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

[SquirrelWizard]

Stephan was listening to Mary rattle on about problems and news regarding her Tinker shop. It was nice to hear about something outside of the realm of the standard problems with the magic show. He had just finished a decent breakfast, and was now sipping his cup of coffee. Then she walked by.

A succubus, a vixen, walked by. Her dress, her attitude, both done to draw attention... to make the mind wander, Stephan wouldn't have been a man if he hadn't noticed. She flashed Stephan a wicked grin, and winked before slinking off into the nearby library. "You're not listening to me, are you?" Mary followed Stephan's gaze to the retreating form of the succubus, "Oh wow, she's pretty," she gave Stephan a sly look, "You should go talk to her."

Stephan snapped to, "Uh... no... she's pretty but I'm not so..."

Mary interrupted him in a sing song voice, "Doooooo iiitttt.... doooo iiittttt..."

"Mary," he glared at her.

she sighed, "Stephan not every woman is like Stephie, she was nuts. Come on it might be fun!" she started gathering up her belongings, "I'm going to head back to the wagons, thank you for the breakfast, I hope everything works out..." Stephan rolled his eyes as she started to leave. She paused and gave him a smirk, "in whatever you pursue," and sauntered down the street.

Stephan shook his head and grumbled under his breath about his sister, paid for the meal, and added a generous tip. He stood up, and looked thoughtfully in the direction of the library and sighed. He was truly his father's child. From what he remembered of his father; he liked to explore, to question, to let his curiosity get the better of him. If he didn't try, then it would niggle at him for the rest of the day. He smoothed out his jacket and made his way into the library, not completely certain on where it was going to lead him.

[Kafzeil]

Perhaps it was mistrust, or simple paranoia. What ever it was, Lucy did not say a word, merely slinking over to the window and quietly unlatching it, then lifting the wooden frame up.

Five stories up of a 7 story building. The roof was her best bet. She gazed into the streets below, it wasn't too busy. She could see the market place down the street, the nearest city gate, and the Airport. The airport was a possibility, though sneaking on an airship might put he rout of the frying pan and into the fire.

The gate was her goal, but the Airport was a good enough backup plan. With the gate she could vanish off into the bush, maybe see if she could head towards someplace less hostile.

She stepped out onto the planter, the dirt completely barren, as she hugged the red brick wall, looking up, she figure her best bet was the rooftops. She swallowed, leaping as she reached for the planter above her-

She gasped as she grabbed it with both hands, heaving herself up onto it. Even though her heart now longer functioned, her mind gladly filled in the gap.  As she stood up, she repeated the process, this time with a little more confidence.

The following time she had to use the windowsill, grabbing it and pulling herself up, carefully pressing her feet against the glass, allowing her to reach the rooftop. She pulled herself up, the undead ocelot let out a low, but aloud and triumphant laugh.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

"Dame Doctor Montegu," corrected Adelaide without even looking at the captain as she finished tightening the buckles on a larger belt pouch she had just added to her normal belt. Knights learned to travel light and fast early in their careers. She saw the local Master being intercepted by the messanger as he made his way to the garden to see what the commotion was. That would save her having to find the man and make an explanation. "I am ready now." She gestured towards the airship for the captain to lead the way.

[Ghostwish]

Challam simply shrugged, it had been worth a try. He immediately prepared his tentacles for battle as both sets of wings wholly disappeared. The result was four long, thick tentacles which ended in the trademark heads of his clan, and then close to a dozen smaller ones, as thin as knives. "Suit yourself then, pretty horse. I figure that blade of yours will sell for a nifty price." He said, and then promptly sent one of the larger tentacles zipping forward, the head gnashing with its pointy teeth, and headed straight for her leg. Whether or not it contacted, it would quickly retract. He wasn't intent on finding out JUST how sharp that blade was.

[Ashen Star]

Ashlynn continued to regard the Storm Scorp's design and form as Gaak told her of where they obtained their skills.  Aesthetically pleasing.  Mechanically sound.  It remained to be seen if it was combat capable but it did meet her approval.  As she listened to them describe their times in the 35th something tickled her memory.  An wolf her father's age rambling on about his time in the 35th mechanized while she lay bloody and battered on an operating table.  She gave herself a hard shake, clutching her left ear and she tried to put that memory where it belonged.  No, she really didn't want to deal with it.  It was much better off forgotten.  Yes.  Just forget and calm down.  Gradually she did so.


"I am sure you are not deserters.  We would not be working together if you were.  Some of the best Irregulars I have worked with were regulars who let their contracts expire.  After all, the Capitol stresses that only when individually strong can we have success."  She said as she walked around the mech.  "As for your service, I've only heard good things of the 35th Mechanized.  Well... occasional mad operations aside.  Your raid into Anhk territory two years back to set up skirmish operations against three Anhk dreadnaughts was insane.  Truly mad.  Those things destroy whole armies if they get within range."  She actually smiled though.  "It saved the southern front though, and you destroyed one and crippled the other two.  I still don't think that the Anhks have recovered."

