2017-08-13: The Pressure of Fear

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===============================<* Silver Coast *>===============================

The Silver Coast is the name given to the northeastern coastline of Ignas. The origins of the name are lost to history, but residents of the area tend to assume it reflects either the famous white-sand beaches northeast of Lacour, or the region's distance from the desertification slowly spreading out from the continent's heart.

The Coast and its surrounding territories are claimed by the Kingdom of Lacour, and contain a wide assortment of biomes, from plains to rocky hills and mountains to rolling beaches. Major roads between Lacour and its next two largest settlements - the Port City of Hilton and the Academy City of Linga - are heavily patrolled by the kingdom's soldiers, and are generally safe. The hinterlands, however, are plagued by monsters of all types; researchers in Linga can find a variety of uses for the body parts of monsters, and do a brisk trade with Adventurers seeking to protect the population and make a little coin to boot.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYbFnoRSW6M

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

"This way." Ethius says to those who accompany him, up along a trek into the mountains of the Lacour region. The plan to depart the region westward is in the final stages, and the mysterious white-haired Symbologist is accompanying them... but he has one final request, for his curiosity, before he can write off the entirety of the region in so far as his individual goals go. (Whatever they may be.)

The route is remote, scarcely seeing any travel at all, on an overcast day that is both warm and too humid to ever be comfortable venturing into the unknown. This, on top of some of the natural dangers - uneven paths, a few roving packs of monsters, and other unpleasantness - makes the whole journey one of those things that seem to be only worth doing as a great, big, fat favor.

The arduous side trip terminates before a wide, shallow crater with a stunning view of the nearby forests and distant civilization, as the sky dims darker by the minute. Ethius, with quarterstaff in left hand for use as a walking stick, gestures broadly out with his right to call for the group to come to a stop... and then gestures towards the crater.

"Approximately a year and a half ago," Ethius starts again as he turns to the rest, "this is where my memories begin." He says these words the same way he always does, with that same pacing and tone suggestive of a detached, informational neutrality. Alone, they should mean only what the words themselves mean.

This is, markedly, the first time he's ever being open about something like this, after months of evasiveness and questionable actions that should elicit suspicion and worry in just about any reasonable circumstance. This man is a killer, a vandal, and a loiterer, without question. His motives are, to date, still unknown.

"My question those of you with me today is thus," he says, "does this location hold any significance to any of you?" Does it? It is a remote mountain pass with nearly no useful vegetation for trade, hazardous terrain that makes it unfavorable for caravan routes, a lack of any man-made sculptures or other markings, and no satisfactory mineral surveying work to suggest the stone is worth excavating.

Through it all, this rare opennes by Ethius suggests one thing -

He is desperate, and is now asking for the closest thing he has to friends for help. 

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

There are many things about Ethius Hesiod that Catenna barely begins to understand. In some ways he's a lump to her - an opaque man who either sits on his secrets or cannot figure out how to voice them. But for the time being, he's at least a traveling companion, even if he's in many ways the caravan kinsman she understands the least - and that in and of itself makes him someone she'll help, even if it means following him off into Middle-of-Nowhere Peak.

She's carrying a new weapon belted at her hip - an ornate sword with a curved, engraved silver hilt and a few moonstones. It fits with her new outfit, a pair of loose blue-silver pants with her usual colourful pattern around the borders, matching plated boots and gauntlets, and an armoured bustier. Light fare, but better suited to a battle than her usual dress. She hasn't drawn the sword yet. She has, however, occasionally used her grappling hook to help the team up inclines.

Finally, bounding over a heavy rock, she steps up beside Ethius and gazes quietly down into the crater. The woman's pale grey eys narrow slightly, then relax as she lifts them to her reticent traveling companion.

He's opening up to them in a way he hasn't before. At some level Catenna had expected him to be more forthcoming than he usually is, but there's still something about it that strikes her as important - that he trusts them enough to ask for help. Her expression softens imperceptibly, mostly a relaxing of her eyes and a slight settling of her shoulders.

"Only that the Moon can be seen well from here - it is somewhere I might choose as a place of solitude, were I coming to worship. But I... do not recognize the place, nor any markings or signs here that may make it... rather distinct from any other like it."

She moves forward, coming up to stand next to Ethius. Whatever he may be, right now he's a man in need of help.

"Perhaps," she murmurs, "your first memories themselves may hold some clues... where you awoke, and how you found yourself when you did so." 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata is... not actually here!

As much as she'd like to come and visit with the rest of the CaraKin, some other duties apparently immediately got in the way -- duties that involved 'seeing her mom back to the Yggdrasil' in the wake of her recovery and wakefulness and telling her about dramatic reveals that she and her other friends really already knew about... but the confirmation was nice anyway. No, right now, Lunata is someplace elsewhere, practicing a dreadful and secret art.

A loud buzzing noise can be heard as Lunata attacks her opponents mercilessly, the corner attachments helping her to defeat lint and dust wherever she may find them!

Outside, two mechanics stare at each other to go, "Never seen a Gear pilot care so much about cleanin' up..."

"Did you see that she put a doily over her dashboard? C-cute..." 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

It was rare for Ethius to ask for assistance. So, when he had asked for people to accompany him she had readily agreed to go along with it. It was a way to learn more about the mysterious man that had somehow become a part of her circle of friends, and, perhaps, help him with the mysteries that were plaguing him.

This place, however...

It didn't strike her as particularly important, save for the fine view. She doesn't respond right away, however, instead kneeling down. She plunges a hand into the soil and pulls it back up before allowing it to sift through her gloved fingers, judging the quality of it and studying it for any peculiarities. She then straightens up and brushes off her hands.

"No, I'm afraid it doesn't...I don't think I've been here before. Or, at least, I don't remember if I have." She replies apologetically.

Her eyes stray to Catenna for a moment. She hadn't seen that new outfit of hers before today, and now that they were somewhat at rest she was better able to spot the sword. That was a new one.

"Hm...that's a good point." She agrees, with a nod toward Catenna. 

<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin is not wearing her new outfit--she had heard that it would be a bit of a hike, and while she adores her new dress, she is as ever practical. So, she's back to her everyday, practical garb. Not without a bit of a sigh, even thinking about it.

Spirit has enjoyed the hike up here, bounding along with the kind of energy Good Dogs seem to possess in near endless amounts. As the group comes to a halt, he sniffs, investigating with great interest a patch of mossy rock.

"I'm afraid that it does not hold any significance for me...but this should not surprise you, I suppose, since I am not originally of this world." 

<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

Matilda follows along with Ethius, taking stock of the mountains with a carefully neutral expression. She seems like she's trying to moderate some reaction or another, but it's a herculean effort to say the least; her body language tells a much different story, with Freischütz always at the ready and her shoulders slightly hunched.

When she's asked the question, Matilda has to take a moment. Eventually, she says, "There's nothing I can think of that would be of value here... well -- no, the summit might contain some rare herb or plant, actually... though I'm not actually certain the climate is right -- that'd be a cooler mountain..." Matilda puzzles through with her botanical knowledge, for a few moments. Then a small lightbulb seems to form over her head. "... though knowing what is plain about you, Mr. Hesiod..."

She muses for a moment, then says, "If we can't find answers here, we might try asking about this place in Marze. Their collection of texts on sorcerous studies, including symbology and demonology, are impressive, and might point to a truth that all of us would overlook and that you yourself would not remember. ... we'd have to cross the war front, though..." Not that fate hasn't been pointing her, at least, in that direction anyway.

(The truth of the matter, of course, is that Matilda just wants to kick the can down the road toward someone else because she's embarrassed at not having any answers.) 

<Pose Tracker> Marcus Rider has posed.

Although Kahm had surmised Ethius and his group would eventually come this way, he had known neither when or why. The latter wasn't terribly important to the overall operation, but the former meant keeping a good bead on the group and following them from a distance with nothing more than Ribaldy and whatever other Black Ties accompanied him for company. Stakeouts were ruled by this paradigm, where long periods of boredom preceded moments of short, intense activity with frightful consequences.

Fortunately the hard work bears fruit-topographical intelligence allowed the captain and his group take an alternate route that put them in a position above the trail and out of sight, able to both watch and hear the strange symbologist's group as they arrived at their destination. "Another amnesiac, huh?" He mused to himself, briefly attempting to mentally triangulate their present location with where Xantia, another amnesiac, was reportedly found before reasoning that he should do it later. The crater looked like something worth investigating, but the group's number was a little greater than what Kahm had expected.

That might have been a problem, had he not brought help.

First, he activates his commlink, "This is Yugh. I need aerial on the coordinates i'm about to give." He ordered, figuring the eyes in the sky would have an easier time scoping out a crater than he was about to.

Then, once everyone had said their piece, Kahm adds his own. His voice resonated over the natural walls of the mountain pass rather easily, though he himself was not yet seen.

"Tactically, it's a pretty good place to be ambushed."

He'll drop down then, recognizable to Ethius at least as 'Marcus Rider', the agent who'd accompanied him once on a previous dig. "Ethius Hesiod. For the crimes of vandalization and destruction of multiple priceless artifacts of Filgaian history, i'm to bring you in on behalf of my clients." Cerulean blue eyes flitted a glance towards the rest of his retinue, "The rest of you, I have no quarrel with."

