Onward: Red

[voidtreckermods]

Travel

The biggest problems on the way to the volcano are, perhaps, to be expected. Years of molten flows and heaving earth have left the landscape twisted and in constant movement, sections of the surface sinking or rising depending on the movement of the rivers of magma beneath. It makes for slow, bumpy going whether on foot or in a vehicle.

The fire dogs mostly prowl in the distance, but a few packs get brave enough to dive in and attack. They attack in their packs of three, though they are more likely to attack those at the back or side of the group, catching any stragglers or those that have decided to go it alone. They are pretty interested in the crystals, singling out those who are carrying them and harrying them with nips and lunges.

As the sun sets, the sky darkens and the earth, in contrast, seems to glow brighter. Faces tinge red in the fires and flows of the Flamewastes, and the volcano spits fire endlessly ahead.


The Firehearted Peak

It only takes about half a day to get to the volcano, which is pinpointed on their SCA map and highly visible besides. The entrance is obvious, a cleft in the rock at the side of the mountain. It’s hot here, incredibly so, the heat draining. But, oddly… it’s bearable, more so than they might expect. The path takes them around tunnels and across exposed streams of lava, over small rocky bridges over partially crusted-over liquid.

The tunnel is only half an hour’s walk, before it opens up into a rough chamber formed by layers of glittering metal and molten rock. In the centre there is a ball of fire, floating freely. It pulses with heat, and for those with any such senses, deep magic.

The crystals need to be held within the chamber, as close to the glowing core as possible, for at least three days. As the days go by the crystals will begin to grow brighter as magic gathers within them; their glow will synchronise with the flickering pulses of the Heart.

This growing power, however, draws in the creatures of the Flamewastes. Fire lizards, having stayed hidden and skittish on their journey, now join the dogs in attacking, pouring through the main tunnel and smaller passages in the layered walls to attack the chamber, intent on reaching and consuming the magic within the barrier crystals.


Fire Sprites

The attack from outside the mountain continues but as the days go by the volcano itself starts attacking, the proximity of living beings to its heart provoking a response. Fire sprites, clusters of sparks and embers and tendrils of fire whip out of the lava towards anyone who draws close. They are drawn to body heat, or to warmth of any kind. Tendrils curl around limbs, burning and dragging them towards pools of lava.

Others form walls of fire, trying to separate people from the main group or render the heart inaccessible. Cold drives them into retreat; water, if it does not immediately evaporate in the heat of the mountain, does likewise. The area directly around the heart, strangely, remains largely unaffected; any sprite or flame that strays into its aura is absorbed into it.

Comments

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Travel!

"Hyaaaaha ha ha ha ha!"

The Overlord felt like gloating, and why not? He had a freaking truck! Screw this whole 'walking' thing -- in an environment like this, even a battered old pickup was riding in style! Today he was even feeling charitable, if anyone wanted to hitch a ride. Room in the truck bed, or maybe you want to grab on to the roof?

A pair of minions sat in the truck bed as well, spellcasters to judge by their staves and the bolts of ice they hurled at aggressive hounds. In the middle, a Prinny in a stewardess outfit helpfully informed riders that in the event of a water landing, they should probably question reality because where was there water around here anyway, dood?

...Well, okay, maybe whether or not it was better than riding was heavily up to individual taste.

The Firehearted Peak

This was a stupid place for a river of lava! Zetta hovered on the edge of it, peering down to try to judge just how deep it actually was, while the truck sat a few feet back.

Naturally, one of the advantages of being the Overlord was a complete immunity to convection. Never mind the air temperatures that passed the triple-digit mark quite some time ago .

"Uh. I'm starting to think maybe you... you know, crap types, ought to join my party temporarily."

Fire Sprites

The line of minions proved impenetrable; swords and axes protected mages hurling spells, while a healer kept everyone topped off and the Prinnies performed an inspiring cheer routine that almost made up for the sight of Prinnies in cheerleader outfits to begin with.

Zetta, of course, was face-down on the ground and on fire, but no one cared.

Fire Sprites

[comingorgoing]

Vigilant Gaze took a moment to stomp the flames out. This also, naturally, involved stomping on Zetta a bit, but he would live.