As they moved on she shook her head.  "No. Man your cockpit.  I'll be find riding on top or afoot.  She said as she climbed the rungs they earlier motioned.   She sat on top, strapping down the Lebarge as she closed her wrist on the rung besides her and with a click, locking her hand in place.  As they departed, a number of velocipedes did as well, heading into the badlands by alternate routes.

The land around the town of Pouteux Bree was floodplain, flat and divided into neat squares of land.  The river split the town north and south while the rail line split it east and west.  She directed them first along the trail and towards the high dry hills beyond the farmland.  It was good hiding territory, with dozens of long ridges ranging from a few dozen to a hundred feet high. "Stick to the gullies if you want to avoid notice.  Follow the ridge tops if you want to spot them faster."  She said as she looked out at the scrubby thorn bushes that grew in abundance out here.  "It's your machine so I'll leave the preference to you." 

[Tapewolf]

Sethir made his way to the back of the train, tentacles out in case he needed to cut his way through something.  In the smoke he made out a figure.  The figure didn't seem to be trying to escape and they didn't have a regular Being's aura so he concluded they were also here to rescue the unwary.

"There's still people... In the back there," he coughed.  "I felt their minds...  Probably not Beings...  Need any help?"

[Tipod]

Bart had just begun dragging the unconscious mutt when Sethir approached, giving the incubus a mildly confused look. Or, something that could be construed as mildly confused if he could notice the dark Creature's brow. "Probably not beings, huh? What, are they kids or something?" He dropped the canine with an unceremonious thud.

The clan consensus on rescuing beings versus other Creatures was pragmatic: a Creature could usually save itself whereas beings could not, and therefore didn't deserve saving. It was another matter entirely if the monsters in question were youngsters. "Tell you what: I'll help you, since you're busy hacking both lungs up." He smiled smugly, almost looking like some kind of bizarre shark mythos. "Just point me in the right direction, punchy."

[Tapewolf]

"Damn childhood reflex," Seth said, managing not to cough through an effort of will. "Dunno if they're children or not.  Can't tell from here, but they deserve a chance."  He pointed.  "Towards the rear compartments."

He began to head that way, listening out for the minds of others in case there was anyone he'd missed.

[Tezkat]

Train Crash, Nhylamar

The panther raised an eyebrow. He reined in his bike to allow the little rodent to catch up. The magictech vehicle emitted barely more than a soft hum and a whirring of wheels as it moved, eerily quiet compared to the roaring steam engine on Walsh or the blazing inferno of the train.

"Call me Fang." He smiled another sharp-toothed smile. It wasn't hard to guess how he got that name. "Where are you headed?"

He swerved around a pair of Creatures heading towards the back of the train.

[Lisky]

Lamylar
The demon was completely out cold as Ana carried him back to her house and began her healing.  The crowd was more concerned about the strangeness of the situation, and stood around gawking.  As she pulled him inside, she'd note both upper-layers of his uniform were filled with holes.  There was no sign of a real pattern.   Most of the injuries looked to be mildly deep slashes, though there were signs of 2, perhaps 3 different types of weapons used.  She ended up removing his outer coat, and a light-weight shirt underneath as well.
As Ana applied her healing, the feline let out a groan and appeared to possibly be waking up.  His arms and legs twitched as her healing took hold and began sealing his wounds.  It almost looked like he blinked for a moment, though his eyes remained closed.  His wings seemed to flutter a bit, flexing from their folded position to slightly extended
As Ana finished and the wounds were sealed, a soft murmur escaped the demon's lips.  He blink once or twice, giving a confused, bewildered look for a moment, before collapsing back into unconsciousness.  A short time later, a groan of pain, and a loud sigh signaled his finally waking up.


Airship (Zelah)
The being curled into a tighter ball.  Trying to make himself as small as he could.  He squeaked and pointed towards an open door across the deck rather meekly.  Bas made no attempt to try and stop the now female 'cubi from doing whatever it was she was going to do.  His right hand was perched on his hip, his left behind him as he waited for whatever Zelah choose to do.
If she followed the way the rat had pointed, she'd find an office with all kinds of paper-work, a couple of small revolvers, bullets littering the table, and several pouches of coins, including the one she'd given for passage.


Hanger
If one were to double-check the map cooridance given by the Ducal heir, they'd find that the coordinates would put him roughly 200 miles south of the city, and either on, or above a series of rolling hills that were common landing grounds for pirates looking to hide out from a Nhylamaran patrol.
The airspace over Wolksheem was relatively clear, and, if she used her plane to get there, it'd take maybe an hour to get to the proper meeting location.


  Book Store
Mr. Arklan replied with a nod of appreciation.  "glad to see you've got your priorities straight Kyirri.  You've got all week if you feel that you need it.  You're heading to Mikoron's public library, where, they had a special sale for me.   I've struck a deal with the mayor, and he's agreed to part with a specific tome for the specified price.  It's a history book, pertaining to the entirety of a specific cubi clan... it's been verified as authentic, and as such, worth a great deal to me."
Pressing his spectacles up his nose a bit, the canine moved to the note and bag of coins, holding them both out for Kyirri, "Now, this note has the address and an exact description of the book in question.  And this is your travel money.  When you get back, you'll get double your pay, along with getting to keep whatever you have left over.  I reward loyal employees, after all."


