Week Eight Day Two

            So soon after applying their hard-earned experience in the field the fates conspire to send the team from their home on yet another mission. Early as they arrive, Krystal receives a written request for the team to assemble and head to an importer lot. On the way out they are stopped by Karnov who says he got much the same message, and he is apparently going with them. Arriving at the lot as they were instructed, they find it unpopulated. They wait near a larger transport for a few minutes before a black vehicle pulls up and stops in front of them. A door opens and a tall doe steps out, wearing a rather formal business suit. Some of the original members recognize this individual as O' Laura from some time ago, one of their first missions. In a no-nonsense voice she thanks them for arriving on time. "I have a job that needs the hands of skilled individuals, and some of you have proved your worth when its needed already. I have called upon you all as this job will take us from the relative safety of the borders of Espiss and into the wilds. We have a shipment of medical herbs and extracts to deliver to a settlement under our protection, and for the return trip we will be transporting resources from the settlement back here to Espiss. I have secured a small supply of weaponry for use in protecting our charge, lets hope we will not have need of it. I know this is rather sudden, and perhaps you are not fully prepared for such a trip so I grant you four hours to take care of any imminent affairs. Till then".

            And now for a bit on the settlement they will be traveling to, New Lyshy:

 

      Upon the former site of Lyshy, New Lyshy was built to take advantage of the unusually rich deposits within the rougher terrain nearby. Although far from its parent city, Espiss, New Lyshy provides enough return on investment to make it a valuable resource and so it is supported by aid from Espiss itself. The settlement itself is built just east of the actual original site of Lyshy, as the wreckage of the old city are a very well known hazard. Those that enter the area tend to either die on the spot or develop a fatal disease which kills in days, to name but a few of the risks. The settlement is also primarily above ground as digging tends to unearth subterranean portions of Lyshy that are best avoided. Added to these noted qualities is a faint buzzing or humming that can be heard by those with keen ears nearer to the old city, the origin of which is unclear.

      The founders of New Lyshy did inherit a few boons from their new home, first of which is an aid the miners use daily. A device was found near the old mines of Lyshy that is in working condition. Easy to use but beyond replication, the device known as Nahh to the locals (the common response to the story of the power the device is "Nahh, that can't be true"). Nahh is a rather fragile device mounted on another device which aides to move it about. The business part of Nahh is capable of producing a focused and near surgical beam of vibration which is used to break up material in the process of tunnelling. The way Nahh is set to work is to hit the area in front of it with a ten square foot beam to shatter material in front of it. While the debris falls from the wall in front it sounds again but more strongly so, breaking the debris into powder. The destructive power of Nahh is not lost on those who use it, but since it is best used for the job it was designed for rather than as a weapon Nahh stays near the mines.

      The second major inheritance is a bit more mysterious. From time to time, as with all settled peoples, New Lyshy finds itself attacked. The locals are hardy and used to taking care of themselves, but many times that is not enough against what may come. The people of New Lyshy learned early that they are not always alone when they defend their homes from outside threats. At times, while the people arm and met attackers a hissing, sparking, distorted visage that appears vaguely like a hare appears to aid them. The battle capacities of this visage are beyond that which the populace can manage themselves, and so far it has not been defeated in combat. Just what it is remains a mystery, but the seared corpses of its victims attest to both its efficiency and its peculiar nature. Attempts have been made to contact the entity but to no avail; it only seems to make it hiss more. It has become somewhat accepted to call the visage "The Guardian", as it aids the people in times of dire need and seems harmless to the people themselves; it has never attacked a hare in recorded history.

      Lastly, the people inherited a few odds and ends that have been gleaned over the years. Tools, art works as well as unknown thingamajigs have been found and passed down through the families that own them. The most notable of course are the weapons that have been "figured out" well enough to be used, sometimes the hard way. Some of these find their way into the exports of New Lyshy, but this is discouraged as the people tend to think of such things as belonging to the area and to the poor city folk who's bones still lie in the ruins.