Not that it mattered. He knew how these things went. 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Shalune... is also not here at present. She doesn't know Ethius quite as well as Jacqueline, after all - and while she's always eager to lend a hand or traipse across the wilderness, she's found herself with no end of distractions to tug her attention this way and that. It's not that she's forgotten Ethius' request, so much as there's just so much going on she hasn't yet had a chance to catch up.

For one, there's the CaraKin itself, in its most physical form - and Shalune's spent the last day or two poring over it, learning about the vehicle's more esoteric systems at a frighteningly rapid speed. She's adamant about being its mechanic on the road, after all, so she's always ready to point out that the more she knows about it the better; part of her is obviously not wanting to just leave everything to Jay, and she's already sketched out some very half-formed and unlikely plans to try to work out a persistent power source.

For two, there's Meredin Croze - and as a defacto adopted daughter, she's reasonably adamant on helping Lunata take her back to the relative comfort and safety of the Yggdrasil, having twigged pretty easily that the adventurer wasn't really back to her best. Not to mention, of course, that being on the craft allows her to check how things are going both with Diablo and the Rephaim.

"L-Lunie, I don't think you gotta clean the cockpit out that much..." Well, that's what she says... but she still got cowed into wielding a broom anyway, dunking it into a large bucket of soapy water to scrub down some of the marks and dirt from the Rephaim's exterior in the wake of its initial battle. 

<Pose Tracker> Ribaldy has posed.

Everyone knows the Black Ties aren't JUST thieves and arsonists. They're also mercenaries! It's just that... you've gotta be willing to be a certain kind of person to hire them, on account of how they are also thieves and arsonists.

After Marcus drops down, there is a pointed sound of shifting above, some dust and rocks settling as members of the gang emerge from behind convenient terrain. Unlike your standard Ties, these seem a little more... disciplined. They don't hoot and holler like idiots, they carry molotov cocktails in small holsters on their belts instead of in a huge canvas pouch, and they hold their scrap flamethrowers like they know how to use them.

You see, there are factions of a sort within the Black Ties, members who are drawn to the ideals and methods of specific Suits. Many of these particular Black Ties are beastmen of various stripes, drawn to one of their own.

An enormous German Shepherd-type Beastman rises from behind a boulder, grunting as he pushes it aside. He has two Day of Collapse-era flamethrowers attached to the huge fuel tank on his back, salvaged scraps of body armor strapped onto his body, and a custom-cut facemask attached to a skullcap on top of his head.

Ribaldy, Suit #3, ARMs Meister of the Black Ties, bares his teeth at Ethius and points a huge furry finger at him. "I heard about what you did. I don't like it when people sabotage excavated giant robots."

His eyes narrow, and he says with stone-cold seriousness, "Giant robots are cool." 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius brings his hand to his forehead as most the rest discuss a difficult truth for him to acknowledge... this place is of no significance to any of them. His only tie to it is that this is where his memories begin. If that's the case, this place is important in some way. He cannot fathom why.

"The origin point of my memories is why I have requested your appraisal," he states as Catenna comes to stand hear his side. His body language still remains... lumpy. As he generally seems to exist in a semi-permanent state of alertness to dangers - real or imagined - that he allows her to come as close as she does may in itself say volumes. "When I awoke..." He cuts himself off.

"I will agree, Miss Jay, that it does not appear this location appears to be of import to your craft... it should be no surprise that this is a path you have yet to travel, if so," Ethius seems to say in resignation, but if so, he says things in resignation the exact same way he does everything else.

"While true, Miss Kourin, your presence is nonetheless appreciated." Without Kourin's (and Spirit's!) help, the group would have been in a bind against at least one set of hostile creatures who, as it turns out, do not like being flash frozen.

"Yes, that... sounds a viable alternative, the issue of the ongoing war aside as you have mentioned." It's rare for Ethius to pause between words being said. Maybe that is what it sounds like when Ethius accepts the emotional concept of 'relief'? "Should the opportunity arise, Miss Matilda, you have my appreciation for the cooperation."

He digs something out of his poncho. It's not quite in view of anyone (maybe Catenna if she leans a bit to one side, reallly close)... except for the new arrival.

A strange, shiny, metallic-looking rock. The very moment another voice joins in, it disappears back under the poncho as though something Ethius seems intent not to share in the open, but 'Marcus' gets more than just a one-liner and the element of surprise.

His eyes track to the movement from behind the large boulder, to the bulky double flamethrower-bearin' Beastman, standing unflinching to a succinctly worded grievance that is not theirs alone.

The Symbologist's response is to tap the end of the quarterstaff against the rock underneath his feet. The cracking sound it makes is loud. (Matilda and Jay may remember the intensity of this from just a short time after the Adlehyde Invasion - that same spark of 'strange mostly quiet stoic sorcerer man, now agitated.')

"Mister Marcus." Ethius speaks, maintaining that same tone even after the aggressive posture. "Ribaldy." This is the first time the two of them meet, but Ribaldy's got a hefty bounty as one of the top names - the Suits - of the infamous Black Ties.

"I appreciate you are forthcoming and specific with your request." He takes a few steps forward. His eyes hold focus on the both of them. Those staring eyes that just... take, and take, and take all it sees, and give back almost nothing. Is he setting himself up for another unwelcome surprise ambush by a third party?

"I cannot comply with your clients' interest at this time." That's how one says 'up yours' in diplomatic fashion. "As before, whatever the circumstances may be... I will do as I must."

Must he, then, continue to seek, destroy, and forever erase ancient Filgaian history with imputiny... is that what he's saying? Does he hold resolute to whatever his goals are, even before a hardened mercenary(?) and Ribaldy, ARMs Meister of the Black Ties?! 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline contemplates this. Ethius seemed almost...resigned, to the fact that they were unable to provide any additional information here.

"I see...well, we can keep searching. It's possible that what you're looking for might be under-"

Jacqueline is interrupted by a sudden, unfamiliar voice. She'd never seen 'Marcus Rider' before, so his appearance isn't too significant to her. He...almost seemed to be showing off a bit, however, in her eyes. She folds her arms in front of her and assesses him carefully. An 'ambush'...

"On whose authority, Mr. Rider?" Jacqueline asks, her voice harsh. His 'clients'? He was working for someone...but who? "I'm going to need to see some credentials before I can even begin to consider handing one of my own over to you."

Of course, even if she relented, it seemed Ethius wasn't going to come quietly. She wasn't going to let him stand alone.

Her eyes narrow slightly as overly-dressed men begin to emerge from the environment. She recognises these particular thugs.

"...Really, the Black Ties? You brought them?" She comments, shaking her head in disgust. Any respect for Marcus she might've had went down a few notches. Her eyes soon land on the Beastman who seemed to be taking point.

"Apparently you haven't heard the full story, or you would know that the Metal Demons were after that particular 'giant robot'. I daresay what happened to it is far better than it falling into their hands." She scolds, shaking her head. 

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna's gaze briefly catches something - a glimpse of Ethius drawing something out of his poncho. She doesn't call him out on drawing it, just looking up to him with a quiet nod. "Perhaps there is some evidence here that is not immediately evident," she begins to suggest.

Before she can say much else, someone not in the party suddenly starts popping off about how great an ambush spot this is, and Catenna immediately snaps her hand to her side. She didn't bring her ARM - it got flooded into near-uselessness during the battle on the shore recently - so she draws her sword instead, eyes snapping towards...

...Towards whomever that is. She's never met Marcus Rider but it doesn't really matter, because he's got thugs and a gigantic Beastman with him - thugs in black ties, no less. Her eyes narrow and she shifts her footing, holding her sword out to one side, and anyone with even a moderate level of skill will be able to tell that she doesn't know how to use it in more than a basic way - her posture looks cool but really doesn't protect her all that much.

"You have a quarrel with me if you wish to harm this man," she says in her heavy accent, maintaining her position beside Ethius. "Or any of our travel companions. What he did that day... there was purpose to it. Regardless, even were it not so, the bonds of a kinship... they are not so weak that we would consider surrendering one of our companions to you."

Inside, she's praying to Celesdue that Jacqueline and the others will back her up on this one, because she's really not confident in her ability to fight one of the Black Ties, saying nothing of a whole pack of them.

Jacqueline does back her up. It helps. She lets out the breath she was holding. 

<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

"I do not think they care about the full story, Miss Jacqueline," Kourin says calmly, drawing her rapier. She can tell which way this is heading. "Spirit, hide!" she instructs the dog, who immediately goes to find a good hiding spot. It's a game! He'll be so happy when Mistress says he can come out and gives him pettings and treats!

"I, too, will stand with Mr. Ethius. You will not have him this day, curs." 

<Pose Tracker> Ribaldy has posed.

Ribaldy's eyes track Spirit as he sprints away, even as he tries to keep himself puffed up.

.o(...cute...) 

<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

On the one hand, Matilda has no specific knowledge of the group that presently accosts Ethius and company. On the other hand, one of them is well-known -- a Suit of the Black Ties. Instantly, her body language changes again; rather than merely being closed off, it seems... small. Almost wounded.

That seeming flinch only lasts a moment, though -- the crack of Ethius's staff gets her to focus, and the barrel of the 'Freeshooter' snaps up. Despite 'Marcus' being the one who seems to be taking point, it's Ribaldy who gets the weapon pointed at him as Matilda subtly circles closer to Ethius.