Courtyard
The airship captain was taken slightly aback at the cold tone.  He looked and felt equally guilty.  He'd been intentionally gruff, and she'd called him out in it.  Giving a polite bow of the head he replied, "right Dame Doctor Montegu, if you'd follow me, it's going to be a day long flight, and you'll find more comfortable quarters in the back."
Leading the angel  to the back of the small, gondola like crew-quarters, there was a small, yet very tastefully decorated room, it was clearly designed for the passengers to stay during the ride, as it had windows with a pair of very comfy looking overstuffed chairs near them, along with a full length couch, and baggage storage.  There was also what appeared to be an ice box, and a small cabinet that appeared to be stocked with liquors.


Rooftops
The next rooftop was separated by a small alleyway, easy enough to jump, however, the next roof was over a full road, perhaps 10 feet across.  It was also considerably lower.  Beyond that, a tall building hid her from view of the local constable's office. 
A few people in the streets were coming back from the market, but most of the city seemed occupied with church still.  As such, she still had maybe 5 minutes to go.
Downstairs, the landlord shouted for Lucy, she could hear him shouting and stamping around her room.  After a few moments, she could hear him lock the door as if nothing had happened.  Probably convinced it was some bizarre dream.


Trinity Academy
The vixen lead the way.  Sitting in the slip was a fairly modest airship.  a couple of mast-like wands hung out from the ship's side, her narrow, aerodynamic looking build made her look something akin to a naval vessel, but thinner, longer.  She was of what appeared to be a fast frigate type warship.  Designed for speed of travel.   Rippling arcane currents surrounded her top and bottom sections, while more rods hung off the hull at angles.  These wands would provide the steering.
After crossing onto the deck however, it became clear that this was the personal transport of someone of wealth, power, or most likely, both.  The wood was soft, smooth, and waxed with a finish that gave a clear-coat appearance, however gave very firm purchase.  The dark, pure woodwork was probably enchanted to withstand far more punishment than anything like her design should be physically able to.
As she escorted the badger to his quarters for the trip, he'd note more finely crafted woodwork, with relief carvings of ivy the structural members.  A mosaic of an exotic forest covered most of the far wall.  An overstuffed couch, a desk, communication orbs, finely crafted and gold inlaid pens.  Really, it seemed more like he was being given the countess's office for the day long voyage.  A map was sitting on the desk, and, if it's distances were correct, it'd be no more than a 10 hour trip for a military vessel of comparable design.


Train Crash
The airship continued to close, it's design clearly of Nhylamar.   It looked to be a heavy transport, and, if one were to study it, would note that it was of the armed, military design. 
Those on the train were filing out under their own power, a combination of beings and creatures left the cars further down the line as they began coming to their senses.  Seth's help didn't appear to be needed, as there were no more emotions coming from the train itself.
The city in the distance was clearly a smaller one.  It's outer wall, and tall, airship-landing towers could be seen, but not much else.  A thin, smoky haze partially obscured anyone's long-distance view as the train continued to burn, the 2nd car back starting to burn, and the 3rd starting to smolder.


Yagsandras
No sooner had the angel put up his shield, than a column of water slid off a roof top and splattered across his shield.  The roads were eerily dry, however, and if one watched carefully, they'd note that water literally fell through the streets.  Other enchantments of the city became apparent too, as lamps lit themselves and their fiery glow in the dull-gray morning added a bit of brightness.
Shops were open of all kinds, and, it appeared a good deal of the places never actually slept.  Clubs of all kinds caught the angel's attention.  One bar in particular, as a demon bouncer tossed a rather scruffy looking 2 headed mythos ferret out the door.  Shouting in the mythos' wake " We told ya to keep your hands to yourselves around the girls... now GET OUT!"
The mythos was practically in tears, and something seemed off about one of his arms.  It appeared to not move right.  In fact, the left arm didn't look normal at all... an odd bulge could be seen at the mid-forearm , and it appeared he could move his hand at all... if Sikici didn't know any better, he'd be sure the mythos's arm was broken.


Library
The tip of the Vixen's tail is all Stephan would catch as she made her way into a small side-room.  The entrance led into a massive room.  Tall, arched ceilings over 2 story tall bookshelves.  a second level above the first added even more size to the room, as it became apparent that the small building housed a pocket dimension of some kind.  The vaulted ceiling had a mural, some epic, ancient battle was being depicted.  A demon, bull it looked to be, had a long spear piercing through multiple beings, while a bolt of lightning was held in his other.
A receptionist, looked to be a rabbit of some kind, stood looking at her index cards.  She was wearing a professional looking attire, a business suit, long-skirt, and if he looked over the desk, he'd probably see high-heels as well.  She gave the boy a bit of an incredulous look and asked, "uh, sir... can i -help- you?"
her tone indicating she wanted nothing to do with the cubi boy.


