DARKHOLD DELVING
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Jana Ridah "Quit playing around." Jana half-spits at An. "We're here to do your job."
Adeya Evenar Adeya glances around the gathering briefly, shooting Anstarra a small, brief smile as she does so, before looking over to Jainelette. "Something to do with the Darkhold?" she adds.
Anstarra Silverain "Now that's just rude. She's clearly doing her job already. Yes! As the cute one says."
Reis Okeya Reis recognizes an's voice "miss anis that you!?"
Jainelette glowers at the group and pounds on the door twice, "We have stray cats and a not dragon here for the leve!" she settles back into her post and glares at the group.
Anstarra Silverain An winks at Reis, the visor still tilted up. "Hey Reis~" She giggles then at the door guard's announcement. "Hear that? You're not a dragon. That's good to have cleared up."
Adeya Evenar Adeya bristles at that. "It's nice to know that Ishgard is as charming as ever," she remarks dryly.
Anstarra Silverain "Now now, Ishgard is a bastion of civilization surrounded by annoying, fuzzy woodland creatures. We need to show respect, and try not to get fur or scales on the furniture."
Reis Okeya looks back to jainelette "well it's true i cant breath fire....i tried with mr.simba it didn't work out."
Khunbish Avagnar Jainelette looks less than pleased with Reis but before she can say a thing a bedraggled looking butler opens the door, "Excellent, you're the adventurers? Come in."
An looks at Reis, tail perking up. "You've been hanging out with S'imba? Oh boy.. he hasn't tried to be your Nunh or anything yet, has he?" She cuts off as the new figure arrives, and smiles warmly at him. "Thanks, it's chilly out here~"
Adeya Evenar Adeya rolls her eyes. "Considering who their closest neighbor is, that isn't really saying much," she grumbles, though a touch more softly. She seems to be on the verge of adding more, when the door opens. "Yes. So nice to run into someone with manners," she remarks pointedly.
Jana Ridah Jana mutters, mostly to herself. "Finally, someone who can apparently recognize value."
Reis Okeya: Reis nods to an "We rescued some prisoners form the giant lizard men Amalj'aa i think they are called? it was really fun and he showed me what a -kiss- was! i'm learning so many things these days!" she brightly smiles
Anstarra Silverain An leads the way in, smiling in her warm, easy going manner. "If we weren't valued we wouldn't be here-" She winces a bit at Reis' recounting, then laughs. "Well.. I'm glad you're learning a bit more of the world, Reis. Really, not knowing what a kiss is..."
Jana Ridah "That's, ah...." Jana seems like she wants to say more, but second-guesses herself and walks on in silence.
The butler stumbles at the kiss comment before his ears wiggle and he smooths his suit out, leading them into a parlour before turning and waiting for the rest to catch up.
Reis Okeya "well i read about them in the romance books mr vael lent me but to experience one was a whole different matter!"
Adeya Evenar Adeya has started to eye Reis hard now, but like Jana seems to have decided it's best to hold her tongue on the matter for now.
Anstarra Silverain "Mmm, maybe I'll have to see what S'imba showed you, later.. there are many kinds of kisses, and qualities of them too~ Ah, but let's not talk of such things, it's not proper in polite company~" She thinks. "Do tell Orrin though. That'll be fun."
Reis Okeya nods to Anstarra Silverain.
Jana Ridah "Um- Ser Orrin probably shouldn't know."
Jana Ridah "You know how he is- Wait, maybe you don't?"
Anstarra Silverain "Mmm.. Orrin would never take advantage of his retainer~ The simple fact that she's remained innocent after this much time in his employ is a sign of that.."
Anstarra Silverain "I'd say he shelters her like his own daughter~ Well, if he had one. That he knew of."
The man adjusts and nods his head, "I am currently standing in for our normal Majordomo, so apologies if I am not the one any of you have dealt with in the past. I am Geoshax, and I appreciate you all coming to assist with this matter."
Anstarra Silverain bows courteously to you.
Reis Okeya reis then turns to the other members of the party "Oh sorry how rude of me my name is reis and you are miss?" she waves to adeya then looks to jana "oh miss jana how are you!? its been awhile!
Jana Ridah "I think I'm inclined to agree... But if you show a man that something -might- happen, they get all giddy and hopeful..."
Anstarra Silverain "A pleasure, Geoshax~ The same Geoshax who issued the leveplate I assume?"
Adeya Evenar Adeya's eyes widen ever so slightly at Anstarra's words, then narrow as she looks back to Reis once more. Her tail swishes slowly behind her as she considers, before shaking her head ever so slightly. "Adeya," she says a bit curtly to Reis. Then she looks to Geoshax. "So... what exactly /is/ the matter, then?" she asks.
Jana quickly gives Reis a curt nod, though it feels like she's just doing it as a formality than to actually greet her. "So, how can we fill in for the Ishgardian armed forces today?"
Geoshax steps over and shuts the door, "Before I say anything, can I be assured of your utmost discretion?"
Anstarra Silverain "Absolutely~ Only fools would alienate one of the Great Houses by blabbing their secrets, ESPECIALLY when we're being paid~"
Jana Ridah "I can only speak for myself, but I am a professional. So long as nothing that endangers the alliances between nations happens."
Reis Okeya " i am a personally retainer of sir orrins house so....i guess that means im under oath to protect secrets and other thing?"
Adeya Evenar nods. "I have no interest in the affairs of Ishgard... nor a desire to risk becoming entangled in them. As long as I'm paid for this, I'll be silent."
Geoshax nods his head a bit, "We need your group to delve into the Darkhold, we had sent some house guards and they never returned. The issue is, in there, we found some Allagan ruins, and a device that was used to help the youngest. We were sending a group down to see if there was anything else to find that might help the house's fortunes."
Jana Ridah "Allagan ruins, you're in luck. That's my specialty."
Adeya Evenar Adeya draws in a sharp breath. "Allagan?" she repeats, equal parts excitement and wariness on her face. "I see. So... do you want us to retrieve the guards--or what's left of them, I imagine--or finish what they started?"
Anstarra Silverain An's ears perk up in surprise and interest at mention of the Allagans. "Really... huh." She crosses her arms, tail swishing a bit. "Anything to do with Allag makes this a fair bit more dangerous.. and interesting."
Reis Okeya "hmm the others might be injured and unable to return we can help them if they are alright...though i do have a question if you don't mind?"
"We were hoping you'd finish the job, we suspect already that they fell afoul of the void monsters that reside there." he sighs and shakes his head a bit, "If you find survivors bring them back please."
Adeya wrinkles her nose. "Void creatures /and/ Allag. Wonderful," she murmurs. Then she nods. "Well, if that's all then it /sounds/ simple enough." From her skeptical tone, it seemed clear she didn't expect it to actually /be/ so. She then glances over to eye Reis once more, wondering what she was thinking.
Reis Okeya "hmmm are these void things like the being that are dead but not? i've seen quite a few of those creatures.....aside from rescuing your soldiers why would your house need to change its fortunes? have you run across some bad luck?"
Jana Ridah "We just kill everything and clear it out. It actually is simple."
"Geoshax looks over to Reis, "Oh no... um... that is a tale for another time but... mistakes were made by Dzemael and the darkhold ended up having Void monsters in it... like Ahriman."
Anstarra Silverain "Haha~ I'm more worried about doomsday traps.. but I'm sure there's none of those. Hopefully the voidsent would have tripped them. So!" She looks back to Geoshax. "Anything else we need to know before going? Such as the location of the Darkhold."
Geoshax nods his head and pulls out a piece of parchment, holding it out to them, "Here's the map to get you there. As well as the map to where the allagan room was found by the tunnel diggers of old."
Anstarra Silverain An moves up and takes the map, tail swishing as she peers at it.
Anstarra Silverain "Very well! Thank you for your trust.. we won't let you down~"
Jana Ridah "Right, soft ones in the rear."
Adeya Evenar Adeya just rolls her eyes.
Anstarra Silverain "Mmmm, well, at least until we get to places where we might be ambushed; I would say at least one less soft and push rear needs to be in the rear." She winks playfully at Adeya before lowering her visor.
Reis Okeya "...well it's how i first meet orrin and the others i kinda fell down a hole during some kind of gang battle and ended up is a lewd ladies basement...hideout..."
The Guards take one glance at the parchment in hand and unlock the door to the darkhold, motioning for them to pass through, one goes, "Good luck." || Inside the faint echoes of things could be heard coming from below, clearly the path is tread often enough that there's dirt but no dust.
Adeya snorts softly, but she gives her tail a small flick in amusement. "Perhaps," she says vaguely, before looking over to Reis and arching a brow. "..Suddenly I have even more questions for you," she remarks. Then, finally, her eyes flick over towards the darkhold entrance. "Well, that certainly doesn't seem ominous," she says slowly.
An's playful and easy going demeanor doesn't quite vanish, but she does become more alert. Drawing her spear, ears cocking this way and that. "Jana, you probably have the best eyes. Go first, if that's alright with you. I'll take up the rear."
Jana gives a small grunt. "Got it." She shifts from her usual position in the back to the front and begins leading the group.
Adeya eye's Reis for a moment, then silently moves to follow right after Jana, her grimoire in hand. "Yes, do let us know if we're going to trip over a voidsent. Or something that could kill all of us," she adds.
Reis quickly follows "....i don't think i ever seen a void before...let's be careful!"
Anstarra Silverain "Mmm, Adeya, how about if you toss up a Protect spell, like the other time in the mountains?"
Anstarra Silverain "Maybe you can assist her, Reis?"
Reis Okeya sure!
Adeya blinks, then grins faintly. "I can certainly try," she says as she starts to flip through her grimoire pages. "And I certainly wouldn't mind the help," she adds.
Adeya Evenar lets out a long breath and closes her eyes. Drawing on her magic, with the assistance of Reis the spell would surround all of them in a faint blue light before vanishing. "There we go," she announces as she closes her book once more.
Anstarra Silverain grins. "Excellent. It's a strong one, too.. good job, both of you."
Adeya Evenar smiles, but there's a touch of grimness to it. "Hopefully we won't need it though."
Reis Okeya "Miss adeya did most of the work!" reis chips in lowering her eyepiece lets see what the aether levels are like?
Anstarra Silverain doesn't do anything ostentatious, it's more a matter of confidence and ease, a smile here, an approving nod there, an assured remark.. soon they look less like a carriage full of half-drunk college girls and more like actual professional adventurers.
Jana would notice as they follow the path that it definitely leads off the beaten path that the typical adventurers take to try and clean out and stem the void tide and monsters that have overrun the Darkhold, there's now less footprints, and they look newer.