"There's only one way this ends," Matilda says, and perhaps it's Ethius's agitation that rubs off on her... but the usual nerves Matilda broadcasts seem to be completely gone. "You aren't going to like it." Her white coat billows in the mountain air, and Matilda reaches into her coat to shove a box of... something into the Freischütz's back end. 

<Pose Tracker> Marcus Rider has posed.

Jacqueline stepped forward to speak for her group, full of fiery confidence and defiance for any authority Marcus could even claim he represented.

The man looked nonplussed.

"This doesn't concern you." He states flatly. "All you need to know is that you meddle in affairs well beyond your station."

He glanced to the side at Ribaldy and his men when they elicited reactions. The black ties notoriety was something a double-edge sword, but this alias was never going to remain untainted forever. "I am not responsible for their services, but neither will I turn them away." The man offered rather succinctly.

Each member in turn states their own custom brand of unity with the target, who declares his own refusal quite cleary. The agent's eyes watch Ethius with rapt attention for the changes in his stance and demeanor, narrowing at side of his poncho where that trinket has disappeared to-something to focus on.

Far above, no more than a speck in the sky, a Gebler surveillance craft flew overhead and honed in on the coordinates they'd been fed for the crater Ethius had led this group. They'd feed analysis to Kahm as they received it, but for now they were still trying to get the lens focused properly.

"Very well." He said, drawing a long subtle blade of his own as her carefully assessed the threat of each individual combatant. "If you will not come of your own will, you will be subdued."

The order had been clear: Ethius Hesiod could no longer be allowed to do as he pleased.

"Ribaldy, try and isolate the target from the rest of them with your flames." He says by way of the beastmean, stepping off one foot and advancing with a surprising burst of speed and straight steel at the symbologist. His approach came as if on the press of a jet stream, wind gusting through the enclosed path behind him. 

GS: Marcus Rider has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Straight Thrust!
GS: CRITICAL! Ethius Hesiod guards a hit from Marcus Rider's Straight Thrust for 66 hit points!
GS: Marcus Rider has completed his action.

BGM SHIFT (BOSS MODE): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw49mOVybuE

<Pose Tracker> Ribaldy has posed.

Ribaldy's ears wilt slightly as Ethius's companions start backing him up. Why can't these things ever go the easy way? It's not even like they're going to be particularly rude with the man.

He does a quick headcount, and his ears wilt a little more. Understanding of the pressures brought upon people being arrestedkidnappedgenerally seized, Ribaldy brought some wrapped sandwiches back in the wagon. He does not have enough for everyone.

Anyway, one of the Drifters is addressing him directly, and it's rude to ignore that even in a standoff. "Nahhhh, I saw the whole thing. Through binoculars. From, you know, a distance... look, we can beat up and get back a cool robot if the Metal Demons have it. You can't unmelt it though, trust me, there's a lot of research into that."

Then Kourin says a race word! Ribaldy's lips droop. That sets the Black Ties to jeering and booing her. A man with a pig nose shouts, "He's a purebred!"

While the reputation of Marcus Rider is taking a hit by working with the Black Ties, at least something can be said that he's working with Ribaldy's faction. In addition to the dogman's love of technology and progress, they share a certain level-headedness and don't hold much love of violence for its own sake. Most of the men and women here have sad stories, and have ended up in the Ties for protection and stability.

However, they are still Black Ties. A sad story doesn't justify turning to crime, it merely explains it. Ribaldy reaches up and swings the facemask down, the darkened glass shading his eyes.

Matilda makes her threat. Ribaldy swings his flamethrowers into his hands, the pilot lights sparking on. "I know."

As his good boys (and girls) likewise strap on their own scrap-metal facemasks and goggles, the beastman steps forward, his posture changing. He was intimidating before - he was also slouching. He seems to swell as he takes one of his flamethrowers and squeezes down on the trigger. The scrap ARMs the Ties use are poor copies of these very weapons, once held by his master and Jack Vantabrack, former leader. Those are practically melee weapons. This one paints a line of flame several yards out ahead of him, lancing out to create a wall of fire behind Ethius. Loathe to make the first move, the only person in direct risk is the woman with her own gun drawn at him, who circled into a rather inconvenient position. 

GS: Ribaldy has attacked Matilda Whitehead with Burn Line!
GS: Ribaldy has completed his action.
GS: Matilda Whitehead takes a solid hit from Ribaldy's Burn Line for 96 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

One by one, the Caravan Kinship steps forward and throws their lot in a man whose very nature does not find a place in the dictionary anywhere near the word 'trust.' A disparate fellowship of wanderers, specialists, and merchants, they all take their first step together as a whole identity against something that, individually, would spell certain doom for them.

For once, Ethius does not ask the rest to stand down. He does not so much as look over his shoulder as if uncertain. Those eyes remain level upon the hostiles before them.

This is what trust looks like.

'Marcus' moves in on his mark to run him through. Adopting a quick two-hand grip of the quarterstaff in question, he positions it to stop the blade from ramming all the way through the abdomen and out. Instead, it succeeds handily in voiding Ethius' balance and sending him to a sprawling roll down a decline, his footing proving not so certain against their straight thrust. Ethius finds himself in a vulnerable kneel, an advantage still belonging to the apparent mercenary Marcus.

"Kffph!" Ethius grunts. He internally measures whether Marcus' closing speed might prevent him from successfully getting off a good spell, and the wall of fire now moving to isolate him - thanks to being pushed back - it would seem Ribaldy and Marcus already have the situation down to a tee.

Wordlessly, Ethius rises back to his feet for a return offensive to meet Marcus head-on - whirling once horizontally with the end of the quarterstaff and transitioning into a roundhouse kick. 

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Marcus Rider with Combo Strike!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Of course this is going to go badly, Catenna realizes. It's not like this is the first time she's dealt with thugs or mercenaries - though usually not this many at once.

She doesn't even think to look up; the idea of Gebler flying machines is so far beyond Catenna that she's barely aware of what Gebler is, much less how machines can even fly. Instead her attention's on the bunch in front of them - and as Marcus Rider pulls a sword and jet-jumps Ethius, Catenna leaps to one side with a gasp, her eyes widening. She hits the ground and rolls, coming back up to a knee.

Despite the fact that she's got a sword in hand, Catenna doesn't do the obvious-seeming thing and go for the close-range duel. Instead she drops her left hand to one of the pouches hanging from the broad belt she's hooked low about her hips. Coming out from the little leather satchel is a small stone tablet, nestling snugly into her gloved left hand.

The dog one starts hurling fire around - mostly at Matilda. Catenna quickly darts away from the guttering flame; she ends up dashing wide, dipping around the worst of it and coming around off to Ethius's other side. All this flame's making it hard for her to get close enough to seriously support Ethius in a melee.

She doesn't need to be that close. Clutching her Medium close to her breast, Catenna utters a few words in her own language, her voice low but sonorous and carrying with a subtle echo. "Celesdue chadani, emroa chadanem, nirey chadani...."

Unlike most casters, there is almost never a spectacular visual effect when Catenna invokes the magic of the Guardian of the Moon - merely a feeling, a subtle groan in the air, a faint distortion of light as gravity magnifies itself. As Marcus moves, the air around him shimmers a little - and unless he's quick to move, things will begin to grow heavier. Movement will come more sluggishly, as though he were forced to battle with a body that weighed four or five times itself. Catenna simply ratchets up the gravity in the hopes of pinning Marcus down and crushing him under his own weight. 

GS: Catenna has attacked Marcus Rider with Grav!
GS: Catenna has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin likewise acts with magic rather than blade, at least at first. Her enemy has a ranged weapon, spitting flames.

That's fine. Kourin retaliates with ice. 

GS: Kourin has attacked Ribaldy with Icy Snowball!
GS: Kourin has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

Unfortunately for Matilda, she's picked a terrible hill to die on; broad, sweeping fire like this is exactly the kind of thing the compounder *isn't* equipped to deal with, and she's forced to move forward and separate herself from her companions to even try to escape it.

It doesn't work out too hot; Matilda places herself within close quarters and remains on fire. The worst of it is in her coat... which means she's going to have to discard it. Some of the vials she carries could explode -- to say nothing of the boxes of *bullets*.

Whipping the white labcoat off dramatically, Matilda reveals the strange future-metal-over-synthetic-fabric armor she wears underneath it. With a glance behind her at the line of fire Ribaldy's left, she calls to her allies, "If you don't think you can cross safely, stay back! I'll return to a fire support position as soon as it's safe!"

With a hard leap to the side, Matilda forces herself into a controlled skid against the ground -- as much to put out the fire that remains on her body as to get better positioning -- and fires a three-round burst at Ribaldy before spraying in the general direction of the rest of the Black Ties. 

GS: Matilda Whitehead has attacked Ribaldy with Holding The Trigger!
GS: Matilda Whitehead has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata looks up for a moment from where the two Lunies are in the midst of their cleaning... ... ...before she suddenly slips onto the seat and looks to Shalune. "I feel like... something is happening." She looks towards the mechanic with a nod and says, "Let's get Big Shal and go, Shalune! I don't know what's happening, but I feel like Jay and the others might be in trouble..."

When the pink-haired mechanic is out of the way, Lunata closes the cockpit and reaches for several switches, flicking them in tandem to what she recalls Ge Ramda emitting upon her mind as the sphere starts to oscillate and ebb with a noise that's probably still best described as a low-thrumming, high-pitching 'woob-woob-woob-woob...'

