Of Steam and Steel: IC (Mature) {Currently Open}

[techmaster-glitch]

Badlands outside the Aelisium Town

   As the Storm Scorp moved through the lower gullies in the ridges, the brothers eventually noticed a column of smoke or ash in the distance.
   As they got closer, Gezzemocht's eyes darted around, taking in the column of smoke, some trees, and their shadows, muttering numbers under his breath, like measurements. Eventually, he said "Gaak, stop over there," pointing under a large-ish outcropping. When they did, Gaakronacht looked back to his brother, who was frowning slightly.
   Gezzemocht looked over to Ashlynn. "There is a very high likelyhood that the soot over there could belong to whoever we're hunting. Either it is from some kind of large fire--which seems rather sloppy to me--or it is the exhaust from a coal-powered industrial-grade machine, but whether of Aelisian, Ahnkian, or Nhylamarian origin, I cannot be sure. If it's Aelisian or Ahnkian, it almost certainly is only industrial, and not military-grade, but if it's Nhylamarian, it could be military equipment.
   "Now, I never intended us to go in blindly, and not just for the fact that the Storm Scorp is more of a support mech than a direct assault mech. I suggest that we reconnoiter whatever is ahead to determine the force composition and best angle of attack before moving any closer. One, or possibly two of us should go on foot to assess whatever the unknowns are, then return."
   Gaakronacht piped up. "Yeah, I think two of us may good as well; take advantage of the buddy system. I'm sure you can tell how we would like that whenever possible," Gezz grinned, "and we also just like redundancy and backups."
   Gezz spoke again. "But you know this area better than us, are more aware of the situation, and you are actual infantry, while we are not. What do you think, Lieutenant Taige?"

[Ashen Star]

It was certainly not her job to go out and get shot.  Most military liaisons hung so far back they needed binoculars to see the irregulars getting blown up.  Ashlynn, however, neither disagreed with his assessment nor did she hesitate to disengage her hand and climb down the side of the storm scorp.  She gave a series of stretches to loosen her body; not an unpleasant sight to watch, before she withdrew the Lebarge.  "Stop if you see me in line of sight.  Be ready if you hear a shot.  If something explodes, come with all the fire you can manage."  She said as she began to walk down the wash towards the smoke.

Aeliseum soldiers and officers were not ones for crawling through mud and dirt on their way to a fight, but Ashlynn did keep her body low as her eyes roaming from the dust ahead of her to the thorny hillsides above her.  The gray skunk moved in a stoop, trying to keep the thorn bushes nearby for cover, pistol out and the Lebarge ready.

Then she froze, catching the faintest gleam of metal. Slowly she lowered her eyes till she saw the dull trip wire stretched across the wash.  Her hand followed it to the toggle switch buried in the sand.  Well now, that was quite an unpleasant bit of explosive.  She pinched the toggle firmly and then carefully snipped the wires.  Looking back at the storm scorp peeking around the next bend she drew a big X in front of the mine.

So far so good.  The washes were meeting in a bowl.  No more mines that she'd found.  She dropped to hands and knees, crawling along the edge of the bushes to spot the clearing and see what was the cause of the smoke.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Adelaide managed a fraction of a smile at the captain when he showed her to the elegant room. "Thank you Captain." She seated herself in one of the chairs and pulled a book out of one pocket, settling in for the long flight.

[Tapewolf]

Seth felt bad about abandoning the Demon, but giving him a ride wouldn't really have worked anyway... the panniers were mounted over the rear seat and he needed to keep those.  For a moment it crossed his mind to cast a fireball spell at the airship, but considering the way it was armoured, it was probably a futile gesture.  Better not to attract their attention unduly.
He kept on after the other bike, trying to think of a sensible plan that didn't involve running away.  After all the trouble of rescuing these people, abandoning them to the raiders was a terrible thing to do, but it was one he was contemplating.  At the end of the day, he was scared.

[Lisky]

Airship Deck
Bas gave a neutral expression as he started walking towards the deck of his own airship.  Considerably larger, it's side mounted turrets were practically grinding against Hake's zeppelin.  The demon  gave a non-committal shrug and replied, "I can give you a ride to a Voethfel City, and you can find you way from there? or, if you'd like, you're more than welcome aboard the Swift-Spear.  I've got more than enough room, Zelah, and if you'd like a paying job, i'm more than willing to offer one to a fellow creature in need.  Got to look out for each other after all, Right?"
Giving another friendly smile as he approached the narrow planks laid between the decks, Bas offered a hand to help Zelah cross.
In the distance, a small shape could be seen coming closer.  It was just a spec at it's current distance.

Airship (Challam)
The tigress gave him a very confused look, "Uh, pardon, sir?"  She looked at him and looked at where his eyes had transfixed, "Are you that easily distracted by a tattoo?  Or are you just another one of -those- kinds of people who sees a girl with a nice figure and ogles all you please, and expect them to be fine with it."
Giving an angry huff, the girl went to adjust her top, if Challam was watching, he'd note that the red speckle was in fact the very edge of a stylized rose.   A moment later, her top was completely covering her cleavage, and she'd moved to another empty seat with an angry huff as she left.

Wolksheem Air-dock
Cyril's airship took about  10 hours to get to the Wolksheem airship dock.  The act of passing through simply involved Aleyna waving to the guard, in a rather informal facsimile of a salute, and then waving the badger into the port.
Once inside, he'd note that there was another airship unloading from the other side, it had but a single passenger, a squirrel of some type, who seemed to be getting directions for something.

Addy's  trip took all of 8 hours... however, she spent two hours in dock, doing nothing because it seemed someone had screwed up the paperwork.   She was where she was supposed to be, as her trip to the monastery  was via land.  Across the way, a fiery red vixen and oddly colored badger were unloading from their own ship.  She was dressed richly... probably some type of royalty, and he was dressed... daintily for a lack of a better term.  Her directions seemed to have been off, however, as, the note about her ride mentioned nothing about where the contracted cart was supposed to meet her.
Wolksheem is a massive city, and Addy can see the dusk lights begin  to ignite as the sun sinks into the horizon.


