Ruin's Dawn: Lightning Gem

[Jackalope]

The group made their way to the ruin on the rise. There was little left of the original edifice, whatever it had been, but it was clear it had once been imposing. A large, angular outline, punctuated by fragments of thick stone wall, crowned the hill. Most of those walls had broken and tumbled to the ground, whereupon the fallen rocks had been rapidly salvaged. Yet the masonry that still stood was strikingly untouched. Perhaps the would-be scavengers were deterred by the spirits, which flocked as thick as pigeons here. The air was chilly with their presence, even in Saun, and the walls were covered with cold sweat, as if the very stones were fearful.

Ramshackle shanties of wattle and daub huddled within the perimeter of that wall. The group could count about a dozen such, each one a sad, small study in squalor and misery. From within their shelters, the living inhabitants peered with unfriendly curiosity at the newcomers, but none made any move to greet or challenge them. None, apart from the one old woman.

She was short, squat, dumpy, weatherbeaten and scarred. She paid the ghosts no mind as she waddled determinedly among the ruins, nor they her. The living visitors, however, she fixed with a keen, beady stare. Her expression didn’t hold the fear or hostility of the other inhabitants cowering inside their shanties, but that did mean it was kind or welcoming. She paid special attention to the hulking ithecal.

”What are you strangers doing here?” the woman demanded in a strong but gravelly voice. ”Why have you suddenly picked this trial to pester us?” She paused to cough for several trills; from the sound of it, she could probably have fashioned bodies for all the ghosts around them with the phlegm in her throat. And yet, when she spoke once more, her voice was no more hoarse then before:

”Don’t you people talk to each other? I already told your associates I don’t have a key to the catacombs’ door. And they already tried to get it open. They left just a couple breaks ago, I had thought to get some tools or something before coming back. Did you bring tools? No?” The woman shrugged her broad, hunched, crooked shoulders. ”Then I wouldn’t waste my time, if I were you. Go home. Go all the way home, to whatever cities you got here from. Not my concern.”

The woman studied each party member’s face with those bright, beady eyes before eventually deciding she was done with the lot. She started to turn away when a sharp hiss whispered through the air. The ghost of a large man appeared in front of them, not far from where the woman stood; it regarded the party with open hostility from a face horribly mangled, as if stove in by a blow from a mace. It hissed again before wafting away. The woman watched after it for a moment, then looked back at the party.

”That one’s trouble,” she muttered darkly. ”And he doesn’t like you. All the more reason for you to be on your way. Let those other clowns come back with their crowbars.”

Some ways off, the party noticed at last a lone-standing stone archway, in an open space eschewed by the living and unimpinged by their structures. An oblong skirt of stone flags extended back from the archway’s base, where it outlined a stairwell housing broken stone steps leading underground. These stones, like those of the still-standing fragments of the ruin’s wall, had seemingly not been disturbed by would-be scavengers.

Praetorum, Natalia, Shl’Drei, Yeva

You all accomplished the Must-Do objectives this round. This will have positive consequences at the end of the thread. ETA: Yeva posted for the last round one minute after I did! I'll allow it!

Praetorum, Natalia

You both achieved the Can-Do objective this round. This will have positive consequences at the end of the thread.

Cail

Oh noes! You didn’t post this round! If either of you miss another round, you will be written out of this thread.

Info & Rules

• Due to the time-sensitive nature of this, I can not hold out for people to post. If you miss a round, there will (I'm afraid) be consequences. To be fair, though, if you *do* post, there will also be consequences, albeit different ones. So there’s that.
• This style of event moderation - with objectives etc - was created by a wonderful moderator named Crimson.

Objectives

!	Message from: Must-Do Objectives
	Ask the old woman one question.

!	Message from: Can-Do Objectives
	No Can-do Objectives this round.

Next modpost, 29 June

Deadline for your next round's posts is 1200 EST on 29 June. If you haven't posted by that time, I will consider you to have missed that round.