Jana Ridah lets out a small 'hmph' as she walks. "Nothing yet."
Reis Okeya Looks about with her scope "...oh wow there's a constant spike in aether levels there must be various crystals in here...."
Some distance down, there is some dripping moisture alongside the tracks and the signs of someone being dragged.
Adeya Evenar hums thoughtfully, once of her hands trailing against a cave wall. "We didn't ask how long it was that they sent those guards down, did we?" she wonders out loud. She then looks over to Reis and grimaces. "Which would explain the voidsent."
Anstarra Silverain 's ears perk forward and she frowns, at the tracks. "I wonder if anyone's still alive... probably not. Let's be wary.."
Jana Ridah holds up a hand. "We've got a dragged body here. It's probably not anywhere close by yet, but keep your guard up."
Reis Okeya "don't say that miss an we must not give up on them yet.."
Anstarra Silverain: "Mmm.. of course. If they're alive we'll save them..."
Adeya Evenar nods grimly. "But best not to get your hopes up too high from the look of things," she adds bluntly as she studies the tracks herself for a moment, before sighing softly and shaking her head.
Reis huffs a little at adeya for saying that. "There's always a silver lining in every situation one just need to find it thats all."
Adeya Evenar shakes her head. "Perhaps, but I struggle to think of one when I consider the idea of being lost in a cave with voidsent /and/ Allagan magitek in it."
Anstarra Silverain: "The company is good?" Anstarra beams, even as her ears twitch toward hidden sounds.
Reis Okeya "Thank you for the support miss an see miss adeya you have good company and hopefully after this friends!" she smiles
Adeya Evenar tilts her head slightly to one side. "Okay... you mayhaps have a point. I can certainly think of worse," she says, trying and failing to sound cheerful.
ana Ridah: "...No comment."
Everyone can hear it before they even get to the turn, the sound of bones crunching, and a low growling.
Jana Ridah turns her voice lower. "Looks like we've interrupted suppertime."
Adeya Evenar falls quiet, her ears tilted slightly back. "I don't know what kind of voidsent eats bones..." she murmurs softly.
Anstarra Silverain narrows her eyes. "The ones with pointy teeth."
Reis Okeya reis gulps "......maybe it wont notice us.."
Jana Ridah: "We are here to kill it, as you may recall."
Anstarra Silverain: "Right up until we kill it, optimally.."
Adeya Evenar grimaces, conceding the point. "Well, killing it before it does certainly sounds like a good plan."
Reis didn't manage to send some pebbles skittering, but the idea of being stealthy was pretty well ruined. As the group turns the corner, there is a lava drake standing over a mostly eaten Elezen corpse.
Jana Ridah: "Oh, how disappointing. Now we kill it, yes?"
Reis Okeya "....is...that...a person..its eating!?"
Adeya Evenar blinks in surprise. "Well... it's not a voidsent..." she says slowly. "And I think we might've found one of the guards as a bonus," she adds grimly. "And yes, I think it's time to end dinner."
Anstarra Silverain smirks, giving her spear a little one-handed whirl. "Or start it~ I bet we won't even have to pepper THAT steak."
Reis Okeya "....is...that...a person..its eating!?""
Reis Okeya ries stares at an "But it ate a someone if you eat it wouldn't that make you a cannibal!?"
Adeya Evenar tilts her head slightly to one side. "I don't think it counts, no. You wouldn't say you're eating grass when you eat lamb, would you?"
Anstarra Silverain: "Only if you eat the tummy!"
Jana Ridah "I was just testing its hide."
Jana Ridah whips her tome off her hip, flipping it open in one motion. Aether seems to burn in the air around the tome itself as Jana swings her free hand forward, sending a burst of corrosive energy at the drake.
The Lavadrake doesn't even seem to attempt to move, but lets out a healthy howl as the corrosive energies causes some of the scales to just outright melt
Jana Ridah: "Hmm... Getting there...."
Anstarra Silverain darts forward, moving in a shockingly swift blur right on the tail of Jana's vicious opening strike.. her spear tears into the exposed, corroded flesh, seeking to shred muscle and bone!
The Lava Drake collapses with a groan as he is speared through the open scales.
Reis Okeya "....it kinda looks like mr.dragon from the lewd lady's home."
Anstarra Silverain flourishes her spear as she feels the beastie shudder and breathe its last, smirking in satisfaction before glancing around quickly in case anything else was lurking nearby…
Adeya Evenar lets out a long breath as the drake dies. Keeping her grimoire in hand, she cautiously moves up towards Anstarra in the hopes of finding out who the drake was munching on.
Reis moves closer to an and adeya slowly she then draws a card its the balance card! "Here miss jana!" she throws the card at jana which then turns into energy and covers her with a feeling of power!
From the ceiling drops a few skeletons that shuffle to their feet, grasping rusted old blades before shuffling towards Reis from the sides.
Reis yelps "....oh not again why is always the dead ones that are not dead!?"
Anstarra Silverain hisses between her teeth as the skeletons come out of nowhere.. sparing a glance up at the ceiling where they dropped from, but already moving to attack.
Jana Ridah was luckily in the right place and time to reach, flinging a solid mass of aether with an advanced Ruin spell to her right.
The Skeleton wobbles at the force of the magic, the damage was significantly less than it should have been for the intensity of the impact.
Anstarra Silverain follows Jana's blast.. whipping her lance back before driving it right through the undead's ribcage. Tearing out bones and such, lethal damage for a living opponent.. which alas this was not. "Tsk.."
The Skeleton wobbles as Anstarra's lance tears out through its chest and goes skittering.
Adeya Evenar grimaces as she stares at one of the skeletons, her grimoire glowing. "Watch it!" she calls out to Anstarra, then she sends a blast of pure force towards the skeleton.
Anstarra Silverain twists out of the way of the blast, barely needing the warning..
Reis Okeya gulps "I'm starting to believe eorzea is cursed....with the walking dead and everything else i've seen so far.!"
The Skeleton takes the hidden blast square on, there's a cracking as the bones which looked as if they were cast in the glow of the torchlight, were coated by something that has been blasted away, leaving bleached white bones behind.
Adeya Evenar laughs hollowly, her eyes lingering on the skeleton. "Oh come now, don't go throwing around cursed just yet. We have far worse things." Her eyes narrow slightly as she looked at the skeleton, noting the change that had taken place.
Reis Okeya reis not wanting to be left out withdrew her globe and with a bluish hue surrounding her she unleashes a healing spell on the skeleton seeing if it damages the creature like others of its ilk she has tried on in the past. She then draws another card smiling in joy as its another balance card. "Here miss an! a pick me up!! she throws the card as it's magical abilities gives an a surge in strength.
The blast of magic from Reis caused the skeleton to stumble a moment. It finally swings, crudely as it turns towards Anstarra and the blade just chops towards her by the momentum of the turn more than anything it would seem.
Anstarra Silverain blinks, perking up as she feels.. lucky? Focused? Like the stars have aligned, as if she didn't have enough star-related puns in her life? "Well.. this was gonna happen sooner or later. Like, destiny.. dammi- woah!" Suddenly attacked!
The Second skeleton shuffles from 2 to B and takes a similarly sloppy swing at Reis.
Reis Okeya reis gives up a victory sign towards an just s the skeleton behind her makes contact the sound of glass shattering and a blueish wall breaking apart like a mirror showing the protect spell saving her. "aaahhhh!!!" she jumps forward and turns around to see the second one.
Anstarra Silverain winces, but thankfully the spell wards much of the blow. Yup, she was totally taking credit for that, with Orrin. Assuming Reis makes it out in one piece. "Be careful!"
Jana Ridah flings off a quick Ruin spell, followed by a fast corrosive Bio at each of her targets. Neither seems phasd by the fast spells, and Jana mutters under her breath in frustration as the skeletons move among the party's ranks.
Skeleton A takes another strike and stumbles a bit, Skeleton B doesn't even seem to notice as the spell glances off the bones for a minimal amount of damage.
Reis Okeya "these things..are a lot stronger than the others i've seen...."
Anstarra Silverain growls. "Just.. go.. down!" She back-hands with her spear, using it almost more like a club, or a quarterstaff at least, bracing the shaft along her arm.. and finally, the blow cracks something in the relentless undead, and it falls. "Yes!"
Adeya Evenar lets out a breath as the one skeleton dies, but there's no time to relax; instead she turns towards the other one. Taking careful aim, she sends a bolt of corrosive aether towards the pile of bones.
Khunbish Avagnar: The Skeleton shatters into pieces that scatter along the ground worthlessly. The Second one is hit solidly by Adeya's spell but it is absorbed by his hardened bones.
Reis Okeya as an make her way to reis position she takes this time and heal her injuries focusing her magic on her back area "....hope this works i cant see where i got hit exactly!" afterwards she draws again showing the bole card "Here miss adeya! lets this card symbolize the foundation of our newly found friendship!" she throws the card as its magics cover adeya in what looks like protective barrier.
The skeleton single mindedly hacks at Reis with a downward chop even after it has been battered like it has so far.
Reis Okeya reis sees the attack coming this time and with a dancers grace which is very unlike her in normal situations she dodges it " your not gonna get me this time ..you...you...bag of ...uhhh bones! that was a decent comeback right!?"
Anstarra Silverain laughs "Good job, Reis!"
Jana Ridah stays back where she is, but with one fewer enemy running amok in the middle of the party, her job becomes easier. The next spell she casts is a full-strength corrosive blast, aiming to shred the skeleton's extra defenses or melt it outright.
The skeleton's defenses are ripped apart by Jana's spell, leaving bleached white bones left.
Anstarra Silverain 's eyes glint as the protective layer is stripped from her target by Jana's spell.. "Been wanting to try this..." she breathes, inhaling sharply.. and blue-white aether surges around her, coruscating through her veins and flashing out of her eyes. Then she lunges.. and all the aether flares up along her arm, through her weapon, flashing into the point of impact. There's a second of silence, then. *BAM!!!* as a high-impact burst of aether explodes from the point, blowing the skeleton to hell!
Reis Okeya looks at Anstarra Silverain in shock!
Anstarra Silverain flinches back from the spray, blinks... and then pumps her fist. "Woo! It worked!"
Anstarra Silverain lets out a cheer.
Adeya Evenar blinks at that, then slowly puts away her grimoire. "Not bad," she admits with a small grin.
The echoes of the detonation fade away, leaving nothing but the sound of their breathing and voices, and a faint groaning come from further in.
Jana Ridah: More up ahead, sounds like undead!
