drinkin', right?"

"I don't mind helping either. What sorts of things have needs to be done?" Felix adds alongside Mary.

To Mary/Felix:

Gallows slapped Mary on the back, laughing. "What kind of party would it be without drinking?  Come on, you two can help me get some of the decorations up.   He lead over to storage shed, starting to direct the two to help him out in getting various wood decorations put together.

Dracos

"So where do you want these set up?" Felix asks, as he lifts up a decent number of the smaller items in the shed, looking over at the many decorations available to see what to be picking for his next batch.

To Felix:

"Notice how we're sort of building a perimeter around the celebration area?  Look for an open spot and build in that."

Dracos

To Leets/Jan:

Yomi was frankly staring flabbergasted, his mouth opening and shutting like a fish, as the figure continued gesturing and speaking, trying to get their attention.

Dracos

Nodding, Felix gets to work, searching first for one such spot to do some building at.

Leets spared a moment to process the appearance of the spirit, though was more surprised that said spirit was mute.

"Do either of you know how to read lips?" he asked. Wondering what the hero was saying.

The vision was fading in and out, making it particularly difficult.

Dracos

"Just what are you trying to say?" Leets' brow furrowed, as he tried to understand what - or where - the spirit was gesturing.

"Maybe we should try this again after we get the other three starstones," he muttered, trying to decifer the spirit's message.

*slings a load of building materials onto his shoulder and heads off, looking for a place to build*

"Make sure you got a cold one waitin' fer me when I finish. I plan 'ta be drunk when the festival starts!"

To Jan/Leets:

Yomi floated nearby. "Ark?  Ark?   ...This must be where he ended up being buried...  you're probably right Leets.  More will probably allow us to talk to him... but he shouldn't even still be here."

Dracos

"Why shouldn't he be here? Isn't he the hero that's supposed to be buried here?"

"Places and people were dragged to this world. Spirits were too, most likely."

To Leets/Jan:

"I mean he should be long gone to peaceful rest or reincarnation by now."  Yomi retorted.

"Could be unfinished business." Jan replied. He looked at the image of the legendary hero that proceeded them. "Maybe the demon's awakening caused him to come back. Or he always knew that it'd come back and he never went through to the other side."

The negotiator privately let out a sigh of relief. At least no worrying about nothing coming after death now.

"Possibly...  if so we really should find out what he's saying...  though Leets seems right.  It'll probably take all five stones."

Dracos

"Would the stones be destroyed if we used them on the Towers beforehand? I'm not too confident in leaving the world fraying at the edges."

"Either way you slice it, we still need the five stones," Leets said pointedly. "We can debate what to do with the stones after we collected all of them."

To Leets/Jan:

"Probably.  Maybe we could do it with less."  Yomi responded, agreeing.

