2017-11-25: Riders from the Sky

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<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

The village of Wayside is something of a... poorly kept secret amongst those in the know -- located between the Badlands proper and the neck of the mountain range leading into the Gunsmoke Desert, the village can be found by following a fairly hidden path with the winged mark of the Fereshte along a cliffside.

Or, one supposes, through aerial surveillance. Nothing really stopping Gebler from checking the proverbial Google Earth, after all.

But the recent incident in the midst of the night -- one that erupted in a seemingly harmless dome of light -- had piqued curiosity; and it is such that after they follow the winding mountain trail that they get to...

... a fairly mundane looking village, all told. It's got a big campfire in the centre around which a ring of caravans rests around -- and sprawling out from its roots there, several prefab buildings have been crafted outwards. A large two-story inn called 'V4L-H4LLA' rests at the 3 o' clock direction, while a big building is at the 10 o' clock marked 'Wayside Orphanage'.

A large ARM purifier is seen at the end of the valley, around which a field of crops is starting to grow.

The trio can note that the villagers are... unusual -- they're largely humanoid, but they have various disabilities ranging from subtle to blatant; the townsguard, for example, appears to have accordion tubing for legs. There's a guy who's grafted an ammo box for his shoulder, and a lady with a refrigerator for a chest and binoculars for eyes is wandering into the tavern.

Elly can hear a familiar sound -- a little 5-year old girl with little black wings on her back is playing with a wooden recorder, emitting little 'toots' out as she giggles and plays random tunes near the village perimeter.

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

Although Gebler certainly could use aerial surveillance to spy out Wayside, you didn't just requisition the resources for that kind of thing based on a hunch. It was far more cost-effective to send a ground team to investigate first, then deploy an aerial unit once they'd confirmed there was something worth looking at.

Where hidden village was concerned, Kahm was....unsure.

He hadn't recognized the runes that guided them to the path-not perfectly, at least. That they were some sort of Baskar was clear enough, but the tribe and meaning were lost to him. They relied on Lieutenant Van Houten's memory to get this far, and their horses to take them up the rest of the way. The Major and his black-coated quarter horse were the first to come up from the mountain path, the officer surveying the village and it's unusual denizens with his hat tipped low against the sun, urging his horse along at a steady trot.

"Seems like a work in progress." He mentioned off-handedly, in reference either to the village or the people.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly continues to be out of uniform. In fact, if Riesenlied herself caught sight of her, she'd recognize the dress, even if she didn't own it the first time she came by Wayside. But then, at that time, she was in a Gear.

Elly is riding a paint-coated horse, slightly smaller than Kahm's and certainly less impressive. The horse has no name but seems to be accepting of Elly's guidance. As she adjusts the hat on top of her head, Elly shifts one knee a bit - she is not riding side saddle - and guides the horse to speed up just a titch.

"For people this insecure, you can't expect high quality planning. At least they seem to be pretty sanitary, though - Oh, I see they have the purifier there." Elly comes up alongside Kahm's horse, looks to him (Kahm, not the horse) and says, "We didn't come up this way, but I think -"

  • toot*

"Oh!"

Elly raises her voice. "Mikaia! Can you hear me?!" she calls into the perimeter wind. She raises a hand, doffing her hat. "Hello! How are you?"

Elly van Houten: Befriending Small Mutant Children Since Whatever Year This Is

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

There's one figure that stands out a little from the rest of the villagers - not least because she's a little more flamboyant than many of them, the difference that marks out a PC from a bunch of NPCs. The black hair in two long tails seems a bit much in the middle of the desert, even in this hidden little valley somewhat protected from the elements, but the light vest and skirt at least speak to some kind of attempt to beat the heat - though it's a long and far cry from the Baskar markings that have led the group here.

She's currently overseeing what appears to be a discussion on how the village should expand next. One of the group, a man with what appears to be a large wrench in place of one arm, is arguing for more in the way of domiciles; it makes sense, given the ring of caravans that dot the middle of the village. The other - arguing for more in the way of fields - is a scarred woman who seems perfectly capable at first glance... and yet has to catch her balance every so often before she involuntarily buckles.

