Fantasy Ascent into Madness

[Lexielai]

Vaila Sonata​

Vaila picked the folder off the table, curious about its contents. While everyone else was distracted by the dragon and the new faun she had stood up and made her way to the center of attention.

She picked one of the crisp, tan edges and pried it open. Inside there were, as Gertrude said, several papers neatly printed with lines of black ink. Vaila skipped past those, rustling the pages as she flipped through the folder to find the blue paper.

Although she didn’t look up, Vaila had a feeling the room’s eyes turned to her. She relished it. And so made a performance out of it, carefully and deliberately unfolding the blue paper. Vaila took a look at the contents inside once the paper was open. “Hmm,” she hummed curiously.

Then Vaila looked up, flipping the paper to face her audience.

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: Lexielai Totorokoro Jeda Teq ​

The large blue sheet of paper was about Vaila's height and slightly wider than her when fully unfolded. On one side, it displayed an empty white-on-blue grid, but on the other...

"You cannot be serious," exclaimed Kytrek incredulously, as he moved to get a better look at the paper.

Credit: C.DEX ​

"I hope you enjoyed your little elevator ride on the way here," Gertrude continued impassively, though Kytrek thought he could now hear a small note of smugness in her voice. "As I said, considerable means. This is the latest advancement in the field of rocketry. It can bore through rock faster than any other known device, and is capable of limited open-air flight. We estimate it could cut travel-time from here to the Upper Levels to just under a week, including rest time to let the bodies adapt. Its main purpose, however, is to take you through the Upper Levels quickly and efficiently."

Her speech was interrupted by the sound of a whisper on the other end, as somebody was heard talking to her in the background. A small click was heard, and the speaker went silent, while the small light beneath it switched from red to yellow.

Kytrek shook his head in a mixture of consternation and dismissal. "Impossible, impossible..." he muttered to himself, completely oblivious to the scene behind him with the dragonborn and the tall faun.

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

"Oh my... That really is quite something, eh?" Dalamus would mutter under his breath, joining the rude deep human in examining it. "Both magically and conventionally powered. My oh my oh my. Really quite something, I must say. By the looks of it, it's also heat and damage resistant. Definitly useful in the uoper levels." Dalamus eyed the plans meticulously, taking in every detail. "Oh, one minor problem I think I can see here, Gertrude. I don't think it's got very much room, for storage or personnel. But what do I know? I'm a warlock, not an artificier." With that, the drow would turn around and plop back into his seat, and proceed to clean his fingernails with a small stilletto knife drawn from his satchel.


Lyro Lexielai

 

[Absurdisan]

Xhin Dionis​

Otres Upwards Relations Office
Xhin was listening intently to Gertrude when heard an almighty clatter that sounded like scales and...hooves? She turned in her chair to see the small dragonborn from before, except he had apparently collapsed on another figure. A... faun? Yes, there was no mistaking those antlers, but the proportions seemed off. A remarkably tall faun?! Xhin had no idea where this particular faun had come from, and she was awash with surprise and confusion - her kind weren't exactly common among the lower levels, and she certainly would have noticed if another one had joined the ride down, especially one as tall as her. "Uhm... uh..." she stammered. She wanted to say something, to see if she could recognise this figure, but Gertrude spoke up once more. She would have to deal with this new faun later - the job beckoned.

Xhin whipped around, and when Vaila took the paper from the folder and showed it to the group, her eyes widened and she leaned so far forward in her chair that she threatened to fall off of it. This looked like a monumental machine, one of the dwarves' greatest! She was enthralled. Rocketry. Flight. Travelling to the upper levels in only a week. Whatever this device was, it was seriously impressive, even if Xhin didn't really understand all of the words. Over the table, Kytrek was muttering to himself, he seemed either deep in thought or stunned, and Xhin didn't know which excited her more. Something that caused such a reaction in the scholarly professor would surely be of interest.

"Ooooh," she said, almost involuntarily. The drow seemed to be analysing it - at least he wasn't frantically advancing on her again - but most of what he said went completely over her head. "It is amazing!" she laughed, her face a picture of childish glee as she clapped excitedly. Suddenly she looked around the room, craning her neck to see any obvious doors or hatches that might lead to the craft from here. After a frantic but fruitless search, she reckoned it was probably kept somewhere else. "Where is it?"

Interactions
Dalamus Ulom Lyro Lexielai Totorokoro Jeda Teq

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: Absurdisan Dalamus Ulom ​

"Nowhere you have ever heard of," answered Gertrude in a sharper tone, as the mic clicked back on and the light switched back to red. "And I am afraid that, as part of our security protocols, we will not be able to reveal its present location."