Dracos

[22:43] <Jan> "Can you sense the whistle, by any chance?"
[22:46] <Drac-oblivion> "Nope...but, if it's buried with anyone, it'd be buried with him...try digging there." Yomi suggested.
[22:47] <Leets> "So, Yomi. What can you tell us about Ark?" Leets asked as he removed the starstones from their skull mounts.
[22:48] <Jan> Before the spirit faded out, the negotiator apologized for digging up his possible grave as he went to do so.
[22:54] <Drac-oblivion> "What do you want to know?  I was with him through most his journey.  But not beyond or before that." Yomi responded.
[22:55] <Drac-oblivion> Digging there...he found it!  Among the bones, a silver flute.
[22:56] <Leets> "Well, I guess I'm kind of curious on whether he succeeded or not."
[22:58] <Drac-oblivion> "He did."
[22:59] <Jan> "Demons don't go down easily. Organized religion tells us as much."
[22:59] <Leets> "Did you see how?" Leets pressed on, hoping to learn what gave the last hero the advantage over the demon.
[23:00] <Jan> The negotiator took an extra moment to pay his respects to the remains before taking out the silver flute. "I'm sorry, but the wolves need to be pacified." He spoke to the hero.
[23:01] <Drac-oblivion> The hero had faded away already, Jan's words to the absence left by his presence.
[23:02] <Drac-oblivion> "The demon manifested and he fought it with a spear of light cloaked in the garb of heroes."
[23:03] <Leets> "Spear of Light? Garb of Heroes?" parrotted Leets. "Don't suppose you happened to keep either of those?"
[23:03] <Drac-oblivion> "He took them with him," Yomi glared at the parroting.
[23:04] <Jan> "Well, we'll have to make due with our own natural gifts."
[23:04] * Leets returned Yomi's glare with his own flat look, wondering what he did to offend the being this time around.
[23:04] <Jan> The man carefully covered the remains of the hero with sand as he reburied him.
[23:08] <Drac-oblivion> Yomi stays in the glaring contest!
[23:10] * Leets refunds the glare yet again!
[23:14] <Jan> "Cut it out you two. At this rate the wolves are going to pounce on us and you two are still going to be at it."
[23:15] <Drac-oblivion> As if by answer, the howl of the wolves rang up, seemingly nearby.
[23:16] * Leets turned to Jan. "Well, what are you waiting for? Use the whistle!"
[23:18] <Jan> "It won't do much if it's still filled with sand. Give me a minute."
[23:20] <Jan> The negotiator calmly cleaned the whistle, ignoring the howls of the wolves for a moment.
[23:20] * Leets sighed, then turned back to Yomi, wondering if he got over whatever it was that got his wings in a twist.
[23:22] <Drac-oblivion> Yomi was floating around Jan, watching.
[23:23] <Leets> Satisfied that he won't get a hole burned into his head, Leets stoodby and waited, keeping an eye out for the wolves incase they arrived before Jan finished cleaning the whistle.
[23:24] <Drac-oblivion> And arrive they did...almost as if in anticipation...the graveyard was soon being circled by a dozen wolves.
[23:26] <Leets> "And a wonderful capper to a perfect evening this is," Leets muttered, drawing the only weapon on his person that seemed to have an effect on the wolves. "Don't suppose it's cleared enough to blow yet?" he asked Jan hopefully, sparing a moment to glance at the whistle in the negociator's hand.
[23:26] <Jan> "I'm sorry it took so long for your souls to find peace." The negotiator started as he swiftly raised the whistle to his mouth. "Rest in peace knowing that we'll use Pandora's Box for good!" He began to play the flute.
[23:28] <Drac-oblivion> The flute was a shrill noise...  the wolves howling at it...and fading away before their eyes.  Soon though a brief glimpse of villagers watching them could be seen, standing ghostily where the wolves once were...and then nothing as they too faded away.  A sense of peace filling the graveyard.
[23:30] <Jan> "Ah..." The negotiator's exclaimation sounded tired, yet satisfied. His stance slumped slightly as he stared at the whistle in his hands.
[23:32] * Leets sighed, unsure whether it was relief or the adrenaline leaving his body. "Come on. Let's not keep the others waiting too long," he said to Jan as he picked up Pandora's box and headed back to the car.
[23:33] <Drac-oblivion> Yomi vanished, slipping into the box.
[23:34] <Jan> The negotiator slowly nodded as he followed the youth to the car.
[23:39] <Leets> "So how are you holding out, Jan?" Leets asked, dropping Pandora's box into the back of the car before sliding into the driver's seat.
[23:43] <Jan> "It's done. I repaid what I owed those people." The negotiator responded as he buckled up and sat in the passenger's seat.
[23:44] <Jan> "Still, I have many more contracts I need to fulfill before this is all said and done."
[23:45] <Leets> "No offense or anything, but you looked like hell back there." Leets grimaced, shifting the car into gear and starting to drive off. "We need a bloody vacation."
[23:47] <Jan> "Not yet." Jan replied.
[00:09] <Drac-oblivion> And so they made their way back to the village as twilight was beginning...

OOC: Sorry for the delay.
IC:

And so Jan and leets made their way back to the village.  The group was invited to join in the celebrations of the night, the festival of spirit.  Around the center of the village dozens of colorful wood and cloth decorations had been build, seeming to represent various spiritual figures, many seeming to be exotic takes on animal totems.

In the center, a large bonfire had been built, using apparently cacti from the nearby desert mostly and getting it to burn in a strangely orange and neon green fashion that was really quite etheral to look at.

The village chief and elders were at the north end of the outer circle around it with food set out on wood benches and tables, though really food and drink was easily acquirable anywhere with said tables arrayed all around the circle.  Towards the center, many villagers, both men and women, were dancing around the fire, singing some odd song that none of the adventurers could really follow.  A few villagers  towards the east end set the beat, drumming along in a fairly primal rhythm.