[Yeva]

EDIT: Pretend this post is from last round, per Jack's approval. I was a minute late.

"Would I sound terribly prissy if I admitted to preferring the option that didn't involve slogging through a city's septic system?" she joked, regretting it a bit when she saw Shl'Drei's expression. The poor man looked shaken, but could she blame him? It was a state she recognized clearly... In fact, she still held a vendetta against Tio from the first time he had whisked her away without warning. Not a high maintenance woman by nature, as a medic Yeva had spent many a trial elbows deep in human fluid, whether blood or bile, and while fecal matter also found its way on the job, not having to deal with any was her favored approach to a job, "Ancient ruins with strange phenomena? I'd say there's no better place for us to start."

Or worse.

But Yeva was not interested in being negative from the onslaught. She was sure they were all aware of the risks - Ilaren wouldn't have chosen them otherwise. If her experience as Sojourn had taught her anything, it was that when one was given a quest, thrown into a group of mismatched characters, and told to figure out a set of very vague instructions for the betterment of something or the other, a good story was afoot. Dangerous, yes.... More than anything, this chapter would be interesting. She only hoped their fate was not like those around her.

Ghosts lingered; most appeared little more than echos... One figure, a hulking man in life, appeared faceless and floated past, three swords jutting from his chest, "There are so many spirits here," she mused, just under her breath. All on Idalos, as if the Beneath was nothing, "The veil must be thin here." Or maybe, she thought, There is a great vergence?

She turned, alert for signs of movement.

They made their way through Yarlon, Yeva's eyes dancing with interest and sorrow. She had heard a couple of stories of the great Yari mercenaries, and of course, met a few scoundrels herself, but had not looked into the region herself. So this was where Balthazar was from? Azrael? How convenient they had omitted the entire neighborhood of ghosts!

Prae suggested to remain openly armed, but Yeva frowned. She had not been prepared to be whisked away, in the midst of making a meal in her home, not out and about or dressed for war. In her apron pockets, she had a bit of metal morph, now in the shape of a metal ball, formerly a corkscrew when she had thought she would be opening a drink. A rag, still damp from when she used it to dry her hands, and the blink ring she had earned in Rharne.

[Natalia Gregorios]

Saun 35, Arc 721

It was an odd assortment of individuals to be certain, but Natalia decided not to give it a moment’s thought. Work the problem in front of her. Focus on what needed to be done. Certainly, a little more information would have been helpful, but perhaps answers would come along the way.

A few of her companions seemed to react to their predicament as though it happened every trial. That was a bit of a comfort, although she chose to keep her thoughts to herself on the matter, instead turning her attention to what she could see and feel around her. The other young woman spoke as though she knew of such matters, so Natalia tucked away her comments into the back of her mind.

As they walked to the ruin, she noted that some elements of it were completely devastated, and some not. That seemed to be…odd. The young woman would have expected something a bit more in-between for all of it, but it was what it was. Walking next to the Ithecal, deciding that for logical safety reasons, he was the best one to be next if things started happening, Natalia allowed her eyes to gaze around the vicinity, remaining alert.

She saw the people, staring out at them, but quickly decided to keep her eyes forward. Direct eye contact was something of a challenge in polite society and since Pratorum had already called for them to show their weapons, she surmised that a challenge wasn’t something they wished to accidentally provoke.

It was then that an old woman confronted them, speaking of things that were a bit confusing. Furrowing her eyes a bit, Natalia tried to make some sense of the words the woman spoke. Associates? That didn’t make a bit of sense, but she gave the woman her continued attention. Catacombs. That seemed promising. If they were trying to get underground, catacombs would certainly accomplish that. As well, though she didn’t know for sure, she had some ideas about the ‘associates’.