After taking care of some preparations, the team meets back at the importer lot and chooses a traveling order, as the convoy consists of a lead vehicle, the van and lastly a rear vehicle. In the lead are Jasper and Jeff, the Van carries O' Laura in the cab while Krystal and Kalawac set up on the roof. The last is occupied by Lilly and Alex. The convoy pulls out and speeds into the wilds to its fait. The first encounter is with a cheetah, which runs along side the lead vehicle, examining the occupants. Jeff attempts to scare it by brandishing his stun-gun which results in it pulling back and following from behind a short distance. Jasper takes a more solid approach and opens fire, striking by use of true strike, giving it reason to hit back. A small hail of arrows are fired, two of which penetrate Jasper's defences wounding her measurably. Moments later the cheetah breaks off and vanishes into the grass. An hour or so later, up ahead something large and erect crosses the road and stops just off the side. Approaching it the lead identifies it as a tigress, which is standing by the side of the road with its arms crossed. She simply observes the convoy as it passes and makes no move as it continues on. Some time later the lead once again spots something off to the left of the road, appearing to be wreckage of some other vehicle. Drawing closer Jasper and Jeff notice that it has been ripped and torn by claw marks, however these marks are even smaller than those made by hares and much deeper. As they pass it by, from within something emerges; a green hued gling. Soon after its emergence it is joined by seven more of its kind. This flock takes to the air and moves to intercept the van upon which Krystal and Kalawac are posted. Having ranged weapons, Kalawac with his hand cannon and Krystal behind the mounted gun, they both have a few moments with which to attack before the flock is upon them. Knowing trouble is coming both the lead a rear vehicle move to converge on the van to aid in the upcoming fight. A few of the glings (3) are knocked from the air to the ground while the rest make it to land upon the roof of the van. While Kalawac and Krystal are forced into melee Lilly and Jeff leap to the roof of the van to aid. After a brief scuffle the glings leap backward off the van and retreat by air leaving their fallen. After taking stock of the situation it is noticed that one gling is not accounted for and so the van is searched for a hitch-hiker as well as damage. Kalawac is the one to notice that the lock to the back of the van had been picked. Bringing this to the attention of O' Laura, she gathers the group and prepares to open the doors. As the doors swing open a gling is seen, crouched quietly upon the floor, that upon noticing it has been found screeches and leaps to the attack. A combined effort strikes it down quickly, and it is but moments before O' Laura checks to see if any damage to the cargo has been done. Fining everything still in order she remarks "It must have been waiting for us to continue on before doing damage, so that any sounds it made would have been masked. Bloody little feckers, they get into everything". A search of the wreckage is made in hopes of discovering a few bits of equipment or funds. All that is found is two hand cannons in the truck along with some rounds, all of which are taken. The convoy resumes its journey, although its guardians are near exhausted. O' Laura pushes on, however, and in time the team succumbs to fatigue. They are roused sometime later, near the outskirts of New Lyshy so that they can view the area they are about to enter. The settlement is easily marked by the fumes from the refining processes of ores which pour forth from a few areas, but to the west is a larger settlement. This one has no signs of inhabitation and appears quite run down. Pointed out as Old Lyshy, the team is warned not to venture to close as it has proven unhealthy. Pulling in the team is immediate ushered to quarters so they may rest, an offer they don't refuse.

 

