The Mad God's Masque and Bellicose Ball (IC) (M)

[techmaster-glitch]

   After a jumple of sensations, Karazkt suddenly found one sensation constant; wetness. He was wet, and getting wetter. This was not pleasant.
  The next sensation he found was that he was no longer digging, but sitting in something spongy, coarse, and shifting. He didn't quite know what it was yet.
  Next, his hearing antennae settled in. There was a constant and enveloping soft tapping sound that almost made a single uniform rushing, plus a constant hollow pattering on his own carapace. And those constant sounds were punctuated every now and then by an otherworldy rumbling and crashing sound.
  Finally, he took stock of his vision. At first, he couldn't tell what was wrong, as his vision was constantly shifting and refused to settle into discernable patterns. Then he realized his goggles were wet as he was, and the layer of water on them was playing havoc with his infravision. He moved his goggles up off his eyes, they were useless at the moment.
  He had not the slightest clue where he was, but continued to observe his surroundings. He was wet because water was falling on him. Looking up, he saw what should have been the surfacer's "sky" was instead a blanket of dark, fluffy-looking....something. Looking down, he ran his hand over the substance he was sitting in, and observed that his hand went through it. It was earth, he could tell that much, but it must have been the loosest, finest dirt he had ever encountered. Looking to one side and behind him, he saw a mass of vegetation vaugely similar to what he had seen when he first arrived at the surface. Looking ahead, he saw water... an infinite expanse of water. It went on until it suddenly ended, meeting the dark stuff that was directly above him.
  Obviously, he had never experienced a place ever remotely anything like what he was right now.
  He looked to his other side, and finally noticed; his diggermech was right there, too. Just beyond it, there were also two surfacers.
  If he wasn't already, the poor little Engineer Insectis was hopelessly, completely confused and overwhelmed. It was just too much for him to handle. Not a single sensory input he was receiving corroborated with anything he had ever experienced before. He'd been wet before, but he'd never had water falling on him before, and even it didn't feel right. Hatching wasn't as bad as this. He didn't even have any metaphors to describe the amount of unfamiliarity he was being subject to. So, for his sanity, he anchored himself to the only thing that had any kind of familiarity whatsoever to him; his diggermech.
  Standing up, he walked over to it and climbed up. Himself and the metal being wet, he slipped and tumbled back to the sand twice before finally getting to the top. Once there, he manipulated a hidden lever that pulled back the cockpit dome, pulled himself inside, and sealed the dome again. If Insectis even had any emotional or physical analogue of crying, he would have been doing so profusely right then. After a little bit of sitting there, he decided to do something about being wet. Summoning his fire magic, he wreathed himself in a sheet of flames that chased away the water covering him. He opened the dome enough to let out the resulting vapor.
  And he sat there. He sat, deperately allowing his besieged and overloaded mind time to recover. The water falling on the outside of his mech, while unfamiliar, was constant, and he allowed that one sound, that one singlular sensory input, to permeate his being as he tried to assess his new situation.

[Stygian]

Basilisk's proposal was met with a chilly stare that went on for much longer than comfortable, even though it was just a matter of seconds. During that time he got the feeling even more than before that he was being carefully sized up, weighed and measured. And when she averted her eyes, the bat spent some time staring at the ground, frowning hard with thought. She raised her hand to her temple, rubbed it for a couple of seconds, and then made a little 'tch'-ing sound with the back of her mouth, before returning her gaze to the demon. Once she did though, her frown let up, and she seemed to enter into a state of calm so suddenly that it almost made up for the irritation her previous mood might have caused in unnervement.
   Demons. Damn things they were...
  'Alright. I suppose it's only common sense,' she said, her golden ornaments jingling slightly as she nodded. 'But please don't... talk too much like that. The situation is frustrating enough without having to make it sound cliché. Other than that, if you listen to me I'll listen to you. Just don't interrupt me.'
  Appearing confident that Bas would accept without objection, Elyse turned and walked off a few steps, peering around at the landscape. Then, looking down at herself once more, she sighed and almost kicked dirt with frustration.
  'I don't suppose you have any clothes more appropriate for this?' she asked Basilisk, clearly not expecting an answer.

- -

The bat shrugged in the glow of the cigarette, scratching his cheek for a moment, and then had another pull. His voice was particularly smoky as he spoke once more.
  'That depends entirely on what you mean by "this",' he said with expert nonchalance, and stood up. At least, the scant image of him that Elizabeth could make out in what tiny amount of light reflected off the gleaming walls stood up. The image of him that she 'felt' remained seated for a couple more seconds before it followed suit. 'I'm only "responsible" for recent events to a certain given value of responsibility. And the current situation?' He chuckled. 'No. This is not my doing. I had calculated this, yes, but I couldn't count on it happening, if you catch my drift.'
  And then he was standing in front of her. There had barely been any indication of movement, and no sound but the merest whisper of cloth rubbing together. His shortening cigarette wedged in the corner of his mouth, the bat exhaled, and bent, reaching a hand down toward the jackal.
  'Up we get,' he said, standing perfectly still in wait. 'We should get a move on.'

[Lisky]

Bas was shocked to find Ivory seeming significantly warmer than the past few moments of icy chill.  As she mentioned his wording, it brought about a bemused smirk.  He replied in a gentle, rolling tenor, "I'm sorry, my father has been drilling me for the last few weeks on absolute politeness in the events of a negotiation with which i would have to represent the family... I guess it's stuck a little bit.  But, i'll try my best to keep the cliches to a minimum."

As she asked about clothing, the smirk turned into a bemused grin.  Sliding his arms, then wings carefully out of the smooth, softened leather-like material, Bas collected the green cloth over his arm.  He approached cautiously, so as not to disturb the girl.  He wasn't sure how she'd take his exposed upper body. His entire musculature tensed as he made his approach.  Saying nonchalantly, "See how this fits, if nothing else, it'll keep you warm, and you want have to worry about it tearing.  It's a nice, lightweight material, but it's tough stuff... almost as good as light leather armor... if you'd like, i can modify it as well..."  hold the clothing over his left arm, he gave a clear parody of a bow and replied in a sarcastic tone, "here's your ball gown mistress..." his tone turning slightly snarky, and more playful, "hope you enjoy it."

[Sunblink]

Elizabeth had to clench her teeth in order to prevent herself from firing off some disparaging accusation. She didn't trust this man as far as she could throw him; how could she? For all she knew, he was formulating a thousand ways to betray her as they spoke. Attempting to read his mind yielded no results - it was like a fist solidly connecting with a concrete wall. The protection shielding his thoughts was utterly impenetrable, stretching over every fracture or perceivable deficiency, leaving her incapable of even hearing a single inconsequential murmur. Trying to hide a very sour, frustrated look on her face, Elizabeth simply resorted to illustrating her resentment through more vocal statements. If he was going to hide information from her, she had the right to demand more than the mind-games he was playing.

