[What Price One Soul] - Hellboy Fanfic - Shot Across The Bow

 

5553/What Price One Soul: Shot Across the Bow

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What Price One Soul: Shot Across the Bow
Date of Scene:	12 March 2021
Location:	Blueforge, New Jersey - Suburb
Synopsis:	Saeko warns Hellboy of a trap on a door for a witness he wants to talk to. They fight a whisp who possess the witness and rescue the witness.
Cast of Characters:	Hellboy, Saeko
Tinyplot:	What Price One Soul

---

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy is in New Jersey investingating a man who claims to have worked with Haekin, the guy who supposedly stole the sole from Latveria. So he gets out of large truck he borrowed from W.A.N.D. and heads up towards the house.

What he doesn't realize is that the door is trapped and if he opens it, a lot of people (not him) are going to be hurt.

Saeko would have received a premonition via her foresight, a time, a place and an EXPLOSION if a demon opens that door, though not much more details than that. Hellboy rings the door bell again still waiting but clearly growing less patience

Saeko has posed:
A sudden flare, a flash of light, Saeko gave a start from where she rested in her suite. A sip of tea disrupted by the vision from Inari. Exhaling a breath, the air warps around her form and she disappears from where she rests to appear behind the demon prince.

"I wouldn't do that," a voice speaks up, the kitsune appearing in all her glory, wrapped in a yukata and with tails marking her as clearly non-human.

"That door is a trap that will cost others dearly."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy is seconds away from touching the doorknob and stops. He turns around and looks her up and down doubtfully. Then he looks her up and down again because...wow. But he's a professional and its not like he hasn't seen supernaturally attractive women before. "Hellboy." He waves. "And you are?" He waits a moment, "And you learned this...how?" Its not that he isn't opposed to taking good advice, but he's been tricked before.

Saeko has posed:
"Saeko," she speaks lazily, a tilt of her head as she straightens up. "I am a Tenko of Inari," she offers, as if that explaination would mean something when most people weren't exactly read up on divine messengers of faiths uncommon this side of the world. Folding her arms under her bust, the kitsune moves forwards. "I recieve visions of where I am needed. Including where someone is about to cause disaster."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy knows about the occult so isn't ignorant of what that means. He considers hand on his chin and then steps back from the door. He is about to ask a question but her folded hands ..give him pause. He blinks and then asks, "Um..is it just the door or can I go in through the garage or the window? And I appreciate the heads up." The vision, annoyingly, did not say or show.

Saeko has posed:
A little chuckle, the vixen moves past the door, moving towards the window and lightly stepping onto the air as if there were something solid for her to rest on. Even divine messengers needed a little assistance to look through a window when they were on the shorter side." Floating for a moment, her eyes peer through the barrier before her partially bared shoulders ar shrugged.

"I see no further traps, but my visions are not so precise as to allow omnipotence."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy nods, "I had omnipotence in a 20 square mile once for 20 minutes...wouldn't wish it on anyone. God the tiny details you notice, its definitely TMI and people..." he shudders though seems to enjoy as she steps up to teh window. He then takes a claw and opens the window and steps in, "Now I'm worried about the guy inside. Care to join me Saeko? And thanks for the save

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy counts the tails and is impressed. Nine is rare and insanely powerful. He also notices more than he should curve wise but nods, "Well, excitement tends to follow me like a lovesick puppy so I wouldn't worry too much about that" he steps into the house and sees blood on the walls. He immediately takes out his gun and turns on a flashlight. There is a man on the floor unconcious and a glowing whisp of green magical energy above him, seeming to drain the human's essence.

Hellboy shoots but the regular shot goes right through it and puts a hole in the wall.

Saeko has posed:
The kitsune woman shrugs her shoulders yet again, her floating steps decending herself onto the ground once more. Through the window she'll move, the array of tails behind her seeming to move of their own accord before they waver and twist until only several remain rather than the full array of nine. "I could use the excitement..." she offers lightly before chuckling. "Just, try not to blow us up."

Hellboy has posed:
Realizing that Saeko might have been able to only offer as much help as she was SENT her, or bored, he nevertheless remembers the endless homework the BRPD made him learn over and over and reaches into his vest tossing a small gold coin to Saeko, just to be sure. Different Kitsune did have slightly different rules.

He opens his gun and tries to reload to shoot the wisp but the thing immediately unleashes twin blasts of eldrich green fire as it draws essence from the dying human; one at Hellboy and one at Saeko. Hellboy isn't hurt (much) but sent flying back into a nearby book case.

Saeko has posed:
A coin caught, the kitsune turns it over between her fingertips before she palms it and the object disappears from physical form. A little exhaled breath, the Tenko's eyes widen a little at the whisp before the gunshot has her whincing a little. It -was- super loud and having superhuman hearing was quite rouch right next to the hellish handcannon.

Shaking her head at the burst of sound, her eyes widen at the sudden rush of eldritch fire headed her way.

Her hands raise, glowing blue flames of light warping through the air and forming a protective bubble to divert the blast headed for her.

Hellboy has posed:
The wisp is a powerful conjuring but its not celestial or infernal so the strength of its blast, even fueled by mortal life essence is such that it isn't going to KILL either but it does take more effort than she might think to make the shield interpose for her. Hellboy recovers quickly, a burn in his chest as he reloads the gun with holy rock salt and silver pellets and unloads into the think point blank, making it disperse.

"What the he-" this seems about all he gets out as the shards of the whisp are redrawn into the body of the man, possessing him and making him float off the floor, sending two more blasts. Hellboy is sent back into a piano making a loud "THUMM!" sound.

Saeko has posed:
The punch against her barrier has Saeko staggering back. Glowing lights dancing through the air, the fox-woman doubles back. There's no guns for the fox, instead Saeko shifts her hand to extend it outwards. Flowing energy, her manifested 'Kitsune-bi' fire surges forth to try and blast the whisp as it absorbs into the man.

Unfortunately, going for the more agressive approach had the downside of ruining her defense. That next blast headed her way impacts against her side, sending Saeko hurtling back into a wall with a cry of pain.

She wasn't quite so physically resilliant as Hellboy. That one definately hurt!

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy grunts and is even more pissed off at the attack on Saeko than he should be, but he was raised by men of a different age and leaps across the room yelping in pain as he just WALKS into the double barreled blast of energy into him, burning as he does so, green lightning collecting all over him as he pulls the man down and sits on him.

The lightning doesnt stop and, finally, reluctantly, he just punches the man in the face, who stops briefly but then starts right back on him, "REALLY?

Saeko has posed:
Dusting herself off, Saeko's had braces against the wall and makes to stand herself upwards. Technically dying wasn't permanent for her, but that didn't mean that getting hurt didn't really...hurt.