"--I understand what you're both saying," huffs the girl as she holds her hands up to try to placate both of them. "But it isn't as if we have much more in the way of capacity for the purifier at present, nor have we much in the way of spare materials on hand at the moment. Ideally, I would be agreeing with both of you - but the reality right now is that we might not be able to manage either just yet. ... we'll do what we can, hm?" she adds, a little softer and with a rather wry smile on her face as she shrugs one shoulder in sympathy.

She gets no further than that, because just as she opens her mouth again a rather energetic orphan suddenly impacts with her back at a run, knocking her forward in a surprised stumble as the girl's new cargo tries gamely to clamber up to her shoulders.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

A light had been seen in the distance to the east. Something had happened, but whatever it was... Without further reactions spotted, there had been an agreement to field a team already close enough to the site. That's where they came in.

His horse is a bay, a modestly sized steed, also without a proper name at the moment. It looks fairly normal... until one looks in its eyes. This is a beast that exists with only one desire in its heart.

But for now, it's been behaving. Relatively. For most of the current trek. There have been some incidents this day. As they near the village, it in fact attempts to pull on ahead of the Major's... only for a quick if inexpert tug on the reins seeing the horse slow its pace. It's a battle of wills here, Loren's certain... and he's not so certain how well he's faring.

His gaze falls on the inhabitants. "...You can certainly say that," he comments, shaking his head. These ones don't much resemble the demons they fought against in Adlehyde. His brow furrows. "Very... patchwork." He's similarly leaving the target of his commentary vague.

And then Elly calls out to a small child. He squints at it. ... A child with bat wings. Oh, good. They've got juvenile mutants crawling around the place, too. He glances, sidelong, at Kahm, as if to ask a silent question.

Then gestures at the woman near the gate, the one with the child attempting to scale her. "I suppose she might be as good as any."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

The purifier might may well be the most curious sight in all the village, and that's speaking to a village full of what appear to be worn-down... beastmen? Mutants? with decidedly shoddy, 'cybernetic' appendages. Cybernetic might be giving it too much credit, however; it's decidedly field engineering, the kind of thing one does when they've got to make do with what they have.

As Noeline discusses matters with the villagers, she's joined soon enough by a more familiar sight -- it's Riesenlied, dressed in a white gown with lace today with an accompanying capelet. She's a lot more modest and tribal than her counterpart, which speaks back to the Baskar markings at the entrance of the village.

"We've need to expand, and we understand the concerns," Riesenlied nods towards both of them. "I've asked Val to look into crop rotations to better make use of our fields at present, and we can consider moving some of the caravan domiciles to being part of our trading post instead with the progress we've made."

Always solutioning, it seems. Looking to the future.

The child perks up as she hears a familiar voice, and she bobbles towards the trio as she exclaims, "Miss Elly, Miss Elly!" She gets about halfway through before gawking and looking up towards the trio on their horses. "W-woow, the horses are so biiig...!"

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

The purifier was definitely the most unexpected sight in the village if you didn't count the mutates. Kahm furrowed his brow mildly in consideration of the resources it required to get something like that up here. Given the state of things, he'd say they'd had a few months to develop this far..

He contemplates right through Elly's chatter at him (though he's still listening), diverting his attention only when the redheaded officer hails down a winged child playing on some fluted instrument. His mind instinctively flashed back to the wooden device he'd seen in Elly's room yesterday, and the Major met Loren's gaze with a quiet countenance. Coincidences were known to happen.

"That woman is Noeline." Kahm said as the other officer drew his attention, citing an older report. "If she's here, that means Riesenlied likely has something to do with this as well."

And, as if on target, the metal demon herself appears shortly after. The character and nature of the village began to take a cohesive shape in Kahm's mind. "These people must be what she called the 'Tainted' on our last meeting. Demons deemed defective and unsuited for battle. Like us, it seems they are divided by genomic caste."

But that was only natural, wasn't it?

