Ben listened to Sapphire, he already got the impression she was the kind of woman that would not drop a point until you agreed with her. Although he was impressed by, he had to admit that being in the wrong side of Sapphire on debate was proving very annoying, he wasn't even sure how to refer to the flat accusation of being a racist.

"Anyway..." he said trying a peace gesture "Let's agree to disagree, in the end it doesn't matter if we call it mass migration or troop motion in a scissor lock. The end result is the same."

He smiled at Jason and nodded "Yeah, totally agreed."

Ben would keep his eyes on Whistler, as Jason said it talk was cheap and being trusting in today's world meant you ended up as someone slave or meal.

If he's being honest with himself, Matthew puts a lot of mental effort into trusting all of his new friends.  He has been aware for a long time that other worlds are less "black and white" than his own.  No matter how often he witnesses it from good people, he is always thrown off when one of his friends does something that he would consider impossible for to do without falling into evil and villainy.  So, in this case, he considers Unpronounceable just slightly less trusting than the rest.  But he still continues to try to be more understanding.

Matthew clears his throat and turns away from Unpronounceable and towards Hildy.  "I know it is difficult in this land my dear, but would you be able to guide us back to this digging device?"

Matthew turns to the group and continues, "So we can, *ahem*, save this poor woman's father."

The stalenger sets aside its pride at being named Whistler and focuses on the task at hand. The skin ripples, and a bright orange hue washes over it menacingly, displaying the deadly color as many venomous animals do. All five arms lift upward as it floats above the captured edeinos, demonstrating through altitude and size who is in charge here. Most of its tentacles retract into its body, but three of them snake down and wrap around the edeinos' arm, rapidly tapping and stroking its scales. Though not all edeinos have learned the tactile language of stalengers, Whistler hopes this one knows, as mimicking their speech is harder than this language called English.

The message is simple: "Question. Know girl source direction? Your party numbers?"

((Assuming this edeinos knows stalenger. If not, could ask it in its language. Proceeding based on the GM's hint that the edeinos has nothing else to offer.))

Whistler's mood shifts, its skin blending in with the rest of the forest as it descends to eye level. Its arms lower, with its two side arms in front drooping more than the rest. It repeats the edeinos' answer to the Storm Knights. "Helpful? Need more questions?"

In reply to Whistler (msg # 159):


GM for:Gavin speaks up, "So, are we taking the truck or leaving it here?"

"Edeinos tribe in that direction," Whistler says, motioning in the direction opposite of where the girl entered the clearing. "They hunt girl for Experience. Value Experience over Life. He knows he is dead. Tribe will come here and--" Whistler pauses in thought. "--mourn?"

"If we leave it here," Koharu replies to Gavin, "We won't have a truck to come back to, if we can even find our way back.  I'm afraid it's best to keep things close here, even when it's inconvenient."

Hildy explains that the road you are on intersects a walking path about 100m away from the machine. With what you have experienced of the Deep Mist, you know that will be far enough away to still allow a stealthy approach if you leave the truck there.

Sita waits by the downed edeinos until she's sure Ben won't try to summarily execute him (ready to jump in the way of the bullet if he does), and only when she's sure that won't happen does she enter the vehicle to depart.

Sapphire couldn't help but notice that Sita was being really skittish. Then again she wasn't exactly feeling normal. She hated it when a Damsel In Distress appeared in the middle of nowhere chased by screaming savages. A little warning would be nice she murmurred in prayer to Dunad. Still in a way it was a warning. The Eidenos had not been a serious threat, she just felt bad at having had to kill them

"I'll lock up this guy" she said pointing to their captive. "It will take him hours to get free, and by then we'll be gone. Unless anyway wants to just slit his throat that is. If I do: Whistler I'd like you to reassure him we aren't going to kill him." she could imagine what it would be like to be trapped by captors you didn't understand, constantly afraid they were just going to kill you. She wouldn't wish that on anyone

Assuming no objects as the car drove away the whole area they had been in grew into a nearly impentrable mass of solid vegetation with the Eidenos in the middle of it


OOC Scene changes are hard! No one wants to 'move' anyone. If someone objects or wants to interject, I'll just happily edit.