Natalia noted the ghost that she pointed out, shivering gently as she took in the mangled features. The woman’s comments seem to indicate that the ghost man didn’t like them, but how did she know? Perhaps living where they did, the people had a sense of such things? She really didn’t know.

The question kept nudging at her though. Truthfully, a few did, but the young woman decided not to push the situation, choosing one. The woman was already agitated, and it wasn’t good policy to make her anymore so. There was another obvious question looming, but looking ahead, Natalia could see what appeared to be stone steps leading down, and she assumed that led to the entrance to the catacombs.

Using her calmest voice, Natalia gave the woman a smile and asked her question. “If you don’t mind me asking, Ma’am, how do you know that ghost is trouble?” The answer, in her mind, might be useful information they could use.

Looking at Praetorum, she arched her eyebrow, speaking softly. “Activity might mean we are on the right trail?” Natalia didn’t elaborate, of course, hoping that he would catch the drift of her meaning.

[Shl'Drei]

Shl'drei didn't have the slightest idea why any immortal would choose him to fight anything. No, he wasn't necessarily a coward- he was just weak and he acknowledged that fact. With eyes on him from every direction - of both the living and the dead sort, Shl'drei focused his gaze on the person ahead of him or on the ground as to avoid direct eye contact. Looking at his surroundings briefly at random intervals, he was able to catch sight of the ruins of... Well, it was much to damaged to tell exactly.

And then he noticed the poverty and squalor, the dingy work put into the closely huddled homes that almost seemed awash with apprehension. As they wandered further in, a rather short older woman came forward. She bore no visible fear or fright of the numerous ghosts, nor them like the people in the shacks. But what she did show was thinly veiled annoyance. It wasn't... dangerous per se, but it didn't make him feel at ease. Shl'drei flinched as she started coughing, a worry settling into him for her health. He figured even if he could help she wouldn't take it by the way she spoke to them.

"Could," he paused. This woman was very clearly done with them. If he pushed it to far she'd probably just walk away right? But if he only had one shot he wanted to know what they were looking at in case something went south. "Could you tell us if they were looking for something specific?" That was a good start, right? They had no idea what Illaren wanted them to find- if this woman had an inkling and was willing to answer questions perhaps they could get some information from her. Still, whatever she decided to say or not say, Shl'drei rubbed the goosebumps rippling in her arms and avoided the eyes of the ghost, the fiend, that seemed to hate their guts according to her. He was mangled and just glancing at his face gave Shl'drei enough fuel for nightmares.

"If the doors are locked or sealed we'll need to find a different way in," He murmured.

[Cail Qy'Jihai]

Cail Qy'Jihai

Cail looked over when Praetorum began to speak. She nodded silently as he explained what he wanted to do in searching the smaller building first. The woman looked over to it first and tried to figure out why it was in such a different state of repair. It was as if there had been a battle of some kind that left the two buildings more put together. Shaking her head gently, the woman turned to look back at the ithecal as he spoke. She had to keep her attention on the people with her.

At the mention of weapons, the young biqaj realized that she had none on her and moved her cloak more closed to hide that fact. The few humans or people she saw alive seemed to be dressed in the same manor. None really had any weapons showing so the woman did not want to be more of a target. She was already a foreigner in a strange place called the Ghost Burho. Taking a deep breath, Cail looked at the way everything was playing out and where they would be going. She had not issues with searching the smaller building first as it would indeed save time if it was their ticket below ground.

Though the thought of going into a sewer was not pleasing. But whatever it meant if the world would be safe, or most importantly if Paige will be safe then the woman would do it. As her mind ventured to what might happen, she spotted what looked like a ghost child watching them. Tilting her head, the woman did not move while trying to listen to what everyone was talking about. She felt the urge to walk over and ask the child what had happened until the boy ran away disappearing as he went.

“I will follow where you wish to go,” Cail stated turning to look back at Prae and the rest of their group.