Adeya Evenar grimaces. "Well, I'm not going first," she announces, eyeing Anstarra.
Reis Okeya groans "please no more....i cant believe this land gives rise to this dead but not dead things!"
Jana Ridah: "Fine, fine, I'm coming..."
Anstarra Silverain: "Let's get ready then..." An flexes her fingers, and rubs Reis on the shoulder. "It's alright, you're doing fine..."
Reis Okeya places her hand over ans and nods "are any of you injured if you are i should try and heal you before we move on.."
Reis Okeya places her hand over ans and nods "are any of you injured if you are i should try and heal you before we move on.."
Anstarra Silverain shakes her head. "Didn't even scratch me~" she smirks, looking to the others. "Nice work guys. Those ones were a pain.. but not too threatening."
Jana Ridah: "They got the drop on us and were able to attack our healer. We need to be more vigilant..."
Adeya Evenar shakes her head. "They seemed far more interested in you all than me."
Reis Okeya "....well we better complete this leve and see if there are any survivors before more of this fiends get the drop on us..."
Reis Okeya "i really don't want to be here after dark...it's all ready creepy as it is."
Anstarra Silverain: "Indeed.. let's hurry." she laughs at Reis Okeya, “"It's already pitch-dark down here.. I don't know if the sunset would make a difference~"
The groaning gets louder as the group moves along the path which suddenly stops at a small antechamber of metal and the remnants of a door that looks to have had some very precise explosives used on it, magical or mundane is hard to tell.
Adeya Evenar arches an eyebrow as they find what was left of the door. "Well, someone was very determined," she remarks.
Anstarra Silverain eyes the door as well. "And they got at least this far... maybe someone DID manage to survive..?"
>Reis - An Investigation of the door shows that it was blown open a long, long time ago, possibly when the darkhold was being built
Reis walks over to a large chunk of debris and with her eye peice she starts to examine it. ".......this wasn't..recent judging by the looks of things this explosion happened ages ago most likely when this door way was being built...."
Anstarra Silverain blinks. "Oh. Well. Alright then." She frowns. "Some ancient seal on voidsent gone wrong?"
"im not sure but given how its scattered everywhere id say the explosion came from behind the door someone or something wanted out....badly."
Adeya Evenar frowns as well. "Maybe," she says slowly. "I'm not sure the Allagans dealt with voidsent." She eyes Jana for a moment before shrugging.
Jana Ridah: They did, actually. Though not to the extent that Mhach is known for it.
Reis Okeya gazes upon Anstarra Silverain in deep reflection.
The Groaning can be heard now by everyone, coming from inside.
Adeya Evenar lets out a long sigh. "Why am I not surprised by this?" she asks out loud, though doesn't seem to be expecting an answer. "So... " she eyes the remnants of the door for a moment. "Shall we... see what's in there?"
Anstarra Silverain: "Hrm.. alright, let's go. Form up, stay tight."
Just through the door is a room of machinery and an open pod that would look familiar at least to those that were in the party beneath the Crystal Tower. There's a blood streak going around behind a console where you can hear ragged breathing, from the direction where part of the wall appears to be a bit ajar.
Jana Ridah: "Oh, it really might be an actual survivor"
Reis Okeya "...!!! hello can anyone hear me!" reis runs off to the sound of the breathing.
Anstarra Silverain stares at the room. "Well... here's the Allagan stuff..." Her ears fold back, and she twitches a little, eyeing all obvious sources of energy.. before cursing as Reis runs ahead, hurrying to follow her.
Adeya Evenar 's face pales slightly as she looks into the room. "Oh, seven hells," she breathes. "Well, it's /not/ voidsent." Her eyes widen as Reis takes off. "Reis! Be careful! It might not be... what you think..." Her voice trails off as she scowls in frustration.
Around the corner and behind the control console is a Dzemael guard, he tries to raise a crossbow at Reis but he clearly doesn't have the strength left to do it from his various wounds.
Reis Okeya rushes to the knights side "hold on sir....ill heal you just stay with me!!"
Jana Ridah: "Right, I'm sure at least one of can play chirugeon. Let's have a look at these things here..."
Adeya Evenar: "Be careful with that! We're going to want it to stuff whatever got out back in!" she yells to Jana as she rushes past, after Reis. "And yes, we /want/ to do that!" She sounds alarmed, to put it mildly. As she skids to a halt by Reis, her hand lingers on her grimoire. "What's your name?" she demands of the guard, not bothering to check if Reis' healing had worked.
Anstarra Silverain studies the bleeded guard.. finally deciding he's probably not a threat. She stays near Reis though, crouching down. "Ser? How are you? Can you tell us what happened?"
Reis Okeya places her hands on his chest using her aether to check his vital organs a bluish hue can be seen slowly covering the night reis closes her eyes focusing all her attention on the man "...."
Khunbish Avagnar: The man relaxes back with Reis' healing, he's still in bad shape but he's no longer at risk for dying. He glances towards Anstarra, "Hng...must be half dead...miqo'te?... ugh... skeletons landed on us."
Anstarra Silverain grins at the fellow, and takes off her mask, nodding. "Yeah, miqo'te... we're adventurers, sent by House Dzemael. You're safe now."
Adeya Evenar 's eyes narrow. "And where was whatever was in /that/?" she demands, pointing to the pod.
Khunbish Avagnar: "House Dzemael recovered that long time ago. Don't know what's in it... don't care..."
Reis Okeya "....do you know if there are other survivors?"
Adeya Evenar glares. "Well, you /should/," she snaps. "If it's anything like the last one."
"Probably in some Dzemael vault from before I was born... so no, still not my problem..." he coughs again as Reis heals him more.
Reis Okeya reis pours more of her healing aether in him soothing his pain if one would look closely they could see his more minor injuries practically close themselves as reis finishes she hit with a sudden dizzy spell and sinks back leaning on a wall catching her breath. "phew he...should be out of danger now."
Adeya Evenar lets out a frustrated breath and steps away. "I'd say that's very unlikely," she remarks. Then she turns to the others. "The last one of these I saw had some... creature contained within it. It seemed rather genocidal--and wasn't a pushover in a fight either. I don't believe that Dzemael could lock something like that one up."
Anstarra Silverain looks to Adeya, frowning a bit... then suddenly perks up. "OH!"
The guard just clams up and glowers at Adeya. He might really not know anything.
Anstarra Silverain: "Like.. Jotun! And uh..Marid. And… Um… The lightning one. Shaitan’s the one you mean right? Earth? He sounds like an asshoule, but the others aren’t all.â€
Reis Okeya reis looks at the man with a tired look "...can you tell us anything more even the smallest detail could help ...please?"
Adeya Evenar nods. "That's the one," she agrees. Her lips twitch in a faint smirk. "And yeah, that sums him up pretty well. And that may be so," she continues. "But if I had been stuck in here, I would be resentful too."
Anstarra Silverain: "I think they were all stuck in containers since the.. hells, what was it, third Astral? I can never remember which era the Allagans were from..."
The man grunts, shifting a bit to get more comfortable, "We came for that." he motions towards the slightly ajar wall next to him.
Anstarra Silverain: "But ostensibly they were nice and asleep... I think."
Reis Okeya reis looks over to the wall "?"
Adeya Evenar shrugs. "With the Allagans, who knows. And while Jotun seemed content enough, Shaitan wasn't. I'd at least like to know who was shut up in here." Her eyes then flick back to the guard. "And why the interest in that?" she asks.
"Orders, good soldiers don't ask questions if they want to remain good soldiers and not begging in the brume." the guard says with a wince.
Adeya Evenar just sighs. "No curiosity, I can't stand it," she grumbles under her breath.
Jana Ridah: "Well, whatever 'that' is, we should be able to safely transport it. One more question, how large was the group you came with originally?"
(Reis Okeya) "well why don't you guys go on ahead and take a look past the wall ill stay here with the knight and catch my breath.." she tilts her head back resting for the moment
Anstarra Silverain looks sympathetically at Adeya. "It's easier, for soldiers.. I understand, I used to be one. Anyroad..I don't know how I feel about leaving you alone... but if you're attacked, make a barrier and scream really loud."
The man glances over at Adeya first, "Curiosity is something the rich can afford, and the poor give up for having food on the table for their family." he glances to Jana, "Eh? Ten of us, skeletons dragged the corpses off, stayed away from the entrance here though." he nods to Anstarra.
Reis Okeya reis giggles "no problem i shouldn't be to long just used alot of aether in a short amount of time."
Jana Ridah: Ten... We only ran into the remains of one. Eight remain unaccounted for. “he'll need to report that when we return to Ishgard, more skeletons and drakes may have their remains.â€
Adeya Evenar looks between Anstarra and the man and shakes her head slightly. "Yes, well. Had I listened to that I would still have been hungry, I suspect. And that may be so, but I doubt it's a good thing," she adds to Anstarra. "But.... yes, anyroad." Her eyes follow Jana's. "If we want to try that ourselves, we should do it soon. Before the rest of them show up," she says darkly.
Anstarra Silverain smiles at Adeya, agreeing.. but being too polite to condemn the life choices of the wounded soldier right here at this juncture. After all, it's when she stopped obeying orders that life got more... interesting.
As the wall is pushed open and becomes more ajar, the light from the first room is cast out upon similar machinery and a pod with what looks like some sort of machine person.
Adeya Evenar tilts her head slightly to one side, taking all of this in. "Well that's... new," she says slowly, eyeing the machine person warily.
Jana Ridah: "Huh, I wonder if it's like the kinds I've seen before."
Anstarra Silverain slowly sways her tail in curiosity, studying the figure as they get closer.
Adeya Evenar shakes her head slowly. "Mayhaps..." she says slowly, her ears tilting back. "I suppose the only way to find out would be to... power it on somehow. And I'm not sure that's the best idea..." she adds, eyeing it warily.
After passing through the 'doorway' the room lights up, "Power Auto initiation." a mechanical voice declares. The machines get louder and suddenly the chamber with the machine body fills with goop that obscures it.
Anstarra Silverain: "Oh goo-whuahh?" Goop!
Adeya Evenar makes a face. "Well... I guess that solves that problem..." she says slowly, reaching up to run her fingers through her hair.
Anstarra Silverain moves closer to the goop-filled machine, tail twitching with hazardous levels of curiosity.
Anstarra Silverain moves closer to the goop-filled machine, tail twitching with hazardous levels of curiosity.
Anstarra Silverain goes riiiight up close to the.. glass?
Jana Ridah: "I assume the Ishgardians are gonna want this thing intact, if we can manage that..."