With Hellboy utilizing the rather elegant solution of pinning the man down, the Tenko brings her hands together, a burning light dancing from between her fingertips as the tails that had faded earlier extend to their full glory once more.

Swirling and crackling light engulfs her, mystic energy flits and fills the air before she opens her glowing eyes. An exorcisim ritual from Tenko herself? Hopefully it would be enough to disrupt the Whisp.

Hellboy has posed:
It's strangely difficult for the power level she senses, almost as if the mage involved is an absolute expert at it but at the end of the day raw power overcomes any amount of skill and the man eventually collapses, Hellboy just barely managing NOT to punch the injured man as the glowing light leaves his eyes. His injuries are already healing, not wolverine style but the bleeding has stopped and the burns seem less severe. He sighs and stands, "Thanks.

Saeko has posed:
Exhaling a breath, the glow finally fades and the Divine messenger laughs softly, shaking her head. "Well," Saeko muses, dusting the debris from her form and letting her tails give a little flick to dust themselves off as well. "This was certainly a more interesting evening that I was expecting when I got home."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy says, "Yeah, you can say that again." He sighs and checks the witness to make sure he isnt dead. He then takes out a phone and dials 911. This poor guy was gonna need a bit more than first aid, though he did put a few drops in his eyes that should help the drained essence. Probably. Dr. Alicaster's alchemy back at B.R.P.D. was always...dicey but it seemed to work as the guy slept more. "Thanks. If that door had exploded with enough force to get you out here, I can only imagine how many people it would have hurt. I appreciate it."

Saeko has posed:
"Just...remember not to open it on your way out," Saeko muses, closing her eyes. Folding her arms once more before her, the vixen tilts her head to the side. "It was a pleasure working with you none the less Hellboy, we were able to assist this man and prevent loss of life. I can only hope that the culprit behind this entity is located."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy smiles, "That we did Saeko," he smiles, "That we did. And who knows, maybe there is enough of his mind intact to ask him questions about the jerk who took that soul." He salutes and puts the guy gently over his shoulder and starts to trundle towards the approaching ambulance. "Trust me, I'll get this asshole. If its the last thing I do."

[What Price One Soul] Hellboy fanfic from Heroes Assemble Mush - Latveria

 

5403/What Price One Soul: Latveria

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What Price One Soul: Latveria
Date of Scene:	01 March 2021
Location:	Latveria, 15 miles from Doom Castle
Synopsis:	A bunch of magically transformed humans turned into lawn ornaments are rescued by 'Doom'. The soul Hellboy sought wasnt there, but he did find a clue.
Cast of Characters:	Hellboy, Steve Rogers, Thor, Meggan Puceanu
Tinyplot:	What Price One Soul

---

Hellboy has posed:
The rejection letter looked VERY impressive as all formal diplomatic notices from Latveria; the holographic seal combined with the natively grown incredibly rich vellum paper was a testament (as were many things) to the wealth, prosperity and 'freedom' of Latveria but it basically said what all the OTHER papers had said for the last 40 years, "No." Only this one was a little different, because it said, "No, really, No. Doom himself has reviewed your case, thanks for helping against the lunatic in the past, you are not welcome, we checked out the site, what you are looking for isnt there. Go away. Do not ask again or else Grrrr." Granted the speechifying by actual doom would be better, but it WAS from Doom himself and it was a categorical, undeniable NO.

This was in the same circular file as the small stack of official SHIELD (and every other covert agency he could think of) that also said "NO" since the soul in question was possibly not even still stored in said container and even if it was, they likely were not aware of the passage of time and "humane to leave them as they are" blah blah blah blah blah.

BOOM! Hellboy blew up the trashcan with the paperwork in it and quietly sent work to a few friends about whether or not they would help him sneak into Latveria and check. So here he was, trundling through the Latverian tunnel network, left over from WWII when they had fought the Nazis, known only to a few people, including Doom but also Hellboy trundling towards the site that the damn Limner had left behind.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The quinjet beeped a soft alarm, letting the pilot know that they were twenty miles out from Latverian airspace. "Sir, we're getting near," he says, the SHIELD agent turning and looking over his shoulder to where Captain America and Thor are standing in the back of the plane.

"I appreciate you coming along Thor. If we can avoid an international incident it would be for the best," Steve says as he pulls on one of his gloves. "I'm not entirely sure the full story of why Hellboy is so keen to get to this site. But we need to get to him and convince him to get out. before he's detected. The last thing SHIELD needs is Doom claiming the agency invaded them."

The pilot looks back over his shoulder again. "Sir, our stealth technology may not be able to evade Latverian defenses. They are pretty high tech, sir."

Cap nods to the man and puts on his helmet. "That's why we're not taking the quinjet in," he says. Cap moves to a lever and pulls it, the back of the jet opening up. "Brought alternate transportation, much tougher to spot." Steve gestures towards the Asgardian God of Thunder. Steve's shield is removed from his back and he taps it. "The vibranium should do a good job absorbing their radar. Feel like giving a teammate a lift, Thor?" He asks.

Thor has posed:
Just because Thor is mostly known for thunder, lighting, tornados, hitting things with hammers, and shouting declarative sentences doesn't mean there's any particular rule against taking him on stealth missions. If Captain America needs backup in Latveria, he's going to need to bring in the big guns, and as you can see clearly in Thor's sleeveless tunic, there are few guns bigger than these.

Bigger, and louder, but disregard that second part, it's definitely not going to come into play today.

His big concession to stealth is, of course, a close-cropped haircut that makes him nearly unrecognizable and has only merited cover features in two of Midgard's celebrity magazines (so far). But after Cap impressed upon his Asgardian friend the importance of subtlety on this mission, Thor has also covered up his big billowing red cape with a big billowing green cloak, which if you think about it, is PERFECT camouflage for Latveria.

The pair of cape-cloak things billow even more than before in the forceful wind when the back hatch of the Quinjet opens, but Thor's booming voice can still be easily heard over the rushing air. "But of course, Captain!" he says with his trademark enthusiasm. Holding Mjolnir loosely in his left hand, he swings it in an accelerating circle and offers Cap his right forearm. "Hold fast!" he calls, before finally letting the hammer fly, launching the pair of Avengers out of the back of the jet at a breakneck pace. They swoop through buffeting winds, dragged by the physics-defying momentum of Mjolnir, and Thor only now thinks to glance at his flying companion and ask, "So! Where shall we land?"