As the group walked towards the ruins, the woman was glad to not have to deal with the sewers. She was right there with Yeva not wanting to go through whatever was below them. Moving quickly, the woman made sure to stay with the group so that she would not end up lost in the strange place. Looking up at the ruins, she felt a chill run down her spine. The woman moved around so that she could see the older woman that stopped the group from entering. A curious look appeared on her face as the woman told them to leave with their friends who had come. Apparently, there were others that had come and yet had not been able to enter either.

“Excuse me ma’am, but can you tell us about the others who had come before us?” Cail asked.

Biqaj Female

23 Arc old
Long Brown Hair and Eyes
5' 8" Tall

Clothing Style
Green Cloak

“Part of the healing process is sharing with other people who care.”
~ Jerry Cantrell

[Praetorum]

Prae chuckled softly at Yeva’s comment. “I can’t blame you—I’m not keen on the idea myself.“ And he could fly above it, which was more than any of the others could, he assumed. No, he’d much prefer to avoid the sewers, though if all else failed, they could enter the sewers and tunnel into these catacombs.

Then, an old woman approached, bold as you please. There was one thing you could always say for Yari—they said what they meant, and meant what they said.

Glancing around at the unfriendly looks they were being given, Prae switched back into a dialect he hadn’t used in a few arcs. “We aren’t with those other strangers,” he said in Yari commonPrae has fluent Yari Common. “We only have a few questions, then we’ll be out of your hair and burho.”

The others asked their questions as Prae considered their options. “Aye,” he said to Natalia. “It seems most likely. Strangers aren’t common here, and with the timing, it’s not likely to be a coincidence.”

“What can you tell us about these catacombs?” Praetorum asked when the others were done. “The more we know about them, the faster we can be gone from here. ” If this was where the artifact was draining power from, there must be something here. And that meant there was probably some local legend or history that might give them a clue of some sort.

Whatever she said in response, Prae would cast his defiance sense wide, listening for movement above the streets. Specifically, he kept an ear out for any sign of a group of people moving towards them or the archway; he didn’t want them to be blindsided by these strangers, especially if they turned out to be the aukari occult that Ilaren had mentioned.

[Jackalope]

’cause a mean ghost is a person in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neigh-bor-hood

The woman eyed the group of strangers glumly. What was it about these stupid “adventurers” and their silly questions? Did some higher power prompt them to ask such, perhaps, or was it just a common failing of the type? With a pained sigh, she began to tick through the answers in the sort of sing-song voice one might use reciting a tedious formula.

”How do I know that ghost is trouble?” she repeated back to Natalia. ”The same way anyone knows who the troublemakers are in one’s neighborhood. Unlike you I live here and know the score. I’ve seen first hand what that one can get up to. Pray that you don’t.”

The woman then turned to Shl’drei. ”No, young man, I could not tell you if they were looking for something specific, because they never shared that with me. You should ask them yours-”The woman broke off, suddenly realizing something that pertained to all the remaining adventurers’ queries.

”Those others weren’t with you?” she asked, dubiously. ”Hard to believe. Two different groups of strangers just show up in the Ghost Burho on the same trial looking for-” A sly look of realization creased its way across the wizened face, and the woman’s mouth stretched into a half-toothed grin. ”My, this is interesting. Those aren’t your associates at all, are they? They’re competitors?”

The crone looked down at her hands, which she opened, palm upwards, emphasizing the fact that they were currently empty. ”I might be able to tell you a thing or two about those others,” she drawled: ”…for some copper. Maybe one of those copper stakes from the Bloody Ravens Company compound. You know which one I’m talking about, right? And I’ll throw in what I know about the catacombs themselves, too, things the others don’t know. An edge for you, hmmm?” Her beady eyes glinting eagerly, the woman rubbed her wrinkled hands eagerly.

While this exchange unfolded, Prae would query the elements about approaching foot traffic. The earth couldn’t tell the defier about specific people; the mortals scuttling across the surface generally looked alike to them. There was much scurrying in every direction, and plenty of the scurriers moved in pairs or small groups. Some were moving towards the group’s location, some away from them. In short, Prae didn’t learn anything useful this time around.