Dracos

Jan wandered through the festival, keeping an eye on the fire as he went to ask what significance there was to these events, and if he could do anything to help.

Leets mainly kept to himself during the festivities, enjoying the sights and sounds as he soaked up the experience.

There wasn't much to help with, but there was plenty of drink and food to go around.  They were a pretty lively sort.

Dracos

The negotiator went to talk to Gallows. "Do you think that you could help me see the elder tomorrow? I want to show her some maps and talk to her about something I saw up on the mountains earlier."

"Why not now?" A red faced gallows responded with a laugh after he finished another drink, gesturing at the elder towards the top of the 'circle' eating as she sat on the wood seats.

Dracos

The negotiator weighed things in his mind, and reluctantly agreed with the man. He didn't show it on his face, though. It'd be bad if the tipsy man got annoyed with him because of all the booze.

"I'll try a bit later. She's eating, afterall. Where's the drink?" He looked about with a keen eye.

"Hah, come here.  It's a tribal favorite."  He gestured to jars next to mugs which the villagers were alternating filling up.  They were spread liberally around the foodstuffs which were circled about the fire.

Dracos

The negotiator followed, serving himself to the food, and a bit of alcohol. It wouldn't do to get plastered on the job, afterall. He looked over the crowd as he tried some of the local delicacies.

Mary takes a mug and some handy food, following after them.

"I need 'ta make ya some trail stew and chili one day.. Some trail coffee, too. It'll stand a horseshoe straight up and rip the paint right off'a the walls."

Felix joins the others as he spots them near the food area, smiling. "Fun party, right?" he comments towards Jan and Mary before looking around. "And where's Leets out at so far? Haven't seen the kid for a while."

At that particular moment, Leets was seated near the center of the festival, watching the villagers' song and dance with avid interest, while absently nursing a drink in hand.

"Leets is good at vanishing when he wants to. Don't worry, he'll turn up eventually." The negotiator finished grabbing what he wanted.

Turning to Mary, he shrugged. "Maybe you can persuade some of the locals to let you make some at the last minute for this party? It's been a while since I've had some chile myself."

Mary shrugs.

"Eh, I don't think they'll have what I need on hand.. I'll pick what I need up as I go.. Mayby I can scrounge up some."

"Never hurts to ask. Maybe they have the equalvalents in these parts."

The alcohol here is pretty fierce stuff, but the drinks are tasty.

With all the celebrating, it takes them a bit though to notice the ground rumbling beneath their feet...a few villagers falling down during one stronger one.  A grim chill flows through the air as the moon seems to vanish in the sky, darkness flowing over it.

Dracos

'Now I'm really glad I didn't drink myself stupid.' The negotiator swiftly rose up from his seat, slamming his hands on the table to help him as the chair rattled to the ground behind him.

He quickly slung the pack with Pandora's Box over his shoulder as he helped a nearby person up, eyes moving from side to side suspiciously.

The villagers quickly ended their celebration.

"What is this?"

"Demons?"  "Ghosts?"

"The spirits are angry!"

A larger tremor sent everyone off their feet once more, the bon fire nearly going out in the shivering of the land.

An old hand helped Jan up. "Look up." Fizban sharply ordered, pointing towards the mountain top where darkness was seeming to erupt, the sky visibly darker there than anywhere else.

Dracos

"Any clue on what's going on?" Leets said, seeming popping up by the group's side some moments after the tremors started. The teen's stance was unsteady, as he was apparently nursing his side - possibly having landed badly when the first tremor started.

"No idea," Felix replies with a frown before he follows Fizban's pointing, trying to make out the source of the disturbance.

It looked almost like a dark volcanic eruption, heading high into the skies above from somewhere up in the mountains.

Dracos

"Jan, would that happen to be the tear in reality you mentioned seeing up there with Kimba?" Leets asked warily, eyeing the darkening skies.

"Dammit!" Jan cursed, visibly looking shaken at the spectacle. "I have to go help the Mountain King now!"

He started towards the car.

"Worse, I suspect." Fizban was grim as he followed.

Dracos

"Hey! Wait up there!" Leets cursed, hurrying after the panicked negotiator before he left them behind.

"Get in!" The negotiator slid into his seat and giving the others enough of a chance to get in, he tore off towards the mountains.

The ground was rumbling as they arrived at the edge of the paths up.  There'd be no way they'd get the car up there though.  The paths were way too thin.