Anstarra Silverain taps on the glass.
"Skinning process complete" the pod drains leaving what looks like a very naked and anatomically correct looking midlander behind, censored barely by a support across the middle of the pod. The thing's eyes snap open at the tap. "Power cycling has been completed, verifying tomestone integrity."
Anstarra Silverain blinks in astonishment. "Skinning... WOW the meaning for that has changed. They put skin ON it... er.. him?"
Anstarra Silverain: "Yup... deeefinitely 'him'."
Adeya Evenar just stares for a few moments. "It /looks/ like a him," she corrects. "But it can't actually be. It's a machine," she says bluntly. "The real question, I'd say, is why go through all... this?" she wonders out loud.
Jana Ridah: "Ach- Ew!"
Anstarra Silverain 's tail swishes as she finger-waves at the figure in the machine. "Hello? Can you hear me?"
Jana Ridah whips around and covers her eyes, her ears flattening against her head and tail curling up against a leg.
Anstarra Silverain: "Our bodies are machines, when you strip away flesh and leave just bone and muscle... so this guy's bone and muscle is a bit higher-grade than most. Well, I assume. He's still a 'him'."
(Reis Okeya) "....Even the ancients of this land are lewd!?...is there no end to this madness?" she turns beat red and covers her eyes....but after a few moments curiosity gets the better of her and she peeks through her fingers.
Jana Ridah: "He, it, whatever! Put some clothes on him!"
Anstarra Silverain: "He's IN the machine, geez. There's even a convenient metal band, you can't see his crotch unless you get to where I'm standing, chill out."
Anstarra Silverain does start looking for ways to OPEN this thing though.
Jana Ridah spits on the ground and grumbles.
Adeya Evenar rolls her eyes. "It's just a body... and not even a real one," she comments as she takes a few steps forward to study the machine, fascinated despite her disagreement about it's personhood. "We don't even know if the thing can think," she points out. "It might just be a pretty-looking toy."
The man doesn't respond but his red eyes clearly are focused on Anstarra. "Integrity check completed. Pod opening." once open he steps out, "You are not Allagan."
Reis just keeps staring beat red.
Anstarra Silverain steps back as well, eyeing the fellow. She pulls off her jacket, and offers it to him. "Here, put this on. No, we're not Allagan. It's been a long time since then."
He accepts the jacket and puts it on, "Then I am to assume since you are not Allagan, the project has been cancelled."
Adeya Evenar stops and folds her arms, trying to keep /some/ distance between herself and the thing. "What are you?" she asks bluntly. "And what project?" she asks, more sharply.
Anstarra Silverain: "Well... it's possible that it's getting back up again. There's some leftovers.. my name's Anstarra, who are you? And what project, yeah."
Reis Okeya reis slowly rises to her feet she places a hand on the soldier's arm "ill be right back just rest okay?" she then enters the room. Reis Okeya looks shocked.
Jana Ridah seems satisfied to hear the command to “put this on†and finally turns around.
Reis Okeya turns even a brighter shade of red she unclips her cape/duster and hands it to the machine "Here use this to cover....your lower half " she dose her best to not look.
Anstarra Silverain 's jacket was comfortably longish on her.. but she was smaller than a midlander. She only partially manages to suppress a smile as Reis contributes to the fellow's.. decency.
The man wraps the duster around him, almost looking like he's got some odd subjugator top on from some floating dragon islands, "The project to control the elements."
Anstarra Silverain: "Ah! Well." She frowns a bit. "That's.. yeah, that would be one of those leftovers."
Adeya Evenar hisses softly. "Yes, it's done," she says in agreement. "As Anstarra says, there are just a few... remnants running around."
Reis Okeya: " does he mean the beings called primals?"
Jana Ridah: "Containment makes me think of the three at Azys Lla, but those have already been... Dealt with."
Adeya Evenar shakes her head slowly. "I don't think that the beings the Allagans were trying to trap qualify," she says slowly. "But they do seem to be powerful enough to pose a similar threat."
Khunbish Avagnar: The man nods his head a bit, "Done? So there is another universal host to control all six devices." he states, "Then the tower wouldn't need to be completed."
Anstarra Silverain shakes her head. "No Reis.. several of us have run into some interesting entities. Elementally-attuned.. and needing to possess living people."
Anstarra Silverain narrows her eyes a bit. "So. You would be a host?"
(Reis Okeya) "..is such a thing possible?"
Khunbish Avagnar: The man looks back to Anstarra, "Yes, I was to be host to all six elements."
Adeya Evenar shrugs. "With the Allagans? Who knows," she remarks before turning back to the machine. "So... something went wrong then."
Anstarra Silverain takes a deep breath and lets it out. "I see..."
Anstarra Silverain looks back at the male, and smiles. "I'm sorry.. I didn't get your name?"
Khunbish Avagnar: "I am the project designer Asier."
Anstarra Silverain raises her brows. "Ah, so you.. created the elemental beings?"
Adeya Evenar blinks at that. "A... machine, came up with all of this?"
The man glances about, "It has been an untold amount of time, and I would like better clothing." he points towards the guard, "And looks like you've got a corpse or near to."
Reis frowns at the man "you will not harm him! i healed him he just needs time to recover!"
Anstarra Silverain gives him a wry look. "Alright, I don't know how it was back then, but these days valuing life is seen as a good thing. We'll get you some clothes, don't worry."
Jana Ridah: "I don't think that's what he meant. Come, let's leave this place before we're attacked again."
Adeya Evenar glances back towards the guard for a moment, then lowers her voice slightly as she looks at the others. "What are we going to do? We just can't give him to Dzemael."
Khunbish Avagnar: Asier raises an eyebrow, "Eh? You misunderstand, I don't imagine one of my research bases is the place to leave him lying there." he furrows his brow, "His attire is... was he some sort of historical re-enacter?"
Jana Ridah: "Sure we can, that was the job."
Anstarra Silverain: "Give him? He's a free man."
Jana Ridah turns back to the man. "I think you're going to find the level of technology never quite recovered when the Allagan Empire quite literally fell."
Anstarra Silverain: "You'll find that the world is not the same, Asier." She smiles apologetically. "There've been a few Calamities."
Reis Okeya: "we can't leave him here either....he may stumble out and who knows what will happen.....if the empire knew of his existence who knows what they do to get him..."
Anstarra Silverain moves up and takes him by the arm. "C'mon, let's get on out of here. I'm sure there's people who'll want to meet you, and who you'll want to meet.."
Adeya Evenar reaches up to run her fingers through her hair once more. "Right, and one who doesn't know what the world is like now. And there is also that," she points out in agreement with Reis.
Khunbish Avagnar: Asier reaches up to rub at his eyes, "I am assuming then that the tower was completed and the energies used from it brought a calamity as was predicted by my colleagues?"
Anstarra Silverain: "If you're referring to the Crystal Tower, then lots of awful things happened. The GOOD news is it didn't kill everyone in the world like it was supposed to, according to the Sons of St Coinach."
Reis Okeya: "miss an how about he take him to either orrins or mr vael's home for the time being?"
Khunbish Avagnar: He nods his head a bit, "That is good, alright. Lead me to the Dzemael you mentioned."
Anstarra Silverain: "They're just one House in Ishgard.. a nation nearby. It's only a thousand years old, so kinda a baby compared to Allag."
Anstarra Silverain: "Alright, let's go.. be warned, it's chilly outside."
Anstarra Silverain: "Maybe we should bring him to the Ironworks..."
Jana Ridah: "Ground opened up and swallowed up the entire tower. That was some... Five thousand years ago."
Adeya Evenar twitches slightly, one of her hands going to rub at her arm. "On second thought, perhaps the Dzemael /are/ better than some other options," she mutters under her breath. Then she perks up slightly. "The Ironworks seems like it would be the best option. They're neutral enough, and I'm sure they're...." She hesitates. "More used to this sort of thing."
Anstarra Silverain: "Then it went and popped on up like a bad penny, after the most recent Calamity..."
Khunbish Avagnar: "Interesting... it was just being built when I submitted myself to be put into this body...barely ten stories tall..."
Reis Okeya: "....at least for the time being. And dont worry about the guard ill put him to sleep and we can make it look like there was nothing here to recover."
Anstarra Silverain: "Incidentally, Dalamud kinda backfired ALSO."
Adeya Evenar: "Very. Badly," she adds.
Khunbish Avagnar: "Dalamud?" he ponders their words, "I don't know about Dalamud."
Adeya Evenar purses her lips slightly. "It /could/ have been after you were stuck in there though. I don't know the timeframe," she admits.
Khunbish Avagnar: "Bahamut is one of the dragons worshipped by the Meracydians if I recall."
Adeya Evenar nods. "Sounds like the same one."
Anstarra Silverain: "Ah.. right, Allag was around quite some time, huh.. we only learn scraps, high points. Like sticking the God of the Meracydians into a moon-sized prison to suck power out of him..."
Jana Ridah: "Seems we have a bit of catching up to you. If you predate Bahamut, it's probably closer to six thousand years orso for you."
Anstarra Silverain: "It blew up, recently. The God was pissed..."
Khunbish Avagnar: "That sounds as stupid and dangerous as pulling energies from another plane."
Jana Ridah: "It's a little more complex, but that is basically what Allag tried to do."
Anstarra Silverain: "Doesn't it? Well, those responsible have been sacked."
Adeya Evenar: "On that, I believe we can agree."
Khunbish Avagnar: "Alright, we should get out of the warmth and me into some dignity."
Anstarra Silverain: "Alright, let's get out.. I need a bath, a drink, and probably a good fuck..."
Reis Okeya: "ill go and take care of the guard then"
Adeya Evenar: "Good idea."
Reis Okeya: "ill need some help carrying him though ill need to sedate him so he wont see what we are doing."
Adeya Evenar nods. "I can try to help, at least," she says as she goes over to join her.
Jana Ridah: "Good luck with that. I only know to sedate someone through a headlock."
Khunbish Avagnar: "Aether engineering and robotics here, the living body is a mystery to me."
Anstarra Silverain shrugs. "I can put him in a sleeper hold, then carry him..."
Reis Okeya reis kneels down to the guard " here let me finish up with your healing she places her hands on his chest and forehead and slowly pours her aether into him "...sleep now!" she places her hands over his forehead and uses her aether to knock out the man gently.
The group returns safely to Dzemael in Foundation easily enough. The end result, Dzemael wasn’t expecting them to find a person, let alone an Allagan. They offer to provide wardship and housing for the Allagan man Asier, who agrees to this. Likely house Dzemael wants to try and glean whatever they can from him.