Week Eight Day Three

            Upon waking, the group leaves their respective two-man quarters and move into the streets in search of both some information and a little breakfast. The street is little more than a toughly beaten path with many ruts, the quarters are rather simple and the main body of the settlement seems a fair distance away. Moments later a doe riding a bike approaches, stopping in front of the group and introduces herself as Irrika. "Ah, good to see you're all up, I've been coming by every now and then to check up on ya. If you're all rested up you can use a bike from behind the building over there and follow me to the community hall." Having no need to stay where they are the each of the group obtains a bike and follows Irrika into the core of the settlement. The van and other two vehicles are resting in front of the hall, drivers sleeping in each. "I've been told some of ya are experienced in using herbs and such for medicinal purposes, those of you that can could ya lend Lexa a hand in the hall? The rest of ya can follow me to the main kitchen and I will see what I can do about scraping together a quick meal. Don't the rest of ya worry, I will bring you along something later". As Krystal and Alex are the only ones really skilled for the task they enter the hall to lend what aid they can. Jeff goes along too, hoping he might be able to help out in some other way. After meals are handed out Lilly wanders out to the graves of New Lyshy, followed by Jasper, and begin to study a few spells from each other (True strike, Unseen servant). Jeff eventually takes up the position off lookout, keeping most of his attention to the south.

List of individuals well enough and skilled enough to manage New Lyshy

Sithris: Chief

Lexa: Simple herbal medic

Mohand: Man at Arms

Irrika: Supplies and managment

 

Week Eight Day Four

As last day, Alex and Krystal tend to the ill, who have been poisoned by sources unknown. Jeff takes up lookout to the south once more. Marakin speaks to O' Laura about her health and general well being. Jasper and Lilly write up a few scrolls they hope to use in trade to Dlar at a later time.

 

Week Eight Day Five

            Once again, Lilly and Jasper return to the graves to work on their scrolls, the medics tend the ill and Jeff keeps his eyes to the south. While tending the poison victims Alex asked Lexa if mayhap they could share a meal later and get to know each other better. Lexa does not respond with the greatest enthusiasm, but says "I might be at your disposal if you can keep up". This results in a contest between who can proficiently treat the most victims and for the longest without fatiguing. The result is Alex doing the best job AND performing longer than Lexa, who he finds later passed out, draped over the last individual she was treating. Meanwhile, Jeff notices some red figures moving though the grass not thirty feet from his position. Jumping down, he takes the matter upon himself and uses his stun-gun dropping what is three red glings almost instantly. Elsewhere, Lilly and Jasper hear movement though the grass near their position in the graveyard. They too, are set upon by glings, six of them, which they choose to fight rather then run. The battle does not go well, until Jasper uses her empower gem spell upon a tourmaline, generating a large colour spray like effect. The glings drop unconscious due to the spells effect, but unfortunately that was Jasper's last tourmaline. Jasper and Lilly make a run for the community hall to try to meet up with the rest of their team in case more glings arrive. Both ready expeditious retreat and hop on their bikes, on the way they are spotted by more glings which jump to the attack. Speeding along as they are Jasper and Lilly just continue their flight towards the hall. Meanwhile, Jeff also employs expeditious retreat and check on New Lyshy's stores to see if they have been tampered with. Finding nothing amiss, he makes back for the hall as well. As the team meets up at the community hall some members check from the roof-tops to see if they can discover if there are any more glings and what they are up to. From this vantage, about two-score more glings are spotted, of red, purple and green varieties, the latter of which seem to be carrying something. Wanting to know what these objects are, Jasper hits a green gling with a cold round and using a summon I spell, gets her beast to collect the one it was holding. It comes back empty handed, saying the object broke, and that it seems to have been made of glass and held something acidic. The actual attack upon the gling has in the meanwhile stirred things up a bit and now two-score glings converge on Jasper's location. The team takes shelter in the hall and gears up for a bit of a protracted battle. Jeff is the only one to remain outside and is accompanied by New Lyshy's man-at-arms, Mohand. As quick preparation is made to keep most of the infirm from the thick of battle about to come, glings begin to enter though windows in the walls of the hall, throwing the make-shift infirmary into a shooting gallery. Jasper and Marakin take the right wall while Lilly, Alex and Krystal take the left. As the team does its best to cut the glings down, more pour in though the open windows until O' Laura has the metal window shutters slam shut to buy some time to deal with the current attackers. Outside, Karnov can be heard fighting with the glings outside as the team mops up the glings that have already entered. Finishing up, the sound of battle outside continues but there are no signs of glings trying to force their way though the shutters. A new sound has joined the din of battle outside, that of electrical zapping. Moving outside the team manages to see a shimmering yellow figure moving from gling to gling, without crossing space, striking each one down with a zapping slash. The figure seems to be missing it upper portion of its left leg and a hole in its back penetrates deep enough to reach its chest area. Around these damaged areas are small yellow spheres which float at a fixed distance. Not having time to just sit back and watch, as over a dozen green glings equipped with acid have made their way to the stores, which Jeff and Mohand have already made their way to. The two watch the gling activities for a few moments but are spotted by three red glings that were hidden near a red building. Shots go off as Jeff and Mohand defend themselves from the oncoming flock. Soon after the rest of the team shows and join the effort. In an attempt to use Jeff’s stun-gun on airborne glings, a chaff grenade is used before firing. From within the cloud of chaff rains down acid from shattered spheres, but the glings stay in flight. Shells are fired and grenades are used, and the glings descend upon their targets. The pair of Kalawac and Jasper are targeted by several glings, and thinking her odds poor, Jasper runs. During her run though the streets she encounters seven more which trap her. To escape beings surrounded she leaps to the roof of a nearby building and runs BACK to the battle-zone. As she come back in, the group who have already cleaned up most of their troubles open fire upon her attackers. Mohand proves most effective at eliminating glings with his hand cannon, getting off three shots at a go, thanks to his antique hand cannon found in the area of Old Lyshy generations ago. Seemingly done here, the group returns to the hall. Once again doing what they can to help, they aid the cleanup after the battle and begin to question some of the more prominent leaders. Alex is the one doing most of the questioning, asking about Mohand’s old cannon and if there are any other examples of Old Lyshy’s tools and where he may be able to find or study some of them. Mohand tells him that he will not tell him where he got his cannon, as that would only lead to trouble and mayhap the loss of yet another scholar. Mohand instead directs Alex to question Sithris, as being the chief he has a few odds and ends that may be of interest. In questioning Sithris, Alex learns the following:

Alex: “Are there any other cannons like the one Mohand has around?”

Sithris: “There should be in old Lyshy, but we’re not about to go in after them.”

Alex: “Has anyone got any other examples of tools from Lyshy?”

Sithris: “Not likely, Lyshy reclaims what is taken from her.”

Alex: “As in takes things back? How?”

Sithris: “Things come from the ruins, take back what was stolen, and walk over anyone who get in the way.”

Alex: “Things? What do they look like, what can you tell me about them.”

Sithris: “A hard thing to say, some have legs, some don’t and instead have wheels. Some have arms, some don’t, some have several. As they don’t follow any sort of plan in shape, its hard for me to tell much about them in general. What they all have in common is they are made of metal and are unlike anything else I have seen.”

Alex: “Can I have a look at Mohand’s cannon a bit more closely, to study?”

Sithris: “I can’t say, you’ll have to ask him.”

Alex: “Can I have a look at your cannon, I would like to learn about it?”

Mohand: “Not likely kid, I need this at a moments notice should our home be attacked.”

Alex: “Can I at least look at it?”

Mohand: “Maybe that we can manage, but not right now, were sort of in a bad situation here. Maybe when and if our town recovers from this poison.”

Alex: “Do you have any other tools from the old city?”

Mohand: “I thought I told you to ask Sithris?”

Alex: “Mohand tells me you may have other trinkets from Old Lyshy, can I see some?”

Sithris: “You again. Well, ya, here, look at this.” Tosses him a stick with a ball on it.

Alex: “What is this thing?”

Sithris: “I don’t know, but its like a pen that does not run out of ink. Have one, I have several.”

Alex: “Do you export any of these old tools?”

Sithris: “We did once. We had a supply of old medical kits but sent them to other cities in hopes they could duplicate the examples we provided. So far this has not happened, all that was managed was to make herbal extracts to substitute for the exhausted components of existing kits.” Makes note of the strange kit Krystal has been toting with her ever since he met her.