Dracos

Jan led the way up the mountain, hurrying paces carrying him swiftly up the mountain paths they knew led to where the lion was last.  Before anything happened to the Mountain King.

No sign of the line, though the rumbling was stopping.  Dark mist filled the top of the mountain, making the paths more trecherous than even the night sky would.  Worse, a sense of deep despair filled the air.  A grimness that was omnipresent and sapped at the spirit as they walked forward.

Fizban chanted, his staff providing a light to allow them to proceed ahead and giving respite from the bitter darkness around them.

Dracos

Mary gets out of the car and follows them, mug still in one hand, with his right hand on the grip of his pistol.

"Well.. This is about a right good ending to the day.."

Jan's fists clenched. "Dammit, just when things were just starting to go smoothly." The negotiator cursed as he continued stalking his way up the mountain side.

Leets hurried after the party, a litany of curses following him regarding current events. What the heck were they planning to do anyway? Cross the streams?

"The road is always darkest before the dawn.  A saying too often true," Fizban replied as they headed up the rocky path, a sense that they were being watched...worse, mocked in the air.

Dracos

"Then I think it's past due the sun show up." Jan frowned as he looked up towards the peak of the mountain as he continued, sensing that there was definately warped things about.

"Seriously, guys! Do we actually have a plan here or are we just running to our probably deaths?" Leets demanded after catching up with the others. Damn tall people and their long strides!

As they neared the top, they saw no sign of life, no animals...no trees... not even the snow on the ground that'd been there earlier.

But they certainly felt something as they neared the hole, climbing the rock face as fast as they were able.

"Guests?  So eager."  An old man's voice chortled down at them, cruel and cold.  "Come, Come."

Dracos

"Plan is to go up there and punch whatever escaped in the face, then get the Mountain King out before something worse happens."

A muffled groan was Jan's answer, though whether it was to his proposed plan or a protest to the upcoming presence, no one was really sure.

"At least we're expecting them this time."

"Show yourself, coward!" The man shouted to the prescence even as they scaled higher up the mountain.

as they reached the top, more cruel laughter answered them.  The top was practically cleaved flat, as if some giant blade had sliced the top of the mountain plain off.  What was left seemed as if it'd been paved over in black obsidian rock with spears of clear crystal formed here and there.  The dark pit in the center.

Before it stood a petite old man, a long grey beard running from his chin to about halfway down his torso.  His head was bald and spotted with mrks and wrinkles as he looked out at them through black eyes.  His hands were folded over a small cane as he stood there, seeming not that imposing at all.  He was dressed in a kind of medieval village garb.  A brown cloak over his shoulders and a greenish robe.

"Show myself?" The old man lauughed more.  "So very eager."  He gave a toothy grin back to them.

Dracos

"Where's the Mountain King?" Jan decided not to bother wasting time as he  began drawing power towards himself.

"Mountain king?  I know of no such being.  Nor do I care.  It too will be destroyed."  The elder tapped his staff as the group suddenly found it very difficult to move, as if their bodies were wrapped in chains.

"Mmm, Such rubble.  At least it appears tasty."

Dracos

Mary cracks his jaw and draws a pistol, aiming it dead center at the man's forehead, then takes a drink from the mug in his other hand before speaking.

"I reckon I'm about tired of this places' shit, son. You best start bein' friendly 'fore my good cheer from the festival disappears."

The old man laughed and pointed, a bolt of darkness flying from his fingers at Mary with incredible speed, impacting Fizban who somehow moved in the way, grunting as he slammed back against Mary.

"This, I forbid." Fizban's voice was strained but carried clearly even through the rising winds that twisted darkly about the short old man.

"Forbid?  Mmm, now this is interesting.  I thought you were all dead.  It matters not though, you have no power here.  I shall devour your essence as easily as any other."  The earth rumbled beneath their feet.  "I shall shake you apart."

Fizban placed his staff down hard, a glowing symbol flowing golden and silver strands through the ground around them.  "These are not yours.  You shall not have them beast."

"All are mine.  Flee weakling." The elder laughed, walking towards them, seeming more imposing, but at least the painful winds and crushing force was weaker.

"I shall defend their right to choose their path.  You will not leave this plateau."  The old wizard's voice getting stronger as he glanced back.  "Flee here.  This is not the time.  Brute force will not be enough against one such as he."

Dracos

Yomi popped out of his box and all but bit Jan to get his attention. "That's it.  That's Dark Gaia."