The man was somehow in front of her, and for a moment Elizabeth thought she had inattentively allowed him to approach. Withdrawing, she looked at his proffered hand like it was contaminated before she glared, mortified, at the stranger's face. "I'm not going until you at least give me a straight answer," she barked, "Who are you, and why the hell should I listen to anything you say?"

Of course, it did not occur to Elizabeth that partnering herself with the stranger would help her accomplish her goals. She was still smoldering over her previous indignity.

[Stygian]

For a moment, the bat's eyes narrowed, and there was a pause filled with... something threatening. His emotions were as imperceptible as his thoughts, but Elizabeth needed no Cubi abilities to sense the dark atmosphere growing colder and thickening with threats. He retracted his hand, and straightened up.
  'Very well,' he said, setting his face in an unintelligibly sobersided expression, slowly exhaling a last breath of smoke between his teeth and from his nostrils. He then flicked the dog end of his cigarette to the ground, and put down a foot on it. The darkness closed in around them. He moved nearer once more.
  'I am Sebastian Seraphinus Sabanethei,' he said. The glowing points of his eyes were the sole sources of light in the utter blackness, like glowing embers. Or were they? Elizabeth imagined she could make out the contours of his head before her, though not his face, as though there were a light far, far behind him.
  The metallic clicking sound didn't warn her in time, and Elizabeth's eyes almost stung for a second as sparks fizzed and a flame appeared mid-air just a couple of feet from her, burning off the top of a brass-colored lighter. The bat applied it to another tightly rolled cigarette wedged against a lengthy fang, the tip burning hot as he took a long drag. He smacked it shut with a hard clack.
  'You should listen to me because even though I know what and who you are, I didn't kill you in your sleep,' he said, every word as hard and impersonal as sharpened steel. 'You should listen to me because presently you need all the help you can garner to come out of this alive.' He backed up a step and stood straight, looking down his hard-pointed muzzle at her. 'You should listen to me because you are panicked, out of control and at your wit's end, and that alone plainly means that you are not entitled to make decisions or state demands right now. And that's why, Mrs. Jyraneth, you are going to follow me out of here.'
  Silence settled once more, as the bat clipped his last words off, and went completely still. In the near-darkness, he stood with his cigarette burning slowly and smoldered.

- -

Elyse's expression didn't change, but it did seem to solidify as she looked around and saw Basilisk approach, and she blinked. Plainly, she was surprised. She had heard that Demons tended to stick together and sometimes had extensive families, but from what he said she still couldn't help but feel that she should surmise that he was still young and somewhat inexperienced. Maybe she should have come to that conclusion earlier; his clothing and general demeanor did suggest the sort of young man who tended to exercise fiercely, buy shiny gadgets and expensive watches and drive tuned cars if he could afford it. Yet there was some other edge to him, she thought, which made him a bit different, and she couldn't quite decide whether if it were some greater depth or just his inherent Demon persuasion. And then again, the shirtless move had been quite typical. She watched him, her gaze wandering downward and her memory backward for a couple of moments. The last time something like that had happened...
  'Thank you kindly,' the bat said after a couple of moments, snapping back to the present and hastily taking her eyes off the Demon's abdomen, hopefully before he thought something of it. The coat was a meager protection, but not accepting it would have been awkward for the both of them. 'And I can do that myself, if necessary. Um...' She closed her eyes momentarily, as she laid the coat over her shoulders. 'I think we should start moving away from here. See if we can find more people from the ball.'

[Cogidubnus]

 The wind continued to ripple through the long grass. However Cerebus had managed to get his cigarette lit was a mystery on the order of dark and hidden techniques, but now that he had it he was puffing for all he was worth. The smoke didn't have time to curl around him, simply drifting nearly horizontal from the burning cylinder and curling briefly before disintegrating in the air.

"Ah, maybe just a moment if you would, Ms. Kithara..." he said, his voice getting somewhat nervous. His eyes flickered to Kiet's new...additions. He took another drag of his cigarette.
"Insofar as that, yes, I think...I'm not sure what, exactly, is going on. But I agree, this isn't Belgae. Nowhere near it, in fact. I'm no mage, but I suspect a breakdown in the fabic of reality has moved us...elsewhere. And then dumped us back out again. And insofar as that is concerned..."

"I think this is the bitter coast." he took another puff. "Not just because the geography is right for it. Plains on the edge of the sea, bordered by mountains in the east. But also, you'll notice that magic...is difficult here." he said, and pulled out a ring. "A trinket, part of a scryer's kit I carry. It's used to designate a pool of water to be used for the scrying. Nearly killed myself when it spat out a fireball."
He paused.

"It makes sense, in a way. This place has the least magical resistance in possibly all the world. Saturated with it to the point of danger, in places. That it would dump us here shouldn't be unexpected." He coughed. "Of course, mages are hated like the devil here, and I'm sure a experienced wizard like yourself doesn't need to be told the danger of casting magic here. The magical background would make teleportation impossible, as well as scrying, or opening gates through the dimensions...dicey."
"Not the end of the world, of course." he said, dusting off his slacks. "People walked before they could teleport. Travel through the reigion is brisk. Lots of rare and strange things in the wilderness out here, alchemists love it. We should be able to find a trade caravan out fairly easily. I suggest we follow the woodsmoke, firstly." he said, pointing in the general upwind direction.

* * *

"No, no! This isn't hell." the cat said, grinning cheerfully. "I do suspect, however, that we're a bit lost, and this place is probably not what is seems. The geometrical impossibilities, for instance, imply that this probably isn't a city at all. But thankfully the skyline points to salvation." he said, gesturing towards the spiral that descended in the middle of town. He grinned a cracked grin.
"We should get moving! Before Nth dimensional space collapses and this place makes sense, and then we're stuck here."

There is a thing, which nothing is, Yet it has a name. It's sometimes tall, And sometimes short. It tumbles when we fall, It joins our sport, And plays at every game...
HehaheeehaahahaheheahahahAHA!

* * *

In the midst of their arguing, both the bat and the jackal heard with distinction the sound of something small falling into water - a stone, or a foot, or perhaps a jumping fish.
Plip

Despite the seemingly abandoned nature of this particular cave, however, they could hear things in the distance - chanting, perhaps, or the deep thrum of machinery as it worked. And, infinitesimally, something else moving in the darkness.
Aimless, and unaware of them, it seemed to stumble over the rocks, moving towards the direction of the sound in the water. Appearing from seemingly out of nowhere, it was an uncommon looking being, hairless, and without muzzle. It moved with a shuffling gait, and its rotting, slimy clothes and ragged appearance bespoke a months, perhaps years, of neglect. Cracked fingers flexed, and rippling muscles of the arm bespoke great strength, but other than this, the thing was silent.

It moved across the cavern, footfalls slapping quietly on the stone.