Jana Ridah "Quit playing around." Jana half-spits at An. "We're here to do your job."
Adeya Evenar Adeya glances around the gathering briefly, shooting Anstarra a small, brief smile as she does so, before looking over to Jainelette. "Something to do with the Darkhold?" she adds.
Anstarra Silverain "Now that's just rude. She's clearly doing her job already. Yes! As the cute one says."
Reis Okeya Reis recognizes an's voice "miss anis that you!?"
Jainelette glowers at the group and pounds on the door twice, "We have stray cats and a not dragon here for the leve!" she settles back into her post and glares at the group.
Anstarra Silverain An winks at Reis, the visor still tilted up. "Hey Reis~" She giggles then at the door guard's announcement. "Hear that? You're not a dragon. That's good to have cleared up."
Adeya Evenar Adeya bristles at that. "It's nice to know that Ishgard is as charming as ever," she remarks dryly.
Anstarra Silverain "Now now, Ishgard is a bastion of civilization surrounded by annoying, fuzzy woodland creatures. We need to show respect, and try not to get fur or scales on the furniture."
Reis Okeya looks back to jainelette "well it's true i cant breath fire....i tried with mr.simba it didn't work out."
Khunbish Avagnar Jainelette looks less than pleased with Reis but before she can say a thing a bedraggled looking butler opens the door, "Excellent, you're the adventurers? Come in."
An looks at Reis, tail perking up. "You've been hanging out with S'imba? Oh boy.. he hasn't tried to be your Nunh or anything yet, has he?" She cuts off as the new figure arrives, and smiles warmly at him. "Thanks, it's chilly out here~"
Adeya Evenar Adeya rolls her eyes. "Considering who their closest neighbor is, that isn't really saying much," she grumbles, though a touch more softly. She seems to be on the verge of adding more, when the door opens. "Yes. So nice to run into someone with manners," she remarks pointedly.
Jana Ridah Jana mutters, mostly to herself. "Finally, someone who can apparently recognize value."
Reis Okeya: Reis nods to an "We rescued some prisoners form the giant lizard men Amalj'aa i think they are called? it was really fun and he showed me what a -kiss- was! i'm learning so many things these days!" she brightly smiles
Anstarra Silverain An leads the way in, smiling in her warm, easy going manner. "If we weren't valued we wouldn't be here-" She winces a bit at Reis' recounting, then laughs. "Well.. I'm glad you're learning a bit more of the world, Reis. Really, not knowing what a kiss is..."
Jana Ridah "That's, ah...." Jana seems like she wants to say more, but second-guesses herself and walks on in silence.
The butler stumbles at the kiss comment before his ears wiggle and he smooths his suit out, leading them into a parlour before turning and waiting for the rest to catch up.
Reis Okeya "well i read about them in the romance books mr vael lent me but to experience one was a whole different matter!"
Adeya Evenar Adeya has started to eye Reis hard now, but like Jana seems to have decided it's best to hold her tongue on the matter for now.
Anstarra Silverain "Mmm, maybe I'll have to see what S'imba showed you, later.. there are many kinds of kisses, and qualities of them too~ Ah, but let's not talk of such things, it's not proper in polite company~" She thinks. "Do tell Orrin though. That'll be fun."
Reis Okeya nods to Anstarra Silverain.
Jana Ridah "Um- Ser Orrin probably shouldn't know."
Jana Ridah "You know how he is- Wait, maybe you don't?"
Anstarra Silverain "Mmm.. Orrin would never take advantage of his retainer~ The simple fact that she's remained innocent after this much time in his employ is a sign of that.."
Anstarra Silverain "I'd say he shelters her like his own daughter~ Well, if he had one. That he knew of."
The man adjusts and nods his head, "I am currently standing in for our normal Majordomo, so apologies if I am not the one any of you have dealt with in the past. I am Geoshax, and I appreciate you all coming to assist with this matter."
Anstarra Silverain bows courteously to you.
Reis Okeya reis then turns to the other members of the party "Oh sorry how rude of me my name is reis and you are miss?" she waves to adeya then looks to jana "oh miss jana how are you!? its been awhile!
Jana Ridah "I think I'm inclined to agree... But if you show a man that something -might- happen, they get all giddy and hopeful..."
Anstarra Silverain "A pleasure, Geoshax~ The same Geoshax who issued the leveplate I assume?"
Adeya Evenar Adeya's eyes widen ever so slightly at Anstarra's words, then narrow as she looks back to Reis once more. Her tail swishes slowly behind her as she considers, before shaking her head ever so slightly. "Adeya," she says a bit curtly to Reis. Then she looks to Geoshax. "So... what exactly /is/ the matter, then?" she asks.
Jana quickly gives Reis a curt nod, though it feels like she's just doing it as a formality than to actually greet her. "So, how can we fill in for the Ishgardian armed forces today?"
Geoshax steps over and shuts the door, "Before I say anything, can I be assured of your utmost discretion?"
Anstarra Silverain "Absolutely~ Only fools would alienate one of the Great Houses by blabbing their secrets, ESPECIALLY when we're being paid~"
Jana Ridah "I can only speak for myself, but I am a professional. So long as nothing that endangers the alliances between nations happens."
Reis Okeya " i am a personally retainer of sir orrins house so....i guess that means im under oath to protect secrets and other thing?"
Adeya Evenar nods. "I have no interest in the affairs of Ishgard... nor a desire to risk becoming entangled in them. As long as I'm paid for this, I'll be silent."
Geoshax nods his head a bit, "We need your group to delve into the Darkhold, we had sent some house guards and they never returned. The issue is, in there, we found some Allagan ruins, and a device that was used to help the youngest. We were sending a group down to see if there was anything else to find that might help the house's fortunes."
Jana Ridah "Allagan ruins, you're in luck. That's my specialty."
Adeya Evenar Adeya draws in a sharp breath. "Allagan?" she repeats, equal parts excitement and wariness on her face. "I see. So... do you want us to retrieve the guards--or what's left of them, I imagine--or finish what they started?"
Anstarra Silverain An's ears perk up in surprise and interest at mention of the Allagans. "Really... huh." She crosses her arms, tail swishing a bit. "Anything to do with Allag makes this a fair bit more dangerous.. and interesting."
Reis Okeya "hmm the others might be injured and unable to return we can help them if they are alright...though i do have a question if you don't mind?"
"We were hoping you'd finish the job, we suspect already that they fell afoul of the void monsters that reside there." he sighs and shakes his head a bit, "If you find survivors bring them back please."
Adeya wrinkles her nose. "Void creatures /and/ Allag. Wonderful," she murmurs. Then she nods. "Well, if that's all then it /sounds/ simple enough." From her skeptical tone, it seemed clear she didn't expect it to actually /be/ so. She then glances over to eye Reis once more, wondering what she was thinking.
Reis Okeya "hmmm are these void things like the being that are dead but not? i've seen quite a few of those creatures.....aside from rescuing your soldiers why would your house need to change its fortunes? have you run across some bad luck?"
Jana Ridah "We just kill everything and clear it out. It actually is simple."
"Geoshax looks over to Reis, "Oh no... um... that is a tale for another time but... mistakes were made by Dzemael and the darkhold ended up having Void monsters in it... like Ahriman."
Anstarra Silverain "Haha~ I'm more worried about doomsday traps.. but I'm sure there's none of those. Hopefully the voidsent would have tripped them. So!" She looks back to Geoshax. "Anything else we need to know before going? Such as the location of the Darkhold."
Geoshax nods his head and pulls out a piece of parchment, holding it out to them, "Here's the map to get you there. As well as the map to where the allagan room was found by the tunnel diggers of old."
Anstarra Silverain An moves up and takes the map, tail swishing as she peers at it.
Anstarra Silverain "Very well! Thank you for your trust.. we won't let you down~"
Jana Ridah "Right, soft ones in the rear."
Adeya Evenar Adeya just rolls her eyes.
Anstarra Silverain "Mmmm, well, at least until we get to places where we might be ambushed; I would say at least one less soft and push rear needs to be in the rear." She winks playfully at Adeya before lowering her visor.
Reis Okeya "...well it's how i first meet orrin and the others i kinda fell down a hole during some kind of gang battle and ended up is a lewd ladies basement...hideout..."
The Guards take one glance at the parchment in hand and unlock the door to the darkhold, motioning for them to pass through, one goes, "Good luck." || Inside the faint echoes of things could be heard coming from below, clearly the path is tread often enough that there's dirt but no dust.
Adeya snorts softly, but she gives her tail a small flick in amusement. "Perhaps," she says vaguely, before looking over to Reis and arching a brow. "..Suddenly I have even more questions for you," she remarks. Then, finally, her eyes flick over towards the darkhold entrance. "Well, that certainly doesn't seem ominous," she says slowly.
An's playful and easy going demeanor doesn't quite vanish, but she does become more alert. Drawing her spear, ears cocking this way and that. "Jana, you probably have the best eyes. Go first, if that's alright with you. I'll take up the rear."
Jana gives a small grunt. "Got it." She shifts from her usual position in the back to the front and begins leading the group.
Adeya eye's Reis for a moment, then silently moves to follow right after Jana, her grimoire in hand. "Yes, do let us know if we're going to trip over a voidsent. Or something that could kill all of us," she adds.
Reis quickly follows "....i don't think i ever seen a void before...let's be careful!"
Anstarra Silverain "Mmm, Adeya, how about if you toss up a Protect spell, like the other time in the mountains?"
Anstarra Silverain "Maybe you can assist her, Reis?"
Reis Okeya sure!
Adeya blinks, then grins faintly. "I can certainly try," she says as she starts to flip through her grimoire pages. "And I certainly wouldn't mind the help," she adds.
Adeya Evenar lets out a long breath and closes her eyes. Drawing on her magic, with the assistance of Reis the spell would surround all of them in a faint blue light before vanishing. "There we go," she announces as she closes her book once more.
Anstarra Silverain grins. "Excellent. It's a strong one, too.. good job, both of you."
Adeya Evenar smiles, but there's a touch of grimness to it. "Hopefully we won't need it though."
Reis Okeya "Miss adeya did most of the work!" reis chips in lowering her eyepiece lets see what the aether levels are like?
Anstarra Silverain doesn't do anything ostentatious, it's more a matter of confidence and ease, a smile here, an approving nod there, an assured remark.. soon they look less like a carriage full of half-drunk college girls and more like actual professional adventurers.
Jana would notice as they follow the path that it definitely leads off the beaten path that the typical adventurers take to try and clean out and stem the void tide and monsters that have overrun the Darkhold, there's now less footprints, and they look newer.