Dracos

Jan grunted as the power that held him faded, nearly falling to his knees as his efforts to fight the hold worked against him. He turned to the others, then at Fizban.

"Dammit!" He wildly threw his power towards the old man that stalked towards them, trying to will the surging power to make the ground beneath the devil crush it.

Glancing at Fizban, Jan noticed there was something odd with his shadow.  It was much larger than it should be and not quite the right shape.

The land rippled in front of the frail old man, only to be brushed aside as he walked through it seemingly unhindered.  "Fragile humans.  Your time is over."  The old man opened his mouth, a glow briefly showing there before a wave of energy came at them, searing the ground as it passed quickly towards them, smashing againsst Fizban's barrier with thunderous sound and awesome force, the two energies striving as the barrier twisted before the implausible assault.  The simple waves of air funneling off the collision came near to driving the whole group off their feet.

Fizban stood almost martyrishly before the assault, seeming to glow in response even as both energies faded away, a soft warm glow flowing out from the old man.  "You will not take them.  As hard as you try, you shall not."

The old man eyed him.  "None will leave here.  Your theatrics are meaningless.  Die."  He lifted a hand, almost skeletal in form and twisted, the earth behind them rumbling and shaking as twisted skeletons rose up from the depths..five..ten...twenty of them.  Humanoid mostly in structure, dark mist twisted around their bony forms as they growled blocking off the way that they'd come.  Some unarmed.  Some with swords or spears in their hands.  A few wielding famer's implements as they approached the heroes.

"Be as Nothing." The old man continued, lifting his other palm and blasting out again at Fizban with a lance of dark energy that twisted and shuddered as it came at the old wizard, a glowing shield meeting it as Fizban suddenly changed.  No longer an old man, but a gigantic dragon standing among their midsts, a creature of incredible beauty, each scale brilliantly glowing platinum as it towered high into the sky, letting loose with a blast of glowing light at the old man.

Jan's eyes narrowed, and he made his decision as he called on his power. Thrusting his hands skywards, he called out the name that lingered on his tongue.

"ORIGIN! BY OUR CONTRACT, I CALL UPON YOU NOW!" The ring on his finger flashed as he summoned forth the god with the contract ring.

Power gathered deep in his soul as he prepped himself to turn into his other self as he unleashed a hail of bullets at the approaching mob.

Leets watched the battle - if it could be considered that - with trepidation, torn between following Fizban's advice or sticking around to help the old man.

At least until the old man turned into a GIANT BLEEDIN' DRAGON, which sort of made him feel ever so inferior. Thank you for asking.

He grimaced when it seemed the decision was taken out of hand yet again, as what appeared to be a demonic horde rising to meet them. He unsheathed Masamune, deciding to let the horde waste their efforts coming towards them instead of rushing headlong suicidally.

Oh, and Jan had apparently called in Origin too. Who says the gods must be crazy?

The ring glowed...and shattered as lightning smashed down before Jan.  A sense of power twisting space as the dwarf king appeared in all his majesty, heading towards the apparently frail elder as the three beings clashed in blasts of light and thunder, the elder lifting off the ground as he faced off with the two titans at once, seemingly unafraid by the forces arrayed against him.

The skeleton hordes advanced on the four remaining closing on them as a roar was heard, bones smashing before the large figure of the lion leaped over them, landing in front of the group as well.

The bullets rang in, mostly to little effect as they chipped bone and slipped through the countless cracks in their enemies bodies.

Dracos
OOC: Sorry about not covering an action

Felix grimaced. Everything was moving too fast. Waaaay too fast. He'd blame the drinking for all of this, but...actually, what the hell, let's lay the blame on the drinking. Okay...recap.

Fizban turned into a dragon, Origin shows up, evil old man threatening blah blah... and skeletons.

Check.

'Let's start with the small fry,' Felix thought as he focused his attention to the skeletons, lancing out rays of lightning from his fingers towards the nearest skeletons, hoping to have better luck than Mary with his bullets.

Several of the skeletons tore apart under the assault of the lightning, the lion roaring and charging in, making something of a path into them as he smashed his way through following the lightning bolt.

Dracos

Leets opted to continue waiting for the horde to reach the line dividing "close enough" to "THEY'RE EATING MY FACE!", since it seemed he lacked any method of combat to strike from a safe distance.