Alex: “Do you have anything at all I can look at besides, from the old town?”

Sithris: “Maybe, you know this place was not always our town. We had to clear the area before we could settle and so a fair bit of refuse and wreckage was scraped up and dumped near the boarders of Old Lyshy, you could poke around there. Just don’t stray past our boarder markers, we don’t need to lose another. No one comes back from Old Lyshy.”

During his talk with Sithris, Alex had the feeling that something was being held back, but could not tell what or why. Deciding to have a look at this debris, Alex sets out for the boarders of Old Lyshy with a few group members in tow: Jasper, Marakin and Jeff. A twenty minute bike ride to the area later, the group moves up to what they believe is the wreckage Sithris spoke of. The pile in front of the group looks like a collection of stone and metallic wreckage with some glint of crystal from here and there. Hoping for a few bits of useful trash the group starts to search. Jeff is not really skilled enough to try to find much, Alex has background in alchemy and engineering, Marakin and Jasper also has alchemy. Jasper finds a small, bent piece of xerty, Alex finds a few bits that may be an old hand cannon round and Marakin decides to use find familiar. While waiting for Marakin to complete his “finding” Alex does a visual survey of Old Lyshy. What is noticed is that there are areas of obvious ruin while there are some areas that look pristine, even having visible light coming from buildings and street lamps. Hoping to find something at one of these sites, Alex moves past the marked boarders and towards one of the nearer intact structures. Not long after entering the marked Old Lyshy boarder he is surrounded by motes of pink light, which remain motionless in the air around him. Stopping to examine them to determine if they are of danger, he decides they are of no harm and continues on, upon which they vanish a short time after his passing. Drawing closer, the ground below him erupts and throws him to the ground. Getting up, hurt, but not to badly, Alex examines the source of the detonation, finding a crater and bits of crystal. Believing it to be some sort of land-mine, he picks up a shard of crystal and continues his journey. Almost there, he notes that a lone figure stands not far from the building he was approaching. The individual is an average sized hare, of brown fur, wearing a uniform of some sort and holding a hand cannon much like the one he saw Mohand use. The figure does not seem to be looking at him, nor does it seem to notice him. Alex moves forward, trying to look non-threatening as he can. The figure still does not respond, and does not seem to be breathing, just stands there looking attentive. Alex moves forward still, only to stop moments later, but not of his own volition. Back near the boarder the group notices that Alex has not moved in some time and its been awhile. Jasper decides to move in, and likewise encounters the motes, which she was not able to see when Alex encountered them, seemingly only those in the immediate area are able to view them. Next she walks past the crater and still onward to the area where Alex is standing. Jasper attempts to use ropes, grapples and even summon I to extricate Alex from what has gripped him, only to have anything she tosses in his direction stick in the air solidly. Having no idea what else to do, and not wanting to fall victim herself, Jasper heads back to the group to inform them. Some time later, Marakin gets his familiar, which rises from the junk pile. it moves on three legs and has but a single manipulative “arm” which does not seem to be working well and stays folded up. The whole being is metallic and seems rather damaged, and seems to have a layer of unknown alchemical gunk from the pile on its upper portions. The thing looks much like a three legged crab with slime coating. Marakin is not able to communicate with it well, but it tends to follow him around. It emits a faint clicking sound, when upon translated by comprehend languages comes out as an endless repetition of “error, error, error”. With Alex trapped in an unknown manner, the remains of the team return to New Lyshy. Those back at the community hall just sigh at the loss of Alex, as if they half expected it. The team then returns to the streets of New Lyshy to patrol for any other problems. Not long after, the day ends and they retire to their quarters.

 

Week Eight Day Six

            Day six is the traditional day off for the team, and O’ Laura reminds them of this. So they take it a bit more easy and try not to work to hard. Jasper and Marakin make an attempt to trade spells. Jasper offers combust and true strike while Marakin offers his own spells of force cannon and instant reload.