main plot The Taste of Death

[Sherlock Holmes]

Seom hummed and sent the pic to Mike. "Say, wolf-brother, would you go on a date with me once this is all over?" She looked at him and smiled. @Sorana

[xinoehp512]

26 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Regarding interacting with your character: I tried with Zokora, but as she can't interact with him, I have to admit I was a bit at a loss as to how to include him. I mean you could do some flying back and forth, communicate via your actions, instead of talking, but otherwise, it's hard.

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I know, that's what I was talking about. It was a mistake.

 

27 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Where Neil is, I don't know. The meeting dissolved, and most TUBA characters returned to the tunnels/ hideouts (iirc)

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He was at the PlasmaCore buidling, not the meeting... that wasn't at PlasmaCore, was it? I've kind of lost track of things.

 

[overlord stick]

4 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

He was at the PlasmaCore buidling, not the meeting... that wasn't at PlasmaCore, was it? I've kind of lost track of things.

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Neil and RaiSeel were at the building, we waved and called to them but Ene never responded.

 

[+Sorana]

42 minutes ago, Ark's Boyfriend said:

Seom hummed and sent the pic to Mike. "Say, wolf-brother, would you go on a date with me once this is all over?" She looked at him and smiled. @Sorana

Mike blushed.

"Um... you know... there's Bella and I -"

Turning a deep crimson he fell silent. Seom was more like he was. Unlike Bella. Bella was his idol. And she had left him again, while Seom was here. He suspected that Bella had a crush on him.

"So, I mean maybe? If we survive and all of it works, and I mean, we could talk for a while and-"

Mike stared at his mobile, wished that it would send him any kind of message, but nothing. Nothing he could use as an excuse. It was a date. Nothing more. Only a date.

"Yes."

He looked into her eyes and suspected his face had to look like a tomato.

Then he heard the girl talk about aluminum foil.

"Aluminum Foil? Sure I'll ask."

Quickly he send another text asking after the foil. @I think I am here.

 

Edited July 3, 2019 by Sorana

[xinoehp512]

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@AonEne? Do you know what the TUBA soldiers have been doing?

@AonEne

[Sherlock Holmes]

Seom nodded. "Thanks." She smiled at him, blushing a little. @Sorana

[+Sorana]

Just now, Ark's Boyfriend said:

Seom nodded. "Thanks." She smiled at him, blushing a little. @Sorana

Awkwardly Mike nodded, unsure how to reply.

"I mean of course. You're great and -"

He sounded lame. Like an idiot. Which he was. An idiot.

"Would you like to go to a cafe?"

There, that was a save question.

[Sherlock Holmes]

"You're great too," Seom said, blushing and grinning at him. "Yeah, a cafe sounds good." @Sorana

Edited July 4, 2019 by Ark's Boyfriend

[kenod]

11 hours ago, Sorana said:

„… be sure you have enough guards posted outside. The guilds will be preoccupied with the Vortex, but I don’t want any of these creatures to leave the area before we are ready to attack.”

The man gestured towards the entrance.

“You promised me an army of useful creatures, half of them are too dumb to know which side of a gun to grab, not even talking about shooting. Their bodily features make up for that, but still, I expected you to do better.”

The white clad people around him lifted their hands apologetically, try to reply, to defend themselves, but he waved their words away.

“I don’t care for your explanations. They will do. The guilds are still bickering among themselves; our assessment of this world seems to be accurate. I will wait until this strange storm hits the city, then the Vortex is out of control and then we can start chapter four of our plan and attack them. Between my forces and the Vortex they will perish for sure. Go. Prepare. Hand out the weapons. We have enough time left for the final preparations, there’s no need to hurry – yet.”