Avendel
The shop owner, an owl with long feather wings partially hidden by the coat he was wearing looked at the other angel and nodded.  "I do, in fact, have a few pieces of clothing that do in fact have extra-spacial pocket.  Not too common a request from those outside the adventuring community though.  You an Adventurer Mr..."
Pausing, it appeared he was holding a piece of parchment and reading something.  His awkward pause ended in a bit of a surprise twist, " Pyrinost-Highwynd it would seem.  Hmm... Depending on the style you're looking for, i think i can help you out there."
First he held up a leather trench-coat, long and made of dark-gray leather.  It's edges seemed slightly fringed, and the owl's eyes narrowed as he observed what appeared to be a bit of charring.  "Hmm.. that usually doesn't happen...  Looks like i mixed up one of the test-coats with the actual sales ware..."
Idly tossing the coat back behind his counter, the shop keeper started leaving out various coats, all with armor-like qualities and pocket dimension.  Colors varied from reds, greens, blues, and a single black, and 2 white coats.  "anything catch your fancy, Mr. Pyrinost-Highwynd?"


Beach
As the tentacles lashed out, the demoness raised her hand from the pistol grip and held it in front of her.  A thin, charred, glass-like sphere appeared in front of her.  Challam's tentacles slammed into the solid surface as if they'd hit a brick wall.  As he started to pull back, the demoness flung her hand outward in a dramatic sweep.  The sphere seemed to roll forward, the other prisoners were right in it's path, and both were pulped before the cubi's eyes as they were both crushed into a paste.  "Well look at that... i guess we've got a winner." the equine chided with another bear-trap grin.
She moved in with the chainblade, swinging the vicious weapon in wide, ungainly arcs, which told of just how much weight was actually behind the semi-elegant, and very vicious looking weapon.
Out of the corner of his eye, Challam caught sight of one of the pirates, a Chihuahua, he was fumbling with the recently acquired loot, and accidentally sent a cloud of steam spraying into the pirate next to him's face.

[techmaster-glitch]

Aelisium Town

  Both brothers chuckled at Ashlynn's story of their exploits. "Yeah, that was one of our first outings with the Storm, here..." Gaakronacht said.
  "Yes. We were part of a special flanking group to harass a line of Ahnk armor that were advance for the dreadnaughts. The weapons on the Scorp here, plus all the other mechs with us, were able to cripple enough of them to allow an assault column to move up." Gezzemocht continued.
  "That was pretty much our 'moment of truth', proving that the Storm Scorp could hold its own in battle." Gaak finished.
  At her insistence of Gezz taking the cockpit, he shrugged and did so, moving from the front of the mech to the back again, and settled in.
  Gaak took the mech out of the town, heading into the plains toward the ridges. When Ashlynn told them their options, Gaak looked back to Gezz, who responded. "We'll go into the gullies. The Storm Scorp actually isn't well-equipped for long-range engagements."
  The scorpion-like mech strode down the lower path.

[Tapewolf]

Sethir couldn't detect any minds in the train anymore.  "Looks like you were right," he told the Demon.  "They must have escaped while I was tending the Beings."  Or they're dead, he added mentally.

"I'm not sure I can easily offer you a lift," he said apologetically as they left the train, "but the capital is in that direction.  I'm going to check that everyone outside the train is going to be okay and then think about getting home."

Releasing the element-proofing he shook himself, and with a visible effort of concentration, shapeshifted his fur.  Every hair on his body stood on end for a second and much of the soot fell away.  It'll do until I can get showered, he thought and donned his leathers again.

There was an airship in the sky.  Much as he disliked the authorities of Nhylamar, Seth felt a certain sense of civic duty and if it was an official one, leaving the scene of an accident was probably some kind of offence.  He couldn't make out the markings, though and in any case, most other people would be leaving.  Safety in numbers, or a veritable shitload of fines for the council?  Difficult to say.

Since no-one seemed to be in obvious difficulty he took his bike and walked it towards one of the larger crowds.  Probably best not to speed off into the distance just yet, in case his help was still needed.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Pausing at the access door built into the main ones, Paige re-read the letter. "Well Smeg..." the Succubus said with feeling, before stepping back inside and hitting the button that would retract the main doors.

Walking over to her Spitfire, Paige went through the pre-flight checks and sent a signal though the message stone in the cockpit to the tower for clearance for a flight. After getting a reply she pulled her cap and goggles from her pocket and shifted her wings away, as sitting in a cockpit designed for a being was damned near impossible with them out.

Pushing the starter for the engine she waited for the revs to reach the right setting before easing the brakes off, the A-12 rolling smoothly across the field to the main runway. Once lined up she did her final checklist and opened the throttle wide, the magically enhanced engine screaming as she hurtled down the runway and then into the sky as she pulled back on the stick.

Leveling off after a while she banked the Spitfire in the direction of the hills she knew so well...

[Noone]

Reward loyal employees, I suppose that's why I haven't starved to death yet. Though I'm damned close. Kyirri glanced at Mr. Arklan, then proceeded to give his attention towards the bag of coins, and the note, and subsequently took them. He examined the note to make sure that everything was in order. "I shall attend to it at once." With that, he paced outside, thinking of his task. Kyirri held commitments in very high regard, it wouldn't have been proper of him to renege on this one. Even if he had kept the travel money and gotten another job, it was entirely possible that he'd have just had it all stolen as well. With his exit, he gave some thought to what steps he would take.