Cockpit
Paige was close, very close... about 5 miles off her destination, when she could see 2 airships docked side by side.  One looked to be a general purpose civilian type,  No real visible armaments, and still too far to tell if there was anyone on deck.  The other one, however, was  considerably larger, it's heavy turrets mounted both on top and bottom, along with what appeared to be smaller, anti-air turrets lined the larger airship's flank.  The larger one appeared to be a new class of battle-cruiser.
The back 3/4 of the airship actually looked like it was designed to be used as a flight deck, the man guns were mounted underneath a long, wooden platform, that appeared to have been marked at the back, and flush with the deck was the top of the forward, topside turret.
Drawing closer,  she could see a creature with large wings standing on a small ramp between the two airships.  It appeared he was leading a small group of mostly similarly uniformed creatures, mostly demons, to the battle-cruiser.  Getting closer still, she could clearly identify Bas, and could make out the 10 or so other creatures who wore similar uniforms.  There was 1 individual with Bas, she appeared different than the black and green clad creatures.  7 demons, an angel, a phoenix, and what may have been cubi... or, perhaps an 8th demon.

canals
The day proved rather uneventful, the little traffic that Arroyo did encounter seemed to mostly be traders using the rivers to access smaller settlements to sell their wares.  Night was quickly approaching, and Arroyo would either have to find a spot to anchor his boat, or find a port.  The rivers were dangerous to travel at night.  Feral beasts patrolled their currents, beasts with large pointy teeth, and ones that proved to be a challenge for some of the more mighty creatures.   As if to reiterate this point, a large, saw-blade like dorsal fin appeared.  Easing out of the water as the monstrosity it was attached to had apparently caught something.
As the sun grew lower still Arroyo could see a sign, clearly marked for a nearby town, or a few inlets he could use to park his boat for the night.  Unless of course, he felt truly alert and skilled enough to risk a night-time voyage.

(OOC Note: this is the first half the posts, putting it up now, and will update as muse comes... apologies to you at the train crash... just having a bit of a hard time putting this mental image into words...)

[Arroyo Milori]

Arroyo's eye grew wearier as the sun sets in the sky, though he did occasionally practiced a bit of casual magic while the boat was guiding itself among the river in a slow pace, then took control of the boat when he hit a fork in the road. He squinted at the sign that said a town was up ahead.

Arroyo knew that he wasn't in any condition to continue the long journey alone and tired. He let the river guide him, or rather force the river to guide him down the path with some of his magic. He was an odd mage, he used kinetics than lexicon to use most of his talents. He He rowed his arms as if he was swimming forward in a gentle way, causing the boat to speed up a bit. He then stopped as soon as he heard the nearby town coming up, the laughter of children running inside, and the horns of boats ready for docking. He pulled the horn's cord to signal his arrival then slowed down as he drifts into a spot at the docks.

He got off, and anchored his ship in. He then looked back at the town to see what it looked like on land.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Banking slightly so that she circled the two zeps, Paige made out the name on the bow of the Battle Cruiser type. "MJOLNIR" She read aloud to herself, "My Someones feels pretty sure of himself...Well at least its the right ship."

Placing a hand on the stone set in a necklace she wore while flying, she spoke; "Mjolnir, this is Free Pilot Paige Nova. Requesting permission to land. Have invitation from Baseel Wolkshammar. Over."

She was hoping that a ship armed and of such recent construction had a message stone aboard, if she didn't get a quick reply she'd use the old strobe stone to Morse code a message.

[Kafzeil]

The lap across the first alley was nothing, practically. Lucy cleared it with ease.

The next leap was a bit rougher, to put it mildy.

The ocleot had taken a running leap at the buillding, building momentum before she jumped...

...Barely clearing the  street. She grabbe donto the ledge of the roof, cursingto herself queitly as she pulled herself up onto the roof.

She took a moment to collect her thoughts, before one that terrified her surfaced.

Hope no one saw that...

[techmaster-glitch]

Aelisium Badlands

   Ashen had jumped down from the Scorp and limbered up; holding onto the side like that for awhile must not have been too comfortable. The brothers both glanced at each other at what she said was going to do, and as she started to walk away, Gaakronacht said to Gezzemocht "I'll go with her. Though it shouldn't happen, I can still shoot a gun better than you. Besides, I'm the one who has to pilot Storm here around wherever these guys are." He checked his pistol and grabbed the scattergun from the side of the cockpit as he started clambering out. "Lieutenant, wait up!"
   Gaakronacht caught up with Ashlynn as she was disabling the mine. Gaak made a note of that; mines in the area meant potentially big problems. He kept low and walked along after her, the scattergun slung on his back and his pistol in its holster. When he got close, he whispered "Buddy system, remember? Besides, I gotta see the layout of this place for myself before I start fighting in it. And if this goes right, there shouldn't even be any shots, we just want to know what we're up against first."
   He continued moving forward with her as they got closer to being able to see just who or what was out here.

[SpottedKitty]

Zelah's tail-tip and ears twitched just a little as she considered Wolkshammer's offer. Could she trust him? All the Church's teachings said Demons and other magical-natured Creatures couldn't really be trusted... but she was a Creature, try though she might to forget it or deny it, and from now on she'd be living in a country full of Creatures. That thought suddenly frightened her. If Wolkshammer just dropped her off in a city with Creatures everywhere, could she cope? The Demon couldn't know what he'd be doing to her... could he? Perhaps it would be better to take in Nhylamar in smaller bites, in a smaller place, like an airship.

"I think I will take you up on that job offer," she said after a moment, "after all I haven't anything else to do... whups, I almost forgot, my travelling bag, it's still in my cabin. I'll be right back!" She hurried across the deck, her forgotten headwings fluttering, back into the main corridor leading to her cabin. She didn't notice the tiny speck appear in the sky over the brow of a distant line of hills. When she returned a minute later carrying her bag, though, she couldn't miss the small fighter plane circling a short distance away. It had to be friendly, she thought as she crossed the deck and followed Wolkshammer over the gangplank, or at least not hostile. A heavy fighting zeppelin like this could have easily swatted the plane out of the sky if it proved unfriendly.

[Lisky]

Lamylar

The demon held his head a bit.  "Weak... tired.... a bit sore... along with a many number of other descriptors that shouldn't be used in polite company."

Adding the last bit with a weak grin.  "I hate to burden you, but... would you have anything to eat?  If i could just get a little something... well... it'd be much easier for me to heal on my own if I had something to work with... we demons regenerate at an incredible rate, so long as we have the energy to support it. "

Slowly bringing himself up to a more upright position added, "Sounds like we've got some visitors.  Perhaps my own questions can wait..."
As he finished his observation a subdued knock sounded on the door.


Avendel (clothing merchant)

The owl gave an inquisitive glance at the strange contraption.  More curious than concerned.  The outer-most layer was a mid-level anti-magic spell that covered the surface of the coat, however, it was specifically designed to just over the coat, not a caster's hands or body.  It would stop, or at least dull the effects of most combat spells.  Just underneath that, also bound to the surface of the coat was a cloth-to-steel spell.  When the anti-magic field was triggered, the very fibers of the coat would literally turn to steel for a short duration.