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
The well-mannered Englishwoman along on this particular adventure probably has a small, precise SHIELD writeup that begins and ends with a lot of question marks. Meggan doesn't look particularly scary or really much competent compared to Asgardian gods, the real American hero, or a demon hunter. Looks might be deceiving, and in fact very much are. Her record is...useful, though. Its most recent can be filed under the auspices of James Rhodes and other assorted Avengers dealing with a large, troublesome tentacle monster off Honolulu. The mystic community has a few things to say that make her useful, gleaned from a cultist or summoned demon babbling on about never, ever letting her near the infernal realms on pain of eternal death has an advantage too. Something about madly upsetting hell lords by improving the place with hope and happiness.

Need a soul? She's one of the few to escape mostly intact. Need someone in Latveria? Being Romani also helps given certain lineages involving one Victor von Doom.

She shows up with Hellboy to the meeting point for said tunnel, another forgettable feature in the landscape that tells a host of stories she'd rather not look too deeply into. Otherwise she is singularly beaming the whole time and accepting the companionship for what it is: thrilling! Because famous people with storied histories are exactly amazing to be around, though she keeps it to a dull glow. No reason for drawing attention. Well, yet.

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy is pleased for any back up at all. Granted, if he had known just how HEAVY the retrieval crew was going to be he might have prepared a bit differently but it wasnt like he hadnt...er...borrowed...a few ...useful...artifacts in case well, you know...Doom.

He climbs up one of the many tunnel exits, ignores the automatic machine gun fire from the booby trap to keep unauthorized people from entering the tunnels as it bounces off his hide as he opens the tunnel exit and waves to Meggan. "Hey, glad you are here," he beams clearly pleased at help, "There is no way of knowing if the Limner's defenses are still active and having someone with your abilities as backup will be handy. It's half a mile from here in the woods."

He keeps an eye out for patrolling drones, fully expecting to to have to fight ...well...something...but he'd rather wait as long as possible. Assuming she is up for it, they go towards the woods and vanish into thick under growth rather quickly.

Doom has anticipate a lot of defenses and contingencies but a flying Asgardian with vibranium cloaking wasnt one of them, so needless to say, they do not yet notice the two of them though the astonished shephard in the middle of nowhere rubbing his eyes trying to decide if he believes what he just saw might constitute low tech radar.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The wind whistles loudly around Cap's ears as Thor literally throws the two of them through the air behind his hammer. "I studied what I could of their defenses. Have an idea where they might try to get in," he says to Thor, their comms helping defeat the roar of the wind.

Steve studies the landscape below, comparing it in his head to the satellite images he'd studied, expecting to be faced with navigating from just such a position. He points Thor to a general area. As they fly overhead, he says, "I might have just seen a few flashes from gunfire. Machine guns maybe. I hope they aren't already on to him."

Steve points out the location. "There are some woods nearby where we might be able to land without being seen," he calls to Thor. He glances over at Mjolnir. "Your hammer takes the whole 'green tranportation' to a new level. Anywhere the rest of us can pick one of those up," he jokes.

Thor has posed:
Thor screams through the air (but, like, a quiet, stealthy scream) with both capes snapping behind him. Shepherds watching their flocks by night are welcome to panic at their leisure: this is one divine apparition that isn't going to stop and encourage them not to be afraid. Answering Steve's question, he starts, "I'm afraid Mjolnir is one of a--" Then he stops, for some reason, and says in a far less jovial tone, "I don't think they make them anymore."

He angles for the copse of trees Cap has indicated, bypassing the muzzle flashes for now. To land, he simply lets go of Mjolnir, which zips away and then up into the sky with a metallic hum, and floats to the ground, his capes filling with air like a big, unwieldy, two-ply parachute. Once they're on solid ground, he holds up a hand and the hammer zings back into his solid grip with a gentle thwack.

"Alright then," he asks in a stagey whisper, gathering his cloak around him and trying to flap it into a concealing position over any obtruding red. "Toward the gunfire?" That's typically his approach. Thick Asgardian skin, after all.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Civilian gear for the blonde Englishwoman probably helps her blend in to the Latverian countryside quite well. A somewhat battered oversized coat and trainers on their last days enable rambling and climbing with the best of them. She hastens through the creepy tunnel stained in failed hopes, fear, and graffiti like a bad 80s music video, trying her best to not shove past the large red man in her haste to get away right about now. Someone doesn't want her knock-off Eastern Bloc MTV right now, thank you.

Somehow the boobytrapped forest is that much nicer, the rolling hills or green fields contained beyond a sea of concrete superior in all respects. Her shoulders drop, tension tilted away. "I wouldn't expect quite so a bill for property damage," she says, all bright and mildly cheeky. Turning to the dark woodland beyond, her gaze unfocuses a bit.

A moment later, she kneels, putting her hand to the soil in a gentle brush of introduction to the natural world. Elemental senses roll past quiet trees and scurrying creatures moving furtively through the undergrowth to any birds in the canopy. Night harbours many secrets. Few from her, though, as she sets out with a light trot after Hellboy. Favoured status from the plants shows as her light-footed tracks sink away into the dirt and winter-withered branches turn aside. It might be thick but she moves about like it's a sandy beach, footing firm. Gunfire is a little more troublesome when it shows. "Prefer to ignore them firing at us, or would it be best to make them stop?"

Hellboy has posed:
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the "ancient" booby trap in the tunnels was connected to a not so ancient alert that immediately connected to the local militia, including the seemingly innocent shepard in the middle of the night who grabbed an assault rifle in a 'sheep' right next to the actual sheep beneath him and zipping into camo fatigues. They layed down control fire on the unindentified intruders keeping a distance waiting for nearer reinforcements.

Meanwhile, the house gives a positively creepy vibe as there are various lawn gnomes and other carved figures that sit in the lawn of the abandonded house that glare knowingly at Hellboy. They seem to know him, and that is because they do. The broad shadows of the woods make it practically dark, blotting out the stars in the cloudless sky as their eyes suddenly turn red as they animate. Between the animated lawn orniments and the militia taking pot shots at them he knows its only a time before the Doombots show up, "We need to get inside and into the basement. I need to know if its there. The Limner fueled a device we stopped several years ago and powered it with souls but one fell into a crack. We all ran before it exploded..." he looks around at the house, "if it exploded, how the hell did the house get back here?" He ignores the small wooden gnome trying to bite into his skin with no success whatsoever.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The buzz of bullets cutting through the forest they've landed in causes Captain American to pull his shield around to that side. Just in time for one bullet to ping off it and ricochet off into the foliage. "Let's get deeper inside," Steve suggests, heading away from the newest gunfire. In his head Steve imagines where the machinegun fire was, and where someone would travel deeper into the Latverian countryside from that point. And then moves on a course that he hopes will intersect them.