Aylitha blinked. "Found you..." She whispered, and started smiling. The bugs she had left with Mac started vibrating their wings. "Found him,"  they said. "They're at some abandoned factory. Lots of monsters around the place, though most are pretty stupid. They're planning to wait until the storm hits the Vortex. As for their location..." She paused, trying to remember where he was, then told Mac the location. "Tell me if you need anything else," she said. "I'll tell you if I find anything, but I need a nap. Controlling this many bugs is difficult when I can't use my main intellect."

She scooted over to the nearest wall, and sat down against it. Moss started growing under her body, creating a cushion, and tentacles wrapped around her body, serving as both a cocoon and a blanket.

@MacThorstenson

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You can decide who gets this message, and when they do (OOC). She'd have sent it about an hour after leaving the meeting, probably. So you should be able to finish the debriefing before getting the message.

 

[overlord stick]

Kendul looked down at his Scholar's guild notebook, reading the span-message he had received.

Members of the Scholar's Guild, 

Please report on your status. If you are engaged in battle, I advise you to be cautious. If you are not, I have a mission for you. Observe any interesting usage of Investiture, and record it. If you can, investigate further. However, please do not put yourself at high levels of risk to comply with these instructions. 

We will be holding a guild meeting after the fighting is over. I hope to compile a timeline of the events of the war against PlasmaCore, as well as add to my theory of Investiture. I hope that you all will be able to attend.

Above all else, stay safe.

Signed,

Alanis Sheneth

PS. If you can, please try not to kill too many people.

So much for staying away from risks. It had been hard figuring out where the meeting between the guilds were, but he needed to record it, for history's sake. If I'm lucky, I might not even get blown up. 

He sucked in a breath and knocked on the door.

@Rushu42

Edited July 3, 2019 by Emperor Stick

[I think I am here.]

Wes watched from the side as Seom took a picture with Mike, and they discussed ways to stop the Vortex.

“Yeah, it could be aluminium...” he said quietly, looking down blankly. Seom has asked Mike on a date. Wes continued looking at the ground for a moment.

Darkness, probably the strongest of them. Zan, next strongest fighter. Seom, healing, and Mike, the leader. And Wes, what was his purpose? Would they eventually cut him out like what happened every time he felt belonged?

His gaze to the ground hardened. Slowly he walked over to the woman who was also there with him.

“You said you were friends with Lusk,” Wes said. “But so far, only that other woman,” He looked for where Zokora had gone. “And Mike have been saying anything to him. So what do you do?”

@Silva

—-^-—

Lusk received the texts as he exited the Didgeridoo building, orders had been given and everyone knew what they’re were doing. The meeting was done, but on the outside, they had to pretend they weren’t allies. Like the letters had said, the guilds has uneven leadership. So it would be best to let them think that was continuing.

The texts asked for aluminium foil and Lusk frowned, not seeing why they would be useful. As he entered the teleporter that took him straight to the Marine ship, he immediately texted Zokora and grabbed a roll of aluminium foil.

I’m in the ship, but I’m going to the PlasmaCore building. I need to see this Vortex for myself.

Walking to the teleportarium, Lusk adjusted some settings and sent himself directly teleported to a stairway, presumably inside PlasmaCore.

Walking up the stairs he got to a door, which he knocked down to see the Vortex a few underlings, a scientist, a creature and a space marine. And her.

“Hi,” He said, throwing the roll of alumium foil to the closest underling he could see.

@Ark's Boyfriend

[Voidus]

On 7/2/2019 at 9:34 AM, ZincAboutIt said:

Lita started slightly as Voidus began to bend the world around them, trying to focus on the immediate, not looking upward or around. Instead, she focused on the man before her, trying to understand what she had discovered. It was terribly subtle, but Lita could see him looking at Laurelai just a fraction longer, his gaze taking in more, his eyes both thoughtful and penetrating. 

The familiarity in that look was like a blade in her stomach, and she forced herself to look away, expression still blank, neutral. It had been years since anyone had looked at Lita that way.