Outside of the surface spells it seemed the coat had a basic dirt repellent, making it effectively stain-proof through normal means, and the pockets did in fact contain small dimensions... each pocket dimension was a 3' by 3' by 3' cube, and had a number of minor organization spells to make accessing one's inventory far easier than digging around in the rather voluminous space.  Every single one of the enchantments appeared to be a permanent bind as well, truly woven into the very material of the coat.

The owl seemed to beam with pride as he asked, "What do you think, Locke? Meet your expectations of quality and style?"


Train Crash

The bikers in the distance would note that the top-mounted gun-turrets, which seemed more to ward off other Zeppelins than ground-type things, couldn't lower their cannons to a low enough angle to actually hit the riders.  They could annoy the motorcycle mounted duo with dusty clouds, but not actually deliver high explosive shells on top of them.

Bart could see the soldiers touch down with lever action rifles, pistols, and a pair carried pump action shotguns.  They seemed distracted as they began heading for the non-destroyed cars, waving their weapons threateningly at anyone who approached them.  The smoky haze made long-distance sight difficult, the blacked cloud from out front was blowing towards the crash now, enveloping the raiders and former passengers in a blackened haze.  One would have a hard time seeing more than 30 feet in front of them as the winds began blowing more of the hot soot and ash about.

A pair of soldiers started heading towards where Bart was.  They seemed distracted, almost dazed.  One carried a decently large revolver in one hand... at least, decently large by being standards, for a creature, it'd be on the "average" side.  The other carried a lever action gun... it was tough to tell what type, due to the large bore.  It was either a powerful rifle, or perhaps a scattergun.  

The one with long gun turned to the overturned car, prodding at it with the muzzle of his weapon, the other one went looking over the stuff people had tossed out of the adjacent cars in hopes of saving something.  Neither seemed to have noticed the demon, yet.


Aeliseium Outskirts

As they looked down at the source of the smoke, Ashlynn and Gaakronacht would see that a small river ran just before the clearing.  If nothing else, it'd be a good place to top off their water supply, both for drinking, and powering the steam machines.  In the clearing, a small village, of what appeared to be a nomadic village.  The large tent-structures were burning, sending huge plumes of smoke into the air.  There were dead bodies all around, men, women, children and the elderly... all dead.  There were signs of both projectile and bladed implements used, but from this range, the exact type was unidentifiable.


Above the Train Crash

Although his approach had been shielded by magic and the beings on the upper deck hadn't noticed the thud, Tez could hear something like a hollow howl, long and constant coming from the inner cabin that led to the deck.  Around the large-bore turret, a crew of beings were busy loading and sighting, never even noticing the dull thud of his landing.  A few other beings watched, scatter-guns and repeating rifles in hand, each also carried a revolver, and dagger.

The howl grew louder, and an unseen voice chided, "Here kitty kitty kitty..."
The other guards heard the voice and immediately began looking around the deck with puzzled looks on the faces of those who didn't wear masks.  A general sense of confusion could be felt as well.


Library

As Stephan walked into the small office, a sweet soprano rang in the back of his head, "Why are you following?" it asked, "What did you seek to gain?"

There was no sign of the vixen anywhere, it was as if she'd vanished into the very walls of the small room.  The door suddenly shut behind him, and it felt as if a feral snake was crawling up his leg.  It was a tentacle, perfectly blended with the carpet.  It had wrapped itself around Stephan's leg, and another was arcing off the door frame, pulling his arms.  She seemed to materialize from no where, the vixen had feathery headwings exposed, along with a feathery down on what parts of her back wings weren't tentacles.

"I take it you've never had much contact with Cubi then?"  She giggled, as she pulled up the back of her high-cut top, pretty  much the dead center of her back was a tattoo like symbol.  It looked like a tribal mark, 2 slashes of pale blue on her golden-orange fur.  "Nact'larn, Lust clan... Sorry if there was any confusion... just getting a snack..."  
She patted him on the head as an adult would a confused infant, "Sorry to say, squirrely... but you're just not my type."

With that, the vixen seemed to flow out of the room, leaving Stephan alone, and probably more than a little confused.

City Street

The 2 headed weasel mythos could only seem to babble incoherently as he seemed on a total breakdown.  He held his arm up to the angel however, with the help of his still good hand, and managed to get out "please..." before going back into the pain-fueled babbling.


Around the Battlecruiser

"MJOLNIR here, we read you loud and clear, Paige.  You've been cleared to land, recommend you taxi to marked off section near the rear platform to store your plane."

She could clearly see Bas now, his height over most people made him easy to spot, as did his large, partially flared wings as he crossed the gang-plank with the civilian dressed female.  One of the smaller turrets that had been covering the smaller ship's deck slowly turned it's cannons downwards, aiming towards the now cleared decks.
Bas gave a polite nod as he lead the way.  "Being staffed mostly with creatures we've got the total crew in less than half of what the vessel normally is built for.  Just claim a room that doesn't have things in it, when we get back to port, we'll get you a uniform, and, if you'd like something with a little more oompf.... there's certainly larger weapons available."  

His voice trailed off as another demon came by, she considerably shorter than Bas, and seemed to a lab of some kind.  However, given her odd green and gold coloring, it was difficult to tell.  She whispered something to Bas.  He nodded as she disappeared.  "If you'll excuse me, it seems I've got something to take care of, the bunks are just down the stairs to your right.  Any open room is yours."

With that, Bas disappeared and headed for the flight deck.

Paige would find Bas standing in a fenced off section of the landing deck, right by marked off section... it almost looked like an over-sized elevator.


Aeliseium Rooftops

As if on cue a shout came from below "HEY MOM! DIDJASEE THAT?!" it was a child's voice, and the little boy was pointing towards the building Lucy had just scaled.
A local officer shouted, "I saw something moving too... Better go check it out."
Lucy could try and scale down, or she could wait for the officer... either way, people were standing and staring at the face of the building she'd just cleared.  The far side led into another ally, or there was a major street on her left and right as well.


Map Store

As Kyirri took what he could, he'd note that by airship, which would cost 7 gold coins, it would take less than half a day, 4 hours at most.  There were 2 train-routes that would take 2 days, and a day and half respectively... they were both 3 gold coins.  He could hike, but that'd take the better part of a 5 day trip either way.  After taking into account what he'd have to pay for the book, that left the roo-rat with 15 gold coins to spend on everything from food, water, shelter, traveling, and whatever else he might need.  The train station was easy enough to find, loud, noisy place, with easy to follow rails running through sections of the slums.  The airship dock, however, would require a bit of work.  It was in the upper-class districts, and just getting their alone was dangerous.  Thugs tended to post themselves at the transition between districts, hoping a rich and adventurous scamp was foolish enough to pass through...