Up ahead, a house seems to rise out of the forest, visible through the trees that thin enough to suggest a yard. "Do you hear that?" Steve whispers to Thor. Not sure if he's hearing a deep voice in speech, but that's what it sounds like to him.

Steve continues forward, eyes on the alert to approach the edge of the more open area around the house. Eventually he makes out rather large figure, one that quite hopefully could only be Hellboy. He keeps his shield in hand, but arm loose at his side as he steps out into the open. "I don't believe they were crazy about having you come here," he says as Steve stands where he can easily be identified by the demon with the giant hand, and the young woman.

Thor has posed:
"More gunfire!" Thor says, his booming voice strangled to 'stealthy' volume but undeniably giddy. He follows after Steve in a slight crouch, apparently operating on the principles of Elder Scrolls stealth mechanics, and occasionally batting away an inconvenient bullet with a brick of Uru metal. He gives Steve's question a quick nod, then takes a slightly more meandering path than the patriotic Avenger, allowing them to bracket their target in a pincer maneuver. When Steve approaches and addresses the wayward figures, Thor remains crouched, not intending to reveal himself just yet. Just a random person in a big green cloak, nothing to see here.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Meggan isn't going to ignore gunfire of a high calibre, but she has a red meatshield used accordingly. A habit of moving behind someone as imposing as Hellboy keeps her at least from being strafed, until the lawn gnomes and curious little statuettes animate from the ruined structure. Her green eyes widen, and she steels herself against any spiritual glows around them. "They're alive," she warns in that soft undertone, and disregard the fact her accent is subtly but surely tilting away from melodic English of the Lake Country to Latverian.

This might prove concerning when Steve emerges from the brush. She already briefly turns to look over her shoulder and as incongruous as it is, breaks into a smile tinged in a little relief. Perhaps she does not see the Thunderer striving to remain hidden, in the way his mom probably ignored him filching honey buns from the kitchen as a child. "The lawn ornaments don't match the souls inside. Their bodies were changed. This is an awful magic if done on their own." Disabusing the notion of lawn gnomes being friendly is key, though she points somewhere around the house's foundation. "Whatever has them bound, it's below and not above. Would you like me to open a path?"

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy sighs. He actually Sighs, capital S. First, it's Captain America. Why not just send Puppy Man to stop him? I mean, only assholes kick puppies right? If they had sent some REGULAR agents, punching them would be fine, but Captain Pup...oh Thor. God, that would hurt. OK, this plan was poorly thought out.

Wait, rewind that? He listens to what Meggan says in his head and breathes a sigh of relief. "See? These POOR people are transformed by the Limner's magic. Guy was messed up, transformative magic, could change a single letter in a word and turn anything into anything else. He had some kind of infernal device in the sixties powered by souls, was going to transform half of Europe and we stopped him but the source of his power must still be active. It explains why the house is still here after an explosion that cleared all the trees like they weren't even here. We need to search the house, break his source of people and then get out of here before Doom finds us."

And Find. That. SOUL!

"Look, Steve, Thor....I don't wanna fight. But its a soul man! A real essence of a human life, and I don't believe Doom, I think its in that basement. And they ALREADY know we're here. Its an incident...well probably, no matter what, and the basement is RIGHT there..." he waves at the house.

Steve Rogers has posed:
As Steve focuses on Hellboy and listens to him, a garden know that comes up nearly this knee is sneaking up behind the super soldier. It gets near and crouches and then suddenly leaps, mouth open apparently intending to bite wherever he landed. Captain America whirls, catching the gnome by the back of the throat, holding it like that so it can't bite him.

He gives a small frown. "I was hoping to stop you before they noticed you. But it's too late for that," he says, already moving on and adapting to what the situation is now rather than worrying about failures that are now past.

"Alright, let's get this taken care of. Free this soul you came for, and these people. And get out of here before Doom has evidence of who was here," he says. He tosses the gnome aside, not terribly ungently, and jogs forward to join Hellboy and Meggan. "Ma'am," he says, tipping his head and a hand going to his helmeted mask as if tipping his cap.

Thor has posed:
Thor approaches in his pool of excessive cape, trying to put himself in the Stanislavski mindset of a Latverian commoner, until he's close enough to poke the gigantic red person. "Don't blow my cover," he reprimands Hellboy, when he addresses him by name. "But listen... you look just like a tiny version of a guy my dad knows," he continues, still using his 'stealthy' voice. "Do you maybe have a grandpa or something named Surtur?"

But he hasn't been ignoring Hellboy's pleas, by any means. Indeed, he turns to Steve with blue eyes big, a little 'can we keep him' pout on his face. "He's right... we should go help the people imprisoned here," he says.

He grins and lifts both fists in victory when Cap confirms the order, then makes a sweeping gesture for Meggan: after you. "By all means, open a path, young lady. We can sneak in and sneak out in no time. //Stealthily//." He tugs the hood of his Doom cloak a little tighter around his face.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Meggan listens with her head tilted. Some of that explanation causes her to frown, but the longer the vermillion hunter with the colossal arm goes on, the more worried her expression turns. "Infernal as in powered or crafted in Hell?" Concern crossed with a gritty undertone makes the words come out harsher than she intends. Her own issue is a portly ceramic statue with a chubby face and a mouthful of sharp teeth that wouldn't be out of place on a child's drawing of a pumpkin at Halloween. It launches itself at her leg and goes to take a chomp, opportunist at best. She teeters over to grab it gently by the folded hat, tilted almost sideways, trying not to flail. "Don't be doing that, mate," she chides the thing, as a schoolteacher would a naughty toddler. A toddler trying to hamstring her, anyway.

The click of her tongue to her palate would be inconvenient as she gently bowls the angry ceramic statue away to knock into two wooden ones bounding on stiff limbs. "Please forget I did this, but it gives you deniability. Think hard of Doom, will you?" Her eyes close and that form of hers wavers, twisting and shifting on the fly, limbs hardening and more defined. Her height doesn't change much but the breadth of her shoulders absolutely does. Hardened lines replace lithe proportions, giving a silhouette unravelling beneath the coat a most familiar shape. Statues and images all over the place know their lord and master. The metal mask with its rivets closing over that blurring face gets refined if they think hard enough - the curse of a metamorph.

In the time it takes to pour coffee, Victor von Doomeggan strides across the ground to the house. He plunges both fists into the earth and pulls, in an action of half-blast, half forcible command of an elemental fae to part. 'He' has to stride right in, urging a path forward, but it's probably the only time ever Thor, Captain America or Hellboy would ever follow Doom into the dark without too much questioning?