"I wouldn't worry about storage space either," Gertrude continued, in answer to Dalamus. "There is just enough space for each of you and some additional equipment that you will find listed in the very same folder. We have provided copies for each of you, that you may study them at your leisure; the Stoneater's schematics are to remain here, however."

Kytrek muttered something and walked over to the folder, taking out one of the aforementioned copies. Skimming through the pages, he paused to look at one that seemed to detail some kind of suit. "Don't tell me we're going to have to wear these things," he asked, showing the picture to the camera. "It looks like somebody took an old diving suit and decided it wasn't uncomfortable enough. I'm not even sure how we're supposed to breathe in these."

"If you value your sanity, you will wear it. The Surface is predicted to be intensely irradiated, far beyond anything anyone has encountered down here. You'll hurt poor Doctor Vzik's feelings too - the manatrophic suit was his last invention." There was a definite hint of regret to her last sentence, if only for a fleeting moment. "The suits will gorge themselves on the magic on the Surface and passively diffuse it safely. Until then, I am sure at least one of you is capable of a simple compression spell. You can store them away until you need them."

"Launch takes place in three days. The rocket will take you to the top of the Fifth Level, where there will be a brief refueling pause, before continuing on to the Seventh Level. There, while it is refueled once more, you will spend a day in order to let your bodies acclimate to the higher background radiation level. It is at this point its dual fuel source will be switched on, allowing it to run through a series of enchantments in order to save fuel. There will be a penultimate refueling stop on the Tenth Level, which should be enough for the final trip to the Surface and back. You will then finally travel through the last five Levels, explore what lies above, then come back in the exact same fashion. Nothing will go wrong."

There was a pause, and Gertrude was heard drawing in breath as if to say something, before she seemed to change her mind and instead said, "And if anything does go wrong, you are to keep going. It's what you train for after all, isn't it?"

 

[C.DEX]

Cyell, having been shushed by Kytrek, temporarily closed his mouth. That didn't stop him from taking in every bit of information with unfeigned interest, and being enthralled by the massive blueprint. He'd hesitated to stand, viewing it from afar. Dwarven technology, though often irritating in separate ways from magical technology, never did cease to amaze him. Then again, he wasn't sure if it was even of Dwarven origin, was he? The voice beyond the speaker seemed to lay claim to such a thing, and the voice had no particular claim to any specific accent or race, that he knew of, anyway. When Kytrek had finished with his portions of the folder, the apprentice laid claim to them, taking them into his own hands. If there was one thing that truly stood the blood mage out apart from his peers, it was his eagerness and fascination with learning.


"Well, none of us really train to go on a suicide mission." he said, finally. That was really it, wasn't it? They were the theoretical mananauts, taking a journey to a place either for financial wins or educational ones. His was mostly the latter, with the mage himself not particularly caring for whatever they gained in their quest. It was also a quest to prove himself, what with his mentor being an accomplished professor, he'd been often overlooked. "Nobody has been past the fifteenth level, apart from..." he stopped. "Are you sure that the Surface comes after that, or is that just conjecture?" he asked, unsure if it was a stupid question or a valid one, at that.


His eyes fixated on the paper he held in his hands; the mananaut suit, then, he moved on, passing the piece of paper to the equally fascinated Xhin. "What's this?" he asked, turning another page of equipment files toward the camera eye. Surely, his inquisitiveness and snarkiness was wearing on the financially-minded Uptrekkers, but it certainly didn't hurt to be informed.

Absurdisan Lyro

 

[Some1]

Shigi jumped up to his feet when he was nudged by a deep human, He did not notice the large group approach the building. He must have zoned out for a bit. But his patience had paid off. He was not even sure why he doubted them in the first place.

"Ah! Good day to you sir! My name is-" Shigi started, only to realize that the human had moved on already. While rude, the human was right. There really was not much time to chat. There would be time for introductions later. Putting a smile on his face, he followed behind the group. The inside of the building looked like the outside. Which was to say, completely disorganized. While Shigi could not see much behind the crowd, he heard enough. "It is nice to meet you Dol Vzik" he said to the dwarf. While the dwarfed looked a bit disheveled, he seemed friendly enough.

Following the group through the door, he decided instead of taking a seat he would stand in the corner, as to not get in anybody's way. And from here he could see every member of the group. Firstly there was the deep human who greeted him. He seemed to be the leader of the group or at least people respected him enough to give him their attention when he spoke. There was also another human, an orc. or maybe a half-orc, two other elves, a faun, and another human, although this one looked a bit different from the others. He must not be fully human then, although Shigi could not think of what the other half could be. There was also a dragonborn, which was surprising. Shigi had not seen a dragonborn in a long time. But what surprised him the most was the drow who had announced his possession of the chair he was sitting in. Shigi knew this person. He is... He is... He is a person. Shigi did not know this person. He must have mistaken him for someone else. After all, if the drow really was an old friend, he would have greeted him by now.