That, and as Mary had demonstrated, the alternative option available to him wasn't really all that effective.

So Leets watched - the Masamune shifting restlessly in his hands - and waited, and continuing to suffer under a slight inferiority complex.

Leets didn't have to wait long, for soon the undead were clawing into his face... though he found his glowing blade to be of great help as each strike he made sliced through the bone as if it were soft cheese rather than hard bone.

Dracos

Caught off guard, a small corner of his mind marvelled at the ease his blade was slicing through his undead opponents, while the rest was screaming choice insults about demon gods, their parentage, and likely bed choices.

As a result of nearly losing his face (and the head it was attached to), Leets strikes started as mostly instinctual, before he shifted to match the frantic pace of combat against overwhelming odds.

Jan invoked his power once the undead drew close, the resulting transformation blowing the skeletons away. He continued attacking with the extended reach of his punches, unleashing pressure attacks as he shifted about in a boxing stance.

The lion turned back towards them, almost on the other side of the horde as he roared, charging ahead.  The undead were seemless though, pressing in unheeding as sword and fist and lightning smashed into them, for each that died, another took it's place, twisting and ripping it's way from the ground.

Lightning and thunder lit the darkness as they could hear the epic struggle going on behind them, the two gods battling the menace still cloaking itself as an old man.

Dracos

Jan moved to cover the lion as he unleashed his fist into the earth, sending more of the undead soaring as he cleared a path for the others. He paid attention to where the sounds of combat were most heated, but didn't let them distract him as he tried to carve out a path for the others.

Thrust, parry, slash. The Masamune hummed though the air, almost rhythmically, as Leets tried to stay ahead of the ever growing horde. A distant corner of his mind acknowledging Jan and the Lion's actions in clearing a path, but the majority of his attention was on the army around them.

"Why won't they stay DOWN!" he growled, slashing visciously and cutting a trio of skeletons surrounding him.

Given its success, Felix continues tossing out lightning as much as he can, continuing to focus on the skeletons and hoping to wittle down as many as he can so Jan and Leets hopefully don't need to worry about the skeletons...well, more than already anyhow.

Through might and magic the willful heroes smashed back the skeleton hordes, Jan striking at the ones near the lion as he rushed through, getting to the other side and giving a loud roar as he stood near the path down the mountain.  Felix's lighting cleaved through skeleton after skeleton and while the hordes seemed nigh endless, to his magic they fell like swathes of wheat before the reaping blade of a farmer.  Leets made himself counted as his magic blade let him strike down the skeletons and his quick feet kept him away from harm as tiring as it was.  In the back next to Felix, Mary let off a number of shots, but had no greater luck than Jan had earlier, his bullets seeming to come to little effect against these fleshless foes.

Dracos

"Guys!" High block. "As much as being the-" Parry, reverse slash. "-hero is great and all, but aren't-" Stab, then kick off. "-we biting off a bit much this ti - SOD IT ALL!"

Snarling, Leets stomped on a detached arm that persistantly tried to squeeze the feeling out of his leg, and kicked the annoyance towards the head of a distant zombie.

The golem swung with its long arms, mowing any skeleton in his path as he continued opening up a path for everyone to retreat through.

"What else can we do? We can't just wade through them either!" Felix yells in reply to Leets as he continues his volley of spells against the seemingly endless army, taking a second to check on what Origin and dragon-Fizban are up to.

Glancing back, Felix saw a tremendous bolt of darkness fly out, twisting and ripping at their shinning draconic ally.  A sort of dual image now simmering forth around the elder, a large being somewhat humanoid but with many sharp and angular markings.  The elder's shadow seemed to be trading blows with Origin as lightning struck out at him only to be brushed away and returned with blades of darkness rising from it.

Dracos

"Jus' follow the conveniently mobile man-tank!" Leets said in response to Felix, then put action into his words as he moved to cover Jan and keep the golem from being swarmed.

And so the crew followed Jan, managing a brief path through the hordes, though they quickly followed, the lion roaring and leading down what looked like a shattered wreck of a path.

Dracos

Jan shifted back to his mundane self as he followed after, not trusting his bigger body to be any help on this broken road. "We need extra firepower, and quick. Yomi! Please, get me the spear to slay the undead!"

"One spear isn't going to cut it, Jan," Leets shot back as the group retreated. "We're outnumbered five-to-one if we're lucky, and even if we have the weapon, we can't even get close to that demon."