One party that approach the group purposefully did not register with the earth: the ghost with the smashed in face had drifted back in the party’s vicinity, and had started eyeing Cail with baleful focus, even as she self-consciously moved to conceal her lack of weapons. The young biqaj felt an oppressive chill under the ghost’s gaze, as its hollow eyes narrowed angrily at her. After a couple seemingly endless trills, the restless soul spoke, its voice deep and cold, though barely audible:

”You have some nerve, coming here thus, stranger,”

it intoned levelly.

”Such impertinence should not go unchallenged. Face me, or begone!”

The ghastly face worked itself into a thing that might have been a smile.

”I have not fought a challenge duel in some time. I will sweeten the deal with a wager, if you are not so craven as to withdraw. Defeat me, and I will help you get into the catacombs. Fail, and, well…”

the faint, deep voice trailed off ominously, and did not specify what penalty the ghost had in mind.

Praetorum, Natalia, Shl’Drei, Cail

You all asked the crone a question! This will have positive consequences at the end of the thread.

Yeva

You did not post this round. This will have IC consequences at the end of the thread. If you miss a post again, you will be written out of the event.

Info & Rules

• As said earlier, if any of you miss a round, there will be (not good) consequences at the end of the thread.
• Thus far, Cail and Yeva have missed one round each.
• If anyone misses a second round, I will write them out of the thread and award a negative consequence. If there is going to be an issue for you, please contact your mod or Basilisk at the earliest moment, in order to work out where to go from here.
• This style of event moderation - with objectives etc - was created by a wonderful moderator named Crimson.

Objectives

!	Message from: Must-Do Objectives
	Take up the woman’s offer, or don’t. Cail: Respond to Ghosty McMace-Face’s challenge.

!	Message from: Can-Do Objectives
	Incorporate a Sesame Street or Muppet reference in your next post.

Next modpost, 6 July

Deadline for your next round's posts is 1200 EST on 6 July. If you haven't posted by that time, I will consider you to have missed that round.

[Shl'Drei]

When she answered, the crone's thought shifted. Suddenly she looked more sly than intimidating- like she knew something they didn't - and that had Shl'drei nervous. Her proposition was a big one, more information for a copper stake… from the Bloody Raven's compound.

Shl'drei didn't like the way it sounded.

His immediate thought was to refuse, but instead he bit his tongue and turned to Praetorum with expectant eyes. Shl'drei had come to the conclusion that the larger, bulkier, and scaled companion would be the leader. He didn't want to speak for everyone, but he sure as death he didn't want a part in it. He didn't have much of a choice if the group outvoted him, he supposed.

No, he couldn't keep running away. He'd been through this time and time again- just escaping if things got too hard. His gaze unfocused as he considered himself, turning away to look at his boots.

He wasn't going to run. He wasn't going to cower. He wasn't letting everyone else decide for him without putting his voice out there and he sure as death wasn't about to rely on everyone else instead of being his own person. He swallowed hard and refocused himself on the task at hand.

"We can't, right?" He queried the group quietly, gaining more of his confidence as he went. "If we're supposed to find something, we should get there as fast as possible. A detour, distraction, would cut however long we've got to fix things before it's too late."

His attention shifted to each one of them as he spoke, but he didn't look them directly in the eye. Whether or not the world would continue to be livable (at least, livable enough) would depend on them getting whatever they came for. But if someone else got their hands on it first he was doubtful he'd be able to contribute much if it came down to a fight.

It wasn't cowardice- it was honesty. And he would be forced to swallow it if they decided to take the woman's offer

[Natalia Gregorios]

Saun 35, Arc 721

Natalia arched her eyebrow gently as the Ithecal spoke in a language she didn’t recognize, although she surmised that it was the language of Yaralon or else, why would he be speaking it? Praetorum was familiar with the area, so it all made sense in her mind.