* * *

Nothing greeted either the demon or the alabaster bat except for the sound of the wind, spreading still a fine gray dust through the air as it blew. It appeared the building they were in was deserted, and although neither of them could see outside, there was no sound to indicate that anything else was there.
There were some stairs leading down to the ground floor behind the bat and to the right, but other than this, the whole floor of the building seemed...empty. It appeared that at one point there had been many rooms here, and here and there you could still see the remnants of a wall, but the vast majority of it was simply gutted space - nothing except the presence of a discarded piece of trash, or a stray bit of unidentifiable metal, gave any sign that life used to be here.

* * *

It didn't take long for either Rover or Mel to get to the airship - the wind was with them, and the large craft moved very, very slowly. It appeared to be some sort of giant zeppelin, but the thing must have had to use some sort of strange ballast - it was far too large to actually be able to fly.
And yet, there it flew. Landing on it, however, might prove tricky.

As it is with many such aircraft, the actual structure of the ship was slung beneath the balloon itself, and there didn't seem to be anywhere convenient to set down. Tim and Melodie might be able to have gone inside, of course, but where Tim might have gone was a different question.
Near the rear of the ship, however, they saw something that made them question their sense of scale. A small hangar bay was there, doors open, and they realized they might be a bit further away from the ship than they thought.

The clouds parted for a moment, revealing an ocean beneath them. No land seemed to be in sight, although the view was limited, and the clouds quickly closed again.

* * *

The rain continued to fall, and thunder cracked the sky.

It pattered against the metal plating of the insectis's machine armor, the occasional blast of thunder lighting up the cockpit and casting watery shadows on the underground denizen's head. The machine seemed to be in perfect order, but...

He was lost. Nothing about this unfamiliar environment gave him any clues as to his location, and the crashing of the ocean waves, the crack of thunder and the rage of the sky gave him no comforts. He could be on the other side of the world, for all he knew.

Both Rynkura and he, however, could see the dilapidated dock from where they stood, and although no light shined from it, it was the only sign of habitation here outside the dense and dark green foliage of the interior of the Island.

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace flicked her tail and turned to face Ti'Paollo when she saw the demented 'Cubi jump up and stretch, her hands on her hips and a freshly sharpened comment on the tip of her tongue. All of his limbs, she noticed abruptly. She froze for just a moment, her eyes narrowed, one ear perked up and the other slowly drooping. Three pairs of wings. The extra pair had been low enough to be hidden in the long grass as he sat, so she hadn't seen them. Desperate thoughts flickered through Andrace's head. None of the Kithara had encountered any of the fabled 'Cubi Tri-wings before, but there were copies of a handful of lore books in the Family library. The restricted library, that not even curious feline cubs and teenagers could sneak into undetected. She hadn't been given a key until her final year of training. She'd been warned that not all the material in those books could be completely trusted, but even if it were mostly exaggeration, her job had just become much more difficult, and much more dangerous. Again.

The Undead jackal's comments brought her thoughts back into focus. "If y' think y' know th' place, that's great," she said. "Never been t' th' Bitter Coast m'self, but I think some o' m' family have, a long time ago. Maybe I c'n r'member some o' th' tales they took back home." As for the rest of the jackal's revelations, Andrace kept her muzzle shut. If he thought she was a great and powerful mage who could incinerate him with the twitch of a whisker if he annoyed her enough, all the better. The lioness saw no need to mention that her magical talent was actually so meagre, she could just about light a dry match. That might change, though, in the odd magical environment of this empty-looking plain. And what about her magic-based tools and gadgets — never mind the Death-sword — would they be affected as well?

Andrace turned again and put her nose to the wind, ears and whiskers perked forward, nostrils flared wide to pick up anything beyond the scents of grass and wood smoke. "Okay," she said to the jackal after a moment, "let's find out who that is upwind. C'mon — an' put a leash on laughin' boy if 'e won't tag along." An' a muzzle if 'e won't shut up, she thought sourly. She hadn't missed the abrupt appearance of the little black floating critter now accompanying Ti'Paollo. She knew what a Warp-Aci was, her sister Despina had summoned one a few years ago. And she'd had to send it back before it drove the whole Pride stark, raving bonkers with its... eccentric behaviour.

It probably wasn't a good idea to haul a 'Cubi of unknown power and doubtful sanity into whatever they were about to face, but she didn't want to leave Ti'Paollo here. He might happen to someone, in his current state of mind, or get into an argument with the geography: the sort that required the redrawing of a few maps. The lioness took a deep breath, threw her shoulders back, and strode away upwind through the long grass, one ear turned back to listen for the other two — or was it three — following her.

[Sunblink]

A bubble of flame bloomed in the darkness, swelling around the smoldering tip of the Stranger's cigarette - the slim stick of cancerous tobacco was nestled between the curvature of his alabaster fang and his lips, which were drawn together in a taut, distasteful line. He seemed, more or less, displeased with Elizabeth's assertiveness, but not outright infuriated. He was just unimpressed with the inconvenience her resistance imposed. Even as he spoke, his words succinctly virulent, she remained somewhat obstinate - Elizabeth kept her gaze squared on the Stranger's black-pit eyes, arms folded and features schooled into a flat and unreadable mask. No matter how much she did not want to admit it, Elizabeth conceded that she needed to cooperate with the Stranger. Her safety depended on his guidance, much to her frustration.

She did not say this aloud. Instead, she made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat and sighed, drawing her clothing into her body with a quick shapeshifting spell. The iridescent, dazzling fabric shimmered with a kaleidoscopic spectrum of colors, gliding through the meticulously-threaded patterns and designs woven into the robes, one last time before the shades melted into blackness. Replacing the extravagant dress and its ostentatious decorations was a more practical selection in attire - an asymmetrically-designed set of pants and a top accompanied by belle-sleeve armwarmers - mostly inconspicuous. Elizabeth was practiced enough in designing and creating outfits that she could incorporate such abilities into her metamorphosis.

"Very well," Elizabeth stated bluntly. "Lead the way. I will follo-"

plip

Elizabeth's ears perked. Chanting and the low thrum of music accompanied that ripple of water, as imperceptible as a heartbeat in her ears. Something was slinking toward her in the darkness - a bony figure, its flesh denuded of all fur and its body clammy beneath its tattered rags - making a repulsed shiver dart up her spine. Her jaw dropped; instinctively, she shifted into a protective stance.

[Lisky]

Bas's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he noted the bat looking at stomach for a bit longer than just taking notes.  Given her seemingly cold, or neutral as of late tone thus far made the demon doubt her intent was sexual, and given the blank look on her face, a feeling began creeping up on him that sent a cold shiver down the demon's spine.
Collecting his shield Bas nodded at her comment and started heading down stairs.  He replied, "alright, lets go."