Affection. Lita cast backwards for it, the last time she had spoken to her own father, expecting to find the memory polished, bright. Instead, it arose sluggishly, its surface marred with dust. It had only been a few years; she should have been able to recall it more clearly. How long had it been since she had taken out this memory and looked at it? How long since she had thought of her father in anything more than vague terms, always thankful for his safety, his unspoiled life. And yet, had she not already begun to bury him? She had carved away the pieces of her last name that tied her to him - for his own good.

As if he'd ever had a choice in the matter. She had left, a whisper in the night. No goodbye - there hadn't been time. Lita hadn't made time. Her left hand tightened around the Coin. 

Sacrifice. She cleared her throat, pushing the heat away from the corners of her eyes. Professional, controlled.

"Well, Sir," she began, inclining her head to him respectfully, "I'm honestly surprised that TUBA has managed to evacuate as much as they have with the threat of those invisible spren. How many are already beneath the city in their tunnels, mapping out the locations of survivors? I can't believe they waited to report this knowledge so far into the meeting. It would have been the first order of business in my own report."

"Fortunate for us then that we acquired your talents before they did." Voidus replied, a slight curl at the corner of his mouth. "But yes, their apparent lack of concern for security was troubling. Perhaps we should lend them the services of our HR department?"

Would be an excuse to get them off of my back at least, but then they'd probably recruit more people from TUBA to form another HR department and just end up multiplying.

Voidus repressed a shudder at the thought of HR spreading across the planet and converting more and more to their cause. Sometimes they seemed like a bigger threat than any hidden gargantuan abominations that the DA held.

"Fortunately not the first time we've had to be cautious of spren spies. The number of aspiring Radiants who thought they could curry favour with one guild or another by sending spren into the Alleys to try to gather information..."

He held himself still, not letting the exhaustion show as he recalled all the numerous times they'd needed to update security protocols. Another of the endless tasks that pulled him away from important work.

"Well, in any case our own information at least should still be safe. TUBA are the ones that wish to prioritise civilians, if they have an information leak due to their own negligence then they shall wear the consequences. Our own goals shouldn't be affected. We'll be heading towards the primary building of PlasmaCore to put an end to this. The three of you have been there before already haven't you? Your previous experiences may prove useful in finding anything out of the ordinary."

[MacThorstenson]

57 minutes ago, Voidus said:

Perhaps we should lend them the services of our HR department?"

Cam woke up from his form filling trance. 

Someone had summoned him. He stood up to leave then looked around him at the mess. He couldn’t leave yet. He had to follow protocol, and Memo #4583 said that the offices needed to follow all the highest standards of cleanliness, even when the occupant filled out over 900,000 forms in triplicate under an hour. 

He busied himself cleaning up the forms and sorting them based on destination. Had to do first things first. 

——————————

Mac’s widened in fear, “oh no...” he whispered. Checking his watch, he didn’t see any of his agents alerting him of HR activity yet, which means they had a little bit of time. 

“Very sorry to cut this meeting short, but our location may be compromised after summoning them. We need to distribute assignments then disperse, quickly.“ Mac shook his head, Storm it voidus. First in the meeting, then summoning HR? Are you determined to kill us?

 

 

[AonEne]

On 7/1/2019 at 10:30 PM, Sorana said:

"Is it possible for him to confer with my commanding officer?"

"Of course," Twevle said cheerfully. "I can't lead a Ghostblood into the tunnels without express permission, but I can get him for you." He headed into the closest underground entrance, letting the TUBAists behind him fall in behind him to stop the man from following. Leading the refugees they'd been with in, he went looking for Pi. After finding him, he headed back up, eventually reaching the Ghostblood again and pointing at his superior. "Ta-da!"

On 7/2/2019 at 7:13 AM, Silva said:

Tell DA get someone to Vortex asap. Also might need use emergency evac to Bass. Underground could get breached if Alleystorm reach Vortex and citizens=sitting ducks. he sent to Deteca, barely two minutes since he'd left DIDGERIDOO. The typos, poor format, and messed up grammar hurt his head to look at. Their existence would only increase the feeling of urgency.