Seeing as how they've got all the attention they need now, Kahm will bring his horse to a halt and dismount, transitioning into more conventional mien of Marcus Rider, his cover identity. "Miss Elly, perhaps you could make an introduction for us, though I do a spy a few familiar faces out here." He said, tipping his hat to Noeline and Riesenlied.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly looks at Kahm as he speaks, nodding along. Her own main takeaway: Relatively harmless. It's about what she thought. Some people are weak, even if it isn't their fault, and perhaps that's true for Metal Demons as well...

But then she has someone smaller to speak to. Elly smiles benignly down at Mikaia. "My friends and I wanted to speak to Miss Riese, if that's alright. Do you want to ride in with us?"

She leans over to offer Mikaia a hand up - and after a little pulling and some tightening of her legs, she hoists the small girl up, placing her before her on the horse. The winged girl's weight isn't enough to bother Ol' Paint, it seems.

"Phew. Mikaia, this is Marcus," Elly says, indicating Kahm, "and this is Thomas - they wanted to ask about that ah, that big flash of light a while ago. Could I ask you to 'play us in'?"

After this, she steers forwards, nudging her horse when it takes a momentary glance towards one of the crop fields. Calling ahead to Riesenlied, Elly says, "Good afternoon...! I wasn't expecting to meet again so quickly, but that's life for you, isn't it, Miss Riese?"

Noeline is given a benign look and a smile but Elly does not call out to her. No sir; she's here to /facilitate/! (She does say to Mikaia, "If you want to get down, just ask. I expect we'll be tying up soon, even if it's just to stretch our legs.")

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

One metal demon automatically looks to another as Riesenlied steps up to the discussion - though Noeline's attention is somewhat stolen away by the way in which Janey, searching for a decent handhold, accidentally tugs on her hair. It's kind of a far cry from the playfully evasive girl that was with Riesenlied before, but perhaps there's something about the setting that has her guard down. The orphan settles on her shoulders eventually, though, as Noeline leans towards Riesenlied to offer a hand on her arm, quietly thankful for the diplomatic words.

She turns when she notices the group approaching, though, helped by the lilting sound of Mikaia's recorder - and immediately raises her eyebrows before offering a rather light bow. "... Mr Rider, wasn't it? My, it's been a while - Filgaia's rather a small place when it comes down to it, don't you think? And Miss Elly, you're doing well. I'm glad to see it, in this day and age."

... being suave is a lot harder when you've got a young girl jostling around on your shoulders, we're just saying, but Noeline's nothing if not dedicated.

She has to pause a second at the look of Thomas' horse, and some instinctive warning system makes her take a couple of paces to one side, taking significant care not to end up in front of it - or behind it. "My name is Noeline Carver - an assistant to Riesenlied, if you like," she adds with a light grin. "If you would like to tie your horses, we have a stand near the tavern, and water for your skins as well, hm?"

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

"Noeline. I think I recall the name. ...Mm. That's right."

Riesenlied, he knows on sight, as she makes her appearance -- the Major's assessment was right on target it seems.

Thoughtful, Loren tilts his head in a nod. "'Tainted', is it..." Loren muses, gaze skimming the village occupants at this distance. "It seems an apt name for them. Even their bodies are broken." Can they even work, let alone protect themselves? He shakes his head. "Little wonder they've been set aside..." At least even the Third Class is of use. Even surfacers have their place, somewhere in the scheme of things. These, on the other hand...

Any further rumination is spared when the little beastperson girl comes running up to see them. Loren gazes at Mikaia for a moment or two, his brow wrinkling. Then glances away, exhaling a long breath. Should he say something to it? Does he /need/ to say something to it?

"...Hello," he settles for, looking back over at the mutant girl. Great. Wonderful. Maybe he should have just said nothing, he considers.

It appears they've gotten some attention -- Noeline approaches. Loren, atop the murderous bay, tenses. And it's a good thing that Noeline moves a few paces to the side because the horse does start abruptly forward, a glint of some awful intent in its eyes-- Before Loren, hauling hard on reins, manages to assert control. The horse strains, throws its head, but otherwise acquiesces... for now. "Hmmph," the 'medical student' mutters in irritation, holding firm just in case the horse has any big ideas. "...Sorry. It isn't anything personal," he says, deciding it's better to try to grease the wheels socially, given their current aims. "He's been like that since I got him."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Perhaps the answer to that question, Kahm, is that the purifier was there even before they set down -- the ancient look on the device indicates that it's an ARM of some kind. The ley-like lines that thrum through the device, and the way it's attached deeper into the mountain speak to something that exists as a greater part of... something else.