"Mister Maitreya, please let me deploy!"

"... you sure? Okay, Lunata, but what's the codeword?"

A pause. "Um, I said please...?"

"Come on, Lunata, we discussed this."

"I-- um, Lunata, launching?"

"Closer..."

"I Have Contororu...?"

"... Colder..."

A longer pause, then a gasp of 'oh!'

"Lunata, Rephaim... ikimasu!"

"Good girl." The Yggdrasil catapult launch lets out a little hiss as it extends forward, the sandcruiser's bays stretching out as warning alarms echo and a trail of lines stretch out in front of her. "... wait, didn't I say that too early?" 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"'Beyond your station'? By the Guardians, I hate you already. You really need to work on your diplomacy." Jacqueline replies, shaking her head. "You're a fool if you think this doesn't concern me."

He was one of hers. She wasn't going to just stand by and let him get abducted. With the way this situation was shaping up, she doubted anyone would see him again.

Her confidence was buoyed by the fact that the rest of her allies were in agreement. Their intentions were united, here. They would need to be, if they were going to handle opponents like this.

Her attention is distracted away slightly as the Black Tie - Ribaldy, Ethius had called him - actually responds to her statement.

"And just how much destruction do you think would they use it for before you get that far? Certainly even someone like you can realize that letting them get their hands on it for even a moment is unacceptable." She replies, shaking her head.

No offense to Riesenlied, but the rest of her people were far too dangerous to let them have something like that.

It's fortunate for her that her attention is on him at the moment - she sees him ready that flamethrower and is able to jump back.

A line of fire seperates her from Ethius, and Jacqueline grits her teeth. This was problematic...but, as a Crest Sorceress, it wasn't as if she couldn't still support him.

She draws a Crest and invokes it. Chunks of earth and rubble rip from the ground and launch at 'Marcus'. Jacqueline attempts to time it with Catenna's Grav, hoping to use the force of her spell to pull them into him.

"Okay! Just be careful!" She shouts back at Matilda, once her spell is released. 

GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Marcus Rider with Rubble-Rouser!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
GS: Marcus Rider guards a hit from Ethius Hesiod's Combo Strike for 57 hit points!
GS: Marcus Rider takes a glancing hit from Jacqueline Barber's Rubble-Rouser for 43 hit points!
GS: Marcus Rider takes a solid hit from Catenna's Grav for 89 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Marcus Rider!
GS: Ribaldy takes a solid hit from Matilda Whitehead's Holding The Trigger for 90 hit points!
GS: Ribaldy guards a hit from Kourin's Icy Snowball for 55 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Shalune pauses in the midst of one brushstroke to blink for a long moment, looking up towards the white-haired girl as Lunata seats herself properly in the cockpit. The pink-haired mechanic who'ss been doing her best to prove Ribaldy wrong as of late first dithers towards uncertainty and disbelief - the idea that Lunata can sense Jacqueline in trouble is a little difficult to swallow on the face of it - but then her expression firms up when she considers that Lunata's always been at least a little psychic. Add Ge Ramda into the mix, and who knows what to make of that sensation Lunata's feeling.

Besides, in times like these, it's probably better safe than sorry.

"--right!" she calls up instead, carefully shoving the bucket and broom to one side. A quick dash sends her to her backpack, scooping it up onto her shoulders, and then towards the next cargo bay over. Big Shal may be hopelessly dwarfed compared to most Gears, about a quarter of the Rephaim's size, but the golem is taking up that spot anyway - and lumbers forwards in slow, purposeful steps to allow Shalune to grab the ladder up onto the scaffolding on its back.

"You heard her - let's go!" she encourages the golem as she latches the pot into the receptacle set into the Golem's back; there's a low but rising whine in response, as some of Big Shal's lesser-used systems power up. Together, human and golem face the launch ramp--

"U-um. Lunie, can we-- get a lift?"

Learning how to deploy is hard, y'know? 

<Pose Tracker> Marcus Rider has posed.


Normally Marcus would have brought his personal weapon, the anemo blade, to this encounter. A marvel of Solarian technology, the blade had ether capacitor built into it at the nanomolecular level-a channeling blade, fit only for those warriors so fine-tuned in their capabilities to be called 'Elements'...or near enough.

The sword he brought to bear against Ethius was no such thing. It was inert and plain-forged, a simple tool intended to deprive the symbologist of whatever inherent advantaged he seemed to possess against advanced mechanics, as they'd learned with Lieutenant Ordell.

Theory seems to win out in practice when his blow staggers the mage, and the agent is quick on Ethius's heels as the other tumbles down the hill. Ribaldy's flames cast Marcus's scorching shadow for the decline as he leaps, meeting Ethius in a clash of steel and tempered yew.

"Why do you destroy the artifacts?" He demands this answer of the symbologist. "For yourself, or for someone else?"

Marcus ably guard Ethius's first staff strike with the side of his blade, holding it lengthwise along his body and and advancing forward to limit the weapon's reach advantage. He is less prepared for the roundhouse kick, but still manages to pull mostly out of the way so that the tip of the man's boot only glances his head-right before he catches with his hand.

The two are locked. Marcus slowly brings his blade to bear against the man's abdomen.

"In Lolithia's Tomb, you knew how to detonate an explosive you could not have possibly seen." He said with growing suspicion. "And now you claim to be yet another amnesiac. What are you?"

The quaking of earth alerts him to danger seconds before Jacqueline's attack hit, and he'll shove Ethius away to get clear of a direct hit, lifting his arm to protect his face from a pelting by flung dirt and rocks that assaults his body instead. Catenna's manipulation of gravity is a trickier thing to deal with, the timing of it having the frustrating effect of pulling many of those flung rocks back at the center of the distortion. One of these knocks Marcus good along the forehead, drawing some blood.

Lovely. He thinks, estimating how much time before the bleeding starts to give him trouble in his right eyes. The effect of the gravity was troublesome for his moments at first-the man takes on step seemingly at strain, but then invokes some unknown forces that seems to lift him with a lighter ease. Something unseen was counteracting Catenna's gravity field.

"I did warn you both." Marcus states, hurling one dark object with surprising carriage towards Catenna. The device will sprout three whistling, weighted cables when close enough and try to ensnare her.

For Jacqueline, he conjures something entirely different: A whip of arcing blue energy the extended form his hand, slicing through the flame wall and cracking across her body in a vicious snap. All this is accomplished in a single fluid motion as the man hones in on Ethius again, the same rapturous energy dancing along the tip his blade as it seeks the symbologist's chest. 

GS: Marcus Rider has attacked Catenna with Tactical Bola!
GS: Marcus Rider has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Anemo Whip!
GS: Marcus Rider has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Shock Thrust!
GS: Marcus Rider takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Marcus Rider has completed his action.

DC: MISS! Catenna completely evades Tactical Bola from Marcus Rider!

GS: Jacqueline Barber critically Guards a hit from Marcus Rider's Anemo Whip for 17 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Ribaldy has posed.

"That ain't the point!" Ribaldy yells back at Jacqueline, voice booming over the flames. "I got a friend working toward a greener Filgaia by any means necessary! Even though stuff sucks right now, we gotta make it better!" His blood up, he shoots a gout of flame into the air with his left gun. "There's so much we can learn from even just one'a those things! Anyone that's gonna go around breaking them's gotta answer to me!"

The Ties are into it, whooping and cheering the Suit's words as they hurl molotovs around basically at random, setting the stage with pillars of flame and spreading out to surround the fight in a loose circle.

They very carefully leave a flameless space around where Spirit currently lurks, because they don't want to have to get in the ring with Ribaldy and Fargo later for lessons.

Matilda fires at Ribaldy and gets to learn exactly the kind of tough stuff the beastman is made out of. Despite being kind of a bookish nerd, Ribaldy works with big heavy metal all the time, constantly running all over the place looking for cool new things. His muscles are like iron. The shot manages to get around his erratic armor to punch into one arm, drawing blood from what looks dismayingly like mere flesh wounds.

This makes him glance over in time to see a sphere of ice spinning through the air toward him. Ribaldy simply lifts one flamethrower and slams it down into it in mid-air, cruelly dashing a lot of it to the ground, though shards of ice spray into his face, plinking off his faceplate and jabbing into his muzzle.

One went up his nose! Ribaldy sneezes forcefully, the shockwave sending a shiver through his body. He shakes out his head, jowls fluttering. Ugh, fighting.

He returns fire, lifting his flamethrowers in two different directions. Two gouts of flame roll out - one toward Kourin in simple retaliation, the other toward Jacqueline to put a period on his previous statement rather than anything else. Ribaldy then sees Matilda turn away and suddenly springs at her, the ground cracking from the force of his dash.

He is hilariously strong. He impacts Matilda with his body to try and knock her off balance first and foremost, and then: "DORAAAAA!" He uses the flamethrowers like extensions of his arms to try and scoop her up and slam her into the ground. He has not done her the service of turning the pilot lights off first. "Just because I don't like this doesn't mean you've got time to look away!" he barks. That's it - look big and scary, get the attention. Take some of the heat off. 

