Graded [Clockhaven City] Blood and Steam

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Mentions: Elvario Sharena RavenSong Silent Angel

Iberis was relieved that Scylla's dubious walk comment hadn't inadvertently goaded Morana into a more hostile mood than she already seemed to be in. Thankfully when Morana wanted hear Chandra speak, Chandra did an excellent job spinning her words to convey the narrative she was trying to convey so all of that worked out well enough in Iberis's mind since it didn't sound particularly suspicious in her opinion, not to anyone who didn't know Chandra or Kalina well at the very least which Morana fell into the category of. Of course Iberis didn't feel great that this information was being conveyed to Shion, as she was still unaware just to the extent that Shion was aware, but she hoped the truth would be available to her in due time.

Iberis felt her composure gradually come back as the crisis was averted. Iberis noticed Shion's smile and that actually helped her feel a bit better, truthfully she still wasn't sure what was going on with those glowy eyes or the vision she had earlier, but at the very least Shion emoted like she was doing better than before despite their strange environment, with those very foreign humming sounds. And all this advanced machinery that Iberis truthfully did not understand. Despite taking in the scene around her, she did manage to form a smile back on Shion, wanting to reassure her that everything was okay on her end of things too for the most part now, lessening the grip of her staff which she had subconsciously done once again.

"I also thank you Morana, we'll show you through our actions that all of our intentions are genuine." She chimed in too perhaps a bit more serious tone than usual, but it felt appropriate given what just happened. She knew that actions would speak louder than words.

She figured there'd be a time and place to talk to Chandra more to see if she was alright about what had happened, Iberis still held steadfast to the belief that the sooner they got what Kalina needed done the better.
---
Iberis moved along carefully in this strange space once everyone had gotten back on task. She scanned the area for anything of interest, there was so much gear and none of it looked like anything magical which Iberis had learned about in the academy from what she could tell on outward appearance alone for the time being. It was all just so incredibly foreign. She noticed that as time went on that at some point Shion seemed to be closer to her than before, which she did not mind by any means. If anything Shion had eased many of Iberis's feelings.

Unfortunately Iberis still had no idea what PTSD was so she couldn't help Chandra there, as she heard her ask Sophia about it. Unknown to Iberis perhaps that sort of thing could be treated effectively with some sort of magic in the realm compared to the the world she came from at the very least.

Iberis agreed with what Shion had to say there, it was a very vast factory, the whole thing feeling a bit overwhelming already. "Yeah this place is..pretty huge I'm afraid my knowledge in this sort of stuff is limited, the arcane is more my forte, but I'm sure there's something useful around here."

Not long after that she saw Cayde had already found something, the weapon which was most curious. Iberis made her way over to get a closer look as he pointed it out.

"That definitely sounds plausible." She replied to Cayde, indeed that was quite an interesting find. Iberis then looked around as well, unfortunate she didn't exactly have extra perception to aid in her looking around the area, but she figured she could try to see if there was anything of interest.

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith

Sophia tilted her head as she started to finally move with Kalina, making sure to stay close to her friend as they walked. "PTSD is... well, remember ADHD? Like, how it's not a curse or anything, just something different in how a person's brain works? There are ways to help, but not completely cure it. It's the same way as PTSD. That one stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. During World War One, or I guess the Great War, it was called Combat Fatigue or Shell Shock. It stems from a person going through trauma, with things that remind them of that trauma forcing them back to the place they were when it happened. It's all in a person's mind, but it can feel so real when it's happening." She leaned over, one of her arms wrapping around Kalina's waist. "It sucks, but the best that can be done outside of medication that I'm not sure exists in this world, or some type of magic which also probably doesn't work in this world, is making sure you feel safe. Something I've heard of to somewhat help is to keep something that reminds you that you're in the present, not the point where the trauma came from. Kind of to help you understand that it happened long ago, and that you've moved on. Though, another thing to help stop it is to figure out what triggered it. Have any idea what caused it to happen? If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. I just want to know so I can help keep you out of situations that might cause it."​

 

[Elvario]

Robotics & Steelwork Inc.
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street - Robotics & Steelwork Inc.
Time: 12:40 Weather Inside

From: BioShock Infinite Concept Art by Ben Lo | Concept Art World
Mentions: Sophia Silent Angel | Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena

Chandra Jarmil

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4QrLn

She was surprised to hear Shion's reply. Had she already caught up on things? How..? Kalina wasn't sure how much she'd revealed in her state just now, yet it'd likely been enough for Shion to figure things out. Still, considering Shion's mention of Cayde's words and Shion's earlier words on monsters, this might not be the worst outcome. She smiled in reply. “Let me know how I can help with that~” She replied, glad she could stop pretending to be shy and be a little more like herself again.

Cayde's words made her think for just a second? Would she have done the same for the others? … Yes. Well, if she knew how to do it. She'd have tried, at least. She wasn't sure if she'd succeeded as well, but she'd surely have tried. “Even if it's the least you could do, I'm going to have to come up with amazing thank-you-gifts~” She replied with another smile.

When Sophia got closer, her eyes scanned the room until they spotted an exit. “I'm going to try get some fresh air, I'll be with you all again in a moment.” She excused herself, gesturing Sophia to come along. Once they were out of the factory hall, with the sound of machines drown out by the sounds of the city, she was able to feel a little more relaxed. She'd also be able to talk a bit more openly.

Sophia's words were confusing. “I... don't think I know any of that. Great Wars, World War One... Wait, if that's one, then how many were there?” She tried to remember what little she'd been able to learn during her past life. “I think I once learned about the Thirty Year's War... and of course there was the Civil War... The Seven Year's War was also pretty bad. That one happened short before I was born. I think some uncles of mine died in it.” Still, she didn't get it. “I've never been in a war though...”

Something that reminded her she was in the present... “That's what you all managed to do, snapping me back to the present and buying me some time to spin a story for Morana.” As for what triggered it, she knew that one. “It's the machines... Their sound reminded me of... of...” Come on. Renee was wrong. She wasn't that weak. She could talk about this stuff and get over it. “I worked in a factory for most of my life, picking up cotton from between machines. One day, my arm got stuck and ended up mangled, after which I just... ended up at home and waiting to die.” That was the shortest version of it, but she didn't feel the strength to expand on it. “The machines reminded me of that, but...”

The second part was different. “When Renee appeared, I'm not sure if that's what you think... I mean, she dabbled in all sorts of magic and took us to some undead realm. Even if she's dead now... she might still live on and do what she did... test me, for... well... having had... kill her.” Even without playing 'Chandra' those words were tough to say. “Yet if I wouldn't have done it, she'd have killed us all. She'd gone insane, I think. There was only hate in her... Only hate.” She clenched her fists together at the memory of the state her sister hand been in. It still hurt, even just thinking back upon it.

She felt herself slipping away a little again, so she figured she'd do what Sophia suggested. Grabbing a hold of something that kept her grounded in the present. In this case, that something was Sophia herself, as she leaned down to hold Sophia in an embrace, focussing on the feeling of holding the Fae close to drown out the unpleasant memories.

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

Hearing Shion's question surprised her. Mostly due to the fact the woman asked her a question to begin with. She just admitted to being violent and these folk still wanted to play friends? How intriguing. “A little. This factory is a large one, as it provides some basics for all sorts of constructs and prosthetics, including a line of finished constructs like you saw at the airport. However, sections would be difficult to hide in as they've got pretty tight security. The fact this section doesn't is... odd, to say the least.”

She turned her attention to one of the witches. Showing their intentions through actions. She wondered how that'd turn out in practice. For now, though, she was curious. “What was your name again?” She'd only bothered to remember one name, Cayde, as that was the person she was supposed to listen to. The second she'd ended up remembering was Shion. This girl might be a third name worth committing to memory.

???

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oAwl4q

As Cayde knocked on the robot, two things immediately happened. First, the sound of some metal falling could be heard coming from inside of it. Second, the eyes began flashing in a particular order.

01110010 01100101 01100010 01101111 01101111 01110100 00100000 01101001 01101110 01101001 01110100 01101001 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100100

…

01110010 01100101 01100010 01101111 01101111 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101101 01110000 01101100 01100101 01110100 01100101

After that, the 'robot' suddenly got up and looked around in a bit of a daze. “Da hell you go nocking on me head, ey? Can't ya gimme a break!” He eventually called out to Cayde, standing a proud 2.3 meter (7 ft, 6 in) tall and looming over pretty much everyone there.