The vegetation probably lasts at toughness 20 (I was very lucky casting the spell) for the next 20 mins or so. He's not going anywhere in that time. After that it's still crazy thick, and will take significant effort to get through. Given we are driving... I don't think he's a threat to us. If other's do... it's all good

It didn't escaped Ben how Sita was watching him as if he was some sort of monster.

He was happy when Sapphire suggested trapping the lizard person for a few hours, it solved their problem without killing someone in cold blood.

"Great idea..." he told the elven priestess "...but first I want to talk with him."

"Can you please translate for me?" he asked Whisper.

Turning to the captured Lizard man he spoke in a clear menacing tone "Your tribe attacked us unprovoked but we are the stronger, by right we hold your life in our hand. We give it for you so that you will carry a message, tells all the tribes we are coming for them, any who will oppose us will meet the same fate as your braves and priest... this is not your land and we are coming for you. Leave now and you all be spared, stay and fight us and none will remain to remember your tribes and people."

When he is done he take few steps backwards asking in a soft voice "How was it? did I over did it?"

Scene Change in [countdown not implemented]
well, by 11AUG20 23:59:59 MST
Gather Cards from Pools back to hands

Whistler listened to Ben's statements. It followed everything perfectly, which surprised it given that these sentences would've been far too complex to follow prior to coming over with the invaders. It shimmers purple as it thinks of how to translate all of it in a way the edeinos could understand. Not all edeinos are able to follow along with complex human language. What a shame that these ords--not that it knows what an ord is--are missing out on the greatest of Experience. Even if this edeinos could understand Ben's complex sentence, stalengers had not developed anything that complicated with its tentacle taps.

Whistler's skin changes back to orange with all it arms lifted again. "We strong! Own you. Not like slave. Like prisoner. Stay here. Tell tribe we kill them." a tentacle unravels to gesture toward all the dead bodies. "Go home. No more new Experience."

Whistler scintillates between green and yellow and drops the front arm and rear arms. The tentacles unfurl and hang limp underneath as it turns back to the Storm Knights. "He not angry. Hunts go bad. Hunters sometime die. He expects it. Not mad."

Sita let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, relieved there wouldn't be a confrontation over the edeinos. Relieved she wouldn't get shot and killed trying to prevent Ben from doing something monstrous. Oh, sweet mercy! She really didn't want to die . . . even if it would be better for the world, in the end.

She glanced at herself as the group got ready to leave, and noticed her fingers were spread apart, curled, almost as if-- No! She placed her hands behind her back, wringing the tension from them. She hadn't meant any harm to anyone just now! Including Ben, she was sure of it! She hadn't been thinking about doing anything, to anyone! But . . . what if, maybe . . . maybe . . . the wolf had?

She swallowed. That-- that scared her. That it might be brewing somewhere just under the surface, without her knowledge or consent, eager and ready to burst up and . . .

No! That's not going to happen! She glanced at where Ben had stowed her revolver. It's not going to happen because he guarded the monster inside her now, with deadly silver backing him up.

Then she eyed the prisoner that he'd just brutally threatened. The one who still lived, perhaps, in no small part due to her intervention. She wondered if she may be performing the same function for Ben now, that he was for her. Doing whatever it took to keep his monster in check. Why, he'd even kill her, if necessary! It felt right to help him out, the way he was helping her.

And without noticing it, her fingers curled at that thought . . .
This message was last edited by the player at 05:39, Tue 11 Aug 2020.

It takes about 40 minutes to load up and get to the junction of the walking path. Hildy has explained the basic layout, there are "lots of shocktroopss", and they are armed with some kind of heavy pistol.

The mist seems to lose some effect in the area, the closer one gets to the machine the clearer the vision, or so it was when she ran away.

From her descriptions you are confident you are looking at:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ad3l...updhm/AotDD.png?dl=0
Scale: the device is ≈30m wide

Gavin appears to be experiencing some kind of reaction to what happened in the battle against the Edeinos, and will be staying with the truck to keep it "safe". Hildy will be staying with the truck to keep Hildy safe.