The problem there, is that they also watched for slum-dwellers heading for the rich districts... it meant one a few things, usually that they had enough money to try and buy something only sold outside the slums, like firearms, bullets, or objects of fine quality.  Liberating said slum-dwellers of said money was a common practice for the thugs.

[insidexml]

Had babbling incoherently recently become the new way to show approval? Was it "hip?" Was it trendy? The angel really needed to get with the times. Then again, perhaps it was the immense pain that was making the mythos babble, which would probably make more sense. Still, it was not as if Sikici would know the difference; it would be inaccurate to say that he was able to keep up with all the new vocabulary younger generations seemed to spew out these days. Then again, Sikici was not exactly very old himself. Maybe he was just disconnected from society?

In any case, the mythos did not seem to be getting better, so Sikici got to work. Taking a deep breath and clasping his hands together, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Healing broken bones was well within his range of healing capabilities, but it still required some effort on his part. This was just a forearm fracture, nothing too complicated. The bones needed to be mended, but more importantly, they needed to be mended in a correct position. No use having a fixed bone if it is jutting out of your arm, right? The mythos' arm gave off a light blue glow as Sikici meditated.

Sikici first used his magic to dull out the pain in the mythos' forearm, because his magic was not at the level where he could snap his fingers and the arm would be fixed (although that would be nice). After determining that the mythos would not writhe in agony during the procedure (it would still feel a rather awkward sensation in its arm, however), the angel adjusted the bones so that they were on the same level, then brought them together. Fusing the two fragments together to mend the entire bone took precision, and Sikici spent most of his time at this step. If something went wrong here, the bone's structure could become unstable later on and weaken it further in the long term.

Finishing the task, Sikici released the magic and opened his eyes to observe his work. On the surface, nothing seemed wrong, although that could be a different story in the interior. The mythos would still probably feel a dull ache, although the pain would be nothing compared to before. Sikici looked at the mythos. "Does anything feel incorrect to you?"

[Ghostwish]

Challam turned a light shade of red, and smacked himself on the forehead. Thought for sure it was him. He thought to himself. Well, can't go leaving loose ends.. He mused as he sighed and stood up, following after her.

"Excuse me, miss?" He started. "Terribly sorry about that back there, I mistook you for someone else. See, that tattoo of yours looked like the clan mark of an old.. well, I am not quite certain if I should call him a friend or a nemesis, but anyway, I though I should come apologize, since I seemed to make you a bit upset back there. Hope there's no harm done?" He asked, smiling a bit.

[Tezkat]

Above the Train Crash, Nhylamar

Tezkat dropped to the deck a bit more forcefully than intended. His wings folded in close to his back. Something had detected his presence here, it seemed. Another Creature, surely--most likely the Demon mare's second, left in charge of the ship while she gallivanted around the wrecked train. Or perhaps she was the underling, and her boss had remained on board. Even the ship itself might be alive, like Deimos's Mythos-bonded cruiser. He scanned the deck for signs of telltale tendril holes. Tezkat licked his lips. Whatever awaited him below decks, his little airborne adventure had suddenly become much more entertaining.

He cocked his head, weapons at ready. Five Beings manned the forward gun behind him. Six more stood between him and the stairs. Despite their confusion, they gave no indication of having pierced his invisibility. These small fish promised pitifully brief sport and might even raise the alarm before he dispatched them all. The gunners would get a reprieve... this time. Still as death, he waited for them to reload. As the deafening report of the cannons rocked the deck, he sprang past the guards down into the bowels of the ship.

[Tipod]

As Bart got a better look at the "soldiers" and how they carried themselves, he noticed something a bit fishy. Several things, really: Mismatching uniforms and weapons? Making a big racket and hassling victims at a train crash? Since when did Aelisium grunts push around being survivors? These were no soldiers, these were just a bunch of street thugs who got lucky. Once he realized that, his blood began to boil.

Sheathing both weapons onto his belt, Bart approached the two beings in a swift, unhappy stride. The kind of stride that told you you'd get punched in the face if you didn't move out of the way.

[SquirrelWizard]

She's Nact the girl you are looking for.

Stephan listened to the succubus as she explained her previous intention. Her reference to her clan symbol made him subconsciously think about the back of his hand. He was impressed by her abilities, it showed, and he wondered just what that would entail for him considering that the Noctali clan were well known illusionist.  "Sorry to say, squirrely... but you're just not my type," her dismissal brought him back to reality and he watched her, speechlessly, as she flowed from the room.

Stephan waited a minute or so to collect his thoughts, and then began to chuckle. She had dismissed him; he wasn't her type.  To any other person this would have been considered a bad thing, an insult, but to Stephan it was gloriously normal. She could have done worse. About seven months prior he had met Stephie, she caused him more grief than any rejection had ever caused.

He met Stephie Locatos, a canine being, at one of the after show parties the theaters had a tendency to throw for their patrons. They had dated maybe three or so times before things started to go wrong. Stephie became obsessive of Stephan wanting to know every little detail of where he went or who he was with. At first he put it off as just a quirk of her behavior, until she became aggressive with any other woman he met up with. He tried reasoning with her, explaining that his job required him to meet the public and mingle, but she was beyond reasoning. The final straw was when Stephie left a threatening note with Mary telling her to leave. He had told Stephie that it was over, that they were through, but that didn't go over well with her. She disappeared for a week, and they thought that was the last they had seen of her, that is until Stephie arrived at their wagons armed with a gun. She claimed that Stephan and she were destined for each other, that Mary was a viscous interloper who wanted him for her self. She was clearly delusional, but also armed. Thankfully she had no training with the weapon and Stephan managed to subdue her, using the same spells he used in his show ironically enough, and they held her until the authorities arrived. Nobody was injured, just a few bullet holes to patch up in the wagons, but the whole ordeal had left Stephan with an extremely unpleasant memory.

Stephan idly dragged his finger across the spines of the books as he passed. Maybe Mary was right... he was spending too much time in the past, worrying, wondering what horrible consequences his actions would cause. He pulled out a pocketwatch and checked the time, his meeting with the Theater manager was later in the afternoon, and he had plenty of time to spare. "Maybe I should find a book to read," Stephan mused to himself, "And, maybe I could do with a vacation," he finished the sentence in his head as he walked down the rows of books lined up on their shelves.

[Azlan]

The gray colored cheetah closed the watch, placing it back in its pocket, "it is good work, very nice color.  However, I require at least one dimensional pocket that can accommodate an object of about five feet in length, but not very wide.  It would also need to be able to fit my wings, but conceal such areas if I hide them."