GS: Ribaldy has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Ball Fire!
GS: Ribaldy has attacked Kourin with Ball Fire!
GS: Ribaldy has attacked Matilda Whitehead with Primed and Ready to BORK!
GS: Ribaldy has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Matilda Whitehead takes a solid hit from Ribaldy's Primed and Ready to BORK for 219 hit points!
GS: Jacqueline Barber takes a solid hit from Ribaldy's Ball Fire for 69 hit points!
GS: Kourin takes a solid hit from Ribaldy's Ball Fire for 74 hit points!
GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a glancing hit from Marcus Rider's Shock Thrust for 64 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin is grateful to see the gap in the flames near Spirit, and raises her blade in a silent salute before falling back into a ready stance--and near instantly whirling to evade a ball of flames rushing at her. She cries out as she is hit in the shoulder by the fire, but quickly extinguishes the flames with a burst of her ice magic--and then hurls another ball of ice at Ribaldy in a quick counterattack. 

GS: Kourin has attacked Ribaldy with Icy Snowball!
GS: Kourin has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

No offense to Riesenlied either, but Catenna's pretty convinced that even Riesenlied shouldn't be trusted with Golems from the past. That goes double for whoever those guys in the ship were. She has no clue what their game was but it can't be good.

The effects of the gravity spell will linger for a time, setting muscles to twitching and straining - but as Marcus hurls something at her, it's enough to snap Catenna out of her casting. Her eyes snap forwrd, tracking after the whirling thing even as she begins to move on instinct. The hurtling bola sprouts its whistling cables - and the priestess drops into a half-crouch, then springs up and forward with a long, soaring leap. Her ner pants ripple around her legs as she flips feet over head in the air. It's the kind of acrobatic jump she couldn't have pulled off with her usual skirt-and-top ensemble but can pull off here.

It pays off: The bolas whistles through the space she'd occupied just a minute ago. It hits the ground. A couple of seconds later, so does Catenna, though she's quite a bit closer to Marcus now, having hurtled most of the way over the flames Ribaldy and his minions are spewing.

"We would have lost our opportunity to learn anything from that golem if the Metal Demons had seized it!" she snaps tersely as she sweeps her sword across her body. Then she fixes Marcus with a look - and glances sidelong towards Ethius, as though to check if he's still alright.

Catenna once again passes up what ought to be a golden opportunity to engage Marcus at close range. Instead she hops back again and turns to her Medium.

Her chanting mounts once more. The power of gravity swells again. This time the force is not so crushing; while the air does again shimmer around Marcus, it doesn't compact him again. Instead, even as he tries to counteract the spell and lighten himself, gravity will pull back on him with an insistent, tugging pressure, seeking to encumber his limbs and apply a steady downward pressure that'll serve mainly to try and slow him down for the others to target.

Catenna sets her jaw, scowling as she casts. She's no elite swordsman and no powerful sorceress. But one thing she can do well is support her companions and encumber her enemies.

She'll hope that's enough to keep Ethius safe from harm. 

GS: Catenna has attacked Marcus Rider with Press!
GS: Catenna has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

Well, no one's going to top that. Matilda is caught in the exact middle of a reload cycle as Ribaldy comes in -- she was expecting him to stay on the outs instead of closing, and she pays for it with severe burns on her underarms and subsequently gets planted square in the ground.

She stays there for a while, her screams eventually becoming closer to whimpers as the adrenaline starts to hit her. She pries herself up off the ground, one of her arms hanging a little limply; she pushes on Freischütz's barrel with it weakly, collapsing it into a smaller bullpup configuration.

In the end, she elects to just put the weapon back at her belt for now. If Ribaldy is going to close with her, there'll be a time and a place to use it -- but that time and place isn't right this second, that's plainly obviously. Instead, she ducks low and steps in toward him, replying, "You've -- you've made that abundantly clear," now focusing all her effort on him instead of on the Black Ties as a whole.

One arm -- the one less wounded in Ribaldy's nasty slam -- comes up across Ribaldy's midsection, while -- for lack of another arm to use as a fulcrum -- Matilda instead hooks her leg around behind the Beastman's, trying to slam him into the ground with as much force as she can muster.

It would be a simple CQC-style takedown if it weren't for the fact that she follows it up with as much stomping as she can muster. She can't beat the much larger beastman on strength -- but if she can keep him down for a moment...!

"I assume there's no chance of us finding out wno you're working for," she breathes, voice ragged as she tries to keep herself steady. This is about the worst positioning she could ask for... 

GS: Matilda Whitehead has attacked Ribaldy with Planting a Seed!
GS: Matilda Whitehead has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline sees the energy whip coming directly for her. Another Crest is drawn and a pillar of earth rises from the ground. Some of the energy gets through, but most of it is absorbed by the stone.

"Don't try to act like you have the moral high-ground here." She retorts. Unfortunately, with her attention on Marcus, though she hears Ribaldy's response she doesn't see his attack coming until it's too late. She tries to evade, but the gout of flame strikes her solidly. She recoils back, slightly aflame. This is extinguished quickly, and she turns her attention squarely on him.

"Honestly...I understand your sentiment. My friends and I, we're working toward a better world, too. But 'any means necessary' isn't the way! The world isn't going to get any greener if you burn it all to ash in the process!" She shouts.

She'd like to help Matilda out here, with a potion or a spell...but with her proximity to Ribaldy, any help she could try to send out would be easily intercepted, and any spells she could try ran the risk of friendly fire.

"Matilda, disengage!" She calls out, before turning her attention to Marcus.

Unless Matilda could figure out a way to do it on her own, her only hope right now was to try to take out Marcus directly. He claimed to not be working with the Black Ties...but it was all too convenient. They might flee if Marcus is dealt with.

The air around Marcus will crackle dangerously as she draws and invokes her next Crest - this will be the only warning he gets before a bolt of lightning crashes down toward him. 

GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Marcus Rider with Lightning Strike!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius' eyes meet Marcus' as the two find themselves in deadlock. Eyes meet eyes. Ethius, for all the excitement surrounding him, does not change what of his expression is visible, as Marcus asks a question that many may yet have. Why does he destroy the artifacts?

Ethius does not respond.

For yourself, or for someone else?

Ethius does not respond.

His eyes never change at these questions. Usually there should be some tell, some recognition, when looking a man in the eyes in interrogation that it might be something they shouldn't talk about. He seems to be missing this reflex in its entirety. No one can be that good.

There's one more directly related to their time together - that strange feat with the explosive he could not see, detonated as though aware of what it is and how one handles it. The way he chose to wait before he even got on the elevator to begin with - all very, very suspicious.

Ethius' eyes don't change. He doesn't spe--

"I am simply a man possessed of curiosity." Oh, so he does speak! With that same tone of voice, even while in mortal combat. It reeks of practice, it reeks of hand-waving, it reeks of dismissal. It cannot be the truth, but those are the words he seems to see fit to hang onto. Who or what gives him the authority and/or clout to do what he does, with no clear affiliations outside of this ragtag merchant group?

He must be hiding something. He can't simply... not know!!

For the sudden lifting of stone pillars in such close proximity, Ethius should show some discomfort. Some surprise. Some kind of disorientation, as Jay lines up the spell beyond the wall of fire. There is no such thing - Ethius is so familiar with Jay's favorite selection of Crest Graphs that he understands when and where to move the moment he gets a sense of it. His movement works with the push of 'Marcus' to see the both of them back. Where Catenna brings in the gravitational distortions to impede their opponent's progress, Ethius should find it a keen opportunity to land a decisive strike as he has against outlaws and hostile wildlife throughout his time with the Caravan Kinship.

In the choas, Marcus slips in past his guard. Ethius jerks back a hard left, his entire body shuddering as the tip of the blade scrapes just against his chest, drawing a bit of blood. One jolt of electricity is all one needs in order to disorient him from a swift return strike, staggering back with a hand on his chest.

That blood on the blade is a sample to work with for later.

A loud exhale later, Ethius plants the tip of the quarterstaff against the rock and leaps forward, spinning about with his grip on the staff as he tries to slam his feet against the inquisitive mercenary(?) several times over, working in tandem with Catenna's weighty interference and the lightning strikes. 

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Marcus Rider with Tornado Strike!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
GS: Ribaldy critically Guards a hit from Matilda Whitehead's Planting a Seed for 25 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Ribaldy takes a solid hit from Kourin's Icy Snowball for 120 hit points!
GS: Marcus Rider guards a hit from Catenna's Press for 0 hit points!
GS: Slow! Statuses applied to Marcus Rider!
GS: Marcus Rider critically Guards a hit from Jacqueline Barber's Lightning Strike for 26 hit points!
GS: Marcus Rider guards a hit from Ethius Hesiod's Tornado Strike for 80 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Marcus Rider has posed.

"These men have done more for Filgaia than any of you have." Marcus adds casually to the general atmosphere of principles and philosophy that somehow seemed to float over all this menacing combat. Ethius had failed meet any of his questions all the while, finally speaking only with the most flatlined of responses before they'd been forced to break that violent coupling.

The man was too calm, too level, to unreactive to the stimuli around him. It would be one thing if he was a man of Solaris, a trained and true Gebler operative...but there was no way that could be the case.

His blade finds purchase and bite, drawing away with a shade of crimson on it's length. "Hm." He noted "You do bleed, at least."

That would be useful later. For now, he must contend with several irritants at once.

The fact that Catenna and Jacqueline both seemed to be mages were to their advantage. Marcus was a rather melee-focused fighter, so doling spells at him from a distance was a rather effective tactic. Unfortunately, Catenna had violated that stable principle by getting within range.