He picked the demonic book up and set it upright again. "Stand, devil. There is still work to be done."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Zetta sputtered some ash and mineral dust out of his mouth.

"I can't stand, I don't have LEGS. And I'm a DEMON, not a devil!"

Nitpicking was of the utmost priority here.

THE PEAK !

[seacub]

Emporio currently sits upon his Stand's shoulders, blinking down at Zetta and staring in mild incredulity. "Uh..." Suffice to say, between the curious weather patterns of the volcano, and Weather Report himself, Emporio feels fine.

"...Crap types..?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"You know, not demons, for whom terrain like this is pretty much a mandatory part of your fancier living quarters."

In other words, everyone but him. But he was trying to be gentle... for him.

[magicurls]

the peak

The real work has barely begun, but Mami won't falter. She's dressed in her yellow magical girl uniform, a single rifle in her hands at all times. Don't worry---she's an excellent shot, even though she has to summon several in rapid succession to force a monster back.

She stands in front of one of the crystal bearers, smiling when an attacker is driven back.

"I'd stay out of the kitchen if we've brought too much heat, you silly sprite," she laughs as she sets up another shot.

the fall

Later that afternoon, though, all the cheer and confidence is gone. The battle hasn't gone particularly badly---Mami's still making her shots, and everyone's still safe as far as she knows...but her expression is terribly worried. She's biting her lip, pacing nervously.

"...I wish I'd wished to fly," she sighs.

the departure

Some time later, her mind is made up. Mami looks apologetic as she lifts her rucksack, though there's a pile of her silver flintlock rifles carefully leaned against the rock. Her face is grim as she prepares for the long trip ahead of her.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. Anyone's free to use these, but I'm afraid they only have one shot each---so make it count."

Departure

[comingorgoing]

Vigilant Gaze had little interest in the guns, but looked concerned (as much as he could) about Mami's decision

"You're leaving alone? That feels like a risky decision."

Re: Departure

[magicurls]

Mami shook her head softly.

"I'll be all right. I've fought through worse. I know I'm needed."

[knifewithnoname]

She had got down to things quickly, she was no stranger to missions and the main difference on this one was Mami. She still wasn't sure why she could feel the other girl in her head, why the stupid island had decided to have them share their past and have them share this bond.

But if this was anything like the bonds she understood then it was her job to keep Mami safe and fight beside her.

She doesn't even need the strange extra feelings in her head to know that something is wrong with Mami, though she has no idea how to address it or deal with it so she mostly focuses on stabbing fire dogs. Mami doesn't miss a shot, even if her face looks dangerously close to being leaky.

When Mami speaks later though she frowns, looking around at the others and then stepping after her. "I do be coming with you."

She has no idea where Mami is going or why, but she won't let her go alone.

[magicurls]

Mami turns to her new friend, biting her lip when she realizes.

"I'm sorry! I must have distracted you terribly today."

And she wonders...

"Are you sure? Maybe I won't bother you if we're further apart."

the fall

[enthunder]

Light has generally fallen back to a combat role, darting in and out, appearing where the monsters are clustered to scatter them and stop any one voidtrecker getting overwhelmed. The advantage of this is that she gets to check in on everyone at some point or another, and Mami's her latest target.

She drops back to the gun line, and cocks her head. "What's up?"

Re: the fall

[magicurls]

Mami shakes her head politely.

"I've heard something that worries me a little. But I need to stay focused on our task, there are too few of us already!"

She doesn't sound sure, but she'll keep fighting anyway.

[stillnewatthis]

Orisa didn't have to stop, or rest, or breathe, or do much of anything but focus on the mission. Keeping others safe was her purpose, her duty, and her delight, and she was in her element. The rat-tat-tat of her fusion driver rarely let up, save for brief moments when she opened her vents and drew in more air to keep it rolling. Beyond that, a steady barrage covered those around her, leaping to the lizards, the sprites and the hounds as quickly as they appeared to send them skittering.

"Stay close to me! I will protect you!"