In his left hand, Bas carried the shield, ready for anything, his right hand had grown the trademark claws of his race, which he absentmindedly ran along the walls of the stairwell, the deep gouges almost imperceptible given the look of this place.

At the base of the stairs, Bas noted that this floor was as demolished as the one above, he again ran clawed fingers across walls, touching desks, and idly exploring this destroyed building with all his senses.  The eerie silence, save for the faint *scritch* noise his claws were making added to his already unnerved feeling.  It was too quiet, yet, there was no where for someone to hide.

After a minute or two of pacing about in the empty space, Bas went down to the ground floor.  It was messy, papers scattered everywhere, and yet, it was far more intact that anywhere above him.  From his point, he noted walls, doors, everything seemed much better off than whatever exploded on the floors above him.  Shuffling his feet, a little to generate some sounds to break the monotonous silence, Bas's foot caught a couple sheets of paper. He picked one up, across the top in big black text read "TPS REPORT" hand written notes were scrawled across it that Basilisk didn't bother to read, it was paper work, not something he enjoyed.

The air smelled stale here, thick, and old... as if, it'd been sitting for some time.  He could taste something in the air that was almost like stale smoke, acrid and potent, and yet it didn't seem to have much of a smell.  The total lack of sound save for the sounds he and his new partner were making only added to the eerie and dead feel to the place... the total lack of bodies only made it worse.  The light was pale down here was pale and somewhat faint, his eyes adapted quickly, but the slightly obscured vision didn't help calm Bas's nerves.

With all life seemingly erased in a catastrophic blink, Bas began slowly making his way towards one of the offices, he caught a bit of the faux-granite floor tiling out of the corner of his eye.  He ran his fingertips across the out edge of a section of drywall, noting the thick dust accumulation as the streak his hand made as he dragged it along with walk become quite visible.  He felt nervous as his fingers slowly wrapped themselves around.  His wrist began to rotate, and the door creaked ominously as a small shaft of pale light pierced the blackness of the enclosed room.

[Stygian]

The bat stood stock still for a second, and then turned around, an inquisitive gleam in his eyes. He observed the hunched, stooped figure in its shuffling dirtiness, his own posture quite relaxed but a sense of tension and threat to him nevertheless. There was something ragged, almost zombie-like to it that made one want to reach for the nearest metal object, and the man in turn gave off an air of repulsion and the impression of having to hold himself back firmly, or he'd do something that might turn out unwise. And for all of the gruesomeness of the thing's appearance, Elizabeth still couldn't shake the feeling that the bat was far, far more dangerous.
  The troglodytic thing was at the water by the time that the bat unfolded his arms, gingerly taking the cigarette from his lips. The air seemed to shimmer around him for a second, and then, in the sort of authoritative tone that causes minority complexes, he spoke up.
  'What are you, and what is this place?' he asked, not actually expecting an answer. Already, he was narrowing his eyes, the glow of his irises intensifying.

- -

Treading carefully down the stairs, taking a little more time to ponder the cause of their surroundings rather than any immediate threats, Elyse followed in Bas' trail but did not bother too much with keeping up. She was confident enough that anything capable of attacking them would become known to her way ahead of its arrival. She tapped the walls with her fingers, sniffed the air every now and then, stopped to try and read smudged writing or discern the use of certain rooms, and didn't really bother with keeping Bas in view, so long as she could feel him close by.
  Paper crumpled under the bat's foot, and a smooth steel slate of some kind which lay on the floor in front of her took her next step and gave a slightly resonating, hard feel, bits of peeled plastic paint stuck to it under the dust. She sat down on her haunches, not far from where Bas had bent down to look, and traced her fingers carefully over the floor, making out text on paper that was all but turned to dust. It wouldn't have survived if not for the dry air, she thought, and even then... She looked to the side and saw the metal skeleton of some sort of cabinet toppled over, a few metres away. She grunted, and then returned to examining the writing. Through bland monotony, she could vaguely deduce references and purposes.
  'This building... A software business?' she said silently, mostly to herself, incredulity staining her words. She stood up, and looked at the withered and paling walls. Was there more damage to one side of the room? Could she see the walls leaning or budging in any direction? If she found a window, what would she find herself looking at? She realized, with some horror, that she hadn't even bothered with any sorts of screening or poisoning-prevention spells or measures. They might have been fortunate just to find themselves in breathable air. For all she knew, it was possible that with every moment passing by they were being poisoned. Immediately, her thoughts flickered with patterns and diagrams, magical protections forming in her mind.
  A twinge of anxiety and tension brought her out of her rising feeling of dread, and Elyse's head snapped around instantly. In the absence of other living, thinking things she'd slowly heightened her awareness of thoughts and feelings, letting her self-imposed mental 'muffler' go. A landscaper would have been astonished at the accuracy with which her gaze found the back of Basilisk's head, even through a pair of walls. Even the Demon himself almost felt a sort of itch at the back of his eyes, before the bat remembered caution and drew her awareness back, refraining from using the man's eyes without his permission. She had no doubt that he'd guess she was doing it either way; somehow creatures seemed far more sensitive to that kind of intrusion than regular beings, though magic users were sometimes an exception. And she didn't want him to take a set to her, or even worse put up some protection spells that might obstruct her in case of an emergency. Instead, she walked smartly off after him, entering the same room and approaching him in almost complete silence. She felt something - no, someone else now. And the feeling was familiar.
  'Ahem. What have you found?' The bat could have made it sound as though she'd actually spoken, but for convenience she added a sort of distant echo to her voice as it appeared somewhere between Bas' ears and his immediate thoughts. People always appreciated that sort of touch.

[Azlan]

A tiny curl of the lip, revealing an ivory white snaggletooth, graced the muzzle of the ringtail as his additions caused a moment of pause in the acidic tongue of the lioness.  Still it would have been wiser to have concealed this change as it would have been an edge, even at the fledgling state he was currently in.

Still, the biggest edge he held was one no one would believe to be such an asset; he had no desire to fight this Andrace.  It was not out of fear of her Death-sword, not when he considered such things as Grimslayer, the Godrazor, or a few of the other so called legendaries that had been passed dangerously close over the millennias.  Despite his past, such exhilarating battles to the death or contests of cunning no longer meant anything to him.  It was a waste of life; waste of potential, and of energy.  Killing for money, for any personal gain, was such a base and vile thing.  In his most brutal of mindsets, the thought of being someone else's murderer defined any concept of honor, justice, or righteousness.  A being or creature that had to call on another to murder someone was a lowly and worthless creature.

Perhaps it took thousands of years for one to come to this realization, and the lifespan of a being was so short, there would likely be no comparable thoughts among the shadowy recesses of the mind of a murderer like this Kithara lioness.  Oh well, another generational assassin to add to the list.

The mention of magic's function or rather misfunction brought his mind to a more practical thought process.  The explanation was plausible, factually true in actuality, but that was to be expected.  The truth here helped, but was more frustrating than anything.  "Bitter Coast, magic acting different, yes... I suppose that would be true if... *sigh*, nevermind I'll play along I guess."