She seems to strengthen the effect of gravity on him, and the agent feels this in the way his movements seemed to ply through thicker volumes of air. It wasn't enough to root him, but it was enough to be a nuisance. He'd have to manage his actions carefully, lest he be prematurely exhausted.

Best to take care of her quick, then.

"You don't actually know how to use that blade, do you?" Marcus asks, turning towards the woman as Ethius reels from, bearing the point his blade down on her in a straight, finely aimed thrust. Although his adoption of stance was slow, his forward momentum was not-it almost seemed like he floated over the ground.

Minute disturbances in the air's ionization patterns foretold Jacqueline's next assault, which was something of a misfortune to wield against Marcus consider his field of etheric expertise. The bolt of lightning streaks down and around the man instead, swirling about him as if guided by that same unknown force, his only sufferance the brief play of errant sparks.

"That." He flatly declares. "Was a mistake."

With a mental command, the accumulate spell explodes back at Jacqueline with additional force added by Marcus, branching off and reaching for Matilda and Kourin as well in branching tributaries of electric current.

He accomplished just as Ethius launched himself at the black-dressed man, meeting his assault with a furious blow-and-trade of bladestrikes and half-blocks that saw both men with more bruises than they had before. Marcus will wait for a moment of opening and seize it, smashing through the symbologist's with what seemed like sheer force of a will and driving the blade through-along with all the electrical potential he'd held over from Jacqueline's spell, seeking to turn the man into a live current.

"Playing the fool will get you nowhere with me. I will know your purpose. 

GS: Marcus Rider has attacked Catenna with Heartseeker!
GS: Marcus Rider has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Helldriver!
GS: Marcus Rider has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Anemo Storm!
GS: Marcus Rider has attacked Kourin with Anemo Storm!
GS: Marcus Rider has attacked Matilda Whitehead with Anemo Storm!
GS: Marcus Rider takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Marcus Rider has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Jacqueline Barber guards a hit from Marcus Rider's Anemo Storm for 72 hit points!

DC: MISS! Catenna completely evades Heartseeker from Marcus Rider!

<Pose Tracker> Ribaldy has posed.

Ribaldy doesn't really get hot about the rejoinder: "I didn't join a gang and expect the moral high ground, y'know?" He's trying not to pay much attention to Matilda's sounds of pain. He shrugs toward Jacqueline despite the situation, even as the girl recovers and begins to grapple him. "It's just... y'know. Look, it sucks, but I'd rather the Metal Demons get ahold of it than it get flat-out destroyed because of the precedent, right?"

Matilda jerks. He shifts his weight. She can feel something pop in his knee, and hear a grunt interrupt his speech, but it's like trying to drag an anvil across the floor. "We start thinking it's cool to melt everything down that scares us and soon we're bombing ourselves back to primitive hunter-gatherer territory." Transferring one flamethrower over, holding both awkwardly in one hand, he reaches down, grabbing for Matilda.

"We can learn something even from technology that's being used against us, not to mention, like I said before, the chance then arises to steal it back, like P. Wolkshire wrote in Everyone Just Relax About ARMs, An Essay in Four Parts, which is really good especially when it gets in the third leg where it talks about the importance..."

He briefly trails off, getting a hand on Matilda. He simply attempts to bodily hurl her to the side - at Ethius, in the hopes of tangling them both up for ease of capture. "...of learning how to dismantle genuinely dangerous ARMs in a manner that allows them to be reassembled or repurposed so that public fears about them can be assuaged, leading to-"

Another sphere of ice slams into Ribaldy's mouth, which he frankly deserved, having gotten himself absurdly distracted. Black Ties in his view are attempting to wave at him, reminding him that he's trying to have a debate while in the middle of a fiery hellscape he started. He scrapes at it with his free hand and eventually manages to bite down, choking and caughing.

"I was trying to have discourse!" he protests, finally sounding a little angry. Ribaldy tosses the second flamethrower back into his left hand and launches new jets of flame toward Kourin, twin lines that swerve across the ground like snakes, intersecting on her location. "Just because we're shooting at each other doesn't mean we can't have a friendly argument on the side! Come on!" 

GS: Ribaldy has attacked Matilda Whitehead with Go Fetch!
GS: Ribaldy enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Ribaldy has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Good Boy!!
GS: Ribaldy has attacked Kourin with Doin You A Fire!
GS: Ribaldy has completed his action.
GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a solid hit from Marcus Rider's Helldriver for 161 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Ethius Hesiod!
GS: Kourin takes a solid hit from Ribaldy's Doin You A Fire for 118 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Kourin!

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

A glint is visible in the air, the flame of light-blue thrusters cascading in through the skies. It's the unmistakable cadence of a Gear's thrusters thrumming in the atmosphere.

More than just a shooting star or anything else, it is headed this way for certain, further and further increasing in size... before it reveals itself to be a particularly familiar Gear -- the Rephaim, an impressive Gear even by most standards. Borne to the modern day from an ancient throne sealed deep within Rujm el-Hiri, it sports black technology and markings that are not found on most Gears discovered in today's mechanisms.

It is a bipedal Gear not unlike that of Weltall or Brigadier or the other gears that the Yggdrasil Alliance deploys, though it is primarily white in colour scheme -- it stands just shy of 16 sharls (50 feet), possessing a sleek and slender bevelled appearance that suggests a slightly thinner armoring than most standard Gears, splashed with laces of blue, black and grey centred at its torso.

It's currently lacking its most prominent feature -- its wings, owing to how it was apparently completely unbalanced to its centre of gravity, some AMBAC system clearly malfunctioning that should've kept it aloft in the skies... but even without, there's an impressive ancient array of thrusters at its back that vaguely resembles that of an ancient golden ring, olden runes scribed throughout its entire surface. There are empty stubs where the wings should protrude from its backpack.

It's also lacking something else -- its left arm, which, contrary to its sleek, chic and Zeboim ruin-esque appearance is...

...

It's a weird looking goofy ratchety arm that's mostly sleeved in accordion tubing with a white chaffeur-style glove passing for a manipulator, currently making an 'italian_chef_going_mmm_delicious' kind of a hand gesture. It's also carrying something that looks like a preciously teakettle-shaped... Golem? Gear? The mind boggles sometimes. But the CaraKin know it to be Big Shal, and where Big Shal goes, Little Shal can't be far behind.

Regardless of its oddities, it makes its stance clear as the loudspeakers on its torso start to broadcast. It's a familiar waitressly voice, which... does give minus points to how intimidating the following sounds:

"Please step away from Jay, Mister Ethius and the others, or I won't hesitate to open fire on you!" Lunata is making good on her threat as the Rephaim's right arm clicks its chunky blue and white-plated beam rifle ARM into place, a targeting scope propping up into place from its flip-top position. 

DC: Lunata Croze switches forms to Winged Gear Rephaim!

GS: Matilda Whitehead takes a solid hit from Marcus Rider's Anemo Storm for 99 hit points!

DC: MISS! Matilda Whitehead completely evades Go Fetch from Ribaldy!

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Big Shal is not a large thing by any means - by the standards of most Gears it's tiny, in fact, only about twelve-feet tall and built in rounded, pleasant shapes that mark it out as something rather friendlier than a machine of war. Still, it's undeniably bulky - and the way in which it simply drops from the Rephaim's hold to make itself known in the midst of the melee below produces a satisfying sort of -boom- as it lands, dust and flames kicking up around its lower half. Through the sudden cloud, a pair of expressionless eyes focus on the Black Ties.

Perched on a scaffolding attached to its back, Shalune is more visible as a brightly-coloured collection of red coat and orange sweater and pink hair, the latter covering her face as she's nearly thrown off from the landing - but she's learnt how to hunker down for these sorts of things, braced in place by a series of straps thanks to the impromptu invention of seatbelts.

"Wah--" she yelps from the impact, though, and only barely manages to avoid biting her tongue before she finds herself enough to catch both her breath and her words, straightening up with a sharp frown. "I mean-- leave them alone! The CaraKin's a neutral group! We don't wanna fight, but we'll protect our people!" she protests; beneath her, the Golem moves into a protective position, aiming to put itself between as many CaraKin members and Black Tie gunsights as possible.

It isn't clear how she's controlling the golem, if she is at all; she's just stood on the platform on its back shoulders, hands resting on the mechanical figure's head as she glares over it at the Black Ties. 

DC: Shalune Amira switches forms to Metal Gear -Big Shal-!

GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a solid hit from Ribaldy's Good Boy! for 96 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin grunts, gritting her teeth as she is once again lit on fire--this time, her ice can't quite extinguish it right away. If it was someone else, there'd be a witty rejoinder--if it was someone else, she'd rise to the bait and engage Ribaldy in distracting conversation. But it's not someone else--it's Kourin, and she's never been one to waste words, never been one inclined to run her mouth in a fight. She's always focused, keeping her mind on the battle, not on philosophy.

Still, she's not going to allow the attack to go without response--her retort is simply in the counterattack, not verbal. A blast of supremely cold air slices at Ribaldy, frost forming in its wake! 

GS: Kourin takes a glancing hit from Marcus Rider's Anemo Storm for 51 hit points!
GS: Kourin has attacked Ribaldy with Frostbite!
GS: Kourin takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Kourin has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

As she holds her spell in place over Marcus, Catenna gauges the distance between he and she - and finds it entirely too close for comfort. And then the supposed mercenary turns on her and effectively calls her out on the carpet, and the Zoa priestess can't so much as refute a word he says. She did just find the sword rusting away on a rack in the Sacred Grounds of Linga, after all.