[seacub]

"Right..!" It's an automatic response, but one that Emporio is taking gladly. He can't just stick with his Stand during this fight- unfortunately, it makes him a grander target. Weather for his part, is doing incredibly well with punches coated in water and ice- at the very least, it prevents the boy's hands from getting too badly burned in the process. "Thanks..!"

[stillnewatthis]

Orisa was, if she was being honest, extremely confused by this -- but never mind. Time to worry about this later!

Her left arm jerked up, and she shot a spinning device out between them and a group of fire sprites. It struck the ground and spread out, erecting a force shield between the two groups.

Lightning | OTA

[enthunder]

Crystals at the Peak
Unlike some of the group, Lightning does in fact need to sleep, and eat, and several other things that are usually simple to accomplish, but become rather more obnoxious when you're parked in the centre of a volcano for several days.

So she instigates mandatory breaks from the core, all but kicking members of the team out in groups of two or three with a half-hearted threat that she'd better not see them back near the heart for a couple of hours. Whether they sleep, eat, relax, or go do quests, she doesn't much care, as long as they're out from the blistering heat and waves of monsters.

Fully aware of her hypocrisy, she herself lingers. Spends time healing burns ("You hurt? Give me a second,") and renewing the layers of magical ice or water she's been placing over weapons or gauntlets when necessary. If she starts to seem overbearing after the first day of checking people-- well. Maybe someone should talk to her about it.

Wildcard
[ grab me on evildoers if you want something else~ ]

wildcard- day 8

[knifewithnoname]

After speaking with Mami she went to find Lightning. She probably shouldn't leave the team without talking to a leader and between Lightning and Tony she knew where her best bet was for being allowed to go with Mami across the frozen lands.

She would be going anyways, but if she can do something without breaking the rules it would be less headache later.

"Priestess Lightning?"

[enthunder]

Fresh out of an argument with one of Zetta's weird birds, Light's expression was a study in mild violence. It calmed some as she blinked down, replaced by an affectionate kind of suspicion.

"What's up?"

[rieper]

Getting someone like 47 to do anything beyond what he wanted to do was fairly hard. Lightning's best weapon these days was her own emotions but they came with a double edge--because if she was using them to try to manipulate him then he could feel and use those emotions in turn for his own manipulations of her. And he had years of experience in manipulating others by using their demeanor, habits, and emotional responses against them.

He stayed with her. He knew when he needed to take breaks and couldn't be convinced to go at any other time than when he deemed fit. So most of the time he was there in the heart, guarding and helping with other tasks as needed, keeping a steady on on Lightning from wherever he was. He was aware of her hypocrisy but he also expected people to take care of their own problems.

However, sometimes some people just needed a push in the right direction. Even trained professionals occasionally needed to be reminded of how to operate. Not him, mind you, but certainly Lightning apparently.

At some point he sauntered up to her current position and leaned back onto a boulder sticking out of the wall, half perched on it. He stared pointed at her to get her attention.

[enthunder]

Lacking any experience at all in emotional manipulation, Lightning was fairly sure there was very little she could do to convince Rieper of anything without a very good reason. So instead she just let him stick around - ha, 'let', like she'd not already tried to duck away and been foiled. Occasionally she'd send him glances or suppress short curls of irritation when she sensed the muffled near-disapproval across the link. She'd take a break soon, but there was always another problem. Another enemy.

"What?" She eventually snapped, when she noticed that he'd come closer with some kind of intent. Was he going to tell her what was going on? She didn't notice her arms folding. "Need something?"

47 | OTA

[rieper]

I. Travel

In a change for once, 47 held back from going it alone and scouting ahead of the group. This was entirely due to the fact that he was carrying one of the crystals. It wasn't necessarily heavy or too much of a burden for him. Rather, it was simply more tactically sound for him to linger in the middle of the group while he had the crystal with him and take potshots of the attacking creatures as they aimed to get to him through everyone else.

With one of the Arms Band on at least he wasn't in worry about running out of ammunition. He had no idea how that worked but he also decided he wasn't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth for once. He was constantly checking his ammo just to be on the safe side--and he had one spare clip in his pocket just in case of emergency or a failure of the Band or whathaveyou--but otherwise he was completely taking advantage of the thing's ability to replenish ammo as he used it.