The ringtail grasped his tail and spun a complete 360, facing his companions with a happy and jovial expression like that before his mind turned to darker thoughts.  "The Bitter Coast, yes I've been here a few times.  Once with a division of troops during a pivotal engagement against forces of D'Marr.  I don't remember it being magically strange here, but D'Marr might have damaged the dimensional fabric with some rather titanic magic, I really don't remember.  However, the last time I was in the area it did have some odd effects on magic.  Most passive magical items should be fine, but let's try to avoid wielding magical weapons here."

Kiet produced a fabulous ruby studded, leather leash and offered it to Cerebus, "I guess we go walkies then?"  The ringtail wagged his huge, fluffy tail, generating a rather massive air disturbance in its wake.  His ears perked up, "oh, I almost forgot."  The cubi's three set of wings disappeared in a twinkle of fine, glittery dust, "much better, less questions this way.  Okay let's go."  He happily skipped along, directing his thoughts into more, self-rejuvenating, pleasant thoughts.         

[Gareeku]

Looking back at Cerebus, Gareeku paused for a second, seeing the strange glow in the Jackal's eyes. He certainly hadn't seen that before. "Wait...why are your eyes-"

It was then that the white flash blinded his vision for a split second. Follow by coldness, so severe that it was painful, even to the wolf who had some natural defense again coldness. Grimacing, Gareeku turned to Rynkura as she spoke, but in the midst of the chaos that surrounded them, he could hardly hear her.

And then, with another blinding flash, everything vanished into nothingness...the room...the people...everything...

...was he dead...?

He felt something splash on his head. A drop of something. Water, maybe. Then another, then more, gradually more frequent all over him.

Gareeku awoke to a dark grey sky. It was raining heavily. Taking a second to register that he was in fact conscious, the wolf sat up to find himself staring out across an ocean from a small beach, an island prehaps, judging from its layout. Looking down, he found himself to be in his normal adventuring attire; his blue outfit, brown hooded cloak, even his katana was lying on the sand next to him. Nothing but the sound of the rain and the surf could be heard, save for the odd clap of thunder accompanied by forks of lightning.

...where in the world...

Suddenly hearing movement next to him, Gareeku looked over and found with relief that Rynkura was there with him. Noticing something else in the distance, the wolf found that there was also an insectis with them...yeah...there was one at the ball...one second they were all there, surrounded by the carnage, the stench of blood, the screams of the slaughtered...him, Rynkura and Cerebus

Speaking of which, where the hell was Cerebus?

And then he heard the Mistress speak. She seemed unhurt, thank the gods, though he wasn't sure about the insectis, who by now was clambering into the big metal machine thing it was by; was he/she/it ok? Taking a second to register what the tigress had said, Gareeku shook his head somewhat as he snapped himself out of it. Even for a battle-hardened adventurer like himself, this was a bit much to take in.

"Yeah...I'm fine..." the wolf replied, getting to his feet and helping Rynkura to hers. "How about you? Are you alright?"

[Aisha deCabre]

Rynkura, slowly starting to get used to the rain and the storm in the air that she could smell as well as feel, observed the insectis's actions for a moment.  It seemed not to notice them, or at least not care, for it had went back to inspecting its strange mechanical device and had climbed into it.  For protection against the storm, she guessed.

The tigress sighed and shook her head, somewhat frustrated.  We are stuck in the middle of a godsforsaken ocean on an island in the middle of what could turn out to be a hurricane.  I cannot believe that the first instinct some wouldn't have when confronted with isolation is to find others.  Survival often has a greater chance with numbers.  Still, different cultures...

With a hum, she interrupted her musings to regard Gareeku and his reply.  He was indeed safe--if perhaps as perturbed as she herself was--but that he was safe was the main thing.

Smiling reassuringly, the healer took his offer and got back to her feet, which were still shaky from the ordeal they had.  "Yes, I am well...alive at least," she said with a pause, shaking the sand from the fur on her tail with a swish.  "And a tad disoriented, but still well.  Thank you, Gareeku."

She sighed and glanced around.  "Right...I guess the best thing to do right now would be to see how to survive around here.  Shelter, food, civilized people..." the tiger glanced at the insectis' little barricade while saying that.  "Then we can start thinking of a way out and some answers.  Perhaps start exploring when the rain dies down.  Do you agree with me?"

After a moment, Rynkura decided it wouldn't hurt to try finding some common ground with their guest, looking back toward said thing.  Taking her staff in hand, the disguised angel walked up to the mech, looking it over before knocking on it a few times with the head of the staff and producing a short metalic clang or a few.  "Excuse me..." her voice raised in case the insectis couldn't hear well.  "We mean no harm.  Will you come out and speak to us?"

[techmaster-glitch]

   Karazkt sat passively in the cockpit under the metal dome, "listening" to the patter of the water on the metal of his diggermech, and just surveying the landscape through the infravision-transparent dome. At irregular intervals, strange jagged lines of intense heat streaked above, leaving weird afterimages.
  After some time, he noticed one of those two surfacers walking towards his mech. What shocked him almost as much as his situation was that he couldn't "feel" the surfacer approach; his vibration-sensitive antennae are able to feel vibrations through the feet of the mech. At least, they are supposed to. He then figured that the incredibly loose earth must absorb the vibrations too well.
  The surfacer reached up with a staff and tapped the mech, before stating no hostile intent and requesting that Karazkt communicate. After a moment of hesitation, Karazkt began pushing a few levers. Without starting up the steam boiler, he made the diggermech "kneel" down (more like hunch over) by simply opening up certain joints and allowing the weight of the mech bring itself down, with a "hisss" from inside it. With that, the dome was now much closer to the surfacer.
  Karazkt then opened the dome a bit, enough for them to see each other, but not enough to let the rain in. fter a few moments of silence, Karazkt simply said, "You...are a zurfazer..." in his clicking, buzzing voice, with no nonverbal cues that a "surfacer" could interpret, leaving Rynkura with no clue as to what was supposed to be implied by that statement. "Were you...aT the zTone zTruKTure with the many zurfazerz, the..." Karazkt's buggery head twisted slightly and spoke slowly, as if he was trying to remember the words, "the...damaazzzK Kaazzzle...?"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

As Mel made her way through the clouds to the ship she fretted. It was something she did well, and it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment. She had no idea where she was or how she got there. That really wasn't much of a problem when one knew how to teleport, all she needed to do was figure out where she was in relation to home she was as good as there. What she was worrying about was the fact that Grandmother had been a little crazed. It was a well known fact of life that Grandmother did not let her anger get out control. Except in legend. Mel shuddered a little bit in memory of the story of what happened the last time Luna Icewing had been working from emotion rather than thought. And that was back when Luna had been as young was Mel was now and had only a fraction of the power now under her control. Getting back to the Fort and finding Grandfather as quickly as possible was of immediate importance to a large section of the continent even if the continent didn't know it yet. Hopefully the people in the airship weren't so startled by the sight of a gryphon and a dragon not tearing each other to pieces that they could give competent directions.