His first stop would be a place that had a usable map. He didn't like to blindly go from destination from destination as that could have gotten him lost, or put through an unsafe path. A little bit of research could save a lot of hassle. He didn't intend to buy one, but some places would hopefully allow him to skim over one without purchasing it. There, he would plan out the two most effective routes, planning on taking the most efficient path on the return trip and the second most efficient path going to his destination. He wanted to balance safety, time, and cost in planning these routes. Once he had his planned routes, all he needed to do was follow through with them. Spur of the moment things would of course, always catch his attention. He could get easily lost in a large crowd, and could move quickly and quietly when alone. Even the best laid plans had to have room for on the spot flexibility.

Goals in mind, he set out to do just this... and hopefully reach Mikoron's library without any major complications.

[Ghostwish]

Challam winced slightly as he felt the tentacle slam into the barrier. Even with all the pain negation training he had had, there were still nerves in these extensions. His eyes popped wide as he saw the prisoners within the path of the barrier, and he tried to save them, but the larger tentacles simply were not swift enough, and met the barriers head on in a series of equally painful collisions.

Challam growled audibly at the callous mare, but found himself unable to strike. The tentacles were too slow to dive between the ungainly swings. He had begun considering that perhaps stretching out his appendages to strike her from behind would be the best tactic, when the tall-tale hiss of steam met his ears, and he saw the spat cloud out of the corner of his eye.

Seeing the obnoxious pirate clumsily playing with his precious weapon set Challam's blood to a boil, and he immediately charged at a run with his wing-heads lashing at the hapless pooch. The result is best not described in detail beyond being gory, messy, and just the slightest bit comedic. Regardless, the end result was that Challam had his rifle back, but not without a hitch.

Upon giving his precious weapon a quick check, Challam found that the idiot pirate had inadvertently set the weapon into its overflow state, and the pressure needle was rapidly climbing towards the red. His eyes popped wide in shock and anger as he realized he only two choices. Shoot, or lose the gun.

[SquirrelWizard]

"uh, sir... can I -help- you?" Stephan's attention focused on the lady sitting behind the receptionist desk. He smiled and shook his head, "No, but thank you for asking. I'm pretty sure I can find what I'm looking for." He then started to make his way to the side room.

[WhiteFox]

Train Crash, Nhylamar
"Where am I going?" Gabriel answered Fang. "Away from here! I'm thinking if the town's been hit by the quake, they'll have a need for mechanics and hired help. Might pick up some work there."

He glanced over his shoulder at the third biker at the site. "Hoy. That one looks like he's headin' out."

[Lisky]

Beach

As soon as Challam head the weapon in his hands, he felt something like a pinch on the back of his head.  Something jostled his shoulder lightly, and a woman's voice asked something he couldn't quite make out.  The beach faded into a white haze as his eyes naturally opened.  Blinking, Challam was still sitting on the airship, over Nhylamar.  The woman next to him, a tigress, wearing a simple, wide-strapped halter-top and form-fitting trousers jostled him again.  "Excuse me, sir.  Is everything alright?  You seemed to be having a bit of a nightmare, there, the way you were tossing and turning in your chair."

about the only thing of note about the woman was a red patch Challam could catch on her slightly exposed cleavage, and the only reason he could see it was because of how blatantly it stuck out from the rest of her fur and attire.  If he were to focus on it, he would note it seemed exceedingly familiar... but he couldn't quite place where he'd seen it before.


Just beyond the message board

The instructions were pretty vague, it was a experimental machine shop looking for a water mage.  That's about all the advertisement would say.  The city's placement put it right near several major hubs of activity, and either train or boat were both easily viable options, as the city was placed right on the edge of a large river.

A man at a news stand watched the feline go on his way while purchasing a news paper, he seemed to disappear into a diner just as a female lioness came out.


Train Crash

As the Zeppelin got closer, distinct markings could be seen across her side.  It looked like the front portion was painted to appear as clouds.  Her forward guns suddenly went ablaze for a moment.  A few hundred yards in front of the bikers, plumes of dirt and sand were sent high into the air as clots of dirt and shrapnel fell harmlessly to the ground.  A thunderous echo was sent across grassy plain as the airship fired again, sending more shells exploding in front of the riders.

At the crash-site, long sections of rope fell from the sky and beings began sliding down, they seemed to be wearing a hodgepodge of different uniforms, civilian type clothing, and light body armor that looked to be of Aeliseium design for their non-clockwork armor equipped soldiers.  All carried both guns and blades, and it looked to be about 20 of them, a few to each rope, 8 ropes total.  As the last man touched down, a demoness jumped off the deck, a white mare, dressed in red trousers, a black corset and a red and gold long-coat over the corset.  A wide blocky scabbard hung at her left hip, and a pistol with a distinct black, metal grip hung from her right.  (the pistol appears to be a long-barreled Luger... an Aeliseium officer and war-machine crew sidearm where long weapons are impractical)


Library

The rabbit gave a very dismissive wave as Stephan left.  The clacking of shoes could be heard heading up a flight of stairs, an open door the source of the sound.  Although Stephan could no longer see the vixen, he could clearly tell it was her, as the library was completely empty besides the receptionist and succubus who'd given him the alluring signs.