"What we need is an army, or a bleedin' orbital cannon!"

"Orbital cannon? What's that?" Jan asked, blinking at the boy as they retreated. "Still, I need something to help you guys with now that my other form isn't an option here."

Receiving the spear from Yomi, he thanked the guardian and continued rushing on. The flashes of light from above causing his vision to glare here and there as he ran.

The ground shook, the path tearing apart behind them and sending them falling after the lion...landing on top of it in a bruised and painful pile a ways down the mountain.  The thunder of conflict could still be heard, but it seemed the fall had given them short respite from their pursuers.

Dracos

Leets didn't elaborate further then "Big Effin' Space Gun" as the party continued their retreat from the main skirmish on the mountain top... at least until the path apparently gave out on them.

There was certainly no need to ponder what god they pissed off while in the pile.

"Ugh...we're really getting our rears handed to us this day." Jan painfully pulled himself away from the pile, helping the others back up to their feet.

Muttering some thanks while being helped up, Leets spent a few moments reorienting himself while the titans clashed on the mountaintop.

"So what's the plan now?" Leets glanced at the broken path where the party fell. "Should we help the gods settle their differences - " A brief shudder at a rather colorful explosion. " - or do we try to get the rest of the starstones while their distracted?"

The lion roared indingitly at the bottom of the pile.

Dracos

"Let's help the Mountain King first." The negotiator set off to do so, ignoring the explosions from above for now. "Then...who knows."

The Lion had a few wounds, but looked proud as his stumbled to his feet after everyone got off of him.

Dracos

"Regardless, isn't there anything we can do to help even the odds up there?" Jan growled as he observed the terrain for another path to take.

"I don't odds of being overwhelmed up there.  Not that I'm chicken or nothin', but that guy was lashing even with that floating guy that smashed us all but good."

Dracos

Jan ducked slightly, hunched over the lion as he saw about tending to some of his wounds. "I don't like running away and leaving Fizban behind."

"There's nothing much we can do right now," Leets argued, though he agreed with Jan against leaving the old-man-who-wasn't behind.

"Not unless someone can get up close without getting fried anyway."

"Well...we can't just get up there and drag him free of the fight."  Mary mused.

Dracos

"Let's at least go warn the tribe below. If we're freaking out, they must be practically declaring this the end of the world."

"He's a giant dragon. If anyone's doing any dragging, it'll be him."

Leets nodded to Jan, and the party hurried to where they parked their car. In one piece and zombie free, he hoped.

Jan occasionally glanced back towards the fighting on top of the mountain, an angry expression on his face as he tried to shake off self disgust at his own lack of power when it counted.

The ground continued to rumble, but growing softer, as if the fight was coming to an end.  For whom, none of them could know as they made their way down to the village.

Dracos

Jan looked for the village elder to warn her.

Heading in, the group was quickly brought before the elder. "What did you find on the mountain, explorers?"

Dracos

"A devil, honored elder. It has aspirations to destroy the world, and we aren't nearly powerful enough to fight it off right now. It took two of our finest to keep it at a draw so far."

"What can we do?  Do you have a plan?" The old woman queried.

Dracos

"Run." The negotiator honestly stated as he looked into the elder's eyes. "It'll destroy this village with a hand gesture, most likely."

SHe frowned.  "Where to though?  While we can survive in the desert for years, a destination is important."

Dracos

Given that the only options Felix'd be able to offer the tribespeople would be to room with Arche in her home (which she'd probably dislike), or head to Silmaria (and they'd probably want a place to call their own), Felix chooses to remain silent and mostly keep an eye out for any skeletons showing up from behind, or worse yet, their master.

"There's the ruins of a town weeks away by car. I don't think any of the other places I know would allow you to permanently move in, but there's a kingdom to the east of here named Baron that might take your people in."

"Across the desert..." She frowned...but the ground rumbled.

"It appears we have not much choice.  Can you guide us?  The city sounds wiser...for we will likely be needing supplies when we reach the other side."

Dracos

"We can lead the way, no problem. Just carry whatever supplies you can for now."

And so the exodus began, the village traveling with them across the desert, understanding of the conclusion of the events in the mountains but knowing they must flee for their lives.  The travelers from afar lead the way as the tribal people struggled across the harsh desert lands, their skill at survival serving them well as they made the trip.

End Chapter 2.

Dracos