Jana Ridah lets out a small 'hmph' as she walks. "Nothing yet."
Reis Okeya Looks about with her scope "...oh wow there's a constant spike in aether levels there must be various crystals in here...."
Some distance down, there is some dripping moisture alongside the tracks and the signs of someone being dragged.
Adeya Evenar hums thoughtfully, once of her hands trailing against a cave wall. "We didn't ask how long it was that they sent those guards down, did we?" she wonders out loud. She then looks over to Reis and grimaces. "Which would explain the voidsent."
Anstarra Silverain 's ears perk forward and she frowns, at the tracks. "I wonder if anyone's still alive... probably not. Let's be wary.."
Jana Ridah holds up a hand. "We've got a dragged body here. It's probably not anywhere close by yet, but keep your guard up."
Reis Okeya "don't say that miss an we must not give up on them yet.."
Anstarra Silverain: "Mmm.. of course. If they're alive we'll save them..."
Adeya Evenar nods grimly. "But best not to get your hopes up too high from the look of things," she adds bluntly as she studies the tracks herself for a moment, before sighing softly and shaking her head.
Reis huffs a little at adeya for saying that. "There's always a silver lining in every situation one just need to find it thats all."
Adeya Evenar shakes her head. "Perhaps, but I struggle to think of one when I consider the idea of being lost in a cave with voidsent /and/ Allagan magitek in it."
Anstarra Silverain: "The company is good?" Anstarra beams, even as her ears twitch toward hidden sounds.
Reis Okeya "Thank you for the support miss an see miss adeya you have good company and hopefully after this friends!" she smiles
Adeya Evenar tilts her head slightly to one side. "Okay... you mayhaps have a point. I can certainly think of worse," she says, trying and failing to sound cheerful.
ana Ridah: "...No comment."
Everyone can hear it before they even get to the turn, the sound of bones crunching, and a low growling.
Jana Ridah turns her voice lower. "Looks like we've interrupted suppertime."
Adeya Evenar falls quiet, her ears tilted slightly back. "I don't know what kind of voidsent eats bones..." she murmurs softly.
Anstarra Silverain narrows her eyes. "The ones with pointy teeth."
Reis Okeya reis gulps "......maybe it wont notice us.."
Jana Ridah: "We are here to kill it, as you may recall."
Anstarra Silverain: "Right up until we kill it, optimally.."
Adeya Evenar grimaces, conceding the point. "Well, killing it before it does certainly sounds like a good plan."
Reis didn't manage to send some pebbles skittering, but the idea of being stealthy was pretty well ruined. As the group turns the corner, there is a lava drake standing over a mostly eaten Elezen corpse.
Jana Ridah: "Oh, how disappointing. Now we kill it, yes?"
Reis Okeya "....is...that...a person..its eating!?"
Adeya Evenar blinks in surprise. "Well... it's not a voidsent..." she says slowly. "And I think we might've found one of the guards as a bonus," she adds grimly. "And yes, I think it's time to end dinner."
Anstarra Silverain smirks, giving her spear a little one-handed whirl. "Or start it~ I bet we won't even have to pepper THAT steak."
Reis Okeya "....is...that...a person..its eating!?""
Reis Okeya ries stares at an "But it ate a someone if you eat it wouldn't that make you a cannibal!?"
Adeya Evenar tilts her head slightly to one side. "I don't think it counts, no. You wouldn't say you're eating grass when you eat lamb, would you?"
Anstarra Silverain: "Only if you eat the tummy!"
Jana Ridah "I was just testing its hide."
Jana Ridah whips her tome off her hip, flipping it open in one motion. Aether seems to burn in the air around the tome itself as Jana swings her free hand forward, sending a burst of corrosive energy at the drake.
The Lavadrake doesn't even seem to attempt to move, but lets out a healthy howl as the corrosive energies causes some of the scales to just outright melt
Jana Ridah: "Hmm... Getting there...."
Anstarra Silverain darts forward, moving in a shockingly swift blur right on the tail of Jana's vicious opening strike.. her spear tears into the exposed, corroded flesh, seeking to shred muscle and bone!
The Lava Drake collapses with a groan as he is speared through the open scales.
Reis Okeya "....it kinda looks like mr.dragon from the lewd lady's home."
Anstarra Silverain flourishes her spear as she feels the beastie shudder and breathe its last, smirking in satisfaction before glancing around quickly in case anything else was lurking nearby…
Adeya Evenar lets out a long breath as the drake dies. Keeping her grimoire in hand, she cautiously moves up towards Anstarra in the hopes of finding out who the drake was munching on.
Reis moves closer to an and adeya slowly she then draws a card its the balance card! "Here miss jana!" she throws the card at jana which then turns into energy and covers her with a feeling of power!
From the ceiling drops a few skeletons that shuffle to their feet, grasping rusted old blades before shuffling towards Reis from the sides.
Reis yelps "....oh not again why is always the dead ones that are not dead!?"
Anstarra Silverain hisses between her teeth as the skeletons come out of nowhere.. sparing a glance up at the ceiling where they dropped from, but already moving to attack.
Jana Ridah was luckily in the right place and time to reach, flinging a solid mass of aether with an advanced Ruin spell to her right.
The Skeleton wobbles at the force of the magic, the damage was significantly less than it should have been for the intensity of the impact.
Anstarra Silverain follows Jana's blast.. whipping her lance back before driving it right through the undead's ribcage. Tearing out bones and such, lethal damage for a living opponent.. which alas this was not. "Tsk.."
The Skeleton wobbles as Anstarra's lance tears out through its chest and goes skittering.
Adeya Evenar grimaces as she stares at one of the skeletons, her grimoire glowing. "Watch it!" she calls out to Anstarra, then she sends a blast of pure force towards the skeleton.
Anstarra Silverain twists out of the way of the blast, barely needing the warning..
Reis Okeya gulps "I'm starting to believe eorzea is cursed....with the walking dead and everything else i've seen so far.!"
The Skeleton takes the hidden blast square on, there's a cracking as the bones which looked as if they were cast in the glow of the torchlight, were coated by something that has been blasted away, leaving bleached white bones behind.
Adeya Evenar laughs hollowly, her eyes lingering on the skeleton. "Oh come now, don't go throwing around cursed just yet. We have far worse things." Her eyes narrow slightly as she looked at the skeleton, noting the change that had taken place.
Reis Okeya reis not wanting to be left out withdrew her globe and with a bluish hue surrounding her she unleashes a healing spell on the skeleton seeing if it damages the creature like others of its ilk she has tried on in the past. She then draws another card smiling in joy as its another balance card. "Here miss an! a pick me up!! she throws the card as it's magical abilities gives an a surge in strength.
The blast of magic from Reis caused the skeleton to stumble a moment. It finally swings, crudely as it turns towards Anstarra and the blade just chops towards her by the momentum of the turn more than anything it would seem.
Anstarra Silverain blinks, perking up as she feels.. lucky? Focused? Like the stars have aligned, as if she didn't have enough star-related puns in her life? "Well.. this was gonna happen sooner or later. Like, destiny.. dammi- woah!" Suddenly attacked!
The Second skeleton shuffles from 2 to B and takes a similarly sloppy swing at Reis.
Reis Okeya reis gives up a victory sign towards an just s the skeleton behind her makes contact the sound of glass shattering and a blueish wall breaking apart like a mirror showing the protect spell saving her. "aaahhhh!!!" she jumps forward and turns around to see the second one.
Anstarra Silverain winces, but thankfully the spell wards much of the blow. Yup, she was totally taking credit for that, with Orrin. Assuming Reis makes it out in one piece. "Be careful!"
Jana Ridah flings off a quick Ruin spell, followed by a fast corrosive Bio at each of her targets. Neither seems phasd by the fast spells, and Jana mutters under her breath in frustration as the skeletons move among the party's ranks.
Skeleton A takes another strike and stumbles a bit, Skeleton B doesn't even seem to notice as the spell glances off the bones for a minimal amount of damage.
Reis Okeya "these things..are a lot stronger than the others i've seen...."
Anstarra Silverain growls. "Just.. go.. down!" She back-hands with her spear, using it almost more like a club, or a quarterstaff at least, bracing the shaft along her arm.. and finally, the blow cracks something in the relentless undead, and it falls. "Yes!"
Adeya Evenar lets out a breath as the one skeleton dies, but there's no time to relax; instead she turns towards the other one. Taking careful aim, she sends a bolt of corrosive aether towards the pile of bones.
Khunbish Avagnar: The Skeleton shatters into pieces that scatter along the ground worthlessly. The Second one is hit solidly by Adeya's spell but it is absorbed by his hardened bones.
Reis Okeya as an make her way to reis position she takes this time and heal her injuries focusing her magic on her back area "....hope this works i cant see where i got hit exactly!" afterwards she draws again showing the bole card "Here miss adeya! lets this card symbolize the foundation of our newly found friendship!" she throws the card as its magics cover adeya in what looks like protective barrier.
The skeleton single mindedly hacks at Reis with a downward chop even after it has been battered like it has so far.
Reis Okeya reis sees the attack coming this time and with a dancers grace which is very unlike her in normal situations she dodges it " your not gonna get me this time ..you...you...bag of ...uhhh bones! that was a decent comeback right!?"
Anstarra Silverain laughs "Good job, Reis!"
Jana Ridah stays back where she is, but with one fewer enemy running amok in the middle of the party, her job becomes easier. The next spell she casts is a full-strength corrosive blast, aiming to shred the skeleton's extra defenses or melt it outright.
The skeleton's defenses are ripped apart by Jana's spell, leaving bleached white bones left.
Anstarra Silverain 's eyes glint as the protective layer is stripped from her target by Jana's spell.. "Been wanting to try this..." she breathes, inhaling sharply.. and blue-white aether surges around her, coruscating through her veins and flashing out of her eyes. Then she lunges.. and all the aether flares up along her arm, through her weapon, flashing into the point of impact. There's a second of silence, then. *BAM!!!* as a high-impact burst of aether explodes from the point, blowing the skeleton to hell!
Reis Okeya looks at Anstarra Silverain in shock!
Anstarra Silverain flinches back from the spray, blinks... and then pumps her fist. "Woo! It worked!"
Anstarra Silverain lets out a cheer.
Adeya Evenar blinks at that, then slowly puts away her grimoire. "Not bad," she admits with a small grin.
The echoes of the detonation fade away, leaving nothing but the sound of their breathing and voices, and a faint groaning come from further in.
Jana Ridah: More up ahead, sounds like undead!