Aeliseium Town

In the distance, a small pillar of black raised into the sky, before melding with the clouds.  It was unclear of what was going on, but apparently there was either a large, coal-powered vehicle in the distance, or a fire.  Fire usually meant trouble, and neither Ash, nor the brothers had been given any heads up of large industrial vehicles operating in the area.



Slums

The nearest map-store was a few blocks away, the streets were still relatively empty.  A good thing in the violent sections of the city.  He'd left several local maps, including a large map of Nhylamar that had roads, railways and common airship routes on display.  The map read "2 Copper" on a slip of paper tacked to the map.  The shop keeper seemed to be distracted, as the female ocelot had her back turned, and seemed to be talking with someone.  Kyirri should easily be able to plot a route in a couple of minutes, and, if he had some scratch paper handy, even jot down a few notes.

[SpottedKitty]

Zelah tightened her grip on the captain's hair, almost ripping a chunk of it out of his scalp, and pushed her gun muzzle harder under his throat before she turned her head to glance briefly where he pointed. "If you're lying..." she snarled threateningly, then she slammed his head down against the deck, jumped up and gave him a good hard kick just behind the ear. Hard enough, she hoped, to leave him out cold and not able to bother her for a while. The furious 'Cubi strode across the deck to the open door, her tail lashing, and stuffed her gun back into her pocket after easing the hammer down and putting the safety back on. Half-way there she paused, looked down and patted her chest. "Hell, not again," she muttered just loud enough for Wolkshammer to hear her.

Inside the seedy cabin, Zelah sighed in relief when she spotted her money bag among the pile spread over a table. That greedy idiot Hake must have been about to count his loot when he'd been so rudely interrupted. She ignored the paperwork and guns, and the other bags — they might belong to other "passengers" still below deck, if there were any others, although she couldn't believe anyone could have missed the noise of the ship's crew being overpowered — and slipped it into an inside jacket pocket. It wasn't quite illegal in Aeliseium, just very difficult, but she'd managed to get some Nhylamaran currency to use in her escape, and she'd needed almost all of it to pay Hake.

Zelah came back on deck looking not quite so incandescently angry, although the poisonous glare she directed at Hake should have burned a hole right through him. She walked up to the Demon, paused a moment as her headwings drooped a little, and sighed. "Well, my thanks again for the rescue, Wolkshammer," she said, "but... what now?" It took an effort to keep her anxiety from sounding obvious in her voice: after all, it was the first time she'd faced such an imposing-looking Creature in the flesh.

[WhiteFox]

As soon as the first plume of flame appeared from the zepplin Gabriel hit the emergency breaks, and fell off the side of the bike for cover.

"Incoming fire!" He shrieked.

He swore heavily and held onto his hat as dirt and shrapnel went flying. He grabbed Holland out of it's sheath, and thumped the butt of it twice. Hands darting swiftly, he caught the blue stone that slid out, tucked it back into a pocket on his belt, drew out a long purple crystal, and slid that back down Holland's muzzle.

Gabriel vaulted back onto Walsh, and pushed the engines up to full speed as quickly as they would. The rear wheel, a double helix cog, threw dirt up behind him and the bike sped forward.

Gabriel kept Holland tucked in his arm, pointing generally upwards, and his other hand on the handlebar. He kept a sharp eye out for any enchanted weapons, or spells being prepared, pointed in his direction. The second he saw anyone thinking about it...

His fingers danced over Hollands trigger.

Gabriel stayed low, pressing himself against Walsh. Hopefully, the bike would cover him from small arms fire. If the soldiers were smart enough to get out of the way of a charging steam engine, and the zepplin wasn't willing to shoot at it's own soldiers, Gabriel just had to focus on pushing through as quick as possible and pray for the best. Hopefully Gabriel could make it under and behind the flying boat, which was likely where it had the least cannons pointing. Chances were that whoever was in command up there would care more about the train then turning the boat around to go after one driver.

Why did they care about the train?

They couldn't have been military.. a wrecked train didn't have any strategic value. Two other possibilities lept to mind; either they were pirates going for the cargo, or they were slavers.

They were welcome to the former. The latter, Gabriel wasn't too keen on.

[Tapewolf]

Sethir threw himself to the ground when he heard the blast.  At first he thought the train had exploded, but a moment later he realised that the ship was firing on them.  Whoever it was, they probably weren't government officials.

I'd just got this suit cleaned, he thought stupidly.  On his back, two slits appeared as he morphed the leather, allowing his wings to escape.  A 'Cubi's wings were the toughest part of their body and he quickly fanned them out just so, to ensure his head and torso were shielded.
He took the broadsword that had been strapped to his bike, helmeted up and hopped upon it, firing it up as quickly as he could.
Not far off, another bike was doing something similar - Seth decided to take his chances and follow suit, at least until he had a better plan.  He folded his wings back, looking for the optimum point between shielding himself and wind resistance, and hit the road.

[Ghostwish]

Challam practically jerked awake, and blinked his eyes repeatedly as he looked about, quite confused. He looked over at the tigeress with wide eyes, and it wasn't perversion that sent his eyes darting to her cleavage, but curiosity.