The speaker in the room finally spoke. And Shigi regretted agreeing to go on this mission, The whole thing was suspicious, He had gone on missions before where the client's motives were questionable, but this screamed bad news. Not only was Otres fake, but he had also caught something about "testing". He had been involved with underground groups like this before, and they did not end well. He could not remember how it ended, actually, or even what he did, but he had this eerie feeling of familiarity.

But his attention turned toward the topic of space when the lady, who was asked to be called "Gertrude", brought it up. That feeling of familiarity cropped up again. He felt as if he used to know a lot on the subject, but he could not remember anything about it. And yet he felt he knew everything that the drow said already when he was describing it to the faun. He will need to read up on the subject a little more.

All this use of technology bothered Shigi a little bit. He had a natural distrust of the stuff, and all the equipment that was being used on this mission bothered him. He saw no reason why they could not just climb to the surface. Sure it would take a few years but it was better than being locked up in that metal death trap. And those suits looked like they would be more of a hinderance than protective. He would rather face insanity than wear one of those things.

"Is all this technology really necessary?" Shigi asked, not knowing where to speak to. "I am sure that this mission could be handled just as well without all this stuff"

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: C.DEX Some1 ​

There was a pause before Gertrude answered Shigi, her voice betraying some irritation at his question. "By all means, attempt the journey on your own if you wish. Do you think you are the first to attempt this climb? Read between the doctored history books." There was an audible sigh before she resumed, more collected. "In any case, the Surface itself isn't what interests us. And it does exist, young man; we are sure of it."

A faint whirring noise came from the camera as it adjusted its focus, swivelling slightly to look at the picture Cyell was showing. "Ah, the sword. It has a more technical name, but even its own creators just call it the sword now." The drawing depicted a somewhat blunt-looking blade, one that didn't seem like it could make much of a cut. Several runes covered its surface, and its pommel included several rotating gears with various symbols inscribed on them. "Very difficult to test. Completely useless down here, even struggles to cut butter. But power it on from the Tenth Level upwards, and it will slice through anything. Flesh, bone, solid rock... However, it does draw a lot of mana through the user; we do not recommend prolonged use."

Kytrek flipped through the other weapons listed quickly, sparing them only a quick glance. "You people are crazy. None of these are remotely..." As he was turning a page, he stopped himself and took another look at it, before quickly snatching it away and pocketing it in one swift motion. "I'm in," he announced. "Just make sure you get me the..." He took another brief glance at it before pocketing it again. "The gravitic modulator."

"Excellent choice, professor," the voice replied smoothly. "Still, I am disappointed. I had thought the intellectual challenge would have been the sole motivation you needed."

To which Kytrek only shrugged, and resumed leaning against the wall. "What can I say, it doesn't take much to buy me. Just a novel initiative, some cute toys, and more money than I could ever spend in my entire life."

 

[TripTripleTimes]

Waiting for the voice to speak up, it seems that the feisty little Dragonborn has caused a commotion once again. Looking to where the scaley teammate is, Faelen raises an eyebrow and looks at the Dragonborn and the stranger on the floor. That woman is new. Did she entered late into this meeting? Not too concerned about the loud commotion in the room, the giant looks down at the woman, Vaila, who picked up the folder from the speaker and pulls out the blueprint for a drill of some kind. A vehicle apparently, and they will be riding on that? How wild!

Faelen blows quiet raspberries in the air when the voice in the speaker says “Nothing will go wrong.” Does she really think that they will believe that? She must be joking!

Following Kytrek's example, Falen too takes a copy of the list of equipments the client provided for them. The half-orc just scans the list, not all too interested in taking an item or two for zeself. Ze is perfectly comfortable with their sword and frying pan to defeat their enemies. It's nice that their client is giving the team many thing for the journey but, for the half-orc, taking a weapon, especially very rare ones, without doing anything first doesn't feel right.

“How long do you expect this mission to last? From the time we leave the Fourth to the Surface?” Falen asks, pretending to be still scanning the papers. “And if we are stopping to the Seventh, how long would that take? Three, five days?” Ze has no idea how fast the drill can travel and the numbers on the blueprints does not translate well into their brain, but traveling to the tenth level just in a week is ridiculous. “I would like to know if I can get my Dimension pack delivered to the closest settlement to the landing. I'm guessing the Seventh is where we will get most of our supplies such as food? Instead of giving me an item from the list, just order me a ridiculous amount of food that I can stuff into my pack.”

Grinning at their idea of well preparedness, Faelen walks towards a chair and plops down on it. Like they have thought, this chair is like a child’s to the; it's uncomfortable. Flipping through the pages again, ze stops at the page with the strange suit that they are expected to wear. Something tells the half-orc that perhaps this is not the first time these people have went to the surface. How would they have tested this suit out in the first place?

“I’m taking this job for the adventure and I don't really care for the reasoning for this mission all too much, but this is a job after all and I want to do it right.” Ze lays the paper about the suit on their bend knee. “If you say that the Surface itself doesn't interest you and you hinted that “Space” is involved, what do you want us to do when we get there? The traveling to the Surface is the easy part; what do you want us to do when we get there? How long do you want us to say on the Surface?”

Faelen turns to look at the professor with an unimpressed look on their face. “Doing your job half-assed doesn't look good on you, professor Kytrek. We have yet to hear everything our client want from us during our journey.” Ze turns around to face the front with a hint of smugness on their lips. “There must be specific things they want from us. The drill rocket thing is just a tool to get us up there and do our job faster.”

 

[Jeda Teq]

A very small glint of magic clung to Kniges' scale. It wasn't much but it was enough to allow the small dragon to regain some motor skills. After weakly flailing around, he rolled off of the faun, hitting the ground with a light thud. "Ugh... all of this jib jab and skepticism is rather annoying." He held his head. It was throbbing and the idea lead him to believe that the soul leeches had began burrowing into his brain. His heart was racing under the believe that he would become a mindless husk. Fear had set in. He believed himself to be dyeing. Maybe he was.

With a fuzzy mind he was listening in and out of conversation, but he knew he had to get out of this leech filled air. Home, he had to go home and he would take his new 'Sword' and party with him. Certainly they were experiencing the same struggles he was.

"Three days?..." he murmured as he rose to his feet, "Three days 'til you give me my ROCKET?!" he shouted at the intercom. "We don't have that long!" His eyelids narrowed and the scales on his face sank into a displeased frown, "You won't even tell me where it is" His eyes darted around the room shifting from each person who was there until they rested on the door Dol Vzik exited through. "If you don't tell me, I know someone who will!" After taking a deep breath, Kniges sprinted towards the door. He crashed through the wooden door with all the might he could muster with his muscular body in his current state in search for Dol.

Those who heard rumors and tales of Kniges would soon find out that they were true.

 

[C.DEX]

"Filling your pack with food rather than useful tools also makes you look like you're doing a half-assed job, but I can't really expect anything else from a half-minded orc." Cyell bit back, instantly defending the professor. It was a surprising notion, but if he were to be completely honest with himself, he didn't particularly like Faelen in the first place. "If you honestly believe we're anything but prepared then you obviously haven't acquainted with the Professor in the past. Turn your eyes to the dragon, orc, if you'd like to see what rushing looks like. Brown nosing doesn't help anyone."

Traveling to the surface is the easy part, he scoffed. The mage's hands handed off the pages as he'd acquired them, circling them around the room like homework pamphlets. His hands stopped on one.

It was a caped cloak, its fabric looking much like a webbed, technological beehive. His brows furrowed as he'd tried to understand it, with a lot of the language, dimensioning, and diagrams. There was one thing that he did understand, however (though his understanding was mostly due to the scrawl on the side of the paper) - it disappeared the user from the visual spectrum, cloaking them efficiently, but not perfectly. The magical enchantments heightened the effect, quite literally silencing the user's steps and smell as it progressed into the upper levels. Runes lined the spine, though what they did in particular, Cyell didn't know. The only runic language that he knew was that of his own society's.
"I'll take this one." he said, quietly. Hesitant to pass it onto the next person, he kept looking at it, fascinated.

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: TripTripleTimes Jeda Teq C.DEX ​

Kniges barged through the door into a somehow even dingier part of the building and crashed into a desk. The dwarf who was dozing off behind it awoke with a start, his eyes widening as he took in the dragonborn towering over him. "Ah-ah you're not supposed to be here," exclaimed Dol Vzik as he pushed his chair back against the wall. "Restricted area! T-this is a restricted area!"

Kytrek frowned at the half-orc's accusations. "Now you listen here, and you listen--" he started, before being interrupted by the dragonborn's mad ravings as the creature barged out of the room. Momentarily confused by Kniges' actions, it took him a few seconds to make the link with what he had told him earlier. "Oh, for the love of... You're not dying, you cretin!" he yelled out the door of the room. "But by all means, keep destroying our employers' property if you mean to get kicked out. I won't stop you."

While this went on, the voice of Gertrude continued implacably. "You are wrong on multiple accounts, orc," she said in response to Faelen's questioning. "We do not expect you to do anything in particular on the Surface. I admit freely that we are just as ignorant as you as to what lies there. Your purpose is simply to travel there, stay as long as you feel is warranted to compile a report on its characteristics, before returning to us. Consider yourselves explorers, or pioneers."

"As for your belongings, they will be taken care of," she added with a dismissive tone. "You will receive them en route, though I believe you will find that we will have already provided all the nutrition you could require. The exact schedule is still to be determined, but it is likely that the journey through the Middle Levels will take two weeks for reasons that will become apparent in due course."

The camera swiveled slightly to gain a better look at the item Cyell was fascinated by. "Consider it yours. I am told it is quite comfortable, despite a tendency to overheat in complex environments."

 

[Jeda Teq]

Kniges slammed into the desk slashing his dagger at the dwarf. The desk verily saved Dol Vzik from experiencing the daft end of the blade. "Blah! Blah! Blah! WHERE'S MY ROCKET?! WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!" Without hesitation Kniges climbed ontop of the desk and and spread his wings to increase his intimidation factor.

"You're not Dying 'You Magnificent Beast"" Kytrek words reached Kniges' ears before he lunged onto the dwarf for answers. He turned, looking over his shoulder, to see into the other room, "What are you saying? I'm unable to use my phenomenal Magick, I keep passing out and I feel like the shit of an undead hamoncolus." He hopped off the desk and marched towards Kytrek, his wings dragging behind him. "Certainly feels like dying to me, and i'm not a fan of dying. Especially me dying."

 

[TripTripleTimes]

Faelen gives Cyell a glance and then side glances at the professor. It is true that the two of them have not acquainted with each other and the half-orc didn’t expect the man to just accept the job without further questioning. It is cute that the student is defending his master’s honour, however. Just when it seems Professor Kytrek is about to say something, the ruckus the Dragonborn caused interrupted the man. With their focus shifted from the duo to the puny Dragonborn, Faelen raises a shaped eyebrow.

Listening to the voice in the box, Faelen just nods. “Understood. So just travel and observe.” A straightforward mission with no extra expectation from the client. It is not often that Faelen accepted jobs from people in the lower levels, or to be clear, jobs from the lower levels are a rare sight for the half-orc. Instead, the half-orc had taken jobs mostly from the upper levels and in their experience, they have learned to be cautious to what the clients want. A job is a job for Faelen but there were times where client have forgot to explain what they wanted or the detail of the mission was… not explained well.

Trusting that the voice behind the box is true with her words and clear with what she wants, Faelen turns their head at the student and master duo once again and down at the back to the Dragonborn. His short status and his confusion is sadly a pitiful sight.

“Is this your first time on the Lower level, little one?” Faelen asks. Thinking back, the Dragonborn that Faelen does not know the name of yet was ranting about leeches way back before arriving at this point of time. “It’s only natural that your magick will not work. Your body is most likely having trouble adjusting to the low level of magic here. I don’t know how fast your body will adapt to this level, but I'm sure you will be ok when we leave from three days from now, though a little groggy I bet.”

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

After obtaining perfectly clean fingernails, which wasn't hard due to how astonishingly well kept they were. He would listen to Gertrude talking, but stayed surprisingly quiet during most of the action. The Seventh Level? Ooh, excellent. I might be able to see some of my brothers again. Dalamus thought to himself, a faint, serene smile touching his lips, until the new elf spoke up. Getting up, Dalamus would stalk over, eyes running over every detail on Shigi's body. "Do I know you? You look familiar. I do know you. But from wheeere?" Dalamus shot his questions out faster then a sane man would be able to follow, before drawing out the last note until it became a guttural groan in his throat. Suddenly, his eyes would light up, before hugging the slightly younger elf. "I remember you now! Shigi, right? No, wait, it was Figi! Or was it Tigi?" Confused again, Dalamus would let go of Shigi, a look of befuddlement on his face as he tried to draw the truth from his mind.

Once again, his face it up. "I'm bad at remembering names. And people. And places. And things I was doing. What was I doing? Oh Yeah! Like I was saying, I'm bad with all that stuff, but do YOU remember ME? My name's Dalamus Sluda Ke'brei! Sluda Yvalm Sea'an Valuk! Faer Mortath! Ilharn d'udossta Duul'ssom! Obok Senger d'Bekseshar!, First Chosen of Tzeentch! Head Warlock of the Brothers of Sorrow! Is NONE OF THIS RINGING A BELL!?" Dalamus shouted the last part at the top of his lungs, his volume control broken by insanity. "Sorry. I think."

Some1

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: TripTripleTimes Jeda Teq Dalamus Ulom ​

"You two work it out," said Kytrek as he pushed past the half-orc to resume his relaxed position against the wall. As he did so, the old drow broke into another insane tirade; would the entire journey be like this? He had travelled with insane ones before, it wasn't pleasant. At least this one seemed to be pretty vocal with his madness; it was the quiet ones you had to watch out for, most of the time. The ones who seemed to be just on the edge of normalcy, perfectly in control of their own psyche, until one dimness, when everybody was asleep and...

"You remind me of why I like to work alone," he told Dalamus drily, unable to keep an edge out of his voice as he tried to banish the unwelcome memory. "Pipe down. Lady," he added, now addressing their employer's speaker box, "the orc had a point. I'm in, but you're asking a lot and not saying much. I don't doubt that you can uphold your end of the bargain - these toys alone are proof enough of that, if they are real - but this mission seems a little too straightforward for a band of professionals and a dragonborn. You've got the means to do this yourself, that much is obvious, so why hire us?"

"Strictly speaking, you already know too much," Gertrude replied slowly, as if she was measuring her words carefully. "This is not our first attempt. The Upper Levels are... challenging. You know enough to complete your parts; do so, and you will be rewarded. Do not test my mettle any further on this issue," she finished sharply.

Kytrek simply raised his hands in the air and nodded. Looking to the side, he spotted Cyell studying one of the other toys he had skimmed over. Distracted as he had been with the dragonborn's circus act, he had missed Cyell's noble defense of his character, for all the good it would have done if he had heard it. He sidled closer to his apprentice and nudged him. "I can't force you to do this, boy," he said quietly. "Your choice. Though, frankly, it'd be a relief to finally be rid of you."

Meanwhile, the dwarf was still backed up against the wall of his dingy room, having breathed a sigh of relief when the creature had decided to leave him but unwilling to assume he was safe just yet.

 

[Jeda Teq]

"Is this your first time to the lower levels, 'Noble one'" Kniges listened to faelen speak. He wasn't sure if the words were true or not. He respected the heretic Kytrek and didn't think he would lie, but then again he is a heretic. "These words you speak. Do they ring true?" He ask sheathing his dagger. After taking another glance at his party he noticed that they were not suffering as he was. It seemed to be true that Kytrek had played a terrible joke on the dragonborn. Who knew someone with a stick up their bum could be a jester. "If your words ring true, and we know what we are to do, hehe.... That ryhmed... Then we should get some rest. I expect my team to meet at my rocket in three days." He pointed a finger at both of the faun women, "...you twins will show me to the finest Inn. There's a reward for the one who finds the best."

TripTripleTimes Absurdisan Totorokoro

 

[Absurdisan]

Xhin Dionis​

Otres Upwards Relations Office
Xhin's eyes flicked between the various sheets of paper - lists, schematics, pictures, field-test notes, it was all throughly interesting given that most of the items depicted were outlandish and married technology and magic in myriad fashions. She was half-listening to the conversations as they progressed, barely glancing up when the dragonborn burst through the door to terrorise the poor dwarf. But while the equipment was impressive, the journey exciting and the resources that must have been required substantial, she had some troubling thoughts niggling away at the back of her mind. She wasn't sure how to broach the subject, as the woman on the other end of the speaker sounded quite formidable, but Kytrek came to her rescue.

The woman's reluctance to speak further on details concerned her, and Kytrek seemed displeased as well, apparently surrendering with no further questions. Xhin flashed a look of consternation to the professor, which she hoped read as a shared feeling of concern. She considered looking through the equipment list again to mark her favourites when the dragonborn pointed her way and demanded to be taken to an inn. And did he just call her and the other faun twins?

Xhin's mouth opened and closed, caught by surprise at the sudden claim and request. She turned to face the tall faun woman and back to the dragonborn. "Oh! Oh no, we're not-" she stopped mid-sentence, a look of confusion crossing her face as she whipped round to the other faun again. "Wait, who are you? And when did you get here? Where are you from? Do I know you? And who are you?" she asked, her voice gaining in pitch and speed as she struggled to ask all the questions at once.

Interactions
Lyro Totorokoro Jeda Teq

 

[C.DEX]

"It's funny that you think you can force me to do anything." Cyell replied, a sharp smirk slowly creeping up on his face. Of course, his words weren't malicious, but he did speak with enough bite to irritate the well-meaning professor. It was a defense mechanism in itself; one that he was familiar with. In reality, the apprentice didn't think that much into the future. "The last times that we've been to the Upper Levels ... haven't gone well, though. What makes you think you can do this?" he asked frankly, a trait in which many of the Professor's pupils had been too intimidated to display. Perhaps, it was, in an odd way, one of the reasons that they even tolerated each other.

The blueprint folded in his hands and he passed it along, unaware of if they had had multiple copies. It was a blueprint, after all, and that was at least one thing that the blood mage had a familiarity with. He looked along to the others with an utter distrust in their abilities. It put a sour feeling into his stomach. Especially as the dragonborn slunk back into the room after having a temper tantrum much like a child. "It's not your trust in your team, that's for certain." he said, face falling. "Eight-hundred and fifty-five million shards doesn't mean anything when you're dead, either."

He quirked a brow to Kytrek. "What is it, then? We could have very well been killed back there, and we intend ... to go higher, this time." he said, huffing. Uncertainty crossed his features, but it wasn't an unfamiliar sight. Surely, every single one of them had some inkling of it, he thought. Even the ones so mad that they'd left such emotions behind. It wasn't a disqualifying disposition, after all. "I probably should have asked before we took it on, but if you're determined to do this then it really is a moot point."

Lyro

 

[Totorokoro]

MAPLE​

Maple grunted, trying to push off the heavy Dragonborn and crawl away. Unfortunately it was easier thought than done. Aaah, I'm missing the important stuff! Finally, the creature seemed to gain consciousness and rolled off of her. Maple's lungs expanded as she drew air. She sat up with dizziness, wanting a proper response as to why he even attacked her. When she looked up, she saw the Dragonborn on the table, nosily interrupting everything.

She paid attention to everything that was being said, but kept silent through it all. As far as she understood, they needed to get to the upper levels and there was blueprint regarding how they'd get there. "...you twins will show me to the finest Inn. There's a reward for the one who finds the best." Maple blinked in astonishment at Kniges.
"Eh?" She tilted her head wondering why would she even help him. But then again... there was the mention of a reward. And what was this about a twin?

"Oh! Oh no, we're not- Wait, who are you? And when did you get here? Where are you from? Do I know you? And who are you?" The other faun shot her down with questions with haste. Maple inched backwards a little with every question. "I'm Maple..." She began. "Who are you and why are you interrogating me though? I didn't do anything wrong. And this time, I'm being honest," She huffed and crossed her hands.

Maple squinted at Kinges, "Why would I help you get a lodging? You attacked me." She said, "... By the way, how much were you planning on offering again?"

Stats

Open for Interaction? Yes
Tagging: Jeda Teq Absurdisan

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: C.DEX ​

The boy was sharp, something Kytrek had always appreciated in him. The questions he had asked echoed the professor's own thoughts. The last time had ended poorly, though Kytrek placed much of the blame squarely on the merchant who had sold them such faulty lighting equipment. Still, mistakes had been made, and this new party didn't inspire much confidence in Kytrek at all. It even looked like some of them had already left; he was sure the elevator had been more crowded during their descent. Cowards.

"The right questions often come too late, boy. Try that aphorism on for size." Kytrek shook his head, some of his uncertainty showing through on his expression. "Look. We made it out. That's all that matters. We were caught off-guard, and we still won. This time, we'll be prepared for whatever twisted things the Sun can throw at us." He tilted his head to the left, indicating the speaker. "Plus, our mysterious employers have our back with their toys and rockets. Isn't that a reassuring thought?"

Still sensing some uncertainty from Cyell, Kytrek leaned in closer and almost whispered the next few words, unsure at this point whose uncertainty he was trying to sway - Cyell's or his own. "And if we pull it off, you'll be rich. You'll be famous. You'll have seen wonders no sentient, sane being has ever seen. Isn't that alone worth it?" Leaning back, Kytrek shrugged and sardonically added, "And if either of us dies, consider that a failing grade. Extra motivation."

He'd tell him later of his other reason for wanting to go to the Surface.

 

[C.DEX]

"Huh? I don't see how it's my fault if you die unless I kill you, but I'd only do that under certain circumstances." Cyell said. "And if I die... I won't care about my grades, so you're out of luck on me caring on both accounts." He gave a small, nuanced shrug. The lack of a smile on the apprentice's face showed that he wasn't really intending on joking about the subject, despite his words coming off as slightly humorous. "I'm sure you'll be fine anyways, as long as you don't keep your maw open when and if we're being attacked. You have to work on that." He concluded, as if offering a critique of Kytrek's own abilities.

He deliberated, no longer entranced by the blueprints and onto the next subject, his fascination drying up. Albinic eyes settled on Kytrek, looking particularly inquisitive. Then, they assessed the room once more. "As for riches and fame... not really my domain." He said, curiously. What had that even meant? Both were undeniable benefits in every sense of the word. "I am curious, though, and I've been known to do particularly stupid things to sate my curiosity. Maybe that's a savage thing. Maybe I'm just living up to stereotypes." He mused, attention drifting.

"Well, if it's worth anything, I do hope you don't die. That would mean I'm cursed. Oh, and you'd be dead, and that's ... bad too, I guess." He said, smirk coming back. His eyes shifted to the speaker. "I think I'm set to go. I can't think of any more questions, and you don't seem to want to answer them, anyways." Cy confirmed. "Are we leaving now, or staying in town?" He asked finally, getting to the point a bit later than the others.

 

[Lexielai]

Vaila Sonata​

Vaila ignored the commotion around her. She instead held up a piece of blue parchment close to her face, squinting to read the tiny arcane symbols scribbled across the schematics.

The words made little sense to her at first, but Vaila tried picking together what pieces of arcane knowledge she’d collected to decipher the text. Much of what she knew had been gathered by listening to studied practitioners like the nerdy wizards who awkwardly tried flirting with her, or the excessive gloats proud to show off how intelligent and powerful they were. Most of them tended to bore her, but the intricate workings of arcane magic did not.

Hmmm, she thought. That symbol looked like the conjuration runes Kytrek explained to her a few months ago. And these complicated scribbles looked like the formula for defining an object with arrow-like properties.

Vaila curled her lips, partially turning the parchment over sideways to start reading the rest of the haphazardly written notes. Figuring this out was going to take awhile...maybe some help would speed it up.

“Oh Kytrek~” she said, flipping a lock of her scarlet hair. “Could you take a look at this and explain what it does? Pretty please?”


Lyro

 

[Some1]

Shigi would have gladly attempted the trip on his own, but he knew that his other selves would not be happy with him abandoning all this money. So he said nothing. But there seemed to be something interesting in the folder that was being passed around. Something that even caught the attention of who he now knew as the professor. His curiosity got the best of him, so he snuck over to the table and snagged himself a copy. Opening the folder, he skimmed through it, quickly reading the blueprints he could only halfway understand. And sure enough, his eyes were drawn to one of the gadgets. And it was mostly magical, which pleased him. "You have some, err, interesting things in this folder here," Shigi said to the camera which he now knew the location of. "I am actually interested in this lighter you have here and would like one of those" A smile crawled across his face. "Consider me on board."

This outburst of his caught the attention of the drow, who started to stare at him. A bead of sweat dripped down his face as the drow walked over to him, his eyes reading every inch of him.

"I-uhh..." Shigi stammered in response to the quick succession of questions that was thrown at him. But before he could get out an adequate response, he found himself in an embrace. The drow seemed to recognize him, and he knew all three of his names.

Shigi's eyes lit up with recognition as the drow yelled out his name. He had gone through this before several years ago. "Oh my- Dal! It has been forever!" Shigi shouted, pulling him back into an embrace. "I am Shigi at the moment. How have you been?"

 

[Lyro]

Prof. Kytrek Rhodius
Mentioned: C.DEX Lexielai ​

Kytrek arched an eyebrow at Cyell's proclaimed lack of interest in the more tangible rewards but did not comment. Had he misjudged him? He had always assumed the boy's reasons for staying wih him had been largely motivated by greed of some sort, regardless of his initial motivation. Not that it mattered much, so long as he followed him. Much as it pained him to admit it, he had become rather dependent on the boy over the past few months.

"Your concern for me is touching."

"Where you choose to stay is up to you,"

came Gertrude's cool reply to Cyell's question.

"I am sure Dol can provide you with a list of suitable lodgings while you wait. The launch site's location is not very far from the city limits, in an auxiliary cavern. A transport will be waiting for you at the upper central station. Arrive on time, or consider our contract terminated."

The last part was spoken with a gentle but noticeable tone of reprimand. It would not do to arrive late... again.

As Vaila called out to Kytrek, he slowly turned his head to glance at the document out of the corner of his eyes, before reaching out and taking it from her hands. After looking it over for a few seconds, he handed it back.

"Why, miss Sonata, you of all people should recognize instruments when you read about them,"

he sneered derisively, flipping a lock of hair of his own (admittedly, a somewhat patchier lock of hair).

"It's some sort of violin that transforms music into magical projectiles. There's also something about a belt-fed flute/machine gun thing, if that's more your thing. Both equally ridiculous."

"I believe a fan of yours create those,"

interjected Gertrude.

"Different melodies will have different effects. Its creator wasn't entirely sure what the full range of possibilities would be once in the Upper Levels, but claimed you would have no issues finding out. He also wanted me to read you some poem he wrote but I will spare you the experience."

CLEAR