It came in handy with all the fire dogs running around trying to harass the team and in particular try to get at him and the crystal. Not many got the chance to get in close with him, but even when they did he out maneuvered them and beat them back to take aim and get them practically at point blank range.

II. The Peak

47 doesn't like sitting in one position for too long but frankly it's not the first (and probably not the last) time he's had to hold position and act as a guard. It's just not his usual gig. However, he does well enough.

His shots don't do maximum damage but he's good enough that they almost always hit and do something. When combined with another defender it made things very quick to defeat.

When not directly in a fight he seems to be somewhere near Lightning. If not necessarily at her side, he has a tendency to keep her in sight. It's not much different than previous missions--except it does seem a bit more purposeful this time out. Like he was actively doing it rather than just unconsciously sticking close to the next most competent person on the team.

III. Wildcard

[[Anything in between!]]

travel

[knifewithnoname]

She took turns carrying crystals and fighting. She was getting quite good at scaring lizards away, since they were too cowardly to fight her!

The man with a number for a name didn't exactly need watching, he could fend for himself, but fighting drew them close to each other regardless. She kicked ash at a firedog, to distract it before darting in with her dagger.

[rieper]

Despite the fact that he had his own troubles while carrying a crystal and fending off persistent monsters, he kept an eye on the little girl. To be fair, he tended to be aware of most of his surroundings at any given moment. But he was used to her presence on red team at this point and oddly used to working with her efforts.

She was good bait if nothing else. Bait that wasn't likely to die without a good fight much less scream in fear. That was a bonus.

He popped a firedog with a bullet as it tried to flank her as she went after the distracted one. It yelped and backed off. He aimed to finish it off with his next shot.

the peak

[irrationally]

See, this is the first time Alice has gone along with the red team for a mission. Which means that it's the first time she's really seeing the man on a mission as well - and so it's the first time she observes this behaviour. Sure, it's not like Alice is watching him the whole time since she is doing her best to pick up a fair share of the fighting over here, but she can't help but notice how close he's sticking to the side of that other person. (Lightning? Something like that, Alice thinks. It's a pain trying to remember the names of everyone on the train, okay.)

She isn't stupid though. There's no way she's going to strike up conversation in the middle of battle. It's not even that Alice is scared - no, it's more just that she definitely does not want to be caught off guard by anything that could give her a burn specifically, thanks.

So she waits until there's a lull in the attacks to approach 47, a half-curious look on her face.

"Mind if I ask you something?" He's never seemed like the type to mind much, as stoic as he always comes across, but Alice figures she might as well ask this first rather than jump straight to her question and get brushed off. Whatever, if he says no, she'll just go back to smashing things. Fine with her.

Dairine Callahan | Young Wizards

[wizard_redfive]

[Travel

[Being one of those carrying a crystal, Dairine is getting a good bit of attention from the fire dogs. Being a wizard, she doesn't seem quite as concerned about it, not as much as she is for other members of the party.

Dairine gives an exasperated sigh as yet another fire dog launches themselves at her, only to bounce off the invisible shield spell. With another wizardry, she pushes it back even further.]

No, bad dog. Go talk to Ponch.

[The Firehearted Peak]

[Dairine might be exhausted from the hike and constant spells, but her aches suddenly fall to the back of her mind as they reach the inner chamber. There is an odd beauty to it, but what really draws her eye is the ball of fire. It looks so very much like the simulation that Nelaid used for training, like a small sun floating in space. Dairine finds herself drawn towards it, walking steadily forward, her companions forgotten for the moment.

She holds her hand as close as she can get it, feeling the warmth and power even through her shield.]

Wow.

[She wonders what impact it would have on the Sunstone. If only she had it on her.]

[Fire sprites]

[As their attackers get more and more desperate, Dairine ends up spending more time at the front lines. Tendrils of lava keep smacking her shield. After one too many, Dairine snaps.]

Can you chill?!

[The space in front of her drops to freezing temperatures, causing sprites to shriek in a desperate retreat and lava to harden. It only lasts a moment, though.]