Hellboy has posed:
The blinky red light on the "priority" dashboard of Doom is monitored by his closest leutenants, and the house is one of them. Doom said no and Doom MEANT no, in a mountain nearby the ceiling of a volcano lifts as Doombot after Doombot flies out and into the night sky like tiny fireflies scrambling enmass towards the forest. The sporadic gunfire stops as the paramilitary is told to back off.

Oddly ominous silence follows as the lawn ornaments that were people grr and arg and totally ineffectually try to gnaw on indestructable people but the house backs up for a moment as Doom "himself" enters since it doesnt know any of them but Hellboy, which it hates, but it DOES know doom and backs up in terror, the walls groaning with fear. One entering there is a large mirror radiating dark magic almost as if the Limner saw a star trek episode about a powerful energy being capable of matter transformation and thought doing that himself would be cool. Hellboy says, "The source of his power is likely an artifact in this room," he would hand them a small detector if they didnt have Meggan but HE is here for one reason, though he does want to rescue the people he has faith in the others and after following Doom into the shadows tries to open the clock door to the hidden (and now empty basement), unless stopped, he goes down the stairs which once out of sight of doom immediately animate and attack him like they were alive.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers follows along behind Doomeggan, his back towards the metal-masked woman so he can defend from any more of the lawn ornamentation that has developed a taste for hero. He tries to not be too violent, but one is sent in an arch across the lawn, a swing of his shield meant to discourage it.

He backs into the house, saying, "If they are firing on us it probably won't be too long before something worse than a few bullets arrive. I'm out of my element here, Hellboy. So whatever you and the lady can do? The faster the better," he says.

One of the creatures that managed to get on the roof drops down onto Steve's helmet before he's through the door. Thankfully it isn't just fabric covering his head, the teeth hitting the protective shell inside. He grabs and sends it flying to land in a bush and then moves into the house with the others.

Thor has posed:
Thor straightens, trying to stand up taller than the false Doom, and even tries thinking of a //short// Doom, but by then it's probably too late. "It's these damned gnomes gnawing on my disguise," he mutters. There are indeed three of them, trying to drag down the god of thunder by the hem of his cloak. He lifts the garment and flicks them away before following the rest of the group into the weirdly reactive, deserted shack.

"Irritating creatures," he says with sympathy as Steve pries one off his head. But if there's one thing Thor knows, it's how to deal with dark magic. Once inside the haunted abode, he strides up to the evil mirror without delay and chants, "Mirror, mirror, in a shack! Which Avenger has the strongest attack?"

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Possibly too late. Meggan's drawing on her assumptions of Doom, their memories of Doom, and anything Doomly that might be borrowed and stolen. Like a bad wedding, all she needs is something blue.

Thus it's with an imperious sense of purpose that Doomeggan flings open the wall to that house. Masks limit range of vision somewhat; he will not send a helpful letter for improvements to the sovereign of Latveria anytime soon. Headache-inducing waves from feeling out the edges of power in the yard redouble when confronted by the actual source of greater, evil magic. "Right there. The mirror exudes fell energy that cannot possibly entail anything good." Gravelly and refined, the Latverian timbre is actually pretty accurate. Gone, the more colloquial English for something measured, precise, dominating every syllable as though it owes him existence for the sheer joy of being on his lips. Stentorian oratory /is/ a Doom hallmark.

Pays to be an Internet and media junkie, given how often Victor is on display for impressionable minds to absorb.

"Has no one ever heard to avoid splitting the party? Doom has no time for such..." That's an honest impression made worse as he gestures grandly. And catches himself, shuddering visibly. "Pardon. A coat thrown over it before it's removed immediately seems wise. Regrettably the consequences for its destruction are uncertain."

Another flex of his hands into fists, and forcibly, Doomeggan grinds out, "I mean, I'm not sure what it will do."

Hellboy has posed:
The Mirror has a bored almost Butler looking face, "Oh. Really? Sure, OK why not...."

It shows images of Thor, Iron Man, Captain Marvel and the other avengers getting more and more powerful, including one of Thor looking very Odinlike with a staff made of some odd wood in one hand, and Hulk wearing armor leading an army to attack the Earth from space, and then it shows Ultron, "Earth 1026 has Ultron-Phoenix in its ranks. He is the most powerful Avenger." What, no one said anything about WHICH Earth?

The Mirror cringes as Doom points out that it is a source of power and suddenly every plank and piece of furniture and carpet in the house animates and tries (likely ineffectually) to attack the three heroes above.

The basement is...empty. There is a large stand with melted slag where the infernal device WAS, but it is melted to nothing, with twelve slots for the twelve souls that had powered it, all empty. Hellboy moves over to the small crag it feel into and its empty. There is a small torn scrap of parchment, but when he pulls it out it has nothing to do with the soul, just an odd demonic typerwriter keypad with runs on a QWERTY keyboard. Disgusted, he throws it over his shoulder and takes out a device to try and scan again to determine just to be sure and it shows Red. There is no soul in the immediate vecinity. He keeps trying and it isnt there.

All of this, was for naught.

Though he finally finds a trace of...something, an image, a magical signature...a clue. He'll take it.

Meanwhile, Doombots fly overland and cross past several pastoral villages.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve is playing bodyguard at this point, easily the least informed about these mystical sort of situations. "Thor the magic mirrors in the stories I grew up with weren't necessarily good things to ask advice of," he says. "Remind me to ask Tony if we have a copy of Snow-"

That's as far as Cap gets as the furniture comes alive. He jumps to avoid being ensnared by a roll of carpet, landing beyond it just as a table along the hallway wall runs over on four legs and rams into the small of his back. He pitches forward and the couch grabs him and flips over on top of him with a body slam that might have Vince McMahon calling about a contract.

Though things start to go downhill for Team Ikea after that. The couch is flipped up and off of him and Steve hops up, tossing it into a corner. The table is grabbed and rammed into the couch, pushed in like a wedge to trap the the couch in the corner of the room.

Thor has posed:
Doomeggan's caution, no matter how imperiously phrased, is certainly prudent, and Thor did bring a spare cloak. It would be the work of seconds to do as she says, but Thor is too affronted by the mirror's answer to his simple question to do anything but gape at it for a second. "Earth what has a who?"

Snarling in annoyance, he raises Mjolnir to just smash the thing, only to be battered aside at the last second by a murderous armoire. "Impudent furnishings!" he bellows, as an end table tackles him from behind in an attempt to cut his legs out from under him. "You challenge the god of thunder at your peril!" A hammer-blow sends a dining chair crashing into splinters across the room, then Thor snatches the armoire and suplexes it directly into the mirror of the damned.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Doom does not have time for such declarations by an accursed mirror. He certainly will not be spoken to by an inanimate device or embarrassed by floorboards ripping themselves free of their nails and accosting him. Steve's recommendation for a possible novel or movie would be informative, if the ground did not decide to arbitrarily throw him up.

