Carl started with Darvin's second question. "It is as real as anything else out here."

"As for 'are they human,' for the moment I am guessing 'not quite.'" He moved to the inn, while speaking. "Current data suggests they are an extra-dimensional hostile force with the M.O. of possessing soldiers and augmenting their physical forms to supernatural levels. Thankfully, they aren't very smart, and since none of us are showing abnormal behavior, my guess is that they cannot simply abandon and repossess at will."

He scowled at an unwelcome thought as he turned to Gabriella. "Actually, Gabe, that's a thought: are any of us showing signs of possession? I am making a presumption when I say we aren't, and a dangerous one at that."

"Nobody I've noticed," said Wire.  "So, like I said, who's hurt?  Come on, now.  Speak up.  I can't fix you up if you stay quiet.  Don't be afraid of the nice doctor man.  He may be ugly, but he prevents infection and internal bleeding."

Yeah.  We thought ours was real.  Hell, I'd been cooking all morning.  Then we woke up, in the same place, hanging from trees as a group of mages were sacrificing the customers to open a Rift, and no inn in sight.
Hearing what has been going on the area here, Darvin shakes his head.  Seems this area is pretty active, magically speaking.

Gabriella shrugs at Carl's question. "Hard to say, but I don't think so. I don't know anyone other than you and Rod to know if they're acting strange. Nobody is shuffling towards the inn. I don't sense anything vampiric, and these things don't seem undead. That brings up a good question... what were these things trying to do? And why? It's kind of random to attack this inn... unless there's someone here worth attacking."

Gabby approaches Megs and whispers to him, more so nobody in the inn would hear. She was fine if any of her own party or the newcomers heard. "Got any spells that might suss out if anyone in here is particularly extra afraid of these things, or recognizes them, or otherwise sticks out psychically?"

Megs replies to Gabs, "Not especially. If somebody is possessed I could possibly exercise it, but that is all other than 'sense magic'."

(I know it's been awhile so I'll remind you guys of the portal that opened up in the inn before the larger portal opened with the invaders.)

In reply to Gabriella (msg # 19):

"They all show up on infra-red, expect for the bionic ones of course. Suckers don't have cyberware." He points out to Gabby and Carl. That being said he keeps an eye on them just in case. The cyberdoc held genuine interest for him, he headed over to Jer Wire. "You an implant specialist Doc, or you do any work on full body conversions?"

"Meat, metal, both, whatever," said Jer.  "I've had more experience with bionics, but I can work on you, too, assuming that you don't have some weird Riftworld tech I've never seen before in there."

...Which was a hazard in this world, he reflected.  Not all his work involved fitting a prosthetic leg on an adolescent girl, or patching up laser burns on some unfortunate.  Some of it was strange.

Darvin steps away from the inn and looks around both groups.  So, you guys going to collect the armor from the dead Dead-boys?  I see you collected the weapons.  Id you can patch the armor up, you can get a decent price for it through the Black Market.  Hey, any of them have a vibro-knife?

(The armor is too far gone for any patching.  No knives, either.)

One of the owner's daughters walks out to the group.  "Excuse me, but Athena...  Uh, the woman that fell into the bar before that attack...  She wants to talk to you all.  She says it's of the utmost importance.  Like the entire planet is in danger."

The name of the woman, Athena, caught Kahlvyn's attention. He very much doubted that it was the actual goddess but just the fact they shared the same name piqued his curiosity. He looked at Magistias, jerked his head at the entrance of the bar, and then began walking towards it.

Darvin looks surprised.  All of us?  Really?  Even those of us who just got here?  He looks at his own travelling companions and shrugs his shoulders.  Turning back, he heads inside.

"Good name." Gabby approves as she follows the others to where the person indicates Athena will see them.

"Glad she recovered." Carl frowned. "She might need checking on anyways. I've seen wounded swear they can fight with a hole in them, and that they don't need help."

He was rounding up his weapons, checking clips, and powering down his missile launcher. He noted the replacement costs, and considered the inn to be worth it in the moment.

When they moved inside, they spotted her right away.  She was very pale with her damp, blond hair in clumps and a plain sheet wrapped around her chest.  Deep bruising could be see coming from under the sheet and across her shoulders.  Still she somehow managed to dominate the room.  "Greetings.  I'm told we all owe you a debt of gratitude, especially myself since I was the one that brought the danger here.  You're all wondering what you faced out there.  Even in my weakened state I can still sense that.  While most easily mistake them for zombies, they are in fact Soulless.  They are created using a particularly foul brand of sorcery by ones called Harvesters through their association with a dark alien intelligence, Nxla.  Theirs is a secretive cult, for obvious reasons.  The elder council of Psyscape first discovered them over 200 years ago.  All of our city's resources were devoted to destroying this cult.  Once the mission was done, the city went into hiding to watch for their return.  The insidious nature of the cult meant we had to keep it a secret, for there were many that would find such power irresistible.  When we sensed  the return of Nxla and its cult, we acted to stop it.   Unfortunately they had planned for us.  My entire assault group was destroyed by their combined forces.  Even my cyber-knight protector who stopped one last blast meant for me so that I could ensure that our failure would not doom this dimension.  With only a small defense force left, we may not be able to put a stop to Nxla.  Your group not only seems capable, but courageous enough to stand firm in the face of evil.  So I must ask, will you help Psyscape put a stop to Nxla, once and for all?"

"Those things barely needed any armor. In fact, I rather think it was more for disguise than protection." He says to the woman. "Do they have any weaknesses? Sliver? Fire? Water?" The vulnerabilities of vampires where seemingly endless, but Rod had faced very few of the 'regular' undead. If such a thing could be said to be 'regular'...

Kalhvyn listened as the beautiful blonde told her tail of impending doom. “What is it with this world?” he wondered to himself. “Other worlds can go millennia without apocalyptic calamities falling on them but this Earth? Nope, bridge too far.”

Though his thoughts, had anyone been able to hear them, would seem flippant, even callous, the young Undead Slayer truly did care about the welfare of this world. If it had been any other way, he wouldn’t have set foot on it. Though he had been born in another dimension and raised on an entirely different world, he had grown up hearing the stories told by the elders of his race. That had spoken of this Earth in reverent tones, extoling its beauty and of his people’s blood connection to it, their ancestral home world.

Kalhvyn had never heard of Psycape, Soulless or Nxla but was willing to believe that the mysterious woman was telling the truth. It could all be part of some elaborate ruse but he didn’t really think that was the case. As he looked around at the assembled people, he felt that the entire current situation seemed far too random rather than the contrivance of some master planner.

He waited as the borg asked his questions, curious as to the answers Athena would give. He was already forming his own questions but he could demonstrate patience when it was called for. He nudged Megistias in the ribs gently with an elbow and when his cousin looked at him, he jerked his head at the bar. “I’m thinking this is going to take a while,” he said softly. “Want me bring you back a drink?”

"Yes, like many supernatural creatures, they are quite resilient.  They do have a weakness, though.  For reasons still not understood, they are vulnerable to psychic powers.  Their bond to this alien entity also makes them vulnerable to holy and rune weapons."  Athena pauses and takes a deep breath.  "Here comes the wrinkle...  If their souls can be freed from Nxla or his Harvester cultists, they can return to normal beings.  As long as their bodies are not destroyed.  It is unfortunate that their nature makes it difficult to avoid damaging them.  Also, freeing souls from Nxla would require assaulting him on his home plane or one on which he has physically manifested.  It can be done, but the sacrifice is not insignificant."

"You aren't kidding about the sacrifice part." Carl was running through the numbers. "Assuming we have the good fortune to not walk into some Black Market smartass marking up prices due to 'demand' or some nonsense, it's 2400 credits per plas mini-missile, 1500 per recharged clip, 2500 for the long ones, 2500 per canister, half a cred per rail shot, and that's not even bringing costs of equipment repair and replacement on the table."

"But yeah, if this Nxla manifests, which I'm assuming from context is some sort of alien god, he can be killed. Hell, I think everything that screws around with this world dies eventually." He leaned against one of the walls, after he gave it a quick test for stability. "Makes me wonder why the demons even bother sometimes. Maybe they're just slow learners."

He paused as he considered this Athena person. "I'll ask you what a Harvester is right after we figure out how we can fund this war you'd like us to do for you. This world is one of unending war, and the winner of it will be the one who understands how to conserve resources."

Psychic abilities?  Darvin seems perplexed.  My mother was the psychic in my family.  Mind Melter.  I'm just a cook and a businessman wandering the world.  He gives a bit of a chuckle.  How much good am I going to do?  I got no magic weapons or runes.

Athena seems mildly irritated by Carl's bean-counting.  "How much is too much to pay for an Earth free from Nxla's clutches?  How much is too much to keep your soul?  Will a stockpile of  missiles keep you comfort when everyone you know has had their soul ripped from them?"  She pauses for a breath of calming.  "Psyscape does not use credits, but we are not without resources.  You will have all the aid we can muster."

"Harvesters are dark mages that worship Nxla and have learned dark rituals to steal souls and use them to fuel their sorceries.  They are beyond redemption.  Every one of them killed is a step back for Nxla.  They are hard to find as they are mostly normal beings without markings and skilled at blending in."

Seeing that the bartender was nowhere in sight, Kahlvyn reached over the bar and poured a shot of whatever whiskey he could find for himself and another for Magistias. He left a credit chip worth twenty on the counter and walked back, drinks in hand to where the question and answer session was on going.

Unlike Athena, he appreciated Carl’s concerns. A result of the training he had received. “Amateurs study tactics,” they had told him, “professionals study logistics.” One could have the moral high ground, a belly and head full of righteousness and a signed seal of approval from every god of Light but none of that would slay demons and monsters. Swords, arrows, rifles, bullets, armor, rations, vehicles to move rations and munitions, support personnel to repair, rearm, feed and heal warriors…those things were what won wars, not good intentions. Athena had responded to Carl's question but not really answered it. It sounded like she was asking for a long term commitment, not something that would be taken care of over the course of a weekend. That would mean Psycape, wherever it was and however big it was, would have to agree to supporting the needs, all the needs, of those it recruited to fight in this war. Was it able to do that? Did it possess the resources to properly equip and maintain everyone?

She had dodged answering the question directly though and Kahlvyn hadn't failed to notice that. It could be she had just given a snappy response, born of high emotion and righteous indignation at the question but then again, maybe not. Whatever the cause for her lack of a firm response, Kahl didn't want to press her about it at this time. He saw other questions that needed answers. The logistical concern could be returned to in a while.

He handed one of the glasses to Magistias, downed his own and set it down on a nearby table. Seeing as no one else was asking anything of Athena at the moment, he decided now was his turn. “Do these Harvesters have the same…durability as the Soulless? And the same weakness to psionics?” He then waited for her answers. He had more questions but he was being patient.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:56, Fri 03 Nov 2017.

Darvin looks incredulously amused.  So, our quest is to locate and kill untraceable, magic-using minions, and to eventually defeat an unbeatable monster from another dimension.  Sounds like a Thursday to me, he says sarcastically.  Suddenly, something dawns on him, and he turns to face his companions.
Those zombies you guys were fighting, while I was fighting the mages... was there anything different about them from the normal zombie?  I wouldn't know because I've never fought zombies before.

Kal snorted in amusement at Darvin's question about zombies. "You mean aside from them refusing to go down? Not much that I could tell."