Astrid smiled and nodded once as Katarina declared them partners and superior to the Pigs. At the proclamation by the mayor, Astrid again indicated agreement by a quick bob of her her head. "The value of freedom cannot be overstated."

The blonde went toward the sandstone buildings indicated by Sandhira's gesture, entering once she'd arrived.

Seeing Astrid leave, Katarina turned and looked torn between seeing potential magic and chasing the warrior woman. Spinning, she chased the much stronger lady, not wanting to be left behind by her partner in crime!

"Coming!" she called out, so nothing was mistaken.

Quetz followed. He was burning to point out that the sorcerer had not arrived until after the group had already defeated the pig-men, but he let his tongue remain in his mouth for now. Bide your time, and pull out the winning cards when the time is right, he told himself firmly. Now, stop thinking!

VX900 fell in with the rest of the group and followed the mayor. It had gained sentience in the iron grip of an evil sorcerer and the robot understood the locals' hostility toward the newcomer.

Sorcerer's were powerful and dangerous but not always wicked. Not always.

The MediBot walked silently, scanning the locals for the sick and injured as the group entered the building.

Skarciss peered at the slender young woman as she asked him for a magic show with what would have likely been a raised eyebrow but with the wrappings covering his eyes it was hard to tell, then turned his head to gaze at the pale man called Elric with a flat expression.

"No assurances needed, I am but a humble purveyor of some minor parlor tricks," Skarciss said to the lady mayor with a smile to put her mind at ease. Tapping his staff on the ground he followed the others towards the building, his face with bandaged eyes once again shrouded in the depths of his hood.

The mayor leads the group into her house. There are some artifacts of the ancient world, and she gestures to a large round table that says 'Goodyear' for those who can read. Once everyone is more of less comfortable, she gets some of the glowing underground farmed desert tubers which pass for food in this region.

"Thank you all for coming here. As I told my people, we are dying slowly. Our wells are almost dry, and the tubers we use for food will run out. The Sand Drifters once moved on sails of wind, until we found this place...and the Crystal of the Sorcerer Nypull."

She holds up the amulet around her neck, which indeed holds a yellow crystal.

"Nypull swore eternal vengeance on our people after my Grandfather stole the crystal. We believe his strongest powers where located in the gem, which is now only set to create the walls that protect us. His pig mutants are a recent creation, and now we have no way to leave safely."

She sighs. "That being said, we have gotten reports there is a nearby vehicle large enough to move our people out. A small group would stay here with the crystal to draw away their forces and give the others a chance to escape. Needless to say, it would be death for those who do. Of course...that was before we got a group of heroes able to fight them..."

This message was last edited by the player at 04:07, Tue 25 Aug 2020.

Katarina's face looked very grave: it was obvious she took what she was about to say very seriously,

"Of course!" she chirped, holding her hand out, "Ok, give me the crystal, and I'll handle things with my partner, Astrid. We promise."

Truthfully, she'd only been a city-hero for about 20 seconds, so her talking could use some 'high etiquette' spicing up, but she would get there. Until then, she was firmly convinced that if she had the crystal, she'd become a powerful wizard and it would all suddenly make sense.

Astrid briefly inspected the food, gave it a sniff test, then loudly bit into it. "Mmmm, desert tubers. My favorite."

The blonde looked over at her new partner with a half-smile. "I don't think they're looking to pass the crystal to us, at least not right now. They need it for the shield. Rather we need to help get the nearby vehicle that can transport everyone out of here. The piggies may harass us several times during our attempt, I would think."

Astrid looked over at the rest of the crew that had assembled from out of the desert sands, then back to the mayor for her opinion.

If they pass Quetz's tongue-flicker smelltaste test, he tries to eat a tuber. Who knows how long it'll be before someone offers him free food again...?

(He also tries to surreptitiously slip at least a couple into his pack. Who knows when he might need a free light source of some kind again...?)

"Oh..." Katarina looked crestfallen and surprised, but a second later, she dug into a few tubers with excitement, and she didn't seem to be thinking about it at all.

She still politely slid her hand out, if the mayor even glanced her way, still hoping for the best.

Skarciss stared at the crystal with a look of greed upon his face, fingers of one hand clutched in the form of a claw. Licking his lips once he said, "Why...ofcourse, we would be happy to take this...troubling object off your hands lady mayor. But are you sure none of Nypull's minions will follow you? A sorceror's lust for revenge can be a terrible thing, he may not forgive your grandfather's insult so easily."