Curious. But at the same time, a find like this would have made it an ideal point to build a village. Water is scarce in the desert, after all.

Mikaia climbs up onto Elly's horse and looks very happy to be riding it; there's a giggle as she expresses, "H-hello, Mister Marcus, Mister Thomas!" She blinks at that comment, though, and-- looks a bit more reticient. "U-um, that light is... um-- maybe asking Riesemama would be best about it."

A Beastgirl that calls a Metal Demon her mother. A very curious setup, but then again, Filgaia is full of strange relationships like that, isn't it?

Riesenlied has a very quiet little smile as she nods towards Elly to express, "Yes, I hadn't expected to see you again so soon, but I'm happy... Mikaia loves the recorder," she expresses happily to Elly.

Riesenlied definitely looks... more wan, since last Kahm saw her. She looks diminished, less healthy and more frail -- and her right arm and leg had draconic scale-like coverings that had emerged over them, adding to a lopsided appearance. The scales have grown over one side of her neck and cheeks as well.

"... Mister Rider..." she speaks gently, bowing her head. "It has been a while. Welcome to Wayside." She nods at Thomas as well with a gentle smile.

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

"Charmed." Marcus offered politely towards Mikaia when his turn came, spending the rest of the jaunt in relative silence. Children weren't exactly his strong suit, but he's intrigued by the words the toddler shares when Elly asks about the incident. It cemented his growing suspicion that Riesenlied was far from another participant in this growing camp, but something like a facilitator.

His attention shifted to the ARM purifier as they came up on it. Now that it was closer, he could see that the unit was far older than everything else here, and had likely been discovered. It made sense with how the village was planned, and it seemed to go a good deal deeper into the ground. He'd be interested to investigate further, but just then they come in earshot of Noeline and Riesenlied.

"It's a small place indeed, since it happens that the two of you have already made the acquaintance of Miss Elly here." Kahm said, glancing towards the Lieutenant briefly before turning his towards Loren's steed. "There's bound to be one in every generation, I suppose. At the least we know your horse won't turn tail in a fight."

He looked back to Noeline, dipping his head lower past the child that had mounted her shoulders, "You both seem to be in a somewhat different business than when we last met, but those services would be appreciated." Kahm said, finally settling his sight on Riesenlied. The woman was certainly different than the last time he'd seen her, but the Major couldn't begin to theorize as to why. He might guess at a sickness of some sort, given her frailer physique and the scales growing along her body. A malady specific to metal demons, perhaps?

"My thanks for the welcome, Miss Riesenlied. I take it this is your endeavor?" He asked, gesturing to the village around them. "Whatever the case, we're not here to impede it. But we heard about incident in this area some nights past, something about a pillar of light."

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly smiles at Noeline. See! Happy times. "That sounds lovely," she says to Noeline, before her eyes turn once more towards Loren and his horse, who seems to be uncomfortable. Metal Demons? she wonders. That might alarm a horse who was unfamiliar. Or so she might think.

After this Elly scoots back and guides Mikaia to sit in the saddle as she slips off, saying as she does, "Just hold the reins there - I'll be right here, so if you feel like you're slipping, just tell me and I'll hold you up." RIDING A REAL HORSE?

She smiles at Riesenlied, a little weakly. The topic crosses her mind, a topic that had NOT occured to her in the music shop, of how they had... met, before, in Adelhyde. Hm.

Elly quietly walks to the other side of her horse, putting a steadying hand up on Mikaia as she looks at 'Thomas' as well. "Do you want me to guide yours? I mean, she seems restless," she asks the man whose flesh tastes of horse chow.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"Believe me, I fully understand," snorts Noeline in response to the medical student, her eyebrows raising; at least her grin is light and good-natured, as airy as the way in which she seems to move. "To be honest, I've never particularly liked horses myself. Perhaps that just makes them feel a need to retaliate in kind," she adds, a hand at her mouth as she considers that - while simultaneously drawing back another pace. "At the very least, there is some feed you can probably bribe him with, and see if that improves his mood any."