Locke considered the other coats, "I suppose the concealment could be added later, I can do that myself.  I am regrettably not a tailor or the type of enchanter that can produce an item like this.  Especially one of such masterful quality"

Smiling broadly at the owl, the angel waited to see if the merchant had a finer gem among his wares, he flicked his tail about in a show of anticipation and feline curiosity.  A ploy if you will, but one intended to ferret quality in merchandise as opposed to thrift in price.

[Tapewolf]

As he started to come down from panic, Sethir began to think more rationally about his predicament, and it filled him with a sick sense of dread.  He not only had to worry about his own life, or the lives of the train passengers, but he now had a measure of responsibility for the souls of their attackers as well and that was a burden he really did not need.

How could these people be so stupid...?  Surely they didn't want to risk spending their afterlives in someone's sports-bike, their immortal essence slowly being eaten away as the owner burned rubber... the very thought of it made him quail.

By now he was out of the range of the big guns, but this put him closer in range of the attackers themselves.  He hadn't really come equipped for this - the closest thing he had to ranged weapons were his tentacles and a few offensive spells.  A gun or a crossbow would have been better... if he got out of this okay, he made a mental note to invest in one.

Parking the bike again, he put the helmet away - it was designed for accidents, not gunshots and he'd be better off with proper hearing.

Some of the soldiers or pirates - whichever they were - had started to examine the train and Seth settled on a strategy at last.  He sneaked into the gap between two carriages that weren't aflame and extruded some wing-tentacles, listening out for minds and thoughts.
He could grab someone off their feet like this and pull them out of sight before they could even scream - the next person to come by who was of the attackers' crew would very quickly lose their head.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Paige banked around again to get a feel for the wind and where the arresting wires on the MJOLNIR's landing strip were. Satisfied the Succubus chopped her speed back as she made her approach, lowering the reinforced hook near the tail of the A-16.

Just as the Spitfire's wheels touched the deck she cut the throttle back completely and once the hook caught a wire applied the brakes as well. Retracting the hook she throttled up again as a deck member with a pair of paddles directed her to a parking bay.

Once parked and her wheel's chocked she shut down the engine and unbuckled herself as another deckhand put a ladder against the wing for her to use. Pushing back the canopy Paige clambered out and down to the deck, noting how good it felt to be on board a Warship.

She looked up to where she could see Baseel...

[Noone]

Kyirri continued examining the map, nodding that his initial conjectures were correct. I've got all week, and I'm in no hurry to get mugged. Still, I've gotten what I needed, I'd better get out before the shopkeeper thinks that I'm stealing from him... people always think that us beings that barely score three feet in height are always pickpockets and thieves... not that it's an entirely invalid assumption.

With that, he headed out towards the train station, still trying to move quickly and discretely, alert for any thugs which might mug him. He figured there were bound to be some cutpurses in the area, even if there were less than there were 'guarding' the route to the airship docks. That's another disadvantage of barely being three feet tall. Muggers assume that since I'm short, I'm an easy target. Though, I suppose that's not a bad assumption most of the time. With luck, he'd reach his destination without too much trouble.

Get to train station, get tickets, seems like a plan. I might want to get some for the return trip too... they're easier to hide than coins. Plus it saves me the time I'd need acquiring them.

[Gabi]

Lamylar

Anabelle listened to the knocks on her door. It could be someone looking for her but, all things considered, it was hard for her to tell.

"Any idea who it might be?" she asked the Demon.
"No idea," he replied, "judging from the footsteps, I'd say they sound smaller... perhaps a child.  My kind aren't exactly common in these parts of Nhylamar."
"Yes, I've noticed," said the witch. It was an understatement, especially considering the commotion his appearance had caused. "I'd like to ask you what you were doing here in the first place, but I'm afraid that's going to have to wait."

She walked towards the door and asked who was there. The door opened up a bit. She hardly ever locked it, but was now starting to consider it might be a good idea... if it was any help against the mysterious threat. A couple of boys were standing there, peaking in, peeking around, trying to see the 'monster' that had crawled into the village. A third boy, the apparent leader of the group, stepped forward from behind the others and spoke up.

"Excuse me miss Clemens, but is it really safe in there... with the monster?... My dad said that demons are really really dangerous."

It was clear that the three boys were trying to catch a glimpse of the demon feline inside.

"It's OK, kids," said Anabelle, "everything's going to be alright. Now please go home and wait until I'm done. This isn't a good time to come inside."

The leader, clearly deflated by this rather anticlimatic encounter, nodded politely and started to head back home. The boy sighed and said, "aww... alright..." before changing his course to join the others. A few moments later, Annie could see the three children tear off towards a nearby field where they were commonly seen playing.

"They should be fine for now," she thought. "At least I hope so."

She heard Renard move and turned around, closing the door behind her while trying not to appear startled. Apparently the demon had grown a bit curious, and had propped himself up a bit more, so he could better observe the door.

"Cute kids," he said, as he seemed to flop back down. "Hopefully not too many more interruptions... Exhaustion's starting to set in..."

"Perhaps I'm just too edgy," the capybara thought. "But can I help it?"

"To be honest, the kids are at the bottom of my list of possible threats today," she pointed out. "I do have some food, if not a lot. I'm not sure what you like to eat, but hopefully we can find something that suits your tastes. Now, if you don't mind, could you please tell me what brought you here?"
Propping himself back up, the feline demon replied: "it was a patrol, rumors about raiders hitting the border settlements for some reason.  I heard some noises, saw some smoke, went to investigate.  There was a clearing a few miles north of hear where I landed, and thought I'd done so quietly enough to not draw attention.  Walking towards the smoke, I ran into three things... beings, insectis... I really couldn't tell.  Had masks that really muffled their voices.
Then one jumped me from behind, never saw him on a little boulder.  Clipped my wing pretty viciously before another came at me with a knife.  I'm not really sure what happened next... I remember the 3 of them on top of me.  Then waking up a little while later, the things were gone, and I just started limping this way, hopeing to find someone... Sorry that I can't be more help."

Anabelle remains silent for a while, trying to assimilate the news.

"That's... I'd never heard of an attack like that before," she finally said. "Raiders, yes, sometimes. Not many in this town, fortunately. But they were never that skilled."

She couldn't imagine who could possibly have done that, let alone what they wanted, or how she could protect herself and the whole of Lamylar if they decided to attack the village. If they had hurt a demon so badly before he could even know what hit him, what chance could she stand against them? Fighting was out of the question. Could there be a way to build a defense strong enough to protect everyone? She couldn't think of any. During the last 2 years, the villagers have become used to turning to her for help. What would happen if her help was not enough?