[Boog]

Jeremiah blinked a few times, the cat already walking away toward what the frog was already thinking of as the Great Celestial Flush. He turned over the cats statement in his mind, examining it, like a caveman studying a personal organizer.
"... Did that at least make sense to you?" He finally asked, turning around and following the cat.
The city was devoid of life, which was an odd feeling for Jeremiah. He liked cities, but it wasn't a city without the people in the same way an anthill wasn't an anthill without ants. Without ants it was a rather twisty hole, and without people a city was a mall at six in the morning. His fingers started fiddling with one another and, eventually, he figured he may as well practice his illusions.
His started the excersize with a simple gold coin in the palm of his hand. The first attempt glowed too brightly, the little thing made of organized light pulling much more power than usual for some reason. He dimmed it down with a small curse and began flipping it between his knuckles, practicing getting the shadows just right as it moved. Eventually he had it grow little legs and crawl along his fingers itself, then split into two spiders that started weaving a cats cradle between his hands...
A good artist is very rarely bored.

[Yugo]

Silence had threatened to overwhelm the young Angel for what felt like minutes with her mouth slightly agape at the malignant entity that sat across from the two of them, its smile encapsulating what felt like the vicious threat of murder. Perhaps a worse fate awaited her, as Creatures like her understood more strongly than others. Elyse's sudden shock set Esme's already stricken heart racing, a nimbus of blue light playing about her hands with the readied power of light-based healing magic. It faded quickly when she tried to do a quick visual inspection of the bat and found nothing, her eyes wide with fear. What horrid power was at work here? Even Elyse's malice-laden threats of certain crippling dismemberment did little to allay her terror.

A sudden wave of nausea and dizziness washed over her, and she stumbled briefly, dimly aware of a colossal pressure building up between her ears that signified something much greater than their immediate threat. An impossibly white light washed over the Angel, causing her to almost retch as it flowed into her eyes, mouth, and nostrils. It billowed and wisped down into her lungs, and the Angel thought she might choke to death on the light-stuff that was slowly enveloping her mind. The neverending peal of a bell filled her aural senses, encompassing all else save for the acrid suffocation that she was already suffering. Agonizing burns and impossible chills rushed through her body and for only a moment Esme thought it was over. Then she was falling, rising, everywhere and nowhere at once. Spacetime itself mutated and warped, her flesh melting from her mind....

Suddenly Esme was elsewhere finding herself falling onto a cold concrete floor. The shock of sudden existence made her sick to her stomach and dizzy, unable to stand on her feet for lack of balance. The blackness of her prison-like room was cut apart by a razor sharp blade of light that enveloped the room, causing the Angel to squint at the huge silhouette that took up the doorway. Instinctively the Angel threw up a glowing ellipse of light in front of her, scooting backwards towards the wall.

[Lisky]

Baseel's eyes adjusted in moments as the shaft of light grew as did the portal into the room.  As he was refocusing his senses, he heard shuffling, and a light suddenly appeared in the room, it seemed almost shield shaped as Bas's eyes continued to adjust.  As he could finally make out the outline of the room's occupant, he noted it was a female, feathery wings and on the shorter side... Then again most furs were 'on the shorter side' from the demon's perspective.

He lowered his shield, setting it gently outside the door, then crouching low and holding his hands out in front of him.  He held his palms forward to show he meant no harm.  She seemed downright terrified of him, he could almost taste her fear, and he didn't want anything to happen because of misunderstood intent.  The canine let out a small sigh before speaking in as soothing a tone as he could muster, "Um, hello there... I'm not here to hurt you... you can call me Baseel, or Bas, if you prefer."

His eyes adjusted more as he started making out more details, he had the faintest of smiles on his lips, for he was trying to maintain an aura of calm, yet given the way the winged feline was reacting to him, he was worried she might try something.  Continuing, he said, "it's rather dark in here, and you wouldn't want to catch cold sitting on the hard concrete like that... would you mind telling me your name?... and, if you're unable to, me helping you up, and out of this rather cold and dank office?"

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Rover cruised on, gliding smoothly on the dragon's port side, as they caught up with the Zeppelin ahead of them. As far as he was concerned, he didn't have care in the world - other than still being annoyed at the lack of a decent party.

Tim, however, was less sanguine about the situation they found themselves in. She didn't know the dragon, and could only hope that Rover wouldn't annoy her; she didn't know where they were; she didn't know how long it would be until they could get back; and she didn't know who or what was in the big balloon ahead of them. Foraging for Rover was hardly a problem - after all, he was big enough that nobody objected when he ate something. Or someone, although she'd managed to get him to ask his food if it minded him eating it, after a while. The only problem with that was when he'd caught someone sarcastic enough to respond "No, not at all, go ahead" and she'd only just been close enough to persuade Rover that he'd been joking...

For that matter, however long it took them to get back, she had the distinct, although unvoiced, impression that her superiors would be quite happy if it was longer still. Despite that, she did have to bring him back. And, given the size of the Zeppelin expanding in front of them, who knew what was in there?

And they followed the white dragon as she arced gracefully down towards the back, smoothly out of the light and into the shadow of the tail of the giant balloon. It was, in fact, getting larger and larger as they got closer. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew it couldn't be that big, she'd have sworn they could have fitted both the dragon and Rover in the "small" hangar bay on the back....

[Stygian]

'Her name is Tina.' The bat appeared over Baseel's shoulder, her hard gaze softening as she looked down at the Angel, but some intent still lingering in it. She put one finger to her lips for a brief second, and then cast a thought down specifically toward Esme. Don't trust him just yet. Just play along, her voice echoed within the Lynx's head. Don't worry; he seems a decent sort, but one can't be too careful. She stepped forward, then placed her hand on Bas' shoulder, and tugged gently.
   'Maybe you ought to get out of the door and give her some breathing room?' she said, then stepped back a bit herself. She gave the room around them a cursory once-over as she spoke. 'She's one of the guests from the ball. We met earlier.'

[Aisha deCabre]

Rynkura took a step back as, in reply to her coaxing, the mech was lowered closer to her level.  She watched it do so with a passing fascination, listening to the hissing and groaning of the metal.  It was an ingenious piece of work, and that an Insectis could control it was just as curious.

Right then though, the Healer was just a bit more focused on trying to at least make acquaintances with the individual inside the protective shell.  The Insectis was met with the face of a female white tiger, stoic yet kind in expression, if he could comprehend "surfacer" expressions without having to be briefed upon them.  Nearby he could probably have also seen a white wolf watching as well.