The rest of the group has reached a point where you are fairly certain you can comunicate safely, if quietly, but a few more steps will bring you into contact with the troops on the trail.

Pierre tapped on his computer, the by now familiar messages appearing in each person's point of view. "Try for a silent takedown?" he suggested quietly. "Sapphire, how many of them are there here?"

Not sure what Ap has done with the boosts, so I will leave that to him.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:43, Wed 12 Aug 2020.

Ben nodded silently "Those guard were lightly armed... but we need more reconnaissance, when is the guard shift, how many people in camp... do they have patrols... ideally, we would have spend a couple of days just watching and learning their routing before we would devise an attack strategy."

Ben scanned the ground, if there was good mud he could use to rub across his face and arms so he would be better camouflaged.

I don't think I mentioned it yet;This is a Dramatic Scene.

Ben can smell a swamp to the west (you are facing north); not the dirty, putrid kind but the biodiverse kind where you would expect a crock or gator, or who knows what in this place. The trees are fairly dense, one could easily fire from cover within the wooded area.

All told, it has been over an hour since Hildy first stumbled into Pierre's arms. For the sake of clarity and sanity, all Combat Spells have expired.

Sapphire tried to cast the spell that Pierre had requested, but there was a spark and the 'colgate' glow of her clothes faded. That sense of being in the presence of a person who was Honourable and always tried to do the 'right thing' was suddenly not so obvious. There was a little muttered word in Elvish which was perhaps a mild swear word, before that 'ting' of 'hero present' returned.

Sapphire gave a little shudder "Not fun" she said quietly, then answered Pierre's question

"You are right of course Ben" she said agreeing "But the world is getting hotter and we don't know how long they are going to be here. We don't know how many more million people will die if we wait a couple of days because the temperature gets hotter. And as well ... at the moment we have the initiative. We are in a position to make a move that they have to react to. If we wait we give them the initiative"

"Note that the mist is not here" Sapphire continued "We have excellent visility. This spell is a simple one: perhaps the simplest I know and yet I had problems casting it. I am not certain which realm this is: from the Giant machine half out of the ground half in, it looks to be what you might call 'High Technology'"

"If we want to talk capabilities... if the need is great, and this is such a great need, I can bring the Wrath Of Many Gods upon this place. For many hundred paces in every direction the area can be cleansed of people that do not support the things my God treasures and holds dear. This is not a subtle calling. The clouds will swirl, lightning and thunder will warn them. It takes perhaps 60 heartbeats to cast and at the end the lightning will shatter this place, striking all here and the winds will be swept this place clean of those that oppose us."

"Hildy's father would not be a target, because we need him alive, to fulfill the God's mission. None of us here would be targets as we are all the Chosen of the Gods at this time. " she gave a little laugh "Or perhaps 'Pawns' of the Gods is a better choice of words This is a war miracle only to be used in times of the greatest need. The stopping of the Earth is such a need."

Sita quickly runs through the options in her mind. To Sapphire, she says, "If your, um, miracle works as you describe, can you also make the lightning avoid hitting the digging machine? We may need it as transportation after this. Even if not, we might still be able to give it to the authorities of Core Earth, for them to study and learn more about how to resist the invaders."

She eyes Ben and adds, "Also, Fraulein Marlen said that it contains hundreds of rifles, doubtlessly of Nile origin. They may be useful to give to the people of your country, if we can capture them intact. Hundreds of guns that work under Nile reality would probably help their army resist Dr. Mobius' advances.

"I have one final option to suggest, as well. While time is certainly limited due to the Earth slowing down, it may be worthwhile to wait until the edeinos arrive. Fraulein Marlen said that they possessed a 'key' that would 'unlock the power of the Still World!'. I wonder if whatever 'key' they possess could be used to undue the Still World instead, rather than unlocking its power?

"However, we should be aware that this would probably mean doubling the number of opponents we'll have to face, by waiting for more to show up. But . . ." She shrugs. ". . . that's what we have you mighty, miraculous, reality-bending warriors for, yes?

"Oh, and me, too. Me, to patch you all up afterwards, if needed," she adds with a smile. Gallows humor, she thinks. To take my mind off of turning into the wolf again, if needed, and so very soon after last time. She suppressed a shudder, and tried to keep smiling.