She sighed, realizing she'd gone silent for a while. "I'm the one who's sorry I can't be of more help."
"Think nothing of it..." the feline replied, "and, really just anything for a snack would be great... I think, afterwards, a nap will be in order."
"At least I can do that much. Tell me, what kind of food do you eat? I'd rather not embarrass myself by making wrong assumptions."
"Meat, vegetables, grain... anything will work, really, it's less about flavor, and more about energy and substance, you see,"  he answered, flashing a weak smile with the reply.
She returned the facial gesture. "In that case it should be easier than I thought. I still have most of the 2 pies I got yesterday. Sometimes people give me food in return for my services. And I have some bread and fruit I keep ready in case I need something quick. The bread may be a bit hard, though. I was planning to get some fresh bread soon."

She realized she didn't really have to describe her whole inventory, but at that moment she felt more comfortable uttering unimportant words than facing a silence that would inevitably allow her fears to fill her mind.

"A little fruit and bread is fine, thank you," he replied. "You've been more than hospitable, Anabelle, once I've recovered, if there's anything you need, feel free to ask."

He was really kind, she had to grant him that much. She could tell he was doing what he could in order to ease the tension, and reckoned she should try to do the same. She offered him some bread, apples and oranges, while she tried to think of a way to take him up on his offer. She'd have to make the best of what she had.

"Right now all I can ask for is that you try not to scare people more than they already are, and that you please let me know if there's any more trouble. I believe we'll need to find a way to protect the village and its people."

The demon took a piece of bread and an orange, gently peeling the tangy fruit with a claw.  His weak smile grew more friendly as he replied.

"Thank you, Ana.  I have no intention of scaring anyone, I was here to make sure that the villages were protected." Pointing towards his coat, then taking a bite of bread, he added: "there should be a small sphere in the inside, right pocket, it's an Orb of Communication, it should let you call for help if you need any."

His eyes seemed to be growing weary as his expression slowly shifted to neutral.  "I think  I'm going to take a nap in a moment, if you don't mind."
"Of course," she said, and let him go back to bed.

Once he was lying down with his eyes closed, she made herself some tea and finished the old apple pie whose last portion she'd been saving for breakfast. She wondered what the rest of the day would be like. In any case it was better not to start it with an empty stomach.

[Ashen Star]

   "Damn!"  Ashlynn swore as she straightened and began to move into the middle of the camp.  "Keep an eye out for more traps."  She warned as she put the pistol away and drew the massive Lebarge.  The gun made a satisfying thunk as she cycled a round into the chamber, and anyone who knew of the weapon understood that you did not want to get in that field of fire.  She moved into the camp, her eye whirring softly as it picked up the dozens of smashed or smouldering structures.
   "Wandering folk.  We warned them not to stop here.  They travel from one country to the next, claiming neutrality.  Some folks just don't give a damn about neutral."  She said as her boot carefully lifted a tent.  Smashed contents but no bodies.  It was giving her a bad feeling.  "We offered to give them shelter in town, but their leader swore they had to obey the dreams or the fae or... whatever."  Ashlynn snorted softly.  She didn't believe in faerie tales.  If there had once been fae they'd been gone from Aelisium for a long time.
   As they searched, still nothing.  Burnt tents but no tell tell stench of incendiaries.  Blood in the dirt but no bodies.  Blasted belongings but no shell casings.  "Magic.  They were using magic.   There had to be more than one or survivors would have scattered and returned."  And from the burning wreckage, it hadn't been long ago.  She looked at Gaak, "Make another sweep for mines and then get the scorp here.  We need to send up a yellow signal flare to the town."  She straightened as she looked across the creek, her eye slowly focusing.  "There's footprints on the far bank.  They forcemarched the people out of here and not long ago.  There's a chance we can catch them before they magic their way out of here."

[Kafzeil]

Great...it's official...I'm the gods plaything...

The alley was her best bet, she figured. Geting back onto her feet she srpinted for it, leaping down onto the fire escape. The metal creaked and groaned as scurried down the old escape, kicking the last ladder down before clinging back to terra firma.

Act calm...act csual...they don't notice a thing unless they see your eyes.

Lucy tried her best to mentally calm herself, pulling her hat's brim down over her eyes, moving deeper into the alley, walking quickly as she tucked her hands into her pockets.

Perhaps it would be safer to simply stick to the alleys and move towards the city gate that way. Blend in, hiding in plain sight would work, she hoped.

[techmaster-glitch]

Aelisium Outskirts

  Gaakronact was decidedly not prepared for what came into view. He was expecting a camp, yes, but the camp of their quarry, not a camp their quarry had ravaged. He stroed through with Ashlynn, gripping his scattergun, really wishing he was back in the Storm Scorp. He listened as Ashlynn explained that she actually knew the people of this nomadic settlement, in that they had refused shelter to living on the road.
  At her suggestion about the flare though, Gaak frowned. "I'm not sure a flare is a good idea...sure, we should alert your comrades to this, but I don't think it's such a good idea to just shout out to everyone that we're here like that... someone or something might still be watching..."
  Gakkronacht then went back to the edge of the settlement, as far as he could go while still keeping Ashlynn in sight. If there was anything in the immediate vicinity, he wasn't going to break line of sight with her, there's no way he could break the buddy system so easily. Cupping his hands over his mouth to focus his voice, he called out as low as he could while still being reasonably sure Gezzemoch could hear him, "Gezz! Gezz! Get over here!"

  Gezzemocht was fiddling with some things in the mech when he heard his brother's voice in the air. He could barely make it out, but he instantly figured he needed to bring the Strom Scorp to them, instead of them coming back. He hopped out of the secondary cockpit and slid down to the forward cockpit, geared up the Storm Scorp, and started moving it toward's Gaakronact's voice.

[SpottedKitty]

Zelah nodded to Wolkshammer — sitting down hard on a reflex action to salute in the style of the Aeliseium army, which might not be appreciated in Nhylamar — and headed off downstairs in the direction the Demon had indicated. She soon came across the block of cabins, and found a row of empty ones. She opened the door at the far end, hauled her bag inside, and closed the door, leaning back against it with a sigh of relief. The multi-coloured canine Demon who'd brought that message to Wolkshammer had been hard enough on her nerves, but the few other crewmembers she'd encountered on the way down here had been even weirder. One winged type, who she suspected might have been an Angel, a couple more Demons, and one... thing... with furless iridescent skin and far too many arms, legs and eyes that could only have been a Mythos. They'd all seemed friendly enough, though.

She rested there, head back, headwings splayed against the door, for a few minutes until she felt a little calmer. She was just one more Creature among many others now; she was safe. And with enough time to get used to the idea, she might begin to feel that way as well. The worried 'Cubi was finally roused by a tight, scratchy sensation across her chest fur. Well, she had dressed male this morning, and then she'd got a bit too angry at Hake and had another little accident. Time to do something about that. She slipped her jacket off, hung it on the hook behind the door, and heaved her bag up onto the bunk.