Still... one of her hands is suddenly on the leg of the girl on her shoulders, to steady her should the horse actually decide to press the point, and she's certainly keeping one eye on where Mikaia is sat with Elly. It's not like she's being openly suspicious, and even seems to trust in Mikaia's estimation of the young woman who's been to Wayside before, but-- clearly Riesenlied isn't the only one mothering the kids, albeit in rather different fashions.

Her eyebrows raise up slightly as she's addressed, though, and she smiles in what is probably intended to be a reasonably disarming fashion. "Times do change these days, Mr. Rider, and people with them. After everything that went on over in the east, we thought this might be a suitable use of our time - a village for the forgotten, you might say. Which is not to say I've given up my nosy nature, so much as I've just decided to tether myself down a little more than I had before."

She blinks as he finishes - and immediately snorts again, this time in wry humour as she glances towards Riesenlied as if to confirm what to actually say. "At the very least, I can say that no-one was hurt, nor anything exploded. I can confidently say that the festival we were holding did very well, for that matter. I hope the lightshow did not stretch too far, though-- well, I know how far rumours tend to spread." ... none of it is, technically a lie.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

The purifier hasn't escaped Loren's notice, either, grabbing -- in the span before Mikaia comes running up and before Noeline and Riesenlied herself make their approach -- the young officer's attention as he takes in the vineline structures, silently weights the probability of this 'just happening' to be an ideal spot for a village in the dry and dusty wastes of a faltering planet...

To say nothing of Riesenlied's physique. He -- dimly -- recalls how she looked at the battle of Adlehyde. She seems no less than diminished. Muscular wastage, he'd diagnose, if she were a human. But what's even applicable to a Metal Demon?

But a few things become secondary consideration when his horse nearly attempts... well, possibly not outright murder, but also /possibly/ outright murder. It's a minor miracle he hasn't been maimed himself at this point.

Loren's posture is still tense atop the horse, as if waiting for the bay to make his move again. "...Always seeking the one bright spot..." he sighs, as 'Marcus' points out that at least they won't have to worry about it balking in a fight. No, it's going to be the opposite problem. It's going to wade right in, isn't it. For a moment, as if seeing the future, Loren's expression gains a decidedly resigned cast. Ugh. "I can believe it. There is something wrong with this one, though. It's a miracle he hasn't killed anyone yet," he says with a brief grimace as Noeline opines that this may be normal for horses. Or eaten a finger. ...As far as he knows.

"Thomas Blackwell," he says at last, indicating towards himself with a short nod. He doesn't dare loosen his grip, anyway. "Medical student, from Bledavik. As Mr. Rider says, we heard about an alleged 'pillar of light'." He appears to consider Noeline's words for a moment. "...During a festival? Do you have any idea what happened to cause that light? The village doesn't appear to be disrupted any for it."

His grip on the reins tightens as Elly asks if she should guide the bay. For a few moments, he deliberates this.

And then: "...Fine. With any luck, maybe he won't eat you."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Marcus Rider... the man definitely had an air about him that did not line up with his story of being a member of Smith and Luio -- the look he'd given her when he mentioned Id told her that. But at the same time, Riesenlied had no reason to lie -- obfuscation would only serve to confuse matters more, regardless of where he was coming from.

"I can only scarce claim it my own," Riesenlied speaks humbly in turn. "It is with the effort of everyone who's braved the frontlines to march west with us that Wayside has been possible." She gestures out to the fields, where a Hyadean with a rake for a hand is working there.

There's a quietly bashful smile at Elly, as she remarks with her hands laced together, "There is... very little point to hiding it, so I will be open. This is a village of Hyadeans -- what the rest of the world call Metal Demons."

She tilts her head down gently as she expresses, "But we are what my brethren would call 'Tainted', if you are not aware. A lower caste, borne of our many defects and injuries, whether birthed or accrued... and this village is something of a-- dream for many of us. A desire to live away from despair and oppression."

"And, ah, as for that pillar of light..."