The mayor raised an eyebrow at the sorcerer.

"The Crystal won't work for you. It only functions for my bloodline, as my grandfather managed to steal it from Nypull himself. We need the vehicle in order to get my people away. I will be remaining behind with the one thing the sorcerer wants. You can go with my people if you wish, but I need to insure Nypull never corrupts the crystal again." She says quite firmly.

"Don't worry, Misses Mayor!" Katarina said, approaching and reaching up really high to place a 'comforting' hand on the woman's shoulder confidently, a stoic look on her face,

"We'll protect your people, and you too. No reason to leave you behind!" she said, smiling brightly at the last part. Katarina saw no reason to leave anybody behind... after all, she'd JUST discovered all of these fun friends, and hadn't even gotten to really goof around with all of them... much less the mayor!

Astrid nodded at Katarina's response. "I think there is perhaps some confusion here, Mayor. What is the best way for us to help?" After asking her question, Astrid crunched into her tuber again, then munched on it as she awaited response.

In reply to Astrid (msg # 68):

"The vehicle we need is outside the energy walls. I was going to send out a group of my warriors to get it, but we have failed every time we tired before. However...you can fight the riders better than any of we can..." She replied, sounding hopeful.

Quetz looks at the others. "I think we should help," he says, nodding. What better way to get the sorcerer killed than to let the pig-men kill him?! he thinks... He shoots a glance at the sorcerer, trying to tell if his thoughts were being read. I mean, I'll wager the sorcerer will be useful in helping to kill the pig-men, and will be not at all likely to get himself gutted like a fish!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:36, Tue 01 Sept 2020.

"Right, so give us the location of the vehicle and we'll bring it back here to pick you up?"  Elric cut straight to the chase.

Astrid nodded at the voiced opinions of Elric and Quetz. "Agreed. Give us a few minutes to relax and finish these delicious tubers, and then we will go fetch the vehicle."

Skarciss did not seem to be taken aback by the Mayor's curt refusal of his offer to take the crystal of her hands. It was almost as if he was used to having his 'offers' declined.

"Worry not dear lady, this stalwart band of warriors and my feeble self shall retrieve your vehicle. Let the pig-men come...they will realize the error of their ways soon enough," he said with a smile.

Once they had the lady's trust, perhaps she would deign to give them the trouble some crystal. After all, once they were away from this place and the magical walls the crystal would be no use to her...unless she had found a way to use its power and conjure the walls herself.

Ofcourse, it will be a dangerous journey with enemies all around, she could suffer any number of 'accidents' leaving the crystal in my clutches, where it belongs, thought Skarciss with an inward smile, though he did not speak his thoughts out loud.

"Wait a second..." Katarina said, suddenly realizing something, "Weren't we all just running for our lives from those men outside?" she didn't seem to realize how terrible this 'realization' may have made them all look to the Mayor and co, "Yea! I remember us all breathing heavily out there, hoping that we could help each other just to escape! Oooh! That means this will be an even more difficult and fun adventure!" she said, her eyes brightening at the thought of it, even though it may have weakened their case in her stating it aloud.

And THIS time, I'm going to impress Astrid, and she's going to love it!

The Mayor seems glad with everybody's willingness to help. She pulls out a map, and places it on the table. "The ancient vehicle is here." She points to a location that seems only about half a mile away in the desert. "I fear those that went out before to get it may not have finished repairs. However, none of them had been a Vek...or had a Mechanical ally." She looked hopefully at Quetz and VX900, clearly thinking their skills and abilities might be vital.

Astrid nodded at Katarina. "We were. As individuals. And we all survived even alone. Now we are a team, we have a purpose, and we have a few vehicles. We can do this."

Her gaze drifted over to the mayor as she spoke again. The blonde shook her head. "My mechanical capabilities begin and end with percussive maintenance." Astrid adopted the same hopeful look as the mayor as her blue eyes drifted across her newfound friends and allies.

If its good enough for Astrid, its good enough for me!

"Ok! Let's do it!" Katarina said, perfectly satisfied to be running off, "Only a half mile? Psh, we'll have it done by nightfall!" she said, giggling at the idea.

"Well... let's go," says Quetz, eager for the sorcerer to die for the sorcerer to be extremely useful in the thick of battle with the pig-men.

The mayor looks pleased, and gives you the directions to the ancient vehicle. The question is, can you get past the Pig Riders and get the thing working again?

OOC: End post. Moving to the next thread.