So he floats to scorn it, and shows the house how futile such efforts are. Carpet hissing and lapping with burns would be a nuisance, and he flings his fist out to send a burst of raw energy out at the wall away from Thor and Cap. That burst probably puts a new hole in the floor, giving an excellent view below. A second blast, etched green, ensures the blinds are going to personally take umbrage and fly over to swat at him.

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy shoots the damn mirror on coming out of the basement. Probably a bad luck curse or something but then again, he has likely connected enough curses by now to assemble alibrary. Well its a lot. The instant he does, the house slows down its attacks, not quite STOPPING but it does start to shake. Funny thing about magically created matter not powered by magic any more...it tends to go back to what it was before which in this case was....air and trees. Meanwhile, outside, the lawn gnomes and pink flamingos turn into people in 1960's clothing, a few in 1950's, mostly Latverian gear looking extremely confused. The house begins to shake.

The Doombots begin to approach the woods en masse and priming weaponry. The original Quinjet that Thor and Captain America came on notifies Cap of their imminent approach.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Once Cap is aware of the threat, the furniture doesn't stand too much chance in a fight. Though he's trying to avoid outright destroying it just in case any of it turns out to be a person like he's heard the lawn gnomes might be.

When the house fades away, he breaths a sigh of relief. But it is short-lived as he hears the voice in his ear, moving a hand to touch a finger to his ear. Because you have to do that to let people know you're receiving a message.

"We've got Doombots inbound. Time to get out of here. Thor can you carry all of us? Or if not, do either of you have a way of flying with us? We have a plane on the other side of the border waiting for us."

Thor has posed:
"Mjolnir can carry as many as need demands," Thor answers, extending a hand once again while Mjolnir spins in the other. "Grip firmly, all who need transport." He turns to peer at the onrushing line of Doombots wistfully, then lowers his head, flashes a rueful grin, and adds, "As you have impressed upon me, Captain, retreat can be the valorous option, if by it one buys extended peace." It's unlikely Steve ever said that, or anything quite so ornate, but some lesson about not constantly throwing himself into fights just because they're fun must have sunk in with Thor over the years. Once everyone who needs to has a good handhold, Thor launches them into the air to intercept the Quinjet.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Doombots will, one day, question why Victor von Doom shows up under their scans in the presence of foul interlopers. Probably. Perhaps they will also descend on a crowd of confused Latverians lost from the time and lands they once knew, endowed by a savage hatred for common garden and lawn ornaments.

Thor is not alone in taking the news of an attack wistfully. Or perhaps a bit ironically. However, Doomeggan reluctantly runs his gloved hand over his masked face. "It may be wise to remove Doom's visage to avoid international incident, in such a matter." With a proper shake of his head, he reaches takes a proper handhold of Thor's arm and the figure melts back into a blonde woman of similar height but much slimmer build. Three Meggans could make a Thor, most likely. "Let's mosey, I don't anticipate enjoying this one bit if those bots show up. We might have a worse incident with dragons involved." Kidding? Probably.

Her smile shows even as she bounces up onto her toes, hovering until they are in motion. Maybe turning to Doom just /once/ in flight is fair?

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy says, "You don't gotta tell me twice," he grins, but doesnt look forward to the yelling at by his superiors at WAND even if they do get away with it and he grabs on to Thor. Though, in the considerable list of weird stuff he deals with on a daily basis, retreat by literal Dues Ex Machina is by far the preferred way to travel....

The house begins to vanish and as the heroes fly off the doom bots begin to aim to obliterate them from a distance when they detect life forms. The bots report this to command and are told to sweep in and investigate. Systems immediately identify several missing persons cases that are over 60 years old and the bots are immediately set to swing them out of the rapidly increasing cold of the night air and get them to shelter. Many are Latverian citizens after all. The heroes are able to get away, relatively unscathed."

[Seven Isles] Session 8 and 9

Session 8

The group made arrangements with a bunch of giants to take a ship they were using to try to set up a trade network of their own and were going to protect it.  The ship set out and they learned to help protect the ship.  They ran into an elemental along the way that attacked the ship.  They killed it.  Then they ran into a mirror storm and outran it.  Then they ran into a giant mirror elemental that they tried to convince that they were friends with.  It read their minds and accepted that they were not hostile but did consider the giants hostile and killed them all but spared the troupe and took them to Pharos with a promise that they would free two mirror elementals trapped in the dimension of mirrors.

Session 9

The group spent 3 days burying a LOT of giants.  They checked out a weird anvil that fell out of nowhere and killed some guy who was dressed in a suit and took some tarot cards from him.  They spent 5 days building carts and taking the trade goods from the giant ship and had Smalldick pull it.  The group was popular in the small town out of nowhere that hadnt seen a troupe in years and performed.  They got some really nice horses to give boomfist a rest.  Lex stole a cloak of the archnida from a Culturally appropriated (Pharos) store full of schlock.  The group went to a rural city and did some investigations but didn't find anything they wanted to follow up on except a lead to find Sharina Stargazer.  They bought a psychotic but friendly flying carpet from a used vehicle sales man who had an illict business on the side.  They flew to a small town at the edge of the Hub and near the Sea of Firebugs.  They met Sharina who agreed to help Morri find her family if the group would perform in the city of Amoeba to distract the warlord who ran the city.  The group agreed and went on a carvan ot the city.

[Seven Islands] News and Journals - Session 3

Summary of Game: Our heroes accepted a mission from Klandstone University to find out what had happened to 3 previous expeditions to the island of Oracle.  After doing so, they determined to go a different way than everyone else and traveled by boat to a small town on the coast.  They came to a large mesa on a disused path behind where they found six survivors of the previous parties mind controlled by a mysterious ring matter who could mind control people just by looking at them. 

Unlike previously, the group was able to sneak towards them and ambush them all doing a huge amount of damage to the ring master before the group got overwhelmed or any of them got mind controlled.  They found a lot of loot in a very large tent and the freed adventurer's were also grateful for no longer being mind controlled.  The group continued investigating the ruins.