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith

Sophia followed along, stopping alongside Kalina as she listened to what she said. Her eyes widened at the explanation. "Wow. I guess you were born almost two hundred years before me... I'm guessing you were around during the industrial revolution In one of the worst professions. I can't even imagine working in a cotton mill. And to die in one... I died in my forge. Just a flash of light and then I was here. You had to suffer so much... I can't even imagine what you must have gone through, the pain. I'm so sorry, Kalina." She wrapped her own arms around the vampire, pressing her head into Kalina's chest, tears welling up in her eyes, moistening the other girl's blouse.

As she listened to more about Renee, she gritted her teeth. The horrible lady couldn't even let go of Kalina in death. She pulled back to stare up into Kalina's face, her eyes starting to get puffy, but her face and jaw were set. Determined to make sure that Kalina would be as free as possible from her sister's hold. No matter how much effort it took from her. "Kalina... I'm so sorry you had to be the one to do that. It must hurt you something awful. But I'm thankful you did. Because if you hadn't, then you wouldn't be here to talk with, and Renee would be around harming more people. You might wonder what if you did something different, but I don't think there was any other choice. And no matter what happens, I will always say this. You made the right choice. If you're ever second guessing that, turn to me and tell me you are, and I'll say it as many times as I need to. You aren't a bad person. You'll never be a bad person. I'm not just joking when I say you're perfect, because you are. And no matter what Renee told you before or tries to tell you now, I'll yell as loud as I need to make sure you understand, until I even drown out what you hear her say." She breathed in deep before gripping Kalina in as strong of a hug as she could muster, screaming at the top of her lungs, not caring how others looked at her, "YOU DID THE RIGHT THING! I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, AND YOU'RE PERFECT! I'LL ALWAYS BE HERE FOR YOU! NO! MATTER! WHAT!" ​

 

[RavenSong]

For now it seemed everyone was handling the situation, Scylla just placed her hands on her hips tilting her head a bit. Then sort of speaking to herself she began, "Gee! Well, seems like everything is under control. Heh, being a leader is tough work. Maybe I'll just.." She'd sit on the ground, "..sit down." Then pulled out her signature silken handkerchief, placing it neatly on the ground before taking a muffin cake and placing it atop the fabric. Then a candle, which she pressed gently into the pastry before lighting the candle with a snap of her fingers. "There! Heh, happy birthday miss Scylla!!" She closed her eyes, made a wish and blew the candle before pinching a piece off the muffin and eating it. "MMMM!!" She exclaimed. ''Goodie!" Absolutely delighted!

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario TheTimePiece RavenSong Sharena Silent Angel ​

Cayde almost lept out of his skin as he heard metal clanging within the robot. Definitely not hollow, he thought as he backed away. And definitely more broken than it was before. But as he watched it return to its senses, a new realization dawned on him. This could've been Sverre. Or, perhaps someone who'd seen him? All he'd have to do next was ask a few questions. It shouldn't be too hard. "Ah! Eh, m-my bad, I wasn't tryna-" Cayde cleared his throat and tried again. "Sorry, we weren't trying to disrupt your...sleep?" He said with a shrug at the end. "We're actually looking for someone. And I got a feelin' you might know where he is,"

With a nod, Cayde gestured to the party, "Here's Iberis, our leader Scylla, Shion..." He flinched as a love-filled scream interrupted his introduction. "Uh, that was Sophia, and the one she's probably clinging onto is Chandra. Then, you've got our helpful guide Morana in back," Finally, he pointed to himself, "And I'm Cayde. Second in command. A pleasure to meet ya'," He said with a slight tip of his head. "As you're probably aware, a vampire's lurking in the city, trying to find recruits. The baron sent us to investigate, and we're trying to gather some information from a man named Sverre. An informant, Chima, told us he might be hiding somewhere around here,"

After his explanation, Cayde's eyes scanned over the giant robot. They looked more metal than they did man. Kind of like how Chima described Sverre's men. He wondered if there was any relation. "So, for starters, what're you doing around here?" He asked, his head cocking to the side, "This doesn't look like the comfiest place to have a nap,"

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir

Elvario RavenSong Silent Angel The Last Curse Sharena​

Iberis once more was relieved that Chandra seemed to handle things well enough as Sophia looked like she had been quite helpful. Listening to Morana's explanation was at least helpful for her determining the sort of stuff she was looking at exactly, so Shion was asking some good questions there as far as Iberis was concerned. So these were construct parts, that was peculiar, while she didn't know much about this part of the realm surely something like this had tight security like Morana suggested, it'd be pretty hard pressed to find anywhere involving production lines of this caliber of whatever to not have some sort of guards present to Iberis's understanding pretty much regardless of where you where particularly when it was sophisticated potentially expensive stuff like this.

She hadn't quite been expecting Morana to to direct a question toward her so she turned to her and replied without missing a beat, as if she wasn't very surprised by needing to repeat her name,
"My name is Iberis Ohdir."
It wasn't long after answering this question that suddenly everything seemed to get fairly intense once again.

She did notice Scylla who decided to sit on the ground, as if she was having a tea party. The behavior was all pretty on brand so she didn't question it, instead letting out a bit of a giggle at the sight, but that didn't last too long because Apparently the thing that Cayde had knocked on was an active construct who started clicking in binary immediately, causing Iberis to look over immediately and grip her staff. This wasn't just some construct, it was a very tall now obviously annoyed one that it had been 'woken' up by the looks of things.

Thankfully Cayde once again did a great job of explaining who everyone was and why they were there, but even Iberis was a bit visibly surprised yet again when she heard how loud and passionate Sophia was being at a time like this, Cayde had just the thing to say on that.

"Right, we're just here on business, like Cayde said. Any information would be greatly appreciated so that we can help the Baron deal with this threat, I can't imagine a vampire running around is particularly helpful for anyone's operations around here."

Iberis added in toward the end, regaining her composure and trying to at least appear legitimate and coherent at what she was doing there for the construct well aware she was at a disadvantage due to her probably looking relatively inexperienced compared to the rest of the group in stature and youth.

 

[RavenSong]

She'd catch Iberis giggling, smiling delightedly at her colleague, before offering her a piece of her so called, 'birthday cake'. "Hmm?" She asked as she held up the pastry in her palm towards the other witch.

Right after Scylla blew the candle Sophia seemed to shriek, making her jump up to her feet in a jumps scare. “EEEK!” She exclaimed as she quickly caught her hat that had flown off her head with the startle. “My goodness..” She’d cross her arms flicking her own nose with her thumb, “..gee, i wish someone loved me like that!” She giggled, but only breifly before turning towards the robot that was awakened by Cayde. She’d walk up to his side, “Whoa! You totally woke him up!” She reached out to touch it but quickly took her hand back, “..and look! He’s cranky!" Upon Cayde mentioning her name her eyes seemed to glow, “Heeeey!” She said happily, clapping her hands together softly, “Excellent introduction! I.. i’m so proud!” she said, feigning wiping her own tears. A jest she’d only breifly entertain before getting to business. “As my dearest, second in command has just stated, we’re searching for a man named Sverrre. Any information you might have on such a name would be of utmost significance in our mission!”


Then upon mention of Chima, “You wouldn’t happen to know her would you? This.. Chima i mean.” She wondered if this robot would know anything about her, perhaps she had enemies? Allies? Being new to this world and expereincing it was one thing, but truly knowing the ins and outs of wo was who according to the locals was, in her opinion another critical part of a thorough investigation.

 

[Sharena]

(Blue = Common, Orange = Beastial)
​

"Thank you, Morana." Shion nodded to the woman as the party continued investigating. Shion happened to notice Scylla sitting down for a treat, Cayde noticing an out of place hammer, Sophia and Chandra going off on their own, and Iberis nearby.

"What do you have there, Cayde?" She asked, approaching curiously. She had completely dropped her guard just as their new acquaintance flared to life.

"FUCK!" Suddenly, another construct woke up next to her and Cayde as she'd been trying to relax herself. She listened to that infernal binary speech again as her mood deflated from being startled by another of these things. Then it started speaking the human tongue like the Baron which just made her more uncomfortable.

"Great, another one that talks..." She gave a soft whimper as her tail drooped low to the floor, and her ears didn't move since they were still trying to drown out the sounds around her in vain. Again and again she wished she could leave this city, but she wouldn't abandon these people. Not after her promise to help. She gathered herself and did her best to try not to make him unwilling to co-operate. She'd been null to her surroundings for a moment, so she missed the most recent love confession, but she managed to tune back into her surroundings as Cayde was mentioning Chima only for Scylla to follow-up.

"If you are this Sverre we're looking for...would the thrall be interested in an inorganic being? Can't imagine it'd find you appetizing at least." Shion pondered as she looked at the giant hulk of metal before her.