Not that she has time to do any sassing; the much more skilled man is quick to bear down on her with his more businesslike weapon. Catenna has no choice but to react without thinking. Squaring her shoulders, she snaps her right arm out.

There's a sickening rasp of metal against metal as Marcus's blade crashes against Catenna's just off-centre. The priestess's arms aren't entirely up to the task of holding the blow at bay. She can see the thrust coming for her centre of mass, the blade screeching along the long, slender blade of her own shortsword.

Her arm moves instinctively - and slashes out to her left, snapping Marcus's blade desperately off its course. His thrust angles away from her, whistling through the air to one side of her. The sharpness of her movement carries her into a rotation. Things seem to move in slow motion.

Were Catenna a skilled swordswoman, she would have a perfect opening to backswing and possibly kill him.

Catenna's incompetence saves Marcus Rider from injury. The priestess plays it safe and darts away, spinning and pulling out of range, then breaking into a sprint to gain more distance. She whirls once she's out of charging distance, putting herself a ways behind Ethius as Marcus turns on him instead.

"You consort with riff-raff and brigands - you hunt down this man for selfish reasons - and you speak like you have done anything for Filgaia," she snaps, scowling flatly. "You colossal hypocrites. What do common thugs know of this world or the spirits within it?" She raises her Medium again -

Just as Rephaim drops in behind the group, lugging Big Shal. Catenna breathes just a little easier.

She keeps her Medium at the ready and her sword in her off hand, watching Marcus to see if he dares challenge a Gear and a Big Shal. Now and then she glances at Ethius - and at Matilda. The woman seemed to be genuinely hurt. 

<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

This time, Matilda's ready for that strength; when Ribaldy throws her, she manages a controlled flip, her whole body weight shifting to arrest her momentum as much as possible. She lands mere inches from Ethius, in a perfectly controlled, beautiful three-point landing -- though one of her feet lands in a deep divot in the earth.

Then Marcus's spell smashes into her, the electricity sending her flying toward the symbologist and accomplishing exactly what Ribaldy meant to anyway -- and all the worse, given her starting position. When she manages to pull herself back up again, she offers Ethius a hasty, "Sorry..." before standing up and locking eyes with Ribaldy again. The doggo, for better or for worse, has her complete attention; even Marcus's spell can't quite manage to get her off the Beastman.

The anger in Matilda's eyes is keenly plain -- the compounder theoretically has the perfect moment to do as she said and fall back to fire support... but the look on her face says that right now sour grapes hold more purchase than blueberries. Even the entry of the cavalry doesn't seem to dissuade her.

The fact that on the second step forward she notices that her ankle feels broken sure seems to, though; she hits the ground hard on one side, Freischütz tumbling out of her hands. She breathes out in wordless agony, unable to do much but clutch at her damaged limb. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline hadn't expected that. It was like he'd taken her spell and manipulated it directly. How was that even possible? She attempts to raise another pillar of earth to protect herself, but it somehow weaves around the stone and contacts her directly, forcing her to her knees.

Her body crackles with electricity for a moment, and it takes her a moment to get herself back under control. She gets to her feet, and shoots Marcus a glare.

"Oh yes, I'm sure...Tumblus Town, for instance, is thanking them for everything they've done." She replies with a roll of her eyes, then glances toward Ribaldy with subsantially less hate.

It was amazing how one of the thugs she was ranting about was somehow less hateable than someone ostensibly unrelated to them.

"...I...look, I understand where you're coming from. I'm an apothecary. A potent poison can be used to produce more effective curatives, I know that much. But you have to consider the risks and the loss of innocent lives it'll take to get there. You-" She's interrupted when her conversation partner is also interrupted by a ball of ice from Kourin.

It was an interesting conversation, so it was a shame for it to end...but that was a pretty good shot on Kourin's part, she couldn't lie.

Before she can say anything more, the sound of a Gear approaching reaches her ears. She recoils back defensively and looks up...but her momentary look of fear is replaced by one of joy when she sees who it is.

"Oh, I'm so glad to see the two of you!" She says cheerily, her attempt at 'hardened leader' falling away temporarily...but returning as she turns her attention back to the situation at hand. With Lunata and Shalune arriving, they were under a temporary cease-fire. She wasn't going to be the first one to break it. Matilda and Ethius were in the same place now, so she tosses a pair of healing potions in their direction.

"How will you proceed from here, Mr. Rider?" She asks, casting her gaze over the battlefield. 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

There shouldn't be anyone else at this level of trained composure. The level of military spec ops training among the -Lambs- is of zero compare to the forces of Gebler - assuming this man even is one. He's not saying much of anything. This man is an aberration of actions and advances that simply do not seem to come to any sort of cohesive whole in the political and military landscape of Filgaia.

Ethius' spinning strikes stop, seeing him in a kneel as he soaks the aches of their clashing deadlock. This is an opening, and 'Marcus' - who appears the superior in close quarters combat - takes that opening to plunge the blade into his abdomen. His purpose... will be to get his purpose.

His purpose, for the time being, is to violently twitch and shudder as his body becomes a live current, a long-lasting groan of pain that borders on screaming as his body involuntarily twitches, his hair standing on end while smoke rises from his body.

When he falls off the blade, a firm grip on the quarterstaff with his left hand is the only thing keeping him upright as his right hand soaks blood from the wound. He is in prime position to become a cushion for an evasive Matilda if she so needs - breaking his right hand away from his abdomen as if to catch her, but it prove to be too much for his balance as he falls flat on his back. (Either way, he does, Matilda coming his way or no - his wound is... serious.)

This should be about the time one might think to beg for mercy, to finally give up information, but there's... nothing, beyond grunts and wheezes. What could possibly be so important that he would take something to the grave?

Does he genuinely... not know, and simply allow himself to be guided by whatever instincts are present?!

As Ethius blearily stares into the sky, two shadows fill the air. A familiar voice rings out. No, two... Lunata, and Shalune, and who did they bring...? Up high... so high... like a dot, a speck, that can not, should not be seen...

His eyes narrow. His bloody right hand taps at his forehead.

A YEAR AND A HALF AGO

A white-haired man with well-groomed hair in tattered clothing that looked as though it once fit his form snugly crouched behind a rock. There's a wild look in his eyes. His left hand is covering the lower half of his face, even as blood from his head went over his right eye. His right hand rested behind a boulder - the exact one that Ribaldy stepped from, a year and a half later - as the crater filled with awe-inspiring sights.

Large machines set up a perimeter about the crater. There was shouting, unclear in nature. Men in uniforms.

...Gebler uniforms.

The white-haired man tore something from his cloth at about chest level - something that had writing on it? An inscription, of some kind - and crammed it down his throat at once. He clutched a shiny-looking stone close to himself.

The Gebler-uniformed men carefully packaged large scraps of metal and hauled them off.

He looked up and saw a tiny speck in the sky, and grimaced. That speck filled him with dread. He looked to either side of the boulder. He had no place to go, no place to leave without having been spotted.

He threw himself off the cliffside with reckless abandon, rolled down the jagged edges with expertise and fearlessness - the only way he could have moved without being seen.

His head was pounding. It was bleeding. His mind was fading.

He had to move. His own discomfort and almost certain death in having taken this route was irrelevant.

...

...

...

...

BACK TO THE PRESENT

Ethius fell silent, as his vision swam. Matilda's apology was undecipherable noise. Catenna's form seemed hazy. Everything became a blur. 

GS: Ethius Hesiod takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
GS: Ribaldy takes a glancing hit from Kourin's Frostbite for 38 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Ribaldy!

<Pose Tracker> Marcus Rider has posed.

That was the thing with ether-the Solarian mode of sorcery (if you would call it that) allowed for a lot of things regular Filgaians might call bullshit on. Didn't stop them from happening anyways.

Marcus didn't like using it as much as he did undercover, but it had yielded a good bit of info. Meanwhile, in spite of all the pain and suffering inflicted on him, Ethius would yield nothing. Marcus was no sadist-he knew a 'lamb' that would not talk after this much wasn't doing so because he refused, but because it was impossible for him to do so. Jacqueline's barb is apparently beneath his response, as the man simply withdraws his blade and glowers at the symbologist quietly. "Still alive, are we?" He mused, perhaps impressed to some degree.

"..You don't know why you do it, do you?" He finally said, certainty gripping his words. "You have no idea why you do anything."

Such was the fate of lambs, he thought grimly, until an impending presence tore his gaze away.

Even before the Rephraim was a glint in the sky, there was an ineffable sensation-a pressure-that draw Marcus's eyes towards the sky. "Captain." The commlink in his ear crackled with words only he could hear, "We've got a bogie coming your way."

"I know." Marcus said, watching with a dead serious eye as the strange gear came in better view and made it's pronouncement. "Tch." He scoffed. They weren't prepared to engage gears-nothing about the observation of this group had suggested they had access to them.

As the Rephraim leveled it's beam weapon to make good on it's threat, Ethius seemed to swim between consciousness and the opposite at his feet. "You seem to be fortunate in friends." He says towards the man, then looks up to lock eyes with Jacqueline.

"If I were you, i'd take steps to ensure this man does not continue to destroy artifacts of Filgaian heritage. Further acts will not be without consequence."