In the ruins, they found
-A large meadhall which from midnight to 1am is filled with ancient warriors who drink mead and tell tall tales (Unexplored)
-A well that contains a large tentacled...thing (wisely avoided)
-A boxing ring which summons an enchanted boxer who offers to fight you for a friendly wager (unexplored)
-A boarded up shop that throws knives at anyone who tries to enter (unexplored)
-A giant snow globe which seems to have someone frozen inside (unexplored)
-A stairway that clearly goes somewhere unseen up into the air (unexplored)
-A hall of mirrors which distort and obfuscate one's image (unexplored)
-A Merry Go Round which has riding animals of all kinds (unexplored)
-An arch of stone that is strangely silent (Dreamed of but otherwise unemployed)
-A large tent filled with rooms (explored)
-A small four rowed hedge with a nice trimmed edge and shrubbery in the middle (quite nice) (unexplored)

News
-------------

The Ingmelian Military Base is reaping the benefits of empowering the Offworld Refugees, or as they have started calling themselves the Council of Outworlders, along with the Canton militia has recovered the stolen military equipment on the Island of Oracle with a combination of science and psionics.  The governor overcame Inglemian prejudice against the Mental Arts allowing a combination of mental signals and trigonometry to launch an expedition to recover the equipment from a mysterious Ringmaster who had been controlling several expedition members.  Said individuals had recently been rescued by the Troupe With No Name, popular performers from Landsea.  Fortification of Krashnal began again in haste with two pirate ships trying out new long guns, bombarding the island from a far wreaking havok for a full 24 hour period before moving on to do the same thing to Ashland. 

Asland reports a large velvet cloud erupting from the volcano but the local Stone Druids report that it is not magma or steam of any kind; a few say it is a sign of change from the Great Wyrm in its depths but few know what to call it.

Oracle has begun to be a source of tension as the northern settlements have bad a lot of refugees from Ashland, Krashnal and Nimgee trying to flee the Ashlander pirates and many disagree that they should be taking on more refuees at all.  Tensions between the two groups is growing high, and the Island is starting to talk of organizing finally, both for defense and political representation on the Island Council.

Xorital is fortifying at a mad rate and the Prince is spending seemingly unlimited funds to encourage more and more people to join him in reforming the monarchy and rumor has it he is quietly considering declaring himself king.  He has formed a full court and is appointing many royal positions.  Rumor has it that many supporters in the city guard.  The Mayor, outclassed and outspent is drummingup support from the rest of the Islands by starting an independence movement for the Islands, with support from most of the islands and funds being sent to the Mayor to try and turn the Prince's tide.  Needless to say, rumor has it Inglemia and Kelp are less than pleased.  The Axis of Storms, the Giants and the Dragonlands are said to be paying attention.  Ambassadors and diplomats may or may not be sent.

The Satrapy of Iodine is not actually in rebellion, but it is in turmoil.  Recently, the Satrap has died and several of his heirs killed.  The local regent Abysmali Ord Kane has sworn to protect the Satrap in waiting with his life.  The Kelpian Empire is dubious about this and sending an Advisor to watch the Regent very closely.  Whether it is the Satrapy or the Island miraculously paying off its debt and therefore nominally spinning out of Kelp's sphere of influence is unknown.

Landsea seems an island of calm in a sea of chaos as the herbal harvest comes due next month and every harvest on the island is scrambling to match it.

The Tao of Nimgee have fallen and are being sold into slavery by the Blacklander Pirates.

Orimo-The Grand Klep, Cleric of Smells is celebrating his 80th birthday and is hiring performers to celebrate the occasion.

Rumors

The Blacklander Pirates have a powerful new weapon that can affect an entire town

One of the missing seven gods has been seen walking around Orimo.

The Troupe with No Name Stole the Military Equipment Found on Oracle not the Ringmaster and they are lead by an insidious Spider Worshiper

The rift between Inglemia and Kelp is getting worse and Inglemia or Kelp is near ending their alliance formally.

A new Psionic School is being founded in Undertown near Krashnal

[Seven Isles] News and Journals Session 2

Headlines

Major robbery in Krashnal!  While the island is desperately trying to fortify itself with the expansion of rapid roads between major parts of the island and major ramparts and training of the infantry, the supplies that the island counted on to help them fortify against the pirates have been decimated.  Many believe that the pirates have slipped agents on to the island vastly increasing paranoia.  Some in the Ingleimaian forces nearly accused the outlander militia for this, but the outlanders passed several lie detector (magical) tests professing their innocence and mutual desire to capture the culprit.  A considerable reward has been offered for the recovery of the goods or evidence leading to the capture of the culprit.

Xorital's two factions (the prince and the mayor) have outwardly allied and four of the islands seats have agreed to unify against the pirates.  The worshippers of the fly god, Nimgee and Krashnal did not vote.  The fly worshippers are pacifists, Nimgee is controled and actually represented by the pirates and Krashnal has been too busy preparing and fortifying to send anyone to represent them.  Xorital is also now worried about the theft on Krashnal, but the already high tensions between the factions has led to them accusing the other of secretly working with the pirates and quietly both are offering rich rewards for proof that the other is working for the pirates. 

Meanwhile rumors that the Abysmali appearing in vast numbers in Undertown have proven to be true, fleeing the supposed civil war of Kelp though despite the rumors of this there is no indication that this is going on.  There are whisperings (actual not rumors) of hostility between Kelp and certain Inglemian factions about their friendliness towards non humans as well as other matters such as the empowering of the Militia on the islands and not rescinding the (to inglemia) irrevocable canton charter.  Tensions are brewing.

And in other news

Orimo-The Grand Klep, Cleric of Smells is celebrating his 80th birthday and is hiring performers to celebrate the occasion.

The Tao people of Nimgee are starving and about to collapse due to the complete naval and land blockade.

Landsea is commissioning fortifications of their port town but is much slower to get around to it than the other areas and attempting to organize but not being very good at it.

Ashland is repairing ships and outfitting their fishing fleet for war to  help the Island Council.  Thehy are recruting marines.

Oracle is also fortifying their town and reports several missing persons.  Officially, the representatives from Klandsone university are not looking for a third expedition to go after the second that went missing looking for the first, having been drafted into help defend the island, but quietly they offer the same reward they originally did though have it on good assurance from a letter that someone sent them that another expedition will be coming any day now...

Rumors

The Satrapy of Iodine (The local Satrapy) thought there was a rebellion and guessed wrong and so the empire is coming to crush them.

From the journal of Morrigana Alair:

We had an interesting expedition this week. Accompanied by a small caravan of twenty people and one of the local druids we set out to try and locate the encampment of the automatons that we had been told had captured the mage who had created the life giving elixir. I’m sure certain members of the group probably hoped that we’d be able to rescue him to question him, or because of their feelings about the preciousness of life in /any/ apparent form, but I was glad to receive the proof of his death (as far as we know). There is a natural order to just about every world, and I think he was upsetting it. Upset the balance and terrible things can happen. I’ve seen that before… I need to work harder to right what was wronged.