Red mark, he thought, Could it be a..?, and as he pondered over the unusual dream he had just had, he half-smirked a little bit too knowingly. But he turned a pleasant smile to the tigeress. "Yes, sorry, was having what I suppose was a nightmare, or a very well conceived act." He said, straightening his clothes out from all his thrashing about. "Which would be very strange, don't you think? I mean, I am past the age of dreaming really. Haven't done it in quite a while. So I suppose I should say it was all ever so confusing, wouldn't you say?" He said, still keeping his pleasant smile as he casually checked the gauges on his rifle, and found them to be sound.

While he awaited her response, he took a glance out the window. It seemed as if he had slept through the entire trip, but he just wanted to check and make sure.

[Arroyo Milori]

Arroyo blinked once before stuffing the paper back into his pocket. Even if the instructions were vague, they were easy to follow. His walk continued until he hit the docks. There were an unusual amount of people there today.

The chatter about the earthquake followed by...a train incident? Surely that was the cause of the small increase of people at the docks. They must have post poned train rides and quickly switched to boats, seeing they don't know how much damage the earthquake did to the tracks.

Arroyo groaned a bit followed by a sigh. "Looks like the Canal is going to backed up." Arroyo slowly walked to his personal boat, a couple people asked if they could ride with him. Which of course, he rejected them. Last thing he wanted was people rummaging through his boat and possibly stealing his valuables.

He untied the boat and kicks off, letting it drift out a bit before turning the engine on, as he slowly drifts through the canal, just in time too. The traffic wasn't as bad as Arroyo thought it would be. ' So far so good.' He thought to himself, as he waits through the slow waters of the water passage through town.

[Noone]

Kyirri examined the map carefully, but stayed more than an arms reach away from it. I'd better not give him any cause to think that I'd steal from him... and I wouldn't want to give him an excuse to search me either with what I'm carrying. He first looked for his destination, if it were on any of the maps. Then, he took note of the railways and airship routes that would speed his travel. Lastly, he looked for shorter routes on foot, from a station to his destination. I probably won't be able to afford an airship. He said it would be a two or three days travel, but he probably meant with transportation, going entirely by foot would be too slow. That probably means I'll have to be efficient with the railways, I just hope I won't be attacked on one. I'll just have to find two different routes that can get me from here to there, and back.

It's going to be a long trip though... I don't think I can afford the time or cost to stop at an inn or place of reprieve. He continued staring at the map, scanning for important details. Refraining from sleeping throughout the trip is going to make this faster, cheaper, and safer, and wouldn't spoil any of my dirty little secrets. Still... I probably shouldn't skip on eating... it's uncomfortable and I don't want it having too much control over me.

After examining the map, if not interrupted, he would head out for his destination. Damn it, I really wish I could afford something I could take some notes with... I'll have to do what I can from memory. It's never failed me before... but... this trip is longer and more dangerous than most...

[SquirrelWizard]

Stephan followed the footsteps up the stairs, and followed the trail of the succubus further into the library either by the sound of her footsteps, or the occasional glimpse of her tail. Her travels came to an end in a small study room, a room used by those wanting privacy. He saw her tail flit into one, and approached. He stood just outside the doorway, and with a soft knock on the door jamb he announced his presence, "Pardon me if I am interrupting. I am Stephan Oralis, we met in passing at the cafe. And, I thought that when a woman of such beauty graces me with a smile, I should at least say 'hello'"

[Azlan]

Locke cleared his throat after the second time the owl merchant used his last name, "Locke is fine really, my family name is a bit cumbersome for talking shop as it were."

Looking over the items, the angel cocked an eyebrow at the charred coat, but filed that thought away.  Slipping on a pair of spectacles, he withdrew his pocket watch from its pocket.  The bronze item was engraved with numerous technomantic symbologies and roteworks, and the cheetah absentmindedly clicked one of the three button-dials, like one would a stop watch.  The lid flipped open revealing numerous dials measuring, mechanically, precise time, barometric pressure, temperate, humidity, etc. and was quite the collection of clockworks.  These dials and readings meant nothing to the actual spell he had just enacted.

His spell began, using the spectacles as the visual foci and the watch as the technomagical processing engine.  Locke examined the strength, stability, nature and truth of the enchantments; subtly pulling each layer back as one would read a pamphlet.  

As his eye was upon the black one, that was the focus of his examination, having been subject to a naming upon entering discourse with the proprietor, Locke felt justified on analyzing the item he wished to buy.

[insidexml]

Shield up! Now then, Sikici would just be on his merry way, right after he stood still and appreciated the fact that his light shield had just prevented a column of water from soaking him thoroughly. Mentally thanking the guard, the angel continued into the city. He noticed that the roads were oddly dry, which was nice, since it meant that there was no mud to splatter onto his clothes. It would actually seem that the water was simply falling through the streets. This, added onto the fact that lamps around Sikici began lighting themselves, led the angel to believe that there was magic in play here. All he'd heard regarding Yagsandras had been about its merchants; there was nothing about these enchantments. Then again, he didn't think he should be particularly surprised. This was probably common in most major cities, although Sikici had never really spent much time in any major cities, so it was not as if he would know.