Deteca had been about to leave the building, now that the contingents from the other guilds were out and she'd reset the security measures, but her phone alerted her to a text from Eiran. Him being one of the people she was determined not to ignore - though wishing it was one of her parents, as she still didn't know where they'd gone - she tapped into it.

She shuddered as she read the message. The Alleystorm! How had none of them thought about that!? Her fingers almost missing their marks half the time, she scrambled through a text to Bassopolis, then hovered over her phone for the second it took to thank Eiran.

[will finish this later]

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8 hours ago, Emperor Stick said:

Neil and RaiSeel were at the building, we waved and called to them but Ene never responded.

I don't have any PCs there. Sorry, I didn't know you wanted me...

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

@AonEne? Do you know what the TUBA soldiers have been doing?

Mostly? Evacuating innocents.

2 hours ago, Emperor Stick said:

It had been hard figuring out where the meeting between the guilds were, but he needed to record it, for history's sake. If I'm lucky, I might not even get blown up. 

He sucked in a breath and knocked on the door.

@Rushu42

Is this the guild meeting that just got out, or the one mentioned in the spanreed message?

34 minutes ago, Voidus said:

Would be an excuse to get them off of my back at least, but then they'd probably recruit more people from TUBA to form another HR department and just end up multiplying.

This gives me ideas for how to defeat DAHR if they are sent after TUBA...

My next actions will depend on the answer to a question I'm going to ask right now.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

Seom waved at Lusk. "Hey, sir." @I think I am here.

[+ZincAboutIt]

Fortunate? Lita felt a small smile of her own push against the edges of her mouth. The head of the DA himself thought it fortunate that she'd been recruited?

I'll be tucking that piece of praise away for later.

When he mentioned PlasmaCore, her smile widened a bit more. 

"...oh no..." Mac whispered to himself, his heartbeat picking up with startling speed. Lita looked sideways at him, suddenly worried.

“Very sorry to cut this meeting short, but our location may be compromised after summoning them. We need to distribute assignments then disperse, quickly,“ Mac continued.

Them? Lita looked at Laurelai next, then KanMien. Did either of them know who Mac was talking about? What could possibly scare Mac? She suppressed a shudder and stood straighter, not allowing herself to show her anxiety. Assignments, right. Lita looked back towards Laurelai and KanMien. Technically, it had just been her and Laurelai at the party, but the last thing she wanted to do was correct someone like Voidus.  

Correcting demigods - definitely not wise. 

"Where should we go, Sir?" Lita asked, leaving the honorific open-ended so either Voidus or Mac could answer. They were both her boss. Hell, Laurelai probably counted as her boss, with how long Lita had been in the DA. Four days now? Three?

By the Survivor, when was the last time I slept? Lita flared her tin, squinting a bit but also feeling the enhanced sensation wake her up. She began storing a bit more heat than normal, the sudden chill driving away the bulk of her fatigue. You're fine. It's fine. She checked her tin reserves - still fine. Two vials left now, and she'd need to make them count.

After this, a nice long rest. But not yet. She fingered the third vial in her pocket. Not yet.

@Voidus @MacThorstenson

[Voidus]

Voidus continued to smile as he saw Mac begin panicking. It was a risk certainly, but they'd already managed to escape from HR once tonight, doing so a second time while already prepared for it should be manageable.

"Just a moment." He said towards Lita, still outwardly calm.

Inwardly he was on alert, waiting for the faintest signs of Alleytravel or other kinds of spatial warping that would allow HR entrance to this place. He stilled his breath altogether, along with his heartbeat. They were unnecessary distractions, he needed to catch this as soon as possible.

There.

As soon as he noticed it he completed the warping of the Alleys that he'd started before, connecting them to a point a little deeper in the Alleys. He took everyone one step further in, watching their surroundings shift to a simple gray cobblestone walled alley.