Adeya Evenar grimaces. "Well, I'm not going first," she announces, eyeing Anstarra.
Reis Okeya groans "please no more....i cant believe this land gives rise to this dead but not dead things!"
Jana Ridah: "Fine, fine, I'm coming..."
Anstarra Silverain: "Let's get ready then..." An flexes her fingers, and rubs Reis on the shoulder. "It's alright, you're doing fine..."
Reis Okeya places her hand over ans and nods "are any of you injured if you are i should try and heal you before we move on.."
Reis Okeya places her hand over ans and nods "are any of you injured if you are i should try and heal you before we move on.."
Anstarra Silverain shakes her head. "Didn't even scratch me~" she smirks, looking to the others. "Nice work guys. Those ones were a pain.. but not too threatening."
Jana Ridah: "They got the drop on us and were able to attack our healer. We need to be more vigilant..."
Adeya Evenar shakes her head. "They seemed far more interested in you all than me."
Reis Okeya "....well we better complete this leve and see if there are any survivors before more of this fiends get the drop on us..."
Reis Okeya "i really don't want to be here after dark...it's all ready creepy as it is."
Anstarra Silverain: "Indeed.. let's hurry." she laughs at Reis Okeya, “"It's already pitch-dark down here.. I don't know if the sunset would make a difference~"
The groaning gets louder as the group moves along the path which suddenly stops at a small antechamber of metal and the remnants of a door that looks to have had some very precise explosives used on it, magical or mundane is hard to tell.
Adeya Evenar arches an eyebrow as they find what was left of the door. "Well, someone was very determined," she remarks.
Anstarra Silverain eyes the door as well. "And they got at least this far... maybe someone DID manage to survive..?"
>Reis - An Investigation of the door shows that it was blown open a long, long time ago, possibly when the darkhold was being built
Reis walks over to a large chunk of debris and with her eye peice she starts to examine it. ".......this wasn't..recent judging by the looks of things this explosion happened ages ago most likely when this door way was being built...."
Anstarra Silverain blinks. "Oh. Well. Alright then." She frowns. "Some ancient seal on voidsent gone wrong?"
"im not sure but given how its scattered everywhere id say the explosion came from behind the door someone or something wanted out....badly."
Adeya Evenar frowns as well. "Maybe," she says slowly. "I'm not sure the Allagans dealt with voidsent." She eyes Jana for a moment before shrugging.
Jana Ridah: They did, actually. Though not to the extent that Mhach is known for it.
Reis Okeya gazes upon Anstarra Silverain in deep reflection.
The Groaning can be heard now by everyone, coming from inside.
Adeya Evenar lets out a long sigh. "Why am I not surprised by this?" she asks out loud, though doesn't seem to be expecting an answer. "So... " she eyes the remnants of the door for a moment. "Shall we... see what's in there?"
Anstarra Silverain: "Hrm.. alright, let's go. Form up, stay tight."
Just through the door is a room of machinery and an open pod that would look familiar at least to those that were in the party beneath the Crystal Tower. There's a blood streak going around behind a console where you can hear ragged breathing, from the direction where part of the wall appears to be a bit ajar.
Jana Ridah: "Oh, it really might be an actual survivor"
Reis Okeya "...!!! hello can anyone hear me!" reis runs off to the sound of the breathing.
Anstarra Silverain stares at the room. "Well... here's the Allagan stuff..." Her ears fold back, and she twitches a little, eyeing all obvious sources of energy.. before cursing as Reis runs ahead, hurrying to follow her.
Adeya Evenar 's face pales slightly as she looks into the room. "Oh, seven hells," she breathes. "Well, it's /not/ voidsent." Her eyes widen as Reis takes off. "Reis! Be careful! It might not be... what you think..." Her voice trails off as she scowls in frustration.
Around the corner and behind the control console is a Dzemael guard, he tries to raise a crossbow at Reis but he clearly doesn't have the strength left to do it from his various wounds.
Reis Okeya rushes to the knights side "hold on sir....ill heal you just stay with me!!"
Jana Ridah: "Right, I'm sure at least one of can play chirugeon. Let's have a look at these things here..."
Adeya Evenar: "Be careful with that! We're going to want it to stuff whatever got out back in!" she yells to Jana as she rushes past, after Reis. "And yes, we /want/ to do that!" She sounds alarmed, to put it mildly. As she skids to a halt by Reis, her hand lingers on her grimoire. "What's your name?" she demands of the guard, not bothering to check if Reis' healing had worked.
Anstarra Silverain studies the bleeded guard.. finally deciding he's probably not a threat. She stays near Reis though, crouching down. "Ser? How are you? Can you tell us what happened?"
Reis Okeya places her hands on his chest using her aether to check his vital organs a bluish hue can be seen slowly covering the night reis closes her eyes focusing all her attention on the man "...."
Khunbish Avagnar: The man relaxes back with Reis' healing, he's still in bad shape but he's no longer at risk for dying. He glances towards Anstarra, "Hng...must be half dead...miqo'te?... ugh... skeletons landed on us."
Anstarra Silverain grins at the fellow, and takes off her mask, nodding. "Yeah, miqo'te... we're adventurers, sent by House Dzemael. You're safe now."
Adeya Evenar 's eyes narrow. "And where was whatever was in /that/?" she demands, pointing to the pod.
Khunbish Avagnar: "House Dzemael recovered that long time ago. Don't know what's in it... don't care..."
Reis Okeya "....do you know if there are other survivors?"
Adeya Evenar glares. "Well, you /should/," she snaps. "If it's anything like the last one."
"Probably in some Dzemael vault from before I was born... so no, still not my problem..." he coughs again as Reis heals him more.
Reis Okeya reis pours more of her healing aether in him soothing his pain if one would look closely they could see his more minor injuries practically close themselves as reis finishes she hit with a sudden dizzy spell and sinks back leaning on a wall catching her breath. "phew he...should be out of danger now."
Adeya Evenar lets out a frustrated breath and steps away. "I'd say that's very unlikely," she remarks. Then she turns to the others. "The last one of these I saw had some... creature contained within it. It seemed rather genocidal--and wasn't a pushover in a fight either. I don't believe that Dzemael could lock something like that one up."
Anstarra Silverain looks to Adeya, frowning a bit... then suddenly perks up. "OH!"
The guard just clams up and glowers at Adeya. He might really not know anything.
Anstarra Silverain: "Like.. Jotun! And uh..Marid. And… Um… The lightning one. Shaitan’s the one you mean right? Earth? He sounds like an asshoule, but the others aren’t all.â€
Reis Okeya reis looks at the man with a tired look "...can you tell us anything more even the smallest detail could help ...please?"
Adeya Evenar nods. "That's the one," she agrees. Her lips twitch in a faint smirk. "And yeah, that sums him up pretty well. And that may be so," she continues. "But if I had been stuck in here, I would be resentful too."
Anstarra Silverain: "I think they were all stuck in containers since the.. hells, what was it, third Astral? I can never remember which era the Allagans were from..."
The man grunts, shifting a bit to get more comfortable, "We came for that." he motions towards the slightly ajar wall next to him.
Anstarra Silverain: "But ostensibly they were nice and asleep... I think."
Reis Okeya reis looks over to the wall "?"
Adeya Evenar shrugs. "With the Allagans, who knows. And while Jotun seemed content enough, Shaitan wasn't. I'd at least like to know who was shut up in here." Her eyes then flick back to the guard. "And why the interest in that?" she asks.
"Orders, good soldiers don't ask questions if they want to remain good soldiers and not begging in the brume." the guard says with a wince.
Adeya Evenar just sighs. "No curiosity, I can't stand it," she grumbles under her breath.
Jana Ridah: "Well, whatever 'that' is, we should be able to safely transport it. One more question, how large was the group you came with originally?"
(Reis Okeya) "well why don't you guys go on ahead and take a look past the wall ill stay here with the knight and catch my breath.." she tilts her head back resting for the moment
Anstarra Silverain looks sympathetically at Adeya. "It's easier, for soldiers.. I understand, I used to be one. Anyroad..I don't know how I feel about leaving you alone... but if you're attacked, make a barrier and scream really loud."
The man glances over at Adeya first, "Curiosity is something the rich can afford, and the poor give up for having food on the table for their family." he glances to Jana, "Eh? Ten of us, skeletons dragged the corpses off, stayed away from the entrance here though." he nods to Anstarra.
Reis Okeya reis giggles "no problem i shouldn't be to long just used alot of aether in a short amount of time."
Jana Ridah: Ten... We only ran into the remains of one. Eight remain unaccounted for. “he'll need to report that when we return to Ishgard, more skeletons and drakes may have their remains.â€
Adeya Evenar looks between Anstarra and the man and shakes her head slightly. "Yes, well. Had I listened to that I would still have been hungry, I suspect. And that may be so, but I doubt it's a good thing," she adds to Anstarra. "But.... yes, anyroad." Her eyes follow Jana's. "If we want to try that ourselves, we should do it soon. Before the rest of them show up," she says darkly.
Anstarra Silverain smiles at Adeya, agreeing.. but being too polite to condemn the life choices of the wounded soldier right here at this juncture. After all, it's when she stopped obeying orders that life got more... interesting.
As the wall is pushed open and becomes more ajar, the light from the first room is cast out upon similar machinery and a pod with what looks like some sort of machine person.
Adeya Evenar tilts her head slightly to one side, taking all of this in. "Well that's... new," she says slowly, eyeing the machine person warily.
Jana Ridah: "Huh, I wonder if it's like the kinds I've seen before."
Anstarra Silverain slowly sways her tail in curiosity, studying the figure as they get closer.
Adeya Evenar shakes her head slowly. "Mayhaps..." she says slowly, her ears tilting back. "I suppose the only way to find out would be to... power it on somehow. And I'm not sure that's the best idea..." she adds, eyeing it warily.
After passing through the 'doorway' the room lights up, "Power Auto initiation." a mechanical voice declares. The machines get louder and suddenly the chamber with the machine body fills with goop that obscures it.
Anstarra Silverain: "Oh goo-whuahh?" Goop!
Adeya Evenar makes a face. "Well... I guess that solves that problem..." she says slowly, reaching up to run her fingers through her hair.
Anstarra Silverain moves closer to the goop-filled machine, tail twitching with hazardous levels of curiosity.
Anstarra Silverain moves closer to the goop-filled machine, tail twitching with hazardous levels of curiosity.
Anstarra Silverain goes riiiight up close to the.. glass?
Jana Ridah: "I assume the Ishgardians are gonna want this thing intact, if we can manage that..."
Anstarra Silverain taps on the glass.