She looks towards Noeline's explanation, and gently steps towards Loren's rather tense horse as she closes her eyes -- and emanations of soft, ephemeral photons start to exude from her wings and from her deformed arm. There's a... soft feeling, one of calmness and grace, emitted through the air -- and gently, the horse would at least be a bit more amiable to be steered, rather than agitatedly thrash against Loren.

"... it is my fault, I am afraid. But I am relieved to say it had not harmed anyone... it is this light that had gone-- ah, slightly awry on that night. I have not yet learnt to control this phenomenon that is happening to me..."

She smiles gently towards Loren, and says, "It is nice to meet you, Mister Thomas. Your horse is very spritely... it has a passionate soul." She lets Elly take charge afterwards.

Mikaia, for her part, is sitting straight as Elly instructs her, eyes sparkling as she thinks 'i'm on a horse!!'. Ah, 5-year old thoughts.

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

There was a lot about Marcus Rider's story that didn't add up after successive meetings, which is why Kahm tried to limit the amount of times he intervened with the same drifters. Not everyone was as trusting as Gwen Whitlock, after all. Riesenlied may have reason to be suspicious, but they both knew there wasn't much use trying to mislead anyone about this village when they stood in the midst of it, at least.

"I see. Hyadeans.." Kahm said, looking at the village locals with slightly re-appraising eyes. A retirement home, then, for demons that could no longer serve Siegfried's cause. "You'd mentioned campaigning on behalf of your fellow 'tainted' before, as I recall..."

The question was unspoken: Was this village a solution? He was curious how they came by the name 'Hyadean' as well, but didn't want to divert the conversation from their goal.

"Most rumors come from drifters, and they're not unknown to distort a tale in the telling." Kahm says to Noeline, just as Riesenlied begins to work her photonic mojo on Loren's horse. The Major watches this warily, but he's familiar enough with the woman to know this is not an attack. He wasn't unaware of the calming nature that she seemed to be invoking, and her next words make it somewhat clear.

"This phenomenon you invoke....what is it, exactly?" He asked, brow furrowed in thought. Pacification tactics, perhaps? Robbing the enemy of the will to fight? Kahm couldn't help but wonder if this was connected with Riesenlied's current appearance.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly listens as the others talk. Horse noises are easily filtered out. But she has to ask - "Hyadeans? Is that the name of a nation...?" But then there's more questions.

And something flowing.

The horse d'Blackwell chills out. Elly, hesitantly, pets its nose.

She keeps all her fingers.

After this, Elly leads the two horses to water. She cannot, of course, make them drink, but they have that option. After tying them up, she walks back - and she offers Mikaia her hand along the way.

In this moment of privacy, she asks her, "Have you figured out how to read music yet?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

For her part, Noeline seems content to just ignore the horse as much as possible, carefully stepping out of its sight range in several different steps at once and leading it in something of a dance of chicken - cucco? - at least until Riesenlied can step up with a burst of empathy to help calm it and cool it down. At the very least, she does seem to be slowly leading it towards the side of the road, towards where a hitching post awaits. "... I must admit, Mr. Blackwell," she notes after one sidestep, "That my knowledge of the spiritual and the empathic isn't particularly advanced enough to be quite sure of what exactly happened, or exactly how. I can at least say that it was not harmful, but--"

--but, well, Noeline huffs softly and fondly as she gestures towards the other metal demon, and Riese begins laying out more information on both the event itself and the true nature of the village that they're standing in. "Rest assured, we are not here to be a threat to anyone," she adds in support ... and it's rather telling that she seems to be referring to herself in that first person as well, with an ever-so-slight bow in her posture.

"At the very least, we do appreciate the act of checking. As much as we might be in a rather odd position, it is good to see new faces, hm? And it does us good to reach a few more people, especially if they're willing to listen and accept our situation. Many here have little or no desire to fight any longer - and are learning about a new style of life, you might say."

She pauses, before bowing her head to chuckle at Elhaym's question. "'Those from Hyades'. Our home, once upon a time - even if a great deal of us have never had the pleasure of seeing it."

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

'Tense' might be putting it kindly. Restrained equine rage might be more accurate. As it is, Loren's beginning to wonder if he might acrue a mission failure before they even get started here, on account of his horse causing an incident.