She listened to his words, trying to understand his speech and the difficulties he seemed to have with the tongue of their kind with an open mind.  When he finished his inquiry, she gave a nod.  "The Masque Ball at Castle Damaske, yes...we were all there.  And now we're not...somehow..." her eyebrows furrowed in thought.  "I do not know if it is only the three of us that have dumped here on this island, or if there are more."

Rynkura turned back to him.  "Regardless.  I wish to extend an offer to work together.  For so long as we are stuck in this place, you may need as much help as you can get, and so too will we.  Perhaps we can find out what happened to the others and find a way out together, if not find supplies to survive first."  She smiled.  "It is your choice, whether you want to or not.  It is only in good nature that I offer."

She bowed her head as a gesture of respect.  "I am Rynkura Msh'Taan, Mistress of the Shadowed Depths Monastery of Healing.  You may simply call me Ryn, if it is simple for you.  The young wolf with me is adventurer and fighter Gareeku Manoko."  She then nodded towards the Insectis, digging the point of her staff into the dirt as she stood straight again. "And you are...?"

[Yugo]

Esme crouched behind her shield as she eyed the silhouette approaching her, gathering in the ambient energy around her in preparation for another spell. A soft white light enveloped her palm, swirling about lightly at a peaceful pace that belied the violent nature behind it. The lynx was not the most focused or controlled spellcaster, but her Angelic nature gave her enough raw power to throw around to help compensate. Her own oath to protect life put her in a quandary however.

As the demon shed his own defense Esme followed suit, and the great magical barrier that had illuminated the room ceased to exist with a soft pop, leaving the only real lighting the magical essence that the young doctor held in her palm. She stood up on her own to a better defensive position, brushing the dust from her dress as she did so. Given all of the recent events that had transpired, the lynx did not feel ready to intrinsically trust anybody, gentlemanly or not. "No thank you," Esme managed softly as she closed her fist, extinguishing her readied spell like a flame. The resulting hiss echoed throughout the empty office.

She had almost opened her mouth to give him her name when the white vampire bat that had been accompanying her before interjected. A false name? she thought aloud before Elyse sent her an explanation telepathically, causing the lynx to raise a single eyebrow. So Elyse was a succubus then. The doctor's lips drew together curiously as she gazed around her into the darkness. "Where are we?"

[Lisky]

Collecting up his shield while backing out, Baseel made room for the Lynx angel.  The name didn't seem quite, well, creature-ish... though, given his current predicament, he wasn't going to argue the point.  Any allies, no matter how temporary, were better than none.

Bas shrugged at 'Tina's' question, "no idea" he replied, "i'm heading outside to check things out, you can follow if you'd like."

Turning back to the bat, Bas said, "sorry for not replying to you outright, but seeming to talk to one's self while stumbling across a possible ally is not the best of ideas... Also, if you're going to try and take a condescending tone with me now, know full well who you might be insulting, especially before assuming you're the most powerful."

Bas left abruptly, he was getting irritated with the way his kind words and actions were not being reciprocated from the Bat. Adding a little extra 'Fuck you' to the somewhat exasperated gesture, he added a weak mind shield, just enough that she'd have to work to contact him.  With that, he headed for the exit, shield in his left hand and claws extended on his right.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Karazkt listened carefully at what the surfacer was saying. He understood most of it, but at the end, he had to think for a moment before he realized what the surfacer's question was.
   "My dezignation iz... ee gee four one Two five... I am Told zurfazerz prefer "namez"... my name iz diffiKulT in your language...the KlozezT thing iz..."
   Karazkt then made a funny series of noises that, to Rynkura, sounded like "Ka-raazz-k-t"
   After a few moments, Karazkt continued speaking. "I have...mission...muzT KompleTe...buT I Kan'T...I muzT-"
   Lightning then flashed across the sky again. Karazkt's goggles were on his forehead, and the sudden burst of light hit his eyes full force. The Insectis jerked back, making long buzzing and clicking noises as his hands snapped up to cover his eyes. After a few moments, he quieted down, and moved his bug-eyed goggles back over his bug-eyes again.
   "I muzt... I muzt... I don'T know whaT I muzT do..." Karazkt's mind was in a small state of lockup at the moment. He still had the mission that was set to him by his Queen, but of course, in his current situation, he could see absolutely no way to connect back to that. He couldn't even think of any way to try to get back, because of the utterly alien environment he was in. Basically, he couldn't do anything because he wasn't told to do anything, and since nothing was familiar, he couldn't draw from past experience to start from. He needed guidance.
   "WhaT...muzT I do?" Karazkt asked, his antennae bending forward ever-so-slightly. "Tell me...whaT I muzT do..."

[Stygian]

The bat watched Baseel leave impassively, then turned to the lynx to speak. Her words caught for a moment though, as the sensation of the Demon's mind distinctly dimming offended her perceptions. She cast another look toward the retreating man's back, and pinched her mouth for a second. Then she sighed, and looked down at Esme.
   'Alright, I know you're not hurt,' she said, and stepped a little closer, talking quietly. 'That's good to feel. And while I think you're jumping to conclusions just a little - there are other sorts of creatures that could read your thoughts, you know - you're right.' She gave the lynx a serious look. 'I... trust it's not going to be a problem? We seem to be trapped in a wasteland of some kind, and I really don't think this is the time for racial prejudices...'

[Gareeku]

Gareeku had quickly become used to the rain. He couldn't remember how many times he had journeyed through the middle of nowhere only for the heavens to open, so this was no different. Withing minutes the wolf's fur and clothes were sodden, making him look more like a drowned rat than a lupine, not that he was particularly concerned by this at the time. Besides, being in the middle of a bloodbath only to be transported another place entirely was more of a priority in the wolf's mind.

The white wolf had also noticed the insectis' antics, though he had thought to himself that, while the stranger had not made any attempt to interact with them, it must have been very hard for the creature to be stuck in such an alien environment. Like most other people, Gareeku knew very little about the race, but what he did was that, like feral insects, they preferred to live underground. And this was anything but.

As Rynkura spoke, Gareeku said nothing, but he did notice the tigress glance towards the insectis' mech when she spoke of finding "civilised people". The wolf frowned slightly at this, but remained silent. Only when asked by Rynkura if he agreed with her did he speak. "Indeed. First thing's first; we need to get to shelter. I don't want to go exploring in wet fur if I don't have to."

Following the tigress over to the insectis' mech, Gareeku looked on with his arms folded as Rynkura attempted to converse with the creature, bowing his head as he was introduced to the insectis by the healer. Listening on as he stood, he noted that the creature referred to himself - at least, he assumed the creature was male anyway - as what the white wolf could only understand as "Ka-raazz-k-t"...Karazkt, maybe...

It was then that the lupine warrior heard Karazkt ask Rynkura what he must do...almost like he was referring to her as a leader. A leader she was, but Gareeku could have sworn that it was almost like the tigress was a temporary Queen to the insects...Great...so what am I then? The Jester? My ass am I...