Ten minutes later, Zelah opened the cabin door and stepped back out into the corridor, feeling much more comfortable wearing a shirt and underthings to match her current form. She might feel safer if she did it, but she really shouldn't hide in that cabin all the way back to the airship's base. She wanted to explore a little, see how this airship differed from the ones she was used to, and hopefully not meet too many of the crew right away. Headwings fluttering and ears, whiskers and tail twitching nervously, Zelah started back along the corridor, looking for stairs leading up. Her weapons were still close to hand in her jacket pockets, but surely she wouldn't need them here... would she?

[Lisky]

Lamylar

The rest of the day seemed to come and go for Anabelle.  There was a lot of talk about the demon who'd come into the village, but very little outside of that.  There were rumors abound as to what had brought him to the sleepy little community, and what was going on.  Morning fell to afternoon, then the sun began setting.  As the sun started to creep below the tree-line, a small boat could be seen coming down from the river.  A golden furred feline appeared to be aboard.
Arroyo came to an unoccupied dock.  Not far away was a gated community.  A mid-height wrought-iron fence surrounded the community, with what appeared to be easy-access gates leading from the 2 paths, and 1 road leading into the village.  Children were at play at the dusk, and the gentle caress of night was starting to creep up.  There were a few adults out as well, some tending to their children, and some who were manning shops.  There was but 1 clearly marked inn Arroyo could see from his position outside the gate.


Battle-Cruiser MJOLNIR

Bas stood waiting for the wolf-succubus on the flight deck, as her plane was pressed by the crew to the appropriate area, the plane started to vanish within the armored hull off the warship.  Bas gave a friendly salute like wave, lifting middle and index fingers a brow the flicking his wrist towards Paige.  He approached with a slightly devilish grin.  Bas said, "Glad to see you're interested in my own offer, Paige,  even though I had to rather graciously turn down your own..."
He coughed into a hand to try and hide the slight chuckle.  "Welcome aboard the MJOLNIR, The Hammer of Thor. "
Paige would note that Bas wasn't wearing a mind-shield at the moment, and would pick up a distinct mental image of her pounced on top of him, rather forcefully laying out her own proposition immediately after thanking him in a rather... unorthodox way...  for his offer of a job .
He let his voice and thoughts trail off as he made a flourish towards the stairs to the inner airship.  "If you'd be so kind as to follow me, we can talk about getting you a contract, and if you're interested, get you a bunk."  

As Zelah wandered the halls, there were several crew she passed just lounging in their rooms.  It seemed most, if not every crew member had their own bunk, a rare luxury indeed on a warship, even one as large as the MJOLNIR.  As she reached the stairs Bas had indicated, a demon collie appeared, a smidge taller than Zelah, he was wearing a sleeveless tunic, which he'd left open.  It was obvious he was being intentionally showy for the new succubus, as he non-chalantly leaned against the door, tail wagging slightly.  He said in playful tone, "How you doin" Giving a single, exaggerated head nod.


Back Alley

Lucy could hear the sound of the officer on the roof as she darted down the alley.  It was clear that she'd missed that meeting by only a few seconds as she could almost feel his gaze wander down the alleys.  The gates were only a few blocks away as the alley ahead of her lead right into a busy street.  The gates were close, and people seemed to be ignoring her.  Her eyes had developed the unnatural yellow of all undead, but hadn't start glowing just yet.  The gate was almost in sight but crowds were getting larger as the morning's congregation had been slowly filing into the streets.  Church was over, and most people were now either off shopping, or tending to their stores.  Lucy had to walk just a few more blocks, and then she was home free.


Library

Stephan would note that the library had a truly massive selection of books.  They ranged for entertainment, to history, to do it yourself books.  He managed to stumble into a rather large reference section for cubi, by cubi.  Flipping through the various do-it-yourself training manuals for preparing your children for SAIA, expositions on various famous cubi, and a few history books, Stephan would come across one that would really draw his attention. the leather bound book was rather plain, It's side cover had the title Noctali History, followed by a mark identical to that on his hand.  It was strange, as if the book were calling out to him.  It was as if the book wanted him to read it.


Near the train station

As the roo-rat drew closer to the train-station, there was a commotion behind him.  Seemed the local gangs were having a scrap, as the sounds of metal-on-metal clanged together.  A deep thud resonated, along with a squeltching sound, soft, and juicy.  There was a loud crunching noise as well, a snapping, crackle, followed by a howl of pain.  The downside of these street brawls is that they often spilled out into the streets, however, fortunately for Kyirri, it also seemed that it'd drawn the local thugs away from the train station.
There were lines, as usual, people wanting oh so desperately to leave the local slums, news of work in other places, along with the usual middle-class who were frugal enough to know that airships were far too expensive for their wages.  His  train was leaving in less than 20 minutes.   As he approached the ticket counter, a young looking feline, female,  cream and gold colored, asked, "excuse me sir, would you like an upper-class cabin for just 1 gold-coin more? seems this trip we've got a few, and are offering them, along with 2 meals for a discounted price."
She smiled politely while awaiting Kyirri's answer.


Coat Shop

"Oh, looking for some added customization are we?  Well, you're in luck Locke, for you see, i happen to be the enchanter of these fine wares.  Altering the pocket dimensions is pretty trivial, would you prefer 2x2x5, or something  more like 1x3x9?"
The owl started examining the black leather coat, fussing over a few things as he looked through the various enchantment.  "If you use a creature to being amulet on this particular coat, the effect is similar, the coat adapts to the needs of the wearer you see, just need to wear the chain on the outside of the collar."
Hoisting the coat, clearly too long for himself, as it's edges skimmed the floor, and the wing-slots were just a smidge too large.  As he adjusted the buttons, the coat seemed to collapse in on itself, the edge came to a tailored length, and, he donned a simple crossed-hammer amulet, with the chain outside the collar.  His wings disappeared, as did the wing slots.  Locke could detect no illusory magic, as none was used.
Removing the amulet, his wings, along with space for the wings sprouted up.
"enough proof of the quality? or, would you still like to browse?"
The owl removed the coat, setting it back on the counter. He brushed off imagined dust around the bottom edges.


Airship (Challam)

The tigress looked annoyed, but gave a reserved nod, then replied, "Apology accepted, now why don't you go sit down somewhere else before you hurt yourself."
With the dismissal, the tigress reached into her back, produced a small, leather-bound book, and began reading, completely ignoring challam.