I appreciate that my companions work well together, though I admit I don’t know how to react to some of them. And right now one in particular has my eye. I hate to admit that I don’t trust them as much as the others, not that I fully trust anyone, but when you catch the kid with their hand in the cookie jar… regardless, I don’t think they’d actively try to hurt anyone, but if l have learned anything it’s that complete trust is as much a lie as complete safety. Back to the point though, we worked well together out there in the forest and thankfully Callie was able to deescalate the situation when the automatons heard her singing to Boomfist. Also, despite what I wrote before, I’m glad that Alexander didn’t try to pull a fast one again and destroyed the vial.

I think we’re off to Oracle next, but before we do I need to get back on the trail. I know my family is somewhere out there. What’s more, I know those same bastards are also still out there. Hunting other family’s down and capturing them. *A few ink drops mark the page here followed by a quickly scribbled aside* She sent Fawkes over and he’s watching me. Creepy. *the normal writing returns* Anyways, it’s time to be off. Maybe a few stops in some of the seedier areas might turn up some information on who’s hunting or using slave labor. I just have to keep moving.

[Seven Isles] News and Journals

News

The pirates raided Ashport, the largest city on Ashlands and demanded that Inglemia do something about the pirates.  Former Governor Nigmal Cervantes did just that and personally boarded the IRS The Senate is In Session and the IRS In the Navy Now to attack the Blacklander Pirates at their base at Nimgee.  Even though Blue Water ships instead of Sky ships, the Inglemian Navy is vastly more powerful than most with their lightning cannons.

Except when they are not.

The Blacklander pirates were covered in a metal mesh as were the port gunforts that rendered the lightning cannons useless.  Further, their rate of fire has been hidden until now but the Canons fired at an ASTONISHING rate of speed utterly destroying the dreadnought the Senate Is In Session despite the Mending runes along with all her crew.  The Frigate In The Navy Now barely made it back to base but is severely damaged.

Governor Cervantes has been killed and communications from Inglemia indicate that reinforcements will be months in coming.  In the interests of organizing a resistance and stopping the pirates, Acting Governor, Commander Orale Orbshaw sought to commission a militia from the Seven Isles.   It was pointed out by the Outlander Refugees of Krashmal that under Inglemian law a militia requires a Canton; so using her emergency powers, Acting Governor Orbshaw declared Krashmal an Inglemian Military Canton of Water; and empowered the Outworld Refugees to commission a militia and defend the base there, which they are doing with great alacrity.

Rumor has it Kelp, an Inglemian ally for centuries, is not pleased with this news at all since Inglemia is a caretaker government while the Prince of Xorital is the actual government in centuries of debt to Kelp....

Speaking of which .....

On Xorital news of the news of this destruction was both poorly received and well received.  The Mayor of Xorital, long the most powerful political force on the Island Council has called an emergency meeting and worked to also fortify Xorital from the pirates, calling into question Inglema's duty to defend the islands.  Rumors swirl that Ashland is committed to independence.

The Prince, from sources unknown, paid his debt to the local Kelpian satrap with vast funds from unknown sources; nominally ending Inglemia's or Kelp's claims to the seven islands and is claiming rightful rule over the islands but with what army?  There is great tension between the City Watch and the Prince's guards, largely thought to be ceremonial but people are suddenly realizing how numerous they are.

Meanwhile....

Orimo-The Grand Klep, Cleric of Smells is celebrating his 80th birthday and is hiring performers to celebrate the occasion.

Klandstone University is looking to mount a second expedition from Krashnal to Oracle to find out what happened to the first expidition...

The Tao People of Nimgee are under siege from many of the Pirates since they rose up in revolt at Governor Cervante's request.  They are asking for reinforcements who can sneak through the pirate lines and help them defend their home.

Landsea is seeking an expedition to examine the camp of the Clockwork warriors to search the abandoned place for clues about who they were and why they were there.

Rumors

Abysmali in great numbers have been moving into Undertown (the underwater neighboorhood of Xorital)

A great challenge is occuring in Kelp for the Kelpian Throne

The Axis of Storms is attempting to consolidate their alliance with a marriage between the Blacklands and the Shard

Lex's Journal

Missing people of Landsea…

*sigh* This is… interesting… and possibly difficult situation. People are going missing and we have a personal interest in this island as one of the Troupe’s members is from there… Morri. She is a good person, talented as well.
I offered us an idea that would get us some money while we go to the Island, as being some guards for a merchant ship… it doesn’t seem to have gone over too well with most people in the Troupe. 

We found a ship going sooner than the free ones, as we believed that this would be more important to get there sooner, most of us paid for it.

The Island of Landsea.

We arrived and spoke to an Elder of the island about the missing people, and they offered us many things, should we be able to find, rescue and deal with the problem… I think we will choose the option of a small percentage of what the items make, this has potential for a lot of money if we can poke the interests of the island and possible bring more people to it, create a tourist attraction of some kind perhaps? We shall see…

The Missing People and the Village of Fourth

The Town itself was, or so we thought, empty… myself and Calli snuck towards the village, in the quiet, we watched for a moment… the woman is much quieter than I thought she would be. The place just felt… wrong, and I couldnt really place it well.
Eventually I through a ball bearing into the middle of the town, and a sound, like metallic buzzing began… I threw on closer to watch, and it still went away. Then, of course I was an idiot, and threw a bottle of Alchemist Fire, where Calli and I could see, and a swarm of metallic beetles put it out, fairly quickly…
Interesting note, we found out they are Psionic… how they came to creation, is interesting. Long story short, a Wizard somehow came to the island with the idea of making some kind of potion of animation… I still have their notes on how to create the potion, which the Troupe does not know I have… I also got caught stealing some of the material we had found… threw one of the viles I had in the fire… I think I should throw the other into a fire… but I feel it could be very useful… but still...

NOTE: Clockwork Machinations LOATH this potion and its creation…. And what it does. It is an abomination to them and will kill those seeking to create the powdered version. 

I think I am going to talk to Morri… and confess that I kept one other, but I need to hide the notes of the potion before I confront her… or the rest of the group. 

Metallic Beetles…

Holy shit… holy mother of mary shit balls… I cannot believe it. HOLY CREAP ON A CREATION!....

These are amazing, we helped them, get out of the village, for getting the villagers back of course. But they are Psionic, and have a mass of intelligence, and we befriended them. We tried to give them a few good tips and suggestions, but their intelligence is that of a child or teen at most. It is fassinating, they are fascinating, and they have already chosen a name to… a bit ominous, but they call themselves Legion, for they are many