"That should deal with anyone who felt a need to follow us." Voidus said. "That department can deal with any unauthorized travelers, and it might keep them distracted for a bit if we're lucky."

He was careful this time to avoid mentioning the departments name. Summoning them here again would somewhat defeat the point, even if what he'd done was technically acceptable within current policy.

"We'll be going to the Vortex as they called it." He said, answering Lita's question. "But we should have a moment to breathe for now, a little time before the next job."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laurelai mirrored Mac's look of panic, she hadn't had a personal encounter with the department that Voidus had summoned, not since she'd first been inducted into the DA. But that one time had been enough, along with every whispered conversation she'd ever heard about them. The department that even other denizens of the DA didn't speak of directly.

HR.

She began planning a path through the Alleys to escape, but she also knew that running away from this meeting was likely to be just as suicidal as waiting for them to arrive. Possibly more given the glances that had been thrown her way. She was still waiting to find out exactly what she'd done wrong, but fleeing didn't seem like a good way to find out. Suddenly she felt the Alleys folding around them, and a small but insistent push in the small of her back forced her forwards a step into the new Alley. Not one she recognized on sight but many of them did look the same after all.

She stood up straight again, correct the balance that had been broken during that awkward step in between, and trying to catch her breath at the same time. She hadn't even noticed that she'd been holding it but the sudden push had caused her to gasp in an intake of air, almost triggering a coughing fit.

"We'll be going to the Vortex as they called it." Voidus said, ignoring the catastrophe that he'd almost caused. "But we should have a moment to breathe for now, a little time before the next job."

Laurelai felt her hand twitch again, she felt an urgent need to send a message to Lita, try to get her read on this situation. And how likely it was that she was about to be murdered. But she was in front of the men who'd probably invented Alleycant, she wouldn't be able to disguise it from them no matter how she tried.

[+Sorana]

Wes approached the girl, who had claimed to be a friend of Lusk’s and Mike shook his head in concern. He was right, she was acting strangely, and in a way he hadn’t expected. It was good, that at least one of them was thinking beyond taking pictures and going on a date. He blushed again, hastily turned to Lusk

„Hi, sir.“

He greeted him and guestured towards the Vortex.

“Seom proposed to throw aluminum in there, and she-“

A guesture towards Freedom,

“asked after the foil. We hope, to be able to cut if off, or to disturbe it or something like this.”

@I think I am here.

 

The man sketched a quick bow before Baker pi and contacted Zokora.

Zokora moved the screens she was monitoring to a device she could take with her and left the ship. Lusk headed to the kids at the Vortex, so she could meet with TUBA. She made sure to read through her instructions on how to conduct such a meeting. Be polite, don't let them get the better of you. Stay calm. They are way too nice for their own good. You can do this. She smiled at the last words. Almost everything in here ended like this. Trust yourself and you are fine.

She made sure to walk up to the Baker Pi guy, instead of simply appearing but she didn’t remove her weapons. They were stowed away, and she made sure to keep her hands away from the handles, but there was no need to pretend she wasn’t dangerous. With or without a weapon. As long as she had stormlight, she was a potential threat.

“Thank you for coming. My name is Zokora An'Inera and I am the Righthand’s assistant.”

She greeted the man.

“I askes for this meeting to discuss how we could cooperate regarding the evacuation. According to my reports its going well, but we are still loosing men, and I hope we could reduce that amount, if we coordinated our actions.”

@AonEne

[Rushu42]

Alanis Sheneth walked the streets of the Alleyverse, notebook in hand. She gave the sky a few nervous looks as she did so, the ominous clouds reminding her uncomfortably of a highstorm. It's not quite a highstorm, she thought. Just like the mist that wasn't quite like Scadrial's. Ahead, she spotted someone, and she hurried toward them.

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Anyone want to volunteer to be the person/people that she spotted? (She's just here to observe and take notes.)

 

[AonEne]

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13 hours ago, Voidus said:

Inwardly he was on alert, waiting for the faintest signs of Alleytravel or other kinds of spatial warping that would allow HR entrance to this place. He stilled his breath altogether, along with his heartbeat. They were unnecessary distractions, he needed to catch this as soon as possible.

There.

As soon as he noticed it he completed the warping of the Alleys that he'd started before, connecting them to a point a little deeper in the Alleys. He took everyone one step further in, watching their surroundings shift to a simple gray cobblestone walled alley.

"That should deal with anyone who felt a need to follow us." Voidus said. "That department can deal with any unauthorized travelers, and it might keep them distracted for a bit if we're lucky."

Wait. Did you just make it so the next person to Alleytravel into the alleys gets found by HR?

11 hours ago, Sorana said:

They are way too nice for their own good.

8 hours ago, Rushu42 said:

Anyone want to volunteer to be the person/people that she spotted?

You can see Deteca if you want to, but I don't recommend it - she's inside a building right now, and leaving soon.

 

11 hours ago, Sorana said:

“I askes for this meeting to discuss how we could cooperate regarding the evacuation. According to my reports its going well, but we are still loosing men, and I hope we could reduce that amount, if we coordinated our actions.”

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All the evac plan credit goes to the awesome Silva. Give her cookies. I probably got things wrong while trying to explain it, so I'm sorry in advance if I did.

Pi nodded. "We don't want to lose anyone else either. We've recently begun patterning our evacuation patterns after where the danger we need to get away from is." He pulled out a piece of dough-stained paper from his pocket, proffering it to the scary lady.

Spoiler

"You see that dot? It's the threat, in this case the warehouse we were alerted about a few minutes ago." He traced his finger along the lines. "Our people start closer to that, then rotate outward. However, we need to do more than just that - we have to combine it with something that defends against an internal threat, the PlasmaCore building, too." Pi nodded at the lady. Behind him, Twevle was organizing the handful of other TUBAists.

[kenod]

8 hours ago, Rushu42 said:

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Anyone want to volunteer to be the person/people that she spotted? (She's just here to observe and take notes.)

 

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You might be able to find Fragarach or Aylitha, though Aylitha would probably make her run away really quickly.

I've got no clue what Fragarach is doing though. She was attacked by someone in Chapter 2, but that got basically discontinued.

 

[I think I am here.]

13 hours ago, Sorana said:

Wes approached the girl, who had claimed to be a friend of Lusk’s and Mike shook his head in concern. He was right, she was acting strangely, and in a way he hadn’t expected. It was good, that at least one of them was thinking beyond taking pictures and going on a date. He blushed again, hastily turned to Lusk

„Hi, sir.“

He greeted him and guestured towards the Vortex.

“Seom proposed to throw aluminum in there, and she-“

A guesture towards Freedom,

“asked after the foil. We hope, to be able to cut if off, or to disturbe it or something like this.”

Lusk handed the foil wordlessly to Mike. The idea could work, or it could kill them all. For the most part however, it seemed the possible benefit outweighed whatever risk was presented. He turned back to the pulsating Vortex.

“It’s a lot bigger in person,” he noted.

[Voidus]

6 hours ago, AonEne said:

Wait. Did you just make it so the next person to Alleytravel into the alleys gets found by HR?

17 hours ago, Sorana said:

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Only if they enter in at the same spot. Basically just if anyone follows them.

 

[AonEne]

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So if they don't enter straight from the meeting, they're fine? Or if they don't go straight to that same place in the alleys?

 

[Voidus]

1 minute ago, AonEne said:

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So if they don't enter straight from the meeting, they're fine? Or if they don't go straight to that same place in the alleys?

 

Quote

Any unauthorized Alleytravel is probably going to attract some attention from HR but in this specific instance it would only apply to someone travelling to the same place at the same time.