The rest of the flight took several hours, and proved rather boring, people slept, read, or made idle conversation while they sailed over Nhylamar, towards the city ahead.  It wasn't the largest city, but still quite a bit more sprawling than what he'd been used to at SAIA.  Waiting outside were various taxis and signs leading to all corners of Mikoron



Train Crash

Bart moved right by the guy with the rifle, he continued checking out the train.  However, the guy with the pistol immidiately raised the weapon and shouted, "Stop right there!  What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Holding the weapon in a threatening way, pointing the muzzle toward's the demon's face.

The being who'd ignored the demon had started to climb atop one of the train-cars Seth had settled behind, his head peaked around the corner just long enough to find himself starring at a small cluster of razor sharp bladed edges and narrow, spear-like points.  His thoughts froze as the tentacles quickly did their thing.  The dying being's gun plopped to the ground, and the large shoulder-pouch became rather obvious as the headless body slumped over the couplings of the cars.

Gabe could see the attackers sliding down the ropes, most seemed rather unconcerned with the biker as he came flying through the repelling zone.  A rather foolish pirate tried to get in the way, running towards where Gabe would be, waving a  knife and pistol wildly trying to get the rat being to stop.  The masked figure would easily pass in front of Gabe's bike, and he could either try and stop, or try any number of maneuvers to either avoid, hit, or get a clean shot with Holland on the foolish and now alone individual masked being.


Above the Train Crash

The whirling noise grew louder and more distinct, a dark shape loomed in Tez's presence, dark, glowing, red eyes transfixed on the cubi.  The shape grew larger as the feline cleared the door way.  Standing at a mid-way ramp was a demon, ebon and crimson colored fur on the jaguar.  His claws were extended, and a reddish glint seemed to shimmer from the backs of his hands.   In the demon's right hand was a large chainblade, the whirring sound was that of the chain, spinning it's vicious shark-like teeth at a blurring rate.  In his left hand was a short-blade, the grip and handguard made of a vicious looking knuckle-duster on top of the twenty or so inch blade.
A paw panted on the next step, and it was clear the demon could see right through the invisibility spell.  "well what are you waiting for little kitty?  You came to play, you've even got your toy out.  So, lets play!"
So saying the demon lunged forward, swinging the chainblade as if it were a knife, in a slash aimed to cut across Tez's midsection.


In the streets, outside the bar

The 2 headed mythos nodded.  Both heads spoke in a slightly unsettling unison, "We're sorry for any trouble we've caused... we don't have much to give in the way of money, we are but a poor trader,  at the moment, until our shipments come in.  We can, however, give you a border pass, if you'd accept that as payment instead?"
The two headed mythos looked hopeful as he began reaching into a pocket, producing a small scroll, with both Voethfel and Sevastia 'Nyad's official seals on the outer parchment.


Aeliseium Rubble

No sooner had the pair turned their attention away from the edge of the woods, when a trio of masked individuals appeared, they each carried a long, stocky revolver, still holsterd, and an oddly yellow-tinted gunmetal-toned blade.  They wore semi-matching leather looking coveralls, brown leather in a semi-form-fitting suit.  They wore gloves, and there was no sign of exposed skin. The sound of chittering filled both Ashlynn's and Gaakronact's ears.  The things suddenly began sliding towards cover as soon as they'd noticed they'd been spotted.  They broke in 3 different direction, one dove behind a small cluster of corpses, another, to the pair's left, dove behind a still burning tent, the third, moving to the pair's right, dove behind a fallen log.

From their current position, Ashlynn had a clean shot at the one behind the bodies.  Gaakronact  on the other hand, was not nearly close enough to use his scatter gun, but he could clearly see the barrel of the masked, and leather clad thing start to peek out, and, it seemed to be starting to get a bead on the beaver.  Lining up the metal nubs of the iron-sights with Gaakronact's torso.

[WhiteFox]

Gabriel scowled, veered to avoid the soldier, and kept driving ahead at full steam. Hopefully, he'd avoid combat entirely and make his way to the next town without delay.

[techmaster-glitch]

Aelisium Rubble

   Just after calling out to his brother and turning back to Ashlynn and the torn-up encampment, Gaakronacht saw three figures emerge on the far side. He couldn't quite make out their weapons or outfits, although he certainly didn't recognize them. However, he did heard a barely-audible chittering sound...and he only heard that sound from one place in his life. INSECTIS!
   As the three figures went for cover, he noted them taking aim...one of them directly at him. "Geargrit!" Gaak cursed as he immediately dove off in the direction of where he had come from as bullet impacts started hitting around him. He didn't stop to check himself if he had been hit yet. His light pilot's armor might protect him somewhat, but if they got a lucky shot...
   Gaak then heard a stomping sound he could never mistake as Gezzemocht crashed around a bend with the Storm Scorp. "Get up, get up, get up!"
   Gezzemocht immediately reacted and jumped out of the main pilot's seat and went back to the rear one as Gaakronacht scrambled up into the newly-vacated seat. The Storm Scorp continued foward as Gaak clipped out "Three footmen, small arms, likely Insectis but unconfirmed." letting Gezz know exactly what to look out for.
   The Storm Scorp strode into full view of the camp. While Gezz scanned around for something he could shoot with the rotary-gun, Gaak took aim at the place he had last seen the enemy shooting at him...
   whu-BOOSH
   A single shot from the sonic-concussive thunder-cannon was released, impacting the area squarely and turning it to gravel. Gaak kept an eye out to see if they guy was still there and was hit, or if he had moved somewhere else...

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Adelaide was getting impatient. She hadn't been sent for to be left at an airship dock for the day. She went hunting for someone important to straighten the mistake out. Obviously other people, like that vixen and badger, weren't invisible to the staff of this place so someone relatively competent must be in charge somewhere.

[Tapewolf]

Sethir studied the head and body, committing their features to memory in case he needed to assume their identity.  This done, he rolled the head under the train car and frisked the body quickly, searching for any ID (magical or Daguerreotyped). Proof that they were somehow enemies of the state would be very useful if the authorities started to ask questions about the headless corpse later on.
Sethir wasn't very happy about what he'd done, but at the end of the day it was a mercy killing... if he had been arrested or waylaid by a less scrupulous Creature, his existence would probably have ceased entirely.

He couldn't do much about the blood on the ground and the train, but with a little shapeshifting himself and his clothes he at least got himself relatively presentable.  He resolved to kill the next one by stabbing them through the head or heart as it was less messy.

He took his victim's pouch and pistol, inspecting them quickly while he waited for more prey.  Now I have a revolver.... ho, ho, ho!

Sethir pondered on what he'd learned so far.  The man had had a mind-shield, but his demeanour, emotions and dress had given Seth more than enough clues to determine that he was one of the attackers.
As the man had died and his mind-shield faded, Sethir had been able to confirm that they were indeed pirates, rather than soldiers.  But whether they had been put up to this by someone, he could not rightly tell.