Whistler floats level to the Storm Knights' hips, giving them an overhead look at its large maw on the top of its body. The mouth continuously sucks in air that is expelled through its arms to keep it afloat.

The colors shimmer to resemble the grass underneath it, and its front side arms droop as it takes the effort to whistle softly, "Lanala provides. Dark mist?"

Jason hadn't felt he needed to say more during the questioning of the Edeinos. The others...and their new flying starfish ally...had covered things well. He parked the truck after they finished the short drive, relatively. He rolled his head around on his neck and stretched a bit.

He glanced at Ben and nodded at Sapphire. "I don't think we have days. A life is in danger, right?" But she described a spell and he leaned away from her a little. "That wrath...sounds...a bit indiscriminate aside from faith in your gods."

He paused. "But I definitely like the idea of a closer, stealthy, look. And firing from the tree cover when necessary."

Ben listened and nodded "Well, obviously we don't have days and weeks..." he agreed with Sapphire "...but we need to weight caution vs. haste, if we strike and over reach ourselves we'll end up capture or dead which wont help the world either. So we need to strike fast but with more information."

He shook his head "I would save that miracle for when we have clearer understanding of the situation. All we know is that this Nile troops and machine is linked to the Still Earth and unless someone think this digging machine is responsible for the effect destroying it and the people would be a risk for us losing precious intel." he didn't added that he had his doubt Sapphire magic would be so discriminating as to avoid hitting them and anyone of a different faith.

"A bold move we could try, is strike quickly at the site and pretend to be the Nile troops when the lizard folk arrive... this will have the best chance to give us information but has the highest chance of blowing in our face."

He reviewed the facts while drawing a rough map of the camp, trying to recall how many guards he saw and their position. Was it even possible to win a direct assault or would they need to change to guerrilla tactics.

Card Management Moment: I am gathering all cards back into hands. Please look at your hands. If you have more than 4 cards in your hand, discard to 4. Then everyone MAY discard 1 more card after which I will refill all hands to 4. Note: someone might want to trade for a Second Chance card instead of Disconnecting just outside the NE mixed Zone.

"No the machine won't be destroyed." Sapphire replied to Ben, realising she'd not explained it well enough "The machine is not alive, is not capable of making choices and thus the Gods would not try and cleanse it from the Earth for making bad ones. We also know that Hildy's father made it, and Hildy's father is so critical for the task the God's have given us that he is safe. Not to mention that I would of course pray for him"

She shook her head at Jason's comment "I can see why you might think that but it's the opposite. It is totally discriminating. Each separate person is examined by the Gods of Honour. Only those that oppose us will be Judged to be needing to be Cleansed. This is a war miracle, only used on the battlefield when the need is dire. But it's not like one of your bombs or a magical fireball that kills everything: the God of Honour assesses each target personally."

"I'm only talking capabilities at the moment. It will only be if we decide to use it that I will pray for this help."

"If we decide we need to fight, then we will need to kill these people. They have guns. They will shoot us. Even though they are slavers and kidnappers and behave in a fashion I personally hold to be abhorant, I would prefer to find a peaceful solution. But given their strength I doubt an attempt to ask them to surrender would work. So it seems to me that opposing them ... and we have to oppose them ... will be life ending for many of them or for us. I would rather face the few shocked survivors of a Cleansing and give them a chance to surrender than face so many storm troopers in hand to hand combat."

She thought a little about the problem "Hildy you said your father made the machine. Are there other friends of yours here? People that you care about? People that might know something about the problem of the Still Earth?" 

Sapphire's words do not leave Matthew at ease.  Within his own world, he knows how fickle the gods are and who they consider their own enemies.  Having fought on other worlds and their gods he has seem the same thing.  He is not yet familiar enough with Sapphire's world's gods to know how her god would decide  on who exactly would be judged and cleansed.

"I agree with Ben," Matthew chimes in, "As has been said, we don't have time for a full analysis of the situation, we should make the time and take a small amount of effort to gain more information before we make any move.

"Sapphire, the way you describe this miracle, it sounds like we should hold and save it in case things get dire."