He sheathed his blade neatly and leapt away from the man, back to where Ribaldy stood. "Change of plans." He said to the beastman, "We're withdrawing for now." 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata looks incredibly tense inside the cockpit -- she's never really been in this kind of tense stand-off situation before, and even when she's the one with the giant gun looming overhead behind everyone, it doesn't really help her sense of unease.

Neither does it help the ineffable sensation pinging at the back of her head -- a pressure that she can't help but feel. Who was it? Who was making her feel that way? That Man...?

She has the Rephaim step closer towards the CaraKin, careful to let the sensors tell her where everyone is as she kneels down with the ARM still held aloft, but moving that goofy Boss Borot arm to reach forward and start to shelter her allies just in case any last minute shots were pulled off.

"Let's... let's get back... people are hurt..." she murmurs a little softer. "I can give people a ride back to the CaraKin too..." 

<Pose Tracker> Ribaldy has posed.

"Well I mean," says Ribaldy, "he's going around breaking stuff that can be repurposed for the overall betterment of Filgaia so I don't know if we should be tossing the word selfish around. It's like you're not even listening, I guess? Are you one of those Drifters that's always just thinking of, like... how super cool you are and how you can beat everyone up and ooooooooooooooooooo"

When the robots arrive, Ribaldy - and half the Black Tie force - are rapt. The other half are diving for cover, trying to drag the other ARMsheads with them. The Beastman uses the tip of his flamethrower to shove his facemask up. He is completely distracted - the debate is probably over, conveniently allowing him to sidestep those Tumblus Troubles.

"Hey!" he yells, waving the other weapon through the air. "Did you attach that aftermarket yourself? Where'd you get it? Is it a custom piece? How's the manip lag? Did you have to rig an interface or do you still have the frame under there? How's the power efficiency?"

He barely springs away from the worst of the air hurtling toward him, which parts the flaming pillars dotting the area. The brown fur on his shoulder becomes rimed, and the dog-man goes "sssssss, ahhhhhhh," as he rubs at it, frowning at Kourin.

Poor girl. Probably rattled by all this.

Marcus informs Ribaldy that it's time to pull back - and may suddenly realize that most of the Black Ties are already gone. The other man might've been surprised, but when you do crimes on Filgaia, sometimes giant robots just happen to you. Having yet to secure one of their own, the standard Black Ties operating procedure is 'laundry off the line'. "Yeahhhh," he says, disappointed. He stares up at the gears for a few moments, and then points a flamethrower in Ethius's direction, finger off the trigger because trigger discipline is important.

He suddenly shifts into a full glower, lips curling back, eyes falling into shadow. In those few moments, Ribaldy stops looking like a big relaxed dork of a dog and more like... well, like a lieutenant of one of the Badlands' most dangerous gangs.

He hates Ethius. He barely knows anything about him, but the two of them seem to be at diametric cross-purposes, and even a Good Boy can turn into a Bad Dog at a moment's notice.

"Cut it out." Well, mostly.

Ribaldy then points his flamethrowers down and flicks switches, spraying fuel onto the ground in front of them. He flicks again and fires a puff of flame, the fuel igniting into a bright flash, a wave of heat rolling outward, giving him the cover to turn and bolt away on all fours. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata, for her part, has no idea about anything Ribaldy just asked, so for a moment, the giant robot finger points incriminatingly at Shalune: "U-um, you'll have to ask her!" Oh no, sold out!! 

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

As Ethius and Matilda go down, Catenna blinks a couple of times, then turns and darts towards the two of them. She gets to Ethius first and drops to a knee beside him, still balancing both her sword and her Medium even as she looks her silent lump of a companion over.

A thousand remarks hang on her tongue as she looks up towards Marcus and Ribaldy again. Her jaw sets; she can't get the words out. There are too many important things and people who take precedence over whatever urge she might have to be salty towards an enemy. Besides, they're leaving.

Looking up towards Rephaim, she bites down to her lower lip, then dips her eyes towards Ethius again, reaching into one of the pouches on her belt and coming up with a few Heal Berries. "Jacqueline," she urges the woman. She's got more healing stuff on her person than she does, Catenna presumes.

From the looks of things, Catenna surmises, Ethius and Matilda could both use some. 

<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.

Kourin, now that the intense focus of the fight is no longer required, takes stock of her friends. "Oh, dear Althena, are you all right?" she asks of the injured. 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

In comparison to Lunata, Shalune's eyes are remarkably clear; she's obviously not trained in any sort of common sense or military tactics, or else she'd keep her damn head down behind the hulk of metal that is the body of her golem. At the same time, she stays steadfast, her posture radiating a sort of quiet confidence that it doesn't normally manage to. Perhaps she's just got that much in the way of faith in the golem she rides?

"... we'll watch him, but we'll watch out for him too!" she blurts towards Marcus, possibly completely unaware of what she's promising or even who Marcus is talking about; whatever she was about to add afterwards is kind of knocked sideways by Lunata's pointing her out, for a moment leaving her the centre of attention because when a Gear points at you, it's abjectly obvious.

Look cool, Shalune! This is your moment!

"E-eh?"

oh noooo

But she shakes it away, her posture steady even if relief is quietly flowing through her at the retreat. Big Shal seems disinclined to move, but the golem does at least turn slowly to watch most of the Black Ties depart, still keeping its bulk between the raiders and their prey. "We-- we'll tell you - but only at the CaraKin, and only if you play by the CaraKin's rules!" she calls out instead, which isn't exactly threatening but is at least rooted in her core beliefs that everyone deserves one hell of a chance. "So long as you don't make trouble, we're open for anyone!"

With that, the golem seems to power down, or at least to sink towards the ground - and Shalune's hopped off the back with some urgency in her voice. "Jay! I brought more vials if you need 'em!" 


<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

Matilda, for her part, manages to stop just whimpering and actually relay some useful information. "I -- my leg, it's my leg," she says, as if that weren't keenly obvious. "My -- my armpits, too... the burns aren't -- they're not... Nnhh..." It's a little hard for her to quite offer a fully coherent stock of her wounds at the moment but at least she's trying.

Her coat, full of potions and reagents as it is, is off in the distance, and fairly burned at this point besides; a fair amount of what's in it will be hard to salvage, though what is salvageable is likely to be nice enough.

"And -- no answers from this, then," Matilda reflects, a little grimly, as the pain reaches a low for a moment. This was... worthless, then? Just a reasonless risk? 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"I'll take it under consideration." Jacqueline replies, returning Marcus's gaze. It wasn't as if she approved of Ethius's destructiveness, it was just that sometimes it was necessary. Shalune backs her up on that, and before long Marcus, Ribaldy, and the Black Ties are beginning to retreat.

With that she exhales, a bit of tension released from her body. She was still on guard, however. A fight like this...it was intimidating.

Catenna's urging puts her thoughts away from the situation and onto what was most important right now - the injured. Ethius and Matilda seemed to have gotten the worst of it, due to how they were cut off.

Jacqueline rushes up to them, rummaging through her bags as she does so. Fortunately, Shalune had her covered. She had plenty of healing potions, but having more never hurt...especially considering the situation.

Ethius didn't seem responsive at the moment.

"Here, could you apply this to him?" She asks, handing one potion over to Catenna before turning her attention back to Matilda.

Fortunately, Matilda was conscious enough to tell her just what the problem is.

"I see...we'll probably want to get you loaded into the Carakin so I can treat you properly...in the meantime, this should help..." She replies. She'll then hand a potion over to Matilda, but if it proves too difficult for her she'll apply it for her herself. In response to her comment, though...

"No answers, unless we want to go digging around here...but I wouldn't say we didn't learn anything." She replied. 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius is not in great shape, physically speaking. That's a nasty stab to the gut. Whatever's going through his head, that addled brain grappling with gaps in memory and purpose, it commands so much of his attention that he seems to see it fit to not go to the more immediate concern of 'stop myself from bleeding to death.'

'You don't know why you do it, do you?' Those words cut above it all. Ethius, in action throughout his time of awareness, is one with a steady set of ideas and a willingness to act on them by any means necessary.

And he doesn't fully grasp why, but he continues. To what end?

Is he pursuing, or is he fleeing? His unearthed memory suggests 'fleeing.' Is he a fugitive? (Well, he sure is now, but was he before?)

Ribaldy's snarling doubles down on the displeasure. Ethius stirs, some latent reflex suggesting he may really be capable of fear.

His friends move to intervene for those who are hurt. Matilda, Kourin, Jacqueline, himself. Those eyes (at least, the one not currently under his hand) look to Catenna, and the tension inherent to the right hand lessens. It takes him another moment to think to actually grab the berry and press it against his wound. There will be a similar delay when Catenna hands him the potion from Jay.

"I am..." Ethius doesn't finish that sentence that Kourin asks. His words trail off. He seems at a complete loss for words, even surrounded by friends who show they're willing to stand up against a dangerous foe - far more dangerous than any of them can fathom - for the sake of someone they call one of their own. He seems to relax, even as the frustrated words of Matilda drift into his hearing - on the surface, this is all for nothing. Is it?

Somehow, he's... safe, among them? Even among the company of the Rephaim and Big Shal and their pilots. Especially among them - without their intervention, would the group still be among the living today?

He's in safe hands among them.

...

Something feels strange about that, too. He cannot put it into words.

If he could, would he?

Some words will need to be put out, in time. Will he be prepared to do so?

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