Riesenlied approaches. He hauls on the reins, as if anticipating another attempted lunge, when instead the Metal Demon woman's arm and wings begin to glow. His eyes widen, his shoulders tense. What is that-- The horse however, is becalmed, settling down to become a more placid creature. There's still potential danger here... but the stallion will become more easily led. Even Loren's own posture eases somewhat, though his gaze hasn't left Riesenlied. Metal Demons, or so he had thought he'd understood, couldn't use sorcery.

"...What did you just do?" He goes so far as to take one hand off the reins, fingertips resting on the horse's upper back.

Elly notably fails to lose any fingers.

"He's relaxed." He narrows his eyes, thoughts pacing steadily ahead courtesy of paranoia before finally daring to climb -- carefully -- off the horse after handing the reins over to Elly. Is it just animals? --Or people, too? Considering the state of the village... Once on terra firma -- and leaving the horse to Elly -- he restates, a touch pensive, to Noeline, "And that's the same light that occured at the festival. No one was harmed, you say." He glances at Kahm, then nods, making as if to regard Riesenlied's appearance fully for the first time now that she's closer at hand. His gaze lingers on her arm, on the markings on her face, the whole of her body. "...You look unwell." He folds his arms over his chest. "That's my opinion, as a medical student."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"... I genuinely don't know," Riesenlied admits, and the tone in her voice is sincere. It isn't like Riesenlied is a good liar anyway, so it's usually pretty easy to tell when she's attempting to lie. Really badly. She glances towards Kahm and expresses, "In the depths of the Guardian Temple, I encountered one of the Guardians... and it is from that encounter that these--"

She holds her deformed arm up and glances to it. "Deformities... started to occur. And with it, my mind was reaching out, to feel others' emotions..."

There's a genteel sigh and a helpless shrug. "Yes, it has been a bit trying. I've had to go on a physical therapy regimen to keep myself from atrophying," she chuckles ruefully. A medical student? "Which school do you study medicine at, Mister Blackwell...?"

Mikaia leans towards Elly with a big smile and a nod. "Riesemama found a book in the library... and I learnt how to play, um, 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Rigdobrite'. I wanna show you sometime!"

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

The Guardians. It was a name he'd heard invoked more and more lately. "I've heard of several strange events that occurred in that temple." Kahm said, considering the angles Riese's abilities and story added up to. If true, it made her an outlier among the demons, who weren't supposed to be able to use sorcery or anything like it. The powers that be might consider that something worth studying, when they report it.

"Hyades...that's the first I've heard of such a place." He did know, according to what records remained, that the Demons were understood to be invaders, originating somewhere other than Filgaia, but the details beyond that were shrouded in mystery. "Perhaps your message will appeals to others of your kind who don't desire conflict."

Strategically speaking, anything that depleted the amount of active combatants the demons could field was useful to the time being. It would make them easier to pacify whenever the time came. From that perspective, this village could be something of an asset. Maybe.

"I agree with Thomas's assessment, for what that's worth. But it looks like you know it as well." Kahm said, looking Riesenlied up and down before turning his attention to the purifier. "What do you know about this? It seems it's been here a while. It looks like it goes well further down into the ground."

Even if the incident they came to investigate was resolved, there were a few other things that were worth looking into.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"Oh! I don't know that song. Can you hum it? I might know the tune," Elly tells Mikaia. "But I'd love to see. If we don't have time here, I will definitely come back and you can show me then..." Hopefully, there won't be anything horrible that prevents THIS subsidiary task from being completed.

The medical discussion that comes up makes Elly's attention turn towards Riese first, with concern, and then towards Noeline, to whom she finally speaks. "... I suppose it makes sense, that you wouldn't know yourselves by the name people gave you," she says to Noeline.

After a moment of thought, she says, "It's a little strange to think, isn't it? That we're just talking like this..." Her tone is gentle, and she smiles at Noe as she does.