"Skinning process complete" the pod drains leaving what looks like a very naked and anatomically correct looking midlander behind, censored barely by a support across the middle of the pod. The thing's eyes snap open at the tap. "Power cycling has been completed, verifying tomestone integrity."
Anstarra Silverain blinks in astonishment. "Skinning... WOW the meaning for that has changed. They put skin ON it... er.. him?"
Anstarra Silverain: "Yup... deeefinitely 'him'."
Adeya Evenar just stares for a few moments. "It /looks/ like a him," she corrects. "But it can't actually be. It's a machine," she says bluntly. "The real question, I'd say, is why go through all... this?" she wonders out loud.
Jana Ridah: "Ach- Ew!"
Anstarra Silverain 's tail swishes as she finger-waves at the figure in the machine. "Hello? Can you hear me?"
Jana Ridah whips around and covers her eyes, her ears flattening against her head and tail curling up against a leg.
Anstarra Silverain: "Our bodies are machines, when you strip away flesh and leave just bone and muscle... so this guy's bone and muscle is a bit higher-grade than most. Well, I assume. He's still a 'him'."
(Reis Okeya) "....Even the ancients of this land are lewd!?...is there no end to this madness?" she turns beat red and covers her eyes....but after a few moments curiosity gets the better of her and she peeks through her fingers.
Jana Ridah: "He, it, whatever! Put some clothes on him!"
Anstarra Silverain: "He's IN the machine, geez. There's even a convenient metal band, you can't see his crotch unless you get to where I'm standing, chill out."
Anstarra Silverain does start looking for ways to OPEN this thing though.
Jana Ridah spits on the ground and grumbles.
Adeya Evenar rolls her eyes. "It's just a body... and not even a real one," she comments as she takes a few steps forward to study the machine, fascinated despite her disagreement about it's personhood. "We don't even know if the thing can think," she points out. "It might just be a pretty-looking toy."
The man doesn't respond but his red eyes clearly are focused on Anstarra. "Integrity check completed. Pod opening." once open he steps out, "You are not Allagan."
Reis just keeps staring beat red.
Anstarra Silverain steps back as well, eyeing the fellow. She pulls off her jacket, and offers it to him. "Here, put this on. No, we're not Allagan. It's been a long time since then."
He accepts the jacket and puts it on, "Then I am to assume since you are not Allagan, the project has been cancelled."
Adeya Evenar stops and folds her arms, trying to keep /some/ distance between herself and the thing. "What are you?" she asks bluntly. "And what project?" she asks, more sharply.
Anstarra Silverain: "Well... it's possible that it's getting back up again. There's some leftovers.. my name's Anstarra, who are you? And what project, yeah."
Reis Okeya reis slowly rises to her feet she places a hand on the soldier's arm "ill be right back just rest okay?" she then enters the room. Reis Okeya looks shocked.
Jana Ridah seems satisfied to hear the command to “put this on†and finally turns around.
Reis Okeya turns even a brighter shade of red she unclips her cape/duster and hands it to the machine "Here use this to cover....your lower half " she dose her best to not look.
Anstarra Silverain 's jacket was comfortably longish on her.. but she was smaller than a midlander. She only partially manages to suppress a smile as Reis contributes to the fellow's.. decency.
The man wraps the duster around him, almost looking like he's got some odd subjugator top on from some floating dragon islands, "The project to control the elements."
Anstarra Silverain: "Ah! Well." She frowns a bit. "That's.. yeah, that would be one of those leftovers."
Adeya Evenar hisses softly. "Yes, it's done," she says in agreement. "As Anstarra says, there are just a few... remnants running around."
Reis Okeya: " does he mean the beings called primals?"
Jana Ridah: "Containment makes me think of the three at Azys Lla, but those have already been... Dealt with."
Adeya Evenar shakes her head slowly. "I don't think that the beings the Allagans were trying to trap qualify," she says slowly. "But they do seem to be powerful enough to pose a similar threat."
Khunbish Avagnar: The man nods his head a bit, "Done? So there is another universal host to control all six devices." he states, "Then the tower wouldn't need to be completed."
Anstarra Silverain shakes her head. "No Reis.. several of us have run into some interesting entities. Elementally-attuned.. and needing to possess living people."
Anstarra Silverain narrows her eyes a bit. "So. You would be a host?"
(Reis Okeya) "..is such a thing possible?"
Khunbish Avagnar: The man looks back to Anstarra, "Yes, I was to be host to all six elements."
Adeya Evenar shrugs. "With the Allagans? Who knows," she remarks before turning back to the machine. "So... something went wrong then."
Anstarra Silverain takes a deep breath and lets it out. "I see..."
Anstarra Silverain looks back at the male, and smiles. "I'm sorry.. I didn't get your name?"
Khunbish Avagnar: "I am the project designer Asier."
Anstarra Silverain raises her brows. "Ah, so you.. created the elemental beings?"
Adeya Evenar blinks at that. "A... machine, came up with all of this?"
The man glances about, "It has been an untold amount of time, and I would like better clothing." he points towards the guard, "And looks like you've got a corpse or near to."
Reis frowns at the man "you will not harm him! i healed him he just needs time to recover!"
Anstarra Silverain gives him a wry look. "Alright, I don't know how it was back then, but these days valuing life is seen as a good thing. We'll get you some clothes, don't worry."
Jana Ridah: "I don't think that's what he meant. Come, let's leave this place before we're attacked again."
Adeya Evenar glances back towards the guard for a moment, then lowers her voice slightly as she looks at the others. "What are we going to do? We just can't give him to Dzemael."
Khunbish Avagnar: Asier raises an eyebrow, "Eh? You misunderstand, I don't imagine one of my research bases is the place to leave him lying there." he furrows his brow, "His attire is... was he some sort of historical re-enacter?"
Jana Ridah: "Sure we can, that was the job."
Anstarra Silverain: "Give him? He's a free man."
Jana Ridah turns back to the man. "I think you're going to find the level of technology never quite recovered when the Allagan Empire quite literally fell."
Anstarra Silverain: "You'll find that the world is not the same, Asier." She smiles apologetically. "There've been a few Calamities."
Reis Okeya: "we can't leave him here either....he may stumble out and who knows what will happen.....if the empire knew of his existence who knows what they do to get him..."
Anstarra Silverain moves up and takes him by the arm. "C'mon, let's get on out of here. I'm sure there's people who'll want to meet you, and who you'll want to meet.."
Adeya Evenar reaches up to run her fingers through her hair once more. "Right, and one who doesn't know what the world is like now. And there is also that," she points out in agreement with Reis.
Khunbish Avagnar: Asier reaches up to rub at his eyes, "I am assuming then that the tower was completed and the energies used from it brought a calamity as was predicted by my colleagues?"
Anstarra Silverain: "If you're referring to the Crystal Tower, then lots of awful things happened. The GOOD news is it didn't kill everyone in the world like it was supposed to, according to the Sons of St Coinach."
Reis Okeya: "miss an how about he take him to either orrins or mr vael's home for the time being?"
Khunbish Avagnar: He nods his head a bit, "That is good, alright. Lead me to the Dzemael you mentioned."
Anstarra Silverain: "They're just one House in Ishgard.. a nation nearby. It's only a thousand years old, so kinda a baby compared to Allag."
Anstarra Silverain: "Alright, let's go.. be warned, it's chilly outside."
Anstarra Silverain: "Maybe we should bring him to the Ironworks..."
Jana Ridah: "Ground opened up and swallowed up the entire tower. That was some... Five thousand years ago."
Adeya Evenar twitches slightly, one of her hands going to rub at her arm. "On second thought, perhaps the Dzemael /are/ better than some other options," she mutters under her breath. Then she perks up slightly. "The Ironworks seems like it would be the best option. They're neutral enough, and I'm sure they're...." She hesitates. "More used to this sort of thing."
Anstarra Silverain: "Then it went and popped on up like a bad penny, after the most recent Calamity..."
Khunbish Avagnar: "Interesting... it was just being built when I submitted myself to be put into this body...barely ten stories tall..."
Reis Okeya: "....at least for the time being. And dont worry about the guard ill put him to sleep and we can make it look like there was nothing here to recover."
Anstarra Silverain: "Incidentally, Dalamud kinda backfired ALSO."
Adeya Evenar: "Very. Badly," she adds.
Khunbish Avagnar: "Dalamud?" he ponders their words, "I don't know about Dalamud."
Adeya Evenar purses her lips slightly. "It /could/ have been after you were stuck in there though. I don't know the timeframe," she admits.
Khunbish Avagnar: "Bahamut is one of the dragons worshipped by the Meracydians if I recall."
Adeya Evenar nods. "Sounds like the same one."
Anstarra Silverain: "Ah.. right, Allag was around quite some time, huh.. we only learn scraps, high points. Like sticking the God of the Meracydians into a moon-sized prison to suck power out of him..."
Jana Ridah: "Seems we have a bit of catching up to you. If you predate Bahamut, it's probably closer to six thousand years orso for you."
Anstarra Silverain: "It blew up, recently. The God was pissed..."
Khunbish Avagnar: "That sounds as stupid and dangerous as pulling energies from another plane."
Jana Ridah: "It's a little more complex, but that is basically what Allag tried to do."
Anstarra Silverain: "Doesn't it? Well, those responsible have been sacked."
Adeya Evenar: "On that, I believe we can agree."
Khunbish Avagnar: "Alright, we should get out of the warmth and me into some dignity."
Anstarra Silverain: "Alright, let's get out.. I need a bath, a drink, and probably a good fuck..."
Reis Okeya: "ill go and take care of the guard then"
Adeya Evenar: "Good idea."
Reis Okeya: "ill need some help carrying him though ill need to sedate him so he wont see what we are doing."
Adeya Evenar nods. "I can try to help, at least," she says as she goes over to join her.
Jana Ridah: "Good luck with that. I only know to sedate someone through a headlock."
Khunbish Avagnar: "Aether engineering and robotics here, the living body is a mystery to me."
Anstarra Silverain shrugs. "I can put him in a sleeper hold, then carry him..."
Reis Okeya reis kneels down to the guard " here let me finish up with your healing she places her hands on his chest and forehead and slowly pours her aether into him "...sleep now!" she places her hands over his forehead and uses her aether to knock out the man gently.
The group returns safely to Dzemael in Foundation easily enough. The end result, Dzemael wasn’t expecting them to find a person, let alone an Allagan. They offer to provide wardship and housing for the Allagan man Asier, who agrees to this. Likely house Dzemael wants to try and glean whatever they can from him.
§{Khunbish Adarkim}§