[Aisha deCabre]

Rynkura listened carefully and with a good amount of patience to the Insectis before her; even with her sensitive hearing, the rain and the thunder mixed with his strange dialect made it a little hard to understand him.  But she understood his name after a second of thinking, and his words.  She felt a small bit of pity for Karazkt...she knew enough about the Insectis culture to know that he felt lost without the guidance given to him.

When he finished and gave an inquiry as to what he must do, the white Healer thought for a moment as she glanced back to Gareeku, noting his none-too-amused facial expression.  Rynkura felt the same way somewhat...she was used to being a leader as Mistress of the monastery, but suddenly being a figure of authority to an Insectis was a mite unexpected.

It was a start though at least, the Insectis may probably be willing to work with them...

The disguised angel turned back and nodded her head.  "Alright then...Karazkt," she said, trying out his name for herself.  "I am curious as to what this mission of yours is, admittedly.  You do not have to tell me though, if you do not wish.  But if you do need guidance, you will refer to both Gareeku and myself as equals...I wish to have us all work together."

She continued, turning to look around while trying not to let the wind whip her hair into her face. "What you need to do is to help us, for we all need to work together to survive this island...build a shelter from this rain, gather food, explore the woods to see if there are any people.  Fire will not be a problem, I expect...Gareeku and I know some magic, if you do not."

The tiger then weighed the options for each.  The Insectis probably wasn't too keen on exploring by himself and may scare whomever lived there, if anyone.  She looked back to Karazkt.  "If you can help build a shelter, that would be good.  If you dig it, or use the trees and machinery, I do not care, so long as it will keep us dry."

She turned back to the wolf.  "As for us, sir Manoko...we shall have to plan a trek further inland.  You aren't too adverse to hunting for your meat, are you?" she said with a slight grin.

[Yugo]

Esme frowned slightly as their demon companion took his leave. He took that rather harshly, didn't he?, she thought out loud towards the succubus before her. A feeling of dissapointment and regret rushed up briefly before Esme pushed it away. Although she didn't feel particularly proud of pushing the big and genial demon away, she had to admit that Elyse was right. Given their current situation and the myriad of nauseous and unexplainable occurences, she couldn't afford to let her guard down at the first sign of civility. Nevertheless, Esme couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Baseel; either he was extraordinarily skilled at deceit, or was genuinely helpful and polite. Time would tell the truth.

The lynx ruffled her brow and turned her attention back to the succubus. "It's good to know you care," Esme responded softly, her lips stretching upwards iinto a warm smile. As Elyse continued her query, Esme smirked in a somewhat uncharacteristic manner that seemed entirely out of place with their environment and the seriousness of their situation. "I'm a doctor Elyse. Don't worry, I don't have the luxury of prejudice. Now what say we get out of here?" The Angel brushed off her dress, raising a small cloud of dust around her before she was adequately satisfied with her cleanliness. Just try not to abuse your powers on me.

[Stygian]

Elyse would have expected disapproval, and there was actually a fairly tasteful twinge of pitiful emotion to start off with from Esme's direction. The lynx's attitude changed though, to a rather positive one considering the circumstances. The bat herself was rather surprised; she knew she herself would not have acted or felt so cheerful in the Angel's stead. She concluded that Esme must have seen and lived more as a doctor than she had initially thought. Than she shouldn't have thought; she had taken the lynx too much for who she appeared at first glance, with her demure demeanor and thoughts at the forefront. The lack of negative emotions left her without much to feed her Cubi tastes, but the cheerfulness was rather refreshing nonetheless.
   'I suppose I'll have to agree with that...' the bat said noncommittally, as Esme got to her feet. Elyse gave her a warm but only barely readable smile, not showing in any way whether if she had been responding to Esme's vocalized question, or merely what she had been thinking. 'We should find some existing door, all things considered. The top floor is blown out, but this place at least is sheltered, which is enough in case it turns out we can't move anywhere. And since we have a doctor now, I think we'll be just fine.' She wiggled her eyebrows in a sort of sarcastically humorous way, and then stepped back. She waited for Esme to step outside, and then proceeded after Baseel.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Karazkt understood most of what Rynkura said to him, particularly what he took as her command. Build a shelter, one that can keep them dry. However, he found her other command somewhat odd... to refer to her and the other surfacer as 'equal'. Karazkt knew what that word meant, but it was still a strange command... Karazkt figured that she wanted him to take orders from the other surfacer as well. There was no real problem with that.
   But back to his task, building a shelter. Simple enough. He would dig a cave. However, the earth his mech was currently standing in was useless for such a thing. It was far to loose, shifting, and unstable; even if Karazkt poured large amounts of earth magic through the mech's amplifier array to compact and harden this strange grainy earth, it would still collapse. Karazkt sent out a few invisible tendrils of sensing earth magic to see if there was anything better. Incredibly enough, he found that the grainy earth abruptly turned to normal (if very soft) earth, parallel to the great mass of water. This line also happened to coincide with the strange plant life. Karazkt decided that he could make a cave over there.
   Speaking to Rynkura, Karazkt said "I will have shelTer ready immediately, RynKura Msh'Taan MizTrezz of the Shadowed Depthz MonazTery of Healing."
   Karazkt then closed the metal dome over the cockpit and removed his goggles. He put his two antennae into the ports behind him, and fed some fire magic into them while pulling several levels. This, coupled with the activation of the permanent fire enchantment in the boiler, quickly created needed steam pressure. A rumbling could be heard from within the great metal machine. Karazkt pulled a few more levers, starting the clockwork engine.
   With much rumbling, clanking, hissing, and a little roaring, the diggermech came to life. It impressively rose from its crouching position to its full twenty-foot-high standing position. After a moment of standing still, it slowly began turning in place, carefully stepping in the loose sand. Every time it stepped, its stubby foot slid and sunk a little. The mech teetered worryingly, but did not fall. Once it was facing the thicket of trees, the mech began stepping forward, gaining surer footing as there was less and less sand. Once it reached the trees, it simply swept one oversized arm, instantly clearing the trees in front of it. It stepped forward and repeated the motion, and again, and again, clearing a path for itself over the much stabler (but still muddy) ground. Karazkt was now much more able to sense the ground and all things in contact with it much more easily with his antennae, even through his mech. Once he found what he determined to be suitably solid ground, the mech stopped. There was some more clanking, and all along both arms of the mech, plates split open and slid around. Several moved back, but more moved forward and began to take shape. In moments, both "hands" of the mech were instead replaced by two large scoops.
   The mech then swung a scoop into the ground, accompanied by a flash of brown light. An amount of earth was dumped to the side, while the second arm made the same motion. The mech, surely enough, began digging a mech-sized hole into the ground, and sunk out of sight.