She trails off then, since Kahm's still on it. She does glance at 'Marcus' as she does, nodding fractionally. Her job is to build rapport, perhaps, not to drop the hard questions.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"... very rarely is Riesenlied /well/," Noeline notes as she ... sort-of-doesn't-really counter Thomas' statement. But on the other hand her reply is obviously fond, and more than a little teasing, and she joins at the other metal demon's arm to offer her a warm smile. "Given the nature of the malady, we know very little about it, but are doing what we can to learn. In the meantime, we're mitigating it as best that we can."

"By rights, I suppose it should be impossible - but we have encountered a great deal that should be impossible lately, or at least wildly improbable, and you could say we've had to shift the window a little. Filgaia does seem to have rather a penchant for being wildly unpredictable, I have to admit," she adds, doing her best to catch Marcus' eye as she makes the statement.

She pauses, though, and tugs at her hair with a grin that is somewhere between earnest and rueful. "Even this place - the mere idea would have been unthinkable a couple of years ago. In that respect," she adds towards Elly with a more genuine smile. "I do hope Mr. Rider is right on that front. ... personally, I have walked between humans for a long while, and must admit rather a fondness for them - but many of our own haven't, and this is a good chance."

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

"Inside the temple, was it..." His attention shifts briefly towards the middle distance, as if he's lost in thought.

It's an interesting statement. From what he's learned -- from what the Guardians said -- they're none-too-friendly with the Metal Demons. To put it mildly. Metal Demons are an existential threat to the Filgaia and the Guardians, some sort of energy-based form of existence. Shifting from form to form, it seemed, if Elly's analysis of the request they had made -- of the purpose of the statues, what they meant for the Guardians, and what would happen next -- had any teeth to it. But that digression aside, it's a /very interesting thing/ that they spoke to and apparently altered in some essential way a Metal Demon.

Hyades. He similarly seems to turn up a blank as Riese names their home. All he knows is -- if records and the words of the Guardians are to be trusted -- the Metal Demons came from somewhere other than Filgaia.

"It seems to have been debilitating. Unfortunately," he says, with a casual shrug, "They didn't precisely teach us 'Hyadean' anatomy at Avion." It's as dry as usual. "...That's the Avion School of Health and Medicine," he adds, glancing her way.

Wait. There's an opportunity here. He pauses, as if weighting something.

Kahm asks about the water purifier itself. Loren, in one of his less common bolder moments, approaches a different topic: "Still, I suppose I could see what I could do..."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied places a hand to her opposing elbow as she whispers gently, "... yes, I... appreciate it highly," she looks to Elly, with a warm little smile, then to Kahm again. "I can only hope that there are others that share this same sentiment."

She places her hand to her chest, as she expresses, "... many of our kind have never had an opportunity to learn of the world, or otherwise... what we are doing here-- is to hopefully give them a non-hostile platform for them to thrive in."

There's a kind of bashful look at Noeline as she looks aside to say, "I'm afraid that's the truth... it has not been a good time lately-- ah?"

She looks to the purifier and says, "This has been here a long time before we came here... I've been making investigation into the aquifers underneath, but -- it is quite dangerous, I am afraid... we've had Drifters investigating in our stead as well."

She squints just for a moment as she looks to Loren, with some surprise. "Ah... I suppose it would not hurt to get a second opinion."

Please look forward for the inevitable awkward scene in which Lily and Loren walk into the practice room at the /exact same time/.

<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.

Actually, it was a good idea. If Loren had the opportunity to examine Riesenlied, they might able to collect samples that could be analyzed. It would depend on whether or not she allowed it, and there was little reason to press their luck further than that, but glance from the Major's blue eyes was all Loren might need for permission to go foward.

"I think we've all seen things lately that question our established notions of what's possible." He said, still dwelling on the encounter he had two weeks ago with a mysterious Gebler turncoat. "But mysteries they'll remain if we find ways to adjust our thinking and and approach in the wake of new information."

It all must sound terribly agreeable when spoken in the casual, friendly environment Elly alludes to and not from behind the crosshairs of a gear's cockpit.

"Case in point, while I'm sure this purifier is indispensable for you, I wouldn't fully trust it until you know more about it. If you don't mind, perhaps we could make our own investigation of it as well the next morning."

Indicating, for Loren and Elly, that Kahm plans for them stay at least one night.

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