There were certainly a lot of clubs around. They did not appeal very much to the healer; although his knowledge of what went on at clubs was limited, he believed that most clubs served alcohol, a substance which usually brought out the worst in people. If he really thought about it, a club was a good place for a healer to be, because of the injuries that generally occurred there due to the alcohol consumption. Or were those bars and taverns...? But unless a club was willing to hire Sikici to heal any patrons that were hurt in an alcohol-fueled brawl, he did not particularly feel like healing some schmuck for free. Besides, he couldn't be sure if all clubs really served alcohol, seeing as how he had never really been in one. All his knowledge was from hearsay.

Looking ahead, he noticed a bouncer throwing out a ferret from one of these clubs. Something about not being able to keep one's hands to themselves? A pity. Oh, the ferret had two heads? That meant it was probably a mythos, then, wasn't it? There were chances that it was something else, but Sikici was willing to bet that it was a mythos. The information wasn't exactly very important, but what did that matter?

As he walked by the scene, Sikici noticed something off about one of the arms. Stopping to take a closer look, the angel figured that the left arm was broken, what with the bulge and the inability to move the hand at all. Lucky for the mythos, Sikici suddenly felt like healing the schmuck for free. It happened on occasion, and the angel just went with it.

He knelt down by the ferret, releasing a low-level healing wave to slightly soothe its pain and get its attention. "Do you require any healing aid?"

[Tezkat]

Train Crash, Nhylamar

The ground exploded in front of him. Tezkat swerved away from the blast and veered back towards the train. He looked up at the approaching airship. Somebody had just shot at him. He snarled. That somebody was about to have a very bad day. But first he would need cover, and fast. Taking one hand off the reins, he pricked a finger with his thumb claw and hastily drew a bloody arcane symbol on his chest. A word of power sealed the invocation. He gripped the reins again and accelerated just as the second barrage of warning shots landed.

Tezkat skidded the bike, flinging himself clear of his ride. The vehicle slid to a stop. He kept rolling. Right into a blazing train car. Flames engulfed him. Damn, it was hot. Thick black smoke belched from the collapsed wall. He held his breath and moved quickly through the wreckage. His impromptu flame ward wouldn't last long, but the diversion had served its purpose. Aerial spotters couldn't track him now. He turned invisible and carefully snuck away from the car, putting enough distance between himself and the inferno that the smoke and ash wouldn't give away his position despite the illusion.

The enemy--whoever they were--rappelled down from the craft. A motley crew some twenty strong, led by Demon mare who didn't even bother with the ropes. Clearly not part of any official military. Mercenaries or pirates, then. But if they were coming down here, who was left guarding the ship? Surely no more than a token crew. With no obvious anti-air defence in the area, they'd be foolish not to devote most of their forces to subduing opponents of unknown strength on the ground.

With no time to properly tailor the coat, Tezkat simply drew his blade and stabbed back under his arm, slicing two thin vertical slits. Had he been visible, his newly released wings would have appeared black and demonic. He spread them wide and launched himself skyward. Hot thermals rising from the train provided lift with minimal need for flapping--not that his wing beats would be heard over the roaring flames, airship engines, or screaming passengers anyway. He circled up to put the sun at his back--force of habit even while invisible--and swooped down to the deck of the airship.

[Tipod]

Bart threw up an arm to shield himself after the initial blasts, having nearly jumped out of his skin in the process. Sethir had already zoomed off by the time he recovered. "...hey! Don't leave me here!!" The "every Creature for himself" policy suddenly didn't seem so attractive.

What the hell's going on? Since when do Nhylamar ships fire on their own trains? Though the piecemeal uniforms and armor design made it clear just who was behind this insanity. ...Aeliseium. Son of a bitch. If every meathead adventurer got together and formed a confederacy, Aeliseium would be the result. Bart quickly scrabbled through his pack, donning an iron warmask as he pulled out his knife and hatchet. He wasn't about to openly scrap with a detachment of soldiers, but if they closed the gap, he'd need to bring the hurt on them. Hopefully, he could convince them to let him pass by as a neutral civilian (haha, yeah right).

[Gabi]

(OOC: writing in a hurry. Real life and RPs just don't get along.)

The Demon started moving. Anabelle had many questions, and was still rather scared. She stepped back, positioning herself at what she hoped would be a safe distance, and watched him.

He slowly began to move, feeling his own body, touching the spots where the worst wounds had been. Then he opened his eyes and, with a confused look, he slowly propped himself up and looked around. He didn't seem to have recovered all his strength yet.

"It's OK, I'm a healer," Anabelle told him. "You're in my house. You were hurt. Do you remember what happened?"

With a bit of a bewildered look, he replied: "not really... there were 3, maybe 4 of them, seemed to come out of nowhere... I think they were insectic... but I couldn't tell.  They had masks on..."  Shaking his head in confusion, the demon held a paw to his head.  Giving another groan he added: "and where are my manners... I'm terribly sorry miss... Renard Kasrikan, and I owe you my life... thank you."

His words helped the capybara feel somewhat calmer. It was a relief to know that, whatever else was out there, at least he wasn't hostile. She moved closer to him and introduced herself.

"My name is Anabelle Clemens," she said with a smile. "How are you feeling now?"