Equally surprising was when the woman finally realized that the two groups were not together, leading her to attempt a deal, and giving them an additional headache.

If the mission hadn’t been so urgent, the young woman might have marveled at the crone’s opportunistic negotiation skills. They were certainly in need of a bit of help, but Natalia wasn’t sure it was worth the price the woman was asking for it.

Thinking back to earlier in the encounter, she recalled a compound with sentries. They weren’t going to just give them a copper spike. They might be able to buy one, but without knowing the entire purpose of the copper spikes or how much of a commodity they were, supply/demand and all that, there was no way she could even begin to unravel the situation. They possibly could just give the woman money instead, but strange lands had strange ways and Natalia wasn’t willing to front the negotiation until she was clearer on said rules.

That’s when the young man spoke up. He had a point and had missed another – at least in her opinion. What if the woman had information that would hasten their journey? They were dealing in abstracts and unknowns – dangerous territory. As such, she wasn’t willing to commit her opinion to public debate just yet, especially not in the presence of the crone as she seemed to have a fairly sharp mind…and that thought gave her an idea.

She wasn’t fluent, but perhaps another means of communication would be helpful. Catching Praetorum’s eye, Natalia tried something. Making quick movements with her hands and fingers, she sent an extremely basic message. The young woman hadn’t signed in a long time so it would be clear that she was rusty, but hopefully getting a few of the right motions in there.

“Unsure”

It was a gamble, not knowing if the woman knew sign or not, but it also wasn't so vital that if she understood what she was saying that it would derail things.

It was then that the angry ghost came back, challenging one of the other women in the party, giving them another problem.

[Praetorum]

This was proving to be troublesome, to say the least. The old woman seemed to have come to some sort of realization about the situation.

Competitors. That was one way of putting it, he supposed. He had to begrudgingly admire the old woman’s slyness. She saw an opportunity to get something she wanted, and she pounced. So it was copper she wanted, was it? He couldn’t blame her, living in the ghost burho.

Especially not with troublemakers like that one hanging around. “Cail.” He said quietly. “He hasn’t made a formal challenge yet by Yaralon law.” The ghost had yet to draw a weapon, and Prae wasn’t sure he was tangible enough to slap anyone. “You can still refuse. Unless you’re confident in defeating him, we should make haste.”

All the same, an idea occurred to him that might help drive the ghost away. His coin purse had been in his domain bag, which had thankfully been on his hip when he’d been brought over. Pulling a few copper nels from it, Praetorum called to the earth to form a small stone club in his hand—suppressing his defiance mutations using attunement to do so—with the copper nels in the middle of the head, surrounded by stone. That way, she’d be able to wield the club normally, and any ghost hit by it would be hurt by the copper core of it.

Glancing around, he made another for Yeva, and quickly handed it to her.

Returning to the old woman, Prae listened as his companions gave their opinions. Shl’drei spoke his piece, and Prae nodded. The man had a point, they needed to get where they were going as fast as possible. As useful as that information would be, they didn’t have time to spare, not when the other group might be back at any moment.

Natalia seemed more torn—out of the corner of his eye, Prae saw her hands move. It took a moment for him to register what she was doing, and a moment more to understand the word.

Prae tapped his muzzle. “I don’t suppose any of you happened to have copper on you?” He asked, not hoping for much. He turned back to the woman. “I have a handful of copper nels, if you’ll accept that. Other nels, too. Stick them in a bag and bludgeon any unfriendly ghosts who might come your way. Or I could make another one of these clubs if you wish.”

If she agreed, he would pull out his purse, and start pulling out copper nels, internally counting each in turn. One, two, three, four… He’d keep counting, whatever the amountSong of the Count from Sesame Street

If she rejected his offer, he would nod. “We’ll take our leave then.”