 

[Elvario]

Robotics & Steelwork Inc.
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street – Just Outside Robotics & Steelwork Inc.
Time: 12:50 Weather Smoke-filled alley

From: BioShock Infinite Concept Art by Ben Lo | Concept Art World
Mentions: Sophia Silent Angel

Chandra Jarmil

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4QrLn

She couldn't help herself from smiling a little. “I didn't think I was that much older than you. More than two entire centuries? Are you sure you want to declare your love to such an elderly lady?” She teased a little, hoping to make light of the situation so that she wouldn't sink into that Post Traumatic … something ... again. She still didn't exactly get it, but she knew it was bad and that distracting herself from it apparently helped prevent it. She subconsciously started petting Sophia's head as the latter dug her head into her chest.

The attempt to distract herself was more difficult when Renee was brought up again. Still, she felt like she had to face some things. “No, it's... It was horrible, but I think... having done it myself, I can at least... someday, come to terms with it. If someone else would've done it, I'm not sure if I could've forgiven them for it.” She shook her head. “Nobody is perfect, especially not me. I ended up biting Hope, I just lost myself to this Trauma stuff and I still have this [monster] side of me that I want to get rid off, or at least diminish. If I don't, it makes me enjoy other's suffering and makes me want to inflect pain on them. I know it's looming within me, so I must not think I'm perfect and instead I must continue to fight it. Renee... I think she wants me to give into it, due to how strong it could make me. I won't let her convince me.”

She was a rather startled when Sophia started shouting at the top of her lungs. “Calm down, calm down, please, calm down...” She stammered, genuinely caught off guard and having no clue how to respond to any of this. “I'm grateful, but, ehm... Perhaps not all of Clockhaven needs to be informed...” She didn't recall genuinely feeling shy before, as it'd always been a 'Chandra' act, but right now, she sort-off did. She needed a distraction. “Come to think of it, I think it's been lunch-time already, right? How about when everyone's off finding a place to eat, we find a place that's nice, quiet and unlikely to get interrupted in?” Right now, this surely wasn't such a place, as Sophia had likely drawn in any curious person or construct in a mile radius by her sudden yelling. Or well, at least she'd highly increased the risk of someone arriving here to come find out what was up.

Robotics & Steelwork Inc.
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street - Robotics & Steelwork Inc.
Time: 12:50 Weather Inside

From: BioShock Infinite Concept Art by Ben Lo | Concept Art World
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena

Sverre

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oAwl4q

Inside the factory, the robot was looking at Cayde a bit puzzled. “Why ya be nocking on me 'ead if ya ain't tryna wake me up mate?” He replied, his accent being a little all over the place. Why did constructs even have accents to begin with? It was unclear. “Well, it's bloody nice ta meet y'all, mates.” He replied, looking at the group.

However, when he got asked questions, he fell silent. His eyes started flashing again.

01100101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100100 01100001 01110100 01100001 00100000 01100011 01101111 01110010 01110010 01110101 01110000 01110100 01100101 01100100

Then he spoke up. “Sorry mate, I can't seem to know. Can't say I know any vampires, Chima's or Sverre's. Ain't sure what I was doing 'ere either.”

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

A sigh could be heard coming from behind them, which was odd considering it was a little robotic and masked. “You're talking to Sverre, but I think the fool tried to erase part of his own memory and got it all jumbled up in there. His eyes give it away. Perhaps the data will be recovered in time, or he'll just stay like this forever.”

“Oi, claw lass, do I know ya?” He just replied at Morana's statement, but she didn't seem to want to bother answering him. When she didn't answer, he turned to Scylla. “So, purple lass, you be them leader, ey? Aight. Imma just be be following you then, cause me noggin's a little messy.”

He stared very intensely at Scylla for a moment. Then his eyes started flashing.

01101110 01100101 01110111 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01100100 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101000 01101001 01110000 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100111 01101001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01110010 01100101 01100100

He nodded. “There we go.”

Morana shook her head. “He actually just registered you as his superior... I don't know what he ran into, but this is madness. He was fairly high up the ladder, but it seems he just got himself a mental hard-reset. I don't think we should be expecting much of him.”

However, when Shion asked him about being inorganic, Morana suddenly connected some dots. “That's probably why he's still alive. Only a few people knew he was fully inorganic, as he used to pretend he was a normal Human wearing a suit of mechanised armour, like the rest of his men were. If the thrall confused him for that as well, she might've just left him for dead despite him being still alive...”

She looked at him, then made a serious of clicking noises.

01110010 01100101 01110001 01110101 01100101 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100001 01100100 01101101 01101001 01101110 00100000 01100001 01100011 01100011 01100101 01110011 01110011

His eyes flashed back in the pattern.

01100100 01100101 01101110 01101001 01100101 01100100

“Worth a shot...” She mumbled. She then turned to Cayde. Unlike that fool Sverre, she wasn't going to take leadership from someone so airheaded. “How do you wish to proceed, sir? Perhaps if we take him to his former men in the scrapyard, it might jog his memory enough for him to remember some things. We could also try setting a trap here, for the thrall. Or perhaps meet with these vampire hunters and get some nourishment?” They had a lot of options. She'd also gloss over at Iberis and Shion, valuing their opinion as well by now.

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith

Sophia giggled. "If you're the elderly lady, I would love to declare my love for her over and over again~ And, to be honest..." She reached a claw up, gripping Kalina by the collar and pulling her down, delivering a kiss on her cheek before whispering, "I don't care if they didn't need to hear it. You're the one who needs to know just how amazing she is, but I don't mind letting everyone else know that you are too~" She tilted her head, as if thinking, but at the same time almost teasing the other girl with her exposed neck so close. "Hmm, and as for lunch..." She straightened before delivering another kiss to the cheek. "I'm fine finding an alley or a hotel to give you it now if I get an actual kiss~" She gave the other girl a small wink before releasing her collar, turning to check for anywhere private they could vanish to~​

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario TheTimePiece RavenSong Silent Angel Sharena ​

A tinge of sorrow flashed on Cayde's face as he heard out Sverre's predicament. It seemed like the man was suffering from some sort of self-induced amnesia. He'd heard of it before. Back in Ryke, plenty of people came into the apothecary, asking for Nepenthe - a drug of forgetfulness. They always looked the same. Puffy eyes, haggard, miserable. All desperate to escape some loathsome reminder of the past. Probably just like Sverre, Cayde thought. That encounter with the thrall must've really got to him. Poor guy. "Alright, Sverre, sounds like you're a little lost on things, too," He said warmly, "Don't worry. We'll get through this together,"

He wondered where to start. Maybe telling Sverre about what led up to his disappearance could spark a memory? He had to try. "Okay, so from what we know, before you ended up here, you and your men were hunting this vampire. But then you stumbled upon its thrall, and..." Cayde shook his head, "You were the only one who got away. And you must've known the thrall didn't actually kill you, so you came here to hide. You've been missing for some time, but the thrall is still looking for you," He said, crossing his arms, "So...does that ring a bell?"

There was still a hint of uncertainty in his posture until he heard Morana mention bringing Sverre to the scrapyard. His eyes danced around as he mulled over it. They were going to do that before learning about Sverre's condition. And maybe the trip there could help him remember, if not a meeting with his former men. Surely, there must've been some part hidden in there that wanted justice. It could bring the whole of him back. "Yeah...Yeah, I think we should still take him to the scrapyard. Good thinking, Morana," He turned back to Sverre, "There's another thing. The vampire, we suspect she's capable of necromancy. And unfortunately, the word's gone around that she'd use it to defile the bodies of your men..." He said sympathetically before pointing to the warhammer, "They may be under the vampire's control, but we can still put them to rest and give them the justice they deserve. We want to. And I know you'll want to, too,"

After that, Cayde's lips pursed. There was still one more issue. How were they supposed to get Sverre to the scrapyard without alerting the thrall? She'd still be prowling somewhere in the area, and Sverre didn't look the most inconspicuous. They'd need some way to hide him.

He looked down at the glittering rings on his hand. There was something he could try. "Since the thrall's around here, Sverre's gonna need to be discreet. I may have something to help with that," He walked up to Sverre and laid a palm on his arm, "It's a spell that'll turn you invisible, and make you a bit quieter, too. Just stick close, follow our lead, and no one will catch on,"

Cayde closed his eyes, his hands tingling as mana channeled through them. Good, he thought. The technique was working. Now came the hard part: intention. "[O'stalkers of... erm..." He paused, reaching into the pack to pull out his grimoire. "Sorry, still a bit new on the words..." He said, clearing his throat and flipping a few pages until he found the spell,

"[O'Stalkers of Yore, O' Poachers of Sight,
O' Erebi of Darkness, O' Hunters of Light,
Let no man see me, nor fae, nor monster, nor beast,
Shroud me in shadows; grant me this feast!]"

With the chant complete, Cayde flexed his fingers. He twisted the magic around himself and instead granted the boons of [Stalker's Shroud - E] on Sverre, deciding to quiet the sounds of the construct's movement.

Spoiler: Abilities Used

• Stalker's Shroud - Magic E + Arcana E + Magic Aoe F + Control Environment F + Undetected F + Magic Duration F + Deception F + Acrobatics E + Focus E + Selective F - After quickly whispering an arcane chant, Cayde is granted invisibility for 2 posts/1 hour. Additionally, any chosen sound within a 15ft radius is dampened until the spell wears off. - Grade E - 1 Post Cooldown

(Current Post Duration: 1/2)​

 

[RavenSong]

Scylla’s gaze would suddenly flash towards Morana, “He’s.. Sverre?” She questioned, before looking back at him as Sverre questioned Morana, who quite rudely simply wasn’t interested in responding. Scylla sighed, but before she could say anything she was reffered to as ‘purple lass’ to which she automatically knew he was refferring to her. “Purple lass?” She repeated, before chuckling a bit. Then a most peculiar thing happened, after finding out he’d registered her as the leader her eyes lit up. “What?! Is that really..” She exclaimed excitedly before Morana seemed to continue to rain on her parade. “Madness? MADNESS?! No, no no.. this is actually how things should be! Hey uhm.. why dont you do the clickity clockity on me too and make ME your leader? Hm?” When Morana then referred to Cayde, she huffed. “Well, whatever then!”

Turning to Cayde she walked up to him, “Hey there!” She said nudging him a bit with her elbow. “Don’t look so down, i’m going to make sure our buddy here gets his memory back! Who knows! Maybe, it’ll just come back to him!” Scylla would tap the construct on the gauntlet. “Isn’t that so Mr.S?” She was amused with herself upon coming up with a nickname. “Yeah, i like the ring of that, do you approve?” As Cayde continued to make his questions, Scylla would inspect him, using [Appraisal E ] granted it wasn’t very strong, but it was worth a shot?

Adding to Cayde’s first question she began, “Yeah, what is the last thing you remember?”

The remainder seemed to be a bit out of Scylla’s scope of understanding, however, she caught his drift shortly after. “Ah! Excellent thinking second in command! If we make Mr. S quiet then the thrall wont associate him with us! However, i can’t help but wonder if someone did this to him and he didn’t do it to himself. I mean, Morana here just said he was higher in command. Surely, someone higher up wouldn’t just fragment his own mind? That wouldn’t make sense!”

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Elvario Silent Angel RavenSong The Last Curse Sharena

Iberis naturally smiled back and accepted the celebratory baked good piece, letting out a soft warm thank you in response, figuring why not since Scylla seemed intent on celebrating, It was much better than Mad Maw's Pocket Bologna at the very least. Of course the surprise had shaken things up a bit as had Shion's surprise, causing Iberis to look over at provide a reassuring look as she got a bit closer to Shion seeing the obvious visible signs that this ordeal was making her uneasy.
----
Iberis was a bit relieved to see that they weren't in the midst of a mechanized melee after the construct awoke. Unfortunately while based on what Morana said this was indeed the person they were looking for it sounded like for one reason or another they were dealing with a construct that was suffering from some kind of memory loss. Whatever had caused it, the group now had to deal with it regardless. All that Morana shared made enough sense to Iberis, who looked a bit less guarded now as it became increasingly apparent that there weren't any obvious hostiles around her for the time being, as she lessened the grip on her staff.

She was pleasantly surprised to see Morana glance over at her and Shion, which she hadn't done prior, perhaps this meant that the idea of them being a team was becoming more real to the constructs in their presence. it was interesting to say the least that now one registered Scylla as the leader and the other one had registered Cayde, even if Morana had been given permission to act on her own accord under certain circumstances from the Baron himself, which Iberis was still none the wiser to thanks to not understanding analog.

"We'll do what we can to get your memory back."

Iberis reaffirmed her belief that was what they needed to try to do moving forward regardless how they did it. Thankfully what Cayde said once more, which arguably sounded very first in command despite his desire to pass the responsibility off, was well received by Iberis once again. Clear distinct planning with a way to move forward with these risky situations made her feel much safer than she would otherwise, so seeing Cayde come up with stuff like this was quite helpful.

"Personally I'm inclined to agree with Cayde on this one. I think getting him to the scrapyard is a good idea, hopefully we can jumpstart some kind of memory jog. Unfortunately constructs aren't really my forte, otherwise I might be able to use something Auldlich shared with me to try to address this memory issue. But magic certainly is in my skillset and in my opinion, I think that Cayde's idea to conceal Sverre using it, is a good idea, as far as I can tell whatever Cayde just casted seems like it'll get Sverre where we need to go more safely, so I'm all for that. We can always explore some of the avenues which Morana mentioned after if need be. If any thing tries to harm us, I have plenty to contribute to our self defense too." Iberis gave her feedback forward and to the point.

 

[Sharena]

​

She listened to everyone talk around her about Sverre, even hearing him register Scylla as leader and Morana's agreeance to her statement about his inorganic nature. However, she was also looking at Sverre with conflict tugging inside her chest.

Do I...try to pull his memories out? Do I try...linking minds with him? I...I don't know if I can...merely looking at these things, I...they make me feel uncomfortable. But I need to help everyone, I...I...

Shion noticed Iberis near her, and her nerves calmed as she sighed. Her mood didn't improve much, neither did the position of her ears or tail, but she could at least steel herself better.

"Let me see if I can find something..." Shion stated as she approached Sverre as her eyes lit up like they had earlier as she felt the abstract begin to flow around her. This time however, she wasn't trying to share her memories or feel Sverre's exactly, she tried to bend her mana to her will. She needed to move beneath the surface of the mind...she needed to delve deeper. Her [mind began to dive into Sverre's].

Her hands calmly approached Sverre's body as she tried to focus her senses on Sverre, seeing if she could pluck any kind of memories out of him as she searched hoping this could be worth the venture into this metal man's mind...even though the very prospect didn't sit right with her as she was trying not to think about how close she was to him right now. Admittedly though, Cayde veiling his presence to her did help her a little bit now that she didn't completely see him.

--
[Mind Dive] - [Magic F], [Telepathy F], [Perception F] - Shion is attempting to search Sverre's mind for any clues of his memories as Cayde turns Sverre invisible.

 

[Elvario]

Robotics & Steelwork Inc.
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street – Just Outside Robotics & Steelwork Inc.
Time: 13:00 Weather Smoke-filled alley

From: BioShock Infinite Concept Art by Ben Lo | Concept Art World
Mentions: Sophia Silent Angel

Chandra Jarmil

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4QrLn

The temptation to just sink her teeth into Sophia right then and there was real, but she managed to resist it. “As appealing as that offer is... I shouldn't get too distracted. I've asked everyone to help me out, so going off and enjoying lunch whilst the rest is still working wouldn't be good. Besides... absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? Don't worry. I know my limits and I know my current thirst is desire rather than need. I can handle a little more waiting...” For a moment, she hesitated, but then she added with a whisper. “Though you'd better brace yourself, as kisses from this elderly lady don't come cheap, so I'll be getting my fill later as a compensations for this~” She gave Sophia a wink, before suddenly planting a kiss on her lips.

It felt weird, but in a good way. With all her emotions messed up from her recent trauma episode, having at least one positive emotion welling up like this was comforting. She wasn't even fully sure how to describe that emotion. It was love, but with an overwhelming sense of gratitude beneath it. The fact that someone was this loyal and nice to her, something she hadn't experienced in her past or current life, was a little overwhelming. Enough to feel confused about it, yet part of her didn't want to be led around, part of her wanted to lead instead, so she'd taken the initiative. What Sophia could tell her with words, she could answer with a single action. Besides, now that she'd paid the price, the Fae would owe her later~ It was a good thing to look forward to and to think about in order to distract herself from having to enter that factory again...

Robotics & Steelwork Inc.
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Third Factory Street - Robotics & Steelwork Inc.
Time: 13:00 Weather Inside

From: BioShock Infinite Concept Art by Ben Lo | Concept Art World
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena

Sverre

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oAwl4q

Sverre looked at Cayde, listening to the latter's story. He shook his head. “Mate, I ain't got no clue what ya be yapping about. Me men ain't wussies, they be beating ya thrall, I bet ya!” He answered. Accent still all over the place. Perhaps his language module got damaged at some point. “I be here for... for...” He tried to recall why he was here to begin with.

His eyes started flashing again. 01100101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100100 01100001 01110100 01100001 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110101 01101110 01100100

“That be odd, I ain't got no clue why I be here.” He then looked at his warhammer, as Cayde pointed at it. “Oi! There she is! Me trusted girl! She been good, ey?” He said, lifting up the hammer with ease. Was it smart to let a construct with its brain this messy carry around a weapon like that..? Well, it was certainly too late to stop it now.

He didn't object to being hidden by [Stalker's Shroud], which made him vanish from sight for all those who didn't have the appropriate skill to see through the [Undetected F Sight] such as (Heightened Sight). That included Sverre himself. “Oi, I can't see me arms!” He said, as one thing stood out a lot. A floating hammer. That thing didn't exactly vanish from sight.

“Mr.S” He repeated, as Scylla managed to tap his gauntlet just before Cayde had made him vanish from sight. Even though most of him was hidden from sight, short after, his flashing eyes could still be spotted. 01101110 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100111 01100101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100111 01101001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01110010 01100101 01100100

Mr.S

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oAwl4q

Scylla's appraisal would already be a little low-grade, but with him having vanished from sight by now, she couldn't make heads or tails of it. Even the hammer was too high-graded to appraise without the aid of secondary skills. He did, however, answer her question. “I remember... I got me a mission from higher up. To... to... Catch a monster! That must be ya vampire ey? I wonder if me and me men got her.” He clearly wasn't exactly processing all the information they were feeding him right now.

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

Even through glazed-out eyes, Morana glared at Scylla. “His eyes speak volumes. He did this to himself, whether you believe it or not.” She stated. Then she added a thing. “Just so you know, the fool gave you full admin access, so your words are pretty much law to him right now. Best you consider them carefully.”

Shion's attempts to get into Sverre's mind weren't going as smoothly as before. First of all, she had to feel around to find his body. Once that was done, she immediately felt more resistance. Whether subconsciously or consciously, he didn't want this. That meant that all she really gathered were some superficial analog thoughts, which she couldn't translate or make sense off.

With the group settling on heading for the scrapyard, Morana took the lead again. She led them out of the factory and to a nearby train station. The scrapyard was a fair bit out of town, so walking there would take ages. After showing some sort of ID, Morana managed to get them all on board with ease. The line they were on clearly wasn't used a lot by passengers, as most of the wagons in the train they were on were carrying goods instead. In fact, after a few stops in the outskirts of the city, they had the wagon to themselves.

Train Wagon
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Train Between Clockhaven & Scrapyard – Wagon Interior
Time: 14:30 Weather Cloudy, getting darker

From: KREA — explore great prompts.

Chandra Jarmil

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4QrLn

Mentions: Iberus TheTimePiece | Shion Sharena

Having this wagon to themselves presented Kalina with the perfect chance, so she'd set a plan in motion that she'd been brewing for a while now. She sat down besides Iberis, then leaned in to whisper into her ear. “Hey, I've got a great idea that I need your help with~” She started off, not unable to suppress a smile at the thought of her own plotting. “You saw how Shion reacted when Scylla petted her tail at first, right? She clearly liked it.” Thus far Kalina had been honest, the next part had some (Deception D) mixed in. “I bet it must be some beast ritual, a sign of trust so...” She stopped herself.

That was odd. She had a perfect excuse and plan ready. Yet pursuing it in this manner felt off. Why? Actually, was it because..? Did she feel hesitant to lie to her friends? The realisation surprised her, but she quickly readjusted her plan. “Scrap that, I'll be honest, I'm just really curious to what it'd feel like to pet it as well. You must be too right? I saw you already managed to get along with her, so I'm sure she'll let you. However, I'm not sure if she'd let me and even if she would, my hands would be cold and unpleasant to be touched by. Could you do me a favour? How about we ask her to pet her tail together and you help me warm up my hands for a bit by holding them. If she lets us go through with it, we'll be able to win out on two points~ I know she's onto me, so if she lets us do that, it means she isn't lying when she acts like she trusts me regardless. Secondly, we get to pet a tail~ How could you not what to try that? So that'd be two wins, right?” Kalina's excitement was clear. Was she a corrupting force on Iberis? Perhaps, perhaps. It didn't stop her from pursing such a plan. “Are you in? Here, hold them for a bit, then go ask her. I'll back you up. It'll be fun~” Kalina whispered, holding out both her hands for Iberis to grab onto.

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

Mentions: Sophia Silent Angel

As they were in the train, Morana had been staring ahead in boredom for a while. Eventually, she decided to break that by addressing Sophia. “Say, you mentioned being able to forge prosthetics before. Let's say I might at one point consider having at least one of my hands made with fingers a little more on the useful side, or perhaps have the current one upgraded to be a bit more normal...” She she opened and closed the fingers on her left hand, showing they didn't move as naturally as actual fingers and that their slightly pointed tips likely didn't exactly have ideal grip options. “How much would you charge for such a thing?”

Mr.S

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oAwl4q

Mentions: Scylla RavenSong

Meanwhile, Mr.S had enjoyed being The Invisible Mr.S for a bit, although he'd ran into people a lot on the station. Turns out its pretty difficult to dodge an invisible giant heading your way in the station. Most folk were pretty darn confused by it (until or unless Cayde would cancel his ability). Now that they were in the wagon, he was staring intensely at Scylla. “Say, leader, could I call ya' miss purple? Anyhow, could ya tell me what ya be expecting of me? My noggin's still pretty mumbled up. I know I got ma hammer and that I can hammer down some folk, but that be about it. Ah, I know I got ma mission to hammer down them vampire, but failed, I guess?” He was slowly starting to get the situation he was in, it seemed like.

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith

Sophia's eyes widened as she felt the cold lips press against hers, but instead of uncomfortable, it felt truly perfect. As if they were sharing a bit of themselves in the kiss, her warmth and the coolness of Kalina. Her legs wobbled, almost threatening to give out as she was overwhelmed with love for the lady in front of her. Her claws came up and gripped the other girl's clothes, holding on for dear life as her legs almost gave out, her eyes closing as she wished for this moment to last forever~ And for Kalina, the small noise of happiness that seemed to come straight from her soul told her enough of how much Sophia had been dearly wishing for this moment.

However, all good things come to an end, and when the kiss broke up, she stared almost worshipfully at the other lady, her legs finally gaining back enough sturdiness for her to stand on her own, and once she had, she gave a shy smile. "Thank you. Whenever you want your part of the deal, I'll offer it in full~" She followed with Kalina, one of her claws reaching down to hold the vampires hand, giving it a small, loving squeeze.
​

---

Once they entered the train, Sophia couldn't help but wonder at how intricate it was. Of course, it was nowhere near as efficient as the public transit back at home, but it had a charm that those ones couldn't hope to achieve. Her eyes slowly traced the machinery at the top, making sure to remember it in order to possibly recreate it in the future, before her eyes landed on another member of the party. Scylla, she believed. She plopped herself down next to the witch, as Kalina seemed to be preoccupied with the fluffy tail heist, and examined the girl a bit closer. She leaned in, whispering to the witch, "So, firebug, I hear you've given Kalina a taste?" She grinned and said, "Well, I guess I won't mind sharing too much. Though, considering she's an employee of mine, and my love, if you do want to share her, you better treat her right~"

She pulled away when Morana asked the question, her face thoughtful. "Well, it depends on what you want. Though, unless you want your prosthetic enchanted, which would require it being mithril, I don't believe it will break the bank for you. And if you stop talking in binary so much, I might even give you the friend discount, and hell, I'd even add in sense of touch for free." She paused before amending her statement, saying, "It isn't because I don't like the sound or anything. With everyone talking like that around us, it's almost like we're being left out of half of the conversation, and it's not the best feeling... Hell, I'd even take you actually translating what you and others are saying into common if that would be better. I had to deal with a few people of other cultures in my past life, since I did a bit of traveling for study, and quite a few times I only learned after that I was being insulted to my face by someone. I think something as simple as that type of thing would grow the group's trust in you quite a bit."​

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Sharena Elvario RavenSong TheTimePiece Silent Angel ​

A slight gasp erupted from Cayde as he watched Sverre disappear. He peered down at his hands, mana still tingling at his fingertips. "Holy crap," He thought, his eyes shooting open. It seemed like forever since he'd last used that spell. Couldn't remember using it on someone else, either. Seeing it work felt weirdly uncanny. Like something should've gone wrong. But as Cayde looked up to where Sverre used to be, the thought twisted into something else. A bug, skittering around his mind, spouting insecurities. He imagined himself crushing it under his heel, a sense of pride coursing through him. Then the bug was gone. Only the warm feeling of confidence remained.

An amused smile crept onto his face. Then, he realized he was staring at his hands. Probably should stop doing that. "O-Okay! Look's like the spell went well," Cayde said, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Alright, let's get outta here," And as the party did, another thought came to mind. He'd have to stay focused to keep the spell from fraying. So, what if there was a distraction? What if they saw the thrall? What could he -

He turned the thoughts into bugs and crushed them, too. Too small to worry about, he told himself. And besides, how hard could it be to stay focused?

Pretty hard, it seemed. It was tough enough keeping close to Sverre, but every bump in the station felt like an actual bump in his focus. Telekinesis was the go-to answer for every concerned citizen. Though even speaking felt like it took great effort. Eventually, Cayde made it inside the train, wearily plopping onto the seats. "Geez..." He sighed, looking at Iberis and Scylla, "Is it this hard for you, too? Feels like I crawled up a mountain..." He leaned back in his seat as the wagon started to move on. He noticed less and less people were riding the farther they went. A good sign. It meant he didn't have to keep this spell up any longer. "It's just us now. Won't be needing this anymore," He said, clapping his hands, unlinking his focus, and releasing Sverre from [Stalker's Shroud]. "Thank God..."

Finally, there was some downtime. Cayde looked around as everyone started chatting, wondering what to do next. Maybe talk to Sverre, and try to dig for something he could remember? Maybe make something to get rid of this awful tiredness? Or, speak to Shion about what she found?

The last one sounded the most tempting. It would've been the perfect opportunity to learn something. About her, Kalina, offworlders. A three-in-one bundle. It'd be great! "Hey, Shion, doing okay?" He called, moving closer and lowering his voice, "You said you found something back in the factory. What was that about?"

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Elvario The Last Curse Silent Angel Sharena RavenSong

For better or for worse, they now had a mentally questionable construct who was invisible wielding potentially a deadly weapon. No one even knew what grade he was besides perhaps Morana, but no one was asking, and it would be arguably a bit strange to ask if they wanted to seem trusting, so for now Iberis wasn't going to move on the issue despite it being in the back of her mind. Of course she could try to use her appraisal in combination with a spell, but that would be pretty difficult to pull off without being noticed and needing to cover for the reason that she was moving her staff around and making noise even if quietly. At the very least Morana confirmed that he had done it to himself, perhaps there had been some protocol which he had followed, maybe he learned something that no one else could be trusted with? There were so many reasons why someone might choose to do that which Iberis could think of, but nothing she felt comfortable asking in that moment. They just needed to get him from point A to point B at this point without causing any issues if possible.
---
While they were on the move as a group Iberis stayed near whoever was closer between Scylla and Shion, looking around at the city scape curiously. It was all so vast and interesting to the witchy youth, it was a shame that she couldn't easily spend more time there on leisure given this pressing job. Regardless she made her way to the station which was also very new and strange..yet somehow almost familiar to her? As if something in the back of her mind was telling her that she had been in a place like this before, but for some reason she couldn't tell why..some sort of deja vu that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Nevertheless it was impressive how much of a non Issue getting through Morana made things, she could only assume it had to give her some clearance level due to her being close to the Baron. The train was also similar to Iberis, in that it felt even more familiar, alas Iberis was still not remembering her past life in which she had opted to use public transport many times in the subway station to and from Tokyo. She took notice of Cayde's hardship and question

"I guess it takes some getting used too, I wasn't really sure what I was doing at first honest..so it took some time before I could do anything close to what I can now." Iberis replied, just to let him know that he wasn't the only one, granted it had been Renee who had accelerated things in her abilities, which did loom in her mind some after she spoke.

At the very least it looked like they were finally going to get some decent privacy out of this whole ordeal which was very much welcome, with a more isolated cart. She took in the conversation around her curiously, not quite expecting Chandra to take a seat so closely to her and start speaking to her like this, in this..almost suggestive sounding way, it almost reminded her of the way that letter felt, wondering in the back of her mind if Chandra had meant what she wrote, with how 'well' she was getting along with others. Truthfully Iberis wasn't really sure what to make of the tail business and why Chandra was interested in it, It wasn't exactly very often the opportunity presented itself she supposed, nevertheless she was fine helping Chandra out with that, giving her a bit of a smile and a nod, before reaching out and gently holding Chandra's presumably chill hands, gently rubbing he much warmer ones against them. Before Iberis looked once more up to Chandra and said a bit softly, perhaps there being a gentle pinkness to her face.

"Say, you remember that letter you wrote? I know my response..maybe wasn't as ..poised as yours? but, if you ever still wanted to do that thing, you said, I wouldn't mind.., and I'd still like to go to the See with you too when we have some time, maybe..we could bring Shion along too, she's..been really kind and I learned a lot about her earlier, I think she's..safe." Iberis replied quietly while she warmed, very much. Giving her some time to reply, as she continued the rubbing.

 

[RavenSong]

“Geez! Temper, temper!” Scylla replied to Morana, then upon Morana’s insnuation she wasn’t taking the mission seriously, “What is that supposed to mean!? I’m the very definition of ‘careful’.” She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than to state a fact. What was Moranas deal?

Scylla listened in on Sverre’s talk with Cayde, especially the bit about him not believing his men were the weakling types. “You dont say?” She mumbled with an index finger to her bottom lip in deep pondering. The the bit about his ‘lady weapon’, “Oh! So this weapon of yours, it’s quite dangerous looking..” She pointed at it a bit shyly, “..are you sure you remember how to use it? It wont just suddenly go off and do something unpredictable will it?” A hint of worry in her voice. Then Sverre, suddenly disappeared! Only leaving the prozed weapon visible, “Pfft! Yeah, that wont do.” She crossed her arms as she tried to frame Sverre in a metaphorical situation, “Although i don’t mind this new appearance, could you imagine us walking into a public place with this huge hammer thing right behind me?” Her whole frame would uplift quite a bit, “HA! Scylla and the floating hammer, they’d say!” She chuckled to herself a bit. “Yeah. Mr.S. You like it? I think it has a ring to it! Make’s it sound like youre an academy teacher just like me!”

Then the more, serious details in the constructs words. “Catch a monster?” She leaned into Sverre’s face, “I don’t mean to push your memories further, but, any chance you’d have any recollection of this vampire? That would.. well.. kind of be a big deal.” She nodded, as she placed a hand over where his own hand would be. Although he was a construct, Scylla was rather fond of this Sverre. Perhaps it was because he was so willing and quick to regiuster her as the leader, she felt respnsible for his wellbeing. “Look, just be careful with that hammer thing of yours, okay? That thing could totally do some damage.” She attempted a smile, which came out a bit nervously.

As Morana took the lead, Scylla walked somewhat behind her, not too close however, lest she’d be sliced by her razor sharp claws. However, she’d take the risk when the female construct flashed her ID, to which Scylla would pop out from in between her arm and torso. “Ooooooo! Secret access!!” She’d exclaim happily, before skipping into the train finishing with a light jump. “My word, i haven’t ridden a train in ages! This.. is.. going to be so fun! Isn’t it Morana?”

Her happy grin would dissipate when people would appear to bump into an invisible obstacle as it made its way to the seat infront of her, as Mr.S sat, he bagan to stare at her intensely. The witch would look away, then catch his gaze, before repeating again and again and again, growing more and more nervous each time. Finally, too nervous and anxious to bear the weight of his empty hollow stare she leaned forward in her seat. “What?” He then began, to which Scylla couldn’t help but bow her head with a deep sigh of relief. “I thought i might have formed a wrinkle on my face or something.” She looked up, “Yeah you bet! Pffft! ‘Miss Purple’ i like that. I suppose its only fair since i called you Mr.S right?” Then upon his objectives, “Well, i surely do believe we cover each others strenths and weaknesses. You know? It seem’s like you can totally wield that hammer thing, and well, i got quite a few spells under my hat! So.. lets just be a good team together hm? Maybe we’ll crack thit mystery!” Upon him losing his memories, it was a bit more complex, mainly because there wasn’t much other than speculation, “Well, i guess it remains to be known? I’m sure that, when we find this vampire he’ll have many more answers. Well, i hope.”

—

Once her conversation with Sverre aka Mr.S was done, she’d address Sohpia. First her voice was difficiult to not recognize, what was more so appealing was how she called her a ‘firebug’. Instantly provoking a smile, her ords rested upon the bug lady, but not before blushing violently. “T-taste?!” She repeated before realizing what she meant, “Oh? You mean, when my finger..” She chuckled nervously, albeit softly as to not bring herself any unwanted attention. “You’d.. share.. her?” She stuttered with slight disbelief, but really, the devil in her was thrilled. “How does it feel? You know? To be bit by a vampire?” She couldn’t help but assume that’s what had happened between them at some point. Then the girl would take her hand, gasping softly she looked down to see her holding her hand. This time, it was much better understood, looking back up at Sophia, “I’ll.. give my best.” She admitted. It was quite the shocking turn of events, she thought she’d have to really work at it much harder, but, perhaps she was coming to conclusions much too soon in her naivee little mind. She’d finally relax, giving Sophia a gentle smile before taking her hand in both of hers.

After that, she’d lean back in her seat, closing her eyes confidenlty as she crossed her arms, “So.. how long till’ we get there?” She asked to no one in particular.

 

[Sharena]

(Blue = Common, Blue+Bold+Italics = Common Telepathy)
​

Despite her best efforts, Shion was forced out of Sverre's mind. She recoiled and swore under her breath, sighing in resignation for the time being that she just didn't have a strong enough control of her magic again yet. "Damnit...was worth a shot I guess..."

However, one thing did stick out to Shion. Sverre's mind, or heart, or whatever it was...it felt eerily familiar. It felt alive to her. How was this possible? Did humans in this world discover a way to create life? If that was really true, did she have any right to judge this place on its balance when its equilibrium might hinge on something entirely different to what Shion was used to? No, Shion didn't think that was the right call. She never did love human civilizations, but she could at least feel some semblance of peace within their walls. Here...no where Shion looked carried that feeling to her. Everything felt...cold, and distant, as if this city was as cruel to its occupants as it was to desecrating the likely once beautiful landscapes that stood where now metallic...contraptions and other useless commodities did.

As much as she hated the idea, maybe returning to this place at a future date wouldn't be the worst idea to investigate. Could she really stomach it alone, though? She closed her eyes in thought before realizing she was getting swept up in her own head.

"I wasn't able to jog anything loose. He's traumatized...whatever he's forgotten, he doesn't want to remember it." She said to everyone within earshot of her back in factory before their next course of action was discussed and decided on.

--

Shion stood leaned against an opening between the seats with her arms and legs crossed. She'd been stuck in her own thoughts the entire way, unable to shake her discomfort trying to pry open Sverre's mind for information. Regardless of what she felt, she still kinda hated herself for doing it. She didn't ask for permission, she didn't warn him, she just...did it. She attempted to invade his privacy without any consideration for his well being. That was wrong. What she did was wrong. It's what hu...it's what horrible people would stoop to in order to greedily pursue their desires. She grit her teeth, the thought disgusted her. She would apologize later. Sure, she learned nothing, but that didn't undue what she had done.

The memories and emotions on the surface, that was one thing to her, that wasn't peering into someone's very core of someone's being to force out things they clearly didn't want. Well...was she making excuses? Did she have any issues feeling Chandra's memories? Knowing she was a vampire now without her consent? Then again, how long would it have taken Chandra to trust her personally to tell her that when she honestly had nothing to fear? This way Shion could just tell her that directly without worry, no faked meekness to dance around to meet the real person.

The real person...There, was that her motivation? She'd spent so long wondering if she could trust humans, even the ones she liked, because part of her mind always lay uncertain. But with this new power...did she have to fear their motivations anymore? Maybe this was a good thing, to help her grow closer to the ones that deserved it...and punish those that deserved it. Her grimace faded, now managing to etch her resolve into her mind. This newfound power...she would use it just as she had everything she'd learn. To protect the spirits, to protect her friends, to make memories worth cherishing...and to kill anyone that dared threaten her ideals. Still, prying into the minds of others was an invasion of privacy, even friends, she didn't want to abuse this power, she'd just have to be careful just like everything else she applied over her long years.

Then Cayde approached her amidst her thoughts and it slightly startled her, causing her to jump just a bit to where Cayde was the only one that would notice. "Huh?"

She listened to Cayde's words, curious how to proceed. She briefly gazed around the cart, aware of those that should be privy to what she should share with him...and who shouldn't hear it. She closed her eyes as she responded to Cayde, covering the fact her eyes had begun to glow as her mind entered the abstract. She did smile in his direction though so she didn't look entirely odd in her visage and posture.

"Thank you for your concern, Cayde, I am...managing. I still am not a fan of this place very much, but...all of you are helping me cope with it decently." She informed him, now was the tricky part. "As for what I found...Seems my magical prowess has awakened an entirely new sensation for me, I was just so surprised I'm curious what new fonts of knowledge it will grant me."

Now the hard part, trying to convey to him through this river of memories and emotions...she just needed words to reach him right now, not necessarily her feelings. She focused as she spoke aloud, managing to send additional information to Cayde's mind [Telepathically (F)].

"Cayde, do not be alarmed, this is Shion, I appear to have gained access to the abstract sensation of telepathy. I may even be able to pick up your response." She hoped this could serve as a two way street...actually, she was able to sense everyone's mental states earlier, surely she could pick up on Cayde's thoughts if he were to return them. "When Chandra's episode happened earlier and I grabbed hold of her...let's just say I saw everything, heard the other side of her conversation with her sister, all of it...I know she's a vampire now...you have nothing to be worried about. I've seen plenty the amount of trust you all put into her, and frankly...you're not selling me very well on the idea of all monsters being rotten piles of sin."

Shion chuckled after her telepathic message reached Cayde, one of her eyes peeked open about halfway, showing Cayde her glowing eyes to indicate her magic was flowing right now. "I jest, I understand your warnings very clearly. Still...seems some may be able to be reached...perhaps this power will help me accomplish just that..."

Shion would open her eyes once she'd receive Cayde's response mentally, along with a "But I'll just have to see what form that will take." She said, playing off the things she last said both verbally and mentally.

 

[Elvario]

Train Wagon
Widersia – Capital – Clockhaven – Train Between Clockhaven & Scrapyard – Wagon Interior
Time: 14:45 Weather Cloudy, getting darker

From: KREA — explore great prompts.
Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Cayde The Last Curse | Scylla RavenSong | Shion Sharena | Sophia Silent Angel

Chandra Jarmil

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4QrLn

Mentions: Iberis TheTimePiece | Shion Sharena

Strange. She'd thought about having her hands be warmed as a necessary step in the process, not as something that might be nice in and of itself. Yet it was. Perhaps it was the gentle manner with which Iberis went about it? It was just so adorable that it was tough not to like it. Well, that much was true for Iberis in general. It's why a big smile formed on Kalina's lips when Iberis mentioned the letter. “Of course I remember~” Oho, Iberis wouldn't mind? Well then~

A little sad that she had to break the hand-holding off for it, Kalina pulled her hands away only to dive back in and wrap her arms around Iberis. “Hmhm, every bit as great as imagined~” She whispered. Definitely the most cuddly witch on the block. Solid 11/10 would cuddle again. She let one of her hands go through Iberis' hair. It was pretty long and a little rough, almost like a pelt of a sheep. Still, that definitely had its own charms to it. It also made it pretty nice and soft to the touch. “Hmmm.” She hummed happily, before getting back to business. “That might be nice, yes. Anyhow, we've got some missions to finish. Starting with that tail~ I think it's not just my hands that are all warmed up now~” She said, before letting go of Iberis again and standing up.

Now that she knew Iberis trusted Shion a lot as well, Kalina figured she didn't need to keep up much of an act. Even Morana knew there was more to her now and Sverre was just a mess of bolts and whatnot it seemed, so it'd be fine to have a little bit of fun. In fact, perhaps she didn't even need Iberis to initiate. Nope, she had her plan figured out, so she'd get up and gently pull Iberis along the moment she noticed Cayde distancing himself a little from Shion again.

Shion wanted for them to ask her first, right? Then by all means, she'd ask her~ Completely unaware of the telepathic conversation that had occurred between Shion and Cayde, she'd approach with a smile, then she'd give Shion a deep and exaggerated bow. “Oh noble keeper of the sacred fluff, me and Iberis here wish to humbly request an audience with thou fur, so that our hands may be blessed with the sensation of heaven~” There! How was that for asking? She'd show Scylla how it was done~

There was no deception there either, but there was one small thing. Even though she was mostly led by curiosity and desire, she'd not lied about hoping to figure out more about how genuinely Shion was willing to accept her despite her nature. As such, despite all her joking, she was alert. She was ready to see what she could learn from Shion's reaction.

Mr.S

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oAwl4q

Mentions: Scylla RavenSong

Mr.S Was paying careful attention to miss purple. She was his new leader, after all. They were going to become the undead slaying due of he century. Possibly. “Ma hammer? She be ma hammer. She hammer 'em good!” He replied. Either he'd forgotten there was something special about it or there was nothing special about it to begin with. Both were equally likely options.

When he was asked if he remembered more about the vampire, his eyes started flashing again. 01100101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 00100000 01101001 01101110 01100110 01101111 01110010 01101101 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110101 01101110 01100001 01110110 01100001 01101001 01101100 01100001 01100010 01101100 01100101

After a bit, he shook his head. “Ma apologies, miss purple, I can't recall.” The 'floating' hammer carried by the invisible Mr.S seemed to be held ever so more solidly after Scylla told him to be careful with it. However, it did get her a question later. “Ma hammer... she be made to damage 'em, ya know? You don't want me ta use use 'er?”

Still, Scylla was a mystery to him. “Ya keep ya spell under ya hat?” That didn't compute. “Ya got a spell-book there?” He was pretty sure he didn't even know much about magic before his memory got ruined, so he'd definitely not know it right now. “By the way, miss purple, if them's be right, right, would ya... would ya want me to... ya know... fight me own men? I hafta say... I'm... not sure.” He said, clearly conflicted on the idea of it, even with his memory being as jumbled up as it was.

Morana

Spoiler: Full Image & Source

From:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/92JWv

Mentions: Sophia Silent Angel | Cayde The Last Curse

Morana just sighed at hearing Scylla and Sverre converse, even louder at the 'fun train ride' part of it. Considering her mask, she was likely going out of her way to sigh, rather than doing so naturally.

Sophia's reply had her wondering for a while. “I'll leave the enchanted hands to that halfling...” She mumbled, shaking her head. However, another mention did catch her attention. “Is that true? Can you really give it a sense of touch?” She'd honestly given up on ever being able to feel something again with her fingers. For as little emotion as her voice normally betrayed, there seemed to be a bit of excitement there.

That vanished quickly when she started talking about binary. “I could translate Sverre's eyes for all of you. They're basically a window into his soul right now, broken as it is. Flashing warnings and errors more often than not. He really messed himself up.” That was one offer she could make. Still, the other part... “I'm afraid the only trust I need is the amount needed to cooperate for the mission. Nothing more, nothing less.” Something had stopped her from trying to get along, although it was clear what was keeping her.

However, she wasn't done with Sophia just yet. “Let me ask you something. We've all heard how much you love that adventurer over there. Let's say that you come home from your work one day and learn that she got killed in accident, which was caused by someone being careless and irresponsible. Furthermore, you also learn that due to their friends in high places, they'll face neither criminal titles nor any other sort of punishment. What would you do?”

As she was giving Sophia some time to think, she figured she'd discuss something with Cayde. “Sir, if Sverre's men are truly resurrected, they'll likely be hostile. Would you allow me to freely engage them in any manner I deem fit?” She wanted the approval to go all-out. Her combat arm was creaking for some action.

 

[Silent Angel]

Sophia Smith

Sophia held up a claw to Scylla to put a pin in the conversation as the one with the cyborg began, not wanting Morana to overhear anything. As to the question asked, she nodded. "I'm an expert in blacksmithing, artifice, and enchantment. And I've done it before. To be honest, making the arm and hand function correctly is much more difficult than giving it feeling, so it shouldn't be a problem. But if you want someone else to do the enchanting, I should probably make it from mithril from the get go. That way upgrades can be done more easily without worry of damaging it."

She shrugged at the refusal, and when asked the question, she said, "It would be difficult... I guess it would depend on in the person was remorseful and the reason the accident happened. If it was a genuine accident that they were remorseful for, I would definitely be pissed and would probably go tell them off at the top of my lungs, but it might stop at that. But if it was willful negligence, they are not really remorseful, I would be receiving my own little criminal title. And then I'd receive more to deal with their friends in high places. Of course, I'd do everything in my power to remove those titles, as I would be a hypocrite if I didn't, but still." She shrugged. "However, those are only hypotheticals. And if you know a person who might be in that position where they were willfully negligent and killed someone because of that, and weren't remorseful, tell them to fuck themselves." She paused for a few moments before saying, "And also, if you bring up another hypothetical like that again, I'm going to ignore you completely from that point onwards. And that would mean no purchasing replacement arms from me." With that she stood, walking over to Kalina and plopping down on her lap, leaning back onto her chest as she did her best to get out of that pissed mood she was now stuck in.​

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Elvario Sharena TheTimePiece Silent Angel RavenSong ​

Cayde nodded along sympathetically as Shion shared her thoughts about the city. The distaste in her voice was palpable but not entirely unfamiliar. "City's getting to you, too? Yeah, I get it. I'm more of a woodsman myself," He said, tapping the butt of his crossbow, "Cities like this can get overwhelming. Too loud, too crowded, too smelly, too unnatural. They're all the same. Doesn't matter where you go," He shrugged his shoulders, a slight chuckle forming in his chest, "They suck, but you get used to 'em. Especially if you've got someone to walk with you. To guide you. To make things cozier, y'know?" He said warmly, giving Shion a thumbs-up, "I'm glad we all can be that someone for you. Everybody needs one."
After expressing that sentiment, surprise rose Cayde's eyebrows as he heard Shion's voice sound in his mind. He felt his body tense up, instinctively trying to reject the new sensation. He gritted his teeth, willing himself to stop. There would be none of that. Just breathe. Relax. Let her through. Even if she did find out about the secret. "So, you know too now. That's..." A pause, confliction taking root in his mind, "I mean, it's good to know that you know. I'm sure she would've told you later anyway. But it's just with all this talk about sisters, past lives, and such..." A sigh blew through his mind, "I'm supposed to be her friend, yet I know nothing about her. I've no clue how or why she's one of the 'good' monsters. Or how she was before she became a vampire. Hell, I don't even know if she's in this city to help or..."

Cayde shook his head, "Sorry, I'm oversharing. I'm sure your power will do wonders to reveal the 'good' monsters. There has to be something inside that only you could see." He peeked over her shoulder, his eyes trailing to Kalina approaching them. Cayde chuckled as she made her regal request. Great, now Shion had to worry about her and Iberis too. Oh, the misery. "Just be sure to watch your tail,"
Turning to lean back in his seat, Cayde heard Morana ask for a command. He quickly straightened out, lips pursing underneath his mask. Her voice sounded awfully eager, he thought. Maybe she just wanted to get into a fight? Or was it something else? "You don't need my permission, Morana. If you need to defend yourself, do what you gotta do," He looked at Sverre, Sophia, then back at Morana. Her hypothetical question floated back into his memory. It sounded strangely personal. Way too descript to be a run-of-the-mill question. "But I'm still hung up on that question, yeah?" He asked, lowering his voice, "I don't want to pry, but is there something I need to know before we arrive?"

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis Odhir
​

Mentions: Elvario Sharena The Last Curse Silent Angel RavenSong

Iberis still felt a tad flushed when Kalina shifted from receiving hand rubbing up to embracing her, as Iberis reciprocated the motion, putting an arm around Kalina, leaning into her some, an answer became very clear to Iberis's internal dialogue with herself, Kalina was more than willing to give some affection physically. The way Kalina felt her hair, made Iberis feel more at ease truthfully, as she found herself smiling pretty quickly. Not expecting to hear Kalina speak so directly about how..good she felt, it felt incredibly nice to Iberis to feel wanted in some way, something that she hadn't really felt most of her life. Hearing the happy humming was also very relaxing to the witchy one.

"I guess your right..there's quite a bit for us to..get done." Iberis replied not as quietly but still softly feeling a bit saddened by this development. It had almost all felt theraputic to Iberis after what they had been through together. Regardless she was right, there was important stuff to attend to and if Kalina was so inclined they always had time later to more properly enjoy one another's close company.

After Kalina rose it wasn't long before Iberis did too as she was pulled along, she suspected she was going to head over regardless but she had been so caught up with Kalina that it wasn't like she had been paying much attention to what others had been saying during that on the train telepathic or not. Truthfully she would have been quite interested in the conversation that Scylla and Sophia had been having had she heard.

Regardless it was definitely go time on the tail. She stood beside Chandra, looking between Cayde and Shion, and before she knew what was coming Kalina was spouting off one of the most thematic ways one could probably ask if they could feel someone's tail. This prompted Iberis to hold back a giggle, it was an arguably cute way of asking about something like this.
" I mean if you wouldn't mind, I promise I'll be gentle." Iberis said in her follow up line feeling a tad socially awkward with this request that they were proposing, as she smiled a bit bashfully at Shion's way, mainly hoping that it wouldn't be taken too strangely, but to be fair she had heard Shion say that one just need ask too herself so if she really meant it, they were about to find out. She was however a bit curious with what Morana was on about with Cayde, since she hadn't heard all the details until that point.