Higura approaches the site of the battle, and his steps slow down progressively as the sad sight becomes clearer and clearer. Nanaret herself seems completely unresponsive, and the minotaur - well, the great beast is wounded beyond any chance for it to survive. At this point, it is more of a race between what would kill it first: the wounds and the bleeding, or whatever the leaders of Five Coils had planned to kill off all the residents of the bottom.

For a short moment, Higura observes the great beast, and takes a step towards it, gazing into its eyes. For that short moment, he peers into them, and all the savagery seems to have drained from them. For the space of a breath... They look human. The doctor takes another step, and he looks up the beast, his own gaze softening considerably.

"You were engineered to fight... Created only to amuse others with your own strength... Your own pain. Now, you stand at the brink..." He pauses, then takes a breath. "I can end it now, if you wish. Painlessly. So you do not have to suffer again for other people's entertainment."

He lays a hand on the creature, waiting for a response from it before unleashing the release - after all, the power will not work unless the creature is willing.

The beastman doesn't seem to understand what Higura is asking at first, his nostrils flaring fearfully as the new, unknown person comes close to him.

But something in Higura's voice offers relief from his agony and panic. 'Painlessly'... 'do not have to suffer'... with these words he appears to relax, though not necessarily in peace. More in exhaustion, as if he's come to the end of a grueling journey he just wants to be over.

An eloquent mind may have philosophized at that point on the meaning of his existence, now that his life is at its end. But all Higura can see is the single tear that rolls down the creature's ruddy cheek before the light goes out of his eyes.

Nanaret seems to have calmed enough to regain her senses. But the chaos at the stairs shows no sign of abating. There are sounds of essence weapons firing... screams and wails of anguish... and the magitech-amplified sound of the Five Coils peace officers, methodically (and perhaps cruelly) asking for calm.

---

OOC: Better start coming up with a plan to get out. Given what you know of the layout you can either try for another set of stairs or look for one of the elevators up (which you know would be heavily guarded). Or you can force your way through the crowd but that doesn't really look very likely.

To figure out an alternate route I will allow one of:
- Wits or Perc+Awareness (innate sense that gives you an idea which way to go)
- Int+Lore (represents knowledge of the structure and architecture of Coils, to give you a good idea of where elevator/stairs would be placed).
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:36, Mon 03 Nov 2008.

It is with a touch of sadness that Higura sees the massive creature go. Given a sense of sentience only to titillate the taste for blood and pain that others have. Now, it rests, at least not stuck in an existence of bloody battles and painful punishments. The situation, however, cannot wait for more mourning - time is running out, and being on the move becomes more and more pressing by the second.

"Miss Nanaret." He utters, sharply and decisively. He has seen her snap out of this state before, and knows that only clarity of purpose will shake her out of it. "The fight is not yet over. All of this will have been for naught if we remain here, as we will soon all pass away - purged, without a chance for escape. That is, of course, unless we get a move on."

He pauses, and for a moment considers their options. The section his cell is in, as well as the block surrounding the arena, are somewhat of a maze. And yet... Signs could pinpoint to a direction to go, if he could only get his bearings. Watching carefully around him, he strives to understand the structure itself - to make sense of the nonsensical, and to try to guess as to its layout, based on rational thought and the few pieces of information he does have. By putting all of these together, he hopes to create a coherent image of their options... Or at least, he would try.

Turning back to the gladiatrix, he lifts his chin slightly. "We need your help to escape these halls, Miss Nanaret. Can I count on you?"

Nanaret, coming out from the throwback's effect, appears almost as if awaking from a drug-haze. She grimaces, and rises swiftly to her feet once she remembers where she is, and recent events come flooding back.

"Doctor Higura," she says uncertainly, then angrily: "It happened again. Curse her!" But she doesn't dwell on her own troubles for long, taking in the panicking crowds, the violent attempts by the 'peace' officers to control them. Confused, she touches her deactivated collar. "The controls are gone... why...?"

Then she shakes her head, abandoning her call for explanation for now. "Never mind. Act first, think later, yes?" She concentrates, and her ears shift with a display of coruscating silver-blue light into the cat-like ears of the aye-aye. They twitch this way and that, separating ambient sound from relevant. "I can hear the sounds from above, where they trickle down to us. There, in those places, we can go up. Too crowded here, let us go elsewhere."

Nanaret points in the direction she senses is right and begins to move that way unless stopped.

"One moment. I will explain everything when we have a moment to breathe, but for now..." Higura begins, inwardly glad that Nanaret seems to have quickly recovered from her experience - but dreading that the issue not being addressed would only cause more internalization problems later. Of course, not much could be done about this now...

"We are not alone, Miss Nanaret. Miss Saffron is in the Medical Pavilion. There are other wounded, people that require our assistance." He pauses, risking a glance towards the pavilion, brow furrowed, before turning back towards the gladiatrix. "It is... uncertain how far we will get, with a group like this. But we have to try." He looks back towards the minotaur, then shakes his head softly, arranging his thin-framed spectacles.

"There might be some people we can save." He nods, then looks back towards the woman, awaiting her response. The both of them might be prisoners, but in this, she is a free woman - and he would certainly not choose for her.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:29, Tue 04 Nov 2008.

Nanaret stops and turns. "Help others? Hope they can keep up. We must move quickly and they will be slow."

"Healer Saffron should come though. She is a good woman. Better that one escape this place than one like me, yes?" Her bushy monkey tail swishes as she chuckles roughly. Then Nanaret strides toward the pavilion, eyes purposefully avoiding the dead body of the Minotaur. She looks at Saffron. "Come, we bring with us those who will need help to survive, and not so crazy they try suicidal way out."

Nanaret can probably carry someone or help one or two people walk if necessary.

OOC: We'll wait for Saffron to post. Then I can post the results of the Awareness or Lore rolls and move on.

[Private to GM: Perception + Awareness - please roll]

   Saffron bundles her kit and secures it in a bag that she drapes across her body so that it rests on her hip. She reassures those that appear lost that she will attempt to find a way out for them, as long as everyone moves to help one another. Her services as a healer are not free in a crisis, she requires her patients to help themselves and help each other. Those that can't walk are carried by those that can, including her (she has her limits, of course).

   She smiles sadly as she looks to those that were at one time cheering wildly for death, now facing their own.

With both Nanaret and Saffron helping the most wounded, the patients in the pavilion are able to follow along as the three Exalts make their way out of the arena discreetly. Besides the patients, a few stragglers seem to catch on that their group knows where they're going, and follow along at a distance.

Floor B30 sits just above the Forbidden level and beneath the lowest residential level of the district. Therefore, the large, squat buildings surrounding the area of the Pit are primarily warehouses for long-term storage. Beastmen are kept in substandard hovels near the area of the arena, likely still locked up and left to their deaths. Sometimes, there are squatters that come down from the levels above. Or a resident might see the B30 storage as a convenient location for a crime. Remnants of bodies are found there sometimes. Contraband.

The illumination in the area is sub-par, the red glare of alarm lights giving off an eerie, flickering glow. It's a bleak place to be hurrying through, finding a way up to survive the coming purge.

Between Nanaret's instincts, Saffron's observant nature and Higura's knowledge of architecture, they discover three potential paths. The first and closest is a district elevator, which they are quite certain will be well guarded. The second is a stairway leading up to the residential floors... a better bet, but much further away. The third is one that the Exalts are not completely sure still exists: a hidden passage, likely used for smuggling, which may or may not have already been boarded up and locked.

Decide which way you will go, and swiftly.

Helping with the fallen, Higura meanwhile continues to think of the possibilities regarding their escape... All the while wondering if it would be even possible. He glances towards Nanaret and Saffron, and pauses momentarily.

"All three of us are healthy and capable... But it cannot be said the same of everyone here, of course. While we might have a chance of toppling patrols in heavily guarded areas, it is unlikely we will be able to cover for everyone here, or make certain each of the wounded will survive conflicts. I believe, then, that our approach should be slower, but safer."

He purses his lips for a moment, considering the bleakness of their situation. "That is, at least, until we escape the danger zone and we can manage to find a good place to hide or at least shelter the others."

"Perhaps we can try to figure out if the smuggling passage is still operational... Otherwise, I would suggest we go the residential route. There is less chance of crossing guard patrols there."

"Hrrmph," Nanaret grunts. She is half supporting, half pulling along two very wounded individuals. "I say we try secret passage, Doctor. I am able to fit in small spaces. If it is just blocked I can get past, help you get through from the other side."

"And if it is locked... there are few such things that easily hinder me. I can deal with locks." She smirks lopsidedly. "Let us go, yes?"

The Lunar glances at Saffron questioningly... if she had a different idea, she'd listen.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:57, Thu 06 Nov 2008.

   Saffron shakes her head in the negative. As the stragglers begin to trickle in, she sets about persuading them that their safety is more secured if they can help with the injured.

   Nanaret in particular should be freed from carrying the injured. She is more valuable to the long term survival of the group unencumbered.

Not everyone agrees with Saffron, but there's enough of them that some do. Nanaret is free to take the lead, and if she wants, she can scout ahead to ensure the safety of the others.

The group struggles through streets alternately empty and bursting with sudden, erratic activity. There really aren't any patrols down here, and there are still men and women reckless and desperate enough to take advantage of that, running off in small groups with loot from the warehouses. Perhaps they don't realize the gravity of the announcement they just heard -- or they just don't care.

At some point someone had apparently let the beastmen free from their pens. Their sounds can be heard in the distance, some of them confused and frightened, others roaring with rage after an indeterminate time in captivity. They can be heard stampeding in the streets, wrecking whatever lies in their path. Screams of agony indicate that not all they release their frustration on is inanimate.

It turns out the smuggler's passage is actually inside one of the warehouse buildings. It had been boarded up, but someone else before them had stripped the locks from the doors.

Inside, it is nearly pitch black. (You may be eaten by a grue. Kidding! :D)

"I will look inside," Nanaret says softly to her companions.

Again the silvery-blue glow surrounds her, and she assumes fully her hybrid form -- still very much lithe and humanoid, but covered with a thin layer of fur, along with the claws, bushy tail and spoon-shaped ears of her monkey totem. Her eyes are round and yellow with dark pupils, startling those unused to her sinister gaze. Despite the animalistic touches, she does still have a human face, and her blue dreadlocks remain. She seems more of a half-breed, almost like the beastmen that she has fought and killed.

Thus transformed, she slips nimbly into the warehouse, using her senses to full effect in order to quickly detect the location of the secret passage upward.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:53, Sat 08 Nov 2008.

While Nanaret slips inside, the stragglers following along with the Exalts huddle nervously just outside the door. It is a frightening experience, sitting in the dim, red-tinged light hearing disembodied screams and primal growls, the intermittent fire of Essence weapons, and the neverending sirens.

It's not even been a minute when the announcement comes, in the same dispassionate, artificial voice: "T-minus twenty minutes until purging commences." Some of the injured people start to whisper nervously, even whimper in fear. They realize their chances are still better than being beaten up and shot down back at the stairway in the Pit, but the finality that the word 'purging' suggests is just as discouraging.

[Private to GM: Nanaret's night-vision allows her to see the interior of the warehouse. It's a 50 square yard space. It seems like most of what was stored within has already been used up, or stolen. There are boxes stacked in the far corners of the room but they look like they've been opened up, tumbled around.

You are able to find the stairs you are looking for, but there are two problems. First of all, the passage to the stairway is completely blocked by a brick wall. Second, you can definitely hear the sound of soft breathing coming from a space near the wall adjacent to the passage. Whatever it is, you can't see it but you KNOW it's there... it hasn't spotted you just yet. You will have to move stealthily from now on not to be noticed though.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:44, Sun 09 Nov 2008.

Nanaret stays just long enough to confirm what she needs to.

Once she does, she slips out as quietly as she can manage, crouching low or pressing flat against the wall, squeezing close to the boxes when she can. When the jumble of empty boxes can no longer cover her, she creeps across the floor on all fours, her monkey-ears listening for any further sign of sound and movement.

There is something waiting in the darkness there, something Nanaret can only hear. But Luna has blessed her with a limber body and a predator's grace, and with Her grace, she will not be easily seen -- until she wants to be.

Nanaret is fairly sure she has exited the warehouse without being noticed. She is free to report what she has seen.

Nanaret straightens, standing upright, as soon as she clears the crack in the door leading out. She beckons to Higura and Saffron, and speaks to them a short way apart from the others.

"I realize we are in need to hurry. However the stairway is still blocked, it will take just a bit longer. There is an escaped beast, hiding inside... I could hear it from its breathing. It is near the passage, and it will stir if I make noise to open a path upstairs."

The Lunar exhales frustratedly, her tail twitching erratically. "I do not think I can guarantee safety of the others while I work. I believe I will need you to distract attention of the beast while I break open passage."

"You can fight, yes? Her bright yellow eyes glance from one Exalt to the other. "I know you, Doctor Higura, have seen you train with the sword. Maybe Healer Saffron can cover the others until they can get upstairs?"

He takes one look towards Saffron, and then nods at Nanaret with a faint smile on his lips. "A bit, yes." He says, and immediately grabs the sheathed curved sword he had strapped to the back of his belt. He keeps the sheathed weapon in his left hand, then nods towards Saffron and the wounded. "I will draw the attention of this... beast. Miss Saffron, you should direct the wounded as per Miss Nanaret's instructions."

"I will try to hold this creature as long as possible, Miss Nanaret. Please, let me know when you have broken through and the others are safe... And where I should try to keep the beast so as to best help your efforts."

With that, he takes a step forward, his gentle mannerism somehow clashing with the well-crafted weapon he holds in his hand.

[Private to Gatekeeper: Activating Prior Warning while waiting for Nanaret's instructions.]
This message was last edited by the player at 07:03, Sat 08 Nov 2008.

   "I will do what I can to help but understand that my strengths lie not in slaying," Saffron replies moving into a position to best help the others get up the staircase as quickly as possible when it is cleared.

"I see," Nanaret says seriously, replying to Saffron. Killing is something she does well, though not necessarily happily. Still, survival is survival. "Do not need to kill, only subdue."

To Higura she says, "You will need to enter first. The beast hides close to the passage, on the left side. You must distract it to the opposite side of the warehouse. Is just one big room, so should not be difficult. Doctor, when you use power, you glow, yes? You might attract it, with your light."

"Otherwise, it is dark inside. We will move in darkness, I and Healer Saffron and the others. If they follow me, and stay close to the walls, should be fine."

She nods and indicates the warehouse door, urging Higura to proceed.

As soon as Higura steps into the warehouse, he is in pitch black darkness. All he knows is the rough direction he must move -- toward the right side of the room, opposite where Nanaret had said the beast lies in wait. The doctor's senses can at least pick up the vastness of the room, though so far he hears no sign of the creature's sinister presence.

[Private to Yaishin Higura: You have a -3 external penalty at the moment due to the darkness around you. Roll a Perception+Awareness, then you can do whatever you think is necessary to attract the beast your way.]

Nodding one final time to the others, Higura then starts to step forward - and realizes that, in all likelihood, the beast that has chosen to make its home in the area is much more at ease in this environment than he is. But no matter the circumstances or facts, the truth remains that there is a host of people here that need protecting, high adversity or not.

Slowly and carefully, he steps into the darkness, for the moment casting aside his sights. In order to help this endeavor, he closes his eyes as he steps forward, forcing his other senses to compensate. After all, while he tried to focus his eyes at whatever his other senses would pick up, he risks losing precious seconds - seconds that might cost him his life and that of the wounded. In those conditions, his sight is a liability rather than an asset, and Higura thus treats it as such.

Eyes closed, he takes another step, then another. He focuses his attention on everything his other senses pick - the time it takes for echoes to reverberate, the feel of the ground under his feet and that of the ambient air across his face, the smell of displaced dust that might hint at movement. Cloaking himself in his own personal darkness, he continues to walk forward.

"I am here." He announces, to the hidden presence Nanaret warned about. "Hear my challenge, and face this intruder."

Higura hears it, more than sees it. Feels its presence like some sort of cloying dampness in the air. As his eyes adjust to the darkness, he can see the outline of the creature's body, clinging to the far wall next to what he assumes is the blocked stairway Nanaret must deal with. It looks like something of a half-lizard, half-man, but larger than any normal man.

It stirs, when Higura speaks. Its eyes -- or what he is sure must be its eyes -- swivel his way. The flick of a tongue probes outward.

Then with a sudden swift burst of motion it leaps from the wall it clings to, twisting in the air to land with a soft, wet sound on its hands and feet. The impact does not slow its advance, as it scampers across the empty space to meet Higura's challenge!

---

OOC: Join Battle for Higura. The others can begin to proceed toward the stairs. As long as Higura can keep the creature sufficiently engaged it probably *won't* come after anyone else. Probably. :D

"I propose thirty seconds," Nanaret says to Saffron. "Thirty seconds and you can start to bring the others inside." She slips through the door again, working nimbly toward the stairway while Higura distracts the lizard-man-thing.

Her first priority is to deal with the obstruction itself -- the brick wall in the way of the path going up. Without exceptional strength, her only remaining method is to repeatedly pummel the weak points in the wall. She uses one of her hook swords to dig repeatedly into the mortar, wearing it out so she may simply pry the rest of the bricks apart.

[Private to GM: Flurry 3 times every action. Keep